Celestus
04-17-12, 08:35 AM
Name: Arialidas Veloniel
Age: 24 (Maturity-wise)
Race: High Elf
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Blue
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 157
Occupation: Former Laymen in Training, Aspiring Religious Leader, Hunter/Trapper
Personality: Despite being scarred, Arialidas is very sure of himself and confident. His heart is soft for others, considering well a sob story and how he can help. He particularly has a heart for the outcast, diseased, and socially ignored. Despite being a servant to others, he is assertive and often times downright stubborn in doing the right thing over the best thing. Some would argue that this has kept him a few steps behind in a merit-based society, but he sees it as exercising a leadership that the Church has long forgotten. While he believes that the traditions are well and good, it is serving people which brings forth true worship. He likes acting as a mentor when he can, but also enjoys being a student, learning new things with a rash of impatience.
Above all, he loves the gods. He worships them and often asks them rhetorical questions which he sometimes believes get answered through living every day life. He enjoys lifting up people and making them aware that he believes the gods love them as well. He expresses this in song, his actions towards people, and often times just living in his own world being in love with creation even in the darkest of hours. Because he believes that the gods love him, he is rarely a pessimist. Of course, his optimism has been known to annoy people because of his equal stubborn nature to find the joy of the gods wherever he can.
Appearance: Having his face burned from a magical attack from a childhood rival, at first glance, he is not your stereotypical "hot Legolas elf". Often times wearing leathers, particularly over his scarred part of his face, some might consider him a shabby recluse with his long black hair, but his eyes are what strike a person. His hands bear the mark of a craftsman, many scars and callouses littering his lithe fingers. The edge of his left ear bears burn scars similar to where his face was burned. He prefers to wear what he made himself, provoking himself to do better in his craft. While this does not give him an elegant look, his furs are often made into a cloak during the winter. He has yet to master the art of boots, and is often seen wearing crude sandals. He often wears his long hair with braids with different hair ornaments he made from bone. Even his bags and satchels are made by him, and are often his best sellers.
History: In Raiaera, The Veloniel family was a family steeped in bardic magic with three generations of magic-users in the family and one family member as a lower member of the High Bard Council. Expectations were high for Arialidas' workmanship, his name even denoting the wishes of his family to become the greatest bard known. Sadly, when he was a child, a magic-adept child was bullying others with his early knowledge of magic, even causing injury to one of Arialidas' friends. During a fight, he stood up to the bully and received a fireball straight to the face. Fortunately, his hand was able to protect his eye, but the left side of his face was burned to the point of scarring. Thinking his chances at being a bard were over due to the influence one had, he was sent to the Church to see if he could make it as a priest. It was there that, after studying under the priests there, that he started to feel disconnected with the pride of the High Elves. Even at a young age, he did not see a point in perfectionism, and preferred to help the poor and needy over following tradition. By the time he was a teenager, the Church gave up on him as a layman. As such, his family disowned him for not trying to be the greatest priest of their faith.
Despite being lost to his family, the friends he made in the poorer sections of town took him in with honor, mostly humans who benefited from his assistance when he was training. While he was removed from the Church, he believed that the gods were not as distant as the Church made them out to be. The gods could be there to smile when someone gave a kind word, that they would weep with us and not away from us when bad things happened. Joining up with a group of hunters, he earned his keep with the bow and arrow. For several years, he traded and enjoyed a simple life among the lower classes that he would have never gotten to enjoy as a bard. While they had their own ways of being the best, they respected the skill of one another rather than trying to step on them to rise above.
Then came the Corpse War.
Because he and his group were already good hunters and survivors, they were able to take a small group of refugees to the city of Beinost. It had been years since he had heard from his family, and he had yet to find his older brother or sister or even his aunts or uncles. He became a voice of reason and a caring ear to those who needed to weep. He taught people the basics of survival, so that those who had nothing left had something to work with. During those couple of years, he searched for some word of his old family. Despite his own pain, he found his own comfort in the new family he had made in the city. Many wondered if the gods even existed at all with such a massacre from the Necromancer. It was during this time that Arialidas spoke his mind, believing that the Church worshiped tradition over the gods and was unable to withstand the forces of darkness because of this. This has given him enemies as well as friends looking for answers.
