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Zhao Cao Bi

PLAYED BY: Tyler S. Dubey
CHARACTER NAME: Zhao Cao Bi
GENDER: Eunuch
CLASS: Mage
AGE: 41
RACE: Human
HAIR: bald
EYES: One brown, the other horribly damaged by poison and mana.
OCCUPATION: Alchemist, Potion/Draft maker, “Solution” brewer
KNOWN SKILLS: Arcane 1, Lore: Anatomy, Lore:Arcane Magic, Meditation, Poison Resistance, Profession Alchemist, Trade: Alchemist, Mana Reserve
BIRTHPLACE: ? (Knows he was found in Vandregon)
APPEARANCE: Wears an eye patch to cover a horribly damaged eye that can only see in shades of grey.
NOTABLE TRAITS: Shady, Hard to Read, Smells of Odd Spices and Herbs, a superb sense of taste.
Bio:

Poison… There is such an interesting fear around the word… A drop of liquid, a puff of smoke, a plume of dust; all of these can inspire fear… Which makes sense, any of those that I mentioned could kill anyone from a farmer to an emperor. Which may explain my childhood, a childhood routed in death, torture, and that sweet mysterious word that brings fear to entire countries…

I was born, not to any family, I was simply born, and abandoned, left to live in squalor in the streets of the capital’s shadow. It wasn’t till I was about five that the other street waste and myself were rounded up and herded to a building in the countryside.
‘You all have been given a glorious chance to serve the Royal Family! If you decide to agree, you will be given food, a home, and even a job!’ Said the officials.

They were not lying, but they for sure never told us what we would be doing… For the next eight years would have been nothing but horror to a normal being. We were used as test subjects for poison, addiction, magical torture, healing, and the study of disease. In the first year, out of the thousand that were brought in, 749 died a painful agonizing death. Those of us who remained, we continued our pitiful station as mere playthings for the Alchemists who worked for the Vandregonian Royal Family…

After three more years, only fifty of us remained. By this time, I had started to develop a resistance to the poisons they were issuing to me. But there was another talent, a talent I kept hidden for the better part of a year. I could taste it, the different ingredients. Yes, the flavors became so familiar to me over the years that I could tell what was different and what was similar. This secret became public when they looked in my chamber carefully, they found that I was recording the poison’s I was subjected to. Of course they were not happy at first, and I was punished to the point of physical impairment. My left eye became so damaged by the magical poison’s that all it can see out of it is now in shades of grey. To top this pain off, they made sure I would never forget hiding such information from them again. They tore away my identity as a male and turned me into a Eunuch.

After this event, I began to show potential to handle arcane magic. Maybe it was due to the trauma, maybe it was always within me, I may never know the truth of its origin. I am however thankful for the change in my body for it got me out of the bowels of that experiment. In return I was seated with a rather respected alchemist and mage that helped out the guards of the Royal Family. It is during that time that I was really able to begin to hone my skills for the art of alchemy. I finally was able to put names to the ingredients that I could taste in each concoction that he showed and allowed me to sample. The feelings of joy during those days were countless. The learning, the experimenting on solutions, mixtures, antidotes, poisons; all of it precious to me.

At one point, I believe I was about nearing twenty, we got word of some terrible news… We had to evacuate and run to the port. However on our way to the port, my master and myself got separated from the flow of the crowd by a swarm of undead. The horror, the terror, the beauty; I never seen something so interesting and mystifying. We had to run, and we ran for sometime before we got to safety, the safety of Aldoria.

During the frequent travels from village to village, my master finally gave into both exhaustion and old age. I did him the favor and burned him after his death, not before I took all of his notes and journals that he kept hoarding. I finally made my way to an Aldorian boat and snuck onto it, knowing it was heading to this “new place” that people kept trying to go to.

I then found myself in the colonies, a place of hopeless people having to fight to survive… I didn’t do much during this time other than sell some potions from time to time. But when the war ended, that changed. I began to set up shop in some gods forsaken alleyway in New Hope. It is here that I ply my trade and study my passions. My passions of alchemy, particularly poison being the fruits of my hard labor.

Yes, that funny and fearful word that brought me such pain is now my obsession and my most profitable item. People would come from all over the city and sometimes from the other colonies for my products. All of those people came for different reasons, some to save others, some to save themselves, others to make other suffer, sometimes even kill them. I gladly provided them what they needed, and do so to this very day.

So that is why I am here my good patron… So… What can Zhao Cao Bi do to make your dreams come true….

(Please note that the above may or may not be true… Zhao Cao Bi tends to be a liar )

 

Update:
Zhao has seemingly vanished into thin air. No one really knows where he has gone or what he has been up to. It is known that he took a gift from the Dark Deity of the Mordok known as The Mother. Some share whispers that they have seen him about at night by the docks of Newhope.

