Post by WoS on Jun 6, 2010 22:06:00 GMT -5
A student of the natural order of things...
Name: Alderbran
Age: 26
Species: Human
Height: 6'1
Weight: 178
Family:
Mother: Adelle
Father: Ryker
Siblings: None
Children: None
Lover: None
Magical Abilities: Warlock/ Elemental
Birthplace: Sideris, outskirts of Howe
Current Residence: Brumeveil Forest
Occupation: As a warlock, he has set himself to learn all that Nature has to offer him, believing that man must submit himself to the equilibrium of the Earth in order to slow the decay of the planet. All of his work goes into research, exploration and communicating with the sentient animals. Sometimes, if his work requires some funding, he'll go to the cities Caedere where his mysterious nature is not as suspect as it is in Sideris. One of his goals is to become a student at Bastion Tower.
Accessories: The man carries everything he needs to survive in and on a backpack and among the straps and sacks hanging from the several belts that snake their way along his body. His clothing is comprised of hand-me-downs from his father or the rare treasure he has picked up along his expeditions. Some of it is leftovers from his days as a soldier of Sideris.
Fascinated by The Folk, he's befriended many and always has some at his side, particularly spiders.
Description:
While still relatively young, Alderbran has an ambiance of confidence befitting a sagely sort of man. It comes as a great comfort to anyone who lives in these times of insecurity and tyranny. A product of his life in the outskirts of society and deep within the vicious circles of the forest, his body has well maintained it's soldiers training. As something of a nomad, Alderbran is lithe and adroit, with motions well conceived and smoothly executed. It is a testament to his acquired skill via the elements and a rich understanding of how the earth has wrought its power from pure intentions and a natural equilibrium. While not a violent person by any stretch of the imagination, his body is hardened by the desire to defend himself on his own physical merit, rather than through magic. Living with the paranoia of capture has given him an early gray hair or so. If anyone who had known his father could see Alderbran, they'd say he was the spitting image of the once father. His eyes are like those of his mother, though.
Relationships: He doesn't really associate a whole lot with other people, fearing betrayal. Before he had left Dirge he had been friends with some of his fellow soldiers, but found them a bit stupid and could never get himself to socialize with them. Alderbran's closest relationships come from The Folk or other people he's stumbled into on his journeys through the forest, or in Caedere.
History: His father, although naive to the terrible things his country had inflicted upon others in foreign places, was a proud servant of the country and a fine soldier of Errare. He fought with the fury of a tiger, vowing to protect his Queen and family from the opposed enemy.
The day the half sun bomb dropped, everything changed for him and his wife. When the sun turned to blood and the sky as bleached as bone, a force unlike anything he had ever witnessed in life and in battle wrought him with such violent might that he woke beneath buildings and the devastated corpses of his own men. It was the very kingdom he had been fighting to protect. Barely alive, Ryker could not believe what he was seeing. The shock of the moment delayed the realization that his own body was practically unrecognizable. Despite the pain that screamed through his body and grew with every movement, he stumbled through the ruins, praying to whatever terrible god in the heavens that his home was still in one piece. By some miracle, his prayers were answered. His wife, a witch well learned in the different forms of healing, was the only thing standing between his death and a chance at life.
Errare, having nothing to offer them, was now but a bad memory. They could feel death stretching its hand from every corner of the dark, dismal remains and made to flee from its sickened influence. They made way for the Kingdom of Sideris. It was a terrible situation for the young couple, for they had very little to take and even less to offer. Ryker could barely walk and it was becoming obvious that Witches were in high demand, if not by choice. This left them with one reasonable choice.
They lived in the outskirts of Howe, hiding from raiders, soldiers and passerby in an isolated forest. Together they built a small home and planted several vegetable gardens, living off the earth and attempting to understand it better, no longer having trust in man and his perceptions of success. It was never enough, though, and it was especially difficult on Adelle as she was the only one truly capable of doing any serious work. She loved her husband dearly and dreaded every passing day, fearing the inevitable and early death of her only companion and friend. His last gift to her was a pregnancy. Several days before she was to give birth, he passed on, finally free of the nightmares of the day the suns power fell upon his people.
Adelle gave birth to a surprisingly healthy boy. It washed away the sharp pain of Ryker's death and filled every difficult day with a sparkle of light and hope. She taught him everything she knew about the earth...why things worked and how, about plants and the many uses they offered. He learned to love nature and mastered all that he was instructed to learn. When he was a young boy he would go off on adventures in the deep woods, fearing nothing as he believed he understood it all. The one thing that bothered him was their isolation. His mother spoke of many terrible things of the past, of his father and the terror that had befallen them before his time. Alderbran had seen hints of it when strangers would go by, the deformities and the smell of a strange illness was clear. Most people did not respect the planet as much as his mother and him did, but it got him thinking about people in general.
He was intensely curious about cities, and machines and government, despite being warned away from it. At the age of 15, he decided that he would explore these forbidden places. One of these adventures to Howe led to his capture by a patrol from Dirge, as a merchant had accused him of stealing when he lingered in the dark a little too long. Having no way to defend himself ( no one believed him!) he volunteered work in the military for whatever meager tasks they thought him capable of doing, rather than being thrown into the dungeons where he would be of no practical use. They agreed and he was spared a trial and the vast halls of the Dirge prisons. He worked hard, hoping to gain his freedom and prove his innocence, but inadvertently sealed his fate by impressing the armed men enough that he was trained as a soldier himself.
His style of dealing with "problem" citizens was never quite in line with what the higher ups desired, and suspicions grew that he was hiding something from them. His strange ideas about the earth, how terrible men were and his dislike for government did not fall well on these men with legacies to fulfill, as well as great pride for their city and the occupations within it as a whole. On the rare occasion that he had a week or so to himself, he traveled back to Howe to visit his mother in the forest. He despaired to find that with each visit, his mother looked worse for wear and worried that she was falling victim to the effects of the bomb as well. Not even her skills as a witch could stop the disease. She continued to teach him what she knew, knowing that when she was gone the important bits of knowledge she had acquired would become vital to her son's progression into a man of the new age.
The last visit sealed the families fate. Alderbran's companions suspected his upbringing as a witch and knew the person he was visiting was likely one of them. It was a crime for her to keep her magic to herself and thus they pursued her. Even as she was wilting, their hunger for power barred all compassion. Alderbran, seeing her capture, called upon his Folk friends living nearby, but the battle for Adelle was a failure before it really ever began. As soon as the collar was fixed around her neck, the last whisper of life left her weakened body.
He was alone now, wrought with the guilt of knowing his mother had been right all along. He believed it was his fault she had died and vowed to protect everything she had ever believed in. Alderbran was sick of the way things were being run and decided the only way to stop it was to change everything, to go back to nature and learn a better way. He strengthened his skills in magic by studying the elements, by exploring every avenue of possibility and learning from other vagabond warlocks and witches. He threw himself into his work, relying heavily on the advice of the Folk. Curiosity took him to the most wild and feared places, where he stepped into the misty places without trepidation, only hope. He was home among the beasts, surrounded by the power of the elements and he promised the victims of the bomb that he would avenge their unjustified deaths. His goal now is to join Bastion Tower, where his strengths could only be magnified for the better.
Aquaintances:
Active Threads:
Time For Tea-Brumeveil Forest Feel free to join!
Character Art:
