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Lightbringer
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Please do not post unless you are Bunny or Verdance! Synopsis: The Valside Range is a godless place. The rocky soil and steep cliff faces make farming and animal husbandry difficult, and what little does grow is tough, flavorless, and cruel. Feed a child this and he too becomes tough, flavorless, and cruel. Build a kingdom of men grown like this and you get Valsiders. Known to subsist primarily on raids and warfare, these hardy people make their living in blood and mana, for while their numbers are small, they’re bolstered by the presence of some of the most talented warlocks and spell-weavers of the known world. Must be something in the mountain air. Seated in the closest thing to a hospitable glade that the Valsides have is Swanhaven, a lively mountain town and the seat of the monarchy. While not so ostentatious as its neighboring kingdom keeps to the north and south, it boasts a prestigious academy of spellwork and remains heavily guarded by an elite force of warriors and warriors-in-training, hand-picked by the King himself. The military and the academy jealously guard their secrets, even from the monarchy, and especially from each other. It is a tenuous peace, but one that has existed for all of living memory. Then, on a cool summer night, King Cassius the Great retires to bed and does not rise. Foul play is suspected, but not even the most talented artificers have any leads, or at least none they’re willing to share… In the meantime, the king’s young son, Cassius the Lesser, barely out of his boyhood, has been thrust into his father’s position. The air in the keep quickly becomes fraught with tension as the boy king is pulled in every direction by advisors and politicians, some with his best interest in mind, others desiring only power for themselves. Amidst this turmoil, two young scholars, one of the military and one of the academy, find themselves struggling to untangle the mystery of what truly happened to the King. Highly suspicious of each other but neither desiring to see their country descend into civil war, the two find themselves descending into a twisted and complex web of secrecy and bloodletting far deeper than either of them had ever considered possible… |
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Lightbringer
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Name: Inanos “Inas” Eroshan
Age: 21
Sexuality: Bisexual
Class: Lesser King’s Man - Appearance: Standing 6’2” with a solid, muscular build, Inas does not particularly stand out visually from his cohort, but he certainly turns heads in a market square. He’s very proportioned, though particularly strong through his back and arms, a man built for a melee rather than a sprint. He keeps his dark auburn hair clipped regulation short (barely long enough to run a hand through), although if he allowed it to grow out, it would curl. Recently, he has begun to keep a beard, which he keeps fussily neat and relatively short. He’s unsure whether or not he likes it just yet. Naturally cool toned, he has developed a light tan from days spent primarily outside, although he still regularly burns in the sun and develops dark freckles across his face and arms in the summer months. Like many military men, especially those who have seen combat, he has a number of scars across his body, particularly across his hands and arms. The worst of these are a jagged line ripped across his left hip by a wayward pike and his back in general, on which he’s taken innumerable lashes over the course of his martial training.
Individually, Inas’ face is made up of well crafted parts, but the overall effect is somewhat severe and disconcerting to look at. He has eyes the color of warm caramel, slightly slanted, under a pair of strong eyebrows which are almost always furrowed. The nose was once large and straight but has since been broken and crooks out to the left at the bridge, and if you look closely, there is a jagged scar (left by a ring) in the same spot. He has a generous mouth, though it is ravaged by a tendency to chew on his lips when focused. Despite himself, Inas is very expressive, and struggles to not wear his emotions on his face; a man who wants to know the contents of Inas’ mind need not look further than the set of his jaw.
The daily uniform of a Lesser King’s Man consists of well-cut trousers dyed dark gray and a breathable doublet dyed deepest blue, over plain linen underclothes. A graduated King’s Man is distinguished from the Lesser by way of the embroidery on their collars; often consisting of charging rams or stags, always done in reds. Inas’ personal clothes follow this general motif, being relatively plain but extremely well-cut and somewhat fine for his station. He is disallowed from wearing most forms of jewelry, although he likely would not even if he wasn’t. Otherwise, he keeps himself remarkably clean and well-groomed for a soldier, earning him a reputation as being fussy and vain. - Personality: Inas is a man of three personalities. The first is what his cohort and mentors see; a proud young man with a deep abiding love for his country and a deeper love for the mechanics of warfare. They might describe him as talented but ruthless, with an impertinent streak that is not fixed by the end of a whip. He values competency and might above all else— lacking these, Inas has no respect for a man. A prodigious weaponsmaster with an especial skill with a two-handed axe, he’s less a skilled horseman than some of his cohort, but still the sort you’d like to fight alongside if you like winning. He is perhaps vain, but not nearly so bad as many of the royal retinue, with an eye that wanders towards any type of beauty set before it
The second is that which the denizens of Swanhaven see. They find him a conceited and brutish man who holds little regard for social niceties or keeping the peace with those he deems below him. While even those who outright hate him must admit he’s a formidable soldier, they may also critique that he has eyes for a station far above his own and a thirst for power and renown that could very easily be dangerous. Those who find him more compelling may speak of him as a man of great passion and zeal, though they must also concede that he is a sneaky, even duplicitous rake which makes him a hard man to tolerate.
