Haaa. That suits the 'wizened old hermit crone' better, I think - all I have right now is something about dying before her time. Oh, also, she was some sort of street urchin - a covetous scavenger and a nuisance, which is how she got her name.
@ravenDivinityI shall strive to make that a thing! Ansur is going to be from a *very* long time prior, but i'd be more than happy to weave something in. Somehow...
@Transience: That would be so cool! I'd imagine Altim felt inspired by a tale about Ansur at the very least. Perhaps Altim even wielded one of Ansur's artifacts at one point.
@ravenDivinityOh my god, I like the way you think. Let me finish his sheet first and i'll contact you about ways to intertwine their stories.
@HarbringerWell, he did single-handedly wipe an entire army of barbarians using nothing but his willpower and a big block of metal. If that isn't magic, I don't know what is ;)
Phew... wip done... gona have to finish it later probably tomorrow ><
this took me more than I thought it would.
N A M E / A L I A S Ki'ira Infera – Calamity
M Y T H O L O G Y
Ki'ira is a very unusual character from legends, her first mentioning comes from records from about 1800 years ago. The place was not named as it was a nameless battleground where two opposing armies clashed. At the time of her appearance there, she wrecked havoc among both armies, sending many to the embrace of death. The chaos on the battlefield continued until the two armies retreated, leaving her alone in the field of death, afterwards she vanished. From that point in time onward, she would appear at random intervals in the middle of battles, attacking everyone she comes across. She became one of the fairy tales on the fields of battle. Every commander sent to fight, would fear her appearance as it would destruction of his armies. Thus she was nicknamed the Calamity on the battlefields.
Ten years after her first appearance, Ki'ira appeared for first time in the middle of a pillage of a town which was later recorded by survivors from there. After the town's protectors were slaughtered and the aggressors began pillaging it and indiscriminately killing it's residents in twisted games they forced them to take part of, a single caped individual walked into the town. Records state it was a woman, but on her head a pair of fox ears could be seen along with a tail that was moving around behind her. When the pillagers tried to attack her, the woman went into rampage, mowing down every last one of those who tried to fight. Records state that those who tried to run away form the carnage of their friends, were slashed from afar, using what witnesses only describe as flying blades of fire. According to the records, she was laughing during the entire slaughter and when there were no more enemies around, she just took a bag from one of the dead bodies, filled it with some food and then walked away as quickly as she appeared. It wasn't until a year later that the mystery woman was recognized as the walking calamity.
Ki'ira's stories were always similar, she would appear during a battle and would always mow down soldiers in both sides. Occasionally she would appear when there were pillages going on, would kill everyone with a weapon and then vanish again. As the number of people saved by her continued to increase, some began to regard her as a mythical fox creature that appears to save the innocent from aggressors. Which wasn't always far from the truth, in fact her rampaging on battlefields had caused many wars to stop in their tracks, effectively saving the lives of many civilians, but also costing the lives of many soldiers and capital as the money she costed to countries wasn't insignificant at all. Eventually a coalition from several countries was formed to deal with this calamity. The strongest warriors were gathered and send after her as she had proven that her power is overwhelming.
According to legends she should have been around 29 years old when that happened. Despite the protest from the side of normal people, the expedition from multiple countries was sent after her. The calamity made her final stand near a now not existing village known as Kaleze. The soldiers had attacked the village to draw her out and she appeared for the joy of the village's inhabitants. The soldiers quickly reorganized and attacked her. Legends state the battle continued for days as the soldiers were many and strong and even had magic on their side. The calamity was not behind them though, her strange powers over fire allowed her to sweep many in her attacks. When the battle ended, not one of the soldiers send after her was standing, but they had done their jobs. Ki'ira was mortally wounded as dozens of weapons were sticking out of her body. In her final moments it's said that a single child approached her to offer her a cup of water. She took the cup, drank the water and thanked the child. As she reached a hand to pat the child by the head, she died. Her hand, softly placed on the child's head, her body still standing tall with her sword in her other hand. Following the defeat of the expedition force, all the kingdoms sent soldiers to retrieve her body and belongings, but not a single soul was to be found in the village. The final legend states, the villagers knowing soldiers will come for her again, took her body and placed it in a coffin and left Kaleze with Ki'ira's body and belongings. No one knows where they went and what happened with them. Some say they found a new place to settle down away from everyone where they idolize her to this day, other say they were ambushed on the road and killed to the last person. No one can say for sure, but what is known is that her body was never recovered or found. Still to this day she is regarded as many things, for some her story is the one of a person who gave her all to protect the innocent from the horrors of war, for other she was the personification of destruction and chaos. As some tell it to their children to learn and become a better person, others use her to scare their young into obediance.
