Christopher Kringle

Christopher, born as Khristoph Niklaus Kästner, is native to the land of Ingvae. He was an only child, but found himself orphaned at twelve years old when a terrible blizzard swept over the land. His parents did all they could to protect him, but they froze in their sleep trying to keep their son warm. Nikolas lived on the street for a number of months, surviving on stale pastries that were thrown out at night. Other beggars began to call him “kringle”, after the pastry he loved the most.

When word reached his extended family, his uncle Adalbern came for him. Adalbern was a carpenter and taught Niklaus everything he knew. The boy spent a number of years apprenticing, before he decided to set out on his own and see the world.

He did not want it to be obvious to others where he came from, so he changed the spelling of his name, and took on the surname of Kringle. Known now as Nikolas Kringle, he made his way from city to city without much of an idea where he wanted to be. One day, he met a beautiful young lady named Katie. Her green eyes and fiery hair captured his heart. From his various travels, he had picked up some words in other languages, including Gaeilge, which was her language. She did not speak any of his language. He did not want to leave her behind, especially when he learned that she was trying to get home. He was moved with compassion for her and agreed to travel with her. He did not have much else to offer her, but he wanted to ensure that she would be safe.

Their travels bonded the two as they shared many hardships and life-threatening experiences together. Nikolas was very strong and knew how to handle his double-handed sword in battle. Katie was grateful that Nikolas had come along; without him she might not have lived long enough to see her parents and sister again. They reached a port city, which was their last stop before sailing to sea. Nikolas sold a precious family heirloom to afford their fare across the sea to Katie’s homeland.

When they arrived in Celtainne, they visited Katie’s family home to find it nearly empty. Her sickly father was all that remained. Her mother had died, and her sister had married and moved on. Nikolas stayed with Katie and her father for a month, but felt that his place was elsewhere. He did not want to overstay his welcome or to become a burden. With Katie’s blessing, they parted ways. On his way to the docks, Nikolas saw a piece of parchment paper advertising that the Great King was enlisting soldiers to fight against a powerful evil in a distant land. Nikolas decided he would help out and made his way to meet the Great King.

During his time in service to the Great King, he became renowned for his skill with a sword. He also was taught the ancient tongue of Polarin. To his surprise, after a little more than a year of serving the Great King, he saw a familiar face. He did not expect to see Katie enlist in the army. She was equally surprised and delighted to see her friend. As they both learned Polarin, they were able to communicate with each other and spent many nights talking about their early adventures together.

Shortly after Katie’s term of service was fulfilled, Nikolas was sent on an important mission. While on this mission, he found a wounded red panda. The poor animal was cold and near death, so Nikolas nursed the adorable fellow back to health. From that point forward, the red panda went with him everywhere. He named his little companion Jack.

When Nikolas chose to retire from the military, the Great King gave him a special gift. It was granted unto him the ability to give life to anything he chose. Nikolas used his new gift on Jack, enabling Jack to think, reason, and speak like a man. It was a success, and the two of them were inseparable as they traveled the world and embarked on many adventures.

Eventually, Nikolas began to see a peculiar change in Jack. As time passed, there was a seed of darkness in the red panda’s heart that continued to grow. Nikolas watched as Jack become more prideful and vain with each passing day. Many had recognized and affirmed Jack’s adorable appearance, and it had gone to his head. He expected to be complimented. Later he expected to be praised and eventually worshipped. Anyone who did not do as Jack wanted caused him to become angry, bitter, and hateful. Nikolas tried to stop what he saw unfolding before his eyes. He tried to reason with Jack and kindle the more virtuous attributes of Jack’s character. It had little effect. Jack went his own way and grew into the evil villain that the world knows him to be.

Jack’s turn to darkness shook Nikolas to the core. He felt betrayed and helpless to do anything about it. Nikolas witnessed Jack’s tyranny rain down upon the innocent. He knew he had to do something. Nikolas sought out the Great King for advice and vowed to stop Jack and help those whom Jack had harmed.

Nikolas quickly learned that the kingdoms all blamed him for giving life to Jack. When he found numerous bounties on his head, Nikolas went into hiding in Ebongreene Forest. Late, in the dead of night, Nikolas would sneak into villages and cities to leave clothing, food, and money on the doorsteps of all that had been harmed by Jack.

Before long, his hiding place was discovered. Luckily for him, the person searching for him was none other than Katie. She told him she wanted revenge. Jack’s general, Nero, had burned down her sister’s village, and she sought to exact her revenge upon Nikolas, but the Great King showed her the right path.

After Jack’s defeat and imprisonment, Nikolas and Katie began a romantic relationship. Katie talked him into going by his first name. He did not like the name Christopher, but it eventually grew on him. Katie thought it made him sound wise. In turn, he asked her to go by Catherine, and she agreed. Together, Christopher and Catherine Kringle ruled over the land of Mezarim and oversaw the building of the city Polaris. This city has been and continues to be a place of refuge to anyone seeking it.

Christopher and Catherine helped rebuild the kingdoms, and all of the lands shared in a time of peace and prosperity. The Great King gave the Kringle couple the gift of long life. For every one thousand years, they each would only age one year. They finally settled down in Mezarim, just outside of the village of Ursus, and they remain there to this day.