Kassarock

Kass's Kharacters

House Saan

House Saan is an ancient noble family hailing from the Free City of Lys and descending from the dragonlords of Old Valyria. The House has the dubious distinction of also being the progenitor of a number of successful pirate lords. During the reign of Aegon I there was the pirate King Sargosso Saan, and more recently the pirate lords of Wreckstone, Sharako Saan and his son Lysono.

Currently the House is split into two different factions on either side of Daemon Targaryen's war for the Stepstones, House Saan of Lys and House Saan of Wreckstone. House Saan of Lys is the senior of the two branches of the family and is active in the magisterial politics of the Free City of Lys and the wider Kingdom of the Three Daughters. The junior branch, House Saan of Wreckstone, are pirate lords based on the Isle of Wreckstone, and are currently a vassal of the Kingdom of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea.

House Saan of Lys

The Lysene branch of House Saan is both the senior of the two and the more powerful, prestigious branch. Headed by Magister Samarro Saan, its members are predominantly made up of his own children, although other descendants through matrilineal line can be found in both the noble Houses of Ormollen and Haen. Samarro is a man near the height of his power, a rich and well respected trader who sits on the Conclave of Magisters which rules the Free City of Lys. He has numerous sons and grandsons to succeeded his legacy and has made shrewd political alliances with other Lysene houses like the Rogares. However, a threat to his family lies in their renegade cousin, Lysono of Wreckstone, whose actions in the War for the Stepstones have raised questions about the loyalties of House Saan as a whole and has soured relations with other members of the Triachy.

House Members:

• Magister Samarro Saan (55), current Patriarch of House Saan and sitting Magister of the Free City of Lys. Widower.
  
  
  • Sylvarrio Saan (32), Samarro's eldest son and heir apparent, manages most of the families mercantile activities . Married to Ryella Ormollen.
    
    • Syaella Saan (10), daughter of Sylvarrio, twin of Syaello.
    • Syaello Saan (10), son of Sylvarrio, twin of Syaella.
    • Saera Saan (6), daughter of Sylvarrio.
  
  
  • Salloreon Saan (29), Sammarro's second son, a captain of the city watch of Lys. Married to Elaena Saan.
    
    • Saathos Saan (8), son of Salloreon and Elaena, nephew of Lysono.
    • Selenya Saan (5), daughter of Salloreon and Elaena, niece of Lysono.
  
  
  • Saenerys Saan (27), daughter of Sammarro. Married to Lysandro Rogare, politician and banker.

• Syrio Saan (24), third son of Sammarro, proprietor of notable pleasure house. Bachelor.

• Saenyx Saan (20), youngest son of Sammarro, apprentice to the Lysene alchemist guild. Bachelor.

House Saan of Wreckstone

Originally founded by Sharako Saan, a cousin of the Lysene Magister Samarro Saan, House Saan of Wreckstone is a fledgling house of Pirate Lords of the Stepstones. Until recently the house was landless after being purged from the Stepstones by the forces of the Triachy, but through allying itself with Daemon Targaryen's War for the Stepstones it has found fortune once more. Headed by the renegade and ambitious Lysono Saan, this small house represents a challenge to the status quo of Lysene politics.

House Members:

• Elaena Saan, (27) daughter of Sharako Saan, currently resides with senior branch in Lys. Wife of Salloreon Saan.

• Lysono Saan (25), son of Sharako Saan, pirate lord of Wreckstone. Bachelor.

• Vysenna Saan (18), daughter of Sharako Saan. Debutante at King Daemon's court.

Captains of the Wreckstone Fleet:

• Khorane Marr, Lysono's trusted leftenant, the one captain of his father's fleet who returned to Lys after the mutiny.
• Garin the Green, Lysono's closest companion, a young Dornish orphan of the green blood.
• Torreo Sathmantes, dangerous and ambitious captain from a somewhat prominent Lysene house.
• Moredo Sathmantes, younger brother of Torreo, obedient follower.
• Left-hand Lem, Oldtown smuggler turned pirate.
• Skullsplitter Stygg, an Ironborn raider.

Full Character sheets:

Lysono Saan

Lysono Saan

25

House Saan of Wreckstone

Appearance

Lysono Saan is a svelte and lithe man of shorter than average stature. Like many other Lyseni the blood of Old Valyria flows in his veins. This tells true by his long silvered hair that is twisted into a mass of braids and the gracile features that adorn his face. But Lysono's eyes are not those of some Valyrian dragonlord, instead they are an unusual blue green hue, the colour he likes to say of the seas he has made his fortune on. Most often he is clean shaven, and when taken into consideration with his fine facial structure, long hair, and full lips, there is more than just a hint of androgyny about the pirate lord.

Lysono dresses richly. Turquoise silks from beyond the Jade Gates of Qarth, bone white Myrish lace, purple dyed satin made from Tyroshi sea snails, and cloth of gold and silver from Lannisport and the mines of the West. From each ear hangs long teardrops of black amethyst set in bright silver, its purple so dark it almost looks like jet. His thin wrists jingle with bangles of precious metals or carved from ivory and amber. His slender fingers seem almost overwhelmed by the abundance of gaudy rings set upon them. But if called to action, those fingers can still easily reach down to Lysono's sword belt and grasp the two weapons that hang from it. From the left hip hangs a silver hilted narrow arming sword, while from the right, hangs a valyrian steel dagger with a black dragon bone handle.

