Stina can always appreciate a tinkerer, especially one who doesn't make a lot of noise and gets his job done: it is a valuable asset in a world where the loss of the machines could easily mean death. this is of course, tempered by his wavering faith - Stina sees his lack of vigor in prayer and meditation, and despairs. He can at least respect the fact that Kuznetsov is able to still contribute to a fight, but still just... doesn't get not wanting to be in the thick of it. Probably has to do with that T'sarean blood in him.
all Ragnar really needed to get pushed onto the right track was a bit of encouragement - and look at him now: a fighter in his own right, ready and willing to sacrifice for his fellow man and country. A good man, with a good future. Especially if he stops trying to take cues from Hassan. [will flesh out further when I can properly see the character]
For all his happy-go-lucky disrespect of the great church of Varya, there's something about Hassan that makes Stina want to keep him around. It probably helps that he withers like a baby deer any time Stina ever truly threatens him, knowing that his powers can't touch another Inquisitor, so when he needs to, Stina can put Hassan in his place. But it's more than that... his want to have fun... his desperate attempt to break out from the cycle of war and hunger that devours Varyan culture... something that appeals deep within the thousand layers of tough-guy over Stina. because deep inside, it is fun to break out of his bubble every once in a while and actually have some fun: both of them losing some of their barriers probably appeals to Hassan as much as it does to Yerokhin.
Stina's always seen something vaguely suspicious in Astraea: something... not quite right about how she goes about her life, her prayer, her battle. It always seems tentative, vaguely unwilling, and altogether too much about her own emotions - different from the two who simply don't care, she seems to care... too much? and maybe about something else? But hey, she is still a Lastronan, so she still kills quite effectively, and is quite a good healer. Their journey to capture that demon was also the most fun Stina had ever had, because man did those things put up a good fight. Stina has a relatively bi-polar relationship with Mother Astraea. He wants to love her with the same intensity that he loves Ragnar and Hassan, but feels like she keeps putting up barriers between the two of them, so he is at times curt and rough with her. He will of course, keep trying to make the friendship work until a breaking point finally is reached.
@SisyphusThat's pretty much what I had in mind, actually. I was thinking that the masses in Magnagrad would subsist on manufactured food distributed to them by the Church. Not sure what form it'd take, but it sure as hell wouldn't be all that pleasant to eat. The people on the higher echelons of society would have access to meat and more natural food, which would come from the herds of bison and other animals that populate the more rural regions of the continent, like Muraad and the like.
I'm thinking Lanostrans also had cattle to eat as well. Anyone have any other ideas concerning this stuff?
Ok alot going on and ive had a long day with beer so forgive me if this is less eloquent than normal.
Somehow i have Lanostre as slightly more green than its Varyan counterparts and thus with a few more edible plants and wildlife. I also have Lanostre, under the lady as being the sort of place where you eat what you catch. As such Lanostrans learn survival and family values early on as they are dependent on their family to survive. It also means they learn teamwork and grow in strength as time goes on. Nevertheless they are used to hunger but also a better standard of diet than a Varyan
I would also suggest that the introduction of a food production plant would be another selling point to the less traditional Lanostran!
Let me know how that sounds.
Ill start to have a look at character relationships now!
Apologies for the double post and greater apologies as all of these take liberties (i just write what comes to mind and it sort of bleurghhhhssss)
I am very happy to discuss amend or bin and rewemrite. I have also realised i have an extremely confrontational nature except with 7 foot giants! Phenomenal instincts if i do say so myself
Father Ragnar@lovejoy Astraea was very confused by Father Ragnar from the moment she met him. Before she had even introduced herself she had felt uncontrollable anger and intollerable pain. She had avoided him as much as she could but when it became clear their paths were linked for the forseeable future she attempted to bite the bullet. She tried to be nice battling against his emotions even as they lit a fire in her brain yet he responded with forced civility. It took immense quantities of an extremely potent liquor for Astraea to learn the reason for his dislike yet sadly this only increased her contempt for him. Though she understood and wept for his pain his hatred of her was incomprehensible. Had her parents been killed by a Varyan she would have focused her attention on the individual Varyan and removed his head or died in the attempt thus putting to rest her families debt. To hate an entire race because of the actions of a small group showed a petty and weak nature she could neither understand nor accept. For the good of the unit Astraea accepts and returns Ragnar's curt civility though the mix of his loathing for her and her contempt for him means it takes immense self control to still her hand from reaching for her spear.
