[OOC] The Blighted Kingdom

[Sep]

@Roman well I've not finished it as I'm waiting for a response to my question

[Roman]

@Roman well I've not finished it as I'm waiting for a response to my question

@Sep

I'm sorry, I mistook your last message for a statement. I've just shot you a reply now.

[Sep]

@Roman ah right. I'll maybe be posting the next couple of days, if I can get it worked out. I won't submit it if it seems naff and silly.

[Stitches]

Alice

A L I C E

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^{A L E X I B O U R D O N N E ◼ 1 9 ◼ F E M A L E ◼ V A S I L I U S}

^{"Whatever it takes."}

▼ A P P E A R A N C E:

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A short, slightly chubby girl with freckles and short brown hair, Alice is often dressed in neutral tones and heavy cloth garments. To protect herself against the Blight she covers her skin as much as possible, wearing gloves and even a veil when she ventures into crowded areas. Sensitive to the cold, she wears a long hooded overcoat on top of her tunic and skirts, whilst she carries a backpack full of supplies and a belt for her coinpurse and personal effects. Tucked under the scratchy woolens and undershirts, she wears a gold necklace with the Bourdonne family insignia emblazoned onto the medallion. For a peasant-looking lass she carries herself with undue arrogance and doesn’t often crack a smile.

▼ B I O G R A P H Y:

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In the kingdom of Vasilius, the petty nobility, landed gentry and bourgeoisie flourished in the outer fiefdoms. Lord and Lady Bourdonne had a smallish retinue of two dozen knights to their name due to their position, nestled closely to the centre of the country. This allowed them to maximize their revenue and pay back into the towns and villages in their fief. Though the Bourdonne family name was unremarkable in the annals of history they have produced excellent horses and cavalry for the royal family.

Alice, née Alexi, spent most of her life within the walls of the family castle. She was reared from a young age to marry into a more prestigious title and aimed for holding some influence in the royal court. Her brother was the one to handle family affairs and prepare to take over the estate. Alice was cooped up with tutors and books instead of embroidery and etiquette lessons. For as long as she remembered she had been waited upon hand and foot. She became a shrewd young girl by the time puberty started to kick in and it was decided that, to refine her physique and get her out of her parents' hair, she would take on horse riding lessons. It was around this time that she was introduced to the wider world outside of the castle walls through Roderick la Rochelle, a 'knight' in the most technical sense and a known butcherer amongst the commonfolk. He not only taught her impeccable dressage and cross country riding skills but also accompanied her on these trips, a hulking deterrent against opportunists.

When Alice was fourteen, her brother died of tetanus. This caused a considerable stir amongst the family and they scrambled to procure a fresh heir. Alice's tuition started to change to medicine and alchemical knowledge as doctors from the capital began to create a little prodigy out of her, the paranoia of her parents manifesting in relentless study hours and trips to and from the capital for practical demonstrations of the latest techniques and practices. They wanted to ensure that Alice would spot the signs of disease in her own children long before she might end up in such a catastrophic position but managed to force her further into her sheltered lifestyle, mingling with academics and professors. All the while Roderick became her snarling shadow; no matter where she went, if she passed the borders of her family's estate he fell into step behind her.

The beginning of the blight worsened her parents' paranoia into something akin to madness. The family was in a precarious position with Lady Bourdonne struggling to hold a pregnancy and the fiefdom starting to struggle against the plague. Desperate to retain their power, the retinue turned to patrolling the borders of their lands and forcing away the infected, sometimes using violence against their own people under the pretence of keeping the peace. Tensions began to worsen and the labourers saw the knights cutting down their family as money devoted to their public benefit was funnelled into ensuring an heir. Alice was no longer allowed to the capital, and soon, not even allowed outside of the estate.

Eventually problems came to a head. In order to sustain their wealth and protect their family name, the will was altered to give the eldest daughter the titles and assets originally reserved for her brother. Shortly after this impulse decision, Alice was briskly awoken and sent out in the cover of night to find the cure for the blight for her people. With nothing more than a purse full of coins and Roderick by her side, Alice was put into disguise for a nigh impossible quest whilst her parents warily turned their attention to the rioting peasantry nearing their castle.

▼ C H A R A C T E R G O A L S:

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Find the cure and bring it back to the Bourdonne family estate, where they can supply it to the masses - and get all of the fame and glory for finding it.

▼ S K I L L S:

---

//SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

◼ WELL EDUCATED| Particularly in history and modern medicine. She's fully literate and quick to learn and document new information.

◼ NOTABLE CONNECTIONS | Though not a skill, the Bourdonne family crest can open doors and cash in favours, particularly in the mercantile upper middle class and bourgeoisie.

