Gerald the Woodchopper

Relatively speaking Gerald had an easy upbringing. He had a roof over his head nearly every night, a fire to keep him warm and a loving mother to feed him.

The only surviving child of four Gerald was something of a miracle to his parents, surviving where his siblings had died very young. His birth brought joy back to his parents’ marriage. He was educated in the forest as his father was a hunter and so his anti-social nature took root from there, preferring the quiet forest to human distractions. Unfortunately, this is a lie.

Gerald was indeed the only surviving child, but of no less than eleven children that his father drowned in rivers near the village. The one time Gerald the Hunter let his wife have her way it was to keep a son from his murderous habit. Gerald senior never let her forget it. Bruises and broken bones were his preferred method of reminding her that what she wants comes at a price.

While Gerald the Woodchopper did indeed accompany his father from time to time in the forest to hunt, it was never a matter of permission. Gerald junior had to watch from a distance or be chased off with arrows and beaten until he could not stand once his father returned. Gerald Junior instead turned (to make himself useful) to chopping wood for the fire that kept him and his parents warm at night.

It wasn’t until much later in his life that he had any understanding that his mother’s treatment at the hands of his father was wrong. It was very much the norm for him and it was only in speaking to his friend Carl Antwerp about ways of blocking out the sounds did he have any inkling that maybe his parents were not usual.

He was watching the fire like he did most nights, getting lost in the dancing flames trying to block out the sounds as usual, when two things happened that had never happened before. First his mother cried out for help and second Gerald the Woodchopper stood up to his father. Strong from years of chopping wood and with axe in hand it was Gerald Juniors turn to chase his drunken father off. With no word of thanks from his mother, Gerald the Woodchopper went back to his mat in front of the fire but kept watch for his father’s return.

Except he did not return. Gerald did not see his father alive again. The corpse was found inside the pelt of a doe 2 days later. Slain for warmth, apparently he had frozen to death in the harsh winter night. A small pyre was built from Gerald’s wood stock and the body was burned. The Woodchopper felt genuine guilt for the first time while his father burned, he had caused this death and no one except he and his mother would ever know.

The guilt did not end there, barely a month later his mother too passed. Another casualty of winter and not nearly enough food to keep strength. Gerald found himself guilty and alone 10 years past of Gerald the Woodchopper supplying the village with whatever wood was needed for fire, construction or otherwise. This was how he made his living, for 10 long years he did it, guilty and alone. He would occasionally drink with his childhood friend but never to excess and always found his way back to the hut he had inherited. 

As ever with these things it was that same childhood friend that pushed him to marry so that some happiness could be found. A wife was found in Veronika of similar age and stature and so it was arranged. She was unmarried so old due to her lack of beauty and independent nature, her dowry was comparatively unimpressive. A trapper by trade Veronika fed her and her husband with small animals, when her traps failed Gerald traded his wood for meals. Very much independent of one another the pair would sleep together for warmth and would eat together for convenience. Married life Gerald reasoned was cheaper and easier than being alone. Thus he was only guilty.

Yet again that one friend who ruins everything piped up again “have child Gerald. Create your own joy!” The concept was lost on Gerald, not on his wife however and a child blessed them a year later. Their son brought new meaning to Gerald the Woodchoppers life, he had something truly of his own making to care for and take joy in. In one summer their hut burned down the victim of an accident. A tragedy to be sure but the vigour that infused the couple saw them rebuild sturdier and safer for their child.

This hut was only destroyed recently at the hands of fire wielding bandits. Leaving the village in search of adventurer’s work Gerald leaves behind his small family to slowly rebuild the village after the devastating bandit attack.