http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/2367478

markup.txt

Maxx

[hider=Sr. Iro Hesekar] Name: Servant (Sr.) Iro Hesekar
Age: 155 (adult for his species) 
gender: male 
Species: Fairfolk
Kingdom of Origin: Concordius 

Physical appearance: Iro appears as a roughly middle-aged human, about 5’7” and 120 lbs (his Fairfolk status diminishes his weight). He has a fit, active-looking body with long legs and arms and well-formed musculature. His skin is a medium caucasian with a hint of green to it, making him look slightly non-human. He has large feet which are heavily-calloused on the bottom from all of the walking he does, and long fingers on his hands. There is a small reddish burn scar on Iro’s right arm from a run-in with a Jabberwock not too long ago. Iro possesses a pair of clear, dragonfly-like wings which fold against his back when not in use. Iro’s neck is long and his head is somewhat rectangular in shape, with a strong jawline and a flat top. His ears appear like that of an elf, long and pointed. Iro’s hair is a dark brown coloration like tree bark, littered here and there with flecks of forest green. Iro has a prominent, romanesque nose and a wide, kind-looking mouth. His eyes are deep-set and look somewhat determined, giving him a bit of a competitive vibe. His eyes are bright green in color with specks of gold, and look like human eyes. He is always clean-shaven. Iro generally stands with his feet narrow and walks efficiently and humbly, swiftly walking from heel to toe. He generally looks up when he walks, as if admiring the scenery around him. Iro’s voice sounds deep and pure, similar to the voice of Jared Padalecki. He is very articulate in his speech, pronouncing every word perfectly. He is obviously an educated man. 

Attire: Iro’s clothing is simple and humble. He wears a cobalt blue set of silk robes that stretch down to his ankles with a rope belt around his waist and a scabbard for his sword on his left side. Over the torso of the robe, Iro wears a navy-colored breastplate that is actually enchanted wood trimmed with silver. The sword is a particularly interesting device; it is about eighteen inches long, with a blade made entirely of obsidian and a steel hilt with a cat’s eye gem set into the pommel. There are golden swirls set into the flats of the blade. It is a Fairfolk ceremonial sword, and, though Iro keeps it sharpened just in case, is mostly for decorative purposes. The robe contains a slit in the back which Iro can stick his wings through so that he can fly. Over his robe, iro wears a black travelling cloak with a hood that covers his head. When travelling in forested or plain areas, Iro wears no shoes (Fairfolk priests are not even allowed to wear shoes while in Concordius). When he travels somewhere which is mountainous or snowy, Iro will usually wear a simple pair of brown leather boots. Iro wears a necklace with a birch tree leaf made of solid gold, the symbol of Matrem. On his right ring finger is a sleek silver ring with a sapphire set into it. He carries a straight wooden walking stick with him when he is travelling. 

Personality: Iro is a kind, humble man who is very down to earth. He possesses a love of nature and has more than a little animal magnetism. Iro is a very determined man who works very hard to get to where he is. He is intelligent not because he was born with a high IQ, but because he worked his butt off to become more intelligent. This work ethic and determination always keeps  Iro motivated to be the best. But, while Iro’s work ethic is admirable, he has become somewhat scrupulous. He lives a life where nothing is ever enough; he can give food to the poor, but he cannot give enough that they will never go hungry. He can rescue a family from an angry Jabberwock, but he cannot keep them safe forever. Being the perfect warrior priest is unimaginably difficult, and Iro often struggles to live up to his own expectations. He is a massive perfectionist, often pointing out flaws in his own plan which makes him indecisive. Essentially, Iro would be a much better leader if he wasn’t trying so hard to be a good leader. 

Despite his shortcomings, Iro’s a pretty cool guy. He is kind and cordial to everyone he meets, tries not to be judgemental, has excellent manners, and loves the company of others (but not in excess). Iro’s passion, however, is preaching. He is a fire-tongued preacher who delivers the best speeches amongst the Fairfolk. He has a very deep faith in Matrem, and is very passionate about Her. He loves his religion more than anything else. He is good at reading others’ emotions, giving him a gift of compassion when dealing with people in difficult places. His reverence combined with his passion make him a common priest to be called upon for Fairfolk last rites and burial services. 

Being a Matrem priest, Iro is held to the Nineteen Tenants of Matrem, which he cannot break for any reason. If Iro breaks these rules, he loses his status as a priest and is exiled from Concordius. He must adhere by the follow rules: 
-He must pray to Matrem three times a day; at sunrise, noon, and sunset
-He must not kill any living being unless it is in defense of himself or another living being 
-He must attempt to resolve a conflict peacefully before resorting to violence
-He must never harm an innocent life
-He must never torture an opponent or condone torture
-He must bless the corpse of anyone who he kills 
-He must bury any body which he comes across, including the bodies of his enemies 
-He must never charge money for his healing services
-He must never deprive another living being of medical care 
-He must not have sexual relations with any female which he does not have marital relations to 
-He must not have sexual relations with a female of another race 
-He must not steal 
-He must not deprive another living creature of food if he is in excess 
-He must give alms to the poor 
-He must never eat unclean food (food which is raw or still contains blood) 
-He must use every part of an animal if he hunts and kills a living thing
-He must not lie (he is, however, allowed to withhold information) 
-He must warn a sinner of his illicit acts 
-He must not own more money than he needs to live, and must give all excess to the poor 


Hobbies/interests: Iro loves speech-writing, public speaking, poetry, walking in nature, and preaching. He travels often, finding new places to spread the word of Matrem and protecting Concordius from enemies. He has come to become quite a good cook, and makes very good South Nepharie food (Mexican/Spanish cooking). Iro loves the company of others, though people who are overly extroverted get on his nerves (sometimes it’s just better to be quiet, Apollos). He reads frequently, but the movable type printing press isn’t readily available in every nation quite yet so he has troubles with this. 

Skills: Firstly, Iro is pretty smart. He has all of the Castus Scrolls (the holy books of Matrem) committed to memory and speaks every major language in Tithe (not that there’s a lot of languages, though). Iro has trained himself to read the stars like sailors so that he can navigate, and he has most of his map of Tithe memorized. Iro is a fantastic cook as well, though his magic definitely plays a role in this. Iro is a decent flyer as well, relatively agile when moving between trees. Iro has extensive training in Fairfolk medical care, and is able to heal most wounds and infections. 

Backstory: Iro, like every other Fairfolk, was born in the Temple of Matrem. Like many other Fairfolk children, Iro grew up an only child to two happily-married parents. Basically, his childhood was boring. Concordius doesn’t exactly have a reputation for being particularly exciting despite how excited the trees seem to be. Iro’s story really starts when he was twenty years old, an adolescent Fairfolk still living with his parents (Fairfolk reach mental and sexual maturity at age thirty). Iro’s family was walking through the woods with Iro’s new baby sister Ishkara (Iro was one of few children his age who had a younger sibling) when a Jabberwock jumped down from the trees and attacked them. Jabberwocks are rare creatures who live only in the Forest of Life. They are small, territorial dragons which spit corrosive acid instead of fire and have hooked claws that get trapped in a target’s skin and do not let go. Apparently, the family ran into the Jabberwock’s territory. Both of Iro’s parent’s were not particularly skilled at magic; both were herbalist potion-makers who didn’t have much experience fighting monsters. But as the Jabberwock prepared to spit death upon the family, a Concordian priest appeared and cast a powerful shield charm which protected the family from harm. The priest fought off the Jabberwock and chased it back into the woods, saving Iro’s life. Since that day, he decided that he wanted to be a warrior priest of Matrem. 

At age twenty-seven, Iro left home and joined the priestly seminary. Though he was very faithful, Iro wasn’t the brightest crayon in the tool shed, and so he failed his first few tests at the school. He was almost kicked out of the seminary when a priest named Servant Linnaeus decided to take the young Iro under his wing and train him to be the best. Linnaeus taught Iro the importance of hard work and determination, and the boy began to get better in school, moving from F’s to C’s to B’s. By age forty, he was designated a Servant Candidate, and was sent to the Temple of Matrem to become a true priest. 

Now becoming a Fairfolk priest is no easy thing to do. Being a Fairfolk warrior priest requires forty years of scripture study, memorizing the massive compendium of religious books and learning basic priest skills like midwifing, linguistics, and ecology, and then forty years of magic study, becoming master wizards in Fairfolk magic. Needless to say, Iro was in school for a very long time. When he was finally ordained at the early age of one-hundred-twenty, he was completely ready for the duties that awaited him. 

For fifteen years, Iro stayed in the borders of Concordium, protecting the people from monsters and keeping the balance of nature in harmony. Sr. Linnaeus eventually died while trying to prevent two rival tribes of centaurs from fighting and destroying a grove of trees. Iro took his place as protector of the forest, and inherited Sr.Linnaeus’ magic sword. After those fifteen years, though, the High Priests, having heard Sr.Hesekar’s speeches, decided to make him a missionary. He left on a mission to travel into the wilderness, converting others to the way of Matrem. He and three other priests travelled to colonies all over the wilderness, converting the locals and endorsing the ways of nonviolence. He returned home full of vigor and excitement. Being a young adult now in Fairfolk terms (they don’t age past adulthood, so if you’re under 200 they call you a young adult), Iro decided to marry a lovely female Fairfolk temple priestess named Narcissa. They soon had a child of their own, and while Iro preached Narcissa stayed home and took care of both the child and their land. It has never been an easy marriage, as Iro is sometimes gone for months at a time preaching in Jikari and Nepharie, but Iro has always loved Narcissa more than anyone else in the world (next to Matrem, of course). Just about a week ago, Iro was given a new job by the High Priests of Concordius; he is to travel north to Nepharie and Talbor and protect the lives of the innocent from the scourge of the Red Legion in any way that he can. 

Family: Iro has your typical family; two parents and a sister who is now an adult gardener in the northern reach of Concordius (because Fairfolk need to eat too). His daughter, Rosa, is studying to become a priestess of Matrem. 

