Elmander Reckheart
03-26-13, 03:03 PM
Name: Elmander Reckheart
Age: 23
Height: 5’10”
Hair: Dark blonde
Eyes: Turquoise
Race: Human Channeller
Alignment: Good
Description:
Elmander is a tall, stocky twenty three year old male with short, mousy blonde hair, deep set turquoise eyes and high set cheekbones, giving his face a smooth, chiselled look. As expected from someone who hauls timber around for most of the working week, he has a bit of muscle on his arms and legs, with a flat stomach, although not ripped.
Generally, Elmander prefers to wear casual villager attire. This consists of an elm green shirt, strung up from the breast with brown leather cord and pair of nondescript brown working trousers, complete with shin high leather boots. A particular favourite piece of clothing for him is a navy green overcoat, complete with viridian cord trim and silver knob buttons. He often wears this whilst out travelling, drinking, and generally kicking about.
One item of extreme importance to him, both sentimentally and practically, is his Crylem crystal bracelet. This consists of a number of small crystals set into a silver band attached to his left wrist, each one storing and governing a particular element. (for more information, please see Channeller’s Call ability). The band itself has darker silver runes carved into it, although these runes are purely aesthetic and simply glow when Elmander is accessing his Call.
During Channelling rituals and matters, Elmander prefers to wear a chain with the Reckheart family crest engraved on a small, circular plate, linking the two chain ends together. This is worn around his neck, draped over the top of his overcoat, and resembles a griffin carved from silver.
Personality:
Elmander is, to his core, a good person. He holds down a job, earns his money honestly and enjoys his life as much as he can when he isn’t working or practicing his channelling. To this end he has many friends within Kelrym, and two or three “best friends” (detailed as NPC’s below). The people who know and love Elmander describe him in the following ways:
“My brother is a good guy. A dry humoured pain in the arse, but a good guy. He always wants to help you out, and is the kind of person you can rely on to cheer you up when things aren’t so great because one minute he can be giving you reassurance and advice on something and the next minute he’s got you on the floor in stitches at some stupid joke he’s told after a few stiff drinks. I’ve also never met anyone who understands Channelling like he does at his age, and I guess it’s my ambition to be better than he is. Sibling rivalry, eh? Still, I’m better looking than him, and that’s something that Channelling can’t fix for him, no matter how much better at it he is than me.” – Kerim Reckheart
“Elm’s the type of person you want at every party. Always the showman, he wants to be the centre of attention, even if the daft bastard’s body can’t handle what his mouth comes out with. I’ve been close to him since we were kids and even though I can drink him, and most of the village, under the table and still have time to stop off for a beer on the way home, Elm always wants to keep up with me. He fails every time, usually with hilarious consequences. But that’s why I like him, he tries. He’s always been there when I’ve needed him, but usually he needs me more than I need him. I’m not a channeller and I don’t really understand it, but I can see he’s going places and he’s like my brother, so I’ll help him whenever I can.” – Ross “Hitman” Heachkay
“The guy works hard but drinks like a fish, man. I don’t know how he managed to get as far as he did without it affecting his Channelling, but he has some sort of natural ‘click’ with it. I’ve not yet been able to best him in a one-on-one. As a man, he’s a friendly, sociable guy with a warm feel about him. However, I know he’s worried about what happened to his dad, even if he doesn’t say anything about it. A smile and a few drinks and it’s all brushed under the carpet, but deep down there is something there that troubles him, I’m sure of it. I just have to make sure I’m there for him as much as I can be, that’s what mates are for after all.” – David Nilsar
Skills:
Channeller’s proficiency: Elmander is proficient with the art of channelling (see below). This skill allows him to access, adapt, grow and eventually master channelling abilities.
Melee proficiency: Having received training from Ross Heachkay in the fine arts of swordplay, hammer wielding and “beating up the fixtures and fittings”, Elmander is able to hold his own in a melee confrontation using weapons he either crafts during his Call or obtains by other means.
Intellect: Elmander is a naturally smart guy. Common sense and intellect, and usually a bit of forward thinking, can do more for a person than swinging round a piece of iron. In Elmander’s case, this gives him a boost to his problem solving abilities and tactical nuance.
