DarkStorm
06-17-07, 05:19 AM
"No one's killin' any folk today
on account o' we got a very tight schedule."
http://amonyss.freepgs.com/Aiden/aiden.gif
Aiden DarkStorm
Burdened Warrior
112 Years Old
Fell Human
6'7" Tall
290 Lbs.
Appearance (http://amonyss.freepgs.com/Aiden/aiden2.jpg): Many are the words used to describe Aiden; primal and animalistic more often than most others. Aiden's shoulder length hair is a mane of dark brown dreadlocks, and his emerald green eyes are nearly always framed by a scowl. His skin is a light bronze color.
Personality: Normally calm, quiet, and collected, Aiden is easy to get along with, so long as you do not cross him. Although he is not overly violent, Aiden is not concerned with confrontation, and when push comes to shove, he becomes an incredibly dangerous enemy. After long years of living alone, lost in forest land, he is as tough as the land he fough tooth and nail to survive in. After living in the wilds for so long, Aiden has long since developed a habit of 'scanning' his surrounding, taking in people, animals, and objects, evaluating their threat level, and dismissing it as appropriate, all within mere moments. To catch Aiden unaware or in ambush is an incredible feat.
Miscellaneous: Aiden carries a single sword on his back, the only obvious weapon. However, secreted about his body is many hidden knives, and his ability to pull one of them out of nowhere is a thing of humor among his few friends.
Inventory: Knives (http://amonyss.freepgs.com/Aiden/knife.jpg) (x6), Ankle-length yellow Trenchcoat, Bone necklace, Steel Long Sword (x1)
Skills & Abilities
- Combat Training: Aiden is well-versed in the use of bladed objects, and can fight with a moderate proficiency with Swords, or Knives.
Racial Abilities
-Bone Melding: Aiden is able to reshape and control his skeletal structure at will. At current, he can use this to quickly mend broken bones, or harden them to moderately resist blunt trauma.
-Fell Speed: Though he is only slightly faster than the average human at present, Elder Fell Humans are known to move at speeds faster than the eye can see for prolonged periods of time.
-
The campfire burned in the night, holding back the darkness and shadows. The sound of thunder rumbling in the distance made Aiden smile to himself. Looking up at the Fae sitting across from him, he answered her question.
"My life...? What do you want to know about it?"
Several moments passed in silence, before Aiden took the hint. She wanted to know whatever he would tell her.
"I... am not human. I am what is called a Fell Human. I don't remember my birth, or much before my sixth birthday, though I suppose that is normal for boys that age. What I do remember was my Father, Mother, and Brother. My younger Brother Rahvin was my only friend, even among my family. My Father and Mother hated me for what I turned out to be. I was a resurgence of the Old Blood, what they had hoped was forever gone from their precious bloodlines. I was lucky that I seemed to be a normal child when born, or they might have left me to die in some flooded ditch beside a muddy road. People say that you are more than just your blood, but I have been shown only the opposite of that in my life."
"But what are you? What is a Fell Human?" The small figure across the fire asked.
Aiden thought for a moment before answering.
"To be honest, I am not quite sure. I know a few things about my kind, but what it means to be one, I don't know. I don't know the legacy of my blood, or any of the other things that inspire dread or pride in it. The few things I know are nothing more than tidbits. It would seem that Fell Humans are a stronger breed of humanity, better suited to the rigors of physical activity, and less inclined toward magic." Aiden lifted his arms slightly to offer himself as an example. "Other than that... I know that Fell Humans tend to have an affinity to what are widely considered lesser forms of life. Snakes, Spiders, insects... None have ever bothered me."
Aiden picked up a small, dried twig from the dirty, dusty ground and twirled it between his fingers. His eyes seemed to be looking elsewhere, somewhere far beyond the campfire. "I found my way, even without my family. Eventually, I even made a family of my own."
"Her name was Sere. Against all odds, I had found one of my own kind, though at the time I didn't know it. She displayed none of the characteristics of my kind. She was tall and slender, her fair skin and smooth complexion seemed somehow outlandish. Her beauty was stunning. The only thing about her that ever made me regret was her bitch of a mother."
Chuckling, Aiden leaned back. He could feel the tree's bark scratching his back through his drab yellow trenchcoat. His sword lay on the ground at his side, and his fingers traced over the wire-bound hilt absently. His eyes were clouded; it was obvious he was lost in thought and memory.
