Sylena Avant

Dark Witch
[SN: beauty ln deceit]
[website]

Birthed in light...Embraced by darkness...

Said to have been from a troupe of gyspies, others claim she was birthed purely from shadow, born under a full moon sky. One of the very visions of darkness and deceit, Sylena had not been born with such tendencies and shadowed desire. Innocence and light had once claimed those ocean blue eyes until they were blinded by the luring powers of the dark, by a man who hungered for power yet for her even more.

Bring your sins into me...

Jarrin, a knight of dark power, had hypnotized her with but a single glance, filling her pure heart with urges and ideas she had yet to know, desires she wanted to feel but couldn't understand. What had started out as nothing but attraction and lust, grew to be something more loving...and forbidden between one of light and another of the dark, between one of noble blood and a mere gypsy of low status. His heart was full of shadow, but she had become his light in the darkness and he craved it every single second of his life, drinking her in with every waking moment...until his eyes were permanently closed.

A war of love and betrayal...

Her family learned of her lover and of what he was, sending them into a terrible fright, pulling her from him and going so far as to lock her away to keep her from leaving the home. It was cruel punishment for a young woman in love, but it had been for her own safety and the only thing her family could do to keep their Sylena safe. She had potential to become a great seer, her heart full of light and the desire to aide others...and that could all be tainted by the sinister man of darkness. But she did not care. He did not force her into the shadows, did not make her become anything else that she wasn't already...Sylena was his grasp onto reality, his last hope of keeping himself from crossing the border into total darkness. And once she was taken from him, his strength to remain sane had shattered...

You hold the key to set my mind free...

They would not believe her when she spoke of the love in his heart, his inner battle to keep from losing himself completely to darkness. He had once been like them- pure of mind without an ounce of shadow inside. That all changed when he was betrayed by his wife and a man he trusted with his very life, a damage to his soul that never left him the same, plummeting him down into the core of the shadow's embrace. And now, this gypsy clan forbid him the one thing he desired most, the one thing he loved after he vowed never to care for another ever again. His sanity slowly began to diminish...however, it was not he who attacked first.
From a vision of an elder seer, Sylena's people were forced to lure the dark knight into a trap, to end his suffering...and his life. They had foreseen their doom at the hands of Jarrin, but every wiseman knows...that such fateful images could be changed, that every one might have a deeper meaning. Yet they did not give Jarrin the chance, did not do what they should have done to relieve his aching heart, to save him from his darkness and bring him to light once again. All the men of the clan entered Jarrin's home uninvited, wrestling him down to the ground before bringing him back to the village to be executed.

Broken trust and a broken heart...

A rage began to grow within Sylena, filling her head with dark, vicious thoughts that she never thought before, thinking things that someone of the light should never dwell upon...and her heart began to darken. No longer able to understand that her family was only trying to protect her, all she could see was that they weren't willing to help a poor soul in need, and therefore...she let her anger be known. As hot and angry as her heart, she set fire to the elder seer's home in the middle of the night...a fire that eventually spread to about a third of the village before it was put out. It destroyed most of their food and some livestock, as well as claimed the life of the seer who had seen their doom...the doom that was not by Jarrin's hand, but by Sylena's.
She took this time to break Jarrin free from his prison, her anger only growing more as she looked upon his battered form...a man in defeat, lost in his own darkness, who was scolded and hammered down by those who dared to call themselves pure of heart. Sylena's soul became black the moment they struck him without valid reason, only aided by an old man's vision, of their fear of the darkness. She helped her love escape the madness of the village and it would be her friend, Alysia, who would find them fleeing into the forest. She knew of a place where the two could hide and remain safe, a place where no one could get to them- a cave deep within the trees. Alysia would lead them there, masking her real intentions behind a false expression of care. When the men attacked Jarrin in his home, both Alysia's father and husband were killed by the man's hand...and such a loss could send even the most purest of minds into a desire to gain revenge...
Alysia betrayed her friend...for only a few minutes after they arrived in what they were told was a safe haven, men from their clan came with weapons in hand. Having yet to learn more than just the basics of her magic, Sylena's attempt to ward off the angry villagers proved futile, and the one man she ever truly loved was stabbed repeatedly before her eyes while he attempted to keep her from harm.

