Byco's biography so far

Byco grew up in Budgeford, son of Focco and Dillia Brightburrows, and had a carefree childhood. Dillia was the sister of Tilly, Peppy's mother. So the gammer that ruined Peppy's childhood was also his gammer. The two sisters often visited one another, one living in Stock, the other in Budgeford. Not too long a trip and they always brought the children together. Byco and Peppy both loved to play togehter by the bank of the Water and the Brandywine respectively. Byco learned to swim almost before he could walk. He learned his letters and helped his father with fishing, hunting and the tending of the pigs. Well, all born in Budgeford tend pigs at some point in their life. But Byco never intended to do this his entire life. He could often be found near the crafters of Budgeford where he asked if he could use the leftover pieces of leather and strips of metal that the metalsmiths had cast away. He would then try to make his own armour out of them. One metalsmith in particular took a liking to the young lads efforts and one day he offered Focco and Dillia to train their son as a metalsmith. First stage of the training being learning how to collect ore and hides. But when the time came for him to choose between hunter (his fathers profession) and guardian, he thought he'd choose the latter as he could already make his own armour by that time. So Byco learned to be a guardian and became a bounder, a long training which he ended with him becoming bearer of the title Honorary Shirriff. He performed his duties well and guarded the Shires bounds under the orders of Shirriff Bodo Bunce. One dramatic day in the life of Byco, a distressed neightbour came to the door of the Brightburrows's home. A particular nasty and big wolf had been sighted near his farm and he feared for the safety of his family and his lifestock. So Byco, as a bounder would, jumped up immediately, took up weapon and shield and followed the poor hobbit to his farm. But also Focco (being a good friend of this farmer) jumped up, grabbed his bow and hunting knife and came along. Byco and his father had hunted as a team many times before and had a strategy where Byco would first attack the target and taunt it, defending himself with his shield, while Focco, keeping his distance, shot as many arrows at it as he could. This always worked perfectly and they followed this method without even having to discuss it first. Upon arrival at the farm Focco and Byco did not see one wolf, but a pack of them, gazing at them with vicious yellow eyes and evil intent. "Alright, we can do this", said Byco with confidence. Focco nodded and readied his bow with an arrow while Byco stormed at the pack, targetting the alpha male first. He roared his battle cry and the pack growled and attacked. But their teeth broke on Byco's heavy armor and their bodies soon got pierced with arrows, straight through the heart. Byco wielded his sword and soon the entire pack of wolves lay dead at his feet. The farmer cheered and called his frightened wife out: "Food and drink for our heroes, Bessy!" Modest Byco blushed a bit at all the congratulations and cheers directed at him and thankfully took a bite from the offered food. It had passed dinner time after all! Focco, on the other hand, slowly walked back to the dead wolves, skinning knife in hand.He knew his son could make good use of the leather made from the hides. His hunter instincts soon noticed the wolf tracks in the dirt and he started to wonder as there was one set of prints that immediately attracted his attention: bigger then the others and not belonging to any of the dead pack. They carried back to the nearby ruins and Focco carefully started to follow them. Byco, unaware of this, was being introduced to the farmer's seven children that had come out of the farmhouse too, and was trying to remember all of their names. Then suddenly from the distance.. a desperate scream! A fearsome growl! Immediately followed by a victorious howl! Byco dropped his plate, grabbed his sword and shield and started running, his heart beating at twice the speed. "Father, no!!" When arriving at the ruins he saw what he had already feared: his father on the ground being mauled by a huge brown wolf. Blind with anger and grief, Byco attacked the huge beast that had fangs that even pierced the chainmail on his arm. With a bash of his shield he managed to free himself and fought madly with the monstrous wolf. Finally he saw an opening and with one fell sweep of his sword he beheaded and defeated it. Byco immediately dropped his blood-stained weapon and his heavily dented shield and ran to the place where his father lay, mortally wounded. He took his father's torso in his arms and cried. Focco opened his eyes one more time: "Be brave, my son, and help your mother", were his dying words. So Byco did, and stayed with his mother until it was her turn to leave this world for ever. After Dillia's funeral he sold the house and started a life of adventuring out of bounds.He then learned that the big brown wolf had not been a wolf but rather a warg. On his adventures Byco killed many of them, both wolf and warg in revenge of his father's death. After many, many wanderings he ended up with the dwarves in Thorin's Hall where he honed his skills as a metalsmith and armourer with the local Guild. He left Thorin's Hall again after receiving a letter from his cousin Peppy who pointed him at a job vacancy of bodyguard somewhere in the Shire. Byco spent a long time thinking about this and feeling a bit homesick for the Shire, he decided to apply for the job. He travelled to Michel Delving where he first met his future employer, a white-haired hobbit lass with pale eyes and dressed in a white gown. His first impression was that this was a nobiliary person, someone of high rank. She was very kind to him and introduced herself to him by the name of Yule. Byco had never been allied to a kinship before, but his cousin had already informed him that the job would include membership of such a kin and helping it organise. So he accepted Miss Yule's invitation without hesitation and became a member of Shire Rose. It gave him a warm feeling. It was a good feeling, he thought. Byco looked at his present situation: he had a job now and felt great resposibility for the safety of Miss Yule. But he had no idea, what threats were to be expected and she could or would not tell him that either. He was now a member of a kinship called Shire Rose and tasked with helping it grow into a flourishing community with it's own Hall in the nearby future. And he was back in the Shire again! All the time spend indoors in Thorin's Hall he had missed the rolling hills, the (mostly) blue skies and the friendly gossip of other hobbits. He felt right back where he belonged. And his job required him to spend a lot of time in the company of an attractive young lass. He could have done worse. He smiled and felt happy again.