BurningCold

Blood of the Crown

@shylarah I think you should go for any concept you want, personally! With what I'm going for, we'd probably be using different kinds of magic anyways :)

Blood of the Crown

Kalowick

Kalowick of Green Paths

Nickname/Titles:
"Snake-Eye", "The Watchful", "The Green Walker"

Rank / Profession:
Knight Commander, Druid of the Old Ways

Age:
27

Gender:
Male

Appearance:
Kalowick is built like an acrobat: his body trained to move quickly and to navigate rough terrains with ease. His pale skin contrasts sharply against the wild shock of dark hair atop his head, while his wry expressions and serious gaze suggest a man that is not tamed, merely temporarily restrained. The small, pale scar beneath his left eye is easily passed over in recognition of the sturdy leather patch that covers a large portion of his face. The serpentine color of his solitary eye matches the flairs of green that decorate the furs and leathers that he dresses in. Dyed feathers, claws and teeth are all affixed to his ensemble, as well as various pouches and vials containing a variety of herbs, oils, and what the trained eye would recognize as poisons and potions.

Affixed to the leather belt round his waist, a number of sharp implements hang in their sheaths. Some of these are for skinning fur or carving meat, but there is no mistaking the purpose of the black-metal short sword or its twin dagger. Despite these tools, Kalowick's favored weapon of battle is the wooden staff he wields. Coaxed from the depths of a generous tree, the dark oak staff is covered in faintly glowing green symbols, and tiny wild flowers perpetually bloom along its length before withering away to make room for more. Affixed to the top of the staff by leather straps are various charms made from precious stones, animal teeth, feathers and claws.

Height: 5'9'' or 1.75m
Eye Color: Murky Green
Hair Color: Raven Black

Personality:

Personality Details

Kalowick is a true believer. To commit to an oath is to stake your entire being upon the truth of your words, so when it comes to both his faith in the Alveria royal line, and his dedication to the Old Ways, there is no room for doubt. He is a man characterized by loyalty and conviction, and struggles to imagine what he would not do for the Bloodline.

He is thoughtful and witty, happy to trade banter but also open to reach others on a deeper level. Everyone is different, and so to a degree he does treat everybody differently, but respect is a constant he tries to adhere to. He truly does not believe that his station makes him any more valuable than the average commoner. After all, the dirt takes us all in the end.

Kalowick, thankfully, has not yet been put into a situation where his dedication to the Bloodline has come into contradiction with his egalitarian nature. Though it is true that he prefers to spend his time out in the field, rather than within Olenta itself. He makes the necessary appearances and occasional patrol, but if anything awakens Kalowick's wild side, its the presence of the power-hungry. Cities are full of people like that. More than once Kalowick has eyed the steward with suspicion from afar, even if their record is clean and their intents seemingly honest. You can never be too careful.

He carries himself with grace and poise, moving with fluidity as his solitary eye surveys the spaces around him. In his solitary moments, he will quietly sing the Old Songs in the druidic tongue as he perches atop a rock, rests beneath a tree, or strolls open fields and quiet city streets. The Old Way is not just a path to power, or a mantra to dictate harmony with nature. It is Kalowick's culture, and its practices live on in him even as the tides of time erode it. When he is old, and withered, and given all he can to the kingdom, the last thing he will have to offer is the wisdom and tradition of the ancient druids. It is a duty he takes upon himself with pride.

Those that respect Kalowick's Way and see the value in its continuance will find themselves in good company. Kalowick is a firm friend and a cunning ally, full of wit and wisdom. He's not beneath working with those he finds distasteful either, so long as their goals are aligned. His oath to the Bloodline supersedes any personal animosity he might feel.

(Describe your character’s temperament, quirks, ideals, and fears. How do they interact with allies and enemies?)

Background:

Backstory

Kalowick is descended from a community of druids that were welcomed into the kingdom of Alveria some two centuries past. Since this time much of the culture has faded from relevance and awareness, mostly kept alive only by small communities within the Greenwood. Kalowick grew up in one of these small settlements, which provided a large number of its able-bodied men and women to the Everbranch Border Post to become rangers of the forest. Kalowick himself was an eager student of the Old Ways.

He learned the Songs of Bark and Leaf from the Tree-Shapers, and how to use these songs to become one with the forest and bend its purpose to his own. He learned the Arts of Flower that use the bounties of the natural world to create healing remedies and balms, and he learned the Arts of Thorn that draw on nature's dangerous potential to brew poisons and paralytics. From the Hunters he was shown how to track, trap, and kill the creatures of the forest, as well as how to harvest each component of an animal so that its death holds purpose.

The Beast-Shamans taught him the dangerous Songs of Wing and Claw: communion with the animals of the world. How to summon a raven to your side and see through its eyes, how to compel a snake to sink its fangs into your chosen target, how to pacify a raging bear into compliance.

There are also the Rites of Rot and Decay, said to be capable of urging corpses to rise when bonded with the appropriate fungus, or to inflict a man with disease or sickness with words that corrupt the very air they travel through, or to command swarms of insects and baser creatures to harass and harm. These Rites Kalowick would only learn much later, and many are time consuming, dangerous processes.

