Name: Willow
Age: 20
Sex: Male
Race: Werefolk (Jackal)

Nation: Mecrundyr
Position/Status: Wild Warden & Rising Packlord

TL;DR History:

• Born to nomadic pack of Werefolk
• Six years to circuit the nation, stopping afterwards at their ancestral home to raise and hone Willow’s burgeoning talents
• Another circuit around the nation, this time Willow sneaks off into settlements to hang out with pets and their owners
• As they return the arcane cannon explodes and the pack hesitates to restart the journey without more information
• Scouts eventually report back that Baelwill has withdrawn much of their forces and that other packs are now on the move
• Pack eventually continues their nomadic ways, but naturally things become difficult with conflict between other Werefolk and the Mecrundyr population
• No one dies or anything, but eventually Willow gets tired of all the conflict and resolves to do something about it
• Making contact with one of the powerful merchant families in the nation, he extends the offer of partnership before disappearing back into the night
• After subjugating raiders plaguing the area, his offer is accepted and his position as Wild Warden formally announced
• Safeguarding all residents of Mecrundyr, he plans to first unite all Werefolk under him or stop the conflict at the least

Skills and Abilities:
Lay of the Land: Whether forest or plain, Willow’s ability to traverse Mecrundyr’s lands are almost without peer. Beyond that it seems that his skill enhances those that work alongside or beneath him. His raiding party was known to sink into the treeline and leave no trace, or move from one plain to another with unnatural swiftness. The land itself seemed to conspire against efforts to track or catch Willow, and he welcomed pursuers with but a grin as a result.

Bountiful Friends: The lay of the land is not Willow’s only blessing though. He can count on wildlife in the environment to heed his call for aid as well. Beyond a passive empathetic link that he can open up to connect with nearby animals, he can also speak words of power to beseech beings for aid and empower them so they may come to his aid. Naturally, he feels kinship with beasts of the canidae family and interacts with them easiest, but he is not limited to only them.

Druidic Marksman: A deceptively simple piece of wood quickly grows and shapes itself into a magnificent bow. A small twig twists and expands into a deadly arrow, sharp and strong enough to pierce worked steel. The string barely twangs even as arrow after arrow is loosed. A bright glow finally illuminates the archer’s hidden position, but the crackling bolt of lightning is blinding as it streaks forth.

Curator of the Pack: While Willow is typically not the sort to engage in open battle, sometimes it cannot be avoided. In such times, Willow reveals his hybrid form and leads the charge to drive back his foes. Clad in gold as he grows several feet in height, spectral hounds swirl and bay at his feet as he rises and draws forth a halberd from the earth. The head crackles with lightning and he strides forth, a spectral pack at his hide.

---

The Thallasocratic Republic of Cephalon is a nation of middling size lying in the Northern regions of Mecrundyr. Water makes up much of its borders; in the north, it is dominated by coastline, and to the south, a great river forms a natural barrier from the region’s other republics. Like several others, it is a combinations of cultures, ruled by a democratically elected council. The seat of power in this nation lies not in its central government, however, but the large trade company headquartered there, which controls the majority of the military in the nation and has the ear of the ruling council.

Cynthia is the face of that company and its absolute overlord. She was, however, not born a noteworthy individual or to a distinguished family, but rather to a poor mage, an alchemist, whose career she followed in her early years.

Her early successes there boosted an unsustainable ego, and her mind began to fill with grand aspirations. Fueled by such and influenced by the grand trade that was ubiquitous to the region, she looked to break her own way in.

Cephalon was as much a meritocracy as it was a republic. Although not necessary true, this was a thought instilled in Cynthia since her youngest years. Accelerating ahead of her own age, she clawed her way to take the mentorship of the proprietor of a fledgling company. Humored by the man, she was taught social skills, money, and most of all: greed. Greed gave fruit to ambition, and ambition gave claim to power. She took after her mentor; Cynthia was a reckless risk-taker that gambled with her money and her life alike. Fortune favored the bold, and lady luck graced her with kindness.

