This RP will be based on the Wheel of Time, an amazing series by Robert Jordan, though it is not necessary to know the series to participate. The time is a thousand years after the Breaking, during the end of the Trolloc Wars. There are Ten Nations, all of which collapse by the end of these horrid events. Below, there all the details you need to participate in the RP.
LANDS
Aelgar- A coastal land renowned for its tremendous wealth and power. Almoren- The nation next to Tar Valon, filled with mountains and forests. Aramaelle- A kingdom that has been overrun by the Shadow. Aridhol- Now Shadar Logoth, the base for the Shadow operations. Coremanda- A kingdom that has been overrun by the Shadow. Eharon- A coastal kingdom bordered by rivers, and spotted with forests. Essenia- Known for its philosophers and stores of knowlede, filled with plains and swamps. Jaramide- A kingdom that has been overrun by the Shadow. Manetheren- The home of the Two Rivers, ruled by Aemon and Eldrene. Safer- This is the vaguest nation, I honestly could not find any solid info about it.
Blight- A rotten wasteland, the birthplace of Shadowspawn.
Aiel Waste- A desert, devoid of oasis, and the home of the Aiel. Feared by the Trolloc forces.
Seanchan- A land across the expanse, untouched by the Trolloc Wars.
Tar Valon- The home of the White Tower, the base for the Aes Sedai.
SOCIOECONOMICS
GENERAL
We're going to make this really simple.
Each surviving Kingdom has a Queen, or a King, that leads the nation. Their spouse may or may not have power. It depends.
Female channelers are referred to the White Tower to be trained to be Aes Sedai, or at least learn to control it, while male channelers are referred to be gentled (see below) and imprisoned. Aes Sedai are generally respected, though some fear them.
Skilled workers are generally richer than those who work menial jobs; being born into money can only get one so far in this world.
The Aiel are gathered in tribes of sorts. They have individual warrior societies, some of which focus on women that can channel. More on this later, if we have any interest in Aiel characters.
The Seanchan are really world and disinterested in Westlanders. They enslave channelers as damane. More on this later, if there's any interest in Seanchan characters.
THE SHADOW
At the top, we have the Dark One. It is the cosmic force of metaphorical darkness; evil, and chaos, and other related aspects of humanity. It cannot be killed, because it must exist for free will to exist, but that's a whole other philosophical subject. The Creator placed it in a prison at the beginning of time, but the Dark One tries to break free, to break the Wheel of Time, and remake the world in his own image.
He has his Forsaken, a small group of people who were his most intense followers, before they too were trapped alongside him. One of these, Ishamael/Ba'alzamon/like 50 other names periodically takes a vacation from prison, inflicting darkness upon the world.
Dreadlords are men and women able to channel, who choose to work for the Dark One in this war, directing troops and forces, acting as commanders in battle.
The Black Ajah is the secret Ajah, of Aes Sedai who hide their work for the Dark One.
Darkfriends are any other people, channelers or not, open in their identity or hiding in plain sight, who work for the Shadow.
AES SEDAI
The Aes Sedai are based in the White Tower, in Tar Valon. They are a congregation of women capable of channeling the One Power; no men are allowed, due to the taint on their part of the magic (see the One Power section below).
There are three basic levels of Aes Sedai. First, there are the Novices. These are the girls who are first interred into the White Tower, young women with the capability to channel. They must take classes, do chores, etc. Additionally, they wear all white, and follow strict rules. After they have proven themselves, through an intense test involving three arches, they become Accepted. If they cannot, they must leave the White Tower. Some die.
The Accepted are given a Great Serpent ring to wear, marking their status. They wear dresses decorated with the seven Ajah colors at the hems, rather than solely white. Their test for the next level involves a series of complex weaves, under an incredibly stressful situation. At this point, she is a full Aes Sedai. After succeeding, she must swear on the Oath Rod three things-
To speak no word that is not true
To make no weapon with which one man may kill another
Never to use the One Power as a weapon except against Darkfriends or Shadowspawn, or in the last extreme defense of her life, the life of her Warder, or another Aes Sedai
At this point, she must choose an Ajah, and be granted a shawl of that color. Once she has joined an Ajah, she can wear whatever she wants.