He hopes in this time to rise up as a new religious leader who venerates the gods, but invites them into the daily lives of others instead of focusing on ritual. Until then, he helps whomever he can to survive in these harsh times, keeping up his little stall of bangles, odds and ends to make ends meet. When someone is in need of a healing, he uses his prayers and asks for nothing in return, believing that the simple act of inviting the gods to live with humans is an act of worship itself.
Skills:
Languages: Fluent and Articulate in Tradespeak and High Elven.
Theology: (Level 1) Well-versed in Raiaera Church doctrine, Knows basics of Major Gods around the World. At higher levels, even other polytheistic pantheons will be known to him.
Literacy: Able to read and write fluently in Tradespeak and High Elven.
Quarterstaff (Level 1) He knows when to speak softly and carry a big stick, and can even do basic sweeps and combos with them. He is not acrobatic enough to pull off cartwheels, but he can fend off a bandit or two. At later levels, he might learn a few combat tricks to make him vault, take on multiple opponents, or know how to attack joints to incapacitate an opponent.
Archery (Level 1) What's an elf without a bow? He can aim, shoot, and usually hit his target. At later levels he will hit more often, be able to use two arrows, and do trick shots.
Fletching (Level 1) He can make arrows out of wood and bone, good enough for basic ammunition. At later levels, they will add accuracy and skill to his Archery and hunting.
Leatherworking (Level 1) He knows how to make pelts from his kills and basic clothing. At later levels he could make armor or some more lucrative trade goods.
Boneworking (Level 1) He knows how to make use of bones for trinkets, arrows, and small daggers. At later levels, he can create bone flutes and club weapons.
Hunting (Level 1) He knows how to clean, skin, and save the meat of his kills. At later levels, he will know better kill spots and techniques to take down bigger game.
Abilities:
Charisma (Level 1) Despite how he looks, he has worked on how to influence people who need to hear the right words. At later levels his speaking skills might even help him influence the right people or even convert them to his beliefs.
Prayer (Level 1) As a man who invites the gods into mundane life, he can lay hands on someone to pray for a blessing. Even if the prayer is never answered, the act itself allows people to be comforted as they are prayed over. These prayers are often not answered immediately, but mundane inquiries such as praying for someone who has the sniffles might allow them to be healed more quickly. Prayers over soldiers or guardsmen might allow them to go a couple more hours on watch and stay alert. At later levels, some of his prayers may be answered quicker, or even mundane requests answered instantaneously. At highest levels, he will be able to ask a blessing upon an entire unit before battle and all of them will be able to have higher morale or even feel the gods with them. All of these instances require him to be able to lay hands on something to make it work (so praying over a storm to not have it damage the city would be out of the question, but laying hands on a specific building, praying that it doesn't get too damaged by the storm is acceptable).
Holy Song (Level 1) People listening for lyrics will think he is singing gibberish. His soulful tones which appear to have no meaning in lyrics, have deep meaning in emotion. He uses this as a form of worship, expressing his soul to the gods. People will be able to feel his emotions to the gods even if there are no words. At the lowest levels, even Arialidas doesn't understand what he is doing, and there is little other effect other than other people feeling what he is feeling. At later levels, it becomes a single thing that man shares with the gods... emotion. Those unable to feel (such as the undead or constructs) have their energies disturbed (at higher levels, completely robbing them of animation completely) and sentient beings feel an empathy with the singer's feelings with the song, being empowered by the presence of the gods, or getting righteously angry at an enemy.
Sadly, these songs are distinctive to the singer and their pure emotion in connection with the gods in worship. While a new written song might be able to be inspired from a song sung in this fashion, writing down the notes and playing them will not yield the same response. Since there are no lyrics involved, but utterances that might seem a language of its own, they cannot be written down and studied. If, however, one were to bring more than one person with a skill in Holy Song together singing about the same situation, the choir would be able to feed off of one another as well as their own connection and worship together in a chaotic, but harmonious union.
