Gale Byrne

 

An angel.  A holy being.  A hand of God.  A savior from the heavens.  Gale, despite having a massive wingspan of twenty-seven feet, is none of these things.  He's a member of a now extinct (excluding him) race of winged people, who's name has been lost to the ages.

His story begins when a boy was born to a winged couple.  They were both the last two members of their race up to this point, until their son was born, of course.  The father was a master at both armed and unarmed combat.  The mother was also skilled, but she knew more magic than most living people.

As they watched their son grow, they realized that he'd have exceptionally strong and large wings, even for their species.  They named him Gale, so he could be proud of his wings, and the strength he possessed in them.  He still is to this day.

As he grew, his parents taught him all he needed.  They had explained that they couldn't take him to the surface yet, because they would be mistaken for 'angels', holy beings that served someone that humans called 'God'.  And while they dis possess magical powers, as well as wings, they were no such beings.  Far from it.

But that plesant life filled with family and care was cut short.  One day, an unknown army, most likely magical in nature, attacked their home.  Gale's father raised his swords one last time to defend his wife and child, as they fled.  But that didn't prove to be enough, so Gale's mother had to send Gale off on his own so she could stop the army from killing him as well.

Only the little child, at only eight years of age, survived.  He was the only one.

Upon landing somewhere in the surface world, he struggled to survive.  That is, until a church captured him and put him on display for all to see.  They thought he was an angel, just like his parents had told him that they would think.  For quite some time he tried to tell them that he wasn't, but they would have none of it, always pointing to his white, feathery wings.  Eventually, he just got sick of it and escaped.

But he was still young, and while he COULD fly, it was quite the struggle for him.  He began to wander, seeking help.  This world was strange to him, and he needed someone to teach him how to survive in it.

Eventually, the young winged boy found himself at a small village, out of the way and met a kind old blacksmith.  Gale was immediately drawn to this man, since he was similar to his father.  And this blacksmith taught Gale how to hammer metals of any and all kinds.

But that wasn't all he was taught.  In the village were a variety of kind people who didn't judge him just because of his wings.  He learned much from them, what wild foods were edible, about forests, deserts, lakes, oceans, ancient ruins, machines.  He learned as much as he could from these people... and eventually said goodbye.

The young Gale, now in his teen years, was finally ready to adventure out into the world on his own.  He scoured the world, looking for signs of his parents, hoping against hope that they were still alive somewhere, and waiting for him.

 

As time passed, he grew older, and stronger, yet he was still mature beyond his years.

He's now nineteen, and a fully capable survivor and warrior.  His unique mixture of his father's teaching, and the teaching of the ingenious humans gives him a skillset unique to him and him alone.  Especially when it came to smithing.  The armor he wore was custom-made by himself, and it allows for him to wear it and fly at the same time, without causing him any pain or inhibiting his movement.

Even to this day, he wanders, still searching for answers to all his questions, including clues as to what happened to his parents.