Red Ajah- Focuses on wrong and dangerous use of the One Power, which sometimes involves capturing male channelers, and Darkfriends/Dreadlords, and bringing them to the Tower to be gentled. They also eradicate groups of female channelers gathering outside of the Aes Sedai. They do not bond Warders. Green Ajah- Nicknamed the 'Battle Ajah', they train to fight, in preparation for the Last Battle. They bond as many warders as they want; usually, those with only one warder marry them. They are the largest Ajah. Gray Ajah- Focused on diplomacy and politics. Brown Ajah- Focuses on the acquisition and preservation of knowledge. They control the library in the White Tower. Yellow Ajah- Focused on Healing. Blue Ajah- Focuses on specific causes, to bring about justice to the world. They also have a large spy network. White Ajah- Focused on logic and philosophy, the tiniest Ajah. They are usually not concerned with the outside world. "Black Ajah"- Aes Sedai from other Ajahs who are secretly Darkfriends.
At the head of the Aes Sedai, we have the Amyrlin- in this RP, that is Tetsuan. She oversees the Aes Sedai, and directs them on a large scale. She must answer to the Sitters, representatives from the seven Ajahs. She has a secretary of sorts, the Keeper of Chronicles, who works things on the business end of operations.
A word on Warders- some are trained at the White Tower, while some are assorted men from across the nations. Either way, they are meant to be fantastic fighters, capable of defending and protecting an already powerful Aes Sedai.
THE ONE POWER
This is the magic system in the Wheel of Time.
It is made up of two complementary parts, Saidin, the male half, and Saidar, the female half.
Those who can use it are called channelers. Only a tiny percentage of the population is able to channel.
Usually, channelers must be trained in order to tap into the One Power; those very few who naturally pick it up, often unaware that they are doing so, are called wilders.
Channelers are not all equal- some are stronger, and can handle more.
The One Power is addicting, and dangerous- drawing in too much can burn someone out, rendering them unable to channel, or leave them brain dead, or kill them. (note: if you try anything too OP, that doesn’t fit within your character’s limits, this may happen).
Channelers can also be permanently cut off from the Source by others; this is called severing, or stilling for women, and gentling to men. Anyone who loses access to the One Power also loses the will to live. There is no known way (yet) to get it back (and there won’t be, during this RP).
Sometimes, people develop mental blocks that prevent channeling in the absence of certain conditions. These conditions can sometimes be ridiculous, and take a lot of work to break through.
A channeler will live longer than a regular person.
When women are touching the Source, other female channelers can tell, from a white glowing aura around their body.
As for how it works:
One weaves together ‘flows’ (threads) of five different elements: Earth, Spirit, Water, Air, and Fire. Some people are stronger in certain flows than others. Strength in all five is incredibly rare.
Weaves can only be seen by channelers of the same gender, and specific weaves have specific purposes.
Women can link together to form a circle, and channel together. Men cannot, without women present; but a man must be present to extend the number of participating channelers past 13.
And the Taint:
The Dark One placed a taint on Saidin that caused/s all male channelers to go mad.
Any man who uses Saidin will be affected by this, there are no exceptions (except Ba’alzamon).
The madness manifests differently in each individual.
There are therefore no male Aes Sedai.
And Angreal:
Angreal: objects which allow those who can channel to draw more of the One Power than they normally could without harming themselves in the process.
Sa'angreal: similar to angreal in that they allow channelers to use more of the One Power than they could otherwise safely access—much more. All sa'angreal multiply exponentially the amount of the Power upon which the channeler may draw; as a consequence, they are much rarer even than ordinary angreal.
Ter'angreal: objects of the One Power that perform specific functions. They do not necessarily need to be activated by the One Power, so a non-channeler could just as easily use one.
If I’m forgetting anything, I’ll add it later.
TIMELINE
The Trolloc wars were most simply a 350 year long series of battles between humans, and Shadowspawn. While the enemy armies were comprised mainly of Trollocs, Myrddraal, Draghkar, and other forms appeared as well. Humans who served the Shadow, Darkfriends, fought against the forces of Light, some in secret, some openly.
Prior to the wars, humanity was still trying to recover from the Breaking, trying to repair the world, to cooperate. Nations had met a sort of peace, a fiercely intentional period reliant on treaties and other agreements, the Compact of the Ten Nations, spearheaded by Queen Mabriam of Aramaelle.
