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Name: Serefina De Mournay

Age: 16

Race: Human

Gender: Female

Height: 5' 3

Weight: a well muscled yet still delicate appearing 110

Title: gentlewoman of leisure (noble)

Alignment: Fire

Weapon(s): Serefina has been trained with longsword, bow, staff. She will try any weapon she can get her hands on. Her favored weapon is a darkwood composite bow tho it's not practical except by horseback. The longsword however she will wear just as easily and uses just as well. She is fascinated with Eastern weapons but hasn't been able to play with them since it was frowned upon even more than her playing with weapons in general.

Origins: Western, Cameliard
Description: Serefina is a realtively short, delicately built woman with strawberry blond hair. She at first glance appears fairly meek and mild, her cornflower blue eyes giving to an over all appearance of the perfectly beautiful young lady, Until she catches your eyes then you see the flash of intelligence hidden within barely veiled by the training of her blood. She is well toned and can best a few knights when she is able to sneak out and find someone willing to 'play' with her even if it means getting into trouble. She is Anastazi's younger sister and a second cousin to the king of Avalana through her mother as well.

Personality: There is no chance she could be considered meek or mild by any standard and that tends to get her in trouble, her brother often holds trips to other cities within the kingdoms over her head to get her to behave or to appear at court appearances which often works better than their parents warnings and privelege revoking. Serafina is a crack ace at stratigic games. Where her brother is cool and calculating, she is warm and generous in appearances, which often makes them an ideal tag team when it comes to poltics tho Serafina's is sincere where the same can not always be said of her brother.

She values honesty in most dealings tho she can understand thae need for subterfuge to get it done.She is however still fairly innocent in the ways of the world.She grew up indulged yet she was never cruel or hard. She went out of her way to make her servants lives easier,often picking up after herself or doing something that she could have easily ordered someone else to do. She is sweet tempered but she is also not afraid of sharing her opinion often to her family's dismay. She usually manages to restrain her tongue when it comes to formal gatherings. She is after all a noble and knows how to hold herself.

History: Serefina was raised as most gentlewomen to be able to hunt as well as perform needlepoint, manage a household etc. However she was much more inclined to the former over the latter. To the never ending exapseration of her family. She will do as she needs to if only so she can escape to go hawking, hunting or just riding in general. Her childhood was filled with tutors and such to trian her as she should be fore the day she married into yet another noble household. But like most children had her own dreams. To see the world and experience everything she could.

These thoughts were quelled as best as possible usually with promises of swordplay.
She has picked up the eastern language slowly over the years,mostly from tutors she has paid extra to teach her. Several of them had been easterners tho they often left within a year or so due to the treatement from the other servants as well as just general disdain. It was however where her fascination with anything eastern came into play. About the only time 'Fina spends indoors is when it rains and then she uses it to pour over books about the eastern lands that she finds and spends her pin money on.At all other times she is outdoors, riding her horse doing anything to be outdoors.

Her life to this point has been mostly uneventful...well as uneventful as a tomboy in the dark ages can be. He has been indulged and never really seen poverty at it's 'finest' she understands there is hunger, she just can't identify with it except miniumaially such as on the rare occassions her hunting parties aren't successful. The most remarkable thing in her life was on her 10 birthday. Her family brought in some eastern performers for entertainment. Everything about them excited her beyond belief. They seemed so free to her, go wherever the money took them.

That started her fascination with anything to do with the eastern culture and the processions of eastern tutors to appease her and keep her from running off to 'join the circus' so to speak. Tho it was not her that kept running them off, she was a delightful student, eager to learn, even to the point of giving up her beloved hawking to learn more.

Currently she is bored, with a tutor who is western and he has no interest in eastern culture only in trying to prepare his charge for her role as a wife of some other nobleman, most likely as a connection for her brother who is in charge of her. She is the topic of a few of his ambitions but she does everything in her power to thwart him in this manner to the point that she can without getting into massive trouble.

Previous RP's You've Participated In: Same as mentioned before with Josh,Nye,Ed and others as well as Leviathan Stadium.

Approved by: Songjewel

Name: Ippi Elliston

Class: Alchemist

Race: Human

Gender: Female

Age: 18

Origin: Western Gaia

Height: 5’4

Weight: 103

Alignment: Ice

Weapon: Staff: Lithwayn, a 4’8” staff of ivory, which has a distorted crystal at its peak, which is encompassed by tow wing-like extensions of the ivory. The distorted crystal is endowed with a life force that allows the bearer to give life to special objects, such as dolls, golems, and puppets. It was given to her as a gift from her mother. She also has her golem, Zeigr, who is a large, humanoid golem with powerful armor and great fighting capabilities. He also, other than using his body itself, has the ability to send blasts of magic energy from his core, though this runs down his energy, and Ippi must recharge him. He is a new compact-type golem, where he is summoned from a crystalline pod, and is called back into it when his use is finished.

Personality: Ippi is an extremely ditzy persona; maybe it is from inhaling all of the fumes from her various experiments. She is nonetheless ephemerally happy and carefree. The only thing she really takes seriously is her career as an alchemist, and her great talent for the art shows. She is also rather blunt, and often finds herself speaking her mind more often than she would like, but her overall friendliness offsets her tactless tongue.

