Name:
Age:
Gender: (Or a disguise, doesn't have to be their real gender.)
Faction/Allegiance: (Whom does your character answer to? This can vary greatly, but at this point you have to be part of the same faction as another player, preferably loyal to either Othea, the Free Cities of Harra, Kalnach or the Dominion of Idris.)
Relic Description: (Include the relics appearance and abilities)
Appearance: (if using a picture, please pick something that you’d get away with wearing in public and that would make sense for the era. Same goes for text-based description.)
Flaws: (The more, the merrier)
Skills: (What sort of non-relic skills/abilities make your character stand out?)
Biography: (you know, regular background stuff. Its up to you if you want to have just a couple of paragraphs or half an essay, but quality will trump quantity.)
Personality/motivation: (Explain how your character works. What makes it tick? What sort of quirks are there to him/her? What motivates him/her?)
Relations: (Does your character have any sort of relationship/relations with any of the others? Friendship? family? Sworn enemy? worked together? etc.)
Final Point - Secrets: If you want it kept secret from other players, PM it to a GM.

Name: Hadar Mizrahi - The Scholar Swordsmaster - Hadar the Windwalker
Age: 48
Gender: Male

Relic Description: Hadar's most prized possession, his relic is a sabre taken from an enigmatic foe from the ruins of Al-Kibrit, an ancient temple of the Old Kingdom. Known as the Zulfiqar, the blade's silvery sheen reflects brightly in the dimmest light, and is near blinding in the harsh desert sun. Capable of cutting through the air and maiming men from meters away, its blade is inscribed with ancient runes and surround the user with unearthly winds that pull on them. These mysterious winds guide the wielder's movements, granting them additional speed, and allow them to read vibrations in the air, heightening their reaction time. The Zulfiqar is sheathed in a scabbard of fine white ivory and its hilt and pommel are adorned with gold.

Appearance:
A tall and lean man, Hadar is a man in his prime. His posture is decidedly casual, but his build is obviously of one used to travelling. His coarse, dark hair is pulled into a ponytail, his tanned skin is set off by his hazel eyes, his beard is rough, but maintained, and his mouth is often curled into a wry grin. His body is marked by numerous scars, the most obvious of which crosses his face. His garb is comprised of white and purple robes, loose fitting and easy to move in, and of the traditional Kheris and nomadic styles. However, during his time travelling, Hadar will occasionally don leather armor, chainmail or other light armor to protect himself.

Flaws:

• Slow to fall - While still in his prime, Hadar has passed his peak physical condition.
• Selectively Pacifist - Hadar rarely fights, drawing his blades only when absolutely necessary.
• Wanderlust - A side-effect of his relic, Hadar is regularly stricken by wanderlust avoids staying in place for too long.
• Aloof - Partially a result of his wanderlust, Hadar is detached and aloof, and rarely makes attachments to others. He will certainly travel alongside and interact warmly with others, but deep personal connections for Hadar are rare and to be cherished.

Skills:

• Swordsman of Legend - Legends tell tale of the man named 'The Windwalker', a swordsman believed to be born of demons that tore his way through the Sand Kingdoms, a man who could move faster than the wind, whose blade was worth a thousand blades.
• Indomitable Spirit - Hadar has incorporated peace and calm into every fiber of his being. As a result, his force of will is unwavering, and his swordsmanship is at its most dangerous when he is calm and at balance.
• Man of Learning - While not the most educated man in the deserts, Hadar is a capable reader and writer, and eagerly seeks out knowledge of all kinds.

History:


Personality:
Confident and charismatic, Hadar appears outwardly jovial and warm-hearted. His lazy and carefree demeanor, combined with his natural pensiveness is occasionally mistaken for a lack of awareness and carelessness. Underneath his relaxed persona lies an innate brilliance, a highly intuitive and calculative mind. Highly perceptive and possessing near prophetic spacial awareness, Hadar shows an almost insatiable appetite for knowledge and learning of any kind, be it scholarly or practical, and will readily trade gold and glory for ancient ruins and dusty tomes. Despite his lazy demeanor, Hadar is a dedicated scholar boasting considerable knowledge of geography, and alchemical theory. Hadar possesses a well developed moral compass, though he will rarely force his ideals onto others, instead seeking his own inner peace.

Hadar values knowledge, learning, and personal growth. He constantly seeks to better himself, and encourages those around him to do so as well. While outwardly lazy and carefree, Hadar holds compassion towards those who also embody his values.