Biography

Lysono Saan was born on the isle of Wreckstone in the year 86AC, the first born son of Sharako Saan, a pirate lord of the isle of Wreckstone and head of a cadet branch of the ancient and noble Lysene House of Saan. His father was the cousin of the senior branch of the family, which was at that time firmly based in Lys and in mostly legitimate trade. Though they both descended from the infamous Sargosso Saan who had been a Pirate King in the days of Aegon I, only Sharako's side of the family decided to take up his mantle.

Lysono's childhood was spent between the rugged and dangerous pirate dens of his father's world, and the genteel pleasure palaces of his cousins and kinsmen. This simultaneous induction into dual worlds of ruthless violence and idle hedonism marked the young man strongly, and is something which stayed with Lysono throughout the rest of his life. Though relations between both sides of the family were generally good, the same could not be said for the relations between most traders in the Triachy and pirates in the Stepstones. As the situation began to boil over into a crisis in the year of 96AC, word was dispatched from Lys warning the Saan's of Wreckstone to flee their island fastness lest they be swept away along with the other pirate lords and petty kings that profiteered off the flow of trade between the Narrow and Summer seas.

Sharako was a prudent man and elected to sail his family to Lys until the threat of war receded, while he himself would seek out somewhere else to continue his piratical activities. But in leaving the rich trading routes from which his family derived their income, he opened himself up to a danger from within. After a lean few years rumours began to spread amongst his crews that Sharako didn't have gold enough to pay them without the plunder from the Stepstones, or that he had secreted away an a larger than fair share of the recent hauls in order to support his family in exile. Talk turned to mutiny. Before long words turned to actions.

Sharako was murdered by his crew in his sleep while sailing the summer seas. Anarchy descended upon his small fleet as rival captains turned upon each other. When the news of the calamity finally reached Lysono on Lys, he found all that he had once expected to inherit, a lordship, a fleet, an army, was all taken from him, along of course with his own father.

The news hit the young Lysono hard, and for a year he turned to running up debts in the pillow houses and wine sinks of Lys in order to escape the reality of his much reduced situation. It was during this time that the rumours first began to spread about the unusual.. preferences that the young exiled lord possessed. Soon his credit began to turn bad, and even these distractions were lost to him. Indeed, all seemed lost. Until one day, a familiar ship limped back into the harbour below the city. Only one ship, one ship among half a score, had remained loyal to the elder Saan and had sought out his son and heir. It was only one ship, but it was enough. Enough to start again, restore his fortunes, and maybe one day take back what was his by right of birth.

And Lysono did just that. Over the next six years he raided and traded in every port from Ibben to Asshai, he stole from men, sold his wares to others, and as his fleet of corsairs grew, he began to sell his sails in petty wars all over Essos. But none of it was enough, the grip the Triachy held on the Stepstones was too strong for one mere pirate lord to break. But one day word reach his ears of another who might share his goal and was far more than just a pirate lord, he was Daemon Targaryen, Prince of the Iron Throne, and dragonlord.

Lysono sailed all the ships he had gathered to Driftmark, and bent his knee to the Rouge Prince on the condition that he and his heirs be named Lord of Wreckstone in this new kingdom Daemon seeks to carve out from amongst the Narrow Sea. Other than the Sea snake himself, Lysono brought the largest contingent of ships to Daemon's cause and he quickly found himself a part of the prince's war councils. Three years later, in 109AC, when the prince is crowned King of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea, Lysono Saan is confirmed as Lord of the Isle of Wreckstone.

Vysenna Saan

Vysenna Saan

18

House Saan of Wreckstone

Appearance

Vysenna Saan shares many similarities appearance wise with older brother Lysono. They are both small, slim individuals bearing the blood of Old Valyria which manifests itself in their pale and silvery hair. Like her brother her eyes are not the deep purple of a Valyrian, but rather a sea green colour. Though fully grown into her womanhood for a number of years, Vysenna's waif-like proportions sometimes causes others to mistake her for being younger than she actually is.

Her dress differs drastically from her brother's in terms of the her preference for simple elegance over gaudy extravagance. Her dresses very well tailored but often are cut from plain silk or satin with little additional embroidery to embellish them. She prefers blues and greens, colours that bring out her unusual eyes. Though she has many jewels, Vysenna is unlikely to be wearing many of them at any given moment, often choosing a single necklace or broach depending upon the outfit. Though no doubt her dress sense would be considered foreign and revealing by Westerosi standards, in Lys it would be considered demure.

Biography

Vysenna Saan was born on the isle of Wreckstone in the year 93AC, the third and final child of pirate lord Sharako Saan, and his second daughter. Vysenna spent most of her childhood in Lys, with the Wreckstone branch of the Saan family originally leaving the island when Vysenna was only three years old prior the assault of the Triarchy in 96AC. The death of her father a few years later in a mutiny on the summer sea and the subsequent disappearance of her older brother to life a piracy left Vysenna alone in with only her Mother and her older sister Elaena.

Though they were nowhere near as wealthy as they had once been, the Wreckstone branch of the family still possessed some property in Lys. This along with what profits Lysono erratically sent back to them allowed Saan family enabled them to live a comfortable enough life independent of their cousins. But when Vysenna's mother was struck down by a sudden illness when Lysono was at sea this changed. Magister Samarro Saan acted as guardian to the two sisters, and married Elaena off to his own son Salloreon. Supposedly to maintain close relations between the two branches, but others said it was so Samarro's family could claim her portion of the inheritance for themselves.

When Lysono finally returned to Lys and heard these tidings he was furious and immediately took custody of his other still unmarried sister, Vysenna, fostering her with friends in ports and cities outside of Three Daughters. She has spent time in the free cities of Pentos and Braavos, on the isle of Driftmark with the Velaryons, and at King Daemon's Court on Bloodstone. She has returned to Lys since her brother claimed her, but only ever in his company.

