Distinguishing characteristics: Extremely faint whip scars across his
back.
Any other languages: English, Norse, Beothuk, Wampanoag, Algonquin,
Cherokee, Sioux and Hualapai.
Personality: Elan is gentle by nature, great with children. He
believes in the healing power of herbs, stones and the ways of the
earth. He's very spiritual, but dislikes organized religion. He is
soft spoken, kind hearted, but, if pushed too hard, he does push
back. The only time he'll act in violence is if someone acts out
against him or his family. He loathes being told what to do, what to
say or how to think. He doesn't like rules, but he's not
disrespectful, just extremely strong willed.
Any special skills: Stealth. Because of his upbringing, he has the
learned ability to creep around silently, which has aided greatly in
battle. He knows how to blend in to surroundings which enables him to
hide well and pass through areas usually unnoticed.
History: He was born in the 950s CE in Norway, the son of a great
Viking Warrior. He was given a name at the time that he refuses to
recognize to this day. He was taught at a very young age how to
handle a blade. When he was only ten years old, his father brought
him along on a mission to charter and colonize new land to the west
of their own. They traveled across a vast ocean and upon arriving on
the new shores, the Viking horde attacked a village of peaceful dark
skinned people, killing every man, woman and child in sight. The
Viking boy was confused by what he saw because these people did not
even seem equipped to fight back. When all were dead save for one
small child, his father turned to him, placing a blade in his small
hand and demanded he murder this small girl who was no more than
three or four. She sat weeping over her mother's corpse, lost
abandoned and alone. He could not bring himself to do his father's
bidding and so, he dropped his sword and shook his head. His father
immediately slaughtered the child and then attacked his son, whipping
him harshly and declaring that the boy was no son of his.
His father, disgusted by his own child's compassion, left his son on
the shore alone to die. The boy, however, did not die. He hid for
several days among the dead, fearing his father's return. It was not
his father, though who found him but a woman of dark skin who
belonged to a tribe of people from the north. She had been collecting
wood for her people when she came upon the scene and discovered the
small boy: cold, hungry and alone. Although they did not speak the
same language or look anything alike, the woman took him in and
brought him back to her people. From his limited understanding, the
boy could tell the tribe was reluctant at first, but eventually they
took him in. The woman who found him was the tribal leader's wife and
so the Chief became the boy's father. They named him Wanagi, their
word for Ghost, because of his pale skin. With love and compassion,
the Wampanoag people of Northern Canada raised him as one of their
own.
They were peaceful people who did not fight, but Ghost kept the blade
that he had dropped when he refused his father's demands and he
practiced with it often. It was all he kept of his former life. As
the years past, he blocked out all memory of where he came from.
Fifteen years later, another tribe visited them. This tribe's leader
was called Pathfinder and he was a powerful shaman. His daughter was
beautiful and kind hearted. Ghost was smitten with her, but unable to
vocalize this due to the fact he was not considered a `brave'.
Pathfinder's tribe set out for home as his own tribe prepared to send
out a hunting party. His father, the Wampanoag leader, told him that
until he came to terms with his past, he could not be a brave or a
hunter. Ghost decided he would go off to hunt alone. He traveled into
the woods in a different direction than the braves had gone when a
dreadful sound echoed through the air. A horn…. At the noise, the
memories of his youth came flooding back. He knew that the Vikings,
the people from which he had come, had returned once more. He ran
back to his tribe, but he was too late, most of his people, including
his adoptive mother and young sister were dead, brutally slaughtered
without mercy by the Viking horde.
He could hear the Viking horde and with anger in his heart, followed
the sound and came upon a horrific scene. The horde was in a circle
and his adoptive father was in the middle, being forced to fight with
a blade – an object his father had never even picked up before. He
was badly cut up and unable to defend himself. In what the Vikings
considered an act of mercy, they rammed a blade through his father
and left him on the ground to die. Devastated by this, Ghost bolted
into the circle only to see his father breathe his last breath. The
Viking all stopped, realizing right away this `savage' was different:
pale skinned and looking more like one of them than the `savages'
they were here to destroy. They handed him a blade and demanded he
fight next. In his father's honor, Ghost did kill two of their men
and partly blinding another before he was able to make an escape. He
did not escape without injury though, taking an arrow to the upper
back as he fled. He wandered through the wilderness as memories came
flooding back. He knew these people and he knew their ways. They
would follow his trail with hopes he would lead them to the next
village and so, he made the decision to find a cave and hide there.