It helps Ragnar is the protector of the group and as such she is duty bound to protect him from harm or they all shall perish. She has never been one to desert her duty!
Father Rodion@Drakey: Lanostre has never been a technologically advanced place and so Rodion mixes Astraea with a sense of wonder and contempt. On the one hand his ability is truly incredible and he has created things that have made her break into spomtaneous applause. On the other without his little toys she could flip him over and spank his backside with a hand tied behind her back. What honour is there in such a man?
Astraea finds it deeply soothing to watch Rodion work for when fully concentrating he is almost completely devoid of emotion which allows her to relax and enjoy her own emotions for a change. Nevertheless with Ragnar following him round like a lost puppy she withdrew yet with the distance growing in their relationship Astraea has begun to return to enjoy the tranquility.
Father Hassan @Sisyphus ( I very much agree tough one so I'll begin with this. Feel free to pm me) As an empath Astraea is the only person that truly knows Hasaan's underlying fear and that the cocky boy act is just an act. They began as good friends Hasaan cocky and good natured on the surface but always fearful. It was only when Hasaan discovered her gift that he began to pull away terrified that she would tell someone else his true nature. Nevertheless despite the fact that she would not ever tell anyone the damage was already done.
Hasaan struggled to be himself around her and as he became more involved in the arts of stealth and secrecy she began to loose respect for him. On the face of it they are friendly and cordial but there is a slight tension running between them.
Father Yerokhin @The Angry Goat Astraea feels the greatest kinship with Father Yerokhin, who as the group tank, needs the most healimg and is the most honourable combatant of any Varyan she has ever known. He is a true test to spar with and is the only one to ask her of daemons and accompany her to hunt. At 7ft if he had green eyes and an elfish smile her mother would have had them wed before tea time yet his brutish Varyan features are unappealing to her prejudiced eyes.
Nevertheless she adores time sparring with Yerokhin whose emotions and words never vary, a quality she deeply admires. Her fondest memory of the Red Seminary is the afternoon they spent trying to develop a one shot kill on an opposing protector. The theory was she grab onto his belt as he barrels foward with his shield extended knocking people aside. He retracts his shield as she use the momentum to leap and throw her spear. She almost lost her front teeth Yerokhin nearly lost his head but Astraea had never laughed so hard in her life.
Despite the fun she is terrified that he may figure out her secret for she struggles to match his Varyan devotion which is unwavering and unquestioning. She continues to flee before being drwawn back in by a new challenge yet it seems he is also wary and occassionally he is understandably curt and irritable.
Her greatest fear is that on the day of the revolution she will need to put her spear through Yerokhin's heart to free her Lady
Phew. Sorry for the delay. I hope my blurb on summoning suffices. I figured we could perhaps develop some of the details further if the character was accepted.
Name: Mother Tatiana (Thana) Leviatan
Age: 19
Height/Weight: 5’4” // 126 lbs
Race: Tatiana was said to have descended from a T’saeren immigrants to Lanostre, but that was all too many generations ago. For simplicity’s sake, she calls herself Lanostran.
Appearance:
Just glancing at Tatiana is enough to catch the general vibe she gives off. The girl’s posture is loose and relaxed, and she generally takes on a curved stance in some way, be it slumping over in a chair or cocking her hip to one side whilst upright. Either way, it is relatively uncommon to see Tatiana in that fully ready ‘at attention’ stance that one might expect of an inquisitor, lest such formalities were required. Despite this lax display, though, Tatiana tends to her appearance quite a bit. Her skin is rather fair, commonly enough for such a diluted bloodline in the Varyan expanse. Tatiana is visibly much less than one might expect in terms of a warrior’s body. She maintains a slim figure, with spindly limbs.
What appears even more readily presentable is Tatiana’s rounded visage and variable hairstyle. Her jet black locks curve to perfectly frame around her face, but otherwise maintain a straightened length falling just down to her shoulders. While it isn’t uncommon for Tatiana to allow her hair to be kept in such a straight and simple style, she is also known to tie her hair up in an updo, offering a much more practical look when it comes to trekking through plains of ice. Her emerald eyes appear prominent, visible through even the fiercest blizzards.
It isn’t always that Tatiana wears her inquisitor’s uniform, but even outside of such a regal outfit, Tatiana tends to dress herself quite elegantly. Often times, a plain white shirt, flaring slightly out at its end meets a pair of blue pants trimmed with a gold lining. Tatiana matches such an outfit with an officer’s coat of a similar blue and gold. She holds the article in rather high regard, under the impression its a sort of heirloom that her family has had for all too long now.
Personality: Despite the strange circumstances that led to her becoming a priestess, Tatiana is rather gracious for her position- at least, it appears that way externally. She is friendly to all her fellow inquisitors, but it isn’t difficult to see that there is something off about her when it comes to actual operations. Outside of heavy mission sort of scenarios, Tatiana is much more light-hearted. It isn’t uncommon that she would throw around witty remarks and jokes despite the context of the situation. Of all the inquisitors, Tatiana may be viewed as one of the least matured. This extends even to her position as an ordained priest. She tends to view her position rather unseriously, despite the serious duty that her work encompasses. Even with this attitude, Tatiana rarely leaves her duties unaccomplished or sloppily done, but a certain hesitation accompanies her all too often, especially when she is tasked with carrying out Varya’s will.
Deep down, Tatiana has always struggled with her devotion to Varya. While she doesn’t dare dissent, she isn’t fully accepting of his conqueror practices. It is especially conflicting for her as she never fully accepted the ideals that her Lanostran homeland embodied either. This dissonance in her mind leaves Tatiana quite conflicted, and she thus views herself as something of an outcast and her outgoing practices act as her struggling to find a place for her in the companionship she forges. Strangely enough, Tatiana exhibits a certain awkwardness around folks outside her squad as she seems to have finally come out of her shell and taken solace in the inquisitors she surrounds herself with.
Background: The young Thana (given the Varyan name of Tatiana) was born to a rather wealthy Lanostran family with parents emblematizing the epitome of duality. Her mother was a prominent Lanostran combatant, while her father was the perfect example of a man of science. It was the way of his family, and as such, he too, was also a journeyman in his field. Perpetuating the stereotype, Tatiana lived a rather pampered life with both her parents loving her greatly. There was more to the family than the lovely front than that, however.
Despite the boisterously prideful figure Tatiana’s mother was, she came to openly accept the idea that Lanostre would bow willingly Varyan sovereignty. Perhaps it was because of the consequences of dissent or perhaps it was simply reciprocal respect for allowing Lanostran warriors like herself to rank highly in the military. As time went on, though, it became clear to a young Tatiana that what spurred her mother’s subordination: fear… Thus, a false nationalism was born into the Leviatan family, which would inevitably lead to the coercion of Tatiana to pursue a profession as an inquisitor. Her feelings on the subject were rather mixed, but it seemed clear that she wasn’t the soldier her mother was. Even despite this clear ineptitude, when Tatiana finally came of age, she was sent out into the glacial wastes to slay her own demon.
The perilous journey was extremely hard on the girl. Before she had even made the trek to the black glacier alongside her father, Tatiana was already worn to her last breath. While other Lanostran children had honed skills, it appeared Tatiana was no match. When finally facing down one of the alien-like creatures, Tatiana stood weakly against its might. Within a short minute, she was almost horribly rended by the beast, obviously outmatched. Her cries for assistance seemed to fall on deaf ears, however. For some reason, Tatiana’s father held back despite his promises to rescue his child. It seemed just for the moment, he refused, intent on letting Tatiana fend for herself.
In that final moment, Tatiana felt herself falter. It was her end and there was nothing she could do. All that filled her panicking mind were rageful thoughts. How could her father have let this happen? As the creature tore forward in a final assault, Tatiana stopped herself, a moment of clarity rushing through her like an inventor’s insight. One word came to mind: Stop.