The war began with a series of attacks by the Shadowspawn on the Borderlands, specifically Jaramide and Aramaelle. The city of Barsine in Jaramide was destroyed, while others faced awful destruction as well. At the attack on Barsine, the people of the continent- each of the Ten Nations, with the cooperation of the Aes Sedai- attempted to subdue the armies of the Shadow. They failed in their attempts, and the Shadowspawn spread into the Westlands. They began to demolish settlements, cities, and fortresses. Aramaelle, by this point, was completely overrun, though Jaramide struggled still to survive. The Shadowspawn sank into southern kingdoms, namely Aridhol, and launched their first major attack on Tar Valon.
During these first many years, the human armies were unable to face the Trolloc armies head on; they instead isolated smaller sections split off from the main armies. The only exceptions were those battles where Aes Sedai were abundant.
The Trollocs attempted to invade the Aiel Waste, only to be met by the forces of the Aiel clans. They demolished the Trolloc armies, and the Trollocs now refuse to enter the Aiel claimed lands.
The Shadow, meanwhile continued its push into Aridhol. The king received advise from a man named Mordeth, that he must be more ruthless to defeat the Shadow. The king therefore sacrificed thousands of lives to attempt to keep the Shadow away from his kingdom. The Prince of Manetheren, the neighboring southern kingdom, attempted to help the king see the error of his ways- the prince was imprisoned, and tortured, losing a hand before he escaped. The other nations marched on Aridhol to demand recompense; only to find that it had been consumed by evil, and had fallen to ruins. It was condemned with the name of Shadar Logoth. Even now, an army of Shadowspawn still remains in the city; Mordeth stays to continue his evil work.
This is when our story begins.
After Aridhol’s demise, the Shadowspawn focused their fight on Coremanda, and Manetheren. We will focus on Manetheren. In the first few years of these battles, King Thorin became famous for his glorious efforts. He was succeeded by his grandson, Aemon. Aemon marries an Aes Sedai named Eldrene, and the two led a fantastic effort against the Shadow. Aemon formed a band of elite warriors, the Band of the Red Hand. Seemingly in response, from the Shadow emerged a new commander- Ba’alzamon, the Forsaken Ishamael disguised as the Dark One himself.
Certain things must occur during this RP, as there is a history which we must follow. If you don’t want spoilers, don’t look it up, but all of the information about the Trolloc Wars is posted on the Wheel of Time wiki.
The majority of the story will (probably) take place in Manetheren, with Aemon and Eldrene, Shadar Logoth and the Blight, with Ba’alzamon and friends, and Tar Valon, with the Amyrlin Tetsuan and the other Aes Sedai. There may be battles and whatnot all over the place, there really are no restrictions except that we must follow the timeline, the lands, the socioeconomic structure, and the magic rules, details of which can all be found above.
CHARACTERS
RULES FOR CHARACTERS
As far as Character Sheets go, there are no limits as to how overpowered you can be. However, as strong as you are, you must have equivalent weaknesses. In addition, there are certain things which are not allowed; a warder must be bonded to an Aes Sedai, who must be a player character; only Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah may have multiple warders, all others may only have 0 or 1. You may only play a male channeller with prior permission, demonstrating an understanding of the restrictions of such a character. No ta’veren are allowed, because that will just become too confusing. Characters must be old enough to have enough experience to actually contribute to the war- I suggest at the very least 30, more like 40 if we're being honest, while Aes Sedai could be at least 100. In short, no special snowflakes.
Also, we must follow all of the rules of the Wheel of Time universe. I do not want to be haunted by Robert Jordan's ghost.
No part of the character sheet can be marked "unknown" without prior approval. If you have a character with a big secret- such as the fact that they are a Darkfriend- that you wish to keep hidden from the rest of the players, PM me and Poo and we can work something out.
Once a character has been posted in the Character tab, you may not edit it any further. Hence the rule below, that all characters must be approved by both GM's before they are posted in the Character tab.
All characters must be approved by both GM’s,
and posted in OOC prior to being posted in the CS tab.
CHARACTER SHEETS
Post this character sheet in the OOC first, for approval from both GM's. Tag us both at the top of the post.
[These top things should be as succinct as possible- as few words as possible. Simplicity is key.] Name: [Include any and all titles.]
Gender: [Note that you can be a gender not of the typical binary- however, if you are a channeler, PM me so we can discuss the details of how that will work.]
