[hider=Honoria]
[b]Name:[/b] Honoria, aka ‘The Grey Lady’ (formally ‘The Wandering Lady’)
[b]Age:[/b] 491
[b]Gender:[/b] Female
[b]Species:[/b] Shade
[b]Kingdom of Origin:[/b] Concordius 
[b]Physical appearance:[/b]
[img]http://sfmlab.com/media/jumbo/DOALadyBig.jpg.750x500_q85_crop.jpg[/img]
Honoria stands at around 5’7” and weighs about 115lbs. Her skin, as a Shade, is now a dark grey colour rather than the silvery white that she once was. Her dark smoky eyes are as alluring as they are intimidating, and it’s impossible to tell which direction she is looking in. She has some faint scaring around her body from where she was chained with Iron, a grim reminder of the pain she was put through. Her voice is deep (for a female) and somewhat majestic sounding, similar to the voice of Galadriel in the LOTR movies. She has great posture and walks with a royal grace. 

[b]Attire:[/b] She is covered by root like things that are in fact a part of her body. She is able to extend these for better coverage and provide some minimal defense. Fortunately her turning did not seem to affect her control of this. Her only real clothing is a belt which she wears purely to house a money bag and her dagger. She also wears a small vial on a necklace, filled with a small few drop from Matrem’s Well. The necklace was a gift she received from a suitor when she was very young. She has contemplated getting some armour but after half a millennium of being naked, she struggles with the idea.

[b]Personality:[/b] Honoria was once a kind and gentle soul, willing to help any who came to her for aid. Since turning into a shade however, she has changed drastically. Feeling as if her entire world has been stripped from her, she is now an incredibly vengeful entity and finds herself in fits of rage from time to time. She is [i]very[/i] slow to make friends, being distrustful of most (especially humans) but she is willing to cooperate if it means achieving her goals. She has also grown bitter and has grown jealous of others who have a close connection with nature, feeling as if her own connection has been permanently severed. She is angered by those who don’t understand nature or wish to do it harm. In fact, she seemed to be quickly angered by anyone these days but at least is able to control her emotions and vent them in [i]creative[/i] ways. 

[b]Hobbies/interests:[/b] She mostly spends her time brooding, but can occasionally make time to retrain her magical abilities or to sing.

[b]Skills:[/b] Honoria has a natural penchant for befriending and even (to a certain extent) understanding animals and creatures. This doesn’t mean to say that she can talk to them or read their minds, but can, on some strange level, empathise with what they currently feel. She is also a nice singer, as are most Dryads. 

[b]Backstory:[/b]
Honoria was until recently known by many as ‘The Wandering Lady’ because of the tree that she was bound to, for it was a moving tree known as ‘Young Bark’. Young Bark was a gigantic tree that, unlike other moving trees, rarely stopped. For more nearly 500 hundred years Honoria sat atop Young Bark as the colossus drifted around Concrodius, protecting it when need be. Some of the more religious people of the world, including many Fairfolk, would find and tend the tree. Others sometimes came looking for The Wandering Lady because her healing skills were extraordinary. And so it was a peaceful existence for Honoria, one that lasted almost half a millennium… but unfortunately all good things must come to an end. 

When the Red Legion begun attacking settlements in the Wilderness, twas not only the forces of Brighton and Pyreton that felt the Legion’s sting. There were many small scale attacks and shows of support from their agents and secret sympathisers in the south and as it was, Honoria was one of the victims. A mob of twenty human men tracked down The Wandering Lady, claiming they sought her help with their afflictions. But when Honoria left the safety of Young Bark to aid them, they brandished weapons of Cold Iron and pinned her down. She tried to fight them off but her combat magic was limited and she was easily overpowered. They wrapped her in Iron chains and made her watch as they sprung an ambush for Young Bark, who had heard her cries and rushed to her aid. It was torture in every sense for her as she watched in agony as the tree was set aflame and her natural object was destroyed. They no doubt would have killed her (and worse) were it not for arrival of Fairfolk who had seen the flames from a distance. Much to her anger, the Fairfolk managed to assure Honoria's release through intimidation rather than go to blows. Meaning that the men responsible for this defilement are still out there somewhere. 

In the time since then she has been staying at the Temple of Matrem. Not much time has passed and yet her personality has already changed drastically. At first she spent her time trying to reconnect with nature or find some semblance of peace or purpose, but to no avail. Her world is shattered and now all she seeks is revenge. Much to the disdain of the Fairfolk around her, she has begun to learn Dark Magic with worrying speed. Given this and the fact she is now a Shade, some have begun to refer to her as ‘The Grey Lady’, especially when telling the tale of her defilement. 