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Caster Rax

PLAYED BY: Drake Nelson

CHARACTER NAME: Caster Rax

GENDER: Male

CLASS: Rogue

AGE: 30

RACE: Human

HAIR: Brown

EYES: Blue

OCCUPATION: Curator, Sapper

KNOWN SKILLS: Engineering, Merchant connections

BIRTHPLACE: Aldoria

APPEARANCE: Unremarkable

RELATIONSHIPS: Married to Quille Nightflower, reports to Aifric

Trained as an Engineer and Sapper by the Aldorian army, Caster left behind his career as a soldier as a young man when it became apparent that there was little demand for undermining heavy fortifications on Mardrun. Seeking his fortune, he instead became a merchant. After several years on the road, he eventually met and married his wife, Quille Nightflower.

During the war, Caster Rax and Quille were part of a caravan delivering supplies to the Pass. Caster was separated from the group during an attack by Grimward raiders. In the aftermath, he wandered the countryside aimlessly in search of his lover, eventually resorting to banditry to survive. He preyed on the very same war supplies he once delivered.

After plaguing the Great Wolf’s Hackles for months, he torched a load of supplies during a botched robbery of the Spire. It was after this event that the Archons took notice. The Magi Tyrannous scoured the mountains and dragged him back before the Archmage. Rather than kill Caster, Vazra offered him a new home and employment which would allow him to continue his search for Quille, so long as he kept an eye open throughout his travels for items of interest to the Archmage.

His life spared, Caster is immensely loyal to the Archons. He now reports to Aifric Camden as assistant curator unless otherwise assigned, using his merchant connections to support their efforts. In observance of the Archon’s offer to lend aid to Stormjarl, Caster is being sent to New Aldoria as a contractor. He hopes to at last make use of his original training, all while searching for who he’s lost, and balancing his duties to the Spire.

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Quille Nightflower

PLAYED BY: Violet Carpenter
CHARACTER NAME: Quille Nightflower
GENDER: Female
CLASS: Rogue
AGE: 26
RACE: Human
HAIR: Blond
EYES: Blue
OCCUPATION: Traveling merchant and herbalist.
KNOWN SKILLS: Quille is a skilled forager and trader.
BIRTHPLACE: On the road in Faedrun.
APPEARANCE: Wears comfortable clothing.
RELATIONSHIPS: Quille maintained close relationships with several of her missing caravan mates, including her parents and her partner Caster.
RUMORS: “Seems lost…” “Were you just in my stuff?”

BIO / BACKGROUND HISTORY: While though she was born in Faedrun, she does not remember it. She was born on the road while the undead rampaged the lands and spent her first year either on the road or in a boat. Once she got to Mardrun, her family were able to get by with just enough to support themselves and have some niceties.

Quille was a traveling Soujourner and part of a small caravan which delivered supplies during the war. One evening, the group was set upon by Grimward raiders. During the attack, she was separated from her companions and has been searching for them ever since.

Currently, she is living on the fringes of society just trying to survive and get back to her people. She is also looking for a reliable group of people to work with while she is on her own. She is a merchant, so finding a group where she can peddle her goods and find trade connections is also important to her.

She is wary, slow to trust, but loyal. She is also nosy and curious.

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Ivan Axel

Name: Ethan Cox
Character name: Ivan Axel
Gender: Male
Class: Warrior
Age: 17
Race: Human
Hair: Brownish black
Eyes: Blue
Occupation: Mercenary/Freelancer
Known Skills: First aid, throw, duel wielding, armor proficiency, and improved armor proficiency
Birth place: The small Aldorian port town of Cool Water
Notable traits: Eager, arrogant, looks for fame, riches, and adventure. Cares little about where he goes and even less who he’s with. All he’s truly interested in is money and fame.
Appearance: Large, stocky, tough, and big.
Relationships: Knows most of the Rangers and most of the people within Crows Landing.
Rumors: None (As of yet.)

Bio:
Eon is Ivan’s father; Ivan’s mother was left back on Faedrun due to the lack of room on the ships.
Eon, “Hmmm. I hear there’s a civil war going on between the Ulven and there’s a Syndar leading Mordok up north.”
Ivan, “It sounds like a fun time had by all.”
Eon, “If I were 18 years younger, I’d head right to the front lines. I might just come out with something when all is said and done.”
Ivan, “No shit?”
Eon, “Fame, power, riches, and maybe some stories for some of those future children of yours.”
Ivan, “Going on about that future shit again are you father; but that does sound like a good deal.”
Eon, “Hey, I hear the Rangers are looking to build an army here in Crows Landing. I wonder if they have any room for someone like you within their ranks.”
Ivan, “Are you saying that I’m a problem?”
Eon, “No. But do you remember what your mother used to say?”
Ivan, “Hmm?”
Eon, “Boy, is your head made of iron….”
Ivan, “And your brains out of lead or what? Yes father, I remember.”
Eon, “Good. At least I know that not all of your brains are made of lead.”
Ivan, “Ha. Now let’s get back to work. We don’t have all year you know.”
Eon, “You know, our family has had a long history of soldiers and warriors.”
Ivan, “I know, but isn’t that how you lost your leg in the first place? Fighting in the front lines; killing penitent?”
Eon, “Yes, and what fun that was. In the few battles we did win; my fellow soldiers and I would just bathe in the spoils of war. Enemy armor, weapons, loot, and from time to time, silver. It was a gold mine.”
Ivan, “Yes, but you still lost your leg!”
Eon, “Yes, but if I hadn’t lost my leg when I did, I would have never met your mother.”
Ivan, “I know, but still…”
Eon, “If you’re not going to join the Rangers for our family honor then do it for your friends here at Crows Landing. Do it for money, fame, and the possibility of power.”
Ivan, “Humph. Fine, I’ll enlist.”
Eon, “That’s my boy. It’ll be fun, trust me.”
Ivan, “You know you’re going to be the death of me someday.”
Eon, “I Know.”
Ivan, “Come on. Let’s finish up with this house. It isn’t going to build itself you know.”