Remember me...Keep me in your memories...

Sylena brought him into her arms, bright eyes filled with her mournful tears as his life slowly began to diminish with each passing second. For such a dark and powerful man, his heart had been true and he had been true to her. She had been his guiding light, and he her dark prince...a love that should have not been and a love that would forever change the course of Sylena's future. "You saved me from myself..." were his words to her before his last breath was drawn, leaving Sylena in her sobbing cries, surrounded by the once angry men of her clan who began to wonder what exactly they had done.
Alysia would go to her friend, urging her away from Jarrin's body...but she was met with an aggressive shove; Sylena's now feral eyes glaring up at her as she hunched there on her knees over her beloved. "I will never forgive you!" she spat out before pulling free the dagger at Jarrin's side and dragging it across her former friend's stomach. Sylena fled into the trees before they could restrain her for her own crimes and was never heard from again...Her lover, having gained the sympathy from the clan's guilt, was given a proper burial, where she had watched from afar before disappearing further into the night.

To the darkness I turned...

Her life had been changed. The goodness in her heart melted away and she felt nothing but the cold sting of anger, corrupting her mind and darkening her intentions on everything. Sylena had turned to the darkness, having felt a sense of comfort within the shadows that the light had never offered, had found amusement in the manipulation and deceiving of others. She was a woman scorned, a heartless witch that would forever remember the pain of her past...and would be sure to return such pain to anyone who dared to cross her.

Ares

Wandering Warrior
[SN: bksgoldglove82]

The tale of Ares, Son of Kildir, is one which spans many chronicles. Though to summerise it to the best understanding would be easier to explain. Ares was the pride of his Father's military forces, becoming the youngest man to command his own division within the king's army. King Kildir, ruler of the Dinirum Kingdom, a kingdom which spanned the ancient lands of the east, under the strength of his son's forces would crush all those who dared to oppose him.

Dinirum, a kingdom which held no faith or allegiance to the gods, would be held in their destaste and challenged numerous times. Kildir laughed and mocked the tests the gods thrown against his forces. Ares, like his father, let his pride reach a blinding state.

When a test far too great, even for his forces was presented, Ares scoffed at the test...he would pay with his very life. His division was wiped out entirely. Ares, body left for the crows, was consumed by fear and guilt in failing his father and the consequences which would come of it.

The gods seized their chance. The presented to Ares an offer. One far too tempting for his prideful heart to refuse. The gods had told Ares, if he would take up service to them, they would spare his father and his kingdom...and they would grant Ares the gift of immortality so he may always defend the honor and glory of his family and land.

Without second thought...Ares accepted. Soon enough, his wounds would heal, and Ares could feel a strength in him that was never there before.

He returned home...a hero in the eyes of his father and land, who had assumed him lost. Instead he was the last and only standing member of his forces to return with the tale of victory. As the years passed, Ares would crush all opposing forces in the name of his father...and of the gods who granted him his second life. He was an unstoppable, unmerciful force.

Years continued to pass, and soon Ares would begin noticing his desires were becoming more difficult to fullfill. No love of a woman, no food, or drink would be enough for him. No battle or blood spilled would quench his lust. He would also begin to notice, unlike those around him...Ares showed no signs of the age he felt within his finely sculpted body.

The realization that this was no gift, but punishment...this immortality granted allowed the world around him to die and fade to dust as he endured the centuries of solitude. Watching his memories fade.

Ares...had been deceived. Promised redemption in the eyes of the gods...he was sentenced to a lifetime of enslavement. Ares grew bitter toward the gods, to the point where a Mighty War would eventually be waged against them.

With the aid of the goddess Aine, who favored Ares more their her kin, and the people of Misthalyn...Ares would alas taste vengeance. Watching as the gods who deceived him would fall one by one.

Only Aine remained, and the fallen god Nuada Silverhand, who was sent to the mortal realm to spend the remainder of his days. Together, they devised a chance to make amends with the tormented soul of Ares.

