[[Since it's been a while since I've been active, and considering that I leveled up before I left, I figure now would be as good a time as any to post a character update.]]
Changes are in Red
Name: Jada
Tribe: Kokopelli
Age: 20
Race: Human
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Green
Weight: 168 lbs
Height: 5'10"
Personality:
The Kokopelli are a people that, in general, have little patience for subtleties and mind-games. To the Kokopelli, a threat is a threat, and a compliment is a compliment. They speak freely and openly about what's on their minds, and while this might make them seem rude and abrasive at times, it is the way things are done among the Kokopelli.
Having been raised in that atmosphere, Jada handles himself in a similar fashion in his everyday life. While generally a happy and curious individual, he isn't afraid to speak his mind, or back up his words with actions. Self-confident and curious, Jada is always open to new things, and has a peculiar knack for learning...
Physical Description:
With a dark red-brown complexion, straight raven-black hair, and green eyes, Jada could be described as handsome by many standards, even amongst his own people where such features are more than common. As far as physical build, Jada stands of an average height and is of average build, making him relatively non-descript in that aspect. The nomadic lifestyle of his people has helped Jada develop a lithe, muscular body capable of numerous physical feats. Like all of his people, Jada is incapable of growing facial hair or body hair on his chest, back, legs, and arms.
In terms of how Jada present himself, he is typically found wearing nothing more than his seemingly signature buckskin shorts. He normally wears his hair up, tied in a knot behind his head, which is considered odd amongst his people who usually do nothing to restrict their straight black hair that is customarily worn long. In terms of characteristic markings, Jada has a few signature scars across his lower back, as well as a particular rune branded onto the back of his neck.
General Equipment:
Buckskin Shorts: A simple pair of shorts made of buckskin. Held up by a hemp rope belt, these shorts descend to just past Jada's knees and have several large pockets on the outside and front of the legs. The left leg is also decorated with a fire-brand in the shape of a bear's paw mark, Jada's personal insignia.
Leather Rucksack: A small leather bag worn via straps over both shoulders. The bag is relatively unadorned but for a few strings of beads, and is large enough to carry an object roughly the size of a human head.
A strip of buckskin: A handy little item that Jada most often uses to tie his hair back away from his face, or to secure something to his belt.
Weapons and Armor:
Iron Shortsword: A crude and somewhat rusty weapon Jada "borrowed" off the captive who taught him the common tongue, as well as the ways of the world outside the Kokopelli realm. Possessing no charms, enchantments, or decorations of any kind, it is the epitome of utilitarian weaponry.
Spirit Runes: Being a nomadic people, the Kokopelli are not much in the ways of crafting and using armor. For the large part Kokopelli warriors enter battle clothed only in buckskin, and in a way even resent the use of physical armor. Instead, the Kokopelli sometimes rely on spiritual armor for protection. To acquire this special armor a warrior visits their tribal Shaman, who then ritualistically brands a part of the warrior's body with a special mark. Depending on the warrior, these runes can bestow upon their bearer great power.
Jada's Current Runes:
The Snake's Defiance: While offering no physical advancements, this rune dulls Jada's ability to feel pain. Though his wounds will still bleed, and will still pose the same dangers as any wound received in battle, Jada is much less likely to succumb or be crippled by the agonizing pain that can accompany certain types of wounds.
Level 1: As Jada slowly gains strength, so do the runes branded into his flesh. At this level the "Snakes Defiance" rune still serves its original purpose in dulling Jada's pain, but now also augments his reflexes. The level of this augmentation is such that, paired with Jada's keen senses, Jada's reflex speed is double that of the average person. While he remains unable to perform super-human feats such as dodge arrows in mid-flight, he does however gain the ability to react to dangerous situations with almost instinctive speed.
Skills:
Moderate Combat: With appearances in the Citadel, as well as in the opening and final round of The Cell tournament, Jada has in a sense been fired in the crucible of armed combat. While no master of the blade, he has elevated his skills with a sword from a simple hack and slash routine to a moderate understanding of the basics of sword combat. Most of this skill building has arisen from simply handling the weapon over a period of time, and from observing and mimicking the movements of his armed opponents. Now painfully aware of his own shortcomings in this area, Jada is determined to find someone who will teach him the finer arts of melee combat.