The truth is, as it almost always is, somewhere in the middle. Inas was once a sweet boy, if a bit reckless and impatient. Having spent the better part of a decade in intensive training to be of service to the King, he has naturally done away with much of the softness of his youth, in favor of a steel-edged blade of strength in body and mind. He is certainly a conceited man; but it is not without reason, as he is certainly talented at what he does. He is well aware of his intelligence, both generally and specifically regarding warfare, and sees little point in pretending that he isn’t. In terms of career, Inas has his sights set firmly on Grand Marshall, and he’s willing to do almost anything to secure the post for himself. Somewhat judgemental and catty by nature, he’s an acquired taste, but a good friend to keep once you have him. For all his faults, he’s as loyal as a hound and twice as vicious, a somewhat taciturn man whose bite is far worse than his bark. At his deepest core, a level seldom reached by even his closest friends, he’s actually quite sensitive and sentimental, both traits he reviles in himself and does his best to stamp down. - Early Life: Neither of Inas’ parents were soldiers, a rarity in the Valsides. Rather, his father was a simple plowman and his mother a seamstress, a pair who married for love and settled on a small but relatively fertile plot of Earth nearly beyond the reach of the empire. Inas was their first child, a strapping baby boy who grew into a rambunctious child, running half-feral through their small town of Pallon. He was well-educated in both homemaking and physical skills from the start, expected to keep a close eye on his younger siblings as they were born, first a sister named Aevum (Aev) and then a brother named Malov. As he reached school-age, he proved himself to be a quick study when he could entice himself to pay attention, and well-skilled at the basic weapons training all Valsiders are expected to complete. It was expected that he would likely turn out as an armsman in the local militia.
His life changed completely when a raiding party coming directly from the capitol marched through Pallon headed to the southlands. Headed by a middlingly notorious legion captain, Sacha Ulthura, they stopped briefly to sample the local fare and rest their horses. Among the former was a small horde of young warriors, Inas among them, eager to display their skills to the travelling soldiers, much to the latter’s great amusement. Most were nothing special, but the strong and steady Inas drew the eye of Sacha himself. The captain offered Inas’ parents three fine ewes and an infinitesimal share of the raid to follow in exchange for the boy, to which they reluctantly agreed to at the firm behest of their son. The boy was outfitted in poorly fitting soldier’s fatigues, handed a knife, and set to follow the band.
He acquitted himself very well in his first raid, turning out to be a speedy and cool-headed soldier. They kept him on for the duration of the raids on the southern lands, a mission taking nearly a year. The soldiers liked him very well, referring to him as The Puppy, and offering him invaluable instruction in a more advanced form of fighting and strategy than he would ever have received at home. At the conclusion of the campaign, Sacha Ulthura sponsored his education at a military finishing school designed to churn out captains and tacticians. Naturally, he excelled, and naturally, he was tapped at graduation to continue his education as a highly trained Lesser King’s Man, a four year program which would virtually guarantee a prestigious and well-paying military career with limited risk. He accepted easily, though it meant rarely if ever returning home again, and has stayed in Swanhaven ever since. |
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Neutral
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Name Véline Duseaux Age 20 Appearance Véline is probably the most interesting person you will ever look at, the natural equivalent of a calico cat. Her skin is a blemishless porcelain color save for some freckling on her nose and cheeks, just about the only thing she has consistent across her features. Her hair and her eyes are split into three even parts, with dark, blonde, and red hair and amber, pale green, and periwinkle eyes. It is like someone took three separate girls and put them into the same body, all in thirds. Her hair is long, fluffy, and naturally slightly wavy, but she keeps it combed and straight fairly often with neatly-trimmed bangs. She stands at 5’5 and has a slender build with long legs and little fat or muscle due to the fact that she spends the majority of her days in the library rather than anywhere fit for physical activity. She is almost always seen in the uniforms provided by the academy, finding little need to develop a personal style for practicality. Personality Véline is rather opinionated and self-righteous, but her big ego is backed by an even bigger sense of intelligence that takes a variety of forms. She is booksmart, but knows her way around people as well as practical situations, having what seems like an innate capability to bring a man to his knees or make the right person bend to her every whim as she wishes it to be so. Despite this, she has very high standards for herself and what she deems worthy of her and her time, spending little time on social gatherings or whimsical activities if they do not serve a higher purpose. Growing up a very sickly only child, Véline is most comfortable in her own company unless she sees a very good reason to entertain others. Family Background Véline’s family is very high up, and did not make much time for her as a child. With all of her gifts and talents, she was more of a trophy child than a loved family member. Although she didn’t mind the lack of attention and care, she was glad to be shipped off to the academy after reaching adulthood in their society at the age of sixteen, and has been extensively studying magic since. Magic Abilities To be developed in full as story goes on. Weaknesses To be developed in full as story goes on. Other TBD |
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Winter Month: 3 
Day 
Blizzard