Language skills: Elmander can speak trade-speak (basic), a little drow and the language of Channellers in all dialects.
Persuasive: Elmander can turn on the charm at will and help guide people towards a choice. What choice that may be is a matter of morality, ethical alignment or situation.
Summary: Channelling
Channelling is the practice of drawing upon elements from crystals known as Crylem and using them like magic. Each channeller has a specific way of doing this: some may take on different forms (Elmander), call forth creatures composed of the elements (Kerim), or even augment their weapons and tools (David). Each method is more often than not specific to the channeller.
What is uniform amongst channellers is the method of storing the element. A channeller will “call” to an element and try to capture the essence of an element inside the Crylem crystal, usually by touching the crystal against the chosen material (such as ice) and chanting a small incantation (although this is not the same for everyone). Once this happens, the element will react with the Crylem and change the colour of the crystal.
Once it is stored, the element can be called upon by a channeller to do their bidding. The crystal in most cases must be in close proximity to a channeller or physically in contact with them for this to work, and in each case channellers tend to have their own preferences as to how and where these crystals come into contact with them. Some may choose to have implants, which are painful but more efficient. Some, like Elmander, may wear jewellery close to the body to do this while others may simple hold the crystals in their hands.
There are general rules of thumb for channelling elements. Firstly, elements are generally those found in the geological sphere of Althanas, such as ice, fire, water, earth, wind, shadow, rock and electricity. However, it has been rumoured in the past that several “non-standard” elements were captured using larger and more sophisticated Crylem formations, although these are mostly dismissed as mere legends.
The last thing to note is that there is one cardinal sin amongst channellers, and that is to create life using elements within Crylem crystals. A major taboo of Kelrym such as this usually has its roots, most of which are sourced in the times when Channellers were said to have become corrupt and summoned destructive and evil demons of ice, fire and water to the lands. These stories are often told to children to dissuade them from experimenting with such evils in the future.
NPC’s
Rossy “Hitman” Heachkay
A bearded giant of a man with strong arms and a big heart, Rossy is renown for his physical presence and his legendary prowess as a drinker. He works at the same timber mill as Elmander and has been friends with him since they were children, teaching him how to fight, drink and generally have fun. Rossy was nicknamed “Hitman” after friends joked about his assassin like cool-headedness during drink-offs in the local tavern, but this attribute stretches to almost all walks of his life. He is a valuable friend and Ally to Elmander and is often seen with him by his side.
Rossy has no experience or interest in being a channeller and wields a great hammer to protect himself and his friends with, as well as smash down trees with for the wood mill.
David Nilsar
David is almost the physical opposite of Rossy, being of slender build and skinny appearance, but has a large personality and huge affection for his mates. A hunter-gatherer by trade, he is nimble footed and quick minded, always to be relied on for tactical advice, where to find the best meat in the forest and generally how to get around. He is a deeply thoughtful person, able to read emotions of other people very well, but suffers from a little anxiety due in part to his upbringing as an orphan.
David’s skills lie in channelling by augmentation. He is able to draw upon his Crylem through a gauntlet on his right hand and augment his longbow and arrows to an element stored in the crystal.
Kerim Reckheart:
Kerim is Elmander’s younger twenty year old sister. She has just obtained her first calling and is on the way to becoming a channeller like her family members, although a little later than she would have liked. She is very popular around town, mostly with the boys, which might have something to do with, in her words, her “stunningly silky red hair, gorgeous blue eyes and an arse as tight as a troll’s purse-trings”. Athough she jokes about how beautiful she looks, she is actually very self conscious and worries about her appearance a lot, much to Elmander’s annoyance.
Her channelling call allows her to summon the elements to fight for her under various guises, such as a wolf made from ice. As per the requirements of the channellers code she is unable to give the creatures life but instead gives them familiar forms resembling life-like beasts.
Abilities:
Channeller’s Call
The Channeller’s Call is a Channeller’s most valuable skill. By utilising a special type of channelling crystal called Crylem, a channeller can extract the essence of an element of the outside world from an object and store it within the crystal. Once stored, the element reacts with the Crylem on command and can be used by a channeller to do many things, each of them specific to the channeller involved.