The wound was grave and he was losing blood quickly. Once in the
cave, he passed out from lack of blood.
When he awoke, Pathfinder's hunting party stood around him, clearly
confused by finding one of the Wampanoag so far from their home. He
warned them to leave him there, to die, but he was too weak to
protest when they carried him back to their village. Pathfinder and
his daughter worked through the night to heal Ghost. From his back
they removed an odd looking arrowhead and Pathfinder knew that `the
dragon people' had returned and were now hunting Ghost.
Once he was well enough to speak, Ghost warned them that by taking
him with them, they left a trail for the Vikings to follow and it was
only a matter of time before they found this settlement too and
killed everyone here. Believing his word, Pathfinder's tribe began to
move on and Ghost made a choice: he would go back to fight these
Viking alone and kill as many as he could or die trying. At the very
least he could stall them to give Pathfinder's tribe enough time to
flee. He set off to carve his own path and the tribe headed westward.
Unfortunately, Pathfinder's daughter followed Ghost in secret.
When the tribe realized the chief's daughter was missing, they broke
into two groups. The braves and Pathfinder set off to follow Ghost
and the other group that included some men and all the women and
children of the tribe continued west ward. Ghost was far enough ahead
of them that he was able to set traps for the Vikings, designed to
kill them en masse. Once his task was complete, he settled in for the
night. That night Pathfinder came to him in his dreams with a
message: `A sword can cut both ways'. The nightmare caused him to
wake and upon waking he found Pathfinder's daughter, Starfire, in his
camp. She confessed that she had feelings for him and so, she would
not let him stand alone. She ignored Ghost's encouragement for her to
leave and stayed with him.
When the Viking horde arrived, Ghost and Starfire were able to kill a
handful of Vikings with the set traps but just as Ghost was about to
lead the Vikings into a covered spiked pit, the braves of
Pathfinder's tribe, searching for Starfire arrived and despite
Ghost's call out to them to cease moving, they triggered the trap and
fell into the pit themselves. The Vikings made quick work of the few
survivors and captured Ghost, Starfire and Pathfinder. They demanded
Ghost lead them to the next settlement. The Viking leader revealed
that he knew Ghost's father and knew exactly who Ghost was. He
demanded that Ghost remember his roots and act on the side of the
Vikings. When Ghost refused, the Vikings set up a barbaric, painful
death for Pathfinder. Before his death, Pathfinder told Ghost to use
the Viking's strength against them, as if he was hunting bear. They
viciously tore the man in two in front of his daughter and Ghost.
Next, they threatened to harm Starfire unless Ghost helped them.
Having seen enough death, Ghost finally spoke in his native Norse
tongue and agreed to lead them westward. But, he knew what he had to
do: take them on the harshest path possible to kill as many of them
as he could. He was now the Viking's pathfinder.
He first led them westward towards an ice covered lake. He knew, as
Pathfinder had taught him, that he must use their strength against
them. They were heavy and the ice was thin. Walking out onto the
lake, the heavily armored Vikings on horseback broke through the ice
and many drowned. Those that survived lost some trust in Ghost, but
they had no choice but to follow him into the Mountains. There Ghost
knew, as spring was breaking, the melting snow would only require a
little amount of noise in order to fall. Using his knowledge of his
own land, he was able to cause an avalanche that killed all but one
of the Vikings. That last remaining one was their leader, the man who
knew his father. On the mountain, they fought with blades and their
bare hands until the older man lost his step and Ghost was able to
gain the upper hand. The leader begged to be killed by the sword,
because he lived by the sword and died by the sword, but in repayment
for the deeds done to his family, Ghost pushed the man off the
mountain, denying him a glorious death.
Starfire and he reached the next settlement and found the remainder
of her tribe there, safe and sound. Starfire became their leader and
Ghost returned to his homeland to bury his dead tribe. Eventually, he
returned to Pathfinder's tribe and lived there with Starfire's
people, as her husband.