A P P E A R A N C E
Ki'ira's appearance is quite the discussed topic for records that contain it have been lost so all that remains are varying legends. Some described her as astonishing otherworldy beauty while other as a mostly foxlike monster with long vafe and slit eyes. Still her most distinguishing feature were her fox ears and tail, they appear in every legend and even the vague mentionings in historical texts. She was always told to have a pair of red fox ears and a tail.
In reality, Ki'ira was tall 1,75 meters tall, with long straight brown hair, reaching down to her waist, which was often put in a braid. Her face was beautiful with clear skin and a pair of piercing green eyes. On her bare body could be seen many of the scars she bears as marks from the devotion she had towards fighting WAR. Her was distinguishing mark is a small scar on her chest, It has the form of a dove.
A B I L I T I E S / E Q U I P M E N T
Ki'ira has been often depicted as a monster that slashes people with her bare hands, but as many myths that's simply not the truth. She was an excellent sword wielder who lived her entire live with a sword in her hand. Additionally the abilities of fire she is often told to have had are quite true. At a very early age, she learned magic and specialized in fire. As magicians go, she was never formally taught, all she know, she learned herself by the trial and error. Her favorite magical attack were her flaming wave slashes, she often used to take down multiple enemies at once.
While her abilities themselves helped about her incredible strength, it was also her equipment that proved to follow her in her legend the most. The calamity had many different artifacts, many of which no one knows how she acquired. Names and existence of many were lost in the time, but a few still live in her legends: Infernal fang – that was her signature weapon, a longsword that she wielded with one hand. It had glowing red blade with many carved figures on it. It was a magical artifact that could withstand heat and fire and it's blade was harder than even the greatest steel. In her entire life it never broke, never chipped and never dulled. Blessings of the fox goddess – The legend about her having fox ears and tail come from these artifacts. A headpiece looked like a pair of fox ears and leggings had a tail attached to them. The ears gave her the ability to hear so far away that she could actually hear the clanking of an armor from miles and the tail allowed her to run nearly as fast as a horse and not leave tracks behind her. Though she still tires with time and cannot run for a long time.
When revived from her supposed eternal slumber, she only had her headset from her 'Blessings of the fox goddess'.
@ravenDivinityOh my god, I like the way you think. Let me finish his sheet first and i'll contact you about ways to intertwine their stories.
@HarbringerWell, he did single-handedly wipe an entire army of barbarians using nothing but his willpower and a big block of metal. If that isn't magic, I don't know what is ;)
Ancient myth tells of a man who possessed the soul of a giant beast of the forest known as a Torgarian allowing him to become one with the creature. This man was a knight, a king in fact who thirst was not for blood, nor money, nor power but for the peace which all but never existed in the lands now known as Ansus. Rather than kill the opponents he fought on the battlefields of a castle formerly known as the Borgar Village, he would fight using nothing but his palms and would focus on hitting pressure points to paralyze his foes. Borgar Village is no more than a castle now ran over by vines and ancients creatures which supposedly guard the tomb of this king. Some say his bloodline still runs through somebody in the East Ansus but once again, this is all just a myth.
And even a myth has its own fallacies, ones often picked up over time by misinterpreted words or the slight change in them to suit the times and those who rule over the group telling the myth. The truth can indeed be found in Borgar Castle which hides under the shadow of the Lone Mountain known as Urgain, or King’s Crown in the language of the Borgarians who once lived there. Written on a single tombstone, faded by time and the many passing of beasts and man alike, lies the below.
Here lies Princess Pricia, heir to the Borgarian throne and Strongest of her Kind.
Princess Pricia.. she died much younger than she should have but that is what happens to heroes who are seen as monsters. Even if your intentions were of the best for your people, one cannot escape the mob started by a rumor created by some drunkard in a tavern. The princess is truly the ‘man’ of myth who possess the soul of a Torgarian, or Shapeshifter as they were known in the tongue of the Borgarians. Having been born with the Mark of the Wild, Pricia was granted the power of shapeshifting by the Goddess Goethia, Queen of the Wilds. As such, Pricia could change between many creatures as part of her birthright but she could not always control them. When she was very young, Pricia would occasionally shapeshift into a wolf and try to play with people in this form, not knowing the she was any different from them of course.