Relationships:

Weapons: Large weapon: Magic. Medium weapon: Fairfolk Spellsword. Small Weapon(s): Gnome Healing Potion, dagger. 
Abilities: Iro is a High Warrior Priest of Matrem, meaning that he is one of the strongest of the Fairfolk mages. Iro has trained for forty years at the Temple of Matrem, and so is skilled in using all four of the elements; fire, water, earth, and air. Each of these four have power on their own, but can also be combined to create a very wide variety of spells. Being a priest as well as a warrior, Iro specializes in defensive magic. Iro can create magical shields similar to the patronus charm in Harry Potter. These shields are based off of faith; the harder Iro prays, the stronger these shields become. At maximum power, Iro’s shields can deflect bullets and dragon fire. Iro is skilled in healing magic as well, and is able to heal most wounds with his touch. Like the shields, Iro’s healing is based on faith. For those who are diseased, Iro carries a flask of gnome healing potion, which he got from some Dorak traders. The healing potion can cure any known disease and heals bruises as well as internal bleeding. The sword that Iro carries is no ordinary sword, but a Fairfolk spellsword. In effect, a Spellsword is like a large magic wand which focuses magical energy, making spells more accurate and powerful. A Fire Blast spell would normally envelop a large area in flame, but when focused using a spellsword, the blast of fire becomes more focused and accurate, doing more damage to a small target. When in a pinch, it can be used as an actual sword, but it is fragile. 

Weaknesses: Well firstly, Iro has the weakness of all Fairfolk; he is weak, lightweight, and flammable. Iro does not possess the strength of a human, orc, or elf warrior even though he can use a sword, and isn’t well trained in melee combat, preferring to fight from a distance. Iro is fairly fragile as well, and healing magic doesn’t work nearly as well on oneself as it does on others. He burns very easily, and burns take a long time to disappear on his skin. Iro’s shields are weakest against fire magic (though they still repel it at full force) and he cannot heal burns as well as cuts or bruises. Iro cannot reattach limbs and neither can gnome potion. Iro can also not heal people who have either given up on life or are too close to death to be saved. The spellsword, while a helpful magical artifact, is not a very good sword to use in a sword fight, as it scratches easily and is prone to shattering if hit hard enough. It is weaker than bronze. 

Mounts/pets: Iro travels with Mitos, a juvenile Turtle Dragon. Now the Turtle Dragons, also known as Eternity Dragons, are the rarest species of dragon in Tithe. They are massive creatures the size of islands with the body of a turtle and a head and tail resembling those of a Chinese dragon, with long snouts, whispy, facial-hair like scales on their faces and barbells which hang from their noses and allow them to find prey in muddy water. They are one of the only species of dragon which cannot fly. They were called Eternity Dragons because Turtle Dragons do not generally need to eat. They occasionally were seen long ago devouring a whale or a massive amount of seaweed, but Turtle Dragons only seemed to eat when they absolutely had to. Turtle Dragons were hunted for hundred of years by entire crews of whalers for their shells, which have actual jewels embedded in them, and scales, which shine in all seven colors of the rainbow. It is incredibly difficult to kill a turtle dragon as their shells are nearly unbreakable and they can retreat inside of said shells when attacked, but there weren’t a lot of them to kill, considering that Turtle Dragons only breed once every thousand years. An adult Turtle Dragon hasn’t been seen in one-hundred-fifty years, and the Fairfolk priests aren’t exactly telling where they got their baby Turtle Dragons from. 

Now Mitos is only about seven years old, so he is not yet island-sized. He is a big fellow, though, about twelve feet long, sixteen with the tail, eleven feet wide, and five-and-a-half feet tall, so about the size of a small SUV (but shorter). He weighs around three thousand pounds. Mitos resembles a very colorful tortoise with a black shell like a painted turtle which is very glossy and sparkles like a pile of gemstones when the light strikes it right. Mitos has legs like a tortoise, allowing him to travel across land, but also webbing between his toes, allowing him to swim. His toes are tipped with black dragon claws. Mitos’ tail is relatively short and stubby, about four feet long and very thick. Jagged black spines run down the tail. Mitos’ head is reminiscent of that of a Chinese Dragon, with a long snout, a piglike nose, and eyes set above his snout facing forward. Mitos possesses very large yellow eyes with black pupils in the middle and small stubs of horns atop his head. There is a bit of scaly stubble under his chin, but he does not yet possess the beard of larger Eastern dragons. He possesses adult-looking barbells, however. Mitos’ scales are feather-shaped, and are gemstone versions of all seven colors of the rainbow (ruby, orange topaz, gold, emerald, sapphire, blue topaz, and amethyst). These scales individually are translucent, and when light strikes Mitos’ scales he seems to glow. Though adult Turtle Dragons do not need to eat, Mitos eats constantly, always stopping by the road and taking a chomp out of whatever greenery is present. His favorite food is cabbage. 

Mitos is young and naive, but he is still useful in a fight. He is incredibly strong, firstly, able to lift about 30,000 pounds. He has yet to learn how to breathe fire, but can generate a magical spark which can send enemies flying backwards and inflict minor burns if they’re up close. Dragonbreath in itself is extremely pure, and the heat from the fires within the dragons cause the breath to be great at sterilizing things. Being a dragon, Mitos’ scales are incredibly resistant to damage, and arrows cannot penetrate through them. Mitos’ shell is nearly indestructible, able to take a direct hit from a cannon ball without a scratch (because I own the rp and I do what I want, that’s why). Mitos generally is used by Iro as a beast of burden, carrying travelling supplies, firewood, and blankets on its back. 

Other: [/hider]

[hider=The Wonderful and Magnificent Apollos Dominic del Orarius!] 

Name: Apollos Dominico del Orarius 
Age: 33
gender: male 
Species: Halfling 
Kingdom of Origin: Nepharie 

Physical appearance: Apollos is small and lean, very muscular in a way more fitting of a gymnast and less of a football player. He is a halfling of slightly above-average size at 5’6” and 145 lbs, an inch or so taller than your average human. He is barrel-chested with narrow shoulders and a small build. He has arms of about average length and good-sized legs, both of which are quite fit-looking. His fingers are short and his grasp strong. Apollos stands in a generally athletic position, with his feet at shoulder width and his knees slightly bent. His general posture is to fold his arms across his chest in a closed sort of manner, and his head is tilted up slightly in an arrogant sort of way; he wreaks of overconfidence. When in large crowds, Apollos has a tendency to look over his shoulder often, as if expecting his shadow to jump out at him. Apollos’ skin is mediterranean in color, similar to both Greek and Italian heritages. He has a large scar on the right side of his body, courtesy of a sword fight with a ship captain many years ago. 

Apollos’ head is somewhat large and oval-shaped, with a somewhat pointy cleft chin and rounded facial features. He has a romanesque nose and small lips which are usually in a half-cocked smile, even when he’s angry. His eyes are hazel in color and are narrow and deep set around his thin nose. He has long, somewhat thick eyebrows which are black in color. Apollos hair is black and long, coming down to the base of his neck. He generally combs it back to keep it neat and out of his face. Apollos’ ears are pointy like an elf’s and are mostly covered by his hair, though they stick out slightly from under it. Apollos has a black mustache and goatee combo which he keeps well-trimmed. Apollos’ voice is husky and distinctly spanish, reminiscent of Antonio Banderas. 

Attire: Apollos’ wardrobe is generally black and grey, and dark green. He wears a long-sleeved charcoal grey button-up tunic with a fat obsidian-colored dragonhide belt around his waist and a heavy gold buckle, which acts as his utility belt. From his belt hangs two cutlasses in sheaths, as well as a small treasure chest-shaped box, about eight inches long. He wears dragonhide vambraces of the same color of the belt on both of his forearms, and the left one holds his dagger (which will be talked about later) in a sheath. He wears a black mantle (a short sleeveless cloak which covers the shoulders). On his lower half, Apollos wears a pair of black trousers and high black dragonhide boots. His bow is slung around his back, a three-foot-long compound bow made of enchanted yew. Apollos has no quiver. Over the tunic and mantle, Apollos generally wears a black hooded cloak. When trying to be stealthy, Apollos will put the hood of the cloak over his head to cover his face, but when not trying to be stealthy he wears a rather flamboyant black cavalier hat with a phoenix feather in it (phoenix feathers are scarlet red).  

When in battle, Apollos wears different gear (which he stores in the box on his hip, which I’ll talk about later). Apollos loses the mantle when fighting, and replaces it with a breastplate made of dragonhide with plates of steel over it, protecting his chest and back. On his shoulders he wears dragonhide spaulders and he wears steel-and-dragonhide rerebraces on his upper arms. he adds a plate of steel to the outside of his vambraces, and puts on shin guards also made of dragonhide and steel on his shins, over the boots. He wears fingerless dragonhide gloves on his hands. 

Personality: Apollos as a person is much like cilantro; you either love him or you hate him. He is a cunning and intuitive individual who, despite having little formal schooling, possesses a form of street smarts unmatched by nearly every foe he encounters. He is a person dedicated to finesse, with a certain style and flare which charms some and pisses off others. He’s a generally whimsical guy who tries to have fun with everything he’s doing; if Apollos isn’t having fun, whatever he’s doing is gonna be half-assed. Apollos has a very adventurous nature and is incredibly reckless. He will do things like dive into a swarm of enemies armed only with his swords if he knows it will be enjoyable. He loves the idea of chivalry and, though Apollos is not a moral or virtuous man, he likes to act like he’s one, saving maidens and rescuing the innocent not because he cares about them, but because in his mind that’s just what great adventurers do. He is incredibly competitive, and can never back down from a challenge should his pride get hurt. He is quite creative as well, with good awareness of his surroundings. He utilizes his environment in acts of both love and war to turn the odds in his advantage. 

Speaking of love, I should now take a few moments to explain everything that you don’t like about Apollos, starting with his blatant hedonism. The problem with being a master outlaw who’s constantly fighting for his life is that you never know what will be your last moment. Any night, Apollos could have his throat slit by a bandit or get stabbed on his way home from a bar. Due to this thought occurring to Apollos on a daily basis, he acts in many situations with practically no morality whatsoever. He’s more or less a slave to his own desires, drinking excessive amounts of expensive liquor and sleeping with prostitutes on an almost regular basis (much to the chagrin of his travelling companion and romantic partner Asher). He is sinfully unfaithful and nearly corrosive to be around when drunk; he curses like a sailor when intoxicated. Also, while Apollos might be brave and pseudo-chivalrous, he’s also got an ego the size of a large island. He is incredibly prideful, believing himself to be the greatest adventurer and bandit this world has ever seen, and has no problem proving his prowess in combat to anyone with differing opinions on that matter. He’s generally a laid back and extroverted guy, but when his ego is wounded, he is a bear to deal with.

 While Apollos is kind of a douche, he still has a dream that many humans share; he wants to be remembered. In Apollos’ mind, being remembered is having stories written about you for centuries to come, like the great heroes of the story books he read as a child. While Apollos’ version of being remembered is through infamy rather than fame, he still chases that dream no matter where it takes him. In the end, it doesn’t really matter to Apollos how many monstrous men he’s killed or how much gold he’s collected, the real prize is heroism and fame. One day, long after his grave has crumbled and his body is reduced to naught but dust rolling across the empty plains, the name Apollos Dominico del Orarius will carry on the wind for miles and strike fear into the heart of every villain and cowardly mugger. 