For the next two decades, Ghost lived in peace and while he and
Starfire never had children, they remained loyal to one another. It
was in this year, twenty years since the Viking's last attack, that
Ghost realized he was no longer aging. His wife and friends grew
older and yet, he did not seem to ever change. This confused him, but
not his people. They believed he was part of a prophecy and that he
was given a gift from Mother Earth: he would forever remain young and
live forever to defend these lands from the Vikings. Knowing no
different, he accepted this as his fate and vowed to protect their
shores.
The Vikings never returned, but old age was just as merciless and
within forty more years, Starfire, now an old woman, passed away. She
had lived a long life, but watching his wife live her life when he
was forever frozen in time was difficult. As every decade passed, he
watched friends and family pass onto the next world, but he remained
the same. He was a legend to his people and neighboring tribes and
often it was easier to travel the shores alone to protect them than
to stay with his tribe all year round. He continued to live his life
in this manner for over five hundred years, never questioning his
path, but accepting it as his duty to guard the eastern shores of
this land.
In the 1400s, things changed however. White men once more arrived on
their banks and while some were friendly, some were not. Those that
wished to trade were allowed to do so, but those who came to harm his
people were met with fierce battle. There was no legend in the white
culture of the pale skinned immortal Indian because those that did
see him often did not live to tell the story. If the newcomers were
peaceful, he stayed far away and let them trade with his people in
peace. Those that harmed the natives were killed before they could
warn others. Ghost used his skills from both his cultures to
eliminate the predators stealthily.
For the next three hundred years conflict arose repeatedly among the
whites and the Indians and Ghost seemed destined to take up the blade
in his people's defense. Even with his aid, his tribe was pushed
westward. They abandoned the eastern shores and moved westward until
the Europeans expanded out into their land once again. Then, they
moved again. However, the western lands had a coast as well and
eventually, there was no where else to go. By the 1800s, it was
becoming impossible for him to hide among his people as the Europeans
were interjecting, teaching their religion to his people and forcing
them to act as they did. They were forcing his people to change
instead of accepting them as they were. The natives were grossly out
numbered and before long, his people were being killed off quickly.
Because of his failure to keep his people safe, Ghost expected to die
and be taken into the next world as his ancestors were before him,
but still… he did not age and he did not die.
In the 1830s, an attack was launched against his tribe, who refused
to move to another location when the European leaders began to press
once more into their land. The Europeans came with strange, loud
weapons that breathed fire from a barrel. As hard as they fought, his
people were no match for these weapons and as the battle raged on, he
could no longer maintain his hiding position and leapt into the
fight. He was able to kill a great many Europeans warriors, but there
were far too many of them and once again, nearly every last man,
woman and child of his tribe was slaughtered. Surrounded by men with
fire weapons, he realized there was no escape and he was, once more,
taken prisoner. The Europeans recognized right away he was a pale
skinned man living among what they believed were `savages' and just
like the Vikings before them, they demanded he reveal who he was,
where he came from and that he revoke his savage ways. This time,
however, Ghost could not understand them. He did not speak their
language, having never heard it before.
In protect of his silence, these Europeans, who Ghost later learned
were of British decent, cut his hair, took his cloths and jewelry and
redressed him as they were dressed. They also gave him a new name, a
name which they called `Christian': James Marshall. He was taken by a
horse drawn carriage at gun point eastward. Upon returning to the
land he had called home for nearly seven hundred years, he was in
shock to see it looking completely different than when he had left.
Industry had begun and tall buildings marred the land he loved. He
was taken to a cold stone structure called a military prison where he
was held captive. Each day, they would try to teach him more and more
English. When he spoke in his tribal language, he was whipped. He was
taught about the European religion, Christianity and told if he did
not believe it, he was going to a place called hell when he died.
Ghost, however, did not fear death as he knew it never came for him.
He was held in this prison for nearly ten years and by the time he
was released, he spoke perfect English and could quote the Bible
forwards and backwards although he believed not a single word of it.