Appearance: Ippi is a fairly short, but slender girl. She has a skin tone that is just short of slightly tanned. She has unremarkable hands and feet, topping off her average body type. Her eyes are warm and violet in color, and she has short lashes, which accent her eyes. She has extremely long blonde hair that reaches her ankles when down. It is usually kept out of her face by a white headband, and her hair is rarely ever restrained other than that, though she does carry some ribbons should she need them. She wears a white dress with an overcoat style jacket. The white dress is adorned with two blue stripes along the front, and hangs down to near her knees. The overcoat goes just past her waste, and hangs loosely near the base, giving it a flowing look. She wears white, fingerless gloves that are similar to gauntlets in shape; though bear none of the protective value. Her feet are covered by white ankle boots that have large buckles on them. The boots also have a cuff like part that hangs over the top of the boot, making it more decorative.
History: Ippi was born in Wigmund, in Western Gaia. Her father was the famed Duke Elliston, an inventor of repute, and her mother a legend in her own right, Anise the Doll Queen. The union between her mother and father was a rather strange one, as their love was opposed by time and fate in their entireties. Anise, being a witch of sorts, was over 900 years old at the time of Ippi’s birth, while her father was merely 25. Anise left the two of them soon after Ippi’s birth, leaving only a legacy behind. Duke, though, had no problem making a comfortable living with his mechanical ingenuity, and Ippi seemed to pick up on that. Before she could speak she could operate his machinery, and her father couldn’t be more proud.
As Ippi grew, Duke was suddenly very perplexed by her. Her skill with machinery was unrivaled by anyone of her generation, yet she seemed to show strong magical tendencies. Her desires to work with a fusion of the two was quite bizarre, yet he let her experiment in the field, which had been a fairly revolutionary idea. And by the time she was 12, she completed her first golem, a tiny companion she named Ilse. The golem itself was barely battle-hardy, but proved to be a friend to lonely little Ippi. Her genius was not good for making friends, and many were intimated by it. Ilse later evolved from companion to assistant, as Ippi improved her magical life source into that of a sub human. She could help her complete her works, and even carry out a conversation. Ilse’s personality grew with Ippi’s talent, and soon the golem had become Ippi’s best friend, even though she would never be human.
As the years went by, Ippi made only one golem to protect her, and that was Zeigr, who was 7’ tall and was also humanoid. It towered over the 15 year old girl, and as imposing as it was, the persona she gave it was like that of a guardian. Zeigr was equipped with heavy armor and bore powerful limbs that he used in battle.
Duke and Ippi lived happily together in the hamlet of Wigmund, and there were rarely any problems. They had everything they could ever need. They had enough money, a home, servants and companions, and of course, each other. Though, Duke became more and more involved with his creation of a super mech. This mech, which he named Ygrist, was going to be the ultimate body for one of Ippi’s magic intelligences. The core that was going to be put in it would shatter the world with its prowess, and would win them acclaim around the world. There was only one problem: the mech itself rejected the core.
The incident with Ygrist was crushed Duke, and left him a shattered soul, with no confidence in his art. Ippi saw this, and was almost as depressed as he was. Ygrist itself became a monument to his failure, as it sat motionless in his lab, a sculpture of steel mixed with a man’s soul. Ippi then decided that she would search for enlightenment in the ways of her art, and to do that she would have to leave her father. As torn as she was, she took Ilse and some of her belongings and left, her father crying silently as he waved farewell. She left on her prototype golem Legeus, a transport type with a servile AI. It was built like a massive ostrich, though it had no wings and had a large area for seating rather than a back, but it was a masterpiece itself.
Ippi feared what some would do if they knew of her inventions, so she snuck into Cameliard one night and stowed Legeus away in an abandoned house, disguised as a statue, and went on her way with Ilse stuffed in her pack. She was more scared than confused as she navigated the streets, praying that she would find a friendly face or a guiding hand. And thus began the story of the alchemist who would seek to revolutionize science.

Name: Alexander Von Reculia
Age: 57
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Height: 6'5
Weight: 238
Title: Master Warrior - Disgraced Royal Guard
Alignment: Fire
Origins: Europe
Weapon(s): Alexander's weapon is one that takes a good deal of practice to use correctly. It is a broad-axe roughly the lenght of a halberd. This weapon is extremely heavy, as in it would usually take two hands to hold. Alexander has used it long enough to weild the weapon with one hand though. If he use's both hands his swings would be, at the least, destructive. The axe's blade is over a foot long, honed to an extremely sharp point that could slit paper with the smallest bit of pressure. A much smaller axe blade is located on the other side of the weapon, thus making either side dangerous to the opponent standing in Alexander's way. Upon the end of the heft is a spear-like tip, sharpened to be as fine as the rest of the axe. This weapon is dangerous to all when swung, and can even be a danger to Alexander himself. Yet practice and skill have allowed him to use it like a master, taking several in one swipe. This weapon never leaves his side, ever. For it was what he used to bury one of his children in the failed invasion. He taught his son Rand how to weild it, aiding the boy to hold it. Thus memory is attached to the blade as firmly as the tint of blood that lingers upon it. It is far from uncommon for Alexander to wear a sword upon his right hip, just incase his axe fails him. In truth though the sword has not been drawn from it's sheath in over a year.