Example Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Bw6RAwfGHc&feature=relmfu)
Equipment:
Handmade Clothes (3)
Fur Cloak
Leather Mask
Bone Ornaments
Leather Satchel
Leather Sandals
Waterskin
Quiver
Backpack with Crafting Tools
Bone Hair Ornaments
Age: 24 (Maturity-wise)
Race: High Elf
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Blue
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 157
Occupation: Former Laymen in Training, Aspiring Religious Leader, Hunter/Trapper
Personality: Despite being scarred, Arialidas is very sure of himself and confident. His heart is soft for others, considering well a sob story and how he can help. He particularly has a heart for the outcast, diseased, and socially ignored. Despite being a servant to others, he is assertive and often times downright stubborn in doing the right thing over the best thing. Some would argue that this has kept him a few steps behind in a merit-based society, but he sees it as exercising a leadership that the Church has long forgotten. While he believes that the traditions are well and good, it is serving people which brings forth true worship. He likes acting as a mentor when he can, but also enjoys being a student, learning new things with a rash of impatience.
Above all, he loves the gods. He worships them and often asks them rhetorical questions which he sometimes believes get answered through living every day life. He enjoys lifting up people and making them aware that he believes the gods love them as well. He expresses this in song, his actions towards people, and often times just living in his own world being in love with creation even in the darkest of hours. Because he believes that the gods love him, he is rarely a pessimist. Of course, his optimism has been known to annoy people because of his equal stubborn nature to find the joy of the gods wherever he can.
Appearance: Having his face burned from a magical attack from a childhood rival, at first glance, he is not your stereotypical "hot Legolas elf". Often times wearing leathers, particularly over his scarred part of his face, some might consider him a shabby recluse with his long black hair, but his eyes are what strike a person. His hands bear the mark of a craftsman, many scars and callouses littering his lithe fingers. The edge of his left ear bears burn scars similar to where his face was burned. He prefers to wear what he made himself, provoking himself to do better in his craft. While this does not give him an elegant look, his furs are often made into a cloak during the winter. He has yet to master the art of boots, and is often seen wearing crude sandals. He often wears his long hair with braids with different hair ornaments he made from bone. Even his bags and satchels are made by him, and are often his best sellers.
History: In Raiaera, The Veloniel family was a family steeped in bardic magic with three generations of magic-users in the family and one family member as a lower member of the High Bard Council. Expectations were high for Arialidas' workmanship, his name even denoting the wishes of his family to become the greatest bard known. Sadly, when he was a child, a magic-adept child was bullying others with his early knowledge of magic, even causing injury to one of Arialidas' friends. During a fight, he stood up to the bully and received a fireball straight to the face. Fortunately, his hand was able to protect his eye, but the left side of his face was burned to the point of scarring. Thinking his chances at being a bard were over due to the influence one had, he was sent to the Church to see if he could make it as a priest. It was there that, after studying under the priests there, that he started to feel disconnected with the pride of the High Elves. Even at a young age, he did not see a point in perfectionism, and preferred to help the poor and needy over following tradition. By the time he was a teenager, the Church gave up on him as a layman. As such, his family disowned him for not trying to be the greatest priest of their faith.
Despite being lost to his family, the friends he made in the poorer sections of town took him in with honor, mostly humans who benefited from his assistance when he was training. While he was removed from the Church, he believed that the gods were not as distant as the Church made them out to be. The gods could be there to smile when someone gave a kind word, that they would weep with us and not away from us when bad things happened. Joining up with a group of hunters, he earned his keep with the bow and arrow. For several years, he traded and enjoyed a simple life among the lower classes that he would have never gotten to enjoy as a bard. While they had their own ways of being the best, they respected the skill of one another rather than trying to step on them to rise above.
Then came the Corpse War.
Because he and his group were already good hunters and survivors, they were able to take a small group of refugees to the city of Beinost. It had been years since he had heard from his family, and he had yet to find his older brother or sister or even his aunts or uncles. He became a voice of reason and a caring ear to those who needed to weep. He taught people the basics of survival, so that those who had nothing left had something to work with. During those couple of years, he searched for some word of his old family. Despite his own pain, he found his own comfort in the new family he had made in the city. Many wondered if the gods even existed at all with such a massacre from the Necromancer. It was during this time that Arialidas spoke his mind, believing that the Church worshiped tradition over the gods and was unable to withstand the forces of darkness because of this. This has given him enemies as well as friends looking for answers.