And with that simple thought, it seemed that just for a moment Tatiana’s inevitable fate was delayed. That single second delay was all Tatiana’s father needed to step in. Pride emanating from his very being. This was the first moment Tatiana had finally learned of her talents with Ether, and what followed was a long conversation with his father about their ancestors: a very particular T’saeren research team. Having finally found the prodigious talent of his daughter, Tatiana’s father devoted countless hours into raising his daughter as an inquisitor. The young woman was then nearly forced into her new lifestyle in the Red Seminary despite any reluctance. While she didn’t leave that day with the title of R'heon, Tatiana came out knowing of her large ether pool. Only weeks passed before Tatiana was shipped off to the Red Seminary.
Talents/Ethereal Abilities:
Demonic Summoner - Deep within Tatiana lies an extremely powerful pool of ether. The largely untapped potential within her seems focused wholly on one particular ability: the enslavement and domination of the demons of the Black Glacier. Before the discovery of such, Tatiana’s time in the Red Seminary was just as she lived beforehand. A great deal of her time was spent trying to discover what abilities she held, but she was unsuccessful up until the point at which she was allowed to take the pilgrimage back to the Black Glacier. The extent of this ability is dizzyingly variable. The common principles shared by all summoners are the ability to command demonic entities at their will, and summon them to the summoner’s location. This combination allows for the ‘capturing’ of a demon in which a summoner wrests control from the demon’s mind away from the creature itself. Tatiana has found herself capable of enslaving one of these creatures to come at her beck and call.
Readied shot - Tatiana had spent a great deal of time in the Red Seminary believing herself to have no extranatural ability. Thus, she felt she had to find some way to make herself useful. Tatiana learned to grow quite close to her rifle, honing her skills on the firing range. She has become one of her squad’s best shots.
@Lovejoy There are a number of cold-weather plants that might be cultivated to provide food. I imagine in a world where they'd have a huge advantage over plants that need warmer weather, they would evolve into a variety that could produce a decent amount of produce. Tending such farms would be difficult, but not impossible.
Sorry, I'll have a character sheet tomorrow. As is my lot in life, I have a paper due.
For people who want to bother gambling on my character making it and brainstorming some relationship ideas, I imagine he will not be unfriendly, so much as difficult to approach because he keeps wanting to tie things back to business. Some boasting will be involved, but he is very driven, and most good relationships he has are due to some sort of ongoing exchange. (Not hanging out, but mutual tutoring, sparring, etc. may apply.) He will definitely hold all other races in some slight disdain, since he views them as generally inferior to Varyans, but he struggles his way towards seeing everybody's value as an individual. An individual who can help him on his way to greatness. I imagine he fancies himself very flexible in an emergency, like the water he controls, but in truth he performs much better when allowed to plan and to follow that plan.
@OppositionJWow what a rad character! I don't think there's anything that needs to be changed. Would you be willing to like, create the kind of demon that she will first be able to summon? I'm thinking, maybe it can be like... some kind of Ice Knight or something? That's the first that popped into my head. Feel free to come up with your own thing or use my idea!
@shylarahThat could work! Though I would rather these plants grew in other places, as I want Varya to be like, this completely artificial place with nary a sign of nature in sight.
@deathbringer I really like the idea of Astraea being the keeper of Hassan's inner secrets, and the idea that that's kind of a source of tension and discomfort between them. I don't know about the 'allowing him to compel her' thing; it's a cool idea, but the way I imagined the player immunity to Hassan's powers is that it's more like a magic immune system rather than something that can be consciously turned off, and I think it'd make for better drama if the two were still more on edge about the whole thing anyway. Just a thought, though.
@OppositionJ I think Hassan would probably get along great with Tatiana - they're the most casual of the inquisitors so far, and I think they'd have a lot to bond over with their mutual insecurities about their roles and their tendency to avoid people outside of the squad. I'd even go so far as to say he's probably have some (possibly unrequited) romantic attraction to her that he has a great deal of trouble with. I think it'd be a fun challenge to his character, seeing as how he struggles sometimes with interacting with people he can't simply command. Of course, that's only if you're comfortable with it, of course - if you don't like it, they can be just good friends.
