Character Backgrounds

[Candace]

This is the perfect place to post any background information, be it full fledged character history, a general overview or whatever else one might want to have everyone else know about their character.

[Candace]

What you see is a woman, approximately 6’ tall of slender build stands with her back to you. Her long auburn hair shimmers in the morning sun and looks to almost be spun with strands of pure gold. Her hair shifts and dances in the breeze and you can see the exquisite detail of an immense dragon tattoo on her back, the wings of the dragon aligned perfectly with her shoulder blades, as if it could take flight at a moment’s notice, the slender neck leading up to rest the face of the sleeping dragon on her right shoulder, and the tail spiraling down her left leg to rest at the back of her knee. Her fair skin shimmers with an almost golden pearl essence as she turns to face you. Her face is alabaster perfection highlighted by a pair of ruby lips and the deepest brightest emerald eyes, flecked with brilliant gold. The pupils elongated pools of ebony that seem to look past your mortal façade and into the very depths of your soul.

Her armour, a suit of incredibly fine chain links, seems to be made from living flames that lick and sheathe her body, as she faces you. As she moves closer to you, you can see that each link is expertly enameled in red and gold giving the illusion of a dancing flame. A fine black dagger sits on her hip, its blade detailed to look like a large fang of some beast. A staff of blackened wood rests lightly in her hand, as she lazily looks you over.

She stops a few feet from you and as you follow the twisting straps of her sandals down from her knee, you can make out another tattoo, that of a small coiled dragon on the top of her left foot. The detail on both tattoos is a level that is unimaginable. Delicate scale work, that upon a closer look aligns perfectly with the fine golden scales that cover her body.

She smiles warmly, her eyes filled with kindness and compassion.

“I’m Aliana Sylanis, and I’ve been looking for you.”

[Candace]

My name is Aliana, and I remember little of my past, emotions remain strong but actual memories have faded to shadows and dust. I believe I had a happy life, I remember love and caring, of course there was pain and grief. Life’s brilliant moments would cease to shine without the darker shades to lend their contrast.

My new life began with the appearance of the mark. A small circular dragon coiled upon my left foot. I did not know from whence it came, the detail of it was astounding. The next day there was a buzz of confusion and excitement about the village. I was not the only one to have discovered a new marking. There were 10 of us in the entire village, all young, on the cusp of adulthood. None of us knew what they meant, but it didn’t take long for us to realize that there were only 5 different markings, each one had a match. The girl who had the match to mine was something of the norm, a girl, close to woman hood with an abundance of attitude, and a lack of discipline.

We did not have to wait long to learn the meaning of the markings. Within the next moons passing a group of 3 companions entered our village. They soon met with our village elders and within the day the 10 marked were called before them. We had been chosen and would need to prove our worth. A trial by combat, each matched pair would fight to first blood to prove who among was the most worthy to receive a great gift. The combats were to be the following morning at daybreak, each in order to their gift. I was told my fight would be the last as we were to fight for the greatest of gifts, and it would be the culmination of thousands of years. We were never told what we were fighting for.

We had to stay together that night and were left to our own devices, left to ponder what it all meant. I watched and observed the others, most particularly the girl who was matched to me. My opponent, she was conceited and dull witted. She wasn’t slow, just no great depth, she had no insight into herself or anyone else, nor did she seem to want any. We slept the night as best we could, but the sound of tossing and turning, made it clear that we all had the same thoughts racing through our heads. The trial.

The first rays of the sun were just beginning to crest the horizon as the door to the hut was opened and the 3 companions began to rouse us. We were broken off into our pairs and one by one each pair was lead out. There were no sounds from outside the hut, no cheering, groans, or gasps, clearly the trials were not being observed by the villagers. Finally we were the last left to pace and wonder as we waited for them to come for us. It seemed like hours, than finally the door opened. They motioned for us to follow and led us out to a clearing in forest about a half mile from the village outskirts. The others all sat around the edge, all except one who lay motionless face down on the ground. It was clear who had done the foul deed; the others all sat away from him, tossing murderous looks, or sobbing quietly into their hands. One of the companions, a man in pure white linen robes, stood in the center of the clearing; the others came to each of us and pulled us to opposite sides of the clearing. The woman who stood in front of me pressed a small black knife into my hand, closed my fingers around the soft leather wrapped hilt and stepped back. The two companions stepped back to the clearings edge and the man in the center nodded and stepped back as well.