As with countless others across eons, Cynthia grew up in the shadow of the Baelwill empire. Its people reigned with impunity, fed by its deadly triumvirate of aces. She would never have believed that they would lose two of the three. On the death of its shield and the fall of its star, a Grand Alliance of interested parties was formed in Mecrundyr. Forces from influential companies and several of the fourteen nations assembled, hoping to finally put an end to the oppressive force that so dictated their lives. From Cephalon, an allied force marched on Baelwill and a vast armada sailed around north, intent on bombarding the capital.

Few from both forces returned.

While others thronged for opportunity, she thrived from their loss. Her country was left a shell of its former self, many of its young, able-bodied men and women never to return. Her mentor, leading a division himself, was among them. Having stayed within the nation, she discovered that control of the company that she had since worked for had been willed to her; he had no family. During this time, the nation entered a period of economic recession that saw the collapse of many merchants of the old guard.

Cynthia was not a person to wait. She renamed the business to the Northern Mecrundyr Company, quickly moving to take advantage of the postwar environment. Using her newfound assets, she consolidated the business, buying up the liquidated remains of others, and as affairs stabilized, filled the vacuum in power that the failed campaigns had wrought. Slowly, as she grew her shipping empire, attaining ships, men, arms, and the ears of important politicians, her own ambitions blossomed alongside it. As time passed and the company’s international sphere of influence increased, the uncertainty of Baelwill came to the table time and time again. And uncertainty was bad for business.



The Blue Water Merchant
–
Despite her age, Cynthia is a true blooded merchant through and through. While she has a small frame and a cute demeanor, she is an individual not to be underestimated, easily holding her own in negotiations against organizations, kings, and queens alike. She has total monopolization in Cephalon, and her impact there is second to none. In her short time, her economic sphere of influence already spans across several nations. To enforce and protect her shipping, Cynthia employs a large professional army of soldiers and armed merchantmen at sea. Chartered by Cephalon, it dwarfs and acts as a second branch of its military under her command.

The Mercury Sea
–
Although she ultimately found another path in life, Cynthia never forgot her origins. Cephalonian magic is an amalgamation of many forms; as a field, it is as diverse as its namesake nation. It is almost always necessary for students of Cephalonian academies to specialize, and Cynthia was no exception. She shows a mastery of liquid and waveform magic. Cynthia carries around a vial of metallic liquid that she can transform and manipulate at will to form objects, weapons, and even autonomous entities.

Name: Wei Junli
Age: 23
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Nation: Ju Ren Kyo
Position/Status: Emperor of Shen
History: The island empire of Shen lies to the south of the overall territory of Ju Ren Kyo, in the midst of the White Sea. Being separated from the other empires of Ju Ren Kyo by sea, the people and culture of Shen are somewhat different from their northern neighbors, having kept their traditional names from before Baelwill's unification of the land.

As the thirdborn son of the emperor of Shen, Prince Wei Junli was groomed to be a leader of his people and a general in defense of his future domain. He was trained in combat and strategy from a young age, and excelled in his studies of war. As Junli grew into adolescence, he began to understand the injustice of the world he lived in. The land bowed before a distant kingdom, their sovereignty denied from them, the people powerless before Baelwill's arcane might. But during his fifteenth year, resentment began to give way to hope: Baelwill's mightiest weapon was broken, its warriors weakened. His eldest brother, the crown prince, raised an army to join with various other lords from around the world to assault Baelwill, but fell to their defense network and godlike knights as so many others had. When he had gotten over his grief, Junli returned to his training and studies with a vengeance, determined to become strong enough to strike back against Baelwill.