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Al Mafajjar

Played by: Ian Loebl

Contact Information: imloebl@gmail.com

Character Name: Al Mafajjar

Full Name: Nasih Al-Dawla Anwar Ibn Hilal Al Mafajjar Al Saresh

Gender: Male

Class: Mage

Age: 34

Race: Human, May’Kar

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Grey-Blue-Green

Occupation: Researcher and Adviser

Known Skills: Magic & Lore

Birthplace: Saresh, in the May’Kar Dominion

Appearance: Wears a long black coat and a strange red-lined mask, as well as a gold headdress. Usually in close proximity to Al Haddad

Notable Traits: Reserved, but is easily amused. He loathes mere mention of the Cult of Anguish or Penitent, but does wish to understand the strange magic that they used. Devoted to Serai and the May’Kar, and ready to stand up for their best interests.

Relationships: Member of Boş Mezar, and Citizen of Serai. He is a nephew of Abdul Qahhar Husam al Din.

Bio:

“Follow not thine uncle’s folly” These are the first words that I remember my father saying. The scene is preserved in my mind as though it happened yesterday, though in truth it occurred over 30 years ago. We were standing in Saresh, beneath one of the great minarets. A priest was crying morning prayers from the top, and a crowd was slowly gathering to listen. On the steps under where the prayers flew down on the wind, my father stopped and knelt down in front of me. He had a gravely serious expression on his face. From within the robe that he was wearing, he produced a strange mask that I had never seen before. It was white and covered half the face, just as his did. However, it was covered in tiny black cracks, and, of greater note, it had red lines under its eye and on its forehead. I asked my father what it was, and he told me a little of its twisted history. Evidently, it had been created for my uncle to wear in order to cover the facial deformity common to men of our family, conveniently not possessed by me. It started on a noble path, but fell to a dark one when my uncle became a part of the Cult of Anguish. There my father stopped telling me anything, and when I asked him about where he had obtained the mask, he would not answer. All he told me afterwards were those five words, which I remember to this day. After this rather strange event, my childhood was spent in Saresh, exploring and learning. I loved the city. It was a paradise on earth, and I would never have given it up for any reason. The great oasis was one of the wonders of the world, and it pained me in a horrible way to leave it. However, one must do what one must. When great troubles arose in the Dominion, my family and I left Saresh when we could, and went to the northern forests of Vandregon to hide from persecution. It was there that we eventually met Al Haddad and his group. We linked with them on their journey, and came to the new continent of Mardrun alongside them. When Serai was established, my parents threw themselves into the work and played a role in aiding the process along. I also worked very hard to create a new home for the May’Kar on Faedrun. It was what I started living for. When I was invited to become one of the Citizens that help to shape the policy followed by Serai, I was filled with pride. It is now my great duty to aid Al Haddad and the other Citizens in the governing of Serai, and the actions taken by the Boş Mezar. Through this, I pray that this mask comes to represent the work of Al Mafajjar, and not the dishonor of Abdul Qahhar…

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Akyr

Played by: Arron Singkofer

Name: Akyr

Gender: Male

Age: 22

Race: Human

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Blue

Occupation: Things and such

Known Skills: First Aid

Birthplace: Faedrun

Appearance: Average Height, Pudgy

Notable Traits: None

Bio: I don’t exactly remember what happened to my family on Faedrun. I know my father, mother, and I made it out. I apparently might still have an older brother, along with a sister. Haven’t seen them in years.

I remember being sick a lot on the boat.

The first few years on the boat were “learning” experiences for me. I had to watch my mother stitch up my father more than she’s had to re-stitch my pants. When New Hope had settled, my mother found she had a knack for helping people stop hurting. My father, on the other hand, got into the tavern business and encouraged a couple of fights here and there. I got to practice my own stitching skills on the drunks after my mother taught me. After a bit, my father tried to branch out into underground things. Mostly getting some small time rumors, maybe a job to give out.

I didn’t find out the whole “underground” side of things until I started to work more heavily at the tavern. My father became ill for around a year so my mother would have me either taking care of my father while she worked at the tavern or had me work it while she took care of my father. When my father recovered, we’d both be working all day, though I’d spend half my day with my mother and the other half with my father.

I don’t live in New Hope anymore, I moved to New Aldoria. I took a job from my father to help with some caravan work. I only did a few trips with them; learned how to patch someone up quick and temporarily. I met quite a strange couple of people. I learned a lot from an old man and his grandson while I was in the caravan. I think the grandson’s name started with a B. I can’t recall it for the life of me, and I’m kind of glad I can’t. The old man was mild tempered but the young man was always angry. He was large and bear-like. But I talked to the injured mostly.