[[ For examples of Jada's combat experience, see the following:]]
Map of the Problamatique: Revelations (3 v.s 2)
The Cell: Cage Number Three
The Cell: The Final Cage
Welcome to Radasanth...
Keen Senses: While on par with the average warrior amongst his people, Jada's senses as compared to the average individual could be described as exceptional. His lifetime thus far spent tracking and hunting, Jada has developed an almost uncanny sense of sight and smell, as well as heightened sense of touch. These keen senses lend to Jada the ability to notice or become aware of things a little bit quicker than the average fighter, and thus enable him to react in a quick, almost reflexive manner.
Summon the Bear: Contrary to its name, Summon the Bear does not in any way summon forth a magical or natural animal companion to fight alongside Jada. Summon the Bear is in actuality a basic Shaman spell taught amongst Jada's people. This spell serves to collect and condense the spiritual energy of all living things in Jada's immediate surroundings. This condensed energy then increases both the physical strength and the endurance of the affected individual, making them as it is said "as tough as a bear."
Use: To utilize this ability, Jada simply has to speak aloud the word "Awasos" meaning "bear" in his native tongue. The affects of this ability occur almost instantaneously, but as described below, Jada's use of the ability is limited.
Limitations: Jada is still relatively unpracticed with this spell, and as such is bound by certain limitations. He can only use this spell once every few days [NOTE: Once per thread]. Also, he is unable to hold onto the condensed spiritual energy for long [NOTE: Lasts for three posts]. At Level 1 Jada has learned to offset most of the fatigue brought on by utilizing this ability. While he is still tired and somewhat drained after using this ability, Jada no longer suffers from the debilitating fatigue that used to accompany Summoning the Bear.
SPECIAL NOTES:
-While this skill can work in areas where there is little natural life (plants, people, animals), it is much more effective in areas where there is an abundance of such life to draw upon.
-This skill in no way affects Jada's opponents or the people around him, as the spirit energy drawn from each source is negligible.
-At this level this skill can increase Jada's natural strength and endurance to a maximum of 2x his normal limitations.
History:
Jada was born to the Kokopelli tribe, a particular clan of the nomadic peoples that roam the forests and plains of Jada's homeland. Most renowned for their skills as hunters and trackers, the Kokopelli lived a relatively good life off of the forests that they typically occupied for short periods of time. Raised primarily by his mother, as is the custom of his people, Jada spent much of his early childhood learning how to forage and identify edible plants.
Upon reaching puberty the responsibilities of teaching Jada the ways of life shifted to his Father, who took his son under his wing. From his father, who was a respected tracker amongst the Kokopelli, Jada learned the basic arts of tracking enemies and wild game. He also learned from his Father the basics of life and the three things that all Kokopelli hold dear. Family, pride, and bravery. By the age of thirteen Jada was beginning to distinguish himself as a young tracker, and in the summer of that year it came time to learn if tracking was to be his role in the tribe.
As is the custom amongst the Kokopelli, Jada and several other young men of a similar age were brought to a river deep enough to wet the chest of a full grown man. There they were addressed by the tribal Shaman and adorned with a rune of protection. Wading out into the stream, they were then forced under the water and drowned by their fathers.
While it may seem like a horrible and unnecessary ritual, the Kokopelli believe that only when the spirit attempts to leave the body does the body understand what it was truly meant to do in life. Once unconscious, the young men are hauled back to shore and revived. There they are quickly forced to recall what things they saw or heard as their spirits fought to leave their bodies. One at a time the Shaman determines what task in life the boys are meant to perform based upon their visions. Some become warriors, some trackers. Others become hunters, and a select few become shamans. Those who cannot be revived are deemed to have had no purpose in life, and they are forgotten.
After undergoing this terrible ordeal, it was determined that Jada should follow the life of a shaman. Not the life of a tracker he and his Father had foreseen. While understandably disappointed that his son would not be following in his footsteps, Jada's Father took great pride in the fact that his son had been chosen to become a shaman. Jada's life it seemed, had been foretold, and his path set...
