Yenal

Description
The first of The Opened, prophet of Tarek, Yenal is the most known historical figure in Yenallum as the known world is named after him.

Appearance
A tall, toned man, strong and handsome. Short brown hair, brown eyes, a pointy nose, round ears and full lips. Light skin and a scruffy beard.

Personality
Very friendly and shows great leadership. Has an incredible amount of knowledge and wisdom and can talk for a lengthy amount of time to outwit most anyone. A valiant fighter and although he does not like killing he understands the necessity of it. Is a very good sport and respects his enemies even if they do not respect him, he has love for everyone.

Family
Yenal's mother, Uni, worked in her brothers tavern and died when Yenal was very young, and he never knew his father so he was raised by his uncle Termal. He has no siblings and is unmarried with no children.

Early Life
Yenal was born in his uncle's tavern in Wildevale and starting at a young age began helping out around the tavern. He practiced swordplay with a stick and dreamed of being a knight. He would always run off to find an adventure and find his way back home. At the age of 8 he ran all the way to the tip of Jorsoy Lake before returning home, his uncle was sure he was dead but he returned to the tavern and continued to work. He brought some children that lived near he did with him on some of the small journeys, this got him interested in leading a group of people as he found he was good at getting people to listen to him. Many of the tavern regulars loved him and talking to him, he had a certain charm on people that they noticed.

Teenage Years
Having always being fascinated by famous knights and warriors that had lived before him, Yenal fashioned a sword out of a log and began practicing with it. First he practiced against trees and dummies but later he would play fight against his cousin Reven. They would fight almost every day for hours on end and they became very creative fighters always learning how the other fought and figured out a way to counter them and win the fight. Yenal was always interested in fighting in a war and earn glory but Reven was different and preferred only fighting for fun was planning on running his fathers tavern when he was old enough.

War with Vamern
When Yenal was 14, Wildevale was becoming hostile with a nearby city, Vamern. Yenal was eager to join the war effort and become a hero. Wildevale was in need of soldiers and accepted any man who was willing to fight so Yenal showed up early was was equipped with a sword and some armor, which was more than most soldiers got. The war was short and consisted of only four battles. The first two, Yenal has little to do with and were fairly even battles as Wildevale won the first and Vamern won the second. After two battles without contributing, Yenal wanted to be more involved, so when the third battle came, The Battle of The Road, he was the first one charging the Vamernians and killed over two dozen soldiers and only suffered minor wounds. His zealously in battle raised the moral of his own soldiers and they fought harder as well causing the Vamerians to retreat. Because of his bravery and leadership in battle, he was promoted to lead his own unit of soldiers. The Wildevalians pushed on towards Vamern and set up camp along Lake Long. Sensing danger, Yenal took his own unit as well as two others south and urged to the soldiers to move west towards the opposing army. When the two armies met in The Battle of Lake Long, The Vamernians were winning due to the numbers. Shortly into the battle, Yenal took his troops north and attack the Vamernians from behind causing Wildevale to win the battle easily and for the Vamern to surrender the war with few survivors on the battlefield. Yenal was awarded for his fighting and strategy in battle and became well known in Wildevale.

Merricliff Isle
At the age of 16, because of his action in the the war with Vamern, he was chosen to be the right hand man to Barbon, on an expidition to the Merricliff Isle. Barbon, Yenal, and a squadron of 10 other men were tasked with scouting the uncivilized people of the island to see if they were hostile or if they were willing to be allies. With Barbon as the leader of the group, they spent four weeks on the Isle making no progress and had not come in contact with any natives. Yenal urged Barbon to search for them and finally Barbon led a stupid mission which resulted in Merrians attacking them causing Barbon to die as well as two others. Yenal then took over the other eight members of the mission and led them. It only took him two weeks to meet with all of the natives on the island and despite their unfriendly nature, Yenal was able to talk them into a peace treaty allowing for an alliance between Wildevale and the people of Merricliff Isle. After returning home he gained even more recognition and fame.