As of now I’m looking for some new faces to call friends, and to yell at when they get injured.

Mostly yell at when they get injured.

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Lucy Griffendail

PLAYED BY: Hawk McClurg

CHARACTER NAME: Lucy Griffendail

GENDER: Female

CLASS: Mage

AGE: 22

RACE: Half human/Syndar

HAIR: Blonde

EYES: Blue

KNOWN SKILLS: Arcane Mage

BIRTHPLACE: Aldoria

APPEARANCE: Short in stature, broad shoulders, mostly wears green, muscular.

RELATIONSHIPS: Granddaughter of Vazra

Bio:

When I was a young girl my father would tell me great tales of my grandfather, “The man who traveled through time and space”. He was a grand mage looked up to by some and resented by many. A fond wizard of sorts really.

My father once told me the story as to how I was born. My mother went into labor much too early and was in great pain. My father said the amount of pain he witnessed his beloved wife and mother of his first unborn child go through made him nearly go mad with panic. He didn’t know what to do. The only thing he did know was that his mother would know what to do. He told me he went on a short journey into the dark forest to find her. You see, my grandmother was what you would call a hermit of sorts. She stayed in the woods for the most part, according to my father, never really venturing into the town. Some of the town’s folk were afraid of her but not my brave father. After he had drug my grandmother out of the house and out of the woods, he had to let her be alone with my mother. Unfortunately, after she did all she could, my mother died during childbirth. My grandmother held me and wept. This saddened my father, delving him into a depression that he couldn’t seem to shake. My mother had died and all he had was me and my grandmother.

Throughout my youth as I grew older, I could see the sadness my father held on his shoulders. He would occasionally go speak with grandmother, but told me I could never meet her. I never understood why and when I would ask, my father would always answer vaguely.

I remember the day my father disappeared though… My father left the house at the normal time that he did every other week on Wednesday afternoon for the market. It was mid fall, winter slowly making its way, but the sun still made its way to the earth with its motherly warmth. Then night fell and my father still had not come home. Being 6 years old, I didn’t know what to do so I panicked and left the house to search for him. It being nearly dark, I quickly realized that it was a bad idea to leave. I had nobody to help me look for my father either. First, I ventured into the village asking anyone I saw if they’d seen my father but nobody could say they had. I remembered my father talking about my grandmother sometimes. He had said she lived in the forest somewhere but it would take forever for me to find her house. It was the only option though because I needed my father. He was all I had. He was my teacher, my friend, and my father. So I had to get over my fear and go into the woods. I searched for a little shack till dawn break. Exhausted and hungry, I sat down at the base of a mighty oak.

That’s when I saw it. Deep into the forest between the trees, I swore I saw a roof reflecting the blue of the morning. I got up and started to run a shambling, tripping run, but I ran none the less. I tripped about half way there and fell, slicing my knees open on a big jagged rock buried in the dirt. I got up, tears filling my eyes, blood running down my legs, and dirt all over my pretty dress and hands. Walking up to the old shack, I saw candle light through a crack so when I got up to the door I tried to push it open but it was locked. I knocked… Nothing. I yelled… Nothing. I banged as hard as a six year old girl could smash her fists on a door. Giving up in the middle of the woods, the early rays of morning shining through the trees, I started to cry, sliding down the door panel. There is where I fell asleep…

Until I got woken up by falling inside the shack, looking up at a grizzly old woman. She looked at me like I had just fallen into her house or something. She asked what I was doing, I asked frantically where my dad was, she asked what I was doing, and I asked if she’d seen my father. Finally she looked at me, grabbed my shoulders and whispered in my ear that my father was dead. I slapped her right across the face, being feisty and six, not having that as an answer. I screamed where is he?! She grabbed me and brought me into her shack.

“First off. Why are you even here? These are awfully dangerous woods for a little girl. You must’ve walked all night.”

I replied, “I’m not afraid of anything. I want my father and I’m willing to do anything till I find him. I want to know if you saw him since yesterday.”

She looked at me with a somber look, turned around quietly and grabbed a letter on her table, handing it to me. “Read this.” I looked at her and blinked. “I can’t read.” Dumbfounded, she looked at me and said, “For goodness sake girl, your father didn’t teach you to read?” I replied, “I’m six.” Exasperated, she sighed at me. “Fine. Fine. I’ll read it to you.”

She unfolds it and proceeds to read:

I had to leave you Lucy. I know you’re my only daughter. I know I’m all you have but I see a great future in you. You’re beautiful, strong, and one day you will be powerful. I left because I will weigh you down with my sadness. I don’t want you to resent me, or hate me, but I know you will. There is one thing I must ask of you. I see in you the ability to follow in the footsteps of your grandfather, Vazra. Our family has long held that he did not fall in his fight with the Death Knight. I have personally heard accounts of a bright flash of blue light surrounding both of them as Vazra alone vanished from the field. If there was anyone who could have survived such a thing, it would have been Vazra. If you work hard at expanding your mind, you may be able to reach some of the great peaks of power Vazra tread on before he left us. You may be able to discover his fate… My mother, your grandmother Sheila, will help you. Do not shy away from her. She is an odd woman, frightening even, but listen to your grandmother. She will teach you and help prepare you for this quest. She will tell you when you are ready. You must be steadfast and smart. Never forget that I love you Lucy. You will not understand why I left you now, but one day you will.

