Name: Arno Folke
Gender: Male
Age: 29
Description: Arno is one of the shortest people in all the land, standing at 5 feet, 1 inch tall. Although he's lighter than most people who are taller than he is, he is incredibly strong for his height and weight. Over his body is a fair number of scars, mostly around his arms and legs, where enemies struck around his guard or where he was armored less. The most notable scar is a cut on his left cheek when he took a glancing blow from a warhammer to his helmet, which gouged a hole into the side of it. The jagged metal from the hole cut his cheek. Arno keeps his hair mid length and wild, keeping it away from his eyes with a piece of striped cloth. He also has a well kept short mustache and beard.

Knight Element: Earth
Familiar: Sapphira the Oread, Mountain Nymph.

Armor Style: Mixed plate and mail armor. Over the years Arno has gathered the funds to purchase more and more armor, and not wanting to waste, he's bought armor that compliments his previous ones well. Over his normal pants and shirt he has a long aketon, a padded jacket made of quilted wool to be worn under armor plate. The aketon ends at his knees, with the lower half having riveted steel plates attached, essentially turning it into half of a coat of plates. Over the aketon he wears a mail hauberk. Over that is finally a milanese styled breastplate and asymmetrical pauldrons, the left pauldron being larger than the right and overlapping the breastplate. For his arms, Arno has acquired Gothic styled plate, the rerebrace for his upper arm, couter for his elbow joint, vambrace for forearm and gauntlets for his hands. For his legs he's only kept his Milanese style cuisses, selling his poleyn, greaves and sabatons in favor for much more comfortable leather boots with steel plates strapped to them. His most valuable piece of armor is his Maximilian gorget, a fully articulated piece of armor meant to protect his neck. On his head he wears a quilted arming cap, bascinet with a mail coif attached, tucked underneath the gorget, and topping it all off is a painted great helmet.
Signature Weapon: A shortened Lucerne hammer, called the Falcon's Talon. Arno also has an arming sword as a sidearm, a rondel dagger, both on his belt, and a sword-hilt dagger strapped to his right boot. Arno also has a heater shield painted white and red to match his helmet.

History:
At the age of 15, Arno left his village to become a soldier under the command of Aldebrand Schulz, a kindhearted and charismatic noble. He heard the call, and with a desire of adventure, he answered. He was given a spear, a poorly made wooden shield, and no armor. He was trained for a year before marching out with a group of recruits. The next several years were rough, as the youngest and smallest, Arno was bullied by his fellow soldiers when they weren't fighting, and when they were he was on the front lines in the middle of the battle standing and holding a formation against another formation. As Arno became more adept at combat, he fought against his bullies nearly killing one. He earned the nickname, the small demon, in his regiment. Arno spent his pay on armor and weapons, slowly becoming more armored, more skilled in fighting with and without weapons, overall becoming much deadlier and looking more like those noble and wealthy Knights and Lords that strutted around with their polished and shiny steel plate armor. The ones who looked down on the peasant troops and used them as meatshields in battle.

Ten years after he had joined the warband of Lord Aldebrand Schulz, Arno had been promoted from a peasant spearman to a foot knight who fought alongside wealthier troops who could afford their armor, or had been granted armor by someone else. By this time Arno wielded his Falcon's Talon, had plate steel, and his great helmet with the mouth of a demon painted on the visor. While traveling alongside an allied group, a nobleman insulted the honor of Lord Schulz's troops. Calling his foot knight group a group of poor thieving churls. Morale took a hit as nobody dared to say anything back, how could they? After all they were peasants, and the one insulting them was of noble blood. Until Arno blurted out that the noble was a cox comb fool who had no idea what real war felt like, judging by the shine of his spotless boots and well groomed horse. The noble was insulted and challenged Arno to a duel of honor, to which Arno agreed. It only took a few moments before Arno had parried the longsword of the nobleman and planted his warhammer into the chest of the nobleman, denting his breastplate severely and throwing him to the floor. While the incident was swept under the rug, the peasant-soldiers of Lord Aldebrand Schulz told the story about the little demon who defeated the stuck up nobleman to each other for years.