Hadar also values freedom, and the ability to pursue growth at ones own pace. He doesn't like the idea of being stuck in any one place for too long, and is commonly afflicted with wanderlust. This is occasionally attributed to the fact that he follows the pull of the winds from his relic, following what he calls the Winds of Fate.

Compassion and humility are also core values of Hadar. While one can argue how much compassion a man who so easily fights with a sword may be, Hadar truly values human life and dignity- though his displays of 'compassion and dignity' may not always coincide ideals held by others.

Name: Jana Mizrahi

Age: 45

Gender: Female

Relic Description: The appearance of Jana’s relic is a simple metal disk with strange engraved runes, though it has not been visible for many years. It is a shapeshifting rune: one that has permanently and drastically altered Jana’s body. It allows her to take on any living, non-humanoid form, so as long as her body remains large enough for the relic to physically fit inside of her while retaining vital organs. However, it does have several limitations, the most prominent of which is the fact that the magic restricts her from taking on any Human or Human-like form, including her original one. Therefore, she has been trapped in non-human bodies since she obtained the relic three years ago. Otherwise, the relic does allow her to take on larger forms by drawing in material from her surroundings, but it requires energy from her body to do so, and to maintain the larger form. If she grows too large too quickly, she can become exhausted, or even risk starving to death. Maintaining a larger form does not require magic from the relic, but large bodies do, of course, require much more food and nutrients to survive. She is able to reduce the size of her body freely and quickly, and can also modify individual parts of her body instead of her entire form.

Appearance: Since Jana can take on any non-humanoid form, she has no single appearance. However, she has retained some semblance of identity with a form that she tends to default to. She tends to appear as an exotic, saber-tooth cat of varying sizes, depending upon how much food she can regularly be fed.


Flaws:

• Lack of Human Form: Since she cannot take on any form even resembling a Human, she is unable to function within normal society without identifying herself as an evoker.
• Depression: The loss of Jana’s humanity has taken a heavy toll on her mind. There are times when she is able to be positive, or even happy, but she fluctuates drastically between moods and can easily fall into intense sadness, self-loathing, and guilt. She feels herself to be a burden on her husband, and the more time passes, the more hopeless it seems that her relic can ever be removed.
• Energy requirements: Jana’s shapeshifting is fueled by the energy within her own body. While any transformation that requires her to lose mass, or maintain the same amount, expends little to no energy, gaining mass from her surroundings requires energy from her own body. Her relic can sustain her life mid-transformation, but drastic shapeshifting can drain her body of energy.
• Undisciplined for combat: The life that Jana has lead had not been one of a warrior. Beyond hunting animals, she has never killed before, and is not mentally prepared for the rigors of combat.

Skills: Most of the skills that Jana has gained throughout her life are no longer useful to her as long as she is masquerading as an animal. She can no longer wield a bow, and even mundane skills like cooking, making clothing, and starting a fire are no longer useful to her, except on the occasion that she and her husband have the privacy for her to stop keeping up the act. She was once a learned scholar like her husband, but with no ability to interact in society, her knowledge has been useless to her. However, she does have the natural abilities of any creature she can think to shapeshift to.

Biography: Jana did not know her birth parents, and to date, still does not know how she came into the care of the hermit, Ragnis. For most of the first half of her life, her home was at a small oasis, tucked away in a hidden cave in the deserts north of Othea. Ragnis raised her as his own daughter, and she considers him just as much of a father as whoever may have sired her. She and Ragnis lived alone, though they were not entirely isolated. She and her father made semi-monthly trips to a few scattered villages that were close enough to reasonably walk to, but for the most part, she kept herself entertained with her studies and lessons that Ragnis imparted on her. She learned to live a peaceful life, and to take interest in scholarly pursuits. He taught her how to read, write, and think as a scholar. Her life could be lonely, and boring at times, but it also served to foster her creativity. She penned novels, created paintings, and even sculptures when she had the materials. Art and learning became her passions, but as she became an adult, her gaze looked beyond their isolated oasis. Although, with her father’s age catching up to him, she did not have the heart to leave him alone.

Jana was in her mid-twenties when change finally came to her metaphorical doorstep. Her father found a man, wounded and exhausted in the desert, and helped to nurse him back to health. He might have sent him on his way, but Ragnis saw conflict and pain within the man, even if he attempted to hide it. As a result, the man stayed with them, and Ragnis passed on all of the same teachings he had given to his daughter. The man, Hadar, went from being a stranger, to a close friend of their family. Jana in particular grew close to him, a fact that her father no doubt noticed. Ragnis’ health worsened and he passed on before Jana professed her love for Hadar, but she does not doubt that he died knowing that his daughter had found her happiness for the future.