I angrily wrinkled up the letter and threw it at the door. I started to uncontrollably sob, curling up on the floor. Sheila picked me up off the floor, stood me up and glared at me. “I didn’t necessarily agree to be a babysitter but your father asked me and I promised I’d raise you. Now stop crying and toughen up. You’re not going to get anywhere on the floor crying, you’re not a baby.”

Jumping forward seven years, I’m thirteen and grew up in the woods with my grandmother. I can, however, read fluently which is glorious. I found I love reading. I have my things packed for the quest I am about to go on. My grandmother tried to teach me how to wield a sword. Let me tell you, that woman does not do well as a teacher. But I took in her lessons nonetheless. She got mad at me once in a while, not that I didn’t deserve it most of the time, but I took it like an adult. Life is hard with a crazy woman, but here I am strong, smart, and most of all ready. I do not hate my father. He did what he did out of care, not spite or anger, and I still love him and know he’s watching over me.

My grandmother told me of the fond, secretive love between her and Vazra. Vazra vanished before my father was born. Oddly, she didn’t hate Vazra. She was just saddened by him, but loved my father anyways, in an odd, standoffish kind of way, but still love.

One day mid training my grandmother suddenly stiffened and informed me that we were taking a trip to the coast and that I should bring everything that I found valuable. While I found this odd, I packed my few prized possessions and followed her down the road. After a few days travel we came to a port city and my grandmother marched us straight to the docks. Once there she found a man selling passage on a ship to Mardrun and passed him a small bracelet I had never seen before. He looked at it dismissively until she placed it in his hand and it suddenly shone with mana. “This will do.” is all he said, then he pointed to the ship. My grandmother started shoving me towards the ship despite my protests as her plan dawned on me. “I need to find out what happened to Vazra.” I shouted. She slapped me across the face and forcefully whispered into my ear. “Things have changed on Faedrun, it has become a place of death. You won’t be able to find out what happened if you are dead. The time to search for his fate on Faedrun has passed. If you have any chance to find out what happened, it must be in the New World.” With that, my strength left me and I allowed myself to be lead to the gangway. Good bye Aldoria, let my search begin.

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Sakai Sakura

Character Name: Sakai Sakura
They say it was his big nose that made me do it. That’s what he tells everyone. It makes him look good, sympathetic. The poor, jilted man, abandoned by a spoiled little girl because his facial features were imperfect. And why shouldn’t everyone believe it? He is ugly. I am spoiled. I don’t deny it. I have wanted for nothing my whole life. My skin has touched only the smoothest silk robes. My lips have tasted only the finest aged oolong teas and the most impeccably-cooked gourmet meals. I have never slept on the hard ground, or beneath the open sky. I have never felt cold or hunger. I am a spoiled little girl, and I know nothing of the world.
But that doesn’t make him the victim. He’s a liar. I didn’t abandon my betrothed because he had a big nose. I would have grown to accept his nose eventually. The rest of him is not so badly-formed. He’s tall and strong and carries himself well. He was not impossibly ugly. Even if he were, I would have done my duty, as I was trained to do, as honor demanded. No, if he were merely ugly, I would be living in his palace now, drinking my fine teas, wrapped in silk robes, resting in the shade of the pagoda, watching the koi flit beneath the surface of his garden pond.
It was not ugliness that led me to dishonor. It was evil. He came from a fine home, and where I come from that means a wealthy one, with a lineage stretching back untold generations. I come from such a home myself. My lineage is pure, untainted by commoners or foreigners. It stretches all the way back to the first emperor. I can recite my lineage from memory, and I know with absolute certainty that I am our emperor’s fifth cousin thrice removed. Of course, what noblewoman of any worth could not say the same?
His family is richer than ours, through its connection to Clan Kuroda, but their blood is less pure, and the real nobles look down on them because of it. But they are wealthy, and wealth counts for a great deal anywhere, but especially at home. And so we were the perfect match. Through me, our children would gain pure blood, unspoiled by the taint of commoners. Through him, they would gain vast wealth, huge tracts of farmland, rich in rice. If only he could have contented himself with that much, I would not be here today.
But he wanted more. He wanted my family’s lands. He wanted our position in society. I was to be his means of attaining those goals. As his wife, should my parents and my brother die, he would inherit everything through me. And so that was precisely what he arranged to do. He planned to murder my entire family on the day of our wedding. I was not meant to overhear, but I did.
Of course I told my father. He even believed me, but it didn’t matter. The marriage contract had been signed between my husband and my father. There was no escaping it, not without loss of face, not without loss of honor. My father knew that assassins would seek to murder him if the wedding went forward, but for the sake of honor, he did not flinch. I wish I were my father’s daughter. I wish I had such fortitude, such courage. But whether through fate or through my own personal failings, I do not have his strength of spirit. I could not bear to see my family destroyed. So, I ran away. I stole a soldier’s uniform, and I ran as fast and as far as I could.
I ruined everything. My father’s business contacts have suffered enormously. He has lost face. The other nobles scorn him now, for raising a willful, disobedient daughter. For no two words are so carefully calculated to bring dishonor on a girl than those. A proper young lady is obedient, pliant, respectful. She does not get ideas into her own head. She does not run off without permission. She does not humiliate her father by breaking a sacred marriage contract. And so, in spite of years of training in flower arrangement, calligraphy, tea ceremony, the keeping of hawks, and the use of the naginata, I am forced to conclude that I am not a proper young lady after all.
What does that make me? An exile? An outcast? Those things to be sure, but what else? What skills do I possess to make my way in the world? Though I stole the uniform and the armor of a soldier, I am not a warrior, not in truth. Nor am I a performer – no one will pay hard-earned silver to hear me play the flute. I am not an innkeeper, though I brew a very fine dragon’s breath oolong.
The reality is that I was raised for one task and one task alone – to be a proper noblewoman. I was trained from an early age to manage a household, to command servants and bodyguards, to fight if necessary, to dictate the dispositions of armies if it came to it, but mostly to serve. I was trained to serve tea to important men with a smile. I was trained to sit quietly and listen attentively, to act as the deferential hostess, a welcoming presence to every important visitor. What use is there for such a creature in this terrible place so far from my beloved island?
In truth, I am not even sure which terrible place this is. I know only that I am surrounded by foreigners, and by demons – demons with pointy ears and demons with pointy teeth. Their dialect which is difficult to follow and I miss as many words as I comprehend. The pointy- toothed demons are usually content to growl in my direction, which sends me scurrying away from them quickly enough. I am well-trained in fighting with the naginata, but what hope do I have in a duel against a battle-scarred demon? Every instinct I have has been cultivated to bow to them and serve them tea, not growl and fight back.
If I could run home, I would. I would give anything to kowtow before my father and beg his forgiveness. But I can’t. If I return home, I will be forced to marry my betrothed, and in marrying him, I will sign my family’s death warrants. It may yet come to that. He is honor-bound to find me. So far as the law is concerned, I am a piece of wayward property and it is his duty to retrieve me. I live in constant fear that he will come for me. He will not come alone, not to a place such as this. If he comes – when he comes, it will be with stout soldiers at his side, with the finest weapons in his hands, and with the force of the law and tradition at his back.
And so I must keep running. I must hide myself in this wilderness, hide myself amongst foreigners and demons. I must never, ever let him find me. For my father’s sake, for my mother’s sake, for my brother’s sake, I will never go home again.