Yet how often things outside of our control change the paths of our fate...
In the winter of Jada's seventeenth year, his third as apprentice to the shaman of his Father's tribe, other bands of the Kokopelli, mainly those who made their homes around the coast, began sharing tales of great wooden mountains that floated on the ocean. These mountains, it was said, had billowing white clouds pulling them across the waters, and that strange people rode upon the mountain itself.
With these tales of floating wooden mountains and strange people, it was determined that the shamans of each tribe should journey to the coast and find the meaning behind their appearance. Jada, as an apprentice shaman, was brought along as well. Yet, before they could leave for the coast, new tales began to spread.
Tales that would quickly become the darkest chapter in the history of the Kokopelli...
It became general knowledge amongst the nomadic tribes that the strange men on the wooden mountains came to kill them or take them away. Women and children foraging in the forests began to disappear. War parties of proud Kokopelli warriors were found dead, or came back maimed and ranting of weapons that shattered wood and bone and were cold to the touch. For two years the Kokopelli fought a losing battle against this unnamed threat...
At the age of nineteen, nearing his twentieth year, Jada's tribe managed to capture one of the strange persons responsible for the rapid destruction of their people. This person was brought to the shaman under whom Jada still learned, and it was this shaman would quickly decided that rather than kill this person, they would learn from him. For six long months Jada sat cross-legged in front of the captive who remained at all times shackled to a pole in the ground. From this captive Jada learned a great many things.
He first took it upon himself to learn enough of the strange language so that he could at least communicate with the captive. This was accomplished by holding up an object and pointing at it. If the captive said nothing, he was prodded with a stick that had been dipped in the fire. Jada would then point again. Once the captive had repeated the same sound enough times, Jada would take that to be the word for that object. The captive needed only be prompted a few times before he got the gist of what was going on and cooperated...
And so that went on, until Jada could communicate relatively well. Although still poor in his understanding, he began to learn other things beside language. He learned that the world was apparently much larger than the realm of the Kokopelli. He also learned that these strange men were called half-elves, the result of a union between people like the Kokopelli and people called elves. This crew of half-elves it seemed worked for a group of people who made a living selling people like the Kokopelli into the service of others. This, Jada learned, was called the "slave trade." Jada learned the names of the places where this "trade" took place, how these "trades" were conducted, and more importantly how to get there.
The quickest route, he learned, was by sea. Yet, a land route existed, and when prompted to guess how long it would take Jada to reach these far off place by foot, the man gave Jada an estimate of four months.
So in the twentieth year of his life, Jada was blessed by the shaman of his tribe and given the cold, strange weapon of the man he had spent six months learning from. With this blessing was assigned unto Jada the task of finding and freeing the Kokopelli people carried across the sea, and the responsibility to find some way of preventing the strange men who rode the waves from returning to their shores. It is truly a huge burden, but it is one which Jada is glad to carry...
After a long journey Jada finally arrived in the city of Radasanth. This size of this population center, as compared to the villages of Jada's people, was overwhelming. The visual and social barrage of all of it quickly left Jada wanting, and in a test to try and prove himself, to himself, Jada submitted himself first to a trial in the famed Citadel. There he fought Xanith Trailweaver, an elven male. The battle ended in Xanith taking his own life, although Jada was later dumbfounded to find that those who perish in the Citadel do not, in fact, actually perish...
From there Jada was entered into The Cell, a tournament in which armed fighters are locked with one another is a metal cage and forced to duel till the end. In a remarkable performace for someone with his limited skill and experience, and despite being wounded, Jada advanced to the finals of the tournament. In the finals, however, the young warrior was again overwhelmed, and the confusion of the battle escaped the Cell and ran from his opponents.
Running only empowered the beast nagging at Jada's sense of self worth, and soon enough the warrior found himself yet again in the Citadel's insidious arenas, this time taking part in a team battle. Due to some apparent miscommunication, though, the teams fell apart rapidly during the fight, and desolved into an all out war in which Jada claimed his first life. Although aware that combatants in the Citadel do not actually die, the sensation of taking another's life was a profound one for Jada...
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