Description: If it could be said that a man held an air of nobility about him, it would be said for Alexander. His height will usually leave him to tower over people giving him a commanding air. Even more so his considerable bulk. This could never be mistaken for fat though, it is all muscle. It could be nothing else with him carrying his gigantic axe around as if it were a twig. Put simple, he is a powerhouse. Muscles burst from beneath his skin to be visible shown beneath his clothing. Once upon a time his hair was a light blonde, golden as the sun. Worry and age have made this color vanish though. Now he sports hair of starlit silver, short and slicked back over his head at all times. He goes to sleep with it like this and wakes up with it like this. Over the years a silver goatee has appeared upon his chin, shaved to be perfectly smooth and level. This just adds to his look of age. His eyes were once the most appealing factor about him, not any longer though. Where once they were a light brown they have faded to a dull dark brown, almost black. Almost an add to insult is the fact that creases of worry surround them on all sides, testament of age. Age had taken much of what was stunning good looks away from him. Now Alexander merely appears old, worn out, and tired. But a person can not say that he has become weak with age, he only seems to become stronger with each passing year. Both his physical body and his mind. He still stands proud though, refusing to let weakness show through.

Only within his own home will Alexander go without his armor. It is the duty of a knight to be ready to protect his lord at all time. While Alexander no longer has any need or right to protect the lord, and no desire to, this rule has been bred into him. Never remove one's armor in public for an enemy could always use that to an advantage. He has even been known to wake up and put on the armor, wandering about his own home clothed in the metal protection. Such is a testament to his training, as strenous and great as it was. There is no way that Alexander could use his strenght wearing that armor. Platemail covers every inch of him, from his neck to his hands. A slate rises from the shoulders of the armor to go around his neck on all sides but the front, protecting him from any attempt at decapitation. Leg guards, arm guards, it is hard to tell where the armor ends upon this man's body. On the right side of his chest is a golden clasp, this clasp used to keep his long red cape in place. This long scarlet red cloth completely covers the right side of his body and is open on the left. Most of the reason for this is that he wears his axe in a sheath upon his left, thus easy access to it at all times. Another thing left over from being trained for royal guardian.

There is one thing few, if any, could notice about Alexander. These would be his war-scars. His left shoulder has a huge black mark across it where a sword very nearly amputated his arm. Another of similar make adorns his left left. While they were caused by diffrent people, they are much the same in formation. His arms, back, legs, and even his chest all sport scars that vary in shape size and design. The greatest one was across his chest, done by a spear. It litereally ripped him open. A white mage arrived just in time to save the man before he bled to death. Unfortunately, the scar remains. A long horizontal slash that will never turn back into skin, instead staying a pale purple color where the wound once stood gaping open. All of these cause pain at regular intervals through-out a day, but Alexander has learned to cope with his war scars. No longer do they concern or bother him, for they are but a part of him. And in the end, physical pain can not compare to that of emotional.

Personality: Alexander's personality is at best stuck-up. In his youth he looked down on the commoners as scum, little more then ants. While he has improved upon that somewhat the feeling still exist. Yet one thing brought a great change to his personality, war and the loss of his boys. To lose a child will change someone. Where once pride ruled all of his actions, now Alexander thinks more with his head then with his heart. Not the most intelligent man in the world, far from it, Alexander is not an idiot. His skill in war stratagy is great as is his comprehension of basic learning. Yet the game of politics is far beyond his grasp, thus he will often fall back upon Adrian for that. Alexander is the type to try and force all of his emotions out of his body, something that often ends in failiure. Thus why he has Alexandria to fall back on when his emotions hit the boiling point. This is rare though as Alexander hates to show weakness. He did it often with his first wife Cynthia, but after her there was none he felt he could communicate his loss with. While Alexandria might have been a good wife to him, she was not the father of his children. Thus she did not understand the pain he felt to have seen them struck down before his very eyes.

The man has the body, voice, and even the soul of a leader. Charisma drips from every pore in his body. This is to be expected from one who led a unit of soldiers though. It has never faded away even after his depression, instead it only seems to grow stronger. This is how he draws people unto himself. Those that he has never met will feel the urge to talk to him if they are not intimidated by him. Those that would seek to destroy him are given pause by a glance, by a word, or even by the smallest motion he could make. This man is somewhat of power incarnate into a human form.

In truth Alexander is a very warm hearted man beneath the layer of cold muscle. Yet one has to burrow deep to find this, goining further then one thing that lingers within him. Hatred, pure and fiery. In his dreams the East burns in flames. For they took his children from him and did not have to pay a thing. Such a task is unforgivable, something he would not consider the thought of forgiving. Alexander might be a man of sanity, but when it come's to the Shogun and his family the man wants genocide. First of the family, then of all those who inhabit the East.

History:
When one is born into a family that has possessed a long line of knights, one could only be expected to be such. Alexander was born an only child to Judas and Ariana Reculia. Judas was a personal guard of the king of that time and a well respected knight. Ariana was a local seamstress, owning her own shop in the streets of Avalana. On some days Alexander would go with his father to the training feild, a three year old whatching as his father taught men how to kill. Other days he would go with his mother to the shop. On these days she would close up and just teach him. How to spell, how to write, and all other such things were taught to him by Ariana. Between the two of them Alexander learned many things. By the age of five he could weild a short-sword with the best of them after having exclusive training from his father. His mother was not a very big supporter of violence though, but knew her husband, and thus trained the boy in stratagy. It was not something she liked, teaching her son exquisite methods to kill, but it was what Judas would allow her to teach. For many times he would say 'I will not have a sissy for a son'. It would be obvious that such a child would not turn out to be a sissy though, there was no way possible.