◼ HORSE RIDING | Used to partake in dressage and agility courses. Capable of manoeuvres beyond the average rider with the potential of specialising in mounted combat, with tuition.

//FEARS AND WEAKNESSES:

◼ PREJUDICED | Raised with a silver spoon. Looks down on the poor and often underestimates them.

◼ INEXPERIENCED | Had servants to do everything for her. Unused to hard work.

◼ ALONE (fear) | Can't imagine a life without the benefits of her family name and fortune. Can't imagine a life where she has absolutely nobody to fall back upon. Gets frightened when lost and alone, perhaps to irrational degrees.

▼ N O T E S:

---

//PARAPHERNALIA

◼ BOURDONNE FAMILY NECKLACE | A symbol of Alice's heritage, the Bourdonne family crest is an elaborate work of craftsmanship. There are less than a dozen genuine articles in the country and closely guarded by their owners. When one is lost or missing, the crest design is subtly changed. It allows her to prove her identity.

[Roman]

@Jamesyco First and foremost I want to thank you for your interest and for taking the time to draw up a character sheet. Unfortunately, after some discussion, Hillan and I both feel like Gothic, while appreciated, isn't a great fit for us, and the current games you're in aren't at the Advanced level that I'm looking for for Blighted Kingdom.

We're really grateful that you were inspired enough to apply at all, and we're sorry that you didn't find any success this time.

@Nib, @BlackBlood, @Lord Wraith, and @Stitches: Aldo, Lan, Úlfr and Alice respectively are all accepted. Feel free to move them over to the characters tab!

[BlackBlood]

Hell. Yeah.

[DinoNuts]

Roderick

RODERICK

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^{RODERICK LA ROCHELLE◼ 40 ◼ MALE ◼ VASILIUS}

^"Hrmph."

▼ A P P E A R A N C E:

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With a stocky build, Roderick is barrel-chested with a slightly protruding stomach. From head to toe he is covered in body hair, ranging from the dark hair on the top of his head which he combs back, thick eyebrows and a prominent mustache. More often than not, Louis has faint stubble around his jawline which rapidly devolves into a beard if he cannot get his hands on a razor quick enough. His nose is ever-so-slightly crooked and the lines on his face appear to be from decades of frowning.

▼ B I O G R A P H Y:

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Roderick started his life at the bottom. One of thousands living in the slums of Vasilius, he spent a tumultuous youth being a pain in the arse towards anyone who gave him the time of day. With so much energy to burn and not enough room at home with all of his siblings, his weary mother found him drudge work as a stable hand for Baron Vandille. The Baron held a retinue of knights as most landed gentry did around the Capital, but his work was more political in nature and the Knights were more for show. They cajoled the young boy when he first started working but took a liking to his enthusiasm.

On Roderick's part, the horses provided a fresh challenge each and every day and the ornery old stable master wasn't shy of piling on the work for decent pay. After a couple of years some of the regulars who fussed over their steeds trusted the lad enough to try his hand at riding them around the fields so they could get some decent exercise. The long hours and eager involvement in his job kept Roderick out of trouble and garnered the respect of the knight Captain who offered training to join the retinue at age fourteen. He worked hard to match his peers, but his city-slum upbringing was a fracture that only widened with resentment and contempt for the retinue's flagrant waste of coin and resources. Eager to find like-minded people to work alongside, Roderick left the retinue when he was 23 and found greater excitement in a low budget, questionably immoral mercenary company known as the Ratcatchers after three years of working solo.

They weren't his proudest years, but they were his most memorable ones. Roderick was a womaniser, a bailiff, a menace in the far flung reaches of the kingdom. He got what he wanted, when he wanted it - by any means necessary. His fellow ratcatchers only encouraged his hedonism and made excuses for their wrongdoing. Seven years into his restless wandering around the kingdom, Lord Bourdonne hired the Ratcatchers to take care of highwaymen that were hindering trade in and out of his fiefdom. Since it was a small job in comparison, only Roderick and two others were sent to deal with it. During the few weeks of hunting down and bringing the culprits to the castle, Lord Bourdonne took a liking to Roderick's thorough understanding of upper class society mixed in with his cruder resourcefulness - his willingness to get his hands dirty came as a bonus. The lord offered Roderick a much better job as part of his own retinue, offering bed and board in return for his services. Roderick tentatively agreed.

