Denalz

Plague of the North

@Denalz Most tribes speak variants of the 'STANDARDISED UNNAMED LANGUAGE', but some to the much farther north might speak completely different languages. Dawn too speaks its own variant of the STANDARDISED UNNAMED LANGUAGE. The only other language I can make up off the top of my head is 'lingua', which is spoken in many countries to the far south and is the language used in the original versions of the The Word of Light.

Feel free to make up a name for that language, and make up some other ones :P

@Fat Boy Kyle

How about this: the common tongue as mentioned is.. more or less, the common tongue (haha.)

Then you have upper class speech, which is probably Dawnish. Even Vasili noblemen speak this language because, well, it's prestigious and it reflects well on your status. See it as the Latin or French of Europe. Why Dawnish? Because they seem more noble-like, where as the Vasili mingle with nordic tribes.

Besides that, you have tribal speech, which is subdivided into.. over a hundred different dialects as each tribe speaks it's own dialect, and has certain words that the other tribes only know if they've met this tribe in a friendly manner.

Further south you have many more languages, mainly used in trading, where they speak a mangled version of the common tongue, mixed with some of their native language. Ofcourse, this goes paired with lots of hand gestures which, over the years have also formed 'words' so you can use your hands to say words. For instance, if I wave at you and then pinch my nose, that means 'I want to buy sugar from you' for example. That's a dumb example, but it gets my point across.

Would that make sense? Just an idea that I came up with because, in England they spoke French as well because it was seen as a better, more noble language. It makes sense for us to have a similar situation.

I also wanna ask what the currency is in Vasili and what it's called?

@Partisan

I like Partisan's idea if it is acceptable to Kyle. I don't want Sarah to know a crazy amount of languages as her main prowess is is medicine. However, I think it reasonable and likely that she would know the original language of The Word of Light since she is educated and this is such a big part of her life. Of course she would also be familiar with the dialects around the Titus area and villages south of there as she has spent the past three years traveling those areas. Although it's doubtful that she would be familiar with dialects North of Titus as she has never been that far north. I'll have to think of a name for these languages.

Plague of the North

@RIengo What is your timezone?

Plague of the North

@Fat Boy Kyle Yay! We are finally up and running! By the way, I had mentioned in my CS that Sarah was skilled in language and I recently realized that I forgot to ask you if there are any other useful languages in this realm? I think it would be reasonable to say that Sarah could speak one or two other languages besides "the common tongue" with varying skill. What do you think? If so, which ones exist that I may claim use of?

Plague of the North

The young woman pulled the hood of her wool cloak further over her pale face as the frigid rain sprinkled like needles from above. Her skinny figure left her perpetually cold in the harsh climate of Vasili, and Sarah longed for the mild summers of home. Now more than ever she wished to charter passage south, back toward Lion’s Keep, and leave this brutal world behind. Instead, she rode west to The Cross Roads, where it was rumored that King Barius was assembling a team of champions to put an end to the scourge which she and her temporary companions were now fleeing.

Sarah could faintly see her copper stallion’s breath coming in puffs as he trotted along to keep up with the other horses in the small group of refugees. He was a fine animal with a hardy disposition, Cavil had always said so. It was for this reason Sarah had sold off her own mare at only a slight loss to some villagers she had established a rapport with. She had begged them, and any other villager who would listen to accompany her south to safety. She knew that this plague would spread quickly, and next to none was prepared to withstand it. Her own husband, Cavil, had been exposed to and overcome by the sickness within hours. Sarah had never seen anything like it. It was downright unnatural. Alas, only a handful of men and women had decided to follow the healer away from their homes which were not far south of Titus. Where they would settle once they reached The Cross Roads, Sarah didn’t know. She was only sure of one thing, the plague must be stopped, and she, Sarah Mane, would see it done.

The woman’s eyes were barely open when someone in the procession shouted that they could see the fires of The Cross Roads. With that, the entire group pressed forward with renewed strength. The town was of average size and wealth for a Vasili settlement. To Sarah, everything North of Southarbour looked about the same. Lots of mud, and lots of ancient wooden buildings. As they neared the heart of the settlement, Sarah’s group began to split apart, each man going his separate way. A few raised their hands in respect to her as the departed, several more ignored her entirely. Sarah acknowledged those who acknowledged her with a nod of her head before leaving to locate “The Kevil Arms”.