Kass's Kharacters

Vysenna Saan

18

House Saan of Wreckstone

Appearance

Vysenna Saan shares many similarities appearance wise with older brother Lysono. They are both small, slim individuals bearing the blood of Old Valyria which manifests itself in their pale and silvery hair. Like her brother her eyes are not the deep purple of a Valyrian, but rather a sea green colour. Though fully grown into her womanhood for a number of years, Vysenna's waif-like proportions sometimes causes others to mistake her for being younger than she actually is.

Her dress differs drastically from her brother's in terms of the her preference for simple elegance over gaudy extravagance. Her dresses very well tailored but often are cut from plain silk or satin with little additional embroidery to embellish them. She prefers blues and greens, colours that bring out her unusual eyes. Though she has many jewels, Vysenna is unlikely to be wearing many of them at any given moment, often choosing a single necklace or broach depending upon the outfit. Though no doubt her dress sense would be considered foreign and revealing by Westerosi standards, in Lys it would be considered demure.

Biography

Vysenna Saan was born on the isle of Wreckstone in the year 93AC, the third and final child of pirate lord Sharako Saan, and his second daughter. Vysenna spent most of her childhood in Lys, with the Wreckstone branch of the Saan family originally leaving the island when Vysenna was only three years old prior the assault of the Triarchy in 96AC. The death of her father a few years later in a mutiny on the summer sea and the subsequent disappearance of her older brother to life a piracy left Vysenna alone in with only her Mother and her older sister Elaena.

Though they were nowhere near as wealthy as they had once been, the Wreckstone branch of the family still possessed some property in Lys. This along with what profits Lysono erratically sent back to them allowed Saan family enabled them to live a comfortable enough life independent of their cousins. But when Vysenna's mother was struck down by a sudden illness when Lysono was at sea this changed. Magister Samarro Saan acted as guardian to the two sisters, and married Elaena off to his own son Salloreon. Supposedly to maintain close relations between the two branches, but others said it was so Samarro's family could claim her portion of the inheritance for themselves.

When Lysono finally returned to Lys and heard these tidings he was furious and immediately took custody of his other still unmarried sister, Vysenna, fostering her with friends in ports and cities outside of Three Daughters. She has spent time in the free cities of Pentos and Braavos, on the isle of Driftmark with the Velaryons, and at King Daemon's Court on Bloodstone. She has returned to Lys since her brother claimed her, but only ever in his company.

Kass's Kharacters

Lysono Saan

25

House Saan of Wreckstone

Appearance

Lysono Saan is a svelte and lithe man of shorter than average stature. Like many other Lyseni the blood of Old Valyria flows in his veins. This tells true by his long silvered hair that is twisted into a mass of braids and the gracile features that adorn his face. But Lysono's eyes are not those of some Valyrian dragonlord, instead they are an unusual blue green hue, the colour he likes to say of the seas he has made his fortune on. Most often he is clean shaven, and when taken into consideration with his fine facial structure, long hair, and full lips, there is more than just a hint of androgyny about the pirate lord.

Lysono dresses richly. Turquoise silks from beyond the Jade Gates of Qarth, bone white Myrish lace, purple dyed satin made from Tyroshi sea snails, and cloth of gold and silver from Lannisport and the mines of the West. From each ear hangs long teardrops of black amethyst set in bright silver, its purple so dark it almost looks like jet. His thin wrists jingle with bangles of precious metals or carved from ivory and amber. His slender fingers seem almost overwhelmed by the abundance of gaudy rings set upon them. But if called to action, those fingers can still easily reach down to Lysono's sword belt and grasp the two weapons that hang from it. From the left hip hangs a silver hilted narrow arming sword, while from the right, hangs a valyrian steel dagger with a black dragon bone handle.

Biography

Lysono Saan was born on the isle of Wreckstone in the year 86AC, the first born son of Sharako Saan, a pirate lord of the isle of Wreckstone and head of a cadet branch of the ancient and noble Lysene House of Saan. His father was the cousin of the senior branch of the family, which was at that time firmly based in Lys and in mostly legitimate trade. Though they both descended from the infamous Sargosso Saan who had been a Pirate King in the days of Aegon I, only Sharako's side of the family decided to take up his mantle.

Lysono's childhood was spent between the rugged and dangerous pirate dens of his father's world, and the genteel pleasure palaces of his cousins and kinsmen. This simultaneous induction into dual worlds of ruthless violence and idle hedonism marked the young man strongly, and is something which stayed with Lysono throughout the rest of his life. Though relations between both sides of the family were generally good, the same could not be said for the relations between most traders in the Triachy and pirates in the Stepstones. As the situation began to boil over into a crisis in the year of 96AC, word was dispatched from Lys warning the Saan's of Wreckstone to flee their island fastness lest they be swept away along with the other pirate lords and petty kings that profiteered off the flow of trade between the Narrow and Summer seas.

Sharako was a prudent man and elected to sail his family to Lys until the threat of war receded, while he himself would seek out somewhere else to continue his piratical activities. But in leaving the rich trading routes from which his family derived their income, he opened himself up to a danger from within. After a lean few years rumours began to spread amongst his crews that Sharako didn't have gold enough to pay them without the plunder from the Stepstones, or that he had secreted away an a larger than fair share of the recent hauls in order to support his family in exile. Talk turned to mutiny. Before long words turned to actions.