He's been working for the family for over a decade since. He protected their eldest son during his duties as an heir and witnessed the birth of their youngest daughter. The Bourdonne 'retinue' was comprised of similar characters as Roderick; polite, courteous, and unflinchingly loyal to the family regardless of what they were ordered to do. There weren't many who came from the fiefdom which made matters of security and aggression towards the townsfolk a little more palatable. His life was split between patrolling the fiefdom and protecting the Bourdonne children, though after the death of the heir he was almost permanently assigned to shadow young Alexi and ensure that no opportunists tried to get rid of their remaining child.

When the Blight began to worsen and Lord Bourdonne's paranoia inched ever closer to madness, Roderick found himself back in the fields; this time he, along with several other knights, was ordered to cut down any infected civilians trying to cross into the fiefdom. It was grisly work and he wasn't the same ruthless bastard that he was in his youth. His fellow knights were disgusted with themselves and, slowly but surely, they started to align with the rioting peasantry. Roderick sealed his fate by reporting this to the lord and was made one of the dozen or so witnesses to the change in all of the writs and wills of the family. With everything signed into Alexi's name, none of their rivals or relatives could gut the treasury and take the deeds should the inevitable occur. The originals were kept in the castle, a copy was sent to the capital to update the registries and Roderick's final task involved burying a small lockbox containing a third copy of the paperwork under the floorboards of an abandoned village called Finitte.

He was given the monumental duty to take Alexi far from the fiefdom and distract her with the fruitless endeavour of finding a cure; by the time she came to her senses and realised the ruse, her parents would either be dead or ousted from their home. Out of respect for his employers and a fierce protectiveness towards the girl, Roderick vowed to lord Bourdonne that she shall reclaim what is rightfully hers.

▼ C H A R A C T E R G O A L S:

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It is unlikely Roderick believes a cure can be found. His goal is simple - protect the surviving Bourdonne heiress until she can return and reclaim her title.

▼ S K I L L S:

---

//SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

◼ Swordsmanship | Trained by nobility and set into practice by mercenary work, Roderick has gotten very good at wielding a weapon simply through the process of staying alive every time he uses it. He's especially good at fighting on horseback.

◼ Survival Skills| No knight that's worth their salt neglects the other important facet of self preservation: fixing the wounds you receive and keeping healthy regardless of circumstances. A lot of Roderick's expertise lies in battle related injuries. He knows how to set a fractured bone, basic debridement and how to clean, stitch and dress lacerations on top of the basics such as cooking, gear maintenance and building rudimentary shelters.

◼ Horsemanship | A feared cavalryman in the Bourdonne region, Roderick's mastery of mounted combat extends beyond his military prowess. To truly become a menace on horseback, you have to know how to thoroughly care for one and ride it outside of combat. He's spent the past few years teaching dressage and showmanship for Alice when he wasn't sent on assignment. He maintains the health of his steeds and the quality of their tack mostly by himself.

//FEARS AND WEAKNESSES:

◼ Alice | Over the years, Roderick's indifferent surveillance of Alexi Bourdonne had hardened and coalesced into a steadfast paternal bond. Now that she's the sole heiress of the family title and assets, Roderick will do whatever it takes to ensure her safety and, if possible, her happiness. He fears failing to protect her more than he fears dying.

◼ The Plague| Omnipresent, mysterious, indiscriminate in its spread... Roderick, like many others, fears the Blight sweeping across the land. He doesn't so much as fear the disease itself, but what it's capable of doing on a larger scale - and the lengths people will go to prevent it.

◼ Bad Leg| The old war wound healed funny in his youth but galvanized his transformation into a cavalryman. He can't run for long distances and a day's travel by foot will leave him hindered.

▼ N O T E S:

---

//PARAPHERNALIA

◼ Steadfast | Roderick's stallion. He's a spirited young thing, reared by the knight himself. Carries his gear, his self and oftentimes Alice as well. Built for strength, resilience and stamina instead of speed.

◼ Truesteel Longsword| A viciously sharp weapon that Roderick was gifted by lord Bourdonne in recognition of his service. Roderick looks after it meticulously and uses it well.

◼ Bourdonne Writs and Wills (Buried) | A secret copy of all the paperwork required to ensure Alexi Bourdonne inherits her parents' fortune. Not on his person - presently buried under the floorboards of an old house in the abandoned town of Finitte.

[BlackBlood]

So when are we thinking about starting?

[Roman]

Waiting on a few more applications that I know are in the works but I'm hashing out starting details with Hillan behind the scenes. The playerbase seems to be geared towards independent starts if I'm correct? So I need to work on the best way to achieve that within the setting.

Hopefully at some point this week?