Five years later, at the age of twenty, Junli had become a full-fledged general in service of his empire. The timing was fortuitous as well, given that as Ju Ren Kyo began to stabilize from Baelwill's wane and the rule of a child empress, a few of her subordinate emperors began to display ambitions of their own. The empire of Shen came under assault from one of its eastern neighbors, the Jushibaki Empire, in a war of conquest. Both Junli and his elder brother took their ailing father's place on the battlefield, but only one emerged from it alive. While Junli repelled the enemy from the coasts of Shen itself, his brother fell at sea, his fleet set ablaze by his foes. Enraged at the loss of his brother at the hands of his fellow countrymen, Junli took his own fleet and ransacked the ports of the east for months, blazing a trail of carnage across the Jushibaki Empire's coast. With their foe's navy in shambles, the armies of Shen disembarked on the continent itself, beginning a march to the capital. Junli's armies were assailed several times on the march inland, but they repelled the Jushibaki each time, with the final assault degenerating into a total rout as Junli slew the Jushibaki Emperor himself in personal combat.

His enemy was broken and their walls were vulnerable, but even as Junli and his forces came within sight of the Jushibaki capital, personal tragedy struck him once more. His father had fallen victim to the ravages of time. Wei Junli was now the Emperor of Shen. He had barely come to terms with the realization that he was the crown prince and heir apparent of his empire. And now he was expected to be its leader in full. With a heavy heart, the Shen emperor halted his forces' advance and forged a peace with the Jushibaki Empire, extracting tribute in gold and supplies as concession for being forced into this war. As soon as the terms were sealed, Junli took his army and sailed for home, intent on keeping his domains stable after his empire's change in leadership.

For the next two years, Junli slowly became accustomed to ruling his domains, gaining experience in the art of governing. But all the while, his ambition grew, as did his plans. First and foremost, Baelwill would fall. They were a threat to the world at large, and had been silent for far too long. But his fellow emperors were not to be trusted. Without Baelwill's influence, Ju Ren Kyo's unity would not last. Some empires continued to profess loyalty to Baelwill, binding themselves to the Supreme Empress that carried the blood of their ages-long rulers. Others began to distance themselves from the Supreme Empress's court, plotting against both her and each other, with the Jushibaki having been among their ranks. For the time being, Junli continued to pay at least nominal homage to the Supreme Empress's court in order to avoid provoking anyone. He continued to build up his armies and fleets, but knew that if he were to have the freedom to strike at Baelwill, he would have to keep his fellow emperors pacified for the time being...

Skills and Abilities:
Martial Lord: In the distant past, the warrior-kings of Shen had been known to wield massive guan dao halberds, and this was the inspiration that lead Junli to pursue mastery of said weapon. He has trained since childhood to wield the guan dao, starting with lesser polearms and smaller halberds to hone his abilities until he could finally wield the fabled weapon of his people's legends. The end result was that Junli was capable of wielding a mighty weapon few warriors possessed the strength or skill to master, making him a force to be reckoned with in combat.

The Phoenix's Legacy: While the emperor himself may have no training in the magical arts, great magics flow within his blood. For ages, the line of Wei has claimed that the blood of the phoenix ran within their veins due to their immense endurance and innate command of fire. Wounds that would fell an ordinary man were ignored as they kept fighting. Immolating flames trailed behind their every swing in battle. A blazing aura could erupt at a moment's thought to repel those that surrounded them. If they were not phoenixes, then the scions of Wei were as close as a human could be to one.

Audacious Command: With a campaign's worth of experience behind him and an intense drive to accomplish his goals, Junli cuts a striking figure. He would not be considered beautiful like many nobles of the East, but instead rather ruggedly handsome. His presence and his appearance combine to lend him the charisma of a heroic warrior, inspiring his people to greater heights.

Prosperous Nation: As the gateway into Ju Ren Kyo by sea, the empire of Shen is rich from trade. Mecrundian merchants sell their wares in the ports of Shen, which are then taken by Shen merchants into Ju Ren Kyo proper. Due to this prosperity, Shen boasts about as large of a population as its fellow empires, despite possessing less land overall.