I took a breath and closed my eyes for a split second to center myself. I opened my eyes. My opponent had already cleared half the field and was closing in on me fast. I stayed motionless, dagger held lightly in my hand, as she charged in, I dropped to my side and raised my knife to the level of her side. She let out a small squeal and dropped to her knees clutching her arm. I pulled the knife back down in front of me to a guarding position and spun to see her arm dripping crimson from a perfectly straight cut about an inch long across her upper arm. The cut was no worse than one might get in a fall from a tree or trying to calm an angry cat, but it was enough. First blood, the woman came and took the dagger from me and carefully wrapped it, taking care to not disturb the small bit of blood left on the blade.

The man took the girl and 3 of the others aside, helped them to gather up the body of the young boy, who would never know what he was fighting for. The 4 took the boy’s body and headed back into the village. Their backs disappeared behind the foliage and the man cleared his throat and we turned back to see a door standing in the middle of the clearing, where there had defiantly not been a door moments before. He opened the door and motioned us all within. My breath caught in my throat as I gazed around, my eyes adjusting to the dim illumination within. An expansive room, magnificent tables and chairs, candelabras, and chandeliers with a hundred glittering candles, waited beyond, food and drinks pilled high, mirrors on all the walls reflecting the gentle glow and multiplying it a thousand times.

Each of the victors was positioned in front of a mirror, each mirror framed in a different material, some of white I had never seen before. A mirror framed in the same dark, nearly black metal I had seen in the dagger I had been armed with just moments ago; a silver edge mirror, a mirror framed in some sort of reddish material, one that was clearly edged in bone, and the one I stood in front framed in a brilliant gold, polished until it was almost as reflective as the mirror itself. The companions went down the line and handed each of us the dagger we had use in our trial, as each one took their blade a small gasp escaped their lips. My dagger was handed to me and I knew at once why as a small gasp escaped my lips. I was no longer alone, the reflection in the mirror was no longer just me, a man stood behind me, in a long flowing robe of crimson and gold. His black hair was tied back neatly and his golden eyes were kind but had the elongated pupil of a cat or snake.

Instinctively I knew his name. “Hello Sylanis.”

He looked at me and matched my gaze in the mirror. “Hello Aliana. You know what is happening now don’t you?”

“Yes, and I welcome you. I don’t know how I know, but I do know, and I accept this gift.” I held the dagger up in front of my chest, blade facing the mirror. A bit of light from a nearly candle reflected off the blood still wet on the blade, my back grew warm, then searing as a light brighter then the morning sun blossomed from between my shoulder blades. In the time it takes a heart to beat the light had subsided and with it the searing pain, and I was alone again in the mirror, but not in my head, or in my heart. I was no longer Aliana, I was now Alaian Sylanis. Sylanis’s soul had become merged with mine. A god among dragons, the oldest and wisest of the great golden dragons, he had found a way to never truly die. Fire sprang up around me and coiled around my fingers and twisted and pulled my hair in its gentle caress. The fire was my home and my life now.

I looked at the others and saw them with new eyes, the boy in front of the bone mirror, his flesh rotted and falling, eyes sunken and hollow, there was an evil inside him that had only begun to blossom with his murderous trial. The girl in front of the red mirror, her eyes glowed, both red and black in a most malicious way, she was also being kissed by flames, but she smiled cruelly as the wrapped around her legs and licked at the small of her back. The boy in front of the black mirror seemed to have a noxious liquid seeping out of every pore, his eye black and uncaring as he looked around, taking in all around him, as we all were. The mirror next to me the silver mirror, a small girl stood in front of, she was wreathed in frost, her hair and skin had grown paler as if she was almost made from the fresh winter snows. She looked peaceful and her gentle eyes gazed from one person to the next. We all turned our backs to the mirror and looked back. I had clearly not been the only one who felt as if my back was going to burn away.

I was surprised and yet not, to see a new marking, the figure of a massive golden dragon slept on my back, the wings of the dragon perfectly aligned with my shoulder blade, the long graceful neck letting the dragons head rest lightly on my right shoulder, the slender tail wrapping down my left leg.

We all left the hut, by the same door, yet this time when it opened, it opened into our own houses, right next to our very own beds. I spent the night with my family and the next morning I packed a small bag of provisions and set out at first light. In one day I had gone from a simple village girl who would spend her life hunting, cooking and struggling to eke out a modest living from the surrounds, to having a dragon soul burning within me, making me curious to explore and learn how to unlock this newfound potential. I could feel the power within, but I would need to learn, to push myself to the edge and beyond to unlock what now lay dormant inside. With one last glance over my shoulder at the home I had known for 17 years, I turned and walked toward the rising sun.