[Tackytaff]

Hider

S H Y R I A

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^{S H Y R I A T H O R N E ◼ 27 ◼ F E M A L E ◼ N O N E}

^{"Stare any longer and I'll start charging."}

▼ A P P E A R A N C E:

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The dark birthmark in the center of Shyria's face overwhelms the rest of her features. It has been there her entire life, and she has grown accustomed enough to the stares and whispers to abandon any efforts to hide it. Her hair is by far the most redeeming feature; long and thick and perfectly healthy, and as such is often cut and sold for money. This leaves Shyria with short hair, dark southern skin, and a easily identifiable mark on her face. There isn't much point in her even trying to blend in, so she makes little effort in doing so with her clothing. She has a great love for beautiful and colorful things and much of her meager wealth is displayed with jewels and fabrics. Comfort is however her first priority, and she leans towards more practical and loose clothing than most women north of Eerum, occasionally bordering on scandalous.

▼ B I O G R A P H Y:

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Shyria has alway been told that she was born cursed with misfortune. It started, naturally, with her parents. Like most surviving on the outskirts of Eerum they had nothing in the way of wealth or knowledge; especially in that of child-rearing. When there were complications with the pregnancy, they managed to travel far enough to find a mid-wife - a woman with a little magic and much experience. Without means to pay her, they received her help on word of a promise impossible for them to keep. When it was time for Shyria to be born the mid-wife came to collect their debt only to find nothing worth taking. As a result she claimed to 'curse' the child. Whether or not any magic was actually preformed is something impossible to know for sure, but that is the story Shyria's parents told her from the moment she came into the world horribly marked.

For five years she lived in the desert wastes, begging alongside her parents as they continued to have more children without any further issues. Believing their eldest to be cursed, and with too many other mouths to feed, it wasn't all that surprising when Shyria was sold to a northern stranger. As they saw it, it was a gain to the family in two ways, ridding themselves of a curse that they believed prevented them from rising above destitution and a decent amount of coin to get them started on a new life.

It turned out to be the best thing for Shyria as well. Her patron, an elderly man by the name of Hennan, was simply looking for an assistant to his work as an apothecary and herbalist. Or so he claimed at first, someone with small and quick hands to work the ingredients rather than his arthritic aged ones. They traveled together for a year before arriving the capital, where Hennan truly began to put Shyria to work. She was sent to sneak into houses with small vials of unknown contents to slip into certain drinks, foods, and ointments at exact times. Hennan was so specific and clear with his instructions on each run Shyria barely needed to think about what it was she was doing. It wasn't until she was a good deal older that she learned she'd been carrying out assassinations; all of which served to better Hennan's possition in Vasilius' criminal underworld.

As she got older, Shyria's role became more administrative as Hennan grew his criminal empire. Long gone were the days toiling over vials and recipes; instead she collected debts and met with crime guilds from the other cities of Vassidia. As she continued to do more, Hennan did less and less as his new lifestyle of gluttony and greed took its toll. Whether or not Shyria killed her master isn't known with complete certainty, but half of Hennan's contacts believed it, and those that didn't saw a chance to take his place by getting rid of her. For the past four years she has been on the run, keeping what she could of Hennan's wealth a hidden secret, and traveling from village to village as a herbalist and healer.

▼ C H A R A C T E R G O A L S:

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Shyria has only ever wanted to be free; from poverty, from a master, and now from the fear of the price on her head in Vasilius.

▼ S K I L L S:

---

//SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

◼ ALCHEMY | The better part of Shyria's life has been spent working with poisons, and corresponding remedies. She knows nearly all there is to know about horticulture in every region of Vassidia and how to use them.

◼ SECOND-STORY WORK | While 'burglary' is too crass a phrase for Shyria to actually use for what she does, it is where her talents lie. She might not blend in well in public spaces but her childhood was spend squirreling through narrow gaps and climbing walls to get to places where she wasn't wanted.

◼ LITERACY | Self-explanatory

//FEARS AND WEAKNESSES:

◼ MAGIC | Shyria hates and distrusts magic more than anything. Maybe some small part of her still believes she is cursed, maybe it has to do with being miss-labeled a witch more times than she can count; she stays away from magic as much as she can.

◼ HUNTED| ]Most people that know Shyria's name want her dead or worse. She is know as a cheat and liar in a profession filled with murdering cheats and liars. It's extremely difficult for her to travel through a populated city unscathed.

◼ NON-COMBATANT| While the habit of Shyria's training as a youth has continued into her adulthood and left her reasonably fit, she was never and would never be much of a challenge to anyone with real experience. The best fight, in her opinion, is one where she isn't present.

//PARAPHERNALIA

◼ NOTEBOOK | A book she's re-written half a dozen time after losing or ruining it. It is by far her most valuable possession, containing information on every obscure recipe, plant, and animal she knows.

