N/Bestiary/Greybeard

Fiction Wikia, the place where you can write fiction.

Greybeard is a name used to describe a old man who shows up that no one seems to know and that seems to know everything, or at least everything the person who he goes to needs to know. They are believed to be the people of Zyr0, and one of them to have created The Great Salt Flat, and indirectly The Great Winter. They show up at strange times, such as when the knight Sir Klok had lost his way on his quest to find the Horo'Felsive, Sir Klok had become lost in a mist, and an old man walking the opposite way as him appeared out of the mist and, after a conversation of considerable length, told him he had been going to wrong way, and pointed him in the right way. Though this is just one small incident, there have been reports of Greybeards of various kinds showing up to help out heros in their times of need.

Distinguishing features of Greybeards to identify them as not just old men with the right knowledge is that they always wear grey and have grey beards, never give out their names, and though they may say where they hail from, none will know much of where they come from.

All in all there is no way to be certain whether Greybeards even exist, it is quite possible that they don't, there is no proof that they do and their existance is more likely superstition. However, one particular occurance of what might have been a Greybeard once came to someone in need and when he was asked why he did what he did he eventually explained with the response:

Part of something big, something that wants to help; we're just a group of old men who want to give a little bit back to the world. And we have been given the chance to do that.

If this man was in fact a Greybeard then what he said seems to hint that Greybeards might once living men, whether they still are though is not made clear. Throughout history Greybeards have been looked at with suspicion and mistrust by people in charge, though often heros and bards assume them to be a natural part of the world. If Greybeards exist there may well in fact be many different types of Greybeards, though they are so hard to examine because their very existance is so questionable.

Another of the things peculiar about Greybeards is that they often possess magical powers, though these are often varied and different, one person believed to be a Greybeard parted a sea of mist to show a tower that was miles away as if it were within a minute's walk. Another Greybeard caused a lightning bolt to strike, and another cause a wind that blew out all fires within a city, even those inside of houses or castles. Though this sort of display seems rare. Greybeards seem to show a distinct habit of appearing on misty or stormy days or nights, why this is so has been the subject of much debate among scholars who study Greybeards.

Greybeards are known to discuss their opinions to others in a very logical sense, though many times they will go on with anthologies of a metaphysical nature. Many who speak with a Greybeard will have a tremendous change in their life, and come to ponder on radical ideas of how the Universe functions.