For almost the next two decades, Jana and her husband, Hadar, wandered the Kingdom of Othea, seeking the knowledge and adventure they now both craved. To live in such isolation as she had with her father, Jana had always been an independent and self-sufficient woman, so life on the road was not something she was unprepared for. She picked up archery, mostly for the purpose of hunting, since with Hadar at her side, she did not have fear of bandits, highwaymen, or wild beasts. His skill, and the power of his relic, kept them as safe as she had ever been. They did not gain much in the way of wealth or other “traditional” forms of prosperity in their travels, but for all of the knowledge and experiences they gained, Jana never felt poor in their life. They could support themselves well-enough selling pelts, taking odd jobs, or even selling small wooden sculptures that Jana enjoyed carving in her spare time.

It was three years ago that change once again found its way into Jana’s life, but this time, it was forced rather harshly upon her. She purchased a sack of goods from a traveling merchant, mostly consisting of books and a few unique oddities she felt like studying. Such purchases were common for them, and back in their camp, they were both enthused to see what interested them. However, as soon as Jana touched her hand to a plain-looking, engraved metal disk, it fused to her flesh, and what followed was nothing short of horrifying. Her body twisted and contorted, Jana screaming for as long as she had the ability to do so. It transformed her into the first animal that entered her thoughts, which at that time was a deer, since they had just been hunting shortly beforehand. It was one of the few times that Hadar broke his calm, as both of them were rightfully terrified. Jana tried to run away in a panic, only to trip over her own hooves. But, being that they were both educated on relics, both of them were able to come to the realization of what happened once their minds finally calmed enough to think.

It has been three years since Jana’s first transformation, and virtually all of that time has been spent trying to find a way to reverse it; to remove the relic from her body. Unfortunately, both of them already knew more about relics than the vast majority of the population, so their efforts to ferret out even more information has been fruitless thusfar. Jana has been struggling with depression, regret, and guilt over what she has become, but despite losing her humanity, Hadar has stuck by her, ever supportive. His patience and caring has been one of the only reasons she retains the will to keep living, and keep trying. Even now that they are in Kheris searching for Hadar’s niece, they have not completely halted their search for a way to remove the relic.

Personality: Jana was once a bright, cheerful woman; an artist, and a scholar with a thirst for adventure and new experiences. She was eccentric by nearly any culture’s metrics, but her father did not raise her to be average. She was kind and outgoing, and enjoyed making new friends more than her husband, even if they were always temporary. However, her transformation also caused a severe downturn in her mental state. She is frequently depressed and falls into slumps of self-loathing over what she has become. She has suffered several mental breakdowns over the past few years, and only recently has hints of the woman she once was been shining through the cloud of depression that still hangs over her.

Relations: Hadar Mizrahi is Jana’s husband of twenty years, and currently the only person in her life.