UPDATE:
After being captured and put on trial for her involved in the Bos Mezar scandal with the undead, Sakura was sentenced to punishment and returned home to her family where she now lives under close observation.

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Erasmus Acadius

PLAYED BY: Matthew Bean
CHARACTER NAME: Erasmus Acadius
GENDER: Male
CLASS: Cleric
AGE: Mid to Late 30’s
RACE: Human
HAIR: Brown
EYES: Blue
OCCUPATION: Engineer
KNOWN SKILLS: Building structures and fortifications
BIRTHPLACE:Some camp tent in a campsite long forgotten.

BIO / BACKGROUND HISTORY:
“So you want to hear my story? Why? Because it will fill your life with joy to know more about me? Pfft! Or maybe you have a grudge to settle? Not the first and won’t be the last. In either case, you’re buying the bärenfang! Well, since you found me, you already know my name is Erasmus. I am the son of an itinerant millwright. These days, I simply trust in the spirits to put me where I need to be.”
“As a child my family traveled between Aldoria and Vandregon. My father taught me how to build watermills, windmills, and when work was lean, how to build adits. Since you have that confused look on your face, you should know that all these structures are crafted from wood, so I learned the skills of a carpenter. When metal parts were needed, I learned how to find bog ore, smelt it, and to forge the parts needed.”
“When I was in my teens, my father deemed I was as qualified as any journeyman millwright… my father’s name? What does that matter? He is gone and you’re not paying for his name, so let the dead rest in peace. While I enjoyed the work, I wanted to build something more lasting. I wanted to build bridges that would last the ages! I wanted to lay foundations that could bear greater loads for mills. Well my father was disappointed that this was the path I wanted to take. But he also knew that if he didn’t say yes, then I would have simply left and learned the ways of the stonemason on my own. He said that it was my mother in me making me want to go my own way. He gave me his blessings and wished me the best. That was also the last time I spoke to him…”
“Let’s see, I joined the Aldorian Stonemason’s Guild in 245…maybe 246, the year really does not matter. After six grueling years as an apprentice and journeyman stonemason, I was ready to prove myself by taking the Master’s Test. I was commissioned by the Guild to craft a bridge over the Vetluga River. While the Vetluga wasn’t a wide river, the river flow was fast moving and it made ferry crossings difficult.”
“At that time, tavern rumours had been rife with stories of new lands discovered, of the walking dead growing ever bolder in their battles, and of a King or Duke or some other royal muckety-muck dying suddenly and mysteriously. For the most part, everyone considered them to be foolish tales to scare young children to bed.”
“Well, the work to build the bridge was progressing at an acceptable pace. I was glad that the bridge would be completed in time for the fall harvest. Merchants and supplies would be able to travel to market, and I would have finished my bridge and would be accepted as a Master stonemason. However, as time progressed, necessary building materials, food, and wages were not arriving in a timely manner. The work slowed to a crawl and finally stopped altogether. The craftsmen and laborers left the encampment daily in search of food or left to find work elsewhere. Finally, construction on the stone bridge ceased. I was forced to make a decision. I had to choose either to stop the construction altogether or to use other materials to complete the bridge. The decision was really simple; I chose to construct a wooden deck across the stone bridge’s falsework. This would allow foraging parties to expand out to the other side of the river to bring back supplies to what was left of the building parties, their families, and other camp followers.”
“A fortnight after the first foraging parties were sent out, men started wandering to the river crossing. These men bore the colours of various Road Warden garrisons and carried the wounds of battle. When we tried to ask what happened, the survivors were incoherent as to what had occurred and only mumbled that the hand of death was stretching out across the land. I ordered the camp fires stoked and those with the worst injuries tended to. For the others, broth and bread was provided. As the day progressed, villagers and refugees began arriving seeking passage across the Vetluga. The refugees all bore similar stories; the bodies of the dead had risen up and now walked the land of the living. I could see the look on people’s faces as they started to really grasp the situation at hand.”
“The next morning, the first frosts of winter could be seen on the ground. The work crews, foraging parties, their families, camp followers, and refugees were all looking for answers and directions. A few warriors of those who had thrown off the fugue of the horrors that they had seen and endured urged me to immediately destroy the bridge and run away. The refugees pleaded to leave the bridge standing so that their loved ones could cross the riverand flee the encroaching nightmare.”
“What was I supposed to do? I knew that the bridge would be a vital crossing point for any refugees, but I also knew it would be a beacon for the advancing scourge, as it could also cross the Vetluga. Well, I simply had no choice. I was not going to condemn those survivors who made it to the crossing, but I was not going to leave a passable bridge to be used for the dead to walk across either.
“It really became a simple choice. Those leaving would pack lightly and head out as soon as possible. Those willing to stay behind were ordered to gather up bundles of wood as quickly as possible, which would then would be attached to the falseworks and coated in pitch. This would make the bundles and falseworks highly flammable and quick to burn once the bridge had been fired. On the opposite bank, I ordered gabions to be assembled and to be placed to form a wall. In front of the gabion wall, I had a ditch dug to slow any advances on the simple wall and bridge.”