◼ MEDICINE TRUNK | An oak trunk filled with shelves of vials and dried herbs- it contains the Shyria's rarest ingredients, as well a some more common but region-specific specimens from places she's traveled. It is large, but the only piece of luggage that has been constant for each of her moves.

◼ JEWELRY | For equal parts vanity and practicality Shyria keeps the bulk of what wealth she has in the form of jewelry; something that never leaves her person and therefore harder to steal, and much easier to readily pack quickly if she ever needs to leave a place quickly.

[Enarr]

A L D E N T H E B L A C K

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^{A L D E N K O L E ◼ 3 0 ◼ M A L E ◼ K A F A A R A}

^{"Everyone deserves a second chance. The fact that I'm here means that you must have already blown yours."}

▼ A P P E A R A N C E:

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Alden is of short, burly stock. He'd once been covered in a bushlike robe of rock-hard, jet-black fur but the fire has left him as hairless as a looking glass. His sagging, roasted exterior betrays the otherwise enviable colony of muscle that lurks beneath his surface. His once proud demeanor has largely given way to a reverent silence, as he stands idle with his arms at rest, folded neatly across his barrel chest. He conceals his once-handsome face behind a stainless steel helmet, and every inch of his flesh beneath an all-consuming shroud of black fabric, having been humbled by his injury. When at work, however, the degree to which he is armored is situationally negotiable.

▼ B I O G R A P H Y:

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Alden was born outside the city limits of Kafaara, to the Kole family. Their surname was owed to the fact that Alden's father, Arlen, owned and operated The Blackstar Mining Company, the primary supplier of coal to the majority of the Kafaaran peninsula with a healthy exporting business to boot. While they were, by all means, thoroughly financially secure, they had not yet gained the social acceptance of the nobility proper when their troubles began.

Around the time that Alden was twenty-three years old, having lost his elder brother to illness, he was being groomed to assume leadership of the company in the coming years, as his father turned his attention toward more social endeavors, shoehorning himself into whatever political intrigue he could. His mother, on the other hand, had been staying in Kafaara, just as she often had ever since Arlen's business had taken off, giving most all of her time and attention toward her devout study of the doctrine of The Barbed Church.

While The Blackstars were mining one fateful day, both Arlen and Alden, father and son, and many of their men were trapped in an underground coal fire that resulted in a cave-in, as a consequence of a burnt support beam giving way. Trapped within the toxic subterranean oven, most of the men died agonizing deaths. But it would seem that the world had other ends in mind for Alden. As dire as things were, he clung to life, even as the mine's infernal vapors seeped into his lungs before he was ultimately dug out by the company's response crew. Things were never the same again.

Alden's youngest brother, Adler, assumed control over The Blackstar's operations. If rumors were to be believed, he had orchestrated the cave-in in a fratricidal coup. No one ever seemed to have bothered investigating. In the fire's aftermath, Alden's molten skin took on a permanent ghoulish quality, like a wax sculpture that had been left under the summer sun. Beneath the surface, his lungs had also been marred, giving him a persistent cough, courtesy of the severe case of pneumonia he'd developed. Due to the ashen coat that he had been fished out of the mine wearing, he was gifted with the moniker "Alden the Black".

He'd never considered himself particularly religious, but nearly losing his life gave him a new perspective on things. The shame that came from his appearance led to him shrouding himself in an impenetrable wall of fabric, shielding every last inch of his skin from sight, and hiding his face behind a steel helmet. He began taking long journeys by foot into the wilderness, just to grow closer to the source of the world. In his solitude, out of necessity, he became a skilled hunter, a tracker. After realizing that he could be of greater service to the source of the world, he found his present occupation as a bounty hunter, taking contracts in service of The Church.

▼ C H A R A C T E R G O A L S:

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Having thoroughly aligned himself with The Barbed Church following his near-death experience, he imagines that helping the kingdom find salvation from its penance is the reason for which he continues living. Anything less than answering the High Lord's call would be a demonstration of ingratitude for the mercy he was shown when he was rescued from the fire.