An army General by the name of Johnson took Ghost into his home and
offered him freedom, but only if he behaved in a proper European
manner. He was not allowed to speak of his people or ask questions
about what happened to them. His time spent outside of roofed
structures was limited to prevent him from `lapsing into savage
ways.' To him, this was still prison. And things only became worse.
A war broke out, called the Mexican American war and General Johnson
was called to duty. He would not leave the former savage alone with
his family and so, he took Ghost with him. He gave him one of the
fire breathing weapons and explained that it was a gun. He taught
Ghost how to use it and lead him into a war against the `dark skinned
aggressors from the south'. The situation was all too familiar
however: here another father figure was asking him to kill people who
had committed no crime against him. Like he did as a child, he
refused to fight and threw down his weapon in battle. The chaos of
war provided the perfect escape and in a flash, he was gone, fleeting
into the wilderness. The General had no method of tracking someone
who was as stealthy as a fox. Ghost disappeared into the wild,
untamed west. He did become, however, a wanted man. Posters with his
likeness were hung, claiming he was an army deserter whose punishment
was to be death by hanging.
He lived off the land for ten years before the first war gave way to
another, harsher war called the Civil War during which the entire
country turned on itself. Americans fought Americans and while Ghost
managed to stay out of the battle, he did learn through eavesdropping
at this time that there were some of the native people of this land
were still alive and living on what the Europeans
called `reservations'. He immediately went to the nearest one, the
Hualapai Reservation in Arizona. While the people there were not his
own tribe, they reacted to his arrival with gratefulness. It seemed
they had heard of his legend, a legend which managed to never reach
the ears of outsiders. They knew him as the Pathfinder, the son of a
Viking, who gave up his mortality to defend the native people. They
hoped his arrival would bring them victory against their oppressors.
It seemed, to a limited extent, it did. This tribe was not moved
again from this patch of land.
Ghost lived among them, hidden within their reservation from the
descendents of Europeans. The native people knew how important it was
to keep his existence a secret: if the white men found out he was
here, they would take him from them again. It was here that Ghost
found a sense of peace he had not known since before the second
arrival of Europeans in the 1400s. He stayed on the Hualapai
reservation for quite some time and worked with his Indian brothers
to take back what little they could by robbing trains that passed
through their land during the late 1800s. He was once more a wanted
man, but he did not care for his own fate: he could not die. He
stole, but never did he harm someone who was not aggressive towards
him first. And when the law came looking, he disappeared into the
great canyons of his land.
Time moved on, however, and the 1900s ushered in a new wave of
understanding. The United States, as this land was now called, began
to slowly give rights to the natives and by the 1970s, the natives,
the people he felt he was one of and belonged with, were actually
being better respected. For the better part of the 1900s, he remained
with the Hualapai people and stayed hidden there, acting as a teacher
to the young native children. He taught them their history as it
truly was, not what was written in the European man's text books.
They called him Elan Hotah, meaning `friendly white man', when
outsiders were around and affectionately, the children called him
Sani meaning `The Old One' but behind closed doors, he was still
called Ghost, the name given to him by his native parents nearly 1000
years ago.
In the early 2000s, the Hualapai tribe opened their reservation to
tourists who wished to see the Grand Canyon from the side that was
free of guard rails and while it brought in money for the tribe, it
also allowed in outsiders. One outsider in particular took an
interest in the pale skinned teacher who acted and spoke like a
native. He separated from his tour group and approached Ghost. As he
drew nearer, Ghost felt a strange sensation he had never felt before…
a certain buzz. The stranger's first words were that he had no desire
to fight, but just to greet a fellow immortal in so strange a place.
Ghost had no idea what he meant.
Over a barely touched lunch, the stranger explained that Ghost was
what was called immortal and that immortals were a race of people who
never aged, never died save for by one method: a blade. The stranger
was in shock over the fact someone of Ghost's age had no idea what he
was. He had never been approached by another immortal because the
only time Ghost ever spent away from reservations as his time spent
in prison and under the harsh rule of General Johnson. Apparently,
the native people had kept him so well hidden that no other immortal
had ever seen him. In his culture, the mystical elements of every day
life were so accepted that no one ever assumed there were other
people out there like Ghost, who were undying and so the news came as
a shock to Ghost, who explained what he was told only to the leader
of the Hualapai. The leader told him that the Great Spirit worked in
strange ways and that perhaps while he was the protector of them,
they had also been the protector of him in return by hiding him from
those that wished him harm.