Elmander’s Call allows him to closely interact with a stored element to change his form, and by proxy the powers, abilities and tools at his command.
Crylem usually interacts with channellers through touch. This is the case with Elmander, who wears his Crylem crystals on a bracelet on his left arm. For any call to be activated, the crystals must always be in close proximity to the channeller (and element in any cases of extraction).
Call of Archlyte (requires Channeller’s Call)
The Call of Archlyte is Elmander’s trademark. Upon activating the call by drawing upon the power of the ice-type Crylem crystal, Elmander’s appearance changes drastically. His chest, legs and arms are encased in clear, faceted ice half an inch thick, and thin veins of ice branch out from the main body of ice to the face, hands and feet. Elmander is able to manipulate the physical properties of the ice to be flexible enough to move, but unfortunately is slowed down by the weight of the ice on his body.
The ice itself acts much like light armour and can protect Elmander from piercing, slashing or impact blows, cutting their effectiveness by half. However the ice is not unbreakable and the armour is only effective for about three hits, two hits with marginally stronger than human opponents and one hit with opponents who outclass Elmander in strength (large level gap or weapon tier gap). It is also weak against fire, rendering it completely ineffective after a single attack.
Elmander may also use the weight of the ice as a melee weapon. Again, though, the ice will weaken with every physical stress placed upon it, and this will impact on both its durability as an armour and strength as a weapon. Each melee strike will count as a “hit” towards the three hit durability limit.
The Call of Archlyte can be activated once an hour (twice per battle thread), and lasts for as long as there is unbroken ice on Elmander’s body. Once the Call has finished, Elmander must rest an hour before using it again.
Archlyte’s Craft (requires Call of Archlyte)
Using Archlyte’s Craft, Elmander is able to craft weapons and tools from ice particles surrounding his body during the Call of Archlyte. Whilst there are no limitations on the design of melee weapon he can craft, Elmander is unable to create any weapon bigger than him, nor is able to create bows or projectile weapons. The weapons that are created are equivalent in strength to Iron, and share the same weakness to fire as the ice used in call of Archlyte.
Elmander can use this ability only as long as he is in his Call of Archlyte form.
Elmander has a preference for swords, and often names his creations.
Background:
My name is Elmander Reckheart.
I was born into a mostly peaceful life in the town of Kelrym in Alerar, twenty three years ago. My mother and father were Tarin and Reinhardt Reckheart.
From the stories that I hear about the old days, when my old man Reinhardt first came to Alerar, Kelrym was nothing more than a dying and frightened settlement held together with mud and wood, founded by a ragtag band of travellers and almost nothing but wasteground ravaged by drought and plagued with hunger. I heard that while faced with these trials, though, the people of Kelrym refused to move their homes to a more suitable place, their collective resolve and will to live their motivation to turn Kelrym into a thriving city state like no other in the country of Alerar through nothing other than hard work. That was their ambition, and although I can’t see the logic in it, it was admirable to stay and suffer in order to build strong foundations.
The story goes that my old man was himself a thirty four year old traveller at the time he arrived in Kelrym. No-one seems to know where he came from, but it was said that he had been on a journey to further his skills as a Channeller, and he had been to many places that had been struck by natural disaster or war. Even so, he was quoted as saying he had never been as captivated by anything as he was with the people of Kelrym. He pledged his support to the settlement, and chose to use his Channelling powers to bring fresh water to the parched crops and cracked earth. Just the basics, you know, to give them a foundation to build on.
I heard that although he offered to do more, the people of Kelrym politely declined further help from my old man, explaining that they instead preferred to build a future upon the starting blocks he had granted them, rather than depend on him for sustainability. Impressed by their attitude and commitment, Reinhardt decided to settle in Kelrym to help with the development of the town, and took on his first Channelling apprentice, Tarin, my mother.
A lot of people have told me my mother Tarin Reckheart was a beautiful, strong and well respected woman. She was the daughter of the village elder Arius and one of Kelrym’s most popular Channellers. With Reinhardt, I guess she found a mentor of extensive experience, not just in Channelling, but also in matters of life and the world outside of Kelrym, a subject she had found herself lacking in to due to her sheltered life. She learned many things from dad about his life outside Kelrym, about his adventures across Althanas, but also mostly about how to fall in love.