---

History
Patience was the first virtue that Kerenza Edelwane learned. As the young mistress of the grandest Duchy in Verdigris, Tarconis, her parents told her of stories passed down from generation to generation, of a Verdigris that once stood on its own, unbowed to demonic might of Baelwill, and of the prophecy that had been foretold centuries ago. Each story painted a more beautiful image of Verdigris in her mind, and every night, she went to bed, dreaming of the day the tyrant nation would fall. But her own parents sought that same dream, as with her ancestors before her, and she knew that what she had to do wasn’t slay Baelwill, but to continually sharpen the fangs of those who lived at the base of Lorelettonne, so that when the gates to the Empire did open, they were ready.

She did not expect for the incarnation of death, Baelwill’s Star, to explode on her fourtheeth birthday, the magical nova banishing the night.

She did not expect the immortality of the Baelwill knights to be stripped away when an assassin took the life of their divine priestess.

She did not expect the door to the Empire would be opened in her lifespan, not when she spent so much of her early years studying how to become a great Duchess instead of a great warrior.

Two days after the priestess was slain, her parents marched off with the main force of the Lorelettonne Knights, seeking to rightfully end the tyrant nation along with other eager Knight Orders within Verdigris.

They returned to their homeland all but wiped out. The capital defense system was still online, and, despite their efforts and generations of preparation, the army-decimating magics of the Baelwill elite still ensured that not a single foot was laid upon the capital. In what should have been the entire world's celebration, Kerenza found herself an orphan instead, her parents being some of the first to be vaporized by the golden light that spilled from a single knight’s sword.

She allowed herself to mourn for a month. She allowed herself to sulk for two months. She allowed herself to reflect for three months.

And when the sixth month had passed, Kerenza got to work. She trained more diligently than ever. She spent entire days discussing the future of the duchy with her advisors. She overlooked the recruitment and training of the Lorelettonne Knights. She poured in effort fanatically, her hatred towards Baelwill now put onto a personal scale, and the years flew by.

Kerenza grew up, maturing into the silver-haired Duchess of Tarconis, with eyes of moonlight and a sword of spirits. Though her martial ability was lacking, her friends, her knights, her fallen brethren all stood behind her, supporting her rise into prominence.

The gates to the Empire may still be closed, but it mattered not. The path had been paved by her parents, and, if nothing else, Kerenza was patient.

Skills and Abilities:
Presence of a Noble
Kerenza is beautiful, enough to captivate the eyes of others wherever she appears. She is intelligent, sharp-minded after rigorously applying herself to her studies as a child. Kerenza is influential, her position as Duchess of Tarconis giving her the unwanted boon of receiving letters from countless suitors wishing to become part of the Edelwane household. All this gives her the aura of a blue-blooded noble, one that demands the servitude of others merely by being in their presence.

Knight of Arms
Through her personal training, Kerenza has attained aptitude with every standard weapon within the Verdigris military, from swords to axes to polearms to bows to hand-to-hand. Though she is not prodigiously overpowered in any particular area, she can hold her own with anything, and her ability to understand and exploit the strengths and weaknesses of any weapons has allowed her to overcome more skilled opponents time and time again.

Honor to the Nameless
Verdigrisian magic stems from ancestor worship, in which knights embody the legends that their ancestors had claim to, granting them the ability to perform what could only be considered miracles. Kerenza, however, is not merely a knight. She is the Duchess of Tarconis, the domain that lays claim over the highest mountain on Yismel, and her bloodline stretches across centuries, each individual having some reason for fame. She could have worshipped any of them, and obtained some semblance of god-like power.

But instead, Kerenza paid tribute to millions of nameless knights that fought to protect the sanctity of her lands, granting them immortality through remembrance. Spectral knights from ages past rise out from the lands, pledging their loyalty to her and striking down those that choose to oppose her. They share their strength and knowledge with her, and though each, individually, pale in comparison to the heroic legends, they are more than a match when gathered all together.

Her nameless knights can become her weapons, her strength, her army, and with them at her side, Kerenza knows that she never truly has to fight alone.