Judas pushed Alexander to the point of madness at times. Exercise, sword-training, stratagy tactics, all of it blended together in the boys mind. By the time he had turned 15 he was a member the King's Personal Guard under his father. That was an accomplishment that had his family in tears with joy, but had Alexander saddened. For even as they lowered the sword upon each of his shoulders, his lips moving to utter the oath, a part of the boy died inside. All joy of freedom, life, and the existance he dreamed of had vanished. Instead now there stood the life of a royal guard, a servant to a man who was not that great in Alexander's eyes. Many times had the youth laid his eyes upon the king only to find despair. The lord of that time was a sniveling man, not meant for politics at all. Over the course of four years spent as a royal guard Alexander would notice more. The king's greed, caution, hatred of those lesser then him. It was a disgusting combination this man that Alexander was forced to refer to as "M'lord". Ariana had been a lover of all, a peaceful women. Thus why Judas, the battle-worn Knight, had fallen for her. Yet her love of peace would bleed upon her child, her sense of equality amongst the people. While the Reculia family was rich, Ariana made a point to have them treated just like the commoners. This caused a loss of respect in the eyes of nobles around them, but this matter could not be brought to concern. For the Reculia family might not have held true prestige, but they had the history of knight-hood. That would be something in that in common day has become rare for world.

Many years would pass with Alexander serving the treacherous king. In this time the youth would see it all. All of the political manipulation, all of the dirty politics, and the fates of those who opposed the monarch. It left him jaded for many years afterward, but he endured as long as possible. It would be at the age of 28 that Alexanderwas at last knighted. His first action taken would be to leave the king's personal guard. This was a disgrace to his father who had been forced to retire, but his mother was happy for the choice made. Alexander did not leave the army completely though instead opting to become a captain of the guard. This was a position that held much of the same pride as a member of the King's personal guard, but did not have all of the corruption. This would be the position that made Alexander happy to be a Knight. Yet this joy would only become greater as he began to openly court one of the guards under him. A female knight, long silver hair that stretched down to her waist. She was beautiful and deadly, much like a rose and it's thorns. It would take a good deal of time and courting, but eventually the Lady Sylvanus would be wed to Alexander. Only a month after the two had married the female knight has become pregnant. Not with one child, but with twins.

Judas would be overjoyed, as would Alexander's mother Ariana. Yet there was trouble within the family. While Alexander loved Sylvanus, this emotion was not in truth returned. Even while she carried their children she would slip off in the night to be with another. Ariana would catch the beautiful Sylvanus would night but would never speak of it. No, she would not destroy her sons fantasy world. Yet she gave her daughter-in-law a good scolding and thus kept her from repeating the process. Alexander would never know of this, would never know that his children could have belonged to another. Alexander would never know of his mother's worry or how Sylvanus had been unfaithful. He would only know of his children, both boys, born into the world. They had an odd appearance about them, something that Alexander never noticed in his joy. Both had the light blonde hair of their father, yet they had blue eyes that neither or the two parents had. One of them was a bit on the pudgy side, obviously a child of Reculia birth. They were all born fat and thus exercised to cut off the weight. Yet the other one, he was rail thin to the point of sickness. For a month white mage's called from the Temple had to care for him, both children goining unnamed until they were well. Even as the Reculia family prayed to the light for the child to survive, Sylvanus's condition grew worse.

It would seem that her body had attempted to reject the pregnancy, perhaps that being the reason for the thinner child's illness. Slowly, day by day, she withered away until she at last died. Yet despite how unfaithful she had been her final wish would be granted. With her dieing breath a prayer was sent out to the light spirit to save her child from what currently sought to take it's life. The child would get better even as the life faded from Sylvanus's eyes. Alexander would not be there to whatch his wife die, he would hear about it from his mother. Ariana had been the one to sit with Sylvanus in her final moments, blessing the women's soul as it fled her body. And thus would end a love story fated to have never been. Yet the children lived to be given a name by Alexander. The first, the pudgy one, would be given the name of Rand. The other, the thin one that resembled Alexander very little, would be granted the name of Micheal. From that day forth they became the center of Alexander's world.

Unfortunately, Alexander would lose yet another set of lifelines soon. For upon the first birthday of his children, when Alexander was 39, Judas - his father - had a heart attack and died. By the time Ariana could rush her husband to the local white mage it was too late, his heart had stopped beating. Thus Alexander would lose his rolemodel and father. Yet the sorrow would not be given time to pass before it began anew. Three years would pass after the death of Judas. In this time Ariana had fallen from her once beautiful grace. Where age had only put a light tiny of silver in her head, soon she sported a head full of dingy gray hair. Her once brilliant blue eyes had become lifeless, dead, devoid of any sign of emotion. The only joy in life she seemed to receive would come in the form of Rand and Micheal. Rand had become a usual child, loud and quite obnoxious to be around. Alexander would be heard many times to say that the child drove him insane. Yet Micheal was quiet and shy, often crouching in on himself. Thus it fell to reason that they did not get along due to diffrent personalitys. Yet when around their grandmother both were happy. Ariana held a feeling of life about her that was contagious to those about her. Yet in the years following her husband's death it would fade. Instead her joy would be replaced by sorrow, the sorrow being what eventually ended her life.

It had been the children that found their grandmother dead, Rand running to alert Alexander while Micheal stayed and stared at the body. Micheal would stand there for an hour in silence while Rand ran all the way across the city, zipping through people. Upon arrival to the castle he would force his way to where Alexander was training the new recruits. After only hearing one word, 'Grandma!', Alexander was on the move. First to stride to a horse and leap upon it and then pull Rand on roughly. With that done they were off to the house where Ariana had lived much of her life. They would arrive to find Micheal no longer in the same spot. The boys had only been four years old at this time, neither knew what death truly was. Yet Micheal had understood. Even as Alexander barged into the room Micheal was throwing another bottle of blessed water upon the corpse of Ariana, begging the light diety to bring her back. It was a touching scene but Alexander could not bring himself. There, before his children, he wept for an hour straight. Upon the end of his tears they would wrap the body in a sheet and bury it in the back. There were many reason's Alexander forced his children to whatch their grandmother burn. In his distraught state of mind he did not think of the effect this would have upon the four year old children. Forced to whatch as their father built a pyre and burned their grandmothers body. Rand would say nothing of this. No, the boy understood to a very poor extent. This is not to say that he did not cry. Yet Micheal was furious. HIs father would not even take the time to bury his grandmother? Micheal was smart for his age, incredibly so, but his well-aimed comments would earn him a backhanded slap from Alexander. If anything would create a rift between father and son it would be an event such as this.

Time will heal all wounds, or so they say. Over the five years that followed the pain of Alexander's parents death would fade. Yet in it's place existed a rift between father and son. Without a mother, without a grandmother to run to with his problems, Micheal closed in upon himself. Rand was his only freind. Yet Alexander had long since, at Rand's request, started training the boy to be a knight. Micheal showed no intereast in such things though. Both Alexander and his son Rand tried to talk the thin boy into trying to become a knight, yet he would have no part in it. An opportunity would eventually knock on the boy's door though. One day while Alexander was out training Rand an air-mage would meet the 8 year old Micheal in the market. Almost instantly a strong bond would form between the 28 year old air-mage and the 8 year old potential. Yes, indeed the mage had discovered Micheal's connection to the air elemental spirits. Micheal would bring the mage, named Eric Devon, to meet with his father. Almost instantly Alexander did not approve of the man. Eric Devon had been raised in the temple of air, a traveling preist of the element. Yet he now wished to take Micheal away from his father? No, it would not be allowed to happen. Thus the rift between father and son became stronger. Had it not been for Rand, who was growing into a fine young man, the two would have hated each other.

Unfortunately, against Alexander's wishs, Micheal would seek training from Eric in secret. The charade would be kept up for another three years, Micheal and Rand becoming eleven. At this time Alexander and Rand would arrive home from training early to find Eric sitting upon their couch whatching as Micheal used the air to slash at a carving board placed upon a table. Almost instantly Alexander was enraged and through the air mage from his home. There was one thing that upset him though, Micheal went with the mage. For hours after Eric's departure Alexander and Micheal argued with each other, only Rand keeping it from coming to blows. In truth Rand had to hold his father back, a difficult task for one who has trained for battle his entire life. Micheal threw alot into his father's face, most of which was untrue. He claimed that Alexander had been the reason their mother and grandmother died, a disgrace to the family. What could hurt a father more then hearing his own son say these things? It was all Alexander could do to keep from killing the child, instead merely sending him upstairs to sit within his room. Micheal would go to his room but he would not stay. It would be Rand that told Alexander of finding a bedsheet lowered out of the window, Micheal gone off into the knight after his teacher. Many an attempt to hunt down Micheal and Eric would be made, yet none would be successful. Thus it would be that Alexander gave up hope and lurked in dispair for years. Had it not been for Rand by his side, the greif would have killed him.

Yet there was a source to take out all of that greif. Rand sought to become a knight as grand as his father was. To have one son despise him and another to love and respect him was an odd thing. Yet it worked to take out all of the anger, self-hatred, and loathing of the mage Eric Devon. Many times upon the training feild Alexander would image the thin evil looking mage as his target. First one slice to the arms, then to the legs, following up by a firm decapitation with his great axe. Rand was no fool at the age of 15, he knew why his father acted so violently in simulated battle. Yet he said nothing for there was nothing the son could do for the father, instead this anger would be allowed to grow. Nothing could sedate it so long as Alexander did not know the fate of his boy.

Perhap's fate had a hand in what happened? Perhap's the sins Alexander commited as a member of the kings guard were too great? But something stood against the man. Border wars broke out between the East and West, most of them located a few hundred miles noth of Laburnum. Alexander's unit would be the one dispatched to handle the crisis. Amongst this unit was a young squire by the name of Rand, weilding little more then a bow and a sword. Their march to the North would be taken quickly, the horses covering the ground as if they rode the very wind. There was no time to stop and sleep. They rode until the horses fell and then they walked Yet the small unit of little more then fourty men would make it to the village in time. They would arrive tired, exhausted, hungry, but with a strong spirit. Yet this would not be enough to save them. The Eastern soldiers had already laid their claim to the village, fortifing it against attack. Yet the armies would not clash so soon. Instead Alexander and Rand would ride forth along to meet the leader of the enemy at the gates of the city. It was military custom amongst strong generals, thus it would be done. Yet the person who exited the gates would leave both of them gawking. For it was not a general, but a mage who held looks all too familiar. A 17 year old Micheal, clothed in the dress of an air-mage, rode forth from the village on a horse. One hand held a firm grasp upon the hilt of a sword, a sign that he did not have trust for those who would oppose him.

There would be no quarter given upon this feild of battle. Even as Alexander and Rand stared in shocked horror, Micheal would merely smile at them and formally bow. Words would be spoken there between father and son that to this day bring tears to Alexander's eyes. He will tell none of what happened that day, tell none that his son was indeed the leader of the rebels. Yet it would in effect be that Micheal lead a troop to invade the West. After his departure the Mage Eric Devon had corrupted him, brain-washed him, turned the young and shy boy into a strong mage and warrior. Before Alexander would even have time to try and talk Micheal out of his madness, the already mad air-mage would draw his sword and let it's light flash upon the sky. Rand called out for his brother to stop, making Micheal lower the sword some, but it was too late. Soldiers of the East poured from the gates of the village wall, surging outward to meet with Alexander's forces who had advanced without command. The three would vanish into the chaos of battle, each fighting for their lives on diffrent sides.

Alexander was still in shock from his meeting once more with his son. Rage filled him. Hate for the mage Eric Devon, hate for the East, even hate for the world in general. His axe would swing like an avatar of death itself to cut down both ally and foe in a blind rage. Within minutes a great pile of dead, both Eastern and Western, lay around the Knight Captain's enraged form. All dead, all severed by the wicked blades of his battle axe. Yet then he figure that embodied all of his disturbance would appear. Micheal would surge through the army towards his father, flinging the Western soldiers away with barely a flicker of his magical power. Thus it would come down to father against son, a battle that Alexander could not hope to fight. More words would be spoken here to haunt the elderly man to this day, words that forever whisper within his sleep as if a curse. Yet it would not be long before Micheal beat his father to the earth with wind spells, then prepare for the final blow. This would never be allowed to fall though. Rand would come forth from the crowd of soldiers about them, running towards his brother in almost a blur. Alexander would be forced to whatch as Rand tried to stop Micheal, causing the mage to lose focus. Alexander would be forced to whatch as powerful wind magic directed unto them both and proceeded to rip his sons apart. Slash upon slash, cut upon cut. Each one tore a new hole in Alexander's soul. Even as he tried to stop it, tried to get into that tornado of wind to save his sons, he would be thrown back. The wind would subside soon enough, but no one would be standing there. At least not anyone leaving. Micheal's body had been completely destroyed by the raw power. As for Rand, Alexander was forced to whatch as his son's mutilated body fell to the ground headless.

What happened to that is a blur to even Alexander. Through the battle feild he surged, cutting down everything that still stood falling. Many marks were placed upon his body but in blind rage the man could not bring himself to care. His axe struck out at all, wounding both ally and enemy. Through the enemy lines, past the gates, pass the archer's on the walls, and even into the homes where the people hid in terror. Blood sprayed across his memory, the blood of both the innocent and the guilty. Madness had taken the man and drove him to new levels of strenght. The village where this battle took place no longer stands. Instead, people from the temple of air were forced to bury the entire population of it. Men, women, even children fell before Alexander's fury. He had no concern for who he killed, no concern for those that wept for mercy upon their soul. His ride back to the West would be one of quiet madness, his axe leaving a trail of blood in his wake visible to only his eyes. To this day Alexander can not head upon that spot without sorrow and anger taking him, no, he can not go back to the place where his soul was lost. In truth much of the memory attached to this day has been forcefully forgotten to perserve his mentality, what little is left of it after the massacre anyway.

Word would reach the lord of the West far before Alexander did. Thus guards would be waiting even as Alexander strode into the throne room covered in blood of both the guilty and the innocent. Before the elderly man could even think to speak to the king warriors would rush him from all sides, capturing him in their clutchs. Thus, before the court of knights and noble lords, his armor and rank would be stripped. They pulled his bloodstained armor directly from his body to deposit it upon the ground. Thus he was left standing stark naked before accusing eyes. Next his crest would be stripped. It had been used to pin his red cloak upon his form. They would grip it tightly and rip it away, tearing the close to shreds before his eyes. When at last his disgrace had been finished, Alexander was left a broken man filled with rage. He would be escorted from the castle grounds and left upon the ground outside the castle, naked and bruised from the treatment he had received. Both of his sons had been lost to the East and yet they did nothing more then disgrace him? Madness still gripped him, madness would only be taken away once a target for hatred was found. In this case, the victim would become the East. They had not truly caused Micheal to become how he was, the mage Eric Devon was responsible for that. Yet he would develop an all-consuming hatred of the East.

Thus it would be that he went about seeking to cause a war. Originally it was little more then attempts to talk with the king. He would never be allowed to do such a thing though. Disgraced knights can not enter the castle, at least not in hopes of meeting the king. It would be a more drastic method that Alexander took. If the nobles would not listen, he would make them listen! At least this was the general idea when it began. A rebellion, that was what he wanted. And it was what he would get. First though, he needed someone who knew the political arena. Thus it would be that Alexander sought out someone with training in that feild. This would be how he and Adrian O'Keefe originally met. Each person Alexander questioned for the position would speak this mans name, thus Alexander would look into the name. An air-mage, a group that Alexander despised. Yet this man held the power that Alexander did not, he was needed, he was essential. Thus it would be that Adrian would be talked into joining. The man indeed suited the role that Alexander wished for him perfectly.

And thus the Neviskan Rebellion was begun, a group of people who saw the flaws obvious within the Western Government and all holding a powerful hatred of the East. Alexander leads them with Adrian as his right hand man. As of yet, in the past five years since it was formed, they have done little. Of late though there have been whispered words that the Neviskan Rebellion is on the move, plotting their next alternative. This is mostly amongst the common folk though, spread by people involved in the rebellion. Yet most of these rumors have been spawned from the rumors speaking of peace coming between the West and East, something the Rebellion is very much against.

Name: Kyle Inoue

Age: 26

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Height: 6'3"

Weight: 165

Title: Fighter

Alignment: Darkness

Weapon(s): War Scythe (w/ shortened handle) and Assassin's Claw.

Origins: Western Gaia

Description: Physically, Kyle takes after his mother mostly. His shoulder length black hair and vicious green eyes are a distinct contrast from his pale and gaunt features. These features, along with his lanky frame tends to make him look like a younger, vaguely asian Sherlock Holmes. His traditional dark clothing only serves to intensify the asthetics of the contrast.

Personality: Kyle is quiet. In this respect he takes after his father. He tends to act somewhat uncaring as to what other people think of him, when he slips into his normal mode of behavior. He has a kind streak inside him, but he usually only extends it to friends and people who are truly in need. To all others he is somewhat indifferent, and suspecting of their motives.

History: Kyle's parents are both mages of darkness, and both came from the opposite sides of Gaia. His mother, Priestess Helen Miran, came from Cameliard while his father, Sage Kuroyama Inoue, hailed from Kumori. When they both met in Cameliard, it was nearly love at first sight. Primarily this was because they both shared a morbid sense of humor, but a small credit can go to a passing light spirit that told them "You two are made for each other," before quickly phasing back to the elemental plane.

Kyle grew up amongst Dark elemental spirits, but his predilection for melee combat rather than magic steered him away from following his parent's occupation. The practical upshot of this is that he can freely communicate with Dark spirits, but can not compel them to do anything by a force of will. His initial training in battle was from a assassin-turned-farmer named Josiah.

It was around this time (when his training began he was 8 years old) that he met a young man named Theodore Exian. After a short while the two became close friends, and were sort of a dynamic duo. Theodore was the smarter, meeker one while Kyle was the stronger, braver one. After a year though, the two began to grow apart when Theodore's father died in an accident. To cope with the loss, Theo began working on his late father's experiments.

Kyle did keep in touch with him, but as Theo became more and more enthralled by his studies, the two decided to make an agreement: After they're lives had become a bit freer they would meet up later on somewhere in Kumori, since that was where Kyle was going to continue his training. The two shook on it, and then parted ways.

He traveled to Kumori, and sought out both a school and a sensei. He found both in one man who he took up with. He spent the next 17 years studying both academia and the art of bladed combat (mostly the latter). His weapon choices intrigued his teacher. He took a large war scythe and cut the handle quite short (leaving a foot of the originally three foot handle), and then he chose an assassin's claw as his off-hand weapon.

Approved by: Alcyone Teshigahara

Character Name: Tsukioka- Teshigahara Kouji

Age: 27

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Height: 5'10

Weight: 175 lbs.

Title: Chuunin Ninja of the Teshigahara clan

Alignment: Dark

Weapons: Dai-kyu (Japanese Longbow), yumi (Regular bow), chopsticks (Explained in history), kunai, various knives, kyoketsu shogei (grappling hook), various ninja weapons but he has less proficiency with them.

Kouji also has a pet hawk named Takaha that can carry messages for him and occasionally fights with him. Takaha is a big larger than most hawks and is a dark brown in feather. He has gold eyes and is generally very laidback, much like Kouji.

Origins: Eastern Jyoukai, in a village called Mitsuzawa in a swamp

Description: Kouji is tall, tan, and has numerous small cuts all over his body. His hair is brown near the roots, gets progressively darker, and is usually an untameable mess when he tries to grow it long so the top and sides are chopped somewhat roughly but he has a long bluish black ponytail at the base of his skull. His build is wiry, lanky, and sinewy. His hands are calloused from his bow. His eyes are a dark green, like the swampy place he was born in.

Personality: Kouji is a very pleasant guy to be around. He's cheerful, has a sense of humor, easily surprised, and very easy-going. When it is time to be serious, he is serious but usually a bit nervous so he smiles. In fact, he is rarely seen without at least a small smile on his face. He is extremely loyal and once someone has earned his respect and trust, he will go to the ends of Gaia for them. All in all, he is a very likeable guy.

His devotion to Alcyone and determination to be her attendant is fueled by his desire to have a worthy master or mistress to serve. He likes her a lot and adores her children but he is in no hurry to try and take Toshiro's place even though the thought has crossed his mind.

History: Tsukioka Kouji had humble beginnings. He lived in a small village in a swampy area of Joukiyo. From a young age, Kouji was taught how to shoot a bow, track animals through the swamp, fish, and handle some chain weapons. He wasn't the best at tracking or fishing, but he was very good at hunting. His arrows flew straight and true into his targets. His family was very proud of him and bragged a little too much about their only son's skills.

These rumors reached the ears of the local daimyo, an ambitious man by the name of Yamakawa Udo. Perhaps for amusement or out of true curiosity, he put on an archery contest and a small festival and invited even the commonfolk to join in the contest for a handsome monetary prize. Kouji's parents signed him up as soon as they heard about it. Kouji was thrilled but did not outwardly show it, like any 17-year-old was apt to do. Many of Yamakawa's archers were in the contest as well so there was an underlying feeling shared by all the commonfolk who had entered that it was Yamakawa's way of rigging the contest. It didn't matter anyways because Kouji made it to the final round with one of Yamakawa's lieutenants. Put simply, the lieutenant lost gracefully. Yamakawa then asked for Kouji to be one of his archers. The young man readily agreed.

Kouji's new commander and instructor was Tsurara Yasuo, a master archer of Yamakawa's. Yasuo took well to Kouji and pushed him to excel. Kouji looked up to Yasuo and tried hard to please his mentor and friend. One thing that puzzled Kouji about his mentor was that he never talked about his past, his odd icicle shaped scar below his right eye, and came up missing from the Yamakawa palace often, sometimes for days at a time. Whenever he asked about it, Yasuo would give him a humorous reply that did nothing more than make Kouji laugh and get frustrated at his lack of clarity.

About 3 years later, Yamakawa Udo went to war with his longtime Western rival, Count Frawley. During the main battle, Kouji was minorly injured but his respected mentor, Yasuo, was slain before his eyes. Despite Udo's best efforts, he and his forces were overrun and Udo was captured before he could commit suicide. Respecting the culture of his rival, Frawley gave the old man one wish before he would allow him to commit ritual seppuku. Yamakawa asked that his surviving warriors be spared. Frawley did as he was asked and released Kouji and the few survivors of the conflict. There were about 27 samurai, 10 archers, and a few cavalrymen who were now masterless. They all swore to redeem their fallen lord and scattered to the four winds.

Kouji did not return home. Instead, he went towards the Sankei Mountains. During Yasuo's final moments on earth, he had revealed something to Kouji, gave him something, and made him swear to do something. That oath would take him north and so north he went. Along the way, he stopped at a seaport town for the night. He was in the tavern part of the inn, enjoying a bowl of warm miso soup, seafood yaki udon, and edamame (sweet beans), when a brawl broke out behind him. Some local ruffians had started trouble with one of the barmaids and a patron had asked them to leave. Kouji was about to sample his bowl of seafood yaki soba when one of the ruffians slammed into him, causing him to spill his soba and knock over his miso soup. Hellbent on avenging his beloved dinner, Kouji took the chopsticks that were in his left hand and plucked out the eye of one of the brawlers. He went into a blind rage, stabbing, skewering, plucking, and popping those whose ignorance had caused his dinner to be ruined. The patrons who hadn't left when the idiots had started their s**t certainly left now that Kouji was on a rampage, wielding his chopsticks. When it was over, Kouji's clothes were spattered with blood and one of the chopsticks had broken in someone's eye socket. The owner gave Kouji a free dinner and room for the night.

Word travelled fast of the Chopstick Maniac, blown way out of proportion by the locals, and the fact that he was going to the Sankei Mountains. Kouji found that he got a break on his travel expenses from inns and taverns as soon as someone identified him as the Chopstick Maniac. Several of the Teshigahara ninja were in a tavern of one of their allied towns when Kouji came in. Alcyone was among them and was being told the story of the Chopstick Maniac as Kouji walked in. Someone identified him as the Chopstick Maniac and he was given free sake and miso soup. Alcyone approached him and they got to talking. She asked him why he was going to the Sankei Mountains and he replied that his mentor, Tsurara Yasuo, sent him there to report his passing to his family. Alcyone frowned and her companion ninja started to whisper. She asked if this "Tsurara Yasuo" had an icicle-shaped scar beneath his right eye and Kouji nodded. He put two and two together and figured out that he was probably talking to Yasuo's family- though they looked nothing like him. Alcyone asked him to come with her and her companions to the Teshigahara compound on Mt. Shiga immediately, stating simply that Yasuo was her brother and left it at that. Kouji followed.

Teshigahara Makoto was informed immediately of the passing of Tsurara Yasuo, who had revealed to Kouji that his full last name was Tsurara-Teshigahara and that he was a ninja of the Teshigahara clan. Kouji gave the letter that Yasuo asked him to deliver to Makoto and was surprised to learn that Yasuo had requested that Kouji be admitted into the clan in his place. "For every one that falls, another should be put in his place", the letter said," and my place would be properly be filled by Tsukioka Kouji."

Over the next few weeks, Kouji remained at the Teshigahara compound despite the fact that his oath was fulfilled. A funeral was held for Yasuo and Kouji was surprised to find that Makoto had dispatched 4 ninja to cremate and bring back Yasuo's ashes so that they could be buried in the clan's graveyard in a cave near the top of Mt. Shiga. At the graveyard, he noticed that the doors to the family crypt were open and an urn rested on an alter between two lit candles. He asked whose ashes they were and was surprised to learn that they were the ashes of Alcyone's late husband.

Alcyone and Kouji became best friends and after he took his oaths to the clan, the Teshigahara taught him how to fight with chain weapons. Kouji was unaccustomed to the Teshigahara's relaxed attitude among the different ranks. There was a high sense of comraderie and everyone respected and valued each other's skills, no matter how small or insignificant. They valued his archery skills and under their instruction, he excelled ever further than he thought was possible. He even picked up a few "ninja tricks" and was made a Chuunin by Makoto on his 22nd birthday.

He understood Alcyone's underlying grief and helped her through it. When she announced her decision to go to the Capitol and become the Kunoichi of the Kaikou family, Kouji decided that he must go as well. No amount of arguing, threatening, or abuse could dissuade him from following her so Alcyone gave in and let him come with her to Koukiyo.

As a pet and a means of communication, one of the ninja, a beast tamer, gave Takaha- a hawk- to Kouji and Alcyone. Kouji got along with Takaha the best and the two became good partners.

Alcyone became the Kunoichi and Kouji stayed on as her attendant, even helping train Seyumi at times. The Light energy that resonated from the palace made vision at night even more difficult for Alcyone so Kouji had to escort her everywhere until she got a feel for the palace.

If there ever was a person remotely close to Alcyone as Toshiro was, it is Kouji.