From the outside, the tavern looked like the last place Sarah would expect a mission of import to be headed. But there was no mistaking the sign which indicated that this hovel was indeed the place she had been searching for. Sarah scoffed under her breath, “As if the average person in this town could read”. One or two people entered the tavern ahead, and Sarah hoped this would make her own entrance a bit less noticeable. She wanted to gain a bit of insight as to the plan this “Consano” had formulated before committing herself to anything. Sliding off her horse, Sarah strained to stand up straight. Her hard working hands were far too calloused to be bothered by four days of holding reigns. However her hips had not been broken to a saddle in many months. She knew that when next she had a chance to undress, she would note impressive bruising along the inner aspects of her ivory thighs. Sarah cursed her bony figure. She unstrapped the large pack from her saddle and swung the strap over one shoulder, refusing the leave its precious contents unattended.

Waddling through the doors of the inn, Sarah stopped short and shuffled to the side. Lowering her hood and resting up against the wall, she took in the sight before her. A young blond man was kneeling before a panel of two, a knight and a lady. The prostrate man introduced himself as “Gawain Rochilde” and stretched his sword out before him as a profession of loyalty. Sarah raised an eyebrow at the theatrics of it all. “He must enjoy putting on a show” she thought to herself, noting the informal and relaxed posture of every other soul in the room. All except the older dark haired man sitting at the table, whom Gawain was kneeling before and addressed as “Sir Chester”. That particular man sat straight and stoic, he seemed astutely aware of his surroundings. This was a bit of a contrast to his female companion who was slouched in her own chair, lazily sharpening her knife. She seemed more interested in a tall dark woman standing nearby than she did in the thin blond man on the floor. The man and woman looked slightly out of place in their rich threads and fine armor. Their weapons were of a superior, heavy quality. Sarah wondered if this pair really was Sir Chester and Lady Buxton, whom it was rumored were to be the head of this new Consano. She would know soon enough.

Plague of the North

Oh. Uh, hi there. I did a thing.

Zacharias

Character Theme – Into the Fire
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pic

Zacharias is an uncharacteristically short man, at first glance. He barely reaches 1.75 meters, and often puffs himself up or sits on something large to make up for the height difference. He also seems fairly stocky due to his short height, muscles fairly prominent. It doesn't help that he likes his shirts as loose and open as possible.

Zacharias's face is relatively handsome, but it's really nothing special. The main attractive feature would be the blonde hair held back only by a bandana. However, the permanent grin on his face is just as much of a part of his face as his jawline, greenish-blue eyes, or strong nose, and equally dismissible. The most unusual aspect of his appearance would be the strange markings tattooed on his forearms. Zacharias has as many explanations for the tattoos as there are stars in the skies.

Given the climate of the North, which Zacharias is unused to, he generally wears his normal, loose-fitting clothes under his armor, which consists of chain and a small amount of hardened leather, as well as an iron shoulder-guard. When not in his armor, Zacharias prefers to wear loose, stylish clothing, generally something that a higher-class person would prefer. Style trumps practicality, even in some frigid wasteland.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
【Full Name】
Zacharias Morgan

【Alias】
Zach Hellacious

【Gender】
Male

【Age】
33

【Sexuality】
Homosexual

【Birth Place】
Lion's Keep, the Kingdom of Dawn

【Nation/Allegiance】
Deep down, he still believes in the Kingdom of Dawn, but won't even admit it to himself

【Profession】
Professional Soldier
(Though he'd never just come out and say it)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
【Personality】

Zacharias is the type of man to try to smile through the most grievous wounds. He delights in putting on a show, pretending to be something that he isn't. He comes across as an affable soul, almost infuriatingly easy-going. Of course, despite his affability and sense for the dramatic, his pride is a fragile thing, and easily bruised. The fact is, much of his cheerful personality is a constructed act, an attempt to seem more trustworthy than he feels that he is.

Underneath the apparent easy-going nature is a deep-set frustration: with his surroundings, with his circumstances, with himself. Funnily enough, this doesn't manifest during crises, like one might expect. It's during the down-time, when Zacharias has time to think and regret, that he snaps at people. Thankfully, though, he's a master at bouncing back from these times, and always has a quip and an apology prepared. Though it's quite the feat to find the difference between the two.