@deathbringer I really like the idea of Astraea being the keeper of Hassan's inner secrets, and the idea that that's kind of a source of tension and discomfort between them. I don't know about the 'allowing him to compel her' thing; it's a cool idea, but the way I imagined the player immunity to Hassan's powers is that it's more like a magic immune system rather than something that can be consciously turned off, and I think it'd make for better drama if the two were still more on edge about the whole thing
*annoyed swearing* Crud I didn't see that someone used Tatiana. No, it's not Titaia...but that would make things needlessly confusing. *crumples up paper and goes to pick a new name* Why didn't I check first? Stupid, shy, very stupid.
Boyish and short of stature, Ragnar is no one's image of a hardened war priest. Though he is a man grown by most estimates, Ragnar still possesses the soft unhoned face of a boy five years his younger, and although the merciless physical training of twelve years within the Red Seminary has granted him a lithe, agile and powerful physique, he will forever detest the body the Heart Lord gave him.
Ragnar has a plain ordinary kind of face, the kind of face you would find on a shepherd boy out in the icefields of his homeland. To his great dismay, he has no scars or facial marring to speak of, as his role as the Protector of the group made it so that he didn't have to endure as much physical punishment as his fellow pupils during their long years of training. For as long as anyone can remember, Ragnar has kept his scalp shorn, as he has convinced himself that it makes his ether flow more smoothly. If he did allow his hair to grow, it would be a pale ashen blonde like his mother's, or so he thinks.
Like all children of the Muraadan wastelands, Ragnar's body is tattooed with the runic markings of his birth clan. For reasons he doesn't enjoy talking about, he keeps these tattoos hidden as much as he can.
When not wearing his Inquisitor's uniform, Ragnar favors a supple white cloak, lined with thick, heavy wolf fur.
Personality: In his darkest dreams, Ragnar envisions a different world. He loathes this existence, its rules and reality. The cruel, indifferent gods, the cold, the wars, the endlessly churning machines being fed by the blood of innocents, the savagery prevalent in all facets of society, if he was powerful enough he would tear this world apart, shatter it like so many remnants. If only he was-- No, he mustn't.
Whenever these kinds of thoughts rise to the surface, Ragnar banishes them to that shadowed meadow within him, and he has become an old hand at protecting his truest feelings from others. Yes, if there is one thing Ragnar is good at, it's putting up shields, both emotional and magical.
Ragnar strives to be happy, and to bring light and cheer to the dark halls of the Red Seminary. Whether it be throwing surprise birthday parties or making certain everyone has clean clothes and enough food, Ragnar has made it his mission to make the lives of his fellow pupils as carefree and happy as possible.
He loves each and every one of his companions unconditionally... Everyone except for Mother Astraea, for whom he has complicated feelings for.
Knowing that Astraea and other Inquisitors with similar abilities would be able to see through him in an instant, Ragnar keeps a constant "emotional aegis" veiling his most unholy feelings and desires, keeping them to the shadows while the bright, cheery boy performs in the light of the stage. He goes to sleep every night terrified of the Lanostran inquisitor becoming powerful enough one day to see through his little shield...
Despite his natural dishonesty, his is an unbreakable force of spirit, a heart that beats no matter how much its stepped on. Being the Protector of the group, he must shed his own ether to keep the aegis going, an ordeal which allows the deathly cold to seep into his veins. This causes him immense pain and discomfort, but through years of training and the encouragement of his friends, he has learned to bear the freezing of his blood and protect his friends while outside the city, as only he can.
Background: Born to Clan Ravn in the wastelands of Muraad, Ragnar came from a family of miners. His father, a young ambitious craftsman with lofty goals, left the small village to seek a life in Magnagrad when Ragnar and his young sister were small children. Not a week after their father left, a group of Lanostran pirates, with an an apostate priest leading them, raided their village. Ragnar and his sister were bid to run by their mother, and so he grabbed his sister by the hand and ran. They didn't stop, not even when the screams rang through the night. Eventually, he and his sister reached the icelands, past the boundary of the village's small aegis, and the cold quickly stole its way into their blood. The young boy held his sister close as the darkness closed in on them both.