Name: Harold Valedine
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Faction/Allegiance: The Kalnach Inquisition / A Better Age
Relic Description: Named simply the Standard by its wielder, this relic is a lacquered hardwood staff with a sharp point and long, high crossguard of the same wood, inlaid with metal rings. When used, the cross manifests a brilliant, ghostly banner depicting the emblem of the archaic warrior culture the Standard was produced by. At that point the wielder can freely though very temporarily summon Einherjar -warrior spirits- to attack, defend, or otherwise help him. While Einherjar can cry out, they cannot speak, and they last anywhere between a couple of seconds and a few minutes. They possess all the skills they did in life, though whether these apparitions are the actual spirits of the warriors or merely imitations is unknown. There are two limitations: first, the Standard drains not the wielder's energy, but his life, and extended use actually shortens his own life. Second, the wielder must have a very high degree of knowledge about he warrior he is to summon; until he has certain information he cannot summon at all, and any Einherjar is stronger the more he knows about his or her life. Beyond its extraordinary properties, the Standard is fairly usable as a nigh-indestructible spear
Appearance: Well-suited for high society in Kalnach's cold climate, Harold gives off every impression of a well-bred scholar. His long overcoat, predominantly dark blue, sports patches of gray-brown leather on the edges of pockets and across the shoulders and upper back. Tucked beneath the pronounced collar is a decorated white sash that extends in either direction to his knees, prone to flowing in the wind. Just visible above where his coat is tied is his vest and tie, and he wears dark trousers with ultra-thin vertical stripes in dark blue. As for the man himself, he is white with thin features, a sharp jaw, green eyes, and medium-long auburn hair perenially slicked back and tucked behind his ears. 'Pretty boy' describes both his appearance and physique reasonably well
Flaws: Easy to Hate – both Harold's appearance and attitude make it easy to dislike him, whether out of envy, disgust, resentment, or whatever
Suboptimal Build – for a warrior-scholar, Harold is unremarkable in physique. While not weak or slow, he is not strong or fast, and will be beaten out by most fighters in straight combat
Proud – with his mantra of embetterment, as well as his upbringing, Harold's constructive criticism usually come out as condescension, he can be blind to some of his own errors and flaws, and one often feels that he is looking down on them
Unhappy – having learned from and grown to idealize the past, Harold despises the stagnation, oppression, and violence of Kalnach culture, yet he is a part of it, it having made him who he is, and he is too afraid to openly oppose it. This contradiction creates guilt and self-loathing, which in dark times gives rise to despair
Selfish – while driven in part by duty and principle, Harold tends to act in whatever way will better himself. This comes out most strongly when his own life is at risk, making him very cautious and pragmatic
Skills: Smart – sharp of mind, a quick thinker, observant and studious, able to figure things out, pragmatic and persuasive when necessary
Learned – boasts a wealth of knowledge, especially about the past and many of its interesting figures. This translates directly to power where his Relic is concerned
Trained – though sound enough of body, he utilizes training in dexterity to fight effectively with a crossbow, his aim true
Suave – stylish, elegant, proper, and clean, he fits the bill as a respected member of upper society
Discreet – Harold knows how to keep himself from standing out, to disappear when necessary, and to make things happen indirectly. He endeavors to avoid attracting attention, or giving information on himself
Biography: A scion of the Valedine family, part of the Lower Noblity, Harold discovered his penchant for learning at a young age. Faced with a country mired in rigidity and callousness, he found fascinating refuge in tails of a glorious past, where magic filled the world and legends were real. While his elder brother Florence followed the path of their Inquisitor father Viscount Leonard Valedine from the start, Harold pursued the path of the scholar, educating himself in a reality long since passed. It was there, in the timeless tales of old and myriad societies with different principles and ideals, that Harold solidified his imperative: that life was about growth and betterment, never stagnation under the assumption that one was perfect as one was. His initiation in the histories as a potential career, during his teenage years, came from the interest of Countess Marian Revret, the wife of the Count to whom the Valedines were vassals. An ambitious and temperamental woman famed in the region for her beauty, she held her own wistful regard for humanity's better eras, and through correspondence with her -and convincing of her husband- Harold was able to secure admittance to one of Kalnach's institutes of learning. It was with sorrow that, a year later, Harold learned that Countess Marian seemed to vanish off the face of the earth. Rumors of delving and discovery in ancient Relics -taboo for a woman in Kalnach- circulated for a while, then were gone.

In Harold's later years of study his father and brother began to push for Harold to think about taking up the family occupation of Inquisitor, and after some reluctance the young man elected to agree. His long hours of poring over books and manuscripts became diluted by lessons in discipline and combat, and after an internship at Kalnach's inquisitional headquarters that introduced it to its workings and notable members, Harold discovered something of his own. An aged inquisitor, having been revealed as an Evoker and due for death, owned a Relic that intrigued Harold in particular—a Standard able to call up visions of warriors long dead. While a harsh critic of the Inquisition's methods and leadership, he found it hard to resist the temptation, and ultimately decided to enroll as a warrior-scholar once his studied were complete in the lofty hopes of reforming the organization from within. Of course, he was present at the old Evoker's execution and was chosen by his commander for his historical knowledge as the perfect candidate to bring an end to the inflammable, unbreakable Standard. He turned in a few splinters bearing chemical scars and was commended for his achievement, though what really happened to the Standard is not hard to guess.

Before long, Harold found himself fighting alongside his brother and father to quell violent disturbances inside the nation. Firsthand he witnesses the cruelty of the Inquisitors, and despair clawed at him—both for the permanence of his society's damage, and his inability to part from it. To retreat now, however, was to invite death, so work he did. When alone he wielded the Standard, having acquired it from the afflicted elder, with unprecedented mastery, bringing fragments of the history he loved to life, but whenever under scrutiny he fought from afar with an ordinary crossbow. During that time, he met a stocky, bearded man who was to become his good friend: Levi, an imaginative, worldly, good-humored brawler who complimented Harold's stoic wit perfectly. Levi and Harold's family, who shared to lesser degrees his disgust for the Inquisition's ignorant violence, were his only lights.