Zacharias may appear to be quite inconsistent, in both his stories and his behaviors,

But, for better or worse, Zacharias keeps up the act, even if he derides those around him in his mind. Despite his noble upbringing, which he fearfully hides from all those around him, he sees a life among the common people, even heretic barbarians, as preferable to living an entirely different lie. It can be difficult for him to truly be attached to someone, not just appear that way, but once a person has earned his loyalty and trust, it can never be revoked. After all, if there's one thing in this world that is an obvious virtue, it's the pure and durable bond between friends.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
【History】
Zacharias's life has been a pursuit of goals that he could never possibly reach. He desperately wished to earn the affection, and perhaps inheritance, of his father, but as the third son, never got so much as a second glance. He wanted to live as a holy man and attend a prestigious Academy of religion to achieve his dream, but was instead sent off to a military Academy to be a soldier. But perhaps the only thing that he could do to make his father proud was cruelly snatched away from him by his own nature: He would never produce heirs to the Morgan family name, due to his… Preferences.

Zacharias cannot recall much of his youth before the Academy. He has dim recollections, at best, of his mother's voice, or perhaps the voice of a servant, scolding him. To this day, he cannot recall his father's face. Instead, his first, solid memory is the sting of embarrassment, as his face was ground into the mud by an upperclassman. To his vindication, though, Zacharias also recalls the stern scolding that the boy got, after being caught.

However, for the first few years, Zacharias never understood how to quite blend in. Even when he tried his hardest; when he got up before the Sun had come up, made his bed, shoveled bits of food stolen from last's night dinner into his mouth, and used the privy, he still managed to be late for each and every single gathering of the student body in the morning. His teachers had almost come to expect him coming in late for their classes, for entire years in a row, with a different excuse every time. Understandably, Zacharias became very familiar with the school's various switches.

But perhaps worst of all, the thing that constantly tortured Zacharias was the constant reminders of his, as he puts it, “idle indulgence.” He was, after all, constantly surrounded by fit men that he held dear respect for. But he wasn't just going to just expose a potential weak points to the other boys, who he was still on bad terms with. Zacharias kept it hidden as long as he possibly could, but found it difficult to control himself. He had always been an emotional boy, and finally caved in and had a few flings (outside of the student body, of course) during his time at the Academy. Perhaps that was what set him on the path to becoming his own man. Acceptance of his actions, even if his father would have seen them as detestable, gave Zacharias a new, powerful maturity. Goals that he once pursued with fervor were left on the wayside, and he could decide his own path.

That path happened to be the military that he had once bawled into his mother's skirts about joining. His fellow soldiers gave him no small ribbing about that, you can be sure. But slowly, painfully slowly if you asked him, Zacharias was determined to be an equal to his comrades- No! Better than an equal, their superior! He knuckled down on his studies. Generally, students had to read about six dull, dry, irritating total tomes over the course of their training. Zacharias read twice that number, and actually understood a fair amount of it to boot. Despite the difference in their work ethic, Zacharias' classmates and he actually began to get along. The teasing, which had once been mean-spirited picking on perceived weakness, became good-natured.

Unsurprisingly, Zacharias's single-minded dedication to his education, including the school of hard knocks he was enrolled unwillingly in at the beginning, led to him graduating at the top of his class. Days out in the training yard and nights spent pouring over technical tomes had turned the boy into a man, and he accepted his stripes with pride. These days, it almost seems like a dream to him.

Inevitably, Zacharias enlisted in the military, full of confidence in his many, many years of training. That faith was shattered in his very first battle. Zacharias had always pictured wars as noble affairs, and his readings had only confirmed this. Knights, with noble banners unfurled, would line up, and charge each other, dying in a glorious affair. Many of the books had, unfortunately, neglected to mention everything else. Even with his extensive reading, nothing could have prepared Zacharias for the crunching of men and metal, the chaos of a general melee, men coming at you from all sides with swords drawn and you can't tell if they're yours or the enemy's and the acrid scent of smoke fills your nostrils and there's men thrashing on the ground and you CAN'T THINK-

Zacharias spent a long time thinking after that first battle. He wasn't even entirely sure who they had been fighting. All he did was revert, mechanically, back to his training- Find a target, engage him. Block, parry, strike home. Next target. It wasn't for several years that he managed to get a general sense of the very layout of a battlefield. Where to be, where not to be, who to engage and who to leave to the others.