So the Trial of Ares was created. A series of tests, under the supervision of Aine and tutilage of Nuada, would break the hardened and wounded soul of Ares...and in return, create a new man. The man he should've been. A man of devotion, of honor, of glory...and true redemption. When such qualities were proven...only then would his curse be lifted.

The trials would come, and prove more formidable than any could've imagined...but Ares would find his path to the end...and in return...he would be made mortal.

The curse, forever lifted from his body...though the many qualities which blessed his skills over the ages would remain. A true gift granted by Aine. Under the condition he serve as her guardian. The guardian of Aine carries her blessing, and defends her word with all their being.

It was a grand moment, one which would bring Ares to his knees. Pushed to his limit, Ares would gain his mortality...a new life...and allies in Nuada and Faolan. An opposing warrior who awakened the possibilty for Ares to gain his redemption.

Under the watchful eye of Aine, and guidance of his companions, Ares starts a new in his life.

William Deszden

Thief
[SN: roguish thievery]
[website]

The son of a thief and gypsy, the life of a beggar was all he ever knew, raised and taught by his older brother, Marek. He was trained in the so-called arts of thievery and took mercenary jobs once he was old enough- retrieving goods, jewels, or anything else of value, though never assassination jobs. William was a good kid, despite the fact he stole for a living, but such was life, was it not? Yet a thought never strayed far from his mind...a wondering, a yearning to know and understand that there was something better out there. That, perhaps, something awaited him...waited to give him a purpose.
At just 14 years old, he was made a part of the Thieves Guild, a large group of deceiving individuals who were in the same line of work as he, and his reputation among them grew. But as time went on, the deception within the guild made William refuse to remain in their presence and he eventually left without word five years later...only to find out that he was being hunted by them. Apparently leaving without permission was a crime as he held all the guild's secrets and could very well spill them to the wrong people. A very fine point he had neglected to worry about. He became a runaway, traveling the lands with Marek, and his companion George, and living within the older Deszden's shadow. A skilled swordsman, his brother would teach William the ways of the blade...but the young thief was never fond of such weapons, nor the idea of killing. It was what made them different from each other, and Will was willing to praise his brother on his journey to a heroic life.
Deep down, however, he perhaps envied him more than he should have. But why should he, a petty thief, deserve such glory?

Caelyn d'Artain

Wanderer
[SN: twisted x fates]
[website]

200 years ago, the last Prophet of Indera fortold the coming of the Oracle of Light who would bring peace to many lands but whose journey would be perilous and frought with danger and uncertainty. There would be but one to protect her...The Guardian.

One midsummer day, the sun was cast into darkness, eclipsed by the moon and that night, a little girl was laid at Lord d'Artain's doorstep. The Lord, heartbroken at the loss of his beloved wife and daughter in childbirth, took in the child as his own. He even named her after his late wife, Maire. He knew he held a special girl in his hands when he saw her open her eyes and look at him – one iris was a deep, ocean blue while the other was a wild, forest green. She was a beauty and he adored her instantly.

As she grew older, Lord d'Artain began to understand that his was no mere girl. In conjunction with those strange eyes, Seer's eyes though they hadn't been seen in hundreds of years, she had terrible dreams and always seemed to know more than she should. Caelyn d'Artain, the little child he had found abandoned on his front stoop, was the first Seer to be born in the lands of Indera in the last 200 years.

Of course, being as she was, trouble was bound to find the girl and, all too soon, her father lost his life protecting her secret from those who would use it to evil means.

With her father dead, Caelyn was now in great danger. Without the protection of her father and corruption running rampant in the High Councils, it was time she left Indera. Now, alone for the first time in her life...Caelyn keeps running.

And as the old prophecy foretells, the Oracle’s journey is far from over…

Muirn'naugdh

Wanderer
[SN: twisted x fates]

There have always been stories of mermaids. Sirens. Half human, half fish...the head, arms, and torso of a woman but with the long, scaled tail of a fish.

Some say they are demons. Others claim they are witches.

Popular myths and stories warn seafarer's of the Siren's Song, the sound of which is said to be so beautiful, that men have thrown themselves overboard...to drown in the sea...chasing fantasies or illusion; the legends vary on whether it was a magical enchantment cast by the Siren's voice or pure ecstasy at hearing those dulcet tones that is to blame.

