Post by Greybeard on Oct 26, 2007 23:25:05 GMT -5
A little history of Christian DeGries, also known as “Greybeard" who is the Abbot of the of House St. Sebastian, order of the Hospitallers, of the Priory of Aethenu; Knight of St. John of Malta;
In Character History: Greybeard currently exists in A.D. 1136, but his existence is much before that. He was born in the year that is currently reckoned as 258 B.C. He is the son of a Gaulatian father and Hebrew mother. He was a farmer, carpenter and shipwright living in Sardinia. In 218 B.C. during the Sardinian uprising the man then know as Elias Ben Elsalem was defending his home and family from the Punic Army. He died when a building caved in upon him while attempting to save the Holy Torah from the synagogue while the Romans were burning it to the ground. Elias was remembered as a quiet man of great faith and love for his family and his people.
In the spring of the year 33A.D. on a Friday late in the afternoon “when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.” [Matthew 27:50-53]
Elias was among those 500 or so souls. Having been resurrected to this new life, Elias took a new name and a new identity. Eventually he took the name “Christian” and became a pilgrim of the promise, and a missionary in the world.
He does not know how many of those original 500 walk the earth. He only knows that he has become something of an immortal. While He can be killed, it is not long before he becomes alive again. Sometimes the time between his “death” and “resurrection” is a few hours, other times he has been “dead” a month or more. His fate seems to be to walk the earth until Christ returns. Sometimes this is an oppressive calling. But while he is sealed in his faith, “Greybeard” is not always a “saint.” And therefore has taken the sir name, “DeGries” or the grey, in reference to both is grey beard and to his ‘grey’ morality, since He does not always see things in black and white, or because he does sometimes see things as black and white, but that they become grey when placed side by side. He is both saint and sinner at the same time, true Christian traveling the world, preaching a quiet but faithful Christianity, Greybeard was in France in 1099 when Jerusalem fell, and took the preaching of the Crusades with a grain of salt, but never the less took the cross in order to protect those on pilgrimage. This became his life and was instrumental in the founding of Hospitals. He was one of those who petitioned the pope to recognize the Military order of the Hospitallers. Which he remains today.
OOC History: I began as a Dagorhir player in 1996 on the campus of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis in an unsanctioned chapter on the Seminary grounds. In 2001 I hung up my swords. In 2004 my son and his friends took them down… and dragged me back into the game by getting involved with people on line and wanting to go to events in nearby Indianapolis. They stared a chapter of which I’m an advisory member and mentor. In August of 2007 I began to put together the plans to form a nation unit of Hospitallers and am now seeking members to recruit to that unit. The website for those curious is as follows…. Check it out as it is still under construction… ww2.netnitco.net/users/boshoven/ Comments are welcome.
In Character History: Greybeard currently exists in A.D. 1136, but his existence is much before that. He was born in the year that is currently reckoned as 258 B.C. He is the son of a Gaulatian father and Hebrew mother. He was a farmer, carpenter and shipwright living in Sardinia. In 218 B.C. during the Sardinian uprising the man then know as Elias Ben Elsalem was defending his home and family from the Punic Army. He died when a building caved in upon him while attempting to save the Holy Torah from the synagogue while the Romans were burning it to the ground. Elias was remembered as a quiet man of great faith and love for his family and his people.
In the spring of the year 33A.D. on a Friday late in the afternoon “when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.” [Matthew 27:50-53]
Elias was among those 500 or so souls. Having been resurrected to this new life, Elias took a new name and a new identity. Eventually he took the name “Christian” and became a pilgrim of the promise, and a missionary in the world.
He does not know how many of those original 500 walk the earth. He only knows that he has become something of an immortal. While He can be killed, it is not long before he becomes alive again. Sometimes the time between his “death” and “resurrection” is a few hours, other times he has been “dead” a month or more. His fate seems to be to walk the earth until Christ returns. Sometimes this is an oppressive calling. But while he is sealed in his faith, “Greybeard” is not always a “saint.” And therefore has taken the sir name, “DeGries” or the grey, in reference to both is grey beard and to his ‘grey’ morality, since He does not always see things in black and white, or because he does sometimes see things as black and white, but that they become grey when placed side by side. He is both saint and sinner at the same time, true Christian traveling the world, preaching a quiet but faithful Christianity, Greybeard was in France in 1099 when Jerusalem fell, and took the preaching of the Crusades with a grain of salt, but never the less took the cross in order to protect those on pilgrimage. This became his life and was instrumental in the founding of Hospitals. He was one of those who petitioned the pope to recognize the Military order of the Hospitallers. Which he remains today.
OOC History: I began as a Dagorhir player in 1996 on the campus of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis in an unsanctioned chapter on the Seminary grounds. In 2001 I hung up my swords. In 2004 my son and his friends took them down… and dragged me back into the game by getting involved with people on line and wanting to go to events in nearby Indianapolis. They stared a chapter of which I’m an advisory member and mentor. In August of 2007 I began to put together the plans to form a nation unit of Hospitallers and am now seeking members to recruit to that unit. The website for those curious is as follows…. Check it out as it is still under construction… ww2.netnitco.net/users/boshoven/ Comments are welcome.