All very nice and lovey-dovey, this, isn’t it? Well, I guess every story has to have a start somewhere.
As Kelrym expanded and thrived, mum and dad took on more and more lectures in Channelling, and before long most of the village were practitioners of the art. We soon became a melting pot of all different races practicing under a single banner, and I heard that most people, when asked, did not refer to themselves by their native race but instead by their practice. It was almost ridiculous seeing a wood elf and a human consider themselves part of the same race, but also quite inspiring, I have to admit. It’s still the case today.
When I was born, mum told me that Reinhardt sensed a pulsing force ebbing through my body, describing it as “the unmistakable power of a Reckheart”. I’m sure that was just a bit of fatherly pride bursting through rather than some enigmatic overstatement of my potential, by the way, but either way I had two very proud parents. Arius, my grandfather, gave his blessing for me to be raised in the traditions of the Reckheart and become a Channeller too, and that’s where my life started.
On my third birthday, it was announced that mum was pregnant with their second child. Nine months later she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, my little sister, named Kerim.
The next few years were pretty hazy for us after that. Mum always told me that dad always had his gaze cast towards the sunset, a distant look in his eyes that she had never seen before. It was a look mum could not place her finger on, not a look of discontent but perhaps of curiosity, but when she pulled dad up on it he simply smiled and said he was happy, and that he couldn’t have wished for a better family, putting the subject to bed.
For a while afterwards, mum sensed something was wrong with dad. Despite her concerns always being knocked back, she was convinced that dad had decided to travel again outside of Kelrym, away from his responsibilities as a parent and a husband, and was preparing to go on another journey of self discovery and research away from his children and wife. When the time came for him to finally admit his plans, mum had already prepared herself for the worst, conceding that Kelrym could not hold him forever if he had unfinished business.
She told me that, no matter what, dad left Kelrym with her blessing and her love, on the promise he would return as a father and a husband to her before their children grew up. Dad solemnly swore that he would return within five years to be with the children he fathered, the wife he loved and the town that he helped to rebuild, but explained there was something he needed to do, and it would take some time. With that, he set off into the night. That was the last we really saw or heard of him.
Fifteen years later, dad still hasn’t returned to Kelrym. Rumours of his whereabouts only serve to frustrate me and put even more of a smokescreen over his disappearance, with some people saying he had been killed abroad, or had found love in another country. Some even suggested something terrible had happened to him and as a result he had committed suicide. Mum, however, shut off from these whisperings and focused on raising me and Kerim, hoping one day to be reunited with her husband, with dad.
That brings me to today.
My name is Elmander Reckheart, son of Reinhardt. I’m twenty three years old. At the time of writing this entry, I am hung over, late for work at the timber mill and I am still supposed to be preparing for my recognition ceremony to take my first steps to becoming a master Channeller. I know I shouldn’t drink on a work night, but a celebration is a celebration after all, and Kerim wouldn’t take no for an answer in any case. So, here I am, half plastered, with a banging headache and a craving for pork.
It’s a bittersweet day for me today, to say the least. Mum, I can see it no matter how much you try to hide it. You see him when you look at me, don’t you? I’m following in his footsteps, in your footsteps too, and even though I can see you are proud of me, there’s a sadness there that eats at me a little. I want to make you and Kerim proud so that we can try and move on with our lives in the hope that somewhere out there, dad’s still alive, thinking about us, about you, about Kelrym.
I’m sure he’ll come back one day, mum. Kerim doesn’t believe it, and she is angry that he put you, put us, in this position. I can’t say I blame her for feeling like that. To be honest, if it weren’t for the fact that we didn’t know the reasons about why he disappeared, I’d probably feel worse than she does. But…he could be dead, through no fault of his own.
Speaking of Kerim, she mastered her Channellers Call today. I’m proud of her, but it made me laugh…She acted like it was a breeze, pulling some ridiculously fake “all too easy” smirk across her face for her friends to marvel at, but I could see the beads of sweat on her forehead. Don’t worry though, sis, the first time you call an element from your crystals is always the hardest.
I guess I have to go now, there’s plenty of wood to be brought in as we’re backlogged from last week and Arius will have my arse if I don’t get there on time, sober.