Age: [At least 30 years old, unless we've talked and decided otherwise. Keep in mind that female channelers can live a hell of a long time, but that history happens; if you have a particularly old character, make sure that you know what was happening in the world during their younger years. If you need help with that, message me and I’ll send you the relevant, abbreviated information.]
Origin: [Which of the nations are they from, specifically?]
Career: [What does your character do? Who are they? For example, an Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah, a Warder to an Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah, the King of Manetheren, Darkfriend working as a Street Vendor, etc; include all relevant information as to your character’s primary occupation(s) in as few words as possible. Please include your rank as well, if necessary. And being a parent counts as an occupation.]
Faction: [What group will you, the player, control, that this character is a member/leader of? If they are the commander of said faction, write "Commander of [insert faction here]" rather than just the name of the faction.]
[The rest of these things can be as detailed as you wish.] Appearance: [This can be a picture, so long as it’s not anime/manga, or it can be a physical description. Either way, show us enough that we can know what your character looks like- we don’t necessarily need to know the specific way her eyes shine at the break of dawn, just the basics- you can elaborate in the IC. If you need help finding a picture, PM me.]
History: [Here, include a basic summary- no more than 500 words- of your character’s life. This should be brief, succinct- as much information as a civilian might gather from chatting up a few acquaintances.]
Notes: [Any other information you deem relevant to the public. Include whether or not this person can channel, unless that’s already obvious by their occupation, if that information is publicly known.]
Send this character sheet to the GM's for approval in a PM. This must be approved before your character sheet can be posted in the Character tab.
Personality: [An in depth analysis of your character’s belief system and personal code, and their perspective of the world, and how they act in it.]
History: [As long as it needs to be. A full account of your character’s life, from as early as you want to the current date.]
Family: [Does your character have any surviving relatives, or loved ones? Warders and Lovers should be listed here too, as should any similarly strong relationships. This should be in list form- i.e. Stan, brother; Bob, husband; Sally, daughter.]
Further Notes: [Any other information you deem relevant. Include whether or not your character can channel, if that information is not publicly known. If your character is a channeler, and you want her strength to be privately known, place it here.]
Possibilities for characters include the following:
DARK:
Dreadlords- Mostly women with the capability to channel who lead forces of Shadowspawn
Darkfriends- People who fight/act on behalf of the Dark One (either known or in secret)
Ba’alzamon and the Shadowspawn- will be NPC’s, the former only controlled by the GM’s.
Trollocs
Myrddraal
Darkhounds
Gray Men
Jumara/Worms
Draghkar
LIGHT:
Aemon and Eldrene- will be controlled by Poo and me, respectively.
Tetsuan- will be an NPC, GM controlled.
Band of the Red Hand- The warriors who fight in Aemon’s name
Soldiers- Warriors who belong to the greater armies of the Ten Nations
Aes Sedai- Women capable of channeling
Warders- The men who protect individual Aes Sedai
Aiel- People of the wasteland, outsiders
Civilians- Anything else you want
If you have a special request or neat idea, based on something not listed here, go for it! Tetsuan and Ba’alzamon can be claimed, if you guys want them. The latter must be controlled by someone who has read the series, and knows the character well. Tetsuan is really open ended, though.
ON FACTIONS
All players must control a character, obviously, but the player will also control a faction, of which their character is either the leader or a member. For example, Aemon will dictate what the Band of the Red Hand is doing during battle, as he is the commander of that faction. A run-of-the-mill member of the Green Ajah would tell us what the other Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah are doing during that battle; she would not be commanding them, she would simply relay to the reader what is going on. This will be reflected in the Character Sheets, so there isn't any confusion.
The only time we need to know what a faction is doing is during battle; outside of an active battlefield, you'll just write about your character.
Before you post your character in the OOC, let us all know here what faction you want to claim (or invent).
RULES
Honestly, since this is in the Advanced section, I expect that you guys know how RP’s work. Be nice, don't control others' characters, use correct grammar, etc. I’ll let out a little bit of faith here, and we’ll only post explicit rules of conduct if problems arise. Here are just some guidelines for how this should work:
The expected word count of any given post is ~1,000. If you write 500 solid words, and you don't want to elaborate lest you end up with redundancies and purple speech, we're good. It's not a strict thing- just an average post length. We want to give each other enough material to actually respond.