Name: Edwyrd Oriwarin
Age: 21
Sex: Male
Race: Elvish
Nation: Federation of Mecrundyr
Position/Status: Merchant Prince of the Republic of Tyre
History: Within the constituent Republics of the Federation of Mecrundyr there are certain individuals, families that have extensive connections and economic ties that far surpass those of the average citizens. They are connected by blood and money, either through familial ties or a patrimonial relationship between the heads of those powerfuls families and the people that they helped put into certain positions within the Federations power structure, as well as the economic system. Edwyrd was a member of one of those families.

Edwyrd was the eldest son of an Elvish family, one that had come to the Federation some time ago. They had managed to cement themselves inside the city through the development of capital, and he was raised to take over the business one day, when his father had retired. They had their hands extended through the Republic of Tyre and into several of the Republics beyond, not the strongest of the families but certainly not the weakest of them. They were involved in trade, government, and had their interests well in hand. He was raised well and learned avidly, proving himself to have a bit of a charismatic talent that would serve him well.

Then everything changed. The arcane cannon of Baelwill was destroyed, the arch priestess assassinated, and the people of that land returned home or simply vanished, leaving everyone to wonder what had happened. The winds of change had started to blow, and even Edwyrd could feel that.

Yet in the Federation things stayed the same. There were some murmurings, some calls for people to march and reclaim the world for themselves, but ultimately nothing came of it. There was no profit in war, in rambunctious change and violent conflict, not with the system that had been set up in the past. And ultimately the people were more concerned with the threat of the Werefolk, now more of a concern than ever since Baelwill is not around to keep them suppressed.

Ultimately Edwyrd came to power in a manner that he would not have liked, his father visiting some of his friends when the village was attacked by Werefolk, and he was killed while assisting in the defense. that left Edwyrd to take up leadership of his family, with the connections and influence that that implies. It has not been so easy settling in, but the transition was managed without significant loss, and now he is ready to go on.

Yet he is not content. Young, ambitious, not content with the status quo. Edwyrd plans to rise to the top of the Federation, and to make his mark on the world. Whatever it takes. And if that means striking against Baelwill, then so be it.

Skills and Abilities:

Tongue of Gold - Practically a necessity for any patrician, Edwyrd is very much a 'people person'. He has been trained in the art of conversation and debate, and how to interact with people. Whether it be talking with a rich aristocrat or a common shoemaker on the street, he knows just how to make a friend and leave a mark, which can be very useful when it comes to negotiations and diplomatic meetings. Not perfect, perhaps, but definitely above the norm

Mind of Money - As one would understand by his occupation, Edwyrd has a keen understanding of finances and the working of business, whether it be the operation of a business, the management of trade, government finances, or what have you. It comes down to knowing how the money flows, the right palms to grease to get things moving your way, and in a system where wealth is the true determinator of the influence that you have in society he is essentially geared towards that sort of lifestyle. Something that will probably come to good use in a military campaign.

Melting Pot of the World - The Republic of Tyre is a part of the Federation of Mecrundyr, a nation renowned for trade and its cosmpolitan nature. This means that the Republic is home to a multitude of people and races, from humans to elves and beyond. It is a nation stewing in ideas and beliefs, meaning that it is a very progressive society, even if it is not the most warlike as it could potentially be. Those who are educated, such as Edwyrd himself, have had some significant contact with other beliefs and ideologies, meaning a greater understanding in learning and places to pursue the development of knowledge

Song of the Sellsword - As a Republic that invests heavily in trade and mercantilism, Tyre relies primarily on the usage of mercenary forces when defending itself. While it can mobilize its population for a conflict if need be, it is much more efficient to use the wealth that many of the patricians have available to hire others to fight for them in their conflicts. While previously this may have been against other Republics in the Federation over various trade disputes that have spilled out of control, now it is primarily directed against the Werefolk. Nonetheless, it allows for a readily available source of military force, without the time, effort, and danger involved in training the populace to fight.