Sharako was murdered by his crew in his sleep while sailing the summer seas. Anarchy descended upon his small fleet as rival captains turned upon each other. When the news of the calamity finally reached Lysono on Lys, he found all that he had once expected to inherit, a lordship, a fleet, an army, was all taken from him, along of course with his own father.

The news hit the young Lysono hard, and for a year he turned to running up debts in the pillow houses and wine sinks of Lys in order to escape the reality of his much reduced situation. It was during this time that the rumours first began to spread about the unusual.. preferences that the young exiled lord possessed. Soon his credit began to turn bad, and even these distractions were lost to him. Indeed, all seemed lost. Until one day, a familiar ship limped back into the harbour below the city. Only one ship, one ship among half a score, had remained loyal to the elder Saan and had sought out his son and heir. It was only one ship, but it was enough. Enough to start again, restore his fortunes, and maybe one day take back what was his by right of birth.

And Lysono did just that. Over the next six years he raided and traded in every port from Ibben to Asshai, he stole from men, sold his wares to others, and as his fleet of corsairs grew, he began to sell his sails in petty wars all over Essos. But none of it was enough, the grip the Triachy held on the Stepstones was too strong for one mere pirate lord to break. But one day word reach his ears of another who might share his goal and was far more than just a pirate lord, he was Daemon Targaryen, Prince of the Iron Throne, and dragonlord.

Lysono sailed all the ships he had gathered to Driftmark, and bent his knee to the Rouge Prince on the condition that he and his heirs be named Lord of Wreckstone in this new kingdom Daemon seeks to carve out from amongst the Narrow Sea. Other than the Sea snake himself, Lysono brought the largest contingent of ships to Daemon's cause and he quickly found himself a part of the prince's war councils. Three years later, in 109AC, when the prince is crowned King of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea, Lysono Saan is confirmed as Lord of the Isle of Wreckstone.

Kass's Kharacters

Karlus Marsh

Character Summary

Karlus Marsh

Name: Karlus Marsh

Titles: N/A

Aliases: Karl the Flame, The Half-Mage, The Half-Mad, The Half-Mute.

Age: 29

Race/Ethnicty: Human

Continent of Origin: Carthus

Gender: Male

Class/Subclass: Mage, Ruination

Stats

Strength: 10
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 8
Intelligence: 20
Wisdom: 9
Charisma: 12

Physical Attributes

Height: Five feet and seven inches.

Weight: Seven stone and nine pounds.

Appearance Description: Karlus the Half-Mage is a small, thin, waif-like man. He has not seen his thirtieth year, but bears many of the hallmarks of a much older man. His pale face seems unduly worn, his swept back hair is brittle and prematurely white. Deep bags hang beneath his strangely luminous green eyes and this, along with his general air of weariness, confirms that Karlus sleeps little each night. The features upon this gaunt and drawn face are fine and effeminate, and could be considered handsome in another life. Handsome that is were it not for a hideous scar that mars the right side of his face.

Day To Day Attire: He dresses in faded black leathers beneath which the clink of mail can be heard, covered by a grey hooded great cloak clasped with a silver ring pin. From Karlus's sword belt hangs more silver, a silver-hilted short sword, its pommel set with a green cats eye stone. It seems to glow unnaturally in darkness. His left arm is bound and bandaged beneath his cloak.

Strengths:

• Knowledgeable in many academic subjects, particularly those related to the arcane.
• Relatively powerful mage.
• Skilled in countering other magical users.

Weaknesses:

• Emotionally unstable and subject to periods of mania and depression.
• Suffers from a sickly constitution and often physically unwell.
• Mistrustful of others.

Psychological Attributes

Eurdite * Compassionate * Unstable * Secretive * Ruthless

Sexuality: Unknown

Relationship Status: Single

Personality: Karlus is a person who often comes across cold and reserved when first met, not in a cruel or uncaring way, but as if separated from all others around him by an immense unseen chasm. Distant is probably the lasting impression that he leaves on acquaintances. He has a habit of gazing off into the middle distance, almost as if he’s looking right though someone to something beyond. Normally he’s quiet, in particular about himself and his history, and when pressed upon a subject he does not want to discuss will be highly evasive. Despite this its easy to see that he someone of considerable learning and intelligence by the cerebral nature of his conversation. If Karlus were to smile it would normally be a sad one, his laughs are harsh and a little unhinged. He sleeps little, haunted by nightmares that make him wake in fits of terrible screams.

There is some hint madness in him as well, one that manifests in periods of energetic mania followed by deep and dark depressions. During his mania he will often rant and rave on the nature and theory of magic to anyone who will listen to him, and is prolific in the creation of treatise, papers, plans and schemes. During his inward periods he becomes even more uncommunicative, scarcely eating or sleeping, burying himself in his books and maintaining absolute solitude.

Habits:

• Scratching at the scar on the side of his face or at his bandaged arm.
• Plays with fire when bored, passing a single flame from finger tip to finger tip.
• Staring out into the middle distance for extended periods of time.
• When nervous paces and moves incessantly.
• Fitful sleeper.

Hobbies:

• Amateur antiquarian/historian.
• Calligraphy

Fears:

• Tightly enclosed spaces or being restrained.
• His mentor.
• Muting.

Likes:

• Learning new things.
• Shadows/night time.
• Children and animals.
• Personal Space.
• Hot baths.
• Good wine.

Dislikes:

• Being touched.
• Sleeping.
• College trained mages.
• Vulnerability.
• Telling the truth.
• The muted.

Skills

• Arcana: The knowledge of all things related to magic and its practice.
• History: The knowledge of the past ages.
• Perception: The ability to keep watch and notice things.
• Short-blade: The use of daggers and short swords.
• Multi-lingual: Languages include Common, Old Speak, Elven and Old Elven.
• Keen memory: The ability to recall details and information with ease.