The legends and myths all vary but the truth of the Blue World is shrouded in secrecy and ancient magic.

There is one rule: To willingly leave the Blue World and enter the Realms of Men is to break the ultimate law. Once broken, it means eternal banishment.

There are no exceptions.

Orion Valentus

Dark Mage
[SN: bksgoldglove82]

Brought into a world of deception, a world where power was achieved by any means necessary, Orion is the last of his kind. An ancient race of humans known as The Blood Mages. Mages who mastered the forbidden practice of magic which preyed on the life force of others. In short, they were parasites. Deceptive creatures who feasted on their host until there was nothing left to take.

Orion would be trained in the dark arts by his father, Alistar Valentus. A master of blood magic, and the reigning ruler of the ruthless class. The training was...brutal to say the least. From an early age Orion knew know satisfaction. Only the scolding pain which was to fuel his desire for knowledge.

His evolution was moving along faster than most had anticipated. Soon, under the blind faith of his father, Orion manipulated his surrounding council to turn against him. Orion would watch as his father was slain by the very council he created...delivering the final blow himself. Through his death, Orion inherited his father's power, his knowledge, and an unquenchable blood lust.

He would turn his newfound gifts against his own people, exterminating them to the last bloodline. Men, women, and even the children still in the early stages of their schooling. All who would pose a threat in the preasent or future were wiped from memory. His homeland would become a ruin of the dark civilation that once exhisted.

His path would be drawn by power, like a moth to flames. It would first guide him to the now fallen, ruined city of Sendaria. It had been a land which flourished before his arrival...before his presence passed on a darkness which would consume the once vibrant lands to become one of ruin and a shell of the dead which remained.

Again power would draw him away before he could view the outcome of all this, bringing him to the land of Misthalyn. Where the presence of another who's blackened heart moved as his...would bring him to a stand still. His mind, body, and soul...enslaved by the beauty and powerful heart which beated through the queen Aislinn.

It was here, she kept him. Here where he learned to love...where his bloodline, thought lost, would soon continue.

Lusius is the future, his future...and with strides to keep Aislinn at his side, it is a future he looks to shape. He is a contemptuous man, who's loyalty alone remains with Aislinn and his son. He views the lives of all else expendable, no matter the cause which they are used for. A serpent's tongue, vast knowledge, and powerful practicioner of blood magic...Orion is a formidable creature in more ways than the battlefield.

Valorian Dejean

Wandering Assassin
[SN: bksgoldglove82]

All was not as it is now for one, Valorian Dejean.
Once an extremely proud swordsman for his Majesty, in the lands of Caladorn, he would be held for treason against the King when it became known Valorian had captured the eye and heart of the Queen.

Instead of death, the King saw fit that he would take from his swordsman what took his wife from him. Fire was brought to face of his once trusted friend, leaving a massive scar of withered flesh and lasting blisters.

Betrayed, disfigured, and left with only his contempt as a noble companion, Valorian would don the mask which would be his ticket to the outside world. People would grow to fear him, not for the monster he had become on the outside...but the monster they had created within.

Using his expertise with a blade, Valorian turn his anger against those who brought pain to others, as the pain was brought to him. Shrouded in knives and various other forms of blades, he would become the night hunter.

A guadrian angel to those who suffered and feared. His methods of justice, severely different than those who believed in the court...in trials. He was judge, jury, and executioner. There was no excuse too tug at his heart for mercy, he was driven to punish the wicked, to deliver his message at all costs.

During one of these blissful evenings of torture, Valorian would find a worthy advisary, and trusted companion in that of...Evelyn. A confrontation between the two would lead to admiration...and sooner, love. There was no length too far for Valorian to go, for the love of his dark angel. Together, they established and flourished in Misthalyn's Order of the Tech Dunn. A band of royal assassins who served as the Kingdom's vigilant force.

However, one evening, their lives...for better or worse, would change forever. A mission tasked them to clean out a nest vampires located in the bowels of Misthalyn. During this mission, Evy would be bitten...forced to turn to the demon which created her. Valorian, driven by his heart and unbending loyalty toward his beloved, under free will...surrendered himself. Allowing for Evy to turn him, for if she were to live a cursed life for eternity...he would serve by her side.