"We made a home for ourselves in a small village in Salvar. She loved the snow, the cold, and all that comes with winter. I can't recall how many nights we spent together, laughing and talking in front of the fireplace, frost coating the windows of our small house. Life was perfect."
"Kids followed. Namik was not mine, or Sere's, though we both considered him our first child. Our village was, as I said, small. Me and Tyrus, my best friend, were the only capable warriors of the town. And so it fell to us to protect it. That job never seemed too hard, until the day came that a Dark Mage came to town."
Aiden paused for a minute, and casually tossed the stiff twig into the fire. A tiny flash of light was followed by a pop, and the sizzling sound of something burning.
"Tyrus and I went to chase him away. There, we found Namik, encaged, and tortured. We freed him, and triumphed over the Dark Mage. In my arrogance, I taunted him, and in return, he swore an oath of revenge, and fled. The day saved, I returned home, the boy in tow. Thinking back on it now, it sort of reminds me of how a lost puppy would follow you, were you to show it some kindness or another. Strange, how that little lost puppy would be the final key to me finding my own place in the world."
Aiden seemed lost in the telling of the story. His eyes had unfocused, though firelight danced in them.
"Namik only ever spoke once. I am not sure if the torture muted him, or if he had just never found the desire to speak... and I guess I never will. In every other respect, he was as much a child as any other. Hours would pass as I watched him running about the small plot of land Sere and I called our own, playing. Though he was always quick to smile, the time came that he grew lonely. Though he never told us that, or alluded to it in any way, it is easy for a father to tell that sort of thing. Through a simple glaze, or the decision to stay inside rather than go outside and play, he told us what he desired. He wanted friends. There was no other children in the village. But because of our experiences with Namik, Sere and I decided that we wanted children. And so finally, we had them."
"Aistan and Istan were born later that year... twins. They were oddities, even for children their age. Both had hair as white as snow. In all respects, they were identical, they even acted just alike. For nine years to come, our home was full of laughter and happiness. It was a height of joy that I had never thought I would experience. Their loss was pain beyond words..."
Aiden's voice trailed into silence, his eyes fixed on the fire. In truth, the fire held his attention less than a spider or snake might. He only gazed at it to avoid Kylie's eyes.
"What happened?" She asked after a moment, her voice clouded slightly. Aiden's eyes flicked up to her face for a second before dropping back to the blaze. Concern was written across every feature on her youthful face. He wasn't sure how she managed to make her nose look concerned about his past, but she somehow did. Aiden shook his head softly, his mane of dreadlocks swaying with the motion. The girl simply cared too much. Someday, her little heart would be broken into a thousand pieces small enough to fit through the eye of a needle because of it.
"My negligence as a father and husband killed them." He answered. The night seemed to grow quiet. Even the fire's crackling seemed muted.
"I had gone out to hunt. Our food stores had been diminished by the harsh winter. In the distance, I heard her scream my name." Aiden fell silent for a few seconds. "I ran as fast as I could. Fast enough for the tree branches to cut my face and body like knives, and the roots of ancient trees to be ripped up when they caught my ankles. But I wasn't fast enough."
"I arrived to find our home nothing but wreckage. Even the land around it was turned over, torn apart. At first, I feared they were already dead. Later, I wished they had been." Aiden cleared his throat before continuing. So much speaking was causing his throat to dry. "He was there. The Dark Mage I had chased off years ago. My family knelt on the churned earth before him, held by chains made of black light. Had I handled the situation better, they might still be alive today... but instead, I thought that brute force could solve the problem. I charged at him, recklessly, betraying my presence."
"A simple flick of his wrist in my direction brought me to a halt. It was like being hit in the chest with a blunted cannonball. I was amazed that I was still alive, at the same time wishing, because of the pain, to simply die. I was even denied the pleasantry of letting the pain wear off while prone- the man's magic held me up, like an invisible hand. I was helpless, and he forced me to watch them die."
"He taunted me, while he cast the first spell. A flash of eye wrenching green light issued from his hands, and a whip like stalk of shadow shot outward, toward one of the twins. Somehow, in the confusion and fear that followed, Sere's eyes met my own. Somehow, I simply knew what she thinking. Save our children. My heart broke from the conflicting emotions that burned inside me as she launched herself to the side, intercepting the stalk of magic. In the blink of an eye, the light of life in her eyes flickered, failed, and went dark."