When Ragnar woke up, he found himself in the hold of a Varyan transport ship, completely alone save for a few soldiers sleeping next to him. He looked in vain for his younger sister, but could not find her. Eventually, one of the Varyan soldiers woke up, and told him to go "speak to the priest up on deck".
The priest, a Varyan inquisitor named Mother Natalya, told him of what had happened. They had been tracking the rogue apostate, who had been an 11th-year pupil of the Red Seminary before abandoning the Church, for many months. The young apostate had been judged to be extremely dangerous, as he partnered with a band of Lanostran deserters who had been on the run since their Goddess' surrender to Varya many years passed. Mother Natalya was having difficulty hunting them, but had finally pinned their location in Muraad.
She looked Ragnar in the eyes and apologized to him for not being able to save his village in time, but assured the boy that the apostate and his men were now corpses. When Ragnar had finally gathered the courage to ask about his sister, the Inquisitor met him with an unconcerned look on her face.
"That girl next to you? She died of exposure. When we found you her skin was black with frostbite. You, on the other hand, somehow survived. You were warm to the touch."
The Inquisitor then ordered him to stop sobbing, and explained that she could detect a torrent of ether sleeping within him. Without offering him a choice, she then brought him to the halls of the Red Seminary.
Talents/Ethereal Abilities:
Mist: An ability that manifested during Ragnar's formative years in the Red Seminary, it allows Ragnar to summon a cloud of ethereal mist around himself and to control its volume and luminosity. With enough concentration, he can cause it to become blindingly bright or dark enough to act as smoke. Due to his lifelong concentration on honing his aegis magic, this ability has been largely ignored and thus lacks in refinement, power and focus. Ragnar has very little control of it, and though he has played with its use a few times in training to attempt to trick his fellow pupils, it isn't very effective when used against them, as trained war priests can easily see through the mist through sheer force of will and concentration.
Aegis: Ragnar's main focus, it is among the most essential ethereal magics in the whole of the empire. Every warband of Inquisitors must have a Protector among its ranks. This Protector's duty is to uphold the aegis, a protective veil that acts very much in the same vein as the continent-wide palings that shield the population from the cold, but on a much smaller scale. In order to uphold an aegis, a particularly powerful priest with a massive ether pool must be chosen at a young age to specifically be trained in its summoning and maintenance. Aegis are not fueled by the ether from other sources, but from a priest's own pool, thus the natural magical reservoirs of a Protector must be substantial, as the longer the aegis is maintained, the more cold can seep into their blood.
Dual ice picks/scythes: All Muraadan children know how to use icepicks, as they are born and live on the frozen wastelands and must be skilled in their use less they fall victim to the ever shifting ice fields. Ragnar has retained some of what his mother taught him many years ago, and has continued training in the use of these tools. He has replaced the icepicks with miniature scythes, but the concept still remains the same. Given his small stature, he is more agile than most of the members of his squad, and though he isn't particularly strong, he is talented enough in the use of these weapons that he can cause serious damage to anyone who manages to get close enough to risk disrupting the aegis.
Ragnar was always in awe of Rodion's prodigious mechanist's talent. So much so that as children, the younger Ragnar would always hang around and watch the older boy work on his machines with rapt fascination. Even though the two rarely spoke (despite Ragnar's incessant attempts at getting Rodrion to open up) Ragnar looks back on those days fondly. Hours would go by with Ragnar watching the mechanist at work, with nary a word spoken between the two, and that seemed to suit Rodrion just fine. Rodrion, sweating in the Seminary's metalworks -- a place foreign to most pupils-- seeing him down there after morning training was like clockwork for Ragnar, and he delighted in discovering whatever new projects Rodrion was working on.
These days, Ragnar and Rodrion still maintain their cordial but distant relationship. Still, Ragnar worries over the mechanist and often thinks about him. It took many years for Ragnar to give up on ever truly becoming Rodrion's friend, which deeply saddened the youngest war priest, but with the two becoming fully ordained Inquisitors, it was high time for Ragnar to grow up and take his position as the Protector of the group more seriously, which didn't leave much time for constantly worrying about his fellow pupil.