Hobbies/interests: Apollos has done a wide variety of things to pass the time in his life, but they all have two things in common; they’re generally adventurous and can never be put on your tax return. He has been a thief, a mercenary, a pirate, and a spy. Apollos likes doing challenging things that require him to test his skills. He duels opponents frequently as he loves testing his swordplay, though he always lets them live because that’s what adventurers do. He also enjoys stealing things and then giving some of the money from the heist to the poor because that’s what adventurers do (if you can’t tell, there’s a theme here). He likes games like chess because they’re intellectual and he’s actually good at them, in a way proving wrong the stigma that only smart wizards can play chess. Apollos’ guilty pleasure is sailing. He dreams of one day spending his days in the tropics, lounging on a nice catamaran with Asher laying next to him wearing a negligible amount of clothing. 

Skills: Apollos has practically hardwired himself for battle, but he has some skills and pastimes which he is skilled in besides knocking heads and stealing jewels. For one, Apollos is a fairly good leatherworker. He learned the art while in Olenport, as an indentured servant to a tanner. Apollos occasionally practices leatherworking in his spare time and has become quite skilled at making leather armor and whips. He has an excellent awareness of his surroundings, which makes him sneaky and good at picking up on hints in his surroundings which thus extend his life (like hearing the husband of the girl he’s having intercourse with stomping up the steps of the tavern inn so he can vault out of the window naked before being caught (which he actually did once). He’s a skilled sailor and equestrian. 

Backstory: Apollos’ story begins in Alterum, where he was born. Alterum is a Nepharie city built in the treetops of the Central Forests of Nepharie. Apollos’ mother was a human and his father was an elf soldier. When Apollos was very young, his mother caught a disease known as Fire Plague (a disease known for a high fever and red rashes on the skin) and died. The only parent Apollos ever knew was his father, a strict, cold man who decided from an early age that Apollos was going to be a soldier like he was no matter what the boy said. From the time Apollos could walk, his father taught him army drills. One of his first birthday presents from his father was a wooden sword, which they would practice armed combat with. Despite his father’s desires, however, Apollos didn’t want to be a soldier. Soldiering was boring and dry to Apollos, though he did like swordplay and fighting. Apollos wanted to be an adventurer like the men in stories he read as a child were. Of course, Apollos was always too afraid to tell his father this, and went along with military drills with few friends. By age ten, Apollos would go hunting with his father frequently and learned to shoot a bow and arrow in stationary style. All of this was well and good for Apollos, as he enjoyed hunting, but he just wanted something more than drills and protocol for his life; he wanted to be a hero in a story book. 

When Apollos turned thirteen, he simply could not hold it in anymore. He began to become rebellious, and his father came to believe that his newfound friends were the cause. They argued frequently for about a year until Apollos finally could not take it anymore and ran away, claiming that he would find his own destiny. He set off during a rainstorm and never saw his father again. He made his way south using directions from peasants and innkeepers to find his way through the winding roads of Nepharie until he arrived at Port Orarius, where, while at a tavern one day, he heard the stories of adventure and treasure on the high seas. He almost immediately decided that he was going to be a sailor. The next day, he boarded a Nepharie galleon called “The Hoary Geyser”, a dull greyish wooden sailing ship with a dull, greyish crew. He became a cabin boy on the ship simply through convenience, and soon after the ship set sail. 

For about six months, Apollos travelled the Tropics on the Hoary Geyser, eventually being promoted to sailor after he climbed the riggings to the mainmast during a hurricane and cut a rope to lower a sail that was stuck unfurled, saving the crew’s life. Shortly after this incident, however, the Hoary Geyser was attacked by a band of vicious pirates, who robbed the ship while it was transporting gold from a trading post to Orarius and stole every cent. While many of Apollos’ crewmates staunchly refused to surrender to the pirates, Apollos realized how great of a life they really had. Pirates were rich and adventurous, confined to no rules but the command of their lawless captain. Immediately he surrendered and asked to join the pirate crew. The second mate of the pirate ship didn’t like this, and so he tried to beat Apollos up. The two got in a fight and Apollos, using what his father taught him, stole the second mate’s sword and beheaded him. This impressed the pirate captain, who decided that a boy ballsy enough to take on a pirate warrior and win was deserving of a spot on his crew. Apollos became the third mate on the pirate ship, which was known as The Valkyrie. 

For three and a half years, Apollos travelled the seas as an officer on the Valkyrie, raiding ships and stealing gold. During one particular raid, the first mate and captain were both killed by a particularly powerful mage, which by default made Apollos captain of the Valkyrie. As pirate captain, Apollos broke the record for the most raids on Nepharie ships and became an icon of fear and dread in the Tropics. Of course he didn’t want his name getting out as a notorious pirate, so he called himself Captain Blacksun, which only a few crewmembers knowing his true name. While travelling on the ship, Apollos honed his swordplay ability and became a master swordsman. About three years into the voyages, Apollos’ ship was hit by a massive storm and was wrecked upon the rocks of the Isle of Dread, a terrible, disgusting place ruled by wicked gorgons and the dreaded Zephyrs, a race of strange creatures who could spin so fast that they turned into dust tornadoes of bladed claws. He alone survived both the wreck and the island, and after about three-and-a-half months of surviving there in the frigid winter was picked up by a trading ship, which took him to Olenport. 

Apollos hung out in Olenport for a little while, working as the apprentice to a tanner and stealing on the side. Apollos became a bit of a loose cannon in the crime world, often stealing and working with highwaymen one day and the next day beating those same highwaymen up to protect people from them. He became a general nuisance in the crime community of Olenport such that an organization of bandits struck a deal with the city guards to get rid of Apollos. After nearly being assassinated twice (one time killing his attacker and the second having an arrow miss his head by two inches), he decided that it was time to leave. Apollos left the city and travelled across Talbor into Nepharie, where he found himself once more in his place of birth; Alterum.  

Apollos arrived at Alterum almost exactly five years after he first left. Upon arriving, he decided to try to make amends with his father. But, when Apollos arrived at his old childhood home in the trees, he found that his father was no longer there; he had gone to war shortly after Apollos ran away and died fighting the gnomes. In his last days, Apollos’ father became so upset from his son’s fleeing that he turned to alcohol, and it was speculated that he died because he was fighting while drunk. Apollos sunk into a state of despair. He bought the home back and stayed there, weeping over what he had done, often turning to alcohol himself. He even tried to kill himself once, but a young housemaid by the name of Marie happened to walk in while he was attempting the act and talked him off of the ledge (which then resulted in Apollos losing his virginity). For four years, Apollos lived in Alterum once more, living with Marie and putting his life back together. About three months after his ordeal, Apollos met a nearby hunter who had a very interesting way of firing arrows; unlike most men who put the arrow on the ride side of the bow when shooting right-handed, this particular hunter put his arrow on the left side of the bow, and he held extra arrows in his hand instead of in a quiver on his back. He could fire arrows so quickly and accurately that he could put four arrows in a deer before it even realized that it had been shot. Intrigued, Apollos convinced the hunter to teach him this technique, and after three and a half long years of constant practice, Apollos became a great combat archer. 

Not long after, Apollos was nearly murdered again, this time by a band of highwaymen who he had fought in a brief stay in Maceron. He was able to use his sword combat combined with his new close-range archery skills to slay the attackers, but not before they burned his house and raped his beloved bride to be. He left a few days later, realizing how much he threatened the safety of his friends and family.

He travelled alone for a while, moving north through Nepharie and eventually into the Wilderness, where he hoped to bury his name. Of course, this didn’t work well; before he got north of Brighton he had a band of highwaymen after him. While running from the men, Apollos ran across a patch of uneven ground, which collapsed under his weight. He found himself in an abandoned underground dungeon, rusted and crumbling. The dungeon was empty, not even insects living in it, and the collapsed cells occasionally contained decomposed skeletons so grey they looked like they’d fall apart if you touched them. At the end of the dungeon was a treasure room, with chests overflowing with gold and jewels. In the center of the treasure room was a small wooden chest about eight inches long which, upon opening, Apollos discovered was much larger on the inside than the outside. He placed some of the jewelry and gold inside and made off like a bandit, now with a considerable fortune to trade with. He travelled to Brighton, where he sold some of the jewelry and gold. While in Brighton, Apollos came across a human brigand by the name of Wilt. Wilt, like Apollos, was being pursued by outlaws, and after the two fought together against a group of highwaymen they decided to get to the bottom of the attacks on them once and for all. 

Apollos discovered after interrogating a few living attackers that the man who was trying to have him killed was a wealthy master thief in Olenport by the name of Dante. Apparently while in Olenport, Apollos killed Dante’s brother, which prompted him send thieves from the city’s bandit gangs to hunt down and kill Apollos. Apollos and Wilt travelled to Olenport and attempted to kill Dante. A fight broke out and in the chaos Apollos managed to cut off Dante’s right arm, fatally wounding him. Dante bled to death and as a prize, Apollos took his dagger, a tool which was fabled to be able to open any lock in Tithe. Wilt died in the fighting, having been shot in the leg by a longbowman’s arrow and then stabbed through the chest by one of Dante’s goons. Apollos found Dante’s treasure room and brought a substantial amount of the gold in it to Wilt’s family, since Wilt died too poor to have an inheritance. 

By the time all of this was over, Apollos was twenty-five, right in his prime. He decided at that point that he was going to travel the world and become the greatest thief to ever live. He found soon after killing Dante that the magic dagger did indeed open any lock it was jabbed into, and Apollos used this to pull of robberies on banks and jewel stores, amassing a huge fortune. He built his own treasure room in the ruins of an old Jackal temple in West Dorakis and, after discovering a wizard with the ability to cast internal enlargement spells, had a fleet of full-size treasure chests built which flank the treasure room, holding all of the gold which Apollos has stolen. He travelled north, generally taking companions with him on his adventures, which he has had many of. He hunted a Nemean Lion in Jikari, battled a centaur tribe attacking a Talbor colony in the Wilderness, killed one of the last of the evil Gorgon Witches to protect a young woman from being cursed, fought with the Glacial Knights against a Minotaur raid, stole the king of Nepharie’s crown (he returned it a few days later), and famously pilfered the Juvegol Diamond reserve, stealing millions of dollars worth of precious gems (some of which he returned with a note saying that he did it for fun, not for money). Apollos has had a variety of companions on his travels across Tithe. He worked with Sir Reginald Pierce, a Knight of the Ram sent to make a map of the Wilderness, for a few years before he returned home. While in the Northlands, Apollos worked with both a Glacial Knight named Sir Moroz and the famous heavy cavalry commander turned monster hunter Arroth Blount. Nowadays, Apollos travels the world with the beautiful Asher Orchis, a shade who he met at a bar in Pyreton (a large Wilderness city). Asher is the only female companion Apollos has yet to travel with, and unlike most attractive women with whom Apollos is one and done, they are attempting to hold together an actual romantic relationship, the first Apollos has had since he left Marie (who, by the way, killed herself after he left. Nice going Apollos). 