▼ S K I L L S:

---

//SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

◼ Brute Strength | From years of working in a coal mine
◼ Chivalry | Literally the discipline of riding a horse, he has become quite attuned to his steed, though he can get by with most any horse that has been through even the most basic of training
◼ Eyesight | From years of working in a coal mine
◼ Hearing | From year of working in a coal mine
◼ Poisoning | In order to avoid direct confrontations with any given target he tracks down, he generally prefers to poison them and let their own body incapacitate them
◼ Snaring | When he has the luxury of anticipating a target's movements, he's rather adept at arranging inconspicuous simple snares from whatever materials lay around

//FEARS AND WEAKNESSES:

◼ Gullible | If an official of The Barbed Church says something, he'll probably believe it.
◼ Insensitivity | The fire killed many of the nerves in his body. Sometimes he is entirely numb for hours. Sometimes he feels random pain. Sometimes, he mistakes the extent of his injuries.
◼ Miner's Lung | While he would otherwise be quite good at sneaking, his ability to remain silent is impeded by uncontrollable bouts of sudden, violent coughing
◼ Pyrophobia | It twists his gut up into a know just to think about being close to another flame

▼ N O T E S:

---

//PARAPHERNALIA

◼ Armor | Several modular pieces of armor that can be equipped as needed, none of which are worn by default.
◼ Dagger | A ceremonial blade common amongst the Barbed Church's followers
◼ Grappling Line | A hundred feet of nonadhesive spider-silk bound to a three pointed collapsible hook
◼ Handcuffs | Four pairs of steel cuffs
◼ Nightstick | A relatively lightweight, though dense, blunt instrument particularly well attuned for inflicting concussions
◼ Rope (Spider-Silk) | Just enough to hang himself with. Or someone else if it came to that.

[Roman]

@DinoNuts Roderick is accepted! Sling him over to the characters tab when you can.

[Roman]

@Tackytaff Shyria is in! Put her sheet into the character's tab when you can.

[Mao Mao]

Well, here's the character but with a revamp bio.

Gil

G I L

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^{G I L T O T O U N ◼ T W E N T Y T H R E E ◼ N O N B I N A R Y ◼ E X I L E D W A R D E N}

"𝖲𝗉𝗂𝗋𝗂𝗍𝗌, 𝗀𝗎𝗂𝖽𝖾 𝗆𝖾 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗌𝖾 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗈𝗍𝗂𝖼 𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖾𝗌."

▼ A P P E A R A N C E

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One, if not the only, thing that people will immediately notice is the armor set. Gil was gifted it by the elders before he was forced to leave Eerum. According to them, it once belonged to protectors of Khemrin before giving them up to join the Wardens. This one was placed inside of a cave by the Elders to safeguard it for the next generation. Sadly, it had been waiting for decades, and most of its original color was lost except for the blue. It was given a cleanup and new material shortly before Gil's exile. The helmet was inspired by desert birds that were once worshipped.

Gil had tribal paintings all over their body as a plead for the spirits to be watching over them. Loose clothing was essential to perform excellently in battle and to withstand the harsh heat of the Sychan.

▼ B I O G R A P H Y

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Gil Totoun was born an orphan when his parents sacrificed parenthood for the life of a Warden. It wasn't ideal for children to be raised within the watchtowers and forts scattered throughout the Sychan Desert. But, life wasn't built to live beyond them. Throughout their youth, the Elders of Khemrin told their story to the other children. According to them, Khemrin remained undetected to the outside world for centuries. That was until Vassidia arrived with plans of their own for the natives. And soon enough, nearly all of the tribes within Eerum were successfully assimilated except for Khemrin.

That was when the killings began.

Because of their devotion towards life in Sychan, Khemrin revered specifically desert birds as sacred, and their worship included the modeling of armor and clothes and tribal paint to emulate the birds. Outsiders viewed them as savages and uncivilized as a result, which also started the murders. Men, women, and children had their lives taken, so the nearby settlement "had breathing room."

In a last-ditch effort, Khemrin's leaders fled further into the desert, believing nobody would dare follow them. That was until they encountered a wounded man. It turned out that he was a Warden that was attacked and left to die by the wildlife. The tribe decided to nurse him back to health and escort him back to civilization. However, the Warden needed to complete his exploration of Sychan. Given their knowledge of Sychan and its harsh conditions, the Khemrin hesitated but ultimately agreed to aid him with his mission. It took several months, but the tribe left enough of an impression with the Warden that an envoy sought them out.

The Wardens offered them protection and the chance to use their skills to protect their home. But only if they renounced Khemrin. It was the ultimate sacrifice, yet outsiders were getting closer as the years passed. The tribe survived the slaughter by letting their culture die instead. By doing so, they became the first generation of Wardens in the Sychan and soon expanded across the desert, protecting the people that once feared them. When the Elders finished the story of Khemrin, they found Gil to be the only child genuinely interested.

As the years went, Gil started to adopt customs from the Khemrin with help from the Elders. Of course, it angered the Wardens. They didn't do anything beyond the usual punishments that teenagers got. That was until Gil found himself to be exiled for his homeland. With only a bag of coin and bread, they made the most of it and tried to live life in the place that he despised the most. Then, they heard rumors of an unusual illness that turned the ill into stone spreading at an alarming rate. It got bad enough that the High Lord sought out anyone capable of finding the cure.