Ragnar loves Hassan and Stina unconditionally. Ragnar, who is the youngest and smallest of the group, sees the two of them as brothers, as his difficulties with training and ether manipulation almost caused him to fail the first year and were it not for the two of them pushing him to his limit and making certain he would survive his training, he would have either perished with the fresh meat of those beginning pain-filled years or been shipped off to one of the lesser branches of the Church. Due to this, Ragnar's love, gratitude and admiration for the two older inquisitors knows no bounds, and as a result, to this day, he is always awkward around them. Whether it be straightening his back and deepening his voice whenever Stina passes by, or attempting to awkwardly replicate Hassan's devil may care attitude, Ragnar always overcompensates whenever the two of them are in the vicinity, a fact that isn't lost on either Hassan, Stina or anyone else in the group.
Though Ragnar's has immeasurable respect for Astraea's skill in battle and believes her healing abilities to be essential to the group's survival, his feelings toward Astraea-- the person, and towards the entire nation of Lanostre itself, are complicated to say the least. Having his family massacred by Lanostran pirates has cultivated a silent hatred for the Goddess of the Trident within Ragnar, who he believes, in Her infinite power and omnipotence, could have easily stopped the slaughter of his mother and sister Herself. Though this burning enmity for the Lady has roiled within Ragnar since he was a boy, he tries to not let it color his feelings over Astraea, who he possessed a curt if not respectful relationship with.
Though, I guess that Rodion has become something of the group's psychologist too. He listens, but does not comment.
Also, as my use of ether relies heavily on research, I had some questions: Since Omestrians have some of the fire giant's fire ether, can that be distilled into true fire ether. And once that is done, as someone's ether can be taken, can it in turn be replaced.
I am aware that this train of thought would technically be blasphemy, but Rodion doesn't really care. Also, if we come across any demons, Rodion wants them captured. He is going to let Madrys devour their ether and thus grow stronger.
Ziotea is a cynic, and usually in a bad mood. She'd be happy to help in the subjugation of demons, but don't expect her to be particularly friendly without work -- and you have to understand her kind of "friendly".
Rodion never payed much attention to Hassan, at least, not till he messed with some of Rodion's creations. Sadly, Rodion didn't understand that Hassan is merely a jester. As such, their relationship has been strained through the years. Often times, during sparring matches, Rodion would send his machines after the man, pinning him and trying to hurt him. Secretly, Rodion hopes that Hassan has a fear of machines, and a fear of Rodion himself.
To put it plainly, Rodion tries to avoid the woman. A few overhead throws too many has ended up making him extremely cautious around the Lanostraen. However, he often find himself in her company after being roused from his work. A small smile sometimes decorating her face, other times a scowl, pained and fearing. Rodion, through the years, has experienced her natural ether, something that intrigues him heavily. He has found that many times he feels more calm and at peace with the woman around, as such, he likes to work around her.
The man who has nearly died twice. Something that most would not believe was that Rodion was the cause of one of those times. Having a hard time controlling his emotions, Rodion's 'little box' broke one day and Stina happened to be with him, in his workshop. They had been working on the clockwork mechanisms of Stina's shield, and Rodion's prototype of Madrys began to react to his rising emotions. As such, Madrys recognized Stina as an enemy and attacked him. The unsuspecting man nearly had his head taken off. In fact, several jagged scars run across his right shoulder.
While Stina doesn't approve of Rodion's fathlessness, Rodion has always been appreciative of the man's protection, especially after Rodion made his shield for him.
(BTW, I hope that this is alright with you, I can change it if you wish)
Rodion has uneven feelings about the younger priest. He enjoys the young man's presence because he is always happy, or so he seems. However, he peaks Rodion's interest as a possible test subject. Rodion, for reasons he is unsure of, thinks that the boy would have a close affinity with fire. Not the thought, or the feeling of warmth, but pure, primal fire. As one of the many projects that Rodion has been working on, he one day wishes to gift the young man with said fire. To give him a flame to light his way. Something that he would have as to no longer fear the night.
WIP -> Rodion has a crush on his childhood friend. However, he doesn't realize this, nor does he wish to realize this. He finds himself to be uncomfortable without her near and often seeks out her companionship. When he is around, others are mystified, for it is one of the only times when the man smiles. And he has one hell of an attractive smile.