Magic

Ruination focus with an emphasis on fire magic and rending.

Spell list:

• Produce Flame - a gout of flame created in the palm, can be thrown offensively.
• Burning Hands - a large burst of flame in a cone like projection.
• Hold Person - using rending magic to prevent a person from moving.
• Telekinesis - using rending magic to move, manipulate and levitate small objects.

Possessions

Possessions Generally On Person:

• Dagger: A short utilitarian knife.
• Waterskin: A flask for containing water or another liquid.
• Coin-purse: A pouch containing money and valuables.
• Good Boots: A pair of unusually nice and expensive boots.
• Journal: A leather bound journal tucked into a pocket of Karlus's cloak.
• A pocket mirror: To check and maintain appearance.

Armor:

• Chain-shirt: A shirt of chain mail.
• Leather Jerkin: A black leather sleeveless jacket.

Pack Contents:

• Bedroll: A bedroll for sleeping rough.
• Walking stave: A staff for walking extended distances.
• Books and scrolls: Mostly relating to arcane matters
• Ink, paper, quill: Used for writing
• Rations: Food for one or two days.
• Ritual Components: Chalk, incense, crow feathers etc.
• Fresh Bandages: For changing the covering on his left arm.

Magical Items:

• Green Flame Blade: The silver hilted short sword at Karlus's hip. The blade burns with green fire when activated.
• Alchemical Potion: A thick creamy white potion in a small glass vial.
• Alchemical Potion: A clear potion with a slight yellow tint in a small glass vial.

History

History: A mage-blade known as Karl the Flame arrived in Carthus from the lands of Penault around five years ago. He said he was trained in the arts of ruination by the Elves of that land. He quickly found employment as a bodyguard and adviser to various small time crime bosses and underworld figures who valued the protection against magical threats a pet mage provides. There are many inconsistencies in the story he presents as his past, why would a man from Penault speak in with an Astorian accent? Why would an elf trained mage leave to work in the much more oppressive environs of Carthus?

But stranger still are whispers that the Karl conceals that brands of the muted... yet still somehow practices magic. And then there are the other whispers, those of the college mages that disappear or are found dead in gutters wherever the Karl the Flame goes.

Secrets and Lies

Magic:
As well as being a user of ruination magic through an adjuration pact, Karlus is also a practitioner of Apparition magic.

Expanded Spell List:

• Minor Illusion
• Disguise Self
• Darkness
• Invisibility

Expanded History: Karlus the Half-Mage was not always Karl the Flame, before that he was Karlus Marsh. Karlus Marsh was born in southern Astoria to peasant family. He remembers them little as he his talent for weaving light and shadow into illusions manifested itself when he was only a young child. He was taken to Cambridge and the college there to be educated as a college trained magician, a responsible servant to the crown and people of Astoria.

As he grew older he grew to hate the gilded cage of his existence. He grew to disdain the path that was set out for him, forced to weave only illusions for the rest of his life because of a decision made for him as a child. He grew even more to the wise fools who believed this was the best way to control their own kind. Those who should rail against the injustice that was done to those of the craft, but instead became the enforcers of that very system. They revelled in their perfection of their discipline and rigour, praised the tightness of the shackles with which they bound themselves. Those who took pleasure from cruelty were rewarded in the college.

He would undo it, bring it down. But in order to do that one needed power. Real power, not simply illusions and tricks.

But how does an Apparitionist acquire such power under the eagle eyed regime of the masters of the college? Adjuration. The art of reaching beyond the veil to bargain for power beyond one's own abilities. Something that could be pursued by all members of the college if they showed aptitude. Most would seek patronage to enhance their prowess within their focus, but what if one sought other powers instead? What if one used their bargain to gain mastery over more than one kind of magic?

And so Karlus deceived the masters... or at least he believed he had.

They took him at night in his sleep, bound his hands and gagged him. Chained him in a warded cell until they ready. They strapped him to a table. Began to cut. Began to burn. The Runes. The Runes of Erasure. The Runes of Muting. Into. His. Skin.

And then it happened. The fire. It swept through the college. Many died... but Karlus did not. In the chaos he escaped. He did not know it at the time, but most of those who had been preforming the ritual, those who knew it was not complete died that day. Those who knew are lived had more pressing concerns than a witch novice who almost certainly burned to death.

Then began a lifetime of running and hiding. He glamoured the brand on his cheek and with great pain and hardship went about relearning what arts were available to him. After many years he came back to Astoria as Karl the Flame and began to take his revenge. He hunted down those enforcers of the gilded cage and made them pay for their cruelty with their lives.

But it seemed his secret was not burned away in the flames. A letter from the North Astorian Trading Company, addressed to Karlus Marsh. They knew his secret and they were unhappy with him. One of the mages he had killed had been important to them somehow, unless he helped the company in some manner he would be exposed. They would kill him... or finish the Muting that he had so narrowly escaped. Karlus wasn't ready quite ready for that yet.

Kass's Kharacters

Nadia the Nazairi

Original art by Lesly Oh

Nadia the Nazairi

Race: Human
Age: 29
Gender: Female
Birthplace: Nazairi Highlands
Profession: Mercenary

Appearance

Nadia is an unusual woman. She is of a height with most men, with broad shoulders and arms thick with well used muscle. Across her biceps the skin is patterned with strange little scars and flecks of coloured ink, the tradition markings of the old brigand clans from the rocky interior highlands of Nazair. Her skin is slightly darker than that of most northern folk, and her hair darker still. It hangs a tangled mop of black curls, shorn short on the side of the head and at the nape of the neck. It tumbles down the right side of her face, partially obscuring a long horizontal scar that clips off the tip of that ear.