Just another day in Kelrym I guess.
Elmander
Age: 23
Height: 5’10”
Hair: Dark blonde
Eyes: Turquoise
Race: Human Channeller
Alignment: Good
Description:
Elmander is a tall, stocky twenty three year old male with short, mousy blonde hair, deep set turquoise eyes and high set cheekbones, giving his face a smooth, chiselled look. As expected from someone who hauls timber around for most of the working week, he has a bit of muscle on his arms and legs, with a flat stomach, although not ripped.
Generally, Elmander prefers to wear casual villager attire. This consists of an elm green shirt, strung up from the breast with brown leather cord and pair of nondescript brown working trousers, complete with shin high leather boots. A particular favourite piece of clothing for him is a navy green overcoat, complete with viridian cord trim and silver knob buttons. He often wears this whilst out travelling, drinking, and generally kicking about.
One item of extreme importance to him, both sentimentally and practically, is his Crylem crystal bracelet. This consists of a number of small crystals set into a silver band attached to his left wrist, each one storing and governing a particular element. (for more information, please see Channeller’s Call ability). The band itself has darker silver runes carved into it, although these runes are purely aesthetic and simply glow when Elmander is accessing his Call.
During Channelling rituals and matters, Elmander prefers to wear a chain with the Reckheart family crest engraved on a small, circular plate, linking the two chain ends together. This is worn around his neck, draped over the top of his overcoat, and resembles a griffin carved from silver.
Personality:
Elmander is, to his core, a good person. He holds down a job, earns his money honestly and enjoys his life as much as he can when he isn’t working or practicing his channelling. To this end he has many friends within Kelrym, and two or three “best friends” (detailed as NPC’s below). The people who know and love Elmander describe him in the following ways:
“My brother is a good guy. A dry humoured pain in the arse, but a good guy. He always wants to help you out, and is the kind of person you can rely on to cheer you up when things aren’t so great because one minute he can be giving you reassurance and advice on something and the next minute he’s got you on the floor in stitches at some stupid joke he’s told after a few stiff drinks. I’ve also never met anyone who understands Channelling like he does at his age, and I guess it’s my ambition to be better than he is. Sibling rivalry, eh? Still, I’m better looking than him, and that’s something that Channelling can’t fix for him, no matter how much better at it he is than me.” – Kerim Reckheart
“Elm’s the type of person you want at every party. Always the showman, he wants to be the centre of attention, even if the daft bastard’s body can’t handle what his mouth comes out with. I’ve been close to him since we were kids and even though I can drink him, and most of the village, under the table and still have time to stop off for a beer on the way home, Elm always wants to keep up with me. He fails every time, usually with hilarious consequences. But that’s why I like him, he tries. He’s always been there when I’ve needed him, but usually he needs me more than I need him. I’m not a channeller and I don’t really understand it, but I can see he’s going places and he’s like my brother, so I’ll help him whenever I can.” – Ross “Hitman” Heachkay
“The guy works hard but drinks like a fish, man. I don’t know how he managed to get as far as he did without it affecting his Channelling, but he has some sort of natural ‘click’ with it. I’ve not yet been able to best him in a one-on-one. As a man, he’s a friendly, sociable guy with a warm feel about him. However, I know he’s worried about what happened to his dad, even if he doesn’t say anything about it. A smile and a few drinks and it’s all brushed under the carpet, but deep down there is something there that troubles him, I’m sure of it. I just have to make sure I’m there for him as much as I can be, that’s what mates are for after all.” – David Nilsar
Skills:
Channeller’s proficiency: Elmander is proficient with the art of channelling (see below). This skill allows him to access, adapt, grow and eventually master channelling abilities.
Melee proficiency: Having received training from Ross Heachkay in the fine arts of swordplay, hammer wielding and “beating up the fixtures and fittings”, Elmander is able to hold his own in a melee confrontation using weapons he either crafts during his Call or obtains by other means.
Intellect: Elmander is a naturally smart guy. Common sense and intellect, and usually a bit of forward thinking, can do more for a person than swinging round a piece of iron. In Elmander’s case, this gives him a boost to his problem solving abilities and tactical nuance.
Language skills: Elmander can speak trade-speak (basic), a little drow and the language of Channellers in all dialects.