[The Whizzard]

I remember very little of that fateful night, as is the same for most of my childhood. My parents, brothers and sisters are but a blurred memory
splashed intermittently between cold nights, hunger, and sorrow. I can't even say i remember their names.

The last thing i do remember is running through the hedges of the manor house. Dogs barking in pursuit, and the yells and screams of tallfellows
eager to grab us up and throw us back in our shackles. All i could think about was being free. I'd never known what it felt like to be free. To be a man
who's will is entirely his own. To do and say as you please. After that night, i had what i wanted, but i'd never imagined that it would end up like it did.

There were 8 of us in all; Halflings, the lot of us. We were slaves to some wealthy noble who thought little of us small folk. Treated us worse than
the dirt under his feet. Beating's were more regular than supper, and often the women among us took the worst of it. "These wee ladies aren't good for too much
'cept making more of these little rats and scrubbing floors. At least the little boys can carry some weight." He always said things like this, breaking our
spirits much as he had broken our bodies. There was little hope in our existence, save each other's company. We spent as much time among each other between our
labor as we were allowed. In particular, I spent many hours laboring with a halfling named Gerard. We were both the same age, and had been brought here at roughly
the same time. We got along well; In fact, I'd be remiss to not call him my best friend. We both loved to sing for our brethren in our native tongue, one of the
few things the Nobleman couldn't take from us.

One night, Gerard came to me, his face more dour than I'd ever thought to see. "She's dead. They've killed her..." His voice was barely a whisper. From the
few details he was able to mutter out, I was able to piece together a story too grim to describe in detail. The nobleman had slain Gerard's lover in cold blood. I
realized at that moment that if we didn't do something, that this was the fate that awaited all of us. It was that night that i decided that we would escape this
place, and be free for the first time in our lives.

It took a few nights to secure all of the things we would need for our escape. Improvised tools for breaking the locks on the door of the Slave's Quarters.
Supplies for our journey;: clothes, food and the like. We all worked to scrape together anything and everything we could use for our efforts. Our plan was to split
into three groups: two groups of two and a group of three. We decided that Gerard and i would stick together, and try to lead any pursuers on our trail. We worked
through most of the day, cleaning, tilling soil, and all the other labors we were used to. This day though, something out of the ordinary occured.

A courier arrived with a special package for the nobleman. He seemed as excited as one of his wretched children opening presents on their birthday. He drew
something out of the box, and a grin stretched across his face from ear to ear. I'd never seen anything like it, a long metal tube, attached to a spinning contraption,
with a handle that fit snugly in his grasp. A "revolver" he called it, a weapon from a foreign land far from here. He talked of black powder and bullets, but they
were nothing like the bullets i knew. They looked more like gold teeth, which he carefully pushed one at a time into the small spinning contraption. For the rest of
the day, every time i saw him he was obsessively spinning the little wheel, carefully polishing and cleaning the fine-detailed engravings on it. "Sure, it
looks nice," i thought, "but what good is such a stupid contraption to a man like him."

When we had finally been let to rest for the day we returned to the Slave's Quarters before one of the nobleman's boys secured the door. Not long after he
left our plan was set into motion. Gerard began to work the lock, while i organized the groups together. He made short work of it, and we were off. Things
seemed to be going better than expected, as Gerard and i had made it halfway across the yard before we heard the barking. The Nobleman's dogs had been let loose for
the evening, and their barks were more shrill than any alarm bell. We sprinted as fast as we could towards the tall hedges, hoping to lose any followers for the time
being. That was when things went truly wrong.

I made my way through the dense plants, wriggling between sharp branches with little trouble. Gerard was not so lucky. One of the dogs was not far behind us,
and before i could react, it had Gerard's leg in it's teeth. He screamed in pain, and as i turned to see his face, I froze. There was the nobleman, shiny revolver in
hand. His boys had dragged Gerard from the dog's maw, and the Nobleman leveled the long tube of the revolver to Gerard's forehead. "You little bastards best come out
of there, now!!!" He was yelling louder than i'd ever heard him before. I was paralyzed. I couldn't move a muscle. I couldn't even blink. My eyes locked with Gerard's,
and the last thing i heard him say was "Jamir, Please....."

It rang through my ears like Thunder, and flashed like lightning. It happened so fast...