The face below is also marked by the scars of battle, three smaller slashes, two across the right cheek, and one below the full lips of her mouth along the line of her strong jaw. When she smiles you can see she is missing a tooth, and the one next to it has been cracked making it appear abnormally pointed. Nadia's face would have always been more striking than traditionally beautiful, but these prominent war wounds along with her physicality leaves her something of a ferocious and dangerous air. The eyes set in his dangerous face are not ferocious however, they are cool and grey, that flash with a sly and somewhat amused look to them.

When not in armour she most often dresses practically, eschewing more traditionally female garb in favour of breaches, short tunics, linen shirts, and a leather jerkin. She generally wears non-dyed fabrics, although she does own several articles dyed bright red with Nazairi Cinnabarite.

Personality

Raised with a spear in hand by mountain bandits and spending most of her adult life in armour, Nadia is woman who can drink, spit and swear with the best and boldest of the soldiery. When she wishes to be she is the centre of attention, the loudest, brashest person in the room. Her speech is peppered with japes and swears in foreign tongues. She laughs often and loudly, frequently at her own expense. She answers insults in kind, and with a mocking smile as if to say she's heard it all before. If insults escalate to steel, she hasn't lost yet. She is a bravado, confident in her own skills, and seemingly fearless.

She is, however, no unthinking thug or lout. Nadia engages in boorish behaviours, but her quick wits often shine through either in her clever tongue or her skills in games of chance and probability. She's good with numbers and knows her letters well enough to stumble through reading her own contracts. She also excels in tactical planning, being fond of preparing traps and ambushes when has control of the field of engagement. While she isn't the most book learned or formally educated person, she makes for it with an excellent memory, and a shrewd mind underneath it all.

The only time Nadia really seems to lose her good natured boisterousness is when it comes to Nilfguaard. Her playful fiery nature changes to a cold and hard rage, quite different from her usual persona. Despite being a mercenary by profession, its said she's never claimed a Nilfguaardian ransom, none who cross her path are left alive.

History

Nadia was born in Nazair. Her father was prominent member of a highland clan, one inclined to the twin professions of bandit and brigand, as many of the highland clans were in those days. Nazair, like all the southern kingdoms, raises boys and girls like the elves do: they're taught how to fight, ride a horse, and go hunting as children, regardless of gender. Nadia was no exception. She spent her childhood riding surefooted mountain ponies, hunting with the sling and short bow, and training with the preferred weapon of her people: the wicked Nazairi short spear, perfect for holding narrow mountain passes, or to be thrown from behind a rocky outcrop.

It was not the kindest nor safest of childhoods, but it was a happy one. She idolised her father, strong, brave, and utterly fearless. He was not worried when Nilfguaard marched North and destroyed the ancient capital of Assengard. The highland clans had no love for the low land nobility. Who cared if they were ruled from Assengard or Nilfguaard? They would continue living free, taking from who they wanted, as they had always done.

But it was not to be.

Their new rulers took a dim view of the actions of the clans, stealing from Nilfguaardian soldiers and merchants. The empire pushed up into the highlands like no other kingdom ever had before, burning the villages and hidden camps of the clans, poisoning their wells, sowing their fields with salt. Nadia's father was executed by the empire before she was a woman grown. A few of her people refused to bend their knees, they fled north, taking Nadia and her mother with them.

In Cintra they were refugees, families dead and broken, stripped of the world they knew and the ways they held dear. They had no wealth, no land, and no skills that were valuable here other than violence. So they sold the one thing they could, their spears. Thankfully they had come to right place. Queen Calanthe, the Lioness of Cintra as she was called, was always fighting wars and suppressing rebellions. They took gold from the queen and died on her battlefields. Nadia learned to how to steal in Nazair, but she learned how to fight wars in Cintra. As the years wore on what started as a band of exiles held together through common cause began to turn into just another mercenary company, filled with unfamiliar faces and hard bitten killers.

Nadia and some of others from the clans tried to keep their culture alive. She tried to live like her father. But it seemed like destiny was doomed to repeat itself when she finally faced Nilfguaard again at the battle of Marnadal three years ago. Cintra routed, Queen Calanthe wounded, Eist Tuirseach dead. The battlefield claimed the lives of most of those who had remembered the the ways of their people, the company was finished. Nadia herself took the scar across her ear that day, and deeper scars as well.

She went North again, to Temeria. When she could fight again Nadia went with King Foltest to Sodden Hill, but they arrived so late most of the killing had already been done. When the King offered the chance to go south, into Nilfguaard, almost to the lands her people once held - Nadia jumped at the chance.

Skills

• Spear and Shield Fighting
• One Handed Swordsmanship
• Horse Riding and Grooming
• Raconteuring and Carousing
• Skirmisher Tactics
• Arithmetic
• Games of Chance

Specialty: Nadia's speciality is her role as a lightly armoured skirmisher. Her preferred fighting style is on foot with spear and shield.

Equipment

Weapons: Nadia carries several weapons on her person when going into battle. Primarily she uses a six foot long light spear tipped with a diamond shaped head of iron that can be thrust with or thrown. If possible she will bring multiple spears with her. At her side is a simple one handed arming sword and a utilitarian broad bladed dagger. These act as side arms in case of the loss of her spear. In her off hand she carries a round, concave, iron plated, wooden shield.