He hopes in this time to rise up as a new religious leader who venerates the gods, but invites them into the daily lives of others instead of focusing on ritual. Until then, he helps whomever he can to survive in these harsh times, keeping up his little stall of bangles, odds and ends to make ends meet. When someone is in need of a healing, he uses his prayers and asks for nothing in return, believing that the simple act of inviting the gods to live with humans is an act of worship itself.
Skills:
Languages: Fluent and Articulate in Tradespeak and High Elven.
Theology: (Level 1) Well-versed in Raiaera Church doctrine, Knows basics of Major Gods around the World. At higher levels, even other polytheistic pantheons will be known to him.
Literacy: Able to read and write fluently in Tradespeak and High Elven.
Quarterstaff (Level 1) He knows when to speak softly and carry a big stick, and can even do basic sweeps and combos with them. He is not acrobatic enough to pull off cartwheels, but he can fend off a bandit or two. At later levels, he might learn a few combat tricks to make him vault, take on multiple opponents, or know how to attack joints to incapacitate an opponent.
Archery (Level 1) What's an elf without a bow? He can aim, shoot, and usually hit his target. At later levels he will hit more often, be able to use two arrows, and do trick shots.
Fletching (Level 1) He can make arrows out of wood and bone, good enough for basic ammunition. At later levels, they will add accuracy and skill to his Archery and hunting.
Leatherworking (Level 1) He knows how to make pelts from his kills and basic clothing. At later levels he could make armor or some more lucrative trade goods.
Boneworking (Level 1) He knows how to make use of bones for trinkets, arrows, and small daggers. At later levels, he can create bone flutes and club weapons.
Hunting (Level 1) He knows how to clean, skin, and save the meat of his kills. At later levels, he will know better kill spots and techniques to take down bigger game.
Abilities:
Charisma (Level 1) Despite how he looks, he has worked on how to influence people who need to hear the right words. At later levels his speaking skills might even help him influence the right people or even convert them to his beliefs.
Prayer (Level 1) As a man who invites the gods into mundane life, he can lay hands on someone to pray for a blessing. Even if the prayer is never answered, the act itself allows people to be comforted as they are prayed over. These prayers are often not answered immediately, but mundane inquiries such as praying for someone who has the sniffles might allow them to be healed more quickly. Prayers over soldiers or guardsmen might allow them to go a couple more hours on watch and stay alert. At later levels, some of his prayers may be answered quicker, or even mundane requests answered instantaneously. At highest levels, he will be able to ask a blessing upon an entire unit before battle and all of them will be able to have higher morale or even feel the gods with them. All of these instances require him to be able to lay hands on something to make it work (so praying over a storm to not have it damage the city would be out of the question, but laying hands on a specific building, praying that it doesn't get too damaged by the storm is acceptable).
Holy Song (Level 1) People listening for lyrics will think he is singing gibberish. His soulful tones which appear to have no meaning in lyrics, have deep meaning in emotion. He uses this as a form of worship, expressing his soul to the gods. People will be able to feel his emotions to the gods even if there are no words. At the lowest levels, even Arialidas doesn't understand what he is doing, and there is little other effect other than other people feeling what he is feeling. At later levels, it becomes a single thing that man shares with the gods... emotion. Those unable to feel (such as the undead or constructs) have their energies disturbed (at higher levels, completely robbing them of animation completely) and sentient beings feel an empathy with the singer's feelings with the song, being empowered by the presence of the gods, or getting righteously angry at an enemy.
Sadly, these songs are distinctive to the singer and their pure emotion in connection with the gods in worship. While a new written song might be able to be inspired from a song sung in this fashion, writing down the notes and playing them will not yield the same response. Since there are no lyrics involved, but utterances that might seem a language of its own, they cannot be written down and studied. If, however, one were to bring more than one person with a skill in Holy Song together singing about the same situation, the choir would be able to feed off of one another as well as their own connection and worship together in a chaotic, but harmonious union.
Example Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Bw6RAwfGHc&feature=relmfu)
Equipment:
Handmade Clothes (3)
Fur Cloak
Leather Mask
Bone Ornaments
Leather Satchel
Leather Sandals
Waterskin
Quiver
Backpack with Crafting Tools
Bone Hair Ornaments