| Tribe: | Wolfriders |
| Age: | Around 900 to 1000 years |
| Gender: | Male |
| Soul name: | Wyl |
| Hair: | Reddish-brown, fairly straight and hanging to halfway down the back. He always wears a headband. Being a male Wolfrider of over 500 years he has developed face-fur, manifesting itself as a pointy beard. |
| Eyes: | Brown |
| Recognized lifemate: | Moonshade |
| Relatives: | Mother: Trueflight, daughter: Crescent, son: Dart |
| Wolf-friends: | Briersting, Lashpaw, Gnawbone |
| Status: | Mortal, alive |
| Website: | The Strongbow Adoration Society (SAS) |
| Life history: | Strongbow is the silent archer of the Wolfriders, always hitting what he aims at and these days even hitting it without aiming at all. He is also the second eldest male Wolfrider and the strongest sender in the tribe. Maybe this strong sending ability is also the reason why Strongbow only ever speaks when he's overwhelmed with emotion or when he has to communicate with somebody who cannot send (and in the latter case he'd still rather avoid communication at all); in all other cases he only sends. Strongbow is a traditionalist and the fiercest keeper of the Way, which has often brought him into conflict with Cutter, who is above all a chief of changes. It's not just Cutter, however; Strongbow has had his share of arguments with Bearclaw as well, though he loved Bearclaw above anyone, and is claimed to have been jealous of Cutter for having Bearclaw as a father. Strongbow has strong opinions about virtually everything and is not afraid to voice them. In the Sun Village, during the problems Cutter and Leetah had with their Recognition, Strongbow was of the opinion that Cutter should just take her, regardless of what Leetah wanted, since Recognition is undeniable. Seven years after that, when four humans arrived at Sorrow's End and Cutter let them go, Strongbow challenged him over that decision, stating that Bearclaw would have killed them on the spot, though he lost. Strongbow never truly enjoyed his life in Sorrow's End and happily left to bring Suntop to his father so he could deliver the warning from Savah. To his shock his son Dart chose to remain in the Sun Village to teach the people how to hunt. Strongbow strongly disapproved, but defended his son vehemently when the Sun Villagers protested against a 'spindly youth' as their teacher. It was Strongbow who killed the fledgling hawk that was destined to be a Glider bond-bird, and for this he was carried off first and mentally tortured by Winnowill, though he never emitted a sound during this torture. His humiliation and torture gave him strong doubts about the good intentions of the Gliders, and although Cutter decided to stay with them for a while to learn more, Strongbow disagreed with him and left Blue Mountain together with Moonshade, as ever his loyal companion. He was still loyal, however, because when Suntop was abducted by Winnowill and Strongbow's help was needed, he returned without questioning (though not without grumbling). Strongbow was seriously injured during the elf-troll war, but being his usual quiet self he didn't complain and even shrugged off any suggestion of help. He was also very much shocked by the appearance of Timmain, the mother of all Wolfriders, who was ancient beyond comparison and who had seen and done so much that the Way couldn't possibly mean anything to her. Strongbow felt that he had stubbornly clung to something that was insignificant and was prepared to let it die, and himself with it. He was quickly brought around again, however, and allowed himself to be healed by Leetah. Three years after the war it was again Strongbow who set events in motion with his (and Moonshade's) strong desire to hear from their son Dart. The two of them wanted Suntop to 'go out' and contact Savah, but knew that he couldn't safely do this with Winnowill still prowling around, so the decision was made to try and break her power. Strongbow didn't get the chance to personally mind-battle with Winnowill this time; he just managed to get Suntop and Leetah inside Blue Mountain but had to get out again himself as the entire mountain was changing around him. Once outside again he was suddenly confronted with Dart, who had come from the Sun Village with his jack-wolfriders. Soon afterwards Blue Mountain crumbled down and Kureel, one of the Chosen Eight, decided to avenge the fall of his Lord Winnowill and the destruction of Blue Mountain by trying to kill Dart and his new-found human friend Geoki. In order to save his son, Strongbow killed Kureel with two well-aimed arrows, thereby changing his own world forever, because no one in any tribe could remember one elf ever killing another. Although he had saved Dart, Strongbow suffered from what he had done so much that he was unable to hunt anymore. Until he had come to terms with it, he would not be able to hit anything. He tried letting go of his guilt and grief through a tribal circle of love, but it didn't help. It was Ember who gave the solution: that Strongbow ask Kureel's spirit for forgiveness. It was therefore quite convenient that Rayek flew the Palace to the Wolfriders' holt soon afterward, where Strongbow asked his deceased friend One-Eye to put him in contact with Kureel, who forgave Strongbow for what he had done. Strongbow and Moonshade were part of the group chosen to go across the Vastdeep Water to investigate the cry of help Suntop had heard, and as a result ended up staying in Thorny Mountain Holt for five hundred years after the disappearance of the Palace. After this he joined Cutter in wrapsleep, even though it went against the Way. As Strongbow put it, Cutter was the only one who could keep 'the whole barking, four-tribe mess of us' together. During the Shards war, when Cutter split the tribe, Strongbow was separated from his lifemate, with him staying with Cutter and Moonshade going with Ember as an elder and advisor. One can only guess at how difficult this must have been for him, as this was the first time (as far as I know) in their long relationship that they were apart from each other for any length of time. Strongbow was almost killed in the Shards war, when he and his wolf fell in a deep pit. He was saved, however, by the human girl Shuna, who held out her hand and shouted to Strongbow to shoot an arrow with a rope through it so he could be pulled up. He was saved, though his wolf-friend died. After the war with Grohmul Djun Strongbow and Moonshade were reunited and joined Cutter's tribe, going back to the site of the original Father Tree Holt, there to found a new holt. |