Before long, Harold's mission of helping to reform the Inquisition from within led him on a nebulous path. Persecution of those who should by all accounts be innocent, though never absent, had surged in recent months. In particular, annihilation of forbidden female evokers was on the rise—more seeming to appear than ever before. More worryingly, inquisitors who spoke of corruption and conspiracy began to disappear, one by one, along with random male citizens across the entire spectrum of classes. Though security was doubled and redoubled, no bodies were ever found. In the course of one wretched week, during the bitter winter, both Florence and Leonard disappeared, leaving Harold the sole living male Valedine. Dread gnawed at Harold's mind as he found his search subtly obstructed by agents of High Inquisitor Derenguer, a cruel man whose rise in the ranks over recent years had been startling to behold. His gaze turned to Derenguer himself, and the utter lack of information about him prior to his appearance and subsequent ascent. Similarly shrouded in mystery was Derenguer's Relic, purported by furtive men in shadowed stairwells to be deadlier than any weapon.

Unable to progress with his investigation for fear of his own sudden disappearance, Harold turned his mind elsewhere. Less than a week later, something strange took place. During one of his visits to an oft-overlooked book store, Harold found himself accosted by a ragged woman with short, red-brown hair and terror in her eyes. While even in this state many would have thought her pretty, Harold realized that a bizarre, lingering feeling of familiarity prevented any kind of attraction. That sensation convinced him to hear what the woman had to say, and in hushed tones she gushed forth mad, seditious ravings. Harold went home amazed and disturbed, filled with doubts and apprehensions.

The next day, he turned his research once again toward ancient Relics. Poring over the records, he found -to his surprise- mention of a decadent lost civilization's bizarre, indulgence artifices, including a curved dagger alleged to swap the sex of its victims. Such a thing was an oddity in any other land, he realized, but an object of nightmarish potential in Kalnach, particularly where Relics were involved. Puzzle pieces began to fit into place, about his strange visitor, about the talks of corruption and many disappearances...about High Inquisitor Derenguer.

After arranging a meeting with the mysterious woman and his friend Levi, Harold made a plan. Letters were sent, their warnings and explanations read by certain authorities, and before long word came of an inquisitional raid on the home of Derenguer and his subsequent arrest. Little is known about what occurred in those trials, but Derenguer never reappeared, and instead Countess Marian appeared and was denounced to the public as an Evoker. The next day she was duly obliterated, just as Derenguer had so many others -whether guilty or not- in an ingenious pursuit of vengeance. However, her knife, meant for the same oblivion, disappeared.

Life for Harold, however, returned to normal—even a bit better. With the scare over and its toll taken, things were quiet in Kalnach. Murmurings of war brewing within Kheris, however, and the assumed death of inquisitors sent there, hinted of chaos and war in the near future that threatened Kalnach's status quo. Harold, known far more broadly as a historian rather than a fighter, was selected as one of a number of discreet men to go undercover and enter Kheris in order to find out just what was going on. Glad to get away from Kalnach, he did not object, but neither did he, as the mission stipulated, go alone.

Personality/motivation: While 'enigmatic, haughty genius' is the best summation of the impression Harold has left on others, and one that he does not try to dissuade, it does not tell the whole story. He's definitely intelligent, with a tongue as quick as his wit often put to use in cutting jokes, sarcastic observations, and general condescension. In addition, he is faster to be critical of women, though predominantly in psychological matters. That said, while he may make idle fun of others and put them down, any kind of malice more than teasing is only meant to be constructive, and anything more malicious than that does not exist.

Beneath the somewhat pompous exterior is a man who wants the best for himself and others, whether or not they realize it or want his help, this attitude even extending to those of lower class—which itself hints at his profound dissatisfaction with the stagnant state of Kalnach. It is one of life's imperatives, he believes, to continue growing and changing, becoming better every day. His behavior, characteristic or a slightly inconsiderate perfectionist, stems in part from his own self-loathing for not being able to be a better, more altruistic person, and for being a part of the system he has grown to despise. Though quick with words when he feels like it, he is more often quiet and reclusive, skirting around talk about himself at every opportunity. While he seems perfectly at place in a cathedral or a ball he's far happier in a library or the archives. Less prideful than others might expect of him, though not quite humble, he does not treat others with open scorn, and is genial with the friends he does earn. Learning is one of his great pursuits, with history and its incredible characters as his chief passion.