After the duel Arno had gained a bit of a reputation. He was given leadership of a group of soldiers by the Knight in charge of the section that Arno was in. Fifty soldiers, hand picked, armed to the teeth and armored from head to toe. They were called the Peasant Demons of Shulz by the other noblemen, a name they proudly accepted. The Peasant Demons were an elite group in Lord Aldebrand Schulz's warband, sent in from the flank to smash into the rear or side of the enemy army. Arno lead this group of elite soldiers for five years before he retired now 29 years old, a veteran soldier of countless battles, a master duelist, and an expert at war. That was two years ago, and now he lives in a small wooden house near a village, keeping his skills sharp and working as a hunter under an alias.

Name: Oriel Schulz

Gender: Female

Age: 22

Description: A fair-skinned young woman with golden hair and cyan eyes, Oriel hails from a nation to the west of the main capital of Elementia. Standing at 6'1", she is taller than most women. Despite the air of nobility she carries about herself, she also bears scars from the battles she fought trying to secure her station, as well as the musculature that comes with her weapon's usage.

Knight Element: Fire

Animal Familiar: Dragon Hatchling, roughly the size of a Gila Monster. Can barely spout flames on its own, but is durable, and has potential to grow into a full sized dragon within her lifespan.

Armor Style: An ornate set of red armor inherited from her father beneath a matching crimson tabard, treasured dearly by Oriel. The design is minimalistic beneath the tabard, allowing for it to still allow for optimal range of movements when using her sword. The armor itself is comparable to Gothic Style Plate Armor, and a matching Sallet is what she usually dons to protect her head. The gauntlets are gilded on the wrists as the greaves are decorated at the ankles with an image of a crown with a lion's head sitting at the center on the back.



History: Born the first and only child to a Lord by the name of Aldebrand Schulz, Oriel's early life was spent in contentment and happiness with her father and mother at her side. By the age of four however, her mother's life would be taken by a terrible fever that left her father alone to care for her, and without a guiding hand to raise her into a proper young woman, Aldebrand instead saw that he would raise within her the only thing he knew how to upbring: A Soldier. A warrior. Even as a young child, he was firm in his teachings to her, practice sword lessons, sparring, even spending her idle hours playing "Hero" with the local village children...if she wasn't asleep, it seemed there was practice to be had. Such an upbringing lead Oriel to become extremely competitive and pride-driven, proud of the talent she'd cultivated with her father.

Of course, an idle sword-hand is of little use to anyone. Starting with no favorable treatment as a low ranking infantryman in her father's regimen, it was hard for her to grow accustomed to the life of a soldier, and even harder to be accepted by the fellows in her company. As time permised however, she would grow close and forge a bond of camaraderie with them that was shared; Even if she was the Lord's daughter, she had to struggle for every smile she saw in the barracks.

The years would go by as her father's men served the King of Elementia, and although the king's deeds were questionable, her father's loyalty remained to him. By the age of 20, Oriel would engage in her first actual battle and took her first life on the fields of war. Blood on her hands, the young woman soon found that she hadn't truly thought about what being a soldier meant. It seemed to shake her to her core...at least for a time. But, as all soldiers did, she adapted. It was either that or meeting death from another more willing adversary who shared not her remorse. Half a year of fighting before she was able to return home, only to soon find that despite her father's loyalty to the King, he soon grew fearful of the charisma that Aldebrand possessed, as well as his military prowess. With little effort, their home was entered, and her father met his end at the hands of a band of assassins bearing the King's sigil on their weapons. With her only family now perished, and her own life being pursued by those with the approval of the King, she fled and found refuge in the home of a kindly sage who was the proprietor of a library. Having now spent roughly a year out of practice and in hiding, Oriel was merely on a trip to the market before she heard the news of her "Knighthood." Now, she has a new goal in mind with her power...taking the throne from the man who spat upon her father's life, and cementing herself as Queen.