"It was pain beyond any I had ever known. I have heard that when you die, images of your life pass before your eyes. Something similar happened to me, when she died. The only difference was that when she died, I saw all the things that had fulfilled my life- I remembered her soft smile, and playful kisses. I remembered her leaning against me, in front of the fire. Images of her holding our children when a nightmare woke them in the night, memories of her voice whispering in my ear, giving me confidence and reassurance as I held my first child awkwardly. I could even smell her scent, so indescribable that my mind could only connect it to the color of Jade..."
"In a millisecond, she was simply... gone. The woman I had loved with everything I was, was.... dead. There was no period of numbness, or confusion. It was instant agony. The knowledge that I would never again see my beautiful baby was crushing. How could I ever bear this pain?""
"My son, one of them- I don't know which, wailed at seeing his mother die. Aistan cried out... begging me to save him, to please help him, he couldn't move and momma was hurt. I raged against the invisible bonds that held me down, fruitless. I might as well have been encased in steel. Solid stone would have been more relenting. My pain was just beginning."
"His next target was Istan, my son. I struggled, but it was like fighting the laws of physics. No matter how loudly my heart screamed, I couldn't break through. It was Namik who gave me a final few seconds with which to look at my children. Throwing himself in front of Istan, he caught the whip of magic in the center of his chest. His last, and only words still hung in the air as he died. He had said 'for you, father.'"
"He had believed that I loved Istan and Aistan more, simply because they were my physical children. It is proof that I am less than I should be, that it was true. I mourned for Namik, almost as much as I did for Sere... but a small part of me was happy that he had done what he had done. I was grateful that he had given me more time with Aistan and Istan. But then came the unspeakable. There was no one left to protect my children, and he forced me to watch them die."
Aiden seemed to snap back into reality, his eyes once more taking in his surroundings. He said no more of his children, or Sere, and his terse posture made it clear that further questions were unwelcome.
"I expected to die with them... but he told me, after he had nearly knocked me unconscious, that it would suit him better for me to live, and suffer. The only reason I didn't end it myself was the knowledge that Sere wouldn't have approved. I lived now for her memory, and the memories of my dead children... No father should ever have to..." Aiden's voice caught in his throat. "The ground was hard, and frozen. I could not bury them. I used what wreckage was left of our home, and built a funeral pyre for them. Every fiber and instinct in my body screamed at me to jump into that fire, and save my children and wife before it burned their delicate skin. But my mind told me the truth; they'd never feel it, or anything else again. It was now, for the first time in my life, that I began to question the existence of Gods, and the afterlife. My nightmare had become a simple one. What if there was no afterlife? What if my wife and children had simply... ceased to exist? The pain of that thought was more than I could bear. What if Istan's charming smile, or Aistan's boyish self-consciousness, was simply erased from existence? What if Namik's calm security, or Sere's reassuring presence was simply... destroyed? The world suddenly seemed colder than Salvar in the depths of winter. My life had become empty, a cruel mockery."
"For years to come, I would wake in the middle of the night, my hands searching the sheets around me for a wife that was not there, or for children that would never have another nightmare that scared them into bed with their parents. I didn't know if there was a Heaven, or Gods... but I knew there was a Hell. I was in it. Each waking moment was an exercise in loss, and sorrowful memories."
"Nearly twenty years later, I found an end to my pain. Sere's bitch of a mother had brainwashed Sere's younger sister into believing that I had killed her sister and nephews. Alaina decided to seek me out, and avenge her sister. She failed in that respect, but her hatred convinced me to tell her the truth of what had happened. When I did, her hatred of me dwindled, and died out. For half a year, we traveled together. She was too young to have much of a reason for life, and I had already had, and lost, mine. We grew closer, until finally, our feelings turned to love."
"We married shortly after, and had children. Twins. A boy and girl." Aiden smiled, and dropped his hand to the sleeping figure next to him. Chance had been sleeping soundly, not even snoring, as he normally did. Aiden rubbed the sleeping child's side, and laughed quietly when the boy's back arched slightly, like a cat. Turning his focus back to Kylie, he continued. "We were all together, but the raid caused us to separate. I have been searching for Alaina and Fate ever since."