Speaking of purple speech, though- I will have none of it. Flowery words are ok, flamboyant sentence structure is fine, but going out of your way to seem like you're a drunk poet that stepped out of the 19th century? ...No.
You won't need to post every day, just keep up to date on the IC, and try to post at least once a week, wherever seems most appropriate to you.
Try to keep up on the OOC- at least on the posts that either of us GM's make. If you have any questions, ask. I will be more than happy to answer anything. No question is a stupid question (I'm a teacher, so I actually believe that).
On a final note, there is no such thing as plot armor. There is every chance that your character will die. Those characters which are particularly overpowered or fantastic pose a greater risk. Remember, few names survive to the Third Age- all of your original characters' stories will be forgotten after their deaths. Hence the 'no special snowflakes' character rule. If you want to play a character who is guaranteed to live, you may choose to play as one of the canon characters.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask here, or in a PM to Poo or myself!
APPROVED CHARACTERS
(format: Character Name | Faction | @Player) Suel Istan | N/A | @aviendha Naia Irabena | White Ajah | @aviendha Rennet Kyne | Aelgar | @Lucky Knight Ardath Dodorea | Shadow | @Tangletail
Tagging everyone who has shown interest. Please post what faction you want to control (keep in mind it'll only matter during battle), and whenever you can, your characters! There's no rush here, I don't expect the RP to begin for some time yet. I cannot wait to see what you guys come up with! I've already been incredibly impressed by the ideas expressed over PM's.
I'd like to control one of the smaller forces for the Shadow. I have been sick today and have some work to do, so I will try to get my character started tomorrow.
@TangletailThis takes place during the Trolloc Wars, which occurred many centuries before the events of the series.
While I take some time to refresh myself on the war, and lore... does your character require a body guard? I'm in the process of contemplating making a mercenary tough, or a soldier.
"Sword Saint" Reeva. Or sometimes called Reeva the Cleeva jokingly. I'm contemplating having her unofficially a Blademaster, after having defeated one in battle, but without the proper witnesses.
@aviendha, @POOHEAD189 – Here's my first stab at a character for the game. Definitely let me know if I've gotten something wrong with the world or the lore, or if something is otherwise just not right. Haha. I'm sending the private version of the sheet your way as well though there's little on it that isn't in the post below.
EDITS: Changed stuff around per suggestions.
Name
Rennet Ferroe Kyne, Prince of Aelgar, Knight-Protector of the Shadow Coast, his Grace the Duke of Tambris and Illeset.
Gender
Male.
Age
Thirty four.
Origin
Aelgar.
Career
Prince of Aelgar.
Faction
Aelgar.
Appearance
Rennet is considered a handsome man though he errs on the side of average, as he is often neglectful of his grooming. He bears a tanned complexion and a swath of shoulder-length hair whose mottled colors range from auburn to dark brown. A habitual field of whiskers lines his jaw, near as dark in color as the molten brown of his eyes. The marks of a life spent in rigid training in the arts of combat have left him lean but corded with muscle, and he has a healthy glow about him that is somewhat belied by the echo of a thousand nights spent drowning in his cups.
Despite his general lack of interest in maintaining a crisp and imperious public image, his elder brother, father, and mother all insist on frequent visits to the palace tailor. His clothes are thus nearly always at the height of fashion and well-suited to his body; most of these clothes tend towards the darker shades of blue and gold, with touches of purple to add a dash of royalty. As his station demands he represent his connection to the nation's military, he habitually bears a well-forged blade at his side, often a replica of the heron-marked sword his father keeps locked in the palace vaults – though not even Rennet is fool enough to mark the blades he carries with the same sigil of mastery.
History
Born the third son of High House Kyne, the royal line of Aelgar, Rennet was originally groomed for a life of scholarly pursuit with the ultimate aim of serving his family in a diplomatic and advisory capacity. Throughout most of his life the closest he ever came to a battlefield was drilling in the arts of swordplay or the odd tavern brawl when he could wriggle free of his ever-present bodyguards.
During these formative years he had little in the way of interaction with the ongoing war against the Trollocs and the power which lay behind their assault. Despite his charge to become wise enough to counsel his brothers and to serve his nation, he did much to neglect or outright ignore all the hopes placed in him. Indeed, quite a number of his youthful activities can be summed up by his unofficial (and occasionally resurrected) moniker: “Prince of Wine, Women, and Song.”
