I.
To be given the Mark of the Bear is no small task to the people of the Northern provinces whose unforgiving landscape was filled with the cold of five winters combined and even more unforgiving beasts that lurk in the woods. Being given the mark requires one to strip themselves of all their worth and face the abyss of forest, only to return with a totem of their hunt by killing a Grizzly. Only fourteen men stand alive today with the Mark, each one returning alive and successful from their hunt.
The first member of the pack is Brokenbjorn of House Iron, the eldest of the group and has fought to protect their home for decades against the beasts of the woods and the evils of men. The second is the archer, Brakqen of House Sparrow, who can best any other man in the field of marksmen and whose eyesight can pierce through the pines of any woods. The third and most curious of the group is Markus of House squid, the scribe and oddity of the group who comes from the smallest House in the region. The fourth is Sandor of House Iron, the lead tracker and cousin of the Brokenbjorn. Ord is the fifth member of the band of brothers and is the group’s lead scout and master of combat tactics from his many hunts. The last and most notable is Aotrys of House Bearclaw, the first of his house for his actions during the ritual.
Aotrys was fifteen when he was sent out into the woods to retrieve his totem, he was larger than any other young man his age and his blood ran thick with the blood of warriors. During the fifth day of his hunt he managed to track down a grizzly who weighed four times more than he did. Aotrys waited until the beast was feasting of a doe when he crept up behind it and pierced it’s neck with his wooden spear. The battle with the beast lasted a great while and blood spewed in every direction around the two until Aotrys managed to grab the a hold of the best from its back and opened its wound until the best succumbed to its injuries enough for Aotrys to overpower it and tear its neck wide open, killing the beast.
The body of the man was covered in wounds from the bear’s claws and teeth, his clothes shredded and skin steaming from the heat of his blood. While Aotrys was ripping the claws out from the beast’s paws he didn’t hear a second grizzly creep up behind him. The second bear was twice as large as the previous and its body was slowing filling up with rage. The bear stood upright behind Aotrys, but before the man could prepare himself the beast was charging down on him and sent his tired body tumbling onto the beaten snow beneath him. The grizzly drew back its paw on the man’s face taking his left eye with it. In an act of desperation Aotrys clenched the bear’s claws from the corpse of the beast in his hand and punched the grizzly repeatedly in the neck until the animal fell limp on top of him.
Once town heard that Aotrys had returned from his hunt, everyone gathered around the town’s square and waited to see what had become of the man. Everyone was in disbelief that Aotrys had brought back not one, but two totems taken from the jaws of two grizzlies. Brokenbjorn was the first to approach Aotrys and asked him about his hunt, shortly after he made Aotrys the second in command of the band of warriors and gave him the Mark of the Bear on his chest, the youngest to ever receive it.
From that day forward Aotrys was known as a hero for his unbelievable feat and kept the bear jaws on each of his shoulders for protection and a sign of his valour. The claws he kept on his left arm as wrist protection as they were strong and sharp. Each of the warriors who wear the Mark of the Bear dress in similar ways, but remain unique due to their totems and distinguishing scars on their body. Each man wore the pelt of a bear on their back and dressed mostly in fur and leather wherever their armor didn’t cover. Some wore their totems as armor while others kept them hidden as mementos for their effort. The warriors trained to keep their skills sharp and hunted to kept their town people fed.
The story begins when a stranger, a messenger of sorts, entered their town bearing news from the other end of the world.