In terms of motivation Harold is not so driven by principle that he is not self-serving, desiring both to be respected as a warrior-scholar and to live a exciting, interesting life, but to that end he is also motivated by the preservation of his nation against possible chaos and war, even if he does not approve of its way of life.
Relations: Levi – a good friend. Stocky, black-bearded, and bald, his is a powerful and commanding presence, but his companionable good nature and military sensibility balance it out to make him an excellent companion. Nevertheless, he is quite the fighter, and sports a hot temper. In battle he wields a great cleaver capable of splitting into pieces along a central rope, making it into an enormous, deadly whip.
Flora – a steadfast accomplice. Not dissimilar from Harold in appearance, she is supposedly his half-sister, but even a little time spent around her gives the impression that she has lived a very different life, for she seems broken in some inexplicable way. If asked, she tells that she was enslaved at a point in her early adulthood and barely managed to escape alive. Though shy and untrusting, with an aversion to being out in the open, she is dependable, rational, and a capable fighter with an axe that, while clearly wielded with experience, is oddly ill-suited for her hand.
Humphrey Swallowtail - an inquisitor, and Harold's commander. Humphrey is a man who has suffered much, thanks to Kalnach life, Evokers, and even the inquisition itself, making his drropy, mustached face as grim as his deeds. Yet, one might get the idea by looking at him that he's tired of the excessive burning and bloodshed; of the strong crushing the weak just because they can. His judgment in cases is slightly less fanatical than the others, though he's more than willing to give the order to annihilate evildoers. Humphrey himself fights with extreme talent, using a rapier shaped like a needle, its pommel a ring with attached thread that winds around a retractable drum
Final Point - Secrets: Bright bluebird

Name:Jak Garou
Age: 28
Appearance:
Gender:Male
Faction/Allegiance: Othea, Gellor Shadows, The Snapdragons. (His own splinter group within the shadows, basically making up the cell investigating Kheris, and his dynasty. Currently based out of an exotic flower shop in Nemwey Et Netjer)
Relic Description: Ghost Opal: A loose opal, looking like just common opal at a glance, the gem itself is about the size of a standard coin.
Relic Abilities.: Invisibility:Jak, can turn invisible at will, disappearing completely from human, or animal view. Although he can still be sensed in other spectrum's. (EG. Smell, and hearing.)
Intangibility:Jak can use the opal to turn intangible. With this ability he can slip through walls, people, unable to be heard, and is basically impervious to physical means of harm.
Weaknesses:The relic draws heavily upon the users energy to maintain it any of it's abilities, even going as far as causing the user to pass out, or even kill them seemingly using the soul of the user themselves as it's fuel. Another weakness is the phasing in and out, it is very possible for something like an arm, or a piece of clothing to get stuck in something when the user phases through the walls, or the floor. Thus losing it, the limb thing has yet to happen for Jak but more than a few cloaks have been destroyed thanks to him not being aware of his surroundings,or from not wanting to expend more energy than needed.
Flaws: A total disregard for human life:While the Gellor shadows cherish life, spending years fighting a guerrilla battle against Kheris in the dynasty he has learned to fight fire with fire, and see the worse that humanity has to offer. He will stop at nothing to achieve his goals, even if it means burning a village to the ground.
Not a duelist:In a frontal fight, Jak will just lose, his methods of combat are to strike and run, or a quick clean kill. So any dragged out fight, the rebel will not last long, especially against a well trained opponent.
Not a battlefield commander:While he is an effective guerrilla fighter, and commander. He is not trained to lead a siege of any sort, or lead troops on the battlefield instead leaving that to the knights, and men of Othea.

Skills:
Skilled spy, and guerrilla fighter: Jak is skilled in maneuvering from the shadows. He will bribe, black mail, extort, assassinate, and disappear at a moments notice striking another target with maximum effectiveness. His sect of spies have even invented their own verbal, non-verbal, written, and coded signals. He was trained for this, and he is as effective as they come
Master thief:Before he became a Gellor shadow, Jak was a master thief. Lockpicking, pick pocketing, shimmying, ledge walking, and street tricks Jak can do it all.
Master of disguise: With the help of some make up, some new clothes, and his skill at putting on fake accents he can be who he wants to be.

Biography: Jak the boy, didn't know his parents. Instead he was taken in by another group of street orphans. The oldest no more than 15, but still she had a child on her hip so she didn't mind caring for another one. She became his surrogate mother, and the only true mother in Jak's life. She raised him with care, while also training the orphans she cared for a life of larceny.