The First Grand Tournament
At age 18, because of many men being interested in fighting for sport and fun rather than killing, Yenal gathered them together and talked to the leader of the village, Rettar, in order to make it a formal event. Exactly 32 men joined the event and they held the first Grand Tournament which was attended by hundreds of citizens. Two men would fight until one gives up or there is a clear winner, the winner of two matches would then fight and so on until there is one remaining fighter. In the first Tournament, Yenal made his way easily to the final four fighters, in his semi-final round fight, he fought a man named Quentin, who he fought alongside in the Battle of Lake Long, they fought for a long time before Yenal finally won. In the final match, a man named Mo Larez who did not speak any Wildish language, fought with trickery and was very quick. Yenal was losing at first but after one perfectly timed counter move, it caught Mo Larez off guard and Yenal quickly took him down. Being the winner of the tournament, Yenal was awarded with 15 silver pieces. While everyone was celebrating Yenal's victory, Mo Larez and his three brothers, jealous in defeat, grabbed knifes and took Rettar by the throat. Yenal thought quickly and instantly killed the brother holding Rettar and threw Rettar behind him. Both of the other brothers attacked simultaneously and Yenal fought them off eventually defeating them, but not before Mo Larez got away. He checked to make sure Rettar was ok but when he did, a knife flew and hit im in the throat, killing him almost instantly. Yenal spotted Mo Larez on the top of a building and chased him away with intent of killing him, unfortunately he got away and Rettar died. Yenal swore he would avenge his death.

The Vision of Tarek.
For a few years, Yenal was training a small group of young men his fighting techniques up near the Blue River. While, alone a little south of the River, he found a small hill, built a shelter near a tree and went to sleep. In the middle of the night he was awoken because he felt the ground shaking, when he got up to investigate the ground was no longer shaking. He looked around and noticed a strange figure, it was dark and his vision was blurry. He was unable to describe exactly what he saw but the figure was the God Tarek. Tarek told Yenal who he was and taught him all about the Gods and their powers. His final words to Yenal were: "You will be nine, train and teach. Join the good and defeat the evil. Establish a new world to last hundreds of years. You are now the earth." Yenal did not fully understand but he knew that he must return to Wildevale and teach about the Gods.

Forming The Nine
For weeks, nobody listened to Yenal and his teachings, and he went from being very well liked in the city to becoming an outcast. Most people did not believe in Gods or they worshiped other deities such as the Sun and Moon or random figures that never gained too much following. One day he was approached by a man named Helto, a man who Yenal had recognized as a soldier he fought with that disgraced himself on the battlefield. Helto listened to Yenal's teachings and agreed to follow him. Helto introduced Yenal to his friends Pat and Temmes, who did not listen at first but after some convincing, they agreed to join Yenal. Yenal told his three followers that they were to known as The Opened and they will be taught not only by Yenal but also by their Gods. Still nobody would listen to any of the four members and what they had to say until a man named Shaim entered the city from across the sea looking for an escape from his life. As soon as he stepped off his boat he heard Yenal preaching and joined him immediately. Yenal took his five members and left Wildevale to head west where he was joined by Mahb and Keypar in the city of Rhoedar, joined by Elijan in a village near the Centre River, and traveled all the way to the Donnet Docks to be joined by their final member Luscet, from the Isle of Krekt.

After Return
After The Opened battled and won Wildevale, a new era began in the world as Wildevale expanded and became more of a small kingdom than just a city. Terlong, the newly appointed leader (Mona) of the kingdom named it Yenallum after the spiritual and military leader. Yenal lived out his days in Wildevale teaching about the Gods but also teaching swordplay before he got too old. He often led prayer services in the Great Temple of Wildevale and took on a few close followers to be his Heltons that would teach about Tarek. Yenal was the second to last of the Opened to pass, before Temmes, at the age of 84. The largest funeral service of anyone before was held in Wildevale with thousands in attendance for all he did for the city.