All that changed upon the discovery that the second-born son of the King showed the ability to channel. Exactly what transpired following this revelation isn't public knowledge, but plenty of rumors paint a tragic picture for the King and his family. Once the discovery was made the Aes Sedai arrived to verify, and, upon seeing the truth of the matter, took him to their Tower whereupon he was made Gentle and either imprisoned within the Tower … or found himself the victim of suicide.
Regardless of his brother's final fate, this shift in the family dynamic pushed Rennet into a role he had never anticipated and was poorly-suited to. On his thirty-second birthday he was dragged from the halls of his tutors and the streets of his city and inducted into Aelgar's military, whereupon he was assigned to the commander of the kingdom's forces to learn and grow into his new role as quickly as possible. The change has been rough both on Rennet and on the soldiers he now serves with.
Whether he will rise to the challenge before him remains to be seen. What soldiers could be spared for the front in Manetheren now march towards the war, and Rennet right alongside them.
Notes
Rennet is the third son of the King of Aelgar and is being groomed to serve as a commander of the army, though currently only serves as the current commander's right hand. He doesn't have any ability to channel (though one of his brothers did have the gift before being Gentled). The Prince tends to get into trouble and – despite his role as one of the highest authorities in the kingdom of his birth – often shows a streak of anti-authoritarian behavior. Groomed in single combat and really good at it, but lacking any particular skill in the art of leading soldiers or setting plans for battle.
@Lucky Knight He needs to be a hell of a lot older than 24. Please read the character rules in the introductory post. Shorten the origin to just "Aelgar". "presumptive future commander of the kingdom's military." is unnecessary, we want the career only to show their current occupation, not future occupations. Faction, similarly, should be simplified to just "Aelgar". We want to avoid redundancies- "The Kingdom of" and "(military)" are unnecessary. The history and appearance are great, though. More comments in PM.
Reminds me of what Brandon Sanderson writes about mercenaries in his stories XD.
"Shit pay, terrible mortality rate on the job, and no body trust you. But Assassins? Everybody trusts assassins!"
Honestly, I got an idea though based on Glen Cooks work. I'm going to spend more time exploring the thought.
Probably have her be a Captain of a Free Company. Which is basically an army of mercenaries working independently of any government. The difference though is that their loyalty isn't necessarily to the highest bidder but by their oaths and contracts which made them much safer than a standard merc.
Where most men are likely at war leaving provinces defenseless, free companies tend to be the stand-ins... if they weren't previously contracted into war... which were significantly cheaper than hiring new knights. It also wasn't uncommon for low grade lordlings to war with each other in the middle of war.
Most of their pay is through what they can plunder from the battlegrounds, rather than what a lord gives them.
@Tangletail Mercenaries are literally swords for hire, their only loyalty is to money. Not even to the highest bidder, but to the guarantee of a payout. As for assassins, they're not really relevant in wartimes against a force of chaos not focused on any one power, and their trustworthiness is entirely dependent upon their payment method.
@Tangletail Mercenaries are literally swords for hire, their only loyalty is to money. Not even to the highest bidder, but to the guarantee of a payout. As for assassins, they're not really relevant in wartimes against a force of chaos not focused on any one power, and their trustworthiness is entirely dependent upon their payment method.
I understand. :P
But this is just something I am exploring mentally before I make a decision. AKA, flipping through the books for a story route to go by. After the wars, Mercs had a huge impact to the story. So I'm contemplating if I want to take the risk to see where it goes.
@Tangletail We're beginning in the year 1200. The Wars won't end until 1350. I expect this RP to span the time of less than a year in game- even if we go over, there's no way that we're going to go through a full 150 years of RPing...
@Lucky Knight Public CS looks great, it has my stamp of approval. When you post it in the character tab, please put it in a hider labelled with his name, for neatness's sake.
A woman slight in stature, and not without feminine qualities. She’s dressed from shoulders to toes in what can only be in leather armor that features a color similar to that of an unpolished iron. The armor is fitted and vaguely reveals the woman’s curves. The armor’s appearance is almost entirely leather, however it is supplemented in the style of a brigandine with a thin gambeson acting as a buffer between her skin and the plates while acting as additional protection. Covering her head is a morion complete with a mask that encloses the typically open helmet. And lastly, hitched to her hip is a long sword. There’s nothing startlingly unique about it
Outside of the armor, she could be called beautiful – for time has seemed to have completely forgotten about her. Her hair is long with the color of a crow’s feathers with bands of hair curling into what might as well be called sails as they easily catch the wind and are blown about. She has brown eyes, and a light complexion.