Armor: Nadia swears relatively light armour that emphasises utility and mobility over protection. She wears grey and brown brigantine plate over an arming jacket. Pauldrons and vambraces of lobstered steel protect her shoulders and forearms. On her head, Nadia wears an open faced steel sallet.

Misc:

• Male riding horse named Wander.
• Horse tack
• Bedroll and blanket
• Water skin
• Wine skin
• Coin purse
• Fire irons and cooking pot
• Small woodaxe
• Tinderbox and flint and steel
• Whetstone
• Deck of Gwent cards
• Set of bone gaming dice
• Several days of dried rations
• Several changes of clothes

Kass's Kharacters

King Ozragad of the House of Gwydion

King of Morganyth, Lord of all Fomori, Nemesis of Eorzia

Appearance

King Ozragad appears almost as formidable as his reputation would suggest. He is taller than most men, easily standing over six feet in height, and carries himself with an air of strength. His face his angular, almost gaunt, with a proud straight nose and a prominent chin. It is framed by his long black hair, threaded now with faint strands of grey. Like the rest of his Fomori kin, Ozragad bears the ashen complexion and pointed ears of his kind. But by far, the most notable thing about his face are his eyes: orange-gold irises like pools of firelight cut in twain by slit pupils. Beneath his furrowed brow they smoulder fiercely, their gaze intent, their owner inscrutable.

Outside of the palace Ozragad most often wears his armour, it is surprisingly plain for that of a king, lacking filigree or ornamental fancies. When not in armour he favours darker colours, black or maroon, and simple garb. The circlet he wears during occasions of state is yellow gold, set with beads of jet and garnets. A sword is most often at his side.

Personality

To the people of Eorzia, King Ozragad is the source of great terror. Known as the Nemesis, the Defiler, the Accursed, (amongst other less savoury monikers) he is considered a cruel tyrant responsible for the woes of the Kingdom. But those who faced him on the battlefield or have studied his life emphasise different traits - Ozragad's cunning and bravery. For decades the Kingdom of Morganyth has held its own against Eorzia largely because of the military and strategic genius of its leader, who has won countless battles against larger armies, and always commands from the front lines. His own soldiers are known to be as fanatically loyal to him as Eorzia's are fanatically opposed to him.

The rare few who have visited Ozragad's court in the hidden city of Cirith Anyr and returned to Eorzia tell tales of a cold place, with few acts of gaiety or revelry. An air of sadness hangs of the place. The King himself has shown dislike for residing at his own seat, and even when not on campaign, prefers to throw himself into the management of his realm by touring its provinces personally.

History

King Ozragad's history is inevitability tied up in the century of war between Eorzia and Morganyth. He came to the throne at an unusually young age for a Formori, not yet having seen his first century. The early years of his reign were quiet, the Formori of Morganyth had always kept to themselves in the years before the war, and at first that did not change with Ozragad. Then without warning, over twenty years after he had taken the throne, the King led a host out of the mountains and into Eorzia, claiming it as the ancestral homeland of the Formori people. In what would later become known as his first and most successful campaign, King Ozragad cut his way into the heart of Eorzian territory, culminating in the capture of its capital and the killing of its King.

That winter Ozragad held court in lands that no Formori had ruled in over a thousand years, but come the spring he would driven from the city by King's son and heir. When he realised he could not hold the capital, Ozragad burnt it to the ground.

What followed was a century of bloodshed, as the two Kingdoms traded flesh wounds year after year. Sometimes Ozragad would hold the upper hand and strike deep into Erozia, at other times he would be pressed back into mountains and besieged in his fortified citadels. Kings and Princes of the Hydaelyn dynasty have been slain by his hand, but always another rises in their place to oppose him. After so many years, the war took its toll on both the Kingdoms. Their populations began to deplete, their borderlands all but abandoned because of the continuous fighting.

Then came the peace. The proposal made to him which was expected to be flatly rejected - he accepted. With only one condition, that the dowry paid to the bride by her father be made in land, not gold.

Kass's Kharacters

Elijah 'Eli' Redgrave

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Y'know Redgraves have been in Westcliffe almost as long as the DeWinters, but no one gives a shit cos we're poor now.

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Name: Elijah 'Eli' Redgrave

Gender: Male

Age: 16

Sexual Orientation: He's not really figured that out yet.

Character Role: Tragic Backstory

Personality

Personality: The public persona of Eli Redgrave is that of the mischievous wayward youth. In the single class that makes up the town's school he has reputation as being both a slacker and a joker. When he can be bothered to attend his classes, Eli has a proclivity towards playing practical jokes and readily shows off his wry and sarcastic brand of humour. Despite being something of a class clown, he is by no means stupid, far from it in fact. His teachers think he would have excellent grades if he were only to apply himself.

His carelessness manifests itself in his appearance too. His dark hair is a messy, unkempt mop that seldom sees a brush or comb. His plaid cotton shirts are often torn and his stonewashed jeans are faded. He often bears scratches on his face and bruises on his arms from spending time messing around in woods out by the old town dump. There's an old rusted out campervan there that Eli has turned into a sort of den. Eli spends a lot of time there, either by himself or with his close knit group of friends. He is generally a sociable person, preferring to hang out with friends than to spend time at home. In fact he tries to spend as little time at home as possible.

But there's a darkness that hangs over Eli. A kind of solitary loneliness that marks him out from many of his peers. He doesn't like to speak of it, he doesn't like to even acknowledge it, but its there. Everyone in the town knows his history, knows what happened to his family. Bad things happen to Redgraves, and no one would be surprised if something bad happened Eli. Least of all himself.