Name: Sidero Denholm

Gender: Male

Age: 37

Description: Standing at 6'4, 255 pounds of nearly pure muscle, Sidero is capable of carrying more than most people can lift, and does so happily - Sidero is silent to most people at first, but will carry more than his fair share of the weight, share his food, and is always willing to lend a year. He may seem like a stickler for the rules for the most part, but he simply views following the orders given to him as the easiest way to do things, and constantly strives to make life easier for others. He does not have any piercings or tattoos, but his body is littered with scars from years of hard labor and combat. He holds himself formally, rarely allowing himself to slouch or become casual. Additionally, years of combat has made him both extremely paranoid during the night, but also a light sleeper - be careful when trying to wake him up.

Knight Element: Metal

Animal Familiar: N/A

Armor Style: Heavy plate, utilizing leather for the joints. Due to the heavy weight, he is significantly slower than most other knights, but makes up for it in raw durability and strength. His main method of defense is simply taking attacks, rather than the more popular method of dodging. Hell, his fighting style is based on counter attacking while the opponent is close. His armor covers nearly every inch of his body, with only small holes provided for eyesight and air.

Signature Weapon: While he prefers to wield his sword, he is most well-known for his quarterstaff - a long piece of metal that he is very adept at using. Unlike most other weapons, it has a truly staggering weight: 45 lbs, easily enough to kill a normal man in light armor in a single hit. He is quite proficient with it, moving much faster than the average man could. Despite this, he still moves at a slow pace, slowed down by his armor and the sheer weight of the weapon. Someone with adequate speed and agility would be able to dodge most blows unscathed.

History: Sidero's origin, like many others, starts out rather humble - he was born to a simple blacksmith and a housemaid, both of whom were owned by a noble in the small town they resided in. Sidero lived in relative comfort for most of his childhood and, while he never received a formal education, was rapidly growing a strong body thanks to his years with his father at the forge. He, like most blacksmith's apprentices, forged the simplest of items - horseshoes, utensils, etc. His father wished for his son to take over after he has passed, and spent most of his youth training the boy in forge work. Sidero's childhood was mostly uneventful - occasionally getting in a fight with other kids, visiting other villagers, nothing truly extraordinary. That is, until a platoon of soldiers came to the village, seeking to rest until the next day where they planned to go to the capital. The nobleman, seeking to increase his reputation among the upper class, offered the guest room in his manor to the captain of the platoon. For the other soldiers, people around the village offered them refuge in their homes, and the Denholm family did the same. The young man that stayed their was very forgettable, spoke with a monotone voice that rarely elicited excitement from listeners.

Despite this, he held countless stories of the outside world. The lands outside of the small village Sidero had grown up in since birth, and the exotic people and cultures that existed. For hours, Sidero listened to the man drone on, and while his voice was so soft and warm that it could lull someone to sleep faster than the afternoon rays of sunlight, it's contents were what astounded Sidero. He had thought, at a young age, that he would live in the village for the rest of his life, working the same job his father had, living the same life, and dying in the place he was born. But this normal, unassuming soldier opened his eyes to the possibilities; he wasn't chained down, forced to live a life that was already experienced. He could live his own life, forge his own path. At the age of 15, Sidero decided he would become a soldier.

Spending the next three years working in the forge and training his body for combat, Sidero quickly grew to be an incredibly impressive man physically, and while he remained behind intellectually, the passion in his heart only grew with time and, to his parents dismay, Sidero left to enlist at the local city. After 3 days of travel by foot, he finally made it to the city and, after a brief examination and being satisfied with his physical fitness, he was sent into the wilderness with several other men. Unlike the other soldiers, Sidero enlisted to help terminate monsters that attacked near towns and cities. Sidero spent the next 15 years in the corp, fighting with other men against various wildlife, anything from trolls to gryphons, and while the work was certainly bloody, Sidero enjoyed every second of it. He had experienced more in the last 15 years than he ever would of in that village, that he was sure of. About 3 months into his 33rd year of life, he had heard news of the ceremony that would decide the future Knights of Elements and, having stored up enough vacation days to last months, he set off to see the future heroes of the kingdom. After all, Sidero loved experiencing things more than anything else in the world. He now stood in the capital of Elementia, waiting along with the rest of the crowd to see who would be declared as chosen by the gods.