Kalowick was only a boy when the
(Where are they from? How did they become a Knight Commander—or end up in their current role? What pivotal events shaped their life?)

Rune Affinity
He is eligible to receive one. Perhaps it will unlock the ability for him to shapeshift, or command a greater degree of creatures outside the normal spectrum of nature. Maybe he will be able to use trees as a gateway from one forest to another. Who can say until he receives the rune?

Skills & Abilities:
Arts of Flower and Thorn: The brewing of potions, oils and the like both to help and harm.

Songs of Tree and Leaf: With the right words in the Old Tongue, one can become one with nature and command it as an extension of their own will.

Songs of Wing and Claw: The ability to summon, pacify, or command natural creatures of the world.

Rites of Rot and Decay: Dangerous, distasteful methods to control corpses or inflict sickness. Only the Rites of controlling bugs and insects has ever been deployed or considered by Kalowick.

The Green-Walker: Kalowick has survival training in all manner of wilderness, with specific preference for woods and forests.

Snake-Eye: Kalowick fights with focus and precision, his fighting style guarded and evasive while biding time and energy to wear out his opponents before striking at weak spots.

The Watchful: He is comfortable leading in areas where his expertise is at the forefront, and is also happy to act in support and advisory roles to help guide the group and the current decision-maker towards the wisest decisions.

Additional Details:
(Any extra trivia—likes/dislikes, relationships with other characters, personal goals, etc.)

WIP to see if I'm going in the right direction and clarify a few things I envisioned!

So I'm going for the idea that in Alveria's history as it expanded, communities of forest people that practiced druidic magic "the Old Ways" were folded into the population. I see it as a culture that has naturally dwindled and eroded but is still kept alive by various smaller communities and sort of retro-fitted to synchronize with greater Alverian culture. For example, they probably aren't overtly religious but have room to incorporate the elemental gods as well as Solarin into their beliefs without compromising the core of their doctrine, which I see as kinship with the animals and plants of the world, and a belief in the importance of both respecting nature and the cycle of life (life, growth, death, decay)

Please let me know if you like any of this or if you want it changed/scrapped! I'm easy to work with :D

EDIT: I've added quite a bit more, but as before have no trouble changing anything

Blood of the Crown

Looking good so far! Is there anything like druidic magic in the setting? And is there anything like werewolves or vampires in this world?

I have too many character ideas right now so trying to narrow down my options here

Pokétopian Dreams: Uncharted Waters

Personally I prefer the Pokémon just have all the moves in their level movesets, BUT it's totally chill to do a four-move restriction if that's where we wanna go. It's more traditional.

@Bartimaeus

I do agree with Bart that I prefer more of a free-form style but also am not bothered by the four-move restriction. Especially if we can say that our characters are all carrying around a bag full TMs.

Blood of the Crown (Medieval Fantasy, Royalty, Magic)

All those ideas are welcome! Just a note by what @BurningCold said - unless your knight commander was around when the king died (about 20 years ago), they won't have a rune (but obviously would get one later). So any knight commanders that have been in service to the crown for 21 years at least would qualify a rune. There will be more info on the OOC I'm working on. <3

@Lyla

Ahh! I see. Then he would be a wizard and a knight commander, but not yet able to cast spontaneous magic. I'm excited for the OOC!

Blood of the Crown (Medieval Fantasy, Royalty, Magic)

I was definitely gonna make a Knight Commander. Was toying around with the idea of my KC originally being a wizard's pupil before distinguishing himself in some way and receiving his lesser rune. Although I'm still exploring options

Primality

@Aeolian @Animal The way I also interpreted it for myself was that while Marko might have a general attunement like "Fire", it will exhibit differently than others with the same attunement. Marko can start fires and may have the ability to generate explosions, but its possible someone else can manipulate raw flame by shaping and controlling it or something to that level.

I'd even say that someone could be attuned to Earth but only manifest that ability as crystals, or be attuned to Plants but has special focus on flowers.

At the end of the day characterization is going to be a lot more important than the chosen element, which I think is big and flashy but not necessarily what's going to make each character special on its own

Primality

I was thinking, probably raise mine to 18 too. Legality around drinking/etc, and themes like that could put people on edge if under 18.

@Ti

The drinking age is 21 in America so I think if there's gonna be alcohol, we're all gonna be in trouble with the dean of the school if we get caught :p

Primality

Updated Hugo's personality and backstory after all. lol

Cheers!

@Aeolian

Really cool choice to make Hugo a victim of parentification as a way to keep a similar "vibe" of being a bit distant and detached, but still getting that shift from antagonistic to more of a positive force

Pokétopian Dreams: Uncharted Waters

@Ryik I totally get your concern, I've experienced situations like that here and there as well. At the very least, in the unlikely scenario someone convinces Auggie to do a battle, I'll always want that done as an act of teamwork rather than competition. The characters might be against each other (either light hearted or not) but we don't have to be!