Persuasive: Elmander can turn on the charm at will and help guide people towards a choice. What choice that may be is a matter of morality, ethical alignment or situation.
Summary: Channelling
Channelling is the practice of drawing upon elements from crystals known as Crylem and using them like magic. Each channeller has a specific way of doing this: some may take on different forms (Elmander), call forth creatures composed of the elements (Kerim), or even augment their weapons and tools (David). Each method is more often than not specific to the channeller.
What is uniform amongst channellers is the method of storing the element. A channeller will “call” to an element and try to capture the essence of an element inside the Crylem crystal, usually by touching the crystal against the chosen material (such as ice) and chanting a small incantation (although this is not the same for everyone). Once this happens, the element will react with the Crylem and change the colour of the crystal.
Once it is stored, the element can be called upon by a channeller to do their bidding. The crystal in most cases must be in close proximity to a channeller or physically in contact with them for this to work, and in each case channellers tend to have their own preferences as to how and where these crystals come into contact with them. Some may choose to have implants, which are painful but more efficient. Some, like Elmander, may wear jewellery close to the body to do this while others may simple hold the crystals in their hands.
There are general rules of thumb for channelling elements. Firstly, elements are generally those found in the geological sphere of Althanas, such as ice, fire, water, earth, wind, shadow, rock and electricity. However, it has been rumoured in the past that several “non-standard” elements were captured using larger and more sophisticated Crylem formations, although these are mostly dismissed as mere legends.
The last thing to note is that there is one cardinal sin amongst channellers, and that is to create life using elements within Crylem crystals. A major taboo of Kelrym such as this usually has its roots, most of which are sourced in the times when Channellers were said to have become corrupt and summoned destructive and evil demons of ice, fire and water to the lands. These stories are often told to children to dissuade them from experimenting with such evils in the future.
NPC’s
Rossy “Hitman” Heachkay
A bearded giant of a man with strong arms and a big heart, Rossy is renown for his physical presence and his legendary prowess as a drinker. He works at the same timber mill as Elmander and has been friends with him since they were children, teaching him how to fight, drink and generally have fun. Rossy was nicknamed “Hitman” after friends joked about his assassin like cool-headedness during drink-offs in the local tavern, but this attribute stretches to almost all walks of his life. He is a valuable friend and Ally to Elmander and is often seen with him by his side.
Rossy has no experience or interest in being a channeller and wields a great hammer to protect himself and his friends with, as well as smash down trees with for the wood mill.
David Nilsar
David is almost the physical opposite of Rossy, being of slender build and skinny appearance, but has a large personality and huge affection for his mates. A hunter-gatherer by trade, he is nimble footed and quick minded, always to be relied on for tactical advice, where to find the best meat in the forest and generally how to get around. He is a deeply thoughtful person, able to read emotions of other people very well, but suffers from a little anxiety due in part to his upbringing as an orphan.
David’s skills lie in channelling by augmentation. He is able to draw upon his Crylem through a gauntlet on his right hand and augment his longbow and arrows to an element stored in the crystal.
Kerim Reckheart:
Kerim is Elmander’s younger twenty year old sister. She has just obtained her first calling and is on the way to becoming a channeller like her family members, although a little later than she would have liked. She is very popular around town, mostly with the boys, which might have something to do with, in her words, her “stunningly silky red hair, gorgeous blue eyes and an arse as tight as a troll’s purse-trings”. Athough she jokes about how beautiful she looks, she is actually very self conscious and worries about her appearance a lot, much to Elmander’s annoyance.
Her channelling call allows her to summon the elements to fight for her under various guises, such as a wolf made from ice. As per the requirements of the channellers code she is unable to give the creatures life but instead gives them familiar forms resembling life-like beasts.
Abilities:
Channeller’s Call
The Channeller’s Call is a Channeller’s most valuable skill. By utilising a special type of channelling crystal called Crylem, a channeller can extract the essence of an element of the outside world from an object and store it within the crystal. Once stored, the element reacts with the Crylem on command and can be used by a channeller to do many things, each of them specific to the channeller involved.
Elmander’s Call allows him to closely interact with a stored element to change his form, and by proxy the powers, abilities and tools at his command.