This was the life he knew when he was 5 years old, first he learned the rules. The street orphans do not kill they only steal, they only steal to earn enough to survive they do not go above their means, and they do not tell on each other. Then his first job, was as an distraction. He would distract his target, while the older orphans would cut their purse, then disappear back into the streets. Then as Jak grew older he learned other perks of the trade. First how to pick pocket, then how to lockpick, then how to run cons, and finally how to run sleight of hand games. They earned a killing, thriving on the streets of their little city, paying guards to look away took most of their cut, food the other part so they were just surviving. And for a long time that was their peace, they kept surviving for some time the years going by and Jak turning into a young man, his mother becoming their patron leader.

Jak was happy in this life, he had a family. A caring one, and he loved the thrill of larceny. But as it always does, life happens. He found the woman who raised him, dead in a gutter beaten beyond recognition. The street orphans went their separate ways, without the woman who raised them to keep them together. Jak asked around with some not so gentle persuasion, he found out that someone wanted her removed and he went, and removed that someone and everyone involved breaking rule number 1 in the most brutally efficient way. His revenge complete he stole a horse and left the city he knew behind heading instead for the capital.

He became a master thief instead stealing to make himself rich, instead of survive. And he was good at it, he made a killing. He even stole his relic from some rich noblewoman who thought it was a worthless opal. He couldn't tell you much about the process, other than it felt like a rush and the thrill of activating them for the first time gave him such a thrill, and the fact that he could use them for more larceny mean't everything to him. He became a living legend in Othea, the ghost of Amaryth. It didn't last long however before they found out it was an evoker committing these high profile crimes. And a trap was set, two other evokers hunted him down one used their ability, to stop his relic from working the other trapped him like a cornered rat and they imprisoned him.

They gave the man a choice, he could work for the kingdom. Or they could make him disappear into some mine, or even kill him. So he did the smart choice, he joined them and ended up with the Gellor shadows. His skillset made him invaluable to the shadows, but they also taught him other things. How to read and write, how to fight with a blade and bow, how to disappear into plain sight and disguise himself, among a myriad of other things. Then they sent him to the dynasty, he quickly set himself above the others making himself the defacto leader of the dynasty group. And establishing what little of a network he could.

They started in a small village, gaining information. Finding normal village folk who would join them in their cause. It was during this they had started a cell, and Jak had found a beautiful girl that he quickly fell in love with. He kept his double life a secret from the girl, and continued to follow the ideals of the shadows. Then they slipped up, they gained too much notice too fast. One day when he returned back from mission, he found the entire village drained of their life force. The work of an evoker. A very powerful one at that, it was here that Jak swore he would end the dynasty even if it meant burning down the Dynasty around Kheris, even if he had to turn that land to glass. He gathered what little men he had left, and he formed his own group naming them after the flowers they had used to cover calling themselves Snapdragons, and moving into the city.

personality/motivation: Jak is willing to do anything to achieve his goals. He doesn't care who gets hurt in the process, he truly believes he is bringing peace in his own way, he is intelligent, and adaptable to any situation.
Relations: None left that are alive, besides the Snapdragons.
Final Point - Secrets:He still sends whatever little coin he gets from a stipend home, to Othea to where only he knows, he also keeps a pet bright blue bird with him in the shop that he actually seems to care for.

Age: 27

Gender: Male

Faction/Allegiance: The Bloodied Hand, privateering ship serving The City of Aslordan, of The Free Cities of Harra (Former)