Gil understood that such illness could spread beyond its borders and into Eerum, infecting their friends and loved ones. So, they signed up and revealed themselves to the High Lord.

▼ C H A R A C T E R G O A L S:

---

Gil doesn't care what happens to Vassidia and its people, but they aren't stupid either. Sooner or later, the Stone Blight will reach Eerum and infect everything it touches. That was why they answered the call. Even if their friends and loved ones hate them, Gil will do whatever to protect the Khemrin for a painful end.

▼ S K I L L S:

---

//SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

◼ Khemrini Warden | As a Warden, Gil developed their swordplay and shield stances over the years with patience and practice. Also, they were heavily taught about the core values of the Wardens from impartiality to solitary. In addition, the Elders incorporated Khemrini knowledge in secret, which included how to handle a bow and spear. And, more importantly, how to blend with their surroundings no matter their location. With these lessons in hand, Gil was prepared for almost anything shown to them.

◼ Naturalist | Being a Warden meant training in naturalism, which meant someone that examines nature. But living in the Sychan Desert made the profession a requirement from all Wardens. Furthermore, the elders also taught Gil forgotten knowledge of the wildlife from the tribe. It wasn't entirely useless beyond Eerum, but the lessons taught them to operate in desert and warmer climates.

◼ Perception | As a former Warden, Gil was already perceptive compared to everyone else. It wasn't improved until they were forced to live in Vassidia. Being mindful of their surroundings and the types of individuals in the area was necessary for them since he was an outsider. It was key to surviving at this stage of their life.

//FEARS AND WEAKNESSES:

◼ Failure | Out of all the fears, there was one that got to Gil the most: failure. Failure to his tribe, friends, and himself. He would rather die than fail again.

◼ Obtruder | Besides being a foreigner in Vassidia, Gil was utterly different to everyone else. There were moments where people were clearly disgusted or distraught whenever they went out. Other moments involved being mistaken as a hybrid creature (which happened often) and openly insulted because he was from Eerum. As a result, Gil kept to themselves and only came out during the night to get the basics.

◼ Awkward | As a result, Gil became awkward around people due to a lack of social skills. And the fact that people avoided them because of their appearance. It made them anxious to be around folks since Gil couldn't anticipate their response to see someone wearing a helmet shaped like a bird. It also didn't help that they never took it off because it would have violated his beliefs and values from the Khemrin.

▼ N O T E S:

---

//PARAPHERNALIA

◼ Cooking | Out of everything that someone like Gil was talented at, nobody expected cooking to be one of them. If someone were to give them basic ingredients, they could turn it into a masterpiece worth taking time to eat. It was something that naturally came to them without any outside help other than advice here and there.

[Roman]

Thank you @Mao Mao, Hillan and I will review and discuss the resubmitted sheet tomorrow.

With the current accepted roster plus the 2 awaiting review we’re currently at a potential 10 characters, which is where Hillan and I feel we should cap applications to keep the game manageable. It’s been wonderful having this much interest at all, but for now I am closing the game to new character submissions. If we have any deaths, drop-outs, or the state of the game changes to comfortably allow a larger roster we will review and re-open applications but for now, if you’ve not submitted a character, you’ve missed your window.

[Roman]

@Mao Mao Hillan and I have had a lengthy discussion and at a minor impasse. Something still feels off about the biography to me, while I appreciate you did address a lot of the initial issues we presented to you on first review, but Hillan likes it, and we both agree that the end product of the sheet - ex-tribal turned ex-warden searching for his desert heritage - is one we like.

So I'm deciding to give you the benefit of the doubt somewhat and accept Gil's revised sheet, as I can't actually put my finger on what it is that's bothering me about the biography, and the rest of your sheet is fine, and I'm halfway there to liking the cohesive whole anyway. So welcome aboard! Chuck him in the characters tab when you get the chance.

@Thrash Panda Hillan and I have also discussed Alden. We like the character but both feel that against the current roster, he stands out a bit and feels like a traditional hero figure among a bunch of survivors, outcasts, exiles, and general non-heroic characters. We think Alden would be a better fit if we agreed to cap his biography at just-after the mine collapse, keeping the disfigurement and devoutness to the Church, but dropping the specialized armour, the bounty-hunting agent angle, and the ceremonial weaponry. We like a disfigured ex-mine worker turned devout worshiper, and feel like that iteration of this character is a better fit than the current final product of the sheet, which feels a bit 'Dungeons&Dragons'-y, if that makes sense.