Crylem usually interacts with channellers through touch. This is the case with Elmander, who wears his Crylem crystals on a bracelet on his left arm. For any call to be activated, the crystals must always be in close proximity to the channeller (and element in any cases of extraction).
Call of Archlyte (requires Channeller’s Call)
The Call of Archlyte is Elmander’s trademark. Upon activating the call by drawing upon the power of the ice-type Crylem crystal, Elmander’s appearance changes drastically. His chest, legs and arms are encased in clear, faceted ice half an inch thick, and thin veins of ice branch out from the main body of ice to the face, hands and feet. Elmander is able to manipulate the physical properties of the ice to be flexible enough to move, but unfortunately is slowed down by the weight of the ice on his body.
The ice itself acts much like light armour and can protect Elmander from piercing, slashing or impact blows, cutting their effectiveness by half. However the ice is not unbreakable and the armour is only effective for about three hits, two hits with marginally stronger than human opponents and one hit with opponents who outclass Elmander in strength (large level gap or weapon tier gap). It is also weak against fire, rendering it completely ineffective after a single attack.
Elmander may also use the weight of the ice as a melee weapon. Again, though, the ice will weaken with every physical stress placed upon it, and this will impact on both its durability as an armour and strength as a weapon. Each melee strike will count as a “hit” towards the three hit durability limit.
The Call of Archlyte can be activated once an hour (twice per battle thread), and lasts for as long as there is unbroken ice on Elmander’s body. Once the Call has finished, Elmander must rest an hour before using it again.
Archlyte’s Craft (requires Call of Archlyte)
Using Archlyte’s Craft, Elmander is able to craft weapons and tools from ice particles surrounding his body during the Call of Archlyte. Whilst there are no limitations on the design of melee weapon he can craft, Elmander is unable to create any weapon bigger than him, nor is able to create bows or projectile weapons. The weapons that are created are equivalent in strength to Iron, and share the same weakness to fire as the ice used in call of Archlyte.
Elmander can use this ability only as long as he is in his Call of Archlyte form.
Elmander has a preference for swords, and often names his creations.
Background:
My name is Elmander Reckheart.
I was born into a mostly peaceful life in the town of Kelrym in Alerar, twenty three years ago. My mother and father were Tarin and Reinhardt Reckheart.
From the stories that I hear about the old days, when my old man Reinhardt first came to Alerar, Kelrym was nothing more than a dying and frightened settlement held together with mud and wood, founded by a ragtag band of travellers and almost nothing but wasteground ravaged by drought and plagued with hunger. I heard that while faced with these trials, though, the people of Kelrym refused to move their homes to a more suitable place, their collective resolve and will to live their motivation to turn Kelrym into a thriving city state like no other in the country of Alerar through nothing other than hard work. That was their ambition, and although I can’t see the logic in it, it was admirable to stay and suffer in order to build strong foundations.
The story goes that my old man was himself a thirty four year old traveller at the time he arrived in Kelrym. No-one seems to know where he came from, but it was said that he had been on a journey to further his skills as a Channeller, and he had been to many places that had been struck by natural disaster or war. Even so, he was quoted as saying he had never been as captivated by anything as he was with the people of Kelrym. He pledged his support to the settlement, and chose to use his Channelling powers to bring fresh water to the parched crops and cracked earth. Just the basics, you know, to give them a foundation to build on.
I heard that although he offered to do more, the people of Kelrym politely declined further help from my old man, explaining that they instead preferred to build a future upon the starting blocks he had granted them, rather than depend on him for sustainability. Impressed by their attitude and commitment, Reinhardt decided to settle in Kelrym to help with the development of the town, and took on his first Channelling apprentice, Tarin, my mother.
A lot of people have told me my mother Tarin Reckheart was a beautiful, strong and well respected woman. She was the daughter of the village elder Arius and one of Kelrym’s most popular Channellers. With Reinhardt, I guess she found a mentor of extensive experience, not just in Channelling, but also in matters of life and the world outside of Kelrym, a subject she had found herself lacking in to due to her sheltered life. She learned many things from dad about his life outside Kelrym, about his adventures across Althanas, but also mostly about how to fall in love.
