Nath

Nath
Taercenn Nath The Guardian of Perfection and the Protector of the Blessed Nation
Information
Colors
Species	Elf
Job	Warrior
Birth, Life & Death
Birthplace	Lys Alana, Gilt-Leaf Wood, Lorwyn-Shadowmoor
Lifetime	Mending Era
Death	c. 4520 AR
Sources
Lorwyn

Nath was a taercenn of the Gilt-Leaf hunters. As a superior commander, Nath was one of the most seasoned warriors of the Gilt-Leaf tribe and despised everything that was considered ugly by elvish standards. Nath was a ruthless commander, knowing no mercy and never hesitating to kill any of his subordinates when they failed.

History

By 4520 AR, Nath was already an old and wizened creature, and he hid his true appearance behind a glamer spell. This glamer failed only under the most strained conditions, such as when Nath was unconscious, but was not easily dispelled in battle; indeed, Nath maintained his position by appearing to all as an imposing elf armored in rare silverwood bark and a magnificent crown of horns. Nath carried an imposing authority about him that made him seem capable of ordering the death of any creature with just a single word.

Lorwyn

Nath arrived to punish daen Rhys of the Hemlock pack upon discovering that the daen had hired two giants— regularly considered repulsive eyeblights by the elves— as a backup plan for pacifying a boggart settlement within their territory. Nath considered the raid a devastating, inelegant failure. He plunged his sword into the still-living skull of Yelm, a young hunter who had caused the attack to derail when he loosed an arrow prematurely. He demoted Rhys and gave the command of the Hemlock pack to Rhys' second-in-command, daen Gryffid.

Later, Nath ordered the full strength of the Gilt-Leaf hunters to attack boggarts converging in the Porringer Valley. Rhys was reluctant and tried to convince Nath to call off the attack after he recognized the gathering as the peaceful Feast of Footbottom; they would be slaying innocents and in doing so would also risk jeopardizing their tenuous standing with the valley's treefolk. Nath was disgusted and exasperated by his subordinate's compassion for these lesser races and revealed that he aimed to ambush their disgusting festival to eradicate them with greater ease. In their success, Nath hoped to create a new Gilt-Leaf outpost.

The organized hunters at first suffered no retaliation, with scores of boggarts being killed and burned alive before they even realized they were in danger. Nath drew the power of the woods to rally his forces, and Rhys used his magic to turn the forest floor into razor-sharp arrowgrass for which to nock their bows. Their incursion went awry when the boggarts suddenly became enraged and started to fight back as feral, wild animals. The elves now found themselves overwhelmed, and Nath ordered them all to fight to their last breath. In desperation and spurred on by Gryffid, Rhys called for the might of his yew poison magic to turn the tables from crushing defeat. The resulting blast defiled a huge portion of the forest and wiped out the combatants, with the only three confirmed survivors— Rhys of course withstood his own wayward spell, Gryffid survived by virtue of being in close proximity to the blast's point of origin, and Nath was shielded by the corpse of his cervin mount whom was cut down earlier amidst the bloodshed. Rhys lost his horns and fled, and Nath's appearance-altering glamer had faded. Gryffid saw Nath in his hideous true form and was offered the following: either keep Nath's secret and be properly rewarded, or betray him and be transformed into a vinebred soldier. After Gryffid chose to ally himself, Nath healed him and promoted him to Exquisite class.

Nath now had to carefully balance the futures of the two elves who could ruin his reputation: Gryffid, who now knew the secret of his disfigurement, and Rhys, the only other survivor of the incident who could expose Nath's poor judgment in authorizing the ill-fated attack that cost the lives of the assembled hunting packs. For the latter, Nath sought immediate death.

During the Festival of Tales, Nath and Gryffid came to Kinsbaile in pursuit of Rhys. The taercenn planned to use the opportunity to annex Kinsbaile and build an elvish outpost there. There, they set out to ambush Rhys. When Rhys returned, the elves hunted him down, and Nath challenged him to a duel, to provide him "a hunter's death." Rhys threw his sword at Nath and fled, only to meet the taercenn later elsewhere, at different terms. Nath badly wounded Rhys, but Rhys managed to win the fight when he gripped Nath's horns and twisted them until he snapped his neck. Upon the taercenn's death, his glamor spell failed. His wrinkled form was later found by Gryffid and other hunters. Gryffid set up a funeral pyre for Nath, took his silver sword, and swore a revenge vow - that he would find Rhys and kill him for this, shall woe betide a half of Lorwyn during his hunt or not.

Legacy

In the forty years since his death, the grove where Nath was interred had gone wild, becoming host to all manner of deadly poisonous plants, and legends say Nath's soul still yearns for revenge.

Story appearances

Title	Author	Publishing date	Set	Setting (plane)	Featuring
Lorwyn	Cory J. Herndon & Scott McGough	August 2007	Lorwyn	Lorwyn	Maralen, Peradala, Eidren, Ashling, Sygg Gauhren Gyllalla Syllvar, Dugah, Unice, Irgil, Ryleigh, Vendilion Clique, Rhys, Yelm, Brion Stoutarm, Kiel, Gaddock Teeg, Colfenor, Collemina, Smitsmott, Brigid Baeli, Angus Gabble, Oona, Tiristan, Grath, Gryffid, Nath, Rosheen Meanderer (mentioned), Thumb, Grieve, Aeloch, Gaevin, Chevor, Sapling of Colfenor

In-game references

Represented in:

• Nath of the Gilt-Leaf

Associated cards:

• Nath's Buffoon
• Nath's Elite

Quoted or referred to:

• Wellgabber Apothecary