"Well, does that answer all your questions?"
on account o' we got a very tight schedule."
http://amonyss.freepgs.com/Aiden/aiden.gif
Aiden DarkStorm
Burdened Warrior
112 Years Old
Fell Human
6'7" Tall
290 Lbs.
Appearance (http://amonyss.freepgs.com/Aiden/aiden2.jpg): Many are the words used to describe Aiden; primal and animalistic more often than most others. Aiden's shoulder length hair is a mane of dark brown dreadlocks, and his emerald green eyes are nearly always framed by a scowl. His skin is a light bronze color.
Personality: Normally calm, quiet, and collected, Aiden is easy to get along with, so long as you do not cross him. Although he is not overly violent, Aiden is not concerned with confrontation, and when push comes to shove, he becomes an incredibly dangerous enemy. After long years of living alone, lost in forest land, he is as tough as the land he fough tooth and nail to survive in. After living in the wilds for so long, Aiden has long since developed a habit of 'scanning' his surrounding, taking in people, animals, and objects, evaluating their threat level, and dismissing it as appropriate, all within mere moments. To catch Aiden unaware or in ambush is an incredible feat.
Miscellaneous: Aiden carries a single sword on his back, the only obvious weapon. However, secreted about his body is many hidden knives, and his ability to pull one of them out of nowhere is a thing of humor among his few friends.
Inventory: Knives (http://amonyss.freepgs.com/Aiden/knife.jpg) (x6), Ankle-length yellow Trenchcoat, Bone necklace, Steel Long Sword (x1)
Skills & Abilities
- Combat Training: Aiden is well-versed in the use of bladed objects, and can fight with a moderate proficiency with Swords, or Knives.
Racial Abilities
-Bone Melding: Aiden is able to reshape and control his skeletal structure at will. At current, he can use this to quickly mend broken bones, or harden them to moderately resist blunt trauma.
-Fell Speed: Though he is only slightly faster than the average human at present, Elder Fell Humans are known to move at speeds faster than the eye can see for prolonged periods of time.
-
The campfire burned in the night, holding back the darkness and shadows. The sound of thunder rumbling in the distance made Aiden smile to himself. Looking up at the Fae sitting across from him, he answered her question.
"My life...? What do you want to know about it?"
Several moments passed in silence, before Aiden took the hint. She wanted to know whatever he would tell her.
"I... am not human. I am what is called a Fell Human. I don't remember my birth, or much before my sixth birthday, though I suppose that is normal for boys that age. What I do remember was my Father, Mother, and Brother. My younger Brother Rahvin was my only friend, even among my family. My Father and Mother hated me for what I turned out to be. I was a resurgence of the Old Blood, what they had hoped was forever gone from their precious bloodlines. I was lucky that I seemed to be a normal child when born, or they might have left me to die in some flooded ditch beside a muddy road. People say that you are more than just your blood, but I have been shown only the opposite of that in my life."
"But what are you? What is a Fell Human?" The small figure across the fire asked.
Aiden thought for a moment before answering.
"To be honest, I am not quite sure. I know a few things about my kind, but what it means to be one, I don't know. I don't know the legacy of my blood, or any of the other things that inspire dread or pride in it. The few things I know are nothing more than tidbits. It would seem that Fell Humans are a stronger breed of humanity, better suited to the rigors of physical activity, and less inclined toward magic." Aiden lifted his arms slightly to offer himself as an example. "Other than that... I know that Fell Humans tend to have an affinity to what are widely considered lesser forms of life. Snakes, Spiders, insects... None have ever bothered me."
Aiden picked up a small, dried twig from the dirty, dusty ground and twirled it between his fingers. His eyes seemed to be looking elsewhere, somewhere far beyond the campfire. "I found my way, even without my family. Eventually, I even made a family of my own."
"Her name was Sere. Against all odds, I had found one of my own kind, though at the time I didn't know it. She displayed none of the characteristics of my kind. She was tall and slender, her fair skin and smooth complexion seemed somehow outlandish. Her beauty was stunning. The only thing about her that ever made me regret was her bitch of a mother."
Chuckling, Aiden leaned back. He could feel the tree's bark scratching his back through his drab yellow trenchcoat. His sword lay on the ground at his side, and his fingers traced over the wire-bound hilt absently. His eyes were clouded; it was obvious he was lost in thought and memory.