Relic Description: Sha's Relic is a pair of gloves, which he is always seen to be wearing, and imprinted around the cuffs of the gloves is "Baliik alabun fi albatan", which is believed to be from an ancient tongue spoken by a minor tribe during the time of the Old Kingdom, meaning "For those who wish to stay clean". All those who have read it assumed it was a pair of gloves of a master craftsman, and the phrase was meant to bring luck in their work. The gloves are leather in material, with gold buckles to tighten them to fit. The gloves have relatively minor powers, but Sha has sensed them increasing in strength and variety. When he first found the gloves, they stood out from everything else, as they looked good as new (something rare down in the slums of Aslordan Port), and he stole them. Upon wearing the gloves, they immediately shrunk to his size, and his entire appearance changed. No longer did he look rugged and dirty, he looked well-kept, and his clothes appeared to have been made today. He tore them off, fearing that others would discover him as being an Evoker, and when he did, he noticed little crimson stains on each of his fingertips, stains which would not rub off. Once, when wearing the gloves and walking around the richer parts of town, he noticed a young boy being beaten by an older man. Seeing how easily the man could be overpowered, Sha attacked him, defending the young boy who reminded him of himself when he were younger. The man went down, and Sha continued to strike him until the life had fled from his body. Hearing shouts of the guards running towards the man's cry, Sha dropped the weapon and took to weeping, like the boy was. When the guards appeared, Sha lied that a burly man had struck their master, and run off. Fearing the worst, Sha assumed they'd never believe this blatant lie, but, to his surprise, they did, and pursued after the non-existent assailant. Similar situations continued to occur to Sha, he managed to get away with theft while holding the very same item that was stolen, his mother believed his story that the noise from him and his two friends upstairs was playfighting. He began to realise that, not only did the gloves keep him physically clean, but his reputation as well, could almost never be tarnished while wearing them. However, every time he committed such an act, the small red patches on his fingers would spread further down his hands, and he fears the days he entirely becomes crimson, but he wonders what more the gloves can do.

Flaws:

• Sha has burnt all his bridges, and has few resources, even fewer friends, and no allegiances to speak of.
• Knowing his entire image, and his life, is based on a lie, Sha is slow to trust others, knowing they could be just like him.
• His desire for knowledge and power can lead him into very dangerous situations that even the gloves may struggle to rescue him from.

Skills:

• Sha has good knowledge of ships, both how to run and build them, before finding the gloves he was sure of being a Shipwright, like his name and family has always been.
• Sha knows where to look and listen to get the right information, every city is the same, you can always find the people who are willing to do things others wouldn't, if you keep your eyes peeled and your ear close to the ground.
• His passion gives him a strong resolve, meaning he can withstand most torture or torment that people can put him through, if he still has goals to achieve.

Biography:

Sha was born into the Shipwright family, who's occupation had been ship builders from the times of the old kingdom. Not a rich family, they lived in the slums of Aslordan, and worked tirelessly day and night to get every commission done. From birth, Sha was told to never have dreams above what he saw before him, and he didn't. For before him, almost always, was the sea, and he dreamt of one day setting sail on a ship, much like those his family built, and sailing away.

Being from a poorer family, some of the Shipwrights such as Sha often took to thievery or pickpocketing in order to make ends meet. On one such trip was when Sha found the gloves, the gloves that kept both his body and reputation clean, and lacking tarnish. He used them as often as he could without getting caught, and they allowed him to get away with murder, sometimes literally.

With the gloves, he slowly began to amass wealth swindling others, and his hands became more and more crimson. His first ship, The Bright Blue Bird, was little more than a minor fishing vessel, but it was a first step in becoming a well-known privateer. By the time he had claimed The Bloodied Hand for his own, he had managed to ignite a rumour that his nickname 'Bloodhand' was through the bloodshed he had caused to get the ship, and it spread like wildfire.

After 5 successful years working under the Aslordanian military, Sha was tired of that kind of life, too many rules, too many people to influence, not enough chance for progress. So he left, he sailed out of Aslordan Port and never came back, with only half of his crew on board with him. Their destination was The Port of Kheris, as they heard there was a tournament, and that sounded like money falling into their hands.

Docking up the ship, and dealing with the difficult dock workers, Sha let his crewmembers go ahead of him and enter the city. The only thing they hadn't realised, was that entering the city was only achieved by invitation, and the Inquisitors of Kheris did not take kindly to party-crashers.

By the time Sha managed to get to the gates, he saw his former crew members being hauled off, the life ripped from their very souls. Seeing this, Sha now wanted more than a bit of coin in his pocket, he wanted revenge upon the man responsible, the infamous Kheris. Stepping up to the guards with a smile as if he belonged here, he said

"I regret to inform you that all I have was stolen from me by pirates, my ship, my wealth, and my invitation, so if you wouldn't mind just letting me through" and he flashed a smile only Sha could manage, and without further question he was let through. Now came the hard part.

Personality/motivation:

• Sha desires wealth, fortune, and comfort in his life, with a little dash of fame on the side.
• The murder of his crewmembers was not a good first impression of Kheris on Sha, and as such he seeks revenge.
• Sha is surprisingly eloquent for his upbringing, but he learnt quickly that even with the gloves, being well-spoken could get him far in life.
• Sha believes extremely in the phrase "Keep your friends close but your enemies closer."

Relations: None to speak of, yet.

Final Point - Secrets: If you want it kept secret from other players, PM it to a GM.