Valorian would awake to a startling revelation. His face...torched and haggered in appearance at one time, was revived. Clean and youthful. His strength, speed, and agility were all advanced beyond comprehension. Cursed Life...a thought Valorian would soon begin laugh away.

He would embrace this change. He was reborn, and truly what was given to him was anything but a curse. Where Valorian began to thrive, Evy would begin to search for a way to bring herself back to the way she was. Slowly beginning to despise what she had become.

One night, Valorian would awaken to no one. To a bed occupied only with himself. Evy...was gone, never to return. She desired to abandon her new bloodline, and in the process, the one who loved her most.

Valorian, ashamed that what he had become would cost him so much, would turn his curse against those like him. No longer did he feed off of the human cattle he was beginning to appreciate...but the very children of the night he had become. Every vampire that was claimed and consumed by him, would bestow greater strength and the many gifts that come with it...at the price of his physical appearance again taking a toll.

Vibrant flesh would become pale and translucent. Thick dark maine would become, long, pale, and fragile.

He masked his contempt for himself by amassing great wealth. He surrounds himself with lavish arts, and women of equal beauty which he turns to act as servants of his every need. Valorian, to those who know of him, appears rather charming and vastly educated, though it shields others away from the bloodlust which commands him. He is a killer, ruthless and flawless in his methods...and one who takes great pleasure in doing so.

Ashelia Graey

Wanderer
[SN: twisted x fates]
[website]

Ashelia was born on a hot summer night to a weeping woman in a small, unknown little province that was ruled by those of the cloth. The sanctity of their relationship with the gods protected the lands from the corruption of the outside world. It was the reason this woman chose to give birth to her child there; she knew it would be a safe place to hide her most precious secret. This woman was the Queen Diedre of Misthalyn, a kingdom not too far from that very temple. Within hours of her birth she said goodbye to her little girl before handing her over to the High Priestess who swore a blood oath to protect the child at all costs. Ashelia...she was to be the light of the world and how the Queen hoped that it would never come to be…
The priestesses called her Ashelia Graey both for her eyes and for her cloudy past that must never be known but, in reality, she was known simply as the ‘nameless daughter’. It is what they called her in their reports to the queen up until the day she died. To name her would be to put her in danger…
Over the years, Ashelia grew up into a reserved, shy child. Her fair complexion and hair with those pale grey eyes made her stand out among the more brightly toned acolytes and priestesses. Ashelia’s position was a curious one- a temple maid who studied as an acolyte? Yet she never seemed bothered by the uniqueness of her station. Her solitude seemed to be one of choice rather than the doing of others. Her devotion to the gods was almost what one might see in a child toward a parent; they were the only ones she confided in…well…not quite. There was a young boy, Aro, a butcher’s son, who she treasured as her only friend. Ever since he had rescued her after she fell into the river while picking flowers, the two had shared a comfortable companionship. However, it grew strained when they reached adulthood and Aro began to look at her differently, more intently than one should look at one destined to be a priestess.
That was yet another curious matter- her station, her position. Every time she professed herself to be ready to undergo the trials of faith which, once passed would make her a fully fledged priestess of the temple, the Honorable Mother turned her down. As frustrated as she was, Ashelia always found herself somewhat relieved each time she was denied. To become a priestess was to swear her life in service of the gods, her virtue…her entire future; as a Sister of the Light, she could never leave again leave the temple as she had done so all her life as a simple temple maid.
Now, as tension brews outside the protective shores of this forgotten island, Ashelia’s dreams, always somewhat strange, have become deeply troubled and that feeling she had been having all her life, that she never quite belonged, that she is destined for something greater is starting to grow stronger.