"We made a home for ourselves in a small village in Salvar. She loved the snow, the cold, and all that comes with winter. I can't recall how many nights we spent together, laughing and talking in front of the fireplace, frost coating the windows of our small house. Life was perfect."
"Kids followed. Namik was not mine, or Sere's, though we both considered him our first child. Our village was, as I said, small. Me and Tyrus, my best friend, were the only capable warriors of the town. And so it fell to us to protect it. That job never seemed too hard, until the day came that a Dark Mage came to town."
Aiden paused for a minute, and casually tossed the stiff twig into the fire. A tiny flash of light was followed by a pop, and the sizzling sound of something burning.
"Tyrus and I went to chase him away. There, we found Namik, encaged, and tortured. We freed him, and triumphed over the Dark Mage. In my arrogance, I taunted him, and in return, he swore an oath of revenge, and fled. The day saved, I returned home, the boy in tow. Thinking back on it now, it sort of reminds me of how a lost puppy would follow you, were you to show it some kindness or another. Strange, how that little lost puppy would be the final key to me finding my own place in the world."
Aiden seemed lost in the telling of the story. His eyes had unfocused, though firelight danced in them.
"Namik only ever spoke once. I am not sure if the torture muted him, or if he had just never found the desire to speak... and I guess I never will. In every other respect, he was as much a child as any other. Hours would pass as I watched him running about the small plot of land Sere and I called our own, playing. Though he was always quick to smile, the time came that he grew lonely. Though he never told us that, or alluded to it in any way, it is easy for a father to tell that sort of thing. Through a simple glaze, or the decision to stay inside rather than go outside and play, he told us what he desired. He wanted friends. There was no other children in the village. But because of our experiences with Namik, Sere and I decided that we wanted children. And so finally, we had them."
"Aistan and Istan were born later that year... twins. They were oddities, even for children their age. Both had hair as white as snow. In all respects, they were identical, they even acted just alike. For nine years to come, our home was full of laughter and happiness. It was a height of joy that I had never thought I would experience. Their loss was pain beyond words..."
Aiden's voice trailed into silence, his eyes fixed on the fire. In truth, the fire held his attention less than a spider or snake might. He only gazed at it to avoid Kylie's eyes.
"What happened?" She asked after a moment, her voice clouded slightly. Aiden's eyes flicked up to her face for a second before dropping back to the blaze. Concern was written across every feature on her youthful face. He wasn't sure how she managed to make her nose look concerned about his past, but she somehow did. Aiden shook his head softly, his mane of dreadlocks swaying with the motion. The girl simply cared too much. Someday, her little heart would be broken into a thousand pieces small enough to fit through the eye of a needle because of it.
"My negligence as a father and husband killed them." He answered. The night seemed to grow quiet. Even the fire's crackling seemed muted.
"I had gone out to hunt. Our food stores had been diminished by the harsh winter. In the distance, I heard her scream my name." Aiden fell silent for a few seconds. "I ran as fast as I could. Fast enough for the tree branches to cut my face and body like knives, and the roots of ancient trees to be ripped up when they caught my ankles. But I wasn't fast enough."
"I arrived to find our home nothing but wreckage. Even the land around it was turned over, torn apart. At first, I feared they were already dead. Later, I wished they had been." Aiden cleared his throat before continuing. So much speaking was causing his throat to dry. "He was there. The Dark Mage I had chased off years ago. My family knelt on the churned earth before him, held by chains made of black light. Had I handled the situation better, they might still be alive today... but instead, I thought that brute force could solve the problem. I charged at him, recklessly, betraying my presence."
"A simple flick of his wrist in my direction brought me to a halt. It was like being hit in the chest with a blunted cannonball. I was amazed that I was still alive, at the same time wishing, because of the pain, to simply die. I was even denied the pleasantry of letting the pain wear off while prone- the man's magic held me up, like an invisible hand. I was helpless, and he forced me to watch them die."
"He taunted me, while he cast the first spell. A flash of eye wrenching green light issued from his hands, and a whip like stalk of shadow shot outward, toward one of the twins. Somehow, in the confusion and fear that followed, Sere's eyes met my own. Somehow, I simply knew what she thinking. Save our children. My heart broke from the conflicting emotions that burned inside me as she launched herself to the side, intercepting the stalk of magic. In the blink of an eye, the light of life in her eyes flickered, failed, and went dark."