“Since we didn’t know how long we had, we worked at a frantic pace. I was so tired, but I made sure that teams worked in shifts to preserve their strength. When I was sure that all the tasks were completed, I finally allowed myself to get some sleep. I do remember that when I laid down in my bedroll, I was asleep as my face hit the pillow. After what may have been a few hours, I awoke screaming and yelling. Staggering from my tent, I noticed that sun was just rising. I was surprised to see in the flesh that the rumours of the undead were true. I watched in horror as refugees were being dragged down as they panicked and scrambled to cross the bridge.”
“I remember donning a buff coat, grabbing a simple shield and a worn sword from my tent and running to the bridge to help reinforce the defenders. I had never used a sword at that time, all my experience had been hefting various axes used to cut trees and lumber, or mallets and mauls for stone working. While I didn’t have the finesse of a trained warrior, my strokes were solid and devastating when they connected. Time seemed to slow as the fight continued and more and more joined the slaughter.”
“The red haze of killing was broken when I smelled smoke. At first, I didn’t realize where it was coming from. Eventually, though, I was able to step back from the fight and had the chance to look around. I was shocked to see the bridge had been fired without my order. I realized that we had few choices, we could burn to death trying to cross the bridge if we did not run now, stand our ground and face the Undead, or leap into the freezing current of the Vetluga and hope we did not drown. There was only one choice… I ordered a retreat from the bridgehead.”
“As planned, the flames quickly engulfed the falseworks. I was told later that when I had leaped clear of the flames, there was a brief golden aura surrounding me that the flames licked over. While I was able to cross to safety before the last of the wood frameworks collapsed and the bridge crumbled into the Vetluga, some men made the same leap as I, others could not and instead choose to jump into the river in a desperate hope that they could swim to safety.”
“I lumbered away from the flaming bridgeworks, covered in soot and the foul effluent. My heart was finally realizing what my mind told me…all was lost. I discovered a young man, barely out of boyhood, standing near a brazier ordering soldiers to kill any person swimming across the river. I could not believe that I was hearing orders being given to kill the survivors clambering out of the water. I asked what he was doing, and the man calmly informed me that he had fired the bridge and was ordering the killing of all those wallowing in the river. These men were either cowards failing in their duty or were the enemy. In either case, the Gods would know their own and claim their souls in the afterlife.”
“I must have stared like a simpleton and could only stammer out “what…?” the man simply stated that as a Baronet of the Kingdom, it was by his lordly decree that all present would stand and fight for the Kingdom of Aldoria. Those who refused to fight, no matter what the situation, were to be executed as cowardly traitors! Rage, anger, and disgust crept up from my gut, slowly sweeping over me like a wave. I don’t what happened, but something finally burst through what little self-control I had left and I let out a pure bestial roar of anger! I did not stop when I stove his head in…I hacked into his lifeless corpse and rended it into bloody chunks. When the light of reason returned to me, I knew that what few defenders were left would not, and could not, stand and fight. We grabbed what supplies we could and ran for our lives.”
“While I was utterly disgusted with this example of the nobility, I did have the presence of mind to take the fool’s signet ring, coin purse, and a few other items that supported any claims that this arrogant bastard had been a Baronet. Having experienced other problem nobles and seen the corruption of the feudal system, it was time to forge a new path.”
“The survivors and I ran for three days, only stopping long enough to eat biltong and hardtack, towards the garrison at Drakensberg. At that point, the survivors just needed a direction and a glimmer of hope. It was another two days away, but between a lack of supplies and the cold we could not last much longer than four or five days.”
“Unfortunately, at that point two days from Drakensberg we started seeing smoke rising in the direction of our goal. Then we started coming across refugees from the garrison. They said that they were overwhelmed in the middle of the night. As the dead had no fear of the dark, they just shuffled out of the darkness and took the gatehouse to the city.
“A Sergeant of the garrison, with hollow eyes, looked to me and asked, “My Lord, what shall we do now?” I had not the heart to correct him, but I could not deceive these people. Here were one hundred and fifty or more souls needing direction. I looked around and asked “Are you willing to fight to survive? Are you all willing to do the things that it will take to survive? If so, we will fight!”
“For 18 months we fought, destroying parts of the horde, other times losing friends and loved ones. We came to understand two things. The horde was becoming larger and harder for us to fight. The second was that nobility were cowering behind high walls and expecting others to fight for them. Yes, there were knights and lords that fought and died to protect others, but all we saw and heard was that they were cowards.”
“More and more, we heard rumours of lands that were free of the Undead, So we as a group decided that we were done fighting a losing battle and we marched to Walvis Bay. By this time our group numbered forty. The port was busy with activity, men loading cogs, caravels, longships, and a multitude of other vessels.”
“Taking advantage of the dead Baronet’s signet ring, I was able to find a captain and crew that would sail to Mardrun with forty passengers, supplies, and cargo. In return, he received 382 silver coins, a promissory note drawn on the good Baronet’s estate, and an offer of exclusive shipping rights for three years with the Baronet and his factors in Mardrun.”
“SO, that is my story. Anything else, cub? Or are your fingers twitching to draw that blade at your side?”