Cullen O'Banyon

Rogue Assassin
[SN: twisted x fates]

Cullen’s father was a mean drunk, prone to beating his wife and son. The first time Cullen stood up to him, the man nearly killed him. Had it not been for his best friend, Jarrin, Cullen might have turned into a vicious, broken monster who killed for sport. But their friendship was what saved Cullen’s life…in more ways than one. It wasn’t long after his mother’s ‘accidental’ death when Cullen told his father he was leaving. When the man flew into a rage, Jarrin beat the man senseless. Cullen went to live with Jarrin and work as an apprentice to any who would have him. When they were old enough, and Jarrin came into his own lands and title, Cullen was immediately placed as Jarrin’s right hand man. For the next ten years, the two were inseparable. They fought side by side on the battlefield and charmed their way into the skirts of many young ladies. Cullen stood by his side as Jarrin wed a beautiful woman only for her to betray him with another of his vassals. After that, he thought his friend would never love again. But then she came, Sylena, and she stole Jarrin’s heart. Cullen, feeling his friend pulling away from him, distrusted the witch who they said was a powerful Seer, who knew things, and could do things that were inhuman. Dark forces reached out to them all in these times as Sylena’s gypsy clan set their hatred on Jarrin. They sought his death with a ruthless ambition, nearly managing to execute him on his own lands. Threatened by separation from one another, the two lovers fled and Cullen, acting on his Lord’s orders, led the diversion that let them escape. In that moment, he had trusted Sylena, the witch, with the life of his friend. It was a mistake he will never forgive himself. Jarrin’s body was found in the secret hiding place the boys had played in as children. Cullen, enraged, lashed out at Sylena’s clan, killing a few before he was knocked unconscious and locked up. With Jarrin dead, his lands were passed over to another noble, his vassals either hired on or dismissed. Cullen was one of the unfortunate. By the time he was released from prison, he had nothing. His fiancé would not have him and he had not seen his father since the night Jarrin nearly killed him. All Cullen had now…was his sword…and his hate. The sword he would never sell, no matter how hungry or desolate he became. It was the only thing he had left of his friend. Depression drove him into the taverns where he drank and gambled, cheating often, almost begging to be caught. It was a single mercenary who recognized a death wish when he saw one and knew that this man’s fearlessness could be used to great advantage. And so, Cullen received his first mark as an assassin. Since then, his life has been one of blood and death, of darkness. His pain and hate have driven him as no mere will ever could; they are perhaps the only things keeping him alive…that…and the sweet promise of revenge.

Kristanna Ramere

Blacksmith
[SN: with this sword]

Some say she is of Elvish descent, others claim she was birthed from the land of the legendary warrior women known as the Valkyrie. But the beginning of her story is unknown, up until the point where the dwarves of Mithradune found the infant Kristanna upon their doorstep, wrapped in nothing but a thick blanket and a belt of such handcraftsmanship they’ve never seen before. One of the dwarven men, known as Artur Battlehammer, took the child in as his own and raised her to be as strong and fit as any of the other children of the mines. Of course, she was not like any other, and had been blessed with unimaginable strength that a human woman of her size should be incapable of.
It was the belt. The belt the dwarves did not take from her as a baby and allowed her to wear once she was able to walk, letting her have the one thing that might help her to truly understand who she was and where she had come from. They began to call the magical trinket a gift from the gods, and as she grew older, she refused to remove it from her waist.
As the years would pass, the dwarves of the mine would soon find themselves drawn into the war with the Black Horde. All of Misthalyn were unable to escape their deadly attacks, banning together and saving all their resources to try and live at least another day. Kristanna and Artur joined in on the fight, only to realize later that they were not there for when the Horde attacked their home…killing every living thing within Mithradune, and leaving Artur the last dwarf in Misthalyn. It only spurred their anger, giving them enough to strength to rise up with the army of Misthalyn and destroy the Black Horde. But Kristanna’s pain would only deepen.
Artur was lost in the second to last battle for the freedom of Misthalyn, leaving his adopted daughter alone…and frightened. Despite how hard she fought to keep her true feelings hidden, these haunting memories would come back in a few years time and cause her to make a decision she never thought she would have to...

War had stricken Misthalyn once again as the people defied the very gods they once looked up and prayed to. For a promise that she should have known was hollow, Kristanna must rise up against her fellow knights and comrades, and kill the only man she might deem a worthy advisory.

Tristan Black

Thief
[SN: twisted x fates]

History coming soon.