History

History: The Redgraves are one of the old families of Westcliffe, recently fallen on much harder times. They settled in the area not long after the DeWinters and were originally land owning gentlemen farmers of a sort. Originally the two families were very close to one another, with the two of the intermarrying several times over the course of the 19th century. However, this was not to last.

The Redgraves and the DeWinters had something of a very public falling out in the 1890s in what would come to be known locally as the Westcliffe Silver Wars. It started when the Redgraves became interested in mineral prospecting around the town. They surreptitiously sought to buy out local landowners with the intent to open a silver mine and turn Westcliffe into a mining rush town like Leadville or Cripple Creek. Many of Westcliffe's residents were violently opposed to the idea, chief amongst them the DeWinters.

During the development of the mine there was numerous violent classes and even a few murders between the DeWinter and Redgrave clans and their associated supporters. For a while it seemed like the Redgraves won when silver started to come up out of the mine and they had the money to hire guns and guards. They quickly used their newfound wealth to build themselves a large manor house overlooking the town, which was deliberately made to he larger and more grandiose than that of the DeWinters.

But it was the DeWinters who had the last laugh. A series of mysterious accidents plagued the mineworks, including a tunnel collapse that killed many of the workers. When the damage was repaired and shafts sunk once more at considerable cost to the Redgraves, the seam was found to suddenly and inexplicably end. It ruined the Redgrave family. The cost of the rebuilding the mines and constructing their lavish home had largely be financed through credit and they lost everything to the bank in coming years. The palatial manor overlooking Westcliffe went derelict and was burned to ground by vandals just after the turn of the century.

But the Redgraves stayed in Westcliffe, a few of them can be found living down in the town itself, but Eli's family are what is left of the main branch, living in an old dilapidated colonial farmhouse on a corner of what had once been the vast Redgrave estate. Back when his grandparents were alive, it was still a working farm, but by the time Eli was born most of the remaining land had been sold off other than a few acres of stony scrub pasture and tangled woodland.

His father had worked as a mechanic, using the old barn as his workshop, his mother a home maker. He and his older brother, Alex, grew up poor, but happy enough. As a child Eli had never noticed the bitterness, the resentment, which still characterised much of his father's family's feelings about Westcliffe and the DeWinters. It went straight over his head. The town was Eli's world, and he had everything he needed there, everything a curious and outdoor loving child could wish for.

His own feelings towards Westcliffe would become more complicated following the deaths of both his parents.

Eli was around eleven when it happened, on the night of the Halloween festival. His parents had been driving over the mountain, they had gone to see a lawyer in the next town over, and were returning for the festival. There had been something wrong with the breaks on his father's truck and it had gone crashing through a guard rail on one of the switchback turns. The car had plummeted into the ravine below, and was only by the police next morning when the Redgrave children reported their parents missing.

They told Eli and Alex it had been quick, they had both died instantly.

After that their uncle came to live with them, but he was away a lot, so it mostly Alex looking after Eli. Alex was only two years older than him, but Eli came to rely on his older brother a lot in those first few years after the death of their parents. Later he wondered if he had relied on him too much. It couldn't have been easy on both of them, living in the same house, with all those ghosts. And then there were all the rumours and whispers about the curse.

The townspeople said it was the curse of the DeWinters, a magical spell punishing their old enemies once again. When their uncle was around and not passed out drunk he told them the same. Sometimes Eli felt it when he went into Westcliffe, everyone looking at him, everyone whispering behind his back: 'Watch out there goes one of those cursed Redgrave boys, don't get too close in case it rubs off on you too.' He wondered now that he was older, what it had been like for Alex?

Had it been worse somehow?

Alex disappeared when Eli turned fourteen. The police said he was a runaway, their uncle didn't really care what had happened to him. And then Eli learned how to live on his own. It was about this time that he started to act out more, skip school and get in some minor trouble in town. Eli wants to leave Westcliffe now, when he's old enough. He wants to find his brother. He hopes that Alex did leave and he's living a better life somewhere out there, but he's not too sure.

Why is that?

Alex disappeared on the night of the Halloween Festival.

Extra: Faceclaim credit of Matthew Clavane

The Arrangement [Suki & Kassarock]

Good post, I've enjoyed these last couple, next few should wrap up this current scene I think.

Where do you want to go after that?

Skip to one of the pre-wedding traditions, or is there anything else Elise would like to do first now she has her freedom of movement restored?

How The Leaves Fall

Eli Redgrave

As the school bell rang Eli slunk out of his seat and out of the classroom. He hadn't been paying attention for most of the day, but that didn't mean he hadn't been thinking. He had been thinking about a lot things, but mostly, what Violet had said that morning and what they all knew was coming up. The Harvest Festival and the killings it foretold. It would happen again this year, Eli was sure of it. He just hoped that it wasn't anyone he cared about, there weren't that many of those left.

His parents. His brother. How many more people could the curse take from him?

Although, now he thought about it, there were some people he could think of in this town he wouldn't mind seeing dead. His uncle for a start. Maybe if I beg Violet nicely enough she'll send the curse to him this year. That was of course if the DeWinters had anything to with it, and more importantly, if Violet had anything to do with it. But she is the DeWinter heiress... if they are behind it, she would know.

As he put his stuff back into his locker, Ben came out of their classroom and called to him across the stream of students pouring out of the school. Ben wanted to goof off around town, and that suited Eli just fine.

"Yeah sure thing man, just lemme grab my bike first."

He walked round to the front of the school and unchained his bikes from railing, placing the heavy metal lock in his backpack. When he looked inside and remembered what was in there, he smiled.

"You want one?" He asked Ben, as he revealed a pair of crumpled cigarettes.

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