[b]Family:[/b] (Optional. Talk about your character’s family. [b]If you are a dryad, this is going to be depressing[/b])
[b]Relationships:[/b]
WIP 

[b]Weaponry:[/b]
[i]Large Weapon: Staff | Medium Weapon: Magic | Small Weapon: Daggers[/i]
[indent]Honoria has a Staff named Remembrance, which was made of Young Bark’s charred remains as a gift of condolence. Though the gift giver meant well, it was not a gift she happily accepted for what should have been obvious reasons. While it is a bitter reminder of what happened, a part of her is slightly grateful to have a part of Young Bark close to her. It is a moderately powerful staff, and is especially potent at helping her channel dark magic due to the connection between them. The staff itself looks like a long charred piece of wood that has been heavily mangled at one end. Despite its appearance however, the staff’s creator took care to make it sturdier; although it would still be broken in two by most swords. 

Honoria also has a small decorate silver dagger that she wears on her belt. It is adorned with swirling patterns and was clearly intended to be an ornament rather than a weapon. Still, it certainly does the job when needed.[/indent]

[b]Abilities:[/b] Honoria has only recently become a shade and so is still trying to relearn magic. Rather than relearning light magic however, she appears to only be able to practice dark magic. She believes this is because her connection to nature has been lost, although some of the High Priests assure her this is not the case and that she just needs to give it time. Unfortunately for the Red Legion, she does seem to be picking up Dark Magic rather quickly, thanks to her utter lust for vengeance and her staff. Most of her abilities are courtesy of her race or use empathy on some level. Her abilities include:
[list]
[*]Her ability to grow roots around herself could be considered a magic ability in itself, although it is hardly a game changer (not since becoming a shade anyway). The roots do provide some very mild protection, but certainly not enough to stop a decent thrust. It does help her grip things with her hands and feet, meaning she has more balance. It is now used more for modesty's sake than anything else.
[*]Her singing, as a Dryad, could also be considered a magical ability as it helps nearby wildlife grow. This is nowhere near as potent as it was now that she's a shade, but she has managed to alter this ability slightly through Dark Magic: By singing with certain emotions she can conjure certain emotions in others (but they have to be fairly weak willed and even then it's only a mild effect).
[*]How to cast chain lightning. This requires her to conjure strong feelings of wrath and anger. This is much harder to control than the light magic counterpart, but can be more devastating. If her feelings are not strong enough then she may only generate a small shock at best. However if her feelings are too strong then she will be unable to direct the lightning or will loose control of the Dark Magic completely (until she rests). 
[*]By remembering the torment she went through and the emotions she felt, she is able to inflict a similar pain onto others. That is to say that she is able to make them feeling as if they are wrapped in burning chains, leaving them in pain and restricting their movement. This is only possible because of the severity of the memory, and it requires a very great amount of strength and concentration to work. As such, she is only able to cast it on a single target and normally finds herself having to rest afterwards before using any more magic.
[*]She also has the ability to control and see through the eyes of Colubra (her companion) but this leaves her own body vulnerable. This ability is fairly easy for her to use but she has to be within a certain range to maintain this.[/list]

[b]Weaknesses:[/b] Like all Dryads, she is vulnerable to fire and Cold Iron, and is not very physically strong. As a shade she is also not as magically powerful as she once was and is somewhat more cut off from nature. At just the sight of fire she becomes emotional, filled with feelings of both fear and utter anger. As a new practitioner of Dark Magic she can lose control of her magic and suffer some negative effects due to her temper flaring out of her control. Socially she has become an outcast at almost every turn, meaning that she cannot rely on others as well as most. 

[b]Companion:[/b] Honoria has a companion named Colubra (pronounced Col-oo-bra), a massive shadow-snake that lived with her atop of Young Bark. Colubra resembles a giant anaconda and its skin is currently black with streaks of varying shades of green. She is currently around 5.5m long and is [url=http://www.channelguidemagblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Eaten-Alive_web.jpg]fairly thick[/url]. As a shadow-snake she gradually changes her skin colour to blend in with her surroundings. This is hardly a quick process and its effectiveness varies depending on her movement and on how much the colours in her environment are shifting. She can also only do this once per skin-shed, which in itself is a long process. She is poisonous, but only mildly so; her bites are likely to leave you feverish and weak but will only kill you when combined with other afflictions. She relies more on biting and restriction than she does poison. 

In terms of personality Colubra is perhaps what one would expect from a giant