All very nice and lovey-dovey, this, isn’t it? Well, I guess every story has to have a start somewhere.
As Kelrym expanded and thrived, mum and dad took on more and more lectures in Channelling, and before long most of the village were practitioners of the art. We soon became a melting pot of all different races practicing under a single banner, and I heard that most people, when asked, did not refer to themselves by their native race but instead by their practice. It was almost ridiculous seeing a wood elf and a human consider themselves part of the same race, but also quite inspiring, I have to admit. It’s still the case today.
When I was born, mum told me that Reinhardt sensed a pulsing force ebbing through my body, describing it as “the unmistakable power of a Reckheart”. I’m sure that was just a bit of fatherly pride bursting through rather than some enigmatic overstatement of my potential, by the way, but either way I had two very proud parents. Arius, my grandfather, gave his blessing for me to be raised in the traditions of the Reckheart and become a Channeller too, and that’s where my life started.
On my third birthday, it was announced that mum was pregnant with their second child. Nine months later she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, my little sister, named Kerim.
The next few years were pretty hazy for us after that. Mum always told me that dad always had his gaze cast towards the sunset, a distant look in his eyes that she had never seen before. It was a look mum could not place her finger on, not a look of discontent but perhaps of curiosity, but when she pulled dad up on it he simply smiled and said he was happy, and that he couldn’t have wished for a better family, putting the subject to bed.
For a while afterwards, mum sensed something was wrong with dad. Despite her concerns always being knocked back, she was convinced that dad had decided to travel again outside of Kelrym, away from his responsibilities as a parent and a husband, and was preparing to go on another journey of self discovery and research away from his children and wife. When the time came for him to finally admit his plans, mum had already prepared herself for the worst, conceding that Kelrym could not hold him forever if he had unfinished business.
She told me that, no matter what, dad left Kelrym with her blessing and her love, on the promise he would return as a father and a husband to her before their children grew up. Dad solemnly swore that he would return within five years to be with the children he fathered, the wife he loved and the town that he helped to rebuild, but explained there was something he needed to do, and it would take some time. With that, he set off into the night. That was the last we really saw or heard of him.
Fifteen years later, dad still hasn’t returned to Kelrym. Rumours of his whereabouts only serve to frustrate me and put even more of a smokescreen over his disappearance, with some people saying he had been killed abroad, or had found love in another country. Some even suggested something terrible had happened to him and as a result he had committed suicide. Mum, however, shut off from these whisperings and focused on raising me and Kerim, hoping one day to be reunited with her husband, with dad.
That brings me to today.
My name is Elmander Reckheart, son of Reinhardt. I’m twenty three years old. At the time of writing this entry, I am hung over, late for work at the timber mill and I am still supposed to be preparing for my recognition ceremony to take my first steps to becoming a master Channeller. I know I shouldn’t drink on a work night, but a celebration is a celebration after all, and Kerim wouldn’t take no for an answer in any case. So, here I am, half plastered, with a banging headache and a craving for pork.
It’s a bittersweet day for me today, to say the least. Mum, I can see it no matter how much you try to hide it. You see him when you look at me, don’t you? I’m following in his footsteps, in your footsteps too, and even though I can see you are proud of me, there’s a sadness there that eats at me a little. I want to make you and Kerim proud so that we can try and move on with our lives in the hope that somewhere out there, dad’s still alive, thinking about us, about you, about Kelrym.
I’m sure he’ll come back one day, mum. Kerim doesn’t believe it, and she is angry that he put you, put us, in this position. I can’t say I blame her for feeling like that. To be honest, if it weren’t for the fact that we didn’t know the reasons about why he disappeared, I’d probably feel worse than she does. But…he could be dead, through no fault of his own.
Speaking of Kerim, she mastered her Channellers Call today. I’m proud of her, but it made me laugh…She acted like it was a breeze, pulling some ridiculously fake “all too easy” smirk across her face for her friends to marvel at, but I could see the beads of sweat on her forehead. Don’t worry though, sis, the first time you call an element from your crystals is always the hardest.
I guess I have to go now, there’s plenty of wood to be brought in as we’re backlogged from last week and Arius will have my arse if I don’t get there on time, sober.
Just another day in Kelrym I guess.
Elmander