She had lost the desire of following fashion, and prefers to wear more utilitarian and sturdy things. Most frequently, canvas trousers, and a men’s blouse with little care to the comfort of her peers.
History:
She was born as the fourth and youngest sibling to a prosperous family in one of the costal City’s of Aelgar. Her family’s business was trade, and they did it well through cut-throat practices, and strategic planning that whittled out a number of merchants, sent them into debt, or even taking over property after giving their customers a loaded deal on credit.
It wasn’t until long after she began to pick up her family’s trade was she discovered to be a channeler. And by then she was already well versed in the art of deception, trickery, and economics. And with her time in the tower, she joined the Brown Arjahs and began to focus on her own studies now that she was no longer able to continue her family’s wishes. She began to study both the human mind and psychology. Finding the research fascinating, if it couldn’t be called a noble pursuit.
Her research had produced hundreds of journals. Many of which were simply journals that studied a single person in such disturbing detail; each one made without a single lick of respect paid to privacy. And what’s more, she was beginning to come to the point of predicting each individual’s next actions with a startling percentage of accuracy. A few of those journals, however studied something a little deeper. Common patterns of human behavior found in her own accounts, and past accounts. The three she was most obsessed with however, were compassion, conflict, and ambition. Those three is what she found in herself as well as many others.
She had practically locked herself away to her own devices in the tower following the small discovery. Reading over accounts of history. Kings and Queens of the world’s history, wars and sieges between nations and lordlings, usurpers sending assassins or building masses to take the throne.
And time continued on. Where it was kind to her body, it was not kind to her mind. At the age of eighty-three her family was already in their graves. And her mental state began to degrade as she stressed over her research. Where the constant bellows of horns, the thumping of horns, and the clash of metal would drive people away, it sung to her like a siren’s song. Where others saw things horrible, she saw beauty. Where people saw a battlefield strew with bodies, she saw a landscape turned into a work of art. She began to become infatuated with the war. Love even, if war could be a creature that could return such feelings back.
And with her current condition, it did not take much more to convince her to willingly join the forces of shadow. She did not need the soothing caress of power, or to hear the songs of wealth. She wanted to walk in the light of violence, and to be at the epicenter.
Through the next ninety-four years, she had been commanding a company of Trollocs and Shadowspren. With shaky results at first… as with any new commander. But her experimentation soon warped into a method, a practice, and a skill. She began producing results in a deadly campaign.
But... again, through those ninety-four years time has been picking at her mind like a grabby toddler. Bags began to form in her eyes as her eyes seemed to fix themselves in a haunted glare. They flick repeatedly, seeing the unseen, whom she also converses with, tantrums with, and fights with near daily. Both in and out of battle.
Notes:
During Ardath's dip into insanity before she left the tower to join the dark forces, she developed a moniker of "Banshee". Which is a reference to the way she howls out like a frightened animal when left alone without a light, and if she's silent... she's usually found holed up in a very tight space.
Ardath can be confidently described as a war monger. She’s often seen on the battlefield in armor, giving orders to her Myddraal to be relayed to the Trollocs. That is not to say that she is defenseless as the years have given her plenty of time to become a formidable swordsmen among being a channeler.
She can be a bit of a showboater, and while not to the point of boasting about her own success. But boasting when victory is already in her hands, and to make a cruel display out of what she has done to instill a desired emotion on her next foes.
She's also a hot head. Her emotions fluctuates rather rapidly... and takes little stimuli for her to shift between sadness to happiness, from neutral, to rage. Rage to glee. And what have you.
However, she does hold a firm respect for honor and refuses to go back on a word when it is given.
Her Strength in One Power is 24; she's strongest in Earth and Fire, but completely lacks the ability to manifest spirit.
Despite how far she fell, she still has a love of knowledge, and a fear of it disappearing when the world turns over to her new master. She openly sanctions all seekers of knowledge and structures of it, refusing the use of violence against them. And will violently punish her own troops for knowingly violating that sanction.
Pretty sure there's some discrepancies in there. But I will get started on the Private Character Sheet