[Enarr]

@Roman That works fine. I honestly think it basically just cuts the fat anyway.

[Enarr]

Alden The Black 2.0

A L D E N T H E B L A C K

---

^{A L D E N K O L E ◼ 3 0 ◼ M A L E ◼ K A F A A R A}

^{"Everyone deserves a second chance. The fact that I'm here means that you must have already blown yours."}

▼ A P P E A R A N C E:

---

Alden is of short, burly stock. He'd once been covered in a bushlike robe of rock-hard, jet-black fur but the fire has left him as hairless as a looking glass. His sagging, roasted exterior betrays the otherwise enviable colony of muscle that lurks beneath his surface. His once proud demeanor has largely given way to a reverent silence, as he stands idle with his arms at rest, folded neatly across his barrel chest. He conceals his once-handsome face behind a stainless steel helmet, and every inch of his flesh beneath an all-consuming shroud of black fabric, having been humbled by his injury.

▼ B I O G R A P H Y:

---

Alden was born outside the city limits of Kafaara, to the Kole family. Their surname was owed to the fact that Alden's father, Arlen, owned and operated The Blackstar Mining Company, the primary supplier of coal to the majority of the Kafaaran peninsula with a healthy exporting business to boot. While they were, by all means, thoroughly financially secure, they had not yet gained the social acceptance of the nobility proper when their troubles began.

Around the time that Alden was twenty-six years old, having lost his elder brother to illness, he was being groomed to assume leadership of the company in the coming years, as his father turned his attention toward more social endeavors, shoehorning himself into whatever political intrigue he could. His mother, on the other hand, had been staying in Kafaara, just as she often had ever since Arlen's business had taken off, giving most all of her time and attention toward her devout study of the doctrine of The Barbed Church.

While The Blackstars were mining one fateful day, both Arlen and Alden, father and son, and many of their men were trapped in an underground coal fire that resulted in a cave-in, as a consequence of a burnt support beam giving way. Trapped within the toxic subterranean oven, most of the men died agonizing deaths. But it would seem that the world had other ends in mind for Alden. As dire as things were, he clung to life, even as the mine's infernal vapors seeped into his lungs before he was ultimately dug out by the company's response crew. Things were never the same again.

Alden's youngest brother, Adler, assumed control over The Blackstar's operations. If rumors were to be believed, he had orchestrated the cave-in in a fratricidal coup. No one ever seemed to have bothered investigating. In the fire's aftermath, Alden's molten skin took on a permanent ghoulish quality, like a wax sculpture that had been left under the summer sun. Beneath the surface, his lungs had also been marred, giving him a persistent cough, courtesy of the severe case of pneumonia he'd developed. Due to the ashen coat that he had been fished out of the mine wearing, he was gifted with the moniker "Alden the Black".

He'd never considered himself particularly religious, but nearly losing his life gave him a new perspective on things. The shame that came from his appearance led to him shrouding himself in an impenetrable wall of fabric, shielding every last inch of his skin from sight.

▼ C H A R A C T E R G O A L S:

---

Having thoroughly aligned himself with The Barbed Church following his near-death experience, he imagines that helping the kingdom find salvation from its penance is the reason for which he continues living. Anything less than answering the High Lord's call would be a demonstration of ingratitude for the mercy he was shown when he was rescued from the fire.

▼ S K I L L S:

---

//SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

◼ Brute Strength | From years of working in a coal mine
◼ Chivalry | Literally the discipline of riding a horse learned from journeying on horseback to Kafaara with his father
◼ Eyesight | From years of working in a coal mine
◼ Hearing | From years of working in a coal mine

//FEARS AND WEAKNESSES:

◼ Gullible | If an official of The Barbed Church says something, he'll probably believe it.
◼ Insensitivity | The fire killed many of the nerves in his body. Sometimes he is entirely numb for hours. Sometimes he feels random pain. Sometimes, he mistakes the extent of his injuries.
◼ Miner's Lung | While he would otherwise be quite good at sneaking, his ability to remain silent is impeded by uncontrollable bouts of sudden, violent coughing
◼ Pyrophobia | It twists his gut up into a know just to think about being close to another flame

▼ N O T E S:

---

//PARAPHERNALIA

◼ Nightstick | A relatively lightweight, though dense, blunt instrument particularly well attuned for inflicting concussions
◼ Rope (Spider-Silk) | Just enough to hang himself with. Or someone else if it came to that.

[Roman]

@Thrash Panda sorry it took me a couple days to get back around to this, but the appropriate cuts have been made. Throw him in the character tab.

[Stitches]

Hey, any ETA on when the IC is coming? I'm just checking because people are busy with finals and the like.