When the young Pricia was nine years of age, she was sent away to the Monastery of Goethia- less a monastery really than a giant tree growing above a lake where Goethia’s worshippers lived- to train and control her powers. All members of the Monastery were marked by Goethia as Pricia was but their powers only allowed them to ‘commune’ with Goethia through the act of rituals involving incense burning. The young princess spent much of her life learning with the Priestesses before leaving at nineteen and swearing a vow to tell nobody of her training with them nor of her powers. But when the time came that her small Village came under combat, Pricia had to transform into a direwolf and defend them. When it came out that the Princess was the person who had attacked them early on in her life, she was driven from Boragar and went off into the turbulent world alone.
At least, that is what she thought she was when she left the comforts of her village and went into the roads beyond. Goethia contact Pricia herself and called her to take up arms against those who wished for war simply for the death it would bring. So, the princess spread across the lands which have now become Ansus and brought down groups of bandits and warlords whose only goals were to cause chaos. To aid Pricia on her Journey, Goethia gave the young woman the Staff of Nature’s Breath. But not even the Goddess could foresee the Fair Maiden’s death at the hands of people who believed her a monster simply due to a single rumor. In the end, the last sight Pricia saw was that of a crowd cheering to cut her head off. Not even a single person shed tears that day for her parents were dead, her village falling apart, and any friends she had were due for an execution as well. Yet still, her body was delivered back to castle where she was born and she was buried.
A P P E A R A N C E
Pricia stands at an unimposing four feet and eight inches tall and weighs just under ninety-two pounds. Despite her looks, Pricia’s body is all muscle and her training with the priestesses of Goethia taught her how to fight without having to be much stronger than your foe. The girl is light on her feet and hardly makes a sound as she moves through the world. But this does not mean that she doesn’t stand out of course. Pricia is known for wearing vibrant green robes and clothing which stands out even in the dimmest light around her. Never has anybody seen the Maiden with long hair and even getting a glimpse of her cutting her hair seems next to impossible. It is almost as if her hair never grows anymore. Found on her right shoulder is the Mark of the Wild she received from Goethia.
A B I L I T I E S / E Q U I P M E N T
Once upon a time Pricia bore the Staff of Nature’s Breath which had been blessed by Goethia to allow her to manipulate the air as if it was a part of herself but the staff was taken from her when she was captured for execution. Somewhere in some king’s castle probably sits a simple looking staff that no man has touched since it was taken from Pricia. The Maiden was also given a pendant which allowed for the normal animals of the Wilds to identify Pricia as a member of Goethia’s ilk and thus pass through nearly every forest in the land unharmed. But, like her staff it was most likely taken and may quite possibly be worn by a Queen who thinks it just a beautiful trinket passed down through her family. Either way, all Pricia is left with are the powers granted to her by the Mark of the Wild and even they are not quite what they once were.
No longer can Pricia transform multiple times throughout a day as, with the death of Goethia, the Mark’s power has faded from it former glory. Now the Mark only allows transformations six times a day. The most common form Pricia can take in her transformations is a sort of mix between a dire wolf and a human, the Hound of the Wilds Goethia once called it. Its true name is Kallimor, a beast which is sentient enough to wield weapons and wear clothing but still can be copied by the Mark. Though, the copying of a Kallimor is imperfect as it simply enhances Pricia natural form instead of making her into a Kallimor in full. While in this form, Pricia stands at six feet tall and weighs nearly a hundred and thirty-six pounds. Pricia takes on the strengths associated with the creature she transforms into which also means that she gets the same weaknesses.
Alright, finally finished this. I haven't read through many of the other characters' mythologies yet, so there may be a conflict I haven't seen yet. Feedback is welcome; I'm terrible at descriptions, so excuse the appearance section, if you will. <.<
Also no idea where you guys get such awesome pictures. I'm just using an actual person because I have no idea how to find something like what I'm looking for outside of that.