Thinking on this sage wisdom, Ghost accepted the news well, but he
also took up the blade once more and began to practice with it. His
skills from his childhood were not lost and while rusty, he fell back
into using a blade quite quickly. He realized, upon reviewing the new
facts, that he must have died all those years ago from the wound in
his back given to him by the Viking hordes and was reborn again, a
real ghost.
Although new knowledge came with outsiders, so did new viruses. The
super flu, which stuck in 2002, was the worst and within two weeks,
this flu had taken the entire tribe. For the third time in his life,
Ghost was forced to see those he loved and cared about killed in too
brief period of time and he was helpless to do anything to protect
them. And yet, he lived on.
The dreams began shortly after he was left alone: one of a man who
beckoned him to Las Vegas with promises of freedom from religious
oppression and one of an elderly dark skinned woman who spoke of
freedom as well… but freedom from despair. Boulder was a place of
hope. And light. His choice was not hard: he would go to the woman.
The man's face, in the dreams, was marked in shadow. He was a dark
leader and therefore, not to be trusted. The woman's face was full of
light and her choice of location was one of nature and beauty, not
concrete and barren desert.
Leaving was difficult, however. He laid the remainder of his people
to rest and then lingered on the reservation. He knew so little of
the way of life outside the culture that he'd been a part of for 1000
years. Would he be accepted, would he be understood and would he
reach Boulder without running into another immortal first?
Eventually, the solitude of the empty reservation forced him to find
the answers to these questions and to set off on a new path.
Character's full name: Wanagi (Wa-na-gee; American Indian word for
Ghost)
History: He was born in the 950s CE in Norway, the son of a great
Viking Warrior. He was given a name at the time that he refuses to
recognize to this day. He was taught at a very young age how to
handle a blade. When he was only ten years old, his father brought
him along on a mission to charter and colonize new land to the west
of their own. They traveled across a vast ocean and upon arriving on
the new shores, the Viking horde attacked a village of peaceful dark
skinned people, killing every man, woman and child in sight. The
Viking boy was confused by what he saw because these people did not
even seem equipped to fight back. When all were dead save for one
small child, his father turned to him, placing a blade in his small
hand and demanded he murder this small girl who was no more than
three or four. She sat weeping over her mother's corpse, lost
abandoned and alone. He could not bring himself to do his father's
bidding and so, he dropped his sword and shook his head. His father
immediately slaughtered the child and then attacked his son, whipping
him harshly and declaring that the boy was no son of his.
Once he was well enough to speak, Ghost warned them that by taking
him with them, they left a trail for the Vikings to follow and it was
only a matter of time before they found this settlement too and
killed everyone here. Believing his word, Pathfinder's tribe began to
move on and Ghost made a choice: he would go back to fight these
Viking alone and kill as many as he could or die trying. At the very
least he could stall them to give Pathfinder's tribe enough time to
flee. He set off to carve his own path and the tribe headed westward.
Unfortunately, Pathfinder's daughter followed Ghost in secret.
For the next two decades, Ghost lived in peace and while he and
Starfire never had children, they remained loyal to one another. It
was in this year, twenty years since the Viking's last attack, that
Ghost realized he was no longer aging. His wife and friends grew
older and yet, he did not seem to ever change. This confused him, but
not his people. They believed he was part of a prophecy and that he
was given a gift from Mother Earth: he would forever remain young and
live forever to defend these lands from the Vikings. Knowing no
different, he accepted this as his fate and vowed to protect their
shores.
In the early 2000s, the Hualapai tribe opened their reservation to
tourists who wished to see the Grand Canyon from the side that was
free of guard rails and while it brought in money for the tribe, it
also allowed in outsiders. One outsider in particular took an
interest in the pale skinned teacher who acted and spoke like a
native. He separated from his tour group and approached Ghost. As he
drew nearer, Ghost felt a strange sensation he had never felt before…
a certain buzz. The stranger's first words were that he had no desire
to fight, but just to greet a fellow immortal in so strange a place.
Ghost had no idea what he meant.