Of course, Zacharias didn't spend all of his time fighting Vasili. As a professional soldier in an expert regiment of the Army, he had many responsibilities to attend to, and had to represent his fellow soldiers in the best possible way. What he had thought to be the boring parts of soldiering- Keeping watch, marching, war games, attending balls as a guard- had become welcome distractions from the horrors of Vasili skirmishes.

He never quite learned to love soldering as his fellows did. Zacharias was never what truly held him back from becoming like the sorry bastards still holding off Vasili assaults to this day. In part, he muses, it was sheer, dumb luck. His father had gotten wind of his sexual orientation- With the life as a soldier constantly on the move, Zacharias had felt that there was little harm in having some fun on the road. Obviously he was wrong.

Zacharias was not even given an ultimatum. After confessing to his father in a particularly heartfelt letter, he received a one-word reply:
“Go.”

Well, that was all he needed. Zacharias turned in his formal resignation, adopted a fake last name, and went as far as he could from his father. In this case, North. He boarded a merchant vessel, promising to defend from any sort of pirate or Vasili privateer interference, and silently swore to himself that he would never return to the Kingdom of Dawn.

Almost a year later, and Zacharias has made it as far North as he could go on his own. He's already feeling some chill in his loose garments (however, he refuses to wear something warmer) and, hearing of a group that both wants to help people and head further North, has decided to throw his lot in with the Consano.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
【Skills and Abilities】

Zacharias trained his entire life to be a warrior, and is the best of the best. He has both extensive theoretical study from his time in an Academy of swordsmanship and practical experience from exhaustive training and time spent in the field against Vasili forces.

While he has been trained to recognize many different styles of fighting, he only practices one: A Dawn-style combat stance that relies upon near-clockwork-like movements and regimented perfection. Were one to recognize the style, they would ultimately find it easy to counter, but Zacharias has not had to face such a foe yet. Thus, he has been able to utilize his rapier and buckler with deadly efficiency.

He may not seem it, but Zacharias is a practiced and excellent liar. Not only does he keep his cool under pressure, but lies practically roll off of his tongue. After living a life of entirely different lies, they've almost become a second language to him.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
【Weapons/Tools and Magic】
Weapons/Tools
Zacharias's first and foremost items that he cares for are his buckler and rapier, which he named Fortuitous for reasons that he can't entirely remember, but he suspects had to do with a drunken bet. The armor he wears is on the lighter side, he's far more accustomed to platemail, but a small amount of chain, hardened leather, and an iron-shoulder pad on his shield arm do all the defending he needs.

Of course, as mentioned, Zacharias was trained to recognize and exploit many other combat styles, and is equipped for such situations. He possesses a smaller, curved sword that fares far better against opponents wielding similar weapons, and a small, strange-looking dagger with several deep notches in it, colloquially known as a sword-breaker. Otherwise, he doesn't have anything of extreme note tucked away in his pack. Food, water, rope, essentials for surviving in the wilderness. What is conspicuously missing is any memento of home.

Magical Spells
Zacharias has shown absolutely no aptitude for magic.

Whose milkshakes bring me to the yard?

Yours.

It's been a while since I've actually made a CS (*cough*orroleplayeddatall*cough*), so, uh, pardon my rustiness.

@RIengo

Not that you asked, but this is a pretty awesome CS!

Plague of the North

I'm still kicking...

Plague of the North

@Torack What is your time zone?

Plague of the North

I'm a little late to this conversation but my favorite RPG has got to be Elder Scrolls. I'm also a big fan of Fallout.

Plague of the North

Does anyone on here play Dota 2 by chance?

Plague of the North

I want to refrain from high fabtasy wizardry and stick to more Game of Thrones style. Little things mean big things, like fire immunity and fortune-telling.

@Uffizi

I always appreciated the muted style better. Makes things much more significant. I thought Lord of the Rings was selective in it's use of magic.... Until I started watching Game of Thrones.