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Jaune Arc

PLAYED BY: Jaime Arreguin
CHARACTER NAME: Jaune Arc
GENDER: Male
CLASS: Cleric
AGE: 22
RACE: Human
HAIR: Black
EYES: Brown
OCCUPATION: Traveling Field Healer
KNOWN SKILLS: Simple Divine Magic, Meditation Prayers, First Aid, Field Healer,
Stories and Lore of Divine Magic
BIRTHPLACE: Vandregon
APPEARANCE: Tall man with black medium length hair, red shirt or tabard depending on
whether he his relaxing or fighting. Typically clean shaven unless too preoccupied with thoughts to bother.
NOTABLE TRAITS: Always willing to help wherever he can, and entirely too trusting of people

BIO / BACKGROUND HISTORY:
I was only seven when I came to Mardrun. My parents realized that the colonists would need help on these new lands and decided to go help establish the towns such as New Hope and the surrounding areas. The memories are still there from the passage of the sea and fighting of the Ulven, but have become muddled with time. What I most clearly remember are the two faces of my father. The Battle Priest and the Devout Healer for all. I started training with him about a year after the truce was called with the Ulven. It was a long and arduous process; I still have much to learn from the gods. There is much blood on my hands from both my sword and my failures as a healer, but I am determined to press on.

My mother was a simpler woman. She took care of me when father had work and allowed me to find solace when my heart was low. She was everything a son could ask for. A seamstress by trade and hobby, she always made sure to keep me well fed and well clothed.
Because of this, I didn’t see her starving herself for my sake. She died leaving me with my
father to ensure my survival.
However, my father took the loss hard and filled the empty space in his heart with work.
He no longer saw me as his son but only as his student. From this I learned a great deal of
healing, especially during the time of the survivors of Aldoria coming to New Hope. Although
conflict was avoided, tension from both sides still created injury, both purposeful and
accidentally.
After much work in New Hope and the surrounding area, I now travel to practice
my healing and swordplay to protect the innocent. I hope the gods watch over me and allow me
to do much work. I have been traveling around the interior of Clan Nightriver’s land offering my
service as a healer for a few years now. There is one thing I must say from my few years of
practicing my craft by myself. The two most harrowing sounds are the cries of a parent as they
lose a child and a lover losing their other half to the cold grip of death. I have heard both up
close and personal and have caused more than my fair share from my failure to save a life.
Hopefully the gods can forgive me and take away the screams I hear in my nightmares every
night. I pray the gods will allow me this last hope. I am making my way towards the front line of
the Grimward invasion as a way to repent for these losses and to offer my aid to those in need. I
hope to survive on the hospitality of others and offer my services cheap or no cost at all, but I will
have to see how that works out for me.