S i k e s
N A M E / A L I A S Sikes / Novissah's Prophet
M Y T H O L O G Y They always tell stories of the boy blessed by Novissah, the once proud and graceful near-omniscient Goddess. They say he could see the future and the past, sometimes even things happening at that moment but somewhere else. The legend most know tells of Sikes seeing a darkness swell over Ansus, a murky vision with something sinister lurking in it. The tale goes on to say that he then ventured away from his home and family to the Bastion of Light, a dwindling fire dancing in his eyes. It haunted his dreams and left him exhausted, the vision giving the sixteen year old waking dreams in which he traveled toward the fire, waking somewhere different from where he’d fallen asleep.
Weeks later, the boy arrived, disheveled and dirty, demanding to see Novissah’s Fire, and an explanation for his visions. The High Priests refused and Sikes camped just outside the Bastion for thirteen days before the Priests admitted the near starving boy, taking him in and sharing their plight. They had become desperate and fearful, Novissah's Fire no more than embers. It was something they’d never seen and they hoped Sikes could help them to rekindle it, blessed by the Goddess as he was.
Novissah’s dying days were filled with Sikes trying to commune with her and keep her Fire alight, trying desperately to discover what lurked in the dark visions. The general population does not realize he failed, as Sikes and the High Priests never revealed that such an event ever occurred. Most believe that Sikes succeeded, devoting his life to Novissah and to helping maintain the Fire he once rekindled.
No one, of course, connects the ensuing chaos with this myth. No one realizes that this event, a Fire being brought low, was a catalyst for the turmoil that would take over until the Last God fell and Ansus was reunited once more.
Novissah’s Prophet did end up dedicating his life to Novissah, though it was not the way most thought. He traveled around Ansus, using the abilities he had been granted to keep faith in her alive, hoping to let others feel the personal connection to her he himself did. Even with her gone, he could use his visions and tools to answer the questions of those who were in desperate need of knowledge.
Sikes never betrayed that Novissah’s fire had diminished and he was frequently permitted to visit the Bastion, even as another fire began to suffer the same fate as Novissah's.
As the continent fell further and further to chaos, Sikes found his power overwhelming. There still exist jokes about Novissah's poor prophet, suddenly blinded as he was assaulted with visions of darkness, of something lurking, of a ring of flames being extinguished until nothing remained... And it was as he had one of these visions, at the age of twenty-eight, that he stumbled into the river beside which he'd been resting, on his way to the Bastion once more to seek answers from the High Priests once more. His visions had changed ever so slightly, the complete darkness now followed by a speck of light, which seemed to wound the lurking thing in the darkness... it could only be a sign that the Priests had learned something.
And so the poor prophet never saw his own end coming, the river washing him away before he could get the answers he so desperately seeked.
A P P E A R A N C E While not old, Sikes is into adulthood, having spent his years travelling and helping those in need. He’s fit from travel, but not particularly strong, much of his time spent trying to discover the dark thing eliminating the Fires and how to destroy it. Sikes dresses simply, in fact, and his skin is marred by a light tan and the occasional scar from, erm, hurting himself in his survival attempts. Dark hair covers equally dark eyes and his facial features are more rounded than they are sharp. He’s also taller than most people, standing over six feet tall.
A B I L I T I E S / E Q U I P M E N T Sikes doesn’t have a lot of equipment, per se. Floating around somewhere, maybe in a museum or mausoleum, is his old hunting knife, something he forged with the aid of his father as a child. There also is a crystal bowl and an assortment of gems which would allow him to more easily control when he received his visions and even ask to receive one. The reflection on the water in the bowl or on the shiny surface of the stone will change to show him things, though it is less often to be something true and even fails. He carries none of this with him now, with only dreams (waking or otherwise) to guide him.
@rivaan@Invisible Looking good, guys! let me know when you update the CS'
@Jack TravidiLooks good, if you're ready you can put him in the character tab.
Just to clarify what i read, though, is it safe to assume that Sikes was present at the dwindling of a flame in times past? As though it were a foreshadowing of what has happened in Ansus recently?
Also no idea where you guys get such awesome pictures. I'm just using an actual person because I have no idea how to find something like what I'm looking for outside of that.
I just google for people, generally this is done through Google Images and will almost always contain the term deviantart as there are quite a few artists there who make beautiful art such as the ones which currently exist before you. One man I visit often for pictures, mostly to look at really, is Las-T.
Yeah, I just got on DeviantArt and searched for concept art. There are some artists there that make really good, professional-looking stuff, and that's where I got Altim's picture.