"It was pain beyond any I had ever known. I have heard that when you die, images of your life pass before your eyes. Something similar happened to me, when she died. The only difference was that when she died, I saw all the things that had fulfilled my life- I remembered her soft smile, and playful kisses. I remembered her leaning against me, in front of the fire. Images of her holding our children when a nightmare woke them in the night, memories of her voice whispering in my ear, giving me confidence and reassurance as I held my first child awkwardly. I could even smell her scent, so indescribable that my mind could only connect it to the color of Jade..."
"In a millisecond, she was simply... gone. The woman I had loved with everything I was, was.... dead. There was no period of numbness, or confusion. It was instant agony. The knowledge that I would never again see my beautiful baby was crushing. How could I ever bear this pain?""
"My son, one of them- I don't know which, wailed at seeing his mother die. Aistan cried out... begging me to save him, to please help him, he couldn't move and momma was hurt. I raged against the invisible bonds that held me down, fruitless. I might as well have been encased in steel. Solid stone would have been more relenting. My pain was just beginning."
"His next target was Istan, my son. I struggled, but it was like fighting the laws of physics. No matter how loudly my heart screamed, I couldn't break through. It was Namik who gave me a final few seconds with which to look at my children. Throwing himself in front of Istan, he caught the whip of magic in the center of his chest. His last, and only words still hung in the air as he died. He had said 'for you, father.'"
"He had believed that I loved Istan and Aistan more, simply because they were my physical children. It is proof that I am less than I should be, that it was true. I mourned for Namik, almost as much as I did for Sere... but a small part of me was happy that he had done what he had done. I was grateful that he had given me more time with Aistan and Istan. But then came the unspeakable. There was no one left to protect my children, and he forced me to watch them die."
Aiden seemed to snap back into reality, his eyes once more taking in his surroundings. He said no more of his children, or Sere, and his terse posture made it clear that further questions were unwelcome.
"I expected to die with them... but he told me, after he had nearly knocked me unconscious, that it would suit him better for me to live, and suffer. The only reason I didn't end it myself was the knowledge that Sere wouldn't have approved. I lived now for her memory, and the memories of my dead children... No father should ever have to..." Aiden's voice caught in his throat. "The ground was hard, and frozen. I could not bury them. I used what wreckage was left of our home, and built a funeral pyre for them. Every fiber and instinct in my body screamed at me to jump into that fire, and save my children and wife before it burned their delicate skin. But my mind told me the truth; they'd never feel it, or anything else again. It was now, for the first time in my life, that I began to question the existence of Gods, and the afterlife. My nightmare had become a simple one. What if there was no afterlife? What if my wife and children had simply... ceased to exist? The pain of that thought was more than I could bear. What if Istan's charming smile, or Aistan's boyish self-consciousness, was simply erased from existence? What if Namik's calm security, or Sere's reassuring presence was simply... destroyed? The world suddenly seemed colder than Salvar in the depths of winter. My life had become empty, a cruel mockery."
"For years to come, I would wake in the middle of the night, my hands searching the sheets around me for a wife that was not there, or for children that would never have another nightmare that scared them into bed with their parents. I didn't know if there was a Heaven, or Gods... but I knew there was a Hell. I was in it. Each waking moment was an exercise in loss, and sorrowful memories."
"Nearly twenty years later, I found an end to my pain. Sere's bitch of a mother had brainwashed Sere's younger sister into believing that I had killed her sister and nephews. Alaina decided to seek me out, and avenge her sister. She failed in that respect, but her hatred convinced me to tell her the truth of what had happened. When I did, her hatred of me dwindled, and died out. For half a year, we traveled together. She was too young to have much of a reason for life, and I had already had, and lost, mine. We grew closer, until finally, our feelings turned to love."
"We married shortly after, and had children. Twins. A boy and girl." Aiden smiled, and dropped his hand to the sleeping figure next to him. Chance had been sleeping soundly, not even snoring, as he normally did. Aiden rubbed the sleeping child's side, and laughed quietly when the boy's back arched slightly, like a cat. Turning his focus back to Kylie, he continued. "We were all together, but the raid caused us to separate. I have been searching for Alaina and Fate ever since."
"Well, does that answer all your questions?"