Family: Apollos has no family left. His father and mother are both dead and he never had any siblings. His fiancee killed herself and he’s never met any of his other family members. 

Relationships: 

Asher Orchis | Loving(-ish) | Girlfriend/lover | “Asher is beautiful, kind, humble (maybe a little too humble), everything which I desire in a woman. But yet at the same time, I feel as if getting too close to her could cause what happened between myself and Marie to happen again.” 

Weaponry: Large weapon: Bow and arrow (x35 arrows due to the magic chest). Medium weapons: two cutlasses. Small weapons: Magic dagger, knight dagger
Apollos’ signature weapon is his elf compound bow, a weapon about three feet long and made of redwood. The bow’s tips are reinforced with steel spikes which Apollos can use to block attacks. He fires steel-tipped arrows with phoenix feathers attached which cause the arrows to ignite on contact with an enemy. Apollos also carries with him two steel cutlasses a little under two feet long each. He is highly-adept with these swords from years of training and in a pinch can actually use them as throwing weapons. Apollos’ magic dagger is a stiletto about six inches long and made of unicorn horn, one of the strongest materials in Tithe, with a silver hilt. Its blade narrows down to a very thin point which, if inserted into any lock, causes the lock to open. It isn’t particularly tailored for combat, despite being incredibly sharp and pointy. For actual combat, Apollos uses an eight-inch knight dagger which he keeps in a sheath on his left vambrace. It is his backup weapon, which he resorts to only when completely disarmed. 

Abilities: Apollos is a warrior by trade, unmatched in his skill and finesse with sword and bow alike. Apollos is trained in ancient war archery, allowing him to fire several arrows in rapid succession. He keeps arrows in the chest on his hip so that they are easily accessible and do not take up precious space. In the course of about two seconds, Apollos can let fly three arrows. He can even fight with a bow from short range, using the bladed tips to parry strikes. In addition to this, Apollos is a master swordsman, able to use two cutlasses at once in combat. He is very agile in combat, able to dodge attacks and strike very quickly. Apollos is a master of stealth as well, good at sneaking by enemies. 
Weaknesses: Firstly, Apollos is incredibly prideful. Apollos loves him some Apollos. This is a disadvantage as far as combat goes because if insulted or goaded, Apollos can become angry and irrational while fighting, causing his form to break down. Secondly, while Apollos is certainly no lightweight, he is all about finesse and skills, not about brute strength. Apollos doesn't have the muscle of larger, bulkier foes, and while he can dance his way around many attacks, a straight on full-force blow is going to send him for a ride. 

Companion: Apollos’ travelling companions change a lot. At present, he is travelling with Asher Orchis, a shade (coming soon to a character sheet near you). Apollos owns a black horse by the name of Ventus, which he rides. 

Other:  [/hider] 

[hider=Jake and Yang Tou] 
If you see Luke referred to at any time as “Jake” please let me know. My brain decided to start calling him something different mid-sheet and I tried to correct every time I did it. 

[b]Name:[/b] Luke Feng and Yang Tou 
 [b]Age:[/b] 44 (comparative to mid twenties in human years) and five (with the mindset of someone much older), respectively 
[b]Gender:[/b] male. Yang Tou is genderless, but if it had a gender it would be male 
[b]Species:[/b] Gnome and golem, respectively 
[b]Kingdom of Origin:[/b] Ostracus 

[b]Physical appearance:[/b] Let’s start with Luke, as he looks less weird. Luke is of slightly below-average height, being 2’10” and weighing something like 80 lbs. His skin is coppery in complexion, reminiscent of the people of Mongolia. He has a stocky build, slightly chubby around the midsection, with thick arms, solid-looking legs, and stubby fingers. He stands generally with his feet spread apart and his arms across his chest, like he’s ready to spring into action at any moment. He has narrow shoulders and a short neck upon which sits his head, which is somewhat elliptical in shape, with a large cranium and a high forehead. Luke keeps his head shaved, a sign of wealth in Ostracus. Luke has somewhat babyfaced features, with plump cheeks and a rounded chin that make him look considerably younger. He has large ears and a mongoloid nose, wide and flat. Luke’s mouth is rather small and his teeth somewhat crooked. He has thin arching eyebrows set low above his eyes and eyes which are large and  somewhat slanted. His eyes are dark brown in pigmentation.

He is somewhat based off of [url=http://www.westheimphoto.com/lightbox/gallery/AsiaStockPhotosJohannGudbjargarson/MNGjg007.jpg] This picture [/url] but he looks a little younger. 

Yang Tou, however is a different story. Yang Tou is an enormous being, eight feet tall and weighing several tons. Being a golem, Yang Tou is made entirely out of rock which, in its case, is copper ore. Most of Yang Tou’s body is brown rock mixed with sparkling brown ore, but chunks missing from the torso and shoulders reveal that under the rock and brown ore is a layer of beautiful green oxidized copper. It is humanoid in shape, which a wide, muscular-looking body made of rounded chunks of ore. Each segment of Yang Tou’s body is a different individual piece of rock, with the torso divided into five rocks; two shoulders, two pecs, and a stomach. Yang Tou’s shoulders are notably enormous, and it has four-fingered hands on the end of its long arms. Its legs aren’t as thick as its arms (though still quite strong) and end in a foot piece continuous with the shin which has no toes. Its head sits on an almost nonexistent neck and is a squatty, oblong shape. It has asymmetrical eyes which glow copper green and a large mouth which appears to be made from a large crevice in the rock. Despite having no ears, Yang Tou is capable of hearing.


[b]Attire:[/b] Luke wears a Shenyi, a special kind of silk robe which citizens of Ostracus wear. Different social classes wear different colors (because I love me some Brave New World). Luke is a Gongunin, an artisan class. Luke wears an earth-toned shenyi due to this, which is a forest green with an earthy brown trim. On his feet, Luke wears a pair of simple leather sandals. Around his waist, Luke wears a belt on which his sword is sheathed. The belt is brown, and blends in with the trim of the robe. He wears on his head a green-and-brown [url=http://cdn2.brooklynmuseum.org/images/opencollection/objects/size3/CUR.34.908_side.jpg] Mandarin hat[/url]. 

Yang Tou wears no clothing, but between his shoulders is a wooden chair of sorts on which Luke sits when they travel. The chair is strapped to Yang Tou’s back with a harness. Under the chair, attached to the same harness, is Luke’s travelling supplies. Hanging from the chair’s left arm is a twine sack of clementine-sized oranges, which Luke has charmed to keep the oranges inside from rotting. 

[b]Personality:[/b] Luke is a generally amiable fellow with a taste for exploration. Unlike most of the stuffy, xenophobic gnomes of Ostracus, Luke is very extroverted and explorative. He loves travelling to new lands and seeing new faces, and is generally cordial to all. He’s very good natured and, while he lacks some in the mental facilities department, is usually a cool guy to be around. He loves telling stories of adventures which may or may not have happened to him while on his adventures. Basically, he’s a great guy to be around at a campfire. While Luke may be kind and polite, he’s also incredibly naive and rather lacking in the common sense department. Luke does some really stupid stuff from time to time (like try to walk up to a sleeping dragon) and his tendency to see the best in people often gets him into trouble. Morally, Luke is more of a deontological kind of guy, with strict rules that he does not break. He tries not to exploit people and often feels the need to give something to people who help him. A big character trait of Luke is his resilience. It’s not easy being a gnome outside of Ostracus, but even though he is often insulted or denied service at more conservative places, Luke never seems to be bothered by this. He is run by an idea that one day he will show the Eastern World just how great gnomes can be if you don’t run a them with a torch in one hand and a battleaxe in the other.  

With that in mind, Yang Tou presents an excellent foil to Luke. Yang Tou, being a living rock, isn’t exactly what you’d call “smart”. But, while Yang Tou doesn’t have much book smarts, he is somewhat wise; he’s much more pragmatic than Jake, knowing when to fight and when to run, though he’d totally bomb a math test. Yang Tou is quiet and serious, very rarely speaking. He only speaks Gnomish, unlike Jake who learned the usual english through centaur traders, and so most other people find him to be completely unintelligible. Yang Tou is extremely protective of Jake, and has an almost fatherly affection towards him, often getting angry with him for doing foolish things but never abandoning him. Yang Tou is also somewhat xenophobic, often acting irritated and brash when exposed to new faces. 

[b]Hobbies/interests:[/b] Jake’s yearning in life is to explore and travel. He loves seeing new cultures and learning new languages and cuisines. He loves to paint and cook, often trying out ways to bridge Gnomish and Eastern styles in both art and cooking. Jake eats a ton, and, though he has a very low alcohol tolerance, will occasionally frequent pubs to chat with the other citizens. Jake’s favorite thing to do is sit in the middle of a Nephari tavern or Talborian pub and chat with travellers while sipping at some classic Gnomish herbal tea, trading stories and learning new experiences. Luke’s favorite snack is an orange, and he keeps a bag of them hanging from his chair on Yang Tou’s back. He has a fascination with the stars and stargazing, and knows the names of every constellation by heart. 

Yang Tou doesn’t get to go to pubs. Yang Tou spends most of his days walking around with Jake on his back and seeing nature. While he doesn’t seem like the type for it, Yang Tou has come to enjoy looking at nature, and has become very appreciative of its beauty. He often spends time looking up at the sunset or the blooming starts in the night sky while Luke explores, waiting for the poor little fool to piss someone off so he can come smashing through to save him. Again. 

[b]Skills:[/b] Well Jake probably wouldn’t be a cartographer if he weren’t a good navigator. Jake spent years studying the stars and learned from centaur traders how to find his location using them. Jake is artistically gifted as well, possessing enough skill at least to draw a good map. He’s a decent cook, though his “hybrid” creations often fall flat (nothing says “home-cooked-meal” like chimera-fried rice with Doraki curry on it). 

Yang Tou’s skills consist of walking, smashing things, carrying stuff, and smashing more things. He also kills it on the tambourine. 

[b]Backstory:[/b] Jake was born in the small Ostracan town of Shanling, the son of an enchanter. Being artisans (enchanters magically fortify armor and building materials), Jake was born into the Gongunin caste, the fourth-highest caste under priests, soldiers, and royal officials. Jake was the fourth of seven children, two of which died very young (the family’s seventh child died in childbirth and the child right after Jake died of smallpox). Jake’s childhood is fairly...unexciting. His family was fairly rich, as his father had a good, high-paying job and his two eldest brothers took home a military paycheck. But life got kinda...boring for Jake after a while. His father occasionally took trips with him to other parts of Ostracus, but Jake found it all to be pretty boring, as all of Ostracus pretty much looked the same to him. What really interested Jake was the environment outside of Ostracus, but the wars were raging between Nepharie and his homeworld, and so he was not permitted to travel outside of the country. When Centaur traders or Dorak merchants came to town, Jake was the first one to run off towards them. He learned a good bit of english (illegally) through the centaur traders, and on several occasions attempted to smuggle away in their things so he could see the outside world. 

When Jake turned twenty, he was sent to the Academy to study astronomy. While Jake found the stars to be interesting (and astronomers were noble members of society in Ostracus), but at the same time studying to sit in a dusty observatory all day and never see the outside world. He graduated after a few years and decided that he was going to travel some and see where he could find more interesting work. He got a job in the south of Ostracus as a cartographer’s apprentice, mapping towns and roads. The specific cartographer who he worked for was attempting to make a map of all of Ostracus, but he hadn’t travelled to some of the areas farther North. So, he sent Jake north to explore and sketch maps of the roads and towns. He travelled to all of the towns in the north of Ostracus and even got a chance to travel into some of the Wilderness colonies past the border (though shortly after he left them the Nepharie army took them over). On his way back, though Jake took a detour into the eroded mountains of northwestern Ostracus, where he found a large cave and, out of curiosity, entered it. 

Inside of the cave was a massive beast, a fifteen-foot-tall grotesque humanoid made of what appeared to be green jade. It had four arms and a bald, ugly head on which were two tusks which jutted from the corners of its mouth. It sat in a meditating pose in front of a lake of molten copper, as if asleep. When it sensed Jake’s presence, the creature turned angry and rose from its meditation, suddenly sprouting a massive pair of dragonlike wings. Just as it was about to attack him, Jake conjured a golem from the copper in the walls of the cave and defended the attack. Yang Tou was born. The newly-made sentient golem and the monster battled for several minutes before Jake was able to escape with the golem and get out of the cave. 

 He returned to the cartographer a new man with a new passion; he was going to be an explorer. He worked with the cartographer to get some money and help with the map and, after it was all over, decided that he was going to make a map of all of Tithe. He announced this to the new emperor, who decided to grant him permission to leave Ostracus (this was shortly after the wall was built) and make a map of Tithe. Ever since, Jake and his trusty golem sidekick have travelled Tithe, attempting to draw an accurate map and meet as many new people as they can. 


[b]Family:[/b] 
Farin Feng: Father -114
Mara Feng: Mother - 108
Zanshi Feng: Brother - 56
Shou Feng: Brother - 56
Meia Feng: Sister - 48
Xuan Feng: Brother (deceased) - would be 41
Dashi Feng: Sister - 41
Hella cousins, uncles, and aunts. 


[b]Relationships:[/b]


[b]Weaponry:[/b] Luke is able to use magic (which I will talk about later) and carries with him a steel scimitar about a foot long. He carries no other weapons. Yang Tou is a weapon, so he doesn’t carry any.
[b]Abilities:[/b] Luke, firstly, is a fairly-capable gnomish mage, able to use the four elements of light magic but not yet able to combine them past mud and dust. He knows a little bit of potion-making from university, and also is a pretty good golem-maker, able to control up to two golems at one time (not counting Yang Tou who is somewhat of an anomaly as you’ll read below). Luke isn’t a particularly skilled swordsman, but if his life absolutely depended on it he could probably figure out which end the pointy one is. 

Yang Tou is an anomaly that very seldom exists in golems. Most golems are created, pop into existence for a bit, do their masters’ biddings, and then disintegrate. Yang Tou, however, is one of the few examples of a sentient golem, a golem who was created with a particularly powerful blast of magic and was then kept in existence for a while. This means that Yang Tou exists as an entity unto himself (even though his sheet is tied in with Luke’s) and can move independently without Luke’s commands. That being said, Yang Tou is the muscle of the duo. He is able to lift extremely heavy amounts of weight and punches with quite a force. Yang Tou is quite durable as well, as he is made out of rock (though his copper core isn’t as strong as his rocky outside). Yang Tou cannot use magic. 

[b]Weaknesses:[/b] Luke in himself is not a fighter. While he carries a sword, it isn’t of much use to him and he’s somewhat naive, so he can be easily tricked. While he can use magic, he can’t use it offensively as well as he can use it defensively. His naivety and greenness in combat is balanced by Yang Tou’s strength and warrior’s soul, though Yang Tou is somewhat slow mentally. Basically what I’m saying is that Luke and Yang Tou complete each other, so if you separate them they turn from one hard-to-beat team to two easy-to-conquer foes. 

[b]Companion:[/b] Luke and Yang Tou travel together. Yang Tou would qualify as Luke’s mount, but Yang Tou was cool enough to warrant his own section of the sheet. 

 [b]Other:[/b] (anything I didn’t cover in this sheet.)

[/hider] 


[hider=Asher Stormfront]
[b]Name:[/b] Asher Stormfront, also known as Lady Claire Fleur 
[b]Age:[/b] 68 (though she claims to be and looks like 30-31) 
[b]Gender:[/b] female 
[b]Species:[/b] Fairy of the Stormfront Clan 
[b]Kingdom of Origin:[/b] Concordius 

[b]Physical appearance:[/b] Asher is a short, delicate-looking woman, standing at about 5’0” and weighing 70-ish lbs. She’s built very small and almost fragile-looking, with slender arms and legs and little muscle tone. Her build gives her an almost insect-like appearance, and her skin, which is a dull bluish-purple, supports this. She has long, spindly arms with small hands and thin, spider-like fingers. Her nails almost resemble claws, being dark in coloration and pointed. She has small, smooth feet and skinny legs which lead to slightly curvy hips and a somewhat scrawny midsection. Her breasts are not particularly impressive or pneumatic (to coin Aldous Huxley’s word), and if she exhales too deeply, her ribs show underneath her skin. She has modest, slightly bony shoulders and a long, slender neck. The most noticeable feature of Asher’s body, though, is her wings. Asher’s wings are butterfly-shaped, and are trimmed in black with splashes of blue, purple, and silver across them. When light shines through Asher’s wings, it is filtered like light through a prism. The wings are fairly large and can limitedly fold up against Asher’s back, making them more manageable to deal with when, say, wearing clothing. 

Asher’s head is generally heart-shaped, with an angular chin and high cheekbones. She’s rather attractive in the facial area, with a small, smooth nose and almond-shaped violet eyes which seem to glow in low light. She has thin eyebrows and full eyelashes that look like they could make tornadoes if she batted them hard enough. Her face is framed neatly by black hair which comes down to the small of her back when kept down. Asher, however, doesn’t like her hair blowing all willy-nilly, so she tends to wear her hair in a French braid. Her ears are small and lay against her head. One ear is tucked under her hair usually. 

Asher stands properly, with perfect posture and a slightly upturned head, something she took away from years of etiquette lessons. She steps carefully and gracefully, putting one foot before the other, and seldom ever trips. She speaks with a low and somewhat humble voice that has a very slight English accent. 

[b]Attire:[/b] WARNING: I do not know anything about even modern women’s clothing, so don’t expect me to know medieval clothing. Being the daughter of a wealthy nobleman, Asher dresses in a very posh and formal way. She wears a fancy royal blue dress trimmed in silver. [url=http://www.theknightshop.co.uk/catalog/images/120003-1.jpg] Because I have no idea how to even begin to describe this, here’s a picture. Just imagine this in royal blue with a silver trim.[/url] This dress has an opening in the back where her wings stick out (so she can, y’know, fly without being naked). Around her neck, Asher wears a silver necklace with a pendant of blue topaz on it, [url=http://www.kay.com/images/products/3727/372771903_MV_ZM.jpg]which looks like this.[/url] This pendant was given to her by her father, and has magical properties (which I will talk about later). Asher generally wears a pair of black lady janes on her feet, though while in Concordius she generally goes barefoot (because it’s considered respectful to remove one’s shoes in the presence of the Holy Land). Over her dress, Asher wears a black travelling cloak (when she’s travelling, that is). Asher wears a belt pouch on her right side which hold some little magical trinkets and such for making potions on the run. 

[b]Personality:[/b] Though she appears and stands like a noblewoman, Asher tends not to act much like one. She’s a very shy and humble girl, not particularly proud of her family’s illustrious and powerful progeny because she has seen the rottenness within. What Asher really wants more than anything else to just to be left alone. She feels uncomfortable in crowds when there isn’t someone she knows with her, and tends to try not to talk to people when the opportunity is present. This all stems from her general self-consciousness and socially-awkward nature. She nit-picks everything that she does, every movement of her body and every word she says, and when she messes up or says something foolish she grills herself for it. She is especially self-conscious about her physical appearance, especially her weight. Asher is very underweight for someone of her size, and this has been afflicted by her own hand; for years she attempted to starve herself to be as thin as others and on several occasions passed out from hunger. Her father eventually fixed this by brewing a potion to “cure” her anorexia, but she still thinks similarly, always wondering what she would look like if she flipped her braid over her left shoulder or her right one, or rested her hands on her hips as opposed to resting them across her chest. She seems to fidget a lot with such things, and rarely looks comfortable. 

Asher is very secretive and quiet. She grew up in a family full of dark secrets, which taught her to never divulge another person’s information. She very rarely talks about her past or customs of the terrible things she saw which made her want to leave a posh palace for the streets of Tithe. Keeping all of these secrets inside makes Asher feel somewhat strange and unworthy, as if she’s constantly dirty and is scraping grime off of her skin for it to keep coming back. 

Asher has some good qualities too, though. She’s incredibly polite, firstly, and generally tries to be nice to people if she does decide to talk to them (which is unlikely). She’s fairly compassionate as well, often sympathizing with other’s pain and giving fairly good advice. Asher is what the psychological world calls a “fixer”. She loves to bury herself in other people’s problems so she can ignore her own, and her abilities certainly help. Morally, Asher is somewhat grey and can often be rather indecisive. She generally tries to do the right thing, but her anger can get the best of her sometimes. Though Asher is introverted, those who she is friends with she knows exceptionally well, and tries to learn everything about. She’s the friend who remembers everyone’s birthday and the anniversary of every relationship without thinking much. 

[b]Hobbies/interests:[/b] Asher doesn’t really have a lot of free time, though she likes to read. She used to love playing piano when she was little. One thing that Asher really enjoys doing (and has made quite a bit of money off of) is finding rare potion ingredients. She likes the focus and calm that searching for them gives her. Potion-making brings Asher enjoyment as well, as it makes her focus on the exactness of every ingredient. Asher’s favorite food is the tomato, and she’s a huge pasta fan. 

[b]Skills:[/b] Asher’s gifts and attention to detail make her an excellent forager for potion ingredients. She knows where to look for the rarest ingredients, and her experience in ingredient running makes her all the more knowledgeable. Asher’s very smart, book-wise. She was schooled very well in history, mathematics, herbology, and potion-making. Asher’s gift will be discussed in the abilities section, as it will be pivotal in defeating the Red Legion. She has a good memory and is very organized. Asher doesn’t generally lose things. 

[b]Backstory:[/b] In order for you to understand the story of Asher Stormfront, you need to know some information about the Stormfront Family in general. The Stormfronts are an ancient family, their lineage stretching back thousands of years. For the entirety of their existence, Stormfronts have had a certain gift known as The Sight: the ability to see into the future. This made them exceptionally powerful wizards and useful advisors to the kings of various lands, who paid them top dollar for their prophetic visions. The modern-day Stormfront family is headed by Isaiah Stormfront, and operates out of a beautiful, Loire Valley-esque castle on the border of Concordius and Nepharie, in a neutral area owned by the family. 

Asher was born in Stormfront Castle, the tenth of eleven children. She grew up in a household where family was of the most dire importance, and everyone seemed to be very close. From the young age of two, Asher began schooling in a variety of subjects, from etiquette to potion-making, and by age ten she could balance books on her head while walking or brew an anesthetic potion blindfolded. Her father seemed to have a great liking for Asher, and the two were very close. She was the “daddy’s little girl” of the family, always the first to run to Isaiah when she was being teased or bullied. In addition to her father, Asher seemed to take a particular liking to her slightly-older brother Joel (because twenty years is nothing to a Fairfolk). When they were very young, the two would play together, and when they got older they both learned musical instruments and schemed to run away and become troubadors. 

Over the years, Asher grew in magical strength and prowess. She became a pretty powerful witch for someone who had only been training for sixteen years, and by age twenty had mastered the four elements. On her twentieth birthday, however, Asher learned something which would change her life forever. She was pulled into her father’s study, and the two sat by the fire for a while and talked. Isaiah told her the story of the entire Stormfront Clan, from the first Noah Stormfront five thousand years ago to the story of his father Elijah Stormfront, who saved the kingdom of Concordius from losing the war with the Cyclopes by predicting cyclopean attacks and using his powerful magic to repel a regiment of cyclopes single-handedly. Then Isaiah told Asher a terrible truth, that the more diluted the Stormfront Bloodline becomes, the less-powerful the successive generation becomes. One day, he warned, the bloodline would so diluted that they would lose The Sight. Isaiah wasn’t going to let that happen, and nonchalantly he asked Asher to sleep with her brother, Joel. He said that she would bear the next Stormfront son, who would be more powerful than the others. Furthermore, Isaiah ensured Asher that she was not the only member of her household who has had incest with their sibling; he revealed that Asher’s nephew Malachai and niece Noadia were the children of Ezekiel and Miriam. Asher resisted; she wouldn’t do such a terrible thing. She left for her room and stayed there, trying to keep the others out. She became paranoid and reclusive, rarely leaving her room for fear of being raped. One day, she came into her room and saw Joel there, standing by the window. They talked about what their father had said to them, and it almost seemed like Joel was okay with it. Asher was not. Joel moved to kiss her, smartly positioning her between himself and the bed. Asher grabbed an herb-cutting knife from her nightstand and stabbed him. He cried out and collapsed to the ground, bleeding. Horrified with what she had done, Asher dropped the knife and fled out of the window, leaving Joel to die and her hands stained with his blood. 

Unsure of where to go, she fled to the town of Fibini, where she discovered that her father was searching for her. He confronted her after about two weeks in the village square, and began to fight. Asher swore that if he laid a finger on her, she would tell the priests of Concordius about the incest and the Stormfront family would be excommunicated. He reluctantly let her escape, and she fled to the south, to a Jikari city. There, she met Kjed Svero, child of the chieftain Bjorn, and for a while they were romantically involved, as Asher was desperate to clean herself of the guilt which she felt. When Isaiah Stormfront heard that his daughter was fooling around with the child of Bjorn Svero, he was infuriated; how DARE she fornicate with a foreigner! He became angry once more, and chased after her, burning an entire village to the ground to find her. Once more 

Asher escaped, this time to Orarius, where she decided to attend some classes at the Grand Tower to get back into her magic training. Magic, she figured, was the only way she’d be able to defend herself should Isaiah find her. She was much quieter this time, though, and disguised herself as a new person through the use of cosmetic potions. She trained at the Grand Tower for seven years, bettering her magical skills and learning a few new potion-making tricks. After about seven years, though, Asher had her first real vision of the future. 

She saw a mighty dragon bearing down upon an Orcish warrior who she realized almost immediately to be Kjed. He was in a rocky valley, and as she watched a dragon descended and attacked him. He put up a good fight, but it was no match for the monster. It bathed him in flames, and he died. Immediately Asher left for the Lonesome Valley and got there just as Kjed’s hunting party was about to fight an Elder Dragon who had attacked a tribe of herders. With the addition of her magic, Kjed survived and the two were back together once more. They lived together for four years, and it seemed like Asher would marry the young prince. Asher used her Sight on multiple occasions to protect the village from attacks, and even helped defeat a dragon who was hell-bent on destroying the village. Unfortunately, though, Asher’s happiness could not last. It happened that one day, Kjed’s brother Drepe went hunting and was attacked by a wyvern. The dragon killed him brutally, leaving Kjed the only heir to his father. While Kjed loved Asher, he realized that he had a duty to his tribe to produce the next heir after he and his father died. 

So Asher left. She lived in Marisson for a little bit, working as an apprentice for a famous gnome potion-maker there, who sent her all around the region on missions to procure rare potion ingredients. This allowed her to travel across Jikari and the Southern Isles a good deal, though she only worked there for about three years before having another vision. In this vision, she saw a volcano erupting in the North, and she happened to arrive just after Mount Phoenix erupted and engulfed the city of Balkadron. This incident made her decide to use her powers for good. Asher began to travel around, using her Sight to stop tragedies and save lives. Before saving a city, she took a cosmetic potion which changed her appearance to the one she had while in Orarius (a pale-skinned elf girl with red hair, green eyes, and no wings). While Asher Stormfront was almost unknown throughout the land, Claire Fleur (her pseudonym when transformed) became somewhat famous as a gifted witch. She travelled to Ostracus, the Wilderness Colonies, all three regions of Nepharie, and a large bazaar in Dorakis, following prophecies there and saving lives. About five years ago, Chancellor Feuille gave her a knighthood for saving the mayor of Orarius from an assassination attempt. 

About eight months ago, Asher was in Pyreton, brewing potions to make some extra money. This was kind of a down time in her life as a seer; she hadn’t had many visions as of late, and the one which she had (a fire engulfing a massive amount of farmland in the Wilderness) she was unable to stop. There she met Apollos Dominico del Orarius, the swashbuckling master thief and professional adventurer. She found something very attractive in him, reminiscent of what made her love Kjed, and soon they were travelling together, having many adventures around the region. 

[b]Family:[/b]
Isaiah Stormfront: Father -417
Splenda Stormfront: Mother -398
Ezekiel Stormfront: Eldest Brother -300
Miriam Stormfront: Sister -294
Amos Stormfront: Brother -243
Jonah Stormfront: Brother -204
Deborah Stormfront: Sister -160 
Hosea Stormfront: Brother -158 (deceased) 
Hulda Stormfront: Sister -131 
Ruth Stormfront: Sister -103 
Joel Stormfront: Brother -89
Obadiah Stormfront: Brother -33
Malachi Stormfront: -Nephew, son of Ezekiel and Miriam -136
Noadia Stormfront: -Niece, son of Ezekiel and Miriam -123
Zechariah Stormfront: -Nephew, son of Jonah and Deborah -73
Daniel Stormfront -Uncle (deceased) -Would have been 520 
Elijah Stormfront -Grandfather (deceased) -Would have been 1000
Sarai Stormfront -Aunt (and alleged mother of Daniel) -Would have been 590





[b]Relationships:[/b]

| Apollos Dominico del Orarius | Excellent | Lover | “I really love Apollos, but I wish he would be a little less...hedonistic. He can be a dick when he’s drunk. But still, I really don’t want to be alone anymore.” 

| Isaiah Stormfront | Bad | Father | “I once believed my father to be a great and loving man, but now I have seen his true nature; he is a madman, obsessed with purity. I dare him to ever touch him again.” | 

| Kjed Svero | Good | Ex-lover | “I miss dear Kjed sometimes. He may have been rather rash and somewhat unintelligent, but he was just so sweet and lovable. But he has a duty to his tribe, and I cannot deprive him of that.” 

[b]Weaponry:[/b] Asher doesn’t carry any real weapons save an herb-cutting knife, but she does have her magic. Asher is an exceptionally powerful mage, but that will be discussed in the abilities section. Asher carries with her two leather belt pouches, one of which contains potion ingredients and other important objects. The bag contains the following items: 
-1 vial of anesthetic potion (pain relief) 
-1 vial of anti-hemorrhaging potion (stops bleeding) 
-1 vial of sanitization potion (kills gangrene and other infectious bacteria) 
-1 vial of scrying potion (a potion she can use with her Sight) 
-Ingredients to make an anesthetic potion (tonic water, vanilla bean, Matrem’s hair, green tea leaves) 
-Ingredients to make an anti-hemorrhaging potion (bat saliva, willow bark, witch hazel, geranium petals) 
-some gold coins (about fifty on her personally, and she keeps the rest in Apollos’ chest) 
-An herb-cutting knife. 

Asher also carries a few rare potions ingredients in her bag, which she will sell to wizards for money.  

Around Asher’s neck is a blue topaz pendant. She received this pendant from her father many years ago. It acts as a magic-strengthening agent, making her spells more powerful. 

[b]Abilities:[/b] Firstly, Asher is a very accomplished witch. She has mastery over the four elements and their direct combinations, and has some grasp on elemental balancing, though she isn’t as good as Wizzlebee or Iro in this regard. Still, if you piss of Asher, she’s going to be a very difficult witch to beat. Asher’s real ability, though, comes with The Sight. Asher, whether she likes it or not, is a Stormfront, meaning that she possesses The Sight: the ability to see the future. These visions allow her to see things which are to come, and she naturally knows where these events are happening. Asher has two ways of using The Sight; dreaming and scrying. Asher naturally sees the future through her dreams, though these dreams are somewhat infrequent and can occasionally be unreliable. An alternative to dreaming for Asher is scrying, which she can achieve by making an extremely complicated potion and pouring said potion into a pool of calm water. Now any ordinary wizard can scry, but by activating her powers above said pool, Asher goes into a trance where she can see a vision of the future in the pond, though she is the only one who can see it. This potion has very complicated ingredients, however (wisp ash, ginseng, leviathan oil, club moss spores, jellyfish stingers, mint, lemon juice, chamomile, and unicorn blood), and so Asher uses it very sparingly. Asher’s Sight also attracts wisps to her, which multiply her abilities and glow brighter around her. Also, like all Fairfolk, Asher is protected by nature. Wild animals tend to defend her if she’s attacked, and trees strengthen to not break when she climbs them. 

[b]Weaknesses:[/b] Well firstly, Asher is completely useless without magic. She has very little physical strength and can hardly hold a sword, much less use it. As far as her Sight goes, Asher’s ability isn’t exactly accurate. It gives her a where and a what, but not a when, how, who, or why. She can’t tell when the event will happen, why it’s happening, how it will happen, or who will do the event (occasionally she can do the last one). Asher’s dreams are very infrequent as well, she can’t control when she gets them, and she only has so much scrying potion. 

[b]Companion:[/b] She travels with Apollos, who, considering that he keeps all of her extra clothing, vials, and money in his magic chest, kinda counts as a beast of burden. Asher has a white Nepharie horse named Gemma. 

[b]Other:[/b] [/hider]

[hider=Bjorn Svero] 

[b]Name:[/b]  Bjorn Svero (Also known as Bjorn the Commander), chieftain of Ensom
[b]Age:[/b] 210
[b]Gender:[/b] male 
[b]Species:[/b] Orc
[b]Kingdom of Origin:[/b] Jikari 

[b]Physical appearance:[/b] Large and in charge. Bjorn is a monster of a man (if one refers to him as a man), ripped with muscle. He is about 6’9” and weighs 300 lbs. His chest is wide, and his shoulders are gigantic. He has long arms that come to halfway down his thighs, and large baseball mits of hands. He has two tree trunk legs and large feet. There is a massive scar across Bjorn’s abdomen, a wound from a fight with a wyvern. Another large scar is present on the front of Bjorn’s right bicep, made by cerberus, who bit him when he was young. On his right thigh, there is a scar from when he was shot in the leg with an arrow. Bjorn’s skin is a steel grey, slightly faded and riddled with wrinkles. He has a square-shaped skull, reminiscent of a native American skull. His skin is slightly wrinkled, giving him that seasoned look. His hair is very long, coming down to the small of his back. It is black with streaks of grey beginning to form. The hair is tied into ten braids that trail down his back, keeping the locks away from his face and ears. His ears are large and elvish in appearance. Bjorn’s eyes are a faded orange color, like a bright rust. Bjorn’s eyes are set off by thick black eyebrows and a high creased forehead. His nose is wide and flat, with nostrils that are always slightly flared. He generally looks angry. Bjorn has a very short beard which is beginning to grow on his jaw, though he dislikes mustaches. Bjorn’s voice is low and resonant, filling any room. He tends to sound somewhat aggressive at all times, even when he’s perfectly happy. 

[b]Attire:[/b] It’s known to be quite hot in Jikari, and so those who live there tend not to wear a ton of clothing. In addition to this, Jikari isn’t exactly a safe place to live, considering that all of the deadliest creatures live there, so Bjorn almost always wears armor of some sort. Bjorn’s clothing consists of a studded dragonhide tasset, a leather bandolier, and a pair of large dragonhide spaulders. All of his dragonhide clothing is made from the hide of an Elder Dragon, so it is gold in coloration. Around his neck is a choker of solid gold with a symbol of his tribe on it. Bjorn also wears a cloak of Nemean Lion skin, which looks like the skin of a normal lion. A bracelet of Nemean Lion teeth is on his right wrist. On his head, Bjorn wears a simple gold crown. When in battle, Bjorn adds to his day-to-day armor a hauberk, a steel cuirass, a pair of dragonhide vambraces, and dragonhide shin guards. 

[b]Personality:[/b] Bjorn has the mind of a warrior. He is the umpteenth degree of tough, both physically and mentally, and is very stoic. Fear is not a natural emotion for Bjorn. He is incredibly courageous as well as gutsy, often taking on challenges that few others would take on, even if he seems that he can’t win. He constantly challenges himself, pushing his mind and body to new heights (thus all the scarring). Because of this, Bjorn is rarely satisfied. He is almost constantly searching for something that will fill the empty cavity he feels in his chest up and make him whole. He is relatively quiet, speaking only when he wants to and never bragging. His years of life and sense of curiosity have also given him a degree of wisdom. He knows when to show mercy, and when to be merciless; when to fight, and when to run. Bjorn is extremely protective of his village and his people, making some think of him as paranoid. He bases almost all of his decisions off of how good they are for the tribe, and not on his own personal gain. In that way, Bjorn has an admirable amount of selflessness. Bjorn has a strong sense of judgement, rarely seeing a grey area in any situation. If necessary, he will put his life on the line for the common good. 

[b]Hobbies/interests:[/b] Bjorn’s days are spent around Ensom generally, solving problems and working with the guard to stop criminals. A good portion of his time is spent in the Great Hall in the middle of Ensom, where he acts as a judge for court cases and sentences criminals. When not working, Bjorn enjoys hunting, often going out with large hunting parties to fight dragons (being in a village near Lonesome Valley helps this). Another hobby of his is blacksmithing, the hobby of his father, and he is occasionally found in the town forge, hammering away at swords and armor. He actually made his own sword. Occasionally Bjorn will leave the town on business, and will entrust its care to his son, Kjed (though his chief advisor obviously has a killswitch for when Kjed does something stupid). Bjorn’s favorite food is Dragerull, a sushi-like food made from dragon steak (which, by the way, is incredibly delicious). 

[b]Skills:[/b] Bjorn’s best quality is his wisdom. He is a leader who is both courageous and calm under pressure, with a lot of trust in his judgements. He’s a fairly good blacksmith, as he is able to visualize exactly what he wants the weapon to look like before he makes it. This visualization technique allows Bjorn to prepare good defenses as well. He is an excellent military leader (thus why his village has yet to be burned down by dragons). 

[b]Backstory:[/b] Bjorn Svero is probably the least-likely person to have ever become a Jikari chieftain. Infact, Bjorn wasn’t even born in Jikari. He was born in the city of Darggekol, a Jikari colony in the Wilderness. It was a small colony of about two hundred people, and was the second to be founded by Jikari in the Wilderness. Bjorn’s father was the town blacksmith, making not only weapons and armor, but tools and pieces of machinery. His name was Scarrape. Bjorn was Scarrape’s firstborn son, and so from about age thirteen, Bjorn was apprenticed to him. Bjorn was forged by the forge; from stoking the bellows and hammering the metal, Bjorn learned patience, determination, and fortitude. He often uses forges for life metaphors, which is both insightful and a little annoying. When Bjorn turned 17, he went out on a hunt with his father when they were attacked by a Cerberus. The monster came out of nowhere, leaping from its den and digging one of its fangs into Bjorn’s shoulder. Scarrape pulled the creature off of Bjorn and stabbed it in the heart just as it released a blast of fire and killed him instantly. 

Bjorn took over his father’s business for a few years, taking care of his sickly mother by hammering away in the forge. He served the community for three years as the town blacksmith. He joined the town militia, taking the place of his father. As a welcoming, he was given his father’s shortsword, a weapon which he still uses today. Four years after his father died, however, a tribe of Dragonkin, one of the last, attacked his village. In the matter of an hour, they burned it to the ground and killed over three quarters of the militia. Bjorn, who was in charge of evacuating the townspeople, survived. The Dragonkin, though, weren’t done destroying Bjorn’s life yet. They chased the villagers south towards the Nepharie border, where the Knights of the Ram intercepted them and, rallying what was left of the militia, engaged the Dragonkin in battle, beating them back and allowing the villagers to escape. Bjorn personally killed two Dragonkin and brought their heads back as trophies. Upon arriving back in Jikari, Bjorn was branded a war hero. He settled in the city of Ensom, where he once more took up the art of blacksmithing. He had the Dragonkin heads stuffed by a taxidermist and hung them up over his mantle. 

For fifteen years, Bjorn was the best blacksmith in the province, using his father’s old techniques to make steel that was sharper and harder to break than any other. He became a pretty popular guy around town and an active voice in the community. He joined the town militia just like he had back in the Wilderness, and due to his fame became an officer in it. While in the militia, he fought several battles with rival tribes and with centaur raiders, and became quite a good warrior. He was well-known for his incredible strength and for his excellent leadership skills. This made him a shoe-in candidate for the next chieftain of the province. 

Now it happened that when Bjorn was about seventy years old, the old orcish chieftain of the province died of old age. Now whenever a chieftain dies in Ensom, the custom is that every male who has lived in the community for more than ten years has a chance to be nominated by the people for competing in a series of duels and challenges of strength. Bjorn was nominated effortlessly, and he was up against thirty-one other competitors. He spent some of his free time training while his apprentice tended the forge, and soon the competitions began. There were four rounds of the competition. The first round was a footrace through the tall grasses of the savannah, where all manner of dangerous beasts dwell. Bjorn personally watched two contestants get mauled by Nemean Lions and another get carried away by a griffin. He himself came in fifth place, which put him in the top sixteen for the next round; a climb up the side of Lonesome Valley, an arid valley where dragons and gargoyles are famed to make their homes. In the middle of the climb, an elder dragon awoke at the base of the canyon wall and attacked, roasting four contestants and nearly killing Bjorn had he not slashed it across the eye with his trusty dagger, which he then dropped never to be seen again. Bjorn came in second in the climb, next to a man named Garon, who was a famous hunter in the town, said to have once killed a sphinx with his bare hands. There were now eight remaining contestants. The next round was wrestling matches. Now wrestling is a noble art in orc culture, and is seen as the pinnacle expression of manhood. Bjorn fought a difficult battle, but was able to come out on top. 

There were now four contestants remaining, Bjorn, Garon, a veteran warrior by the name of Caleran, and a mason named Murstein. The next-to-last step in the contest was a maze built long ago under the deserts of Dorakis to the north. The maze was filled with a host of terrifying creatures, from Araki Dimos to giant serpents to a swarm of Raza Haraks. At one dead end, a blind wyvern sat in wait. Only three of them made it to the end of the maze, as Caleran met his end at the hands of the wyvern. At the end of the maze sat a sphinx, a large, lion-like creature with the head of a man and extremely powerful magic. It gave them a simple riddle: 

“This thing all things devours; Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; Gnaws iron, bites steel; Grinds hard stones to meal; Slays king, ruins town, And beats mountains down.” 

Murstein said an Elder Dragon. The sphinx crushed him with a forcefield. Wrong answer. Both Bjorn was going to say a Cerberus, but then he rethought the riddle and realized that only one thing gnaws iron; rust. The answer was time. Both Bjorn and Garon got the riddle right, and the sphinx allowed them to pass. Two days after going in, both escaped the labyrinth alive. This was a little problematic, though, because no two contestants had ever gotten the riddle correct; usually three got it wrong and the sphinx let the fourth live by default. In one case, the sphinx did not do so, and the community needed to pick new champions. But there was no fifth round of the competition, so the townspeople decided that there would be a duel in the village square to see who the winner was. Each man was allowed one weapon, and would fight until one was defeated or killed. 

The duel lasted nearly two hours, with both champions fighting bravely. Bjorn fought with his father’s shortsword, and Garon fought with his battle axe. It looked like Bjorn was going to lose towards the end, but when at one point the two blades locked, Bjorn was able to get the blade of his sword under the blade of the axe and cut off the head, leaving Garon disarmed. Bjorn was crowned champion, and for his bravery and prowess he named Garon captain of the guard, something which would prove later to be a mistake. 

The reign of Bjorn Svero has been a very productive one for Ensom province. In his reign, he made peace with a centaur tribe in the region that had been attacking the province for years (this was by killing their alpha of course, but peace is peace), defeated a clan of human colonists who decided to try settling in the mountains, began a public schooling institution in the city to increase the literacy rate, and lowered tariffs and trade restrictions on dragonhide, making Ensom a major economic powerhouse of Jikari. In his reign, the population of Ensom increased from 50,000 to 80,000, and a new concrete wall was built to protect the city from invaders. Bjorn also lowered taxes on written works and art in order to increase the culture of the city, though thus far all he’s achieved is attracting a few bards who are seen around town at night, telling stories by fires. Bjorn himself has led his military on several occasions against enemies, and has had his share of battles. About ten years into his reign, Garon attempted to assassinate him by having an archer shoot him at a peace ceremony between Ensom and a centaur tribe. It happened that the wind was bad that day, and so the arrow fired from the crossbow did nothing more than skim the top of Bjorn’s shoulder, cutting him pretty badly but not even leaving a scar. When Bjorn discovered that Garon had planned the attack, and that Garon was now planning a coup d’etat (from a soldier in the army), Bjorn himself walked into a barracks and, in front of the men, challenged Garon to a rematch in the square. Garon used a sword this time, but he stood no chance against the angry Bjorn, who ten minutes into the fight struck the flat of Garon’s blade and shattered it. Bjorn then cut off Garon’s right arm, slashed him across the face, blinding him, and left him outside of the city walls to die. His body was found a few days later, half-eaten by a lion pride. He never again had any instance of loss of authority. 

Bjorn has protected the town from danger on multiple occasions. When a pride of Nemean Lions began to hide in corn fields and ambush orc farmers, Bjorn himself slew them, and made out of one of them a cloak which he still wears to this day (he also made a shield out of one’s head which sits in his throne room). When an elder dragon attacked the town, Bjorn rode into battle with his soldiers and killed the dragon himself. The dragon’s right wing bone would become Bjorn’s famous spear. One of Bjorn’s more famous incidents was how he captured and trained a griffin. About nine years ago, a griffin made its nest on a nearby mountain cliff and began to hunt livestock to feed its family. Bjorn, discovering this and being quite bored, decided to ride off and kill the creature himself. He got to the nest and killed the mother griffin by slicing off her right wing and pushing her over the side. The father griffin attacked as well and decapitated Bjorn’s horse. Bjorn stabbed it in the heart with his spear and killed it too. But Bjorn noticed then that there was a baby griffin in the nest staring wide-eyed and terrified at the spectacle. Riddled with guilt, Bjorn took the cub and rode back to Ensom, where it lived in the long house and was fed the finest steak. It grew to be quite strong (and too lazy to go hunt for itself) so Bjorn trained it to be his new mount. When Bjorn had been chieftain for about five years, he married a woman in town, and shortly after Garon’s attempted coup, Bjorn’s first son Drepe was born. Ten years later, Kjed was born. Seeing how great a leader Drepe was, Bjorn changed the town’s leader choosing protocol so that bloodline would be consulted before a full tournament was conducted, an act which met quite a bit of controversy. 

Recently, things have not been going well for Bjorn. Drepe was killed in a hunting accident (ie he was mauled by an angry wyvern) about twenty years ago, and Bjorn’s mother died about eleven months ago, which bothered him deeply since he had lived with her all of his life (she lived in his house when he was a smith, and had her own room in the keep). Dragon kills have gone down, as elder dragons have begun to migrate north to avoid hunting, and overhunting has led to a decrease in antelope populations, causing the Nemean lions to turn much more aggressive. Bjorn and his advisors were considering adding hunting regulations when Bjorn heard of a large army amounting in the Wilderness with plans on destroying all of Tithe. He met with the other tribal leaders, and they sent him north to investigate. While he is gone, Vannur, the chieftain of Marisson, promised to watch over the village and make sure that Kjed doesn’t do anything foolish in Bjorn’s leave. 

[b]Family:[/b] 
Skarrape Svero: Father (deceased) 
Morska Svero: Mother (deceased) 
Kollova Svero: Wife, 200
Drepe Svero: Son (deceased) 
Kjed Svero: Son, 70 



[b]Relationships:[/b] 

| Asher Stormfront | Regretful | Ex-father-in-law | “Asher was an excellent woman, and would have made a great husband for Kjed if she had been an orc. But had I not prohibited the marriage, the kingdom would have been without a leader after Kjed’s death due to my foolish rule. While I regret having put myself in a situation to send her away, she will always be welcome in Ensom, and I will help her in any way I can, should she but ask.” 

| Kjed Svero | anxious | Father | “My boy Kjed concerns me sometimes. He has so much potential to be a great leader, but he wastes all of it. Maybe someday some sense will be knocked into him before I perish and leave him in command.” 

[b]Weaponry:[/b] 

Large weapon: Beinspyd, his famous weapon of choice. Beinspyd is a spear made from the wing bone of an elder dragon. It is white in coloration, with a leather hand grip about halfway down the shaft. Bjorn is excellent at manipulating the spear, and uses it often more like a bo staff, tripping opponents and slashing from a distance, though it is also good for stabbing and impaling. The spear is about ten and a half feet tall. 
Medium weapon: Shield cloak. Bjorn wears a cloak of Nemean lion fur into battle which acts as a shield. The cloak is fireproof, magicproof, immune to blades and arrows, and is surprisingly resistant to bullets (it’s not fully bulletproof, but it would take more than one bullet to pierce the hide). The bottom of the cloak is weighted slightly so that it doesn’t simply move out of the way when struck. 

Medium weapon: Skarakelse, the blade of champions. Skarakelse is a sword which has been passed down in the Svero family for five generations. It is a shortsword resembling a Roman Gladius, about a foot and a half long with a blade made of what appears to be Damascus steel (slate grey with swirls of black in it). The sword is nearly indestructible, capable of withstanding nearly any hit, and is kept razor sharp. 

[b]Abilities:[/b] Bjorn is renowned for his strength and toughness. He is one of the strongest orcs to live, able to lift objects several times his own size, and has a ton of combat experience, making him a terrifying battlefield threat. Bjorn is completely ruthless in combat, often using Beinspyd to take enemies’ legs out and then going in for the kill. His cloak protects him from a lot of attacks, and can be easily grabbed to block an enemy’s strike. He is well-trained with his spear and sword, and has some extensive training in hand-to-hand combat as well incase he is caught disarmed. Bjorn is fairly intelligent as well, and can predict his opponent’s moves oftentimes, making him more likely to block and attack. 

[b]Weaknesses:[/b] Bjorn is quite the adversary, but he’s certainly not perfect. Bjorn, firstly, is very inexperienced with magical combat, having rarely fought wizards. He cannot predict the frequency of magical attacks well at all. Also, besides his spear, Bjorn is bad with using ranged weaponry. He cannot fire a bow for the life of him and is clumsy with things like throwing knives and shurikens. A big disadvantage of Bjorn is that he’s starting to get old. 210 is about forty-nine for an orc, and he’s beginning to lose some of his touch. Bjorn moves slower than he used to and his body isn’t quite as durable. He has come to grow used to this, but it makes him a weaker warrior than he once was. 

[b]Companion:[/b] Bjorn travels with a griffin by the name of Fleston. Fleston is a large griffin about twelve feet long and six feet tall, with a head like a Crowned Eagle, dark brown feathers, and golden fur like a lion. Bjorn has put a saddle on Fleston’s back, and often flies on him to get places quickly. Fleston can fly at speeds of one hundred miles per hour, but with Bjorn on his back can only travel about fifty-five miles per hour (though that’s still faster than a horse). 

[b]Other:[/b] Bjorn is the chieftain of the Jikari District of Ensom, a district in the northeast of the country which contains the Lonesome Valley. Most of the district is empty savannah and arid mountains, so most of his job pertains to caring for Ensom City, the largest city in the region (orc provinces are named after their largest cities). The city has a population of about 80,000. It is a rectangular city surrounded by a fifteen-foot wall of concrete with watchtowers about every twenty feet along the wall. There are three gates in this wall, each of which can be locked with both a portcullis and a set of heavy wood-and-steel doors. The buildings in the town are primarily timber, with thatch roofs. There are several guardhouses in the city, which are square buildings of stone which function as barracks for soldiers. In the center of town is the great hall, a long, multilevel, timber-and-stone building with a shingled roof. It looks like a combination of a longhouse, an orc fortress from Warcraft, and a medieval keep, and is about twenty feet tall with a square watchtower which adds another twenty feet to the building. This building is where Bjorn lives and sees court cases. Outside of Ensom is a good bit of farmland, where corn, wheat, cotton, and livestock are grown/raised. Past the farmland is unconquered savannah, tall, grassy plains where many magical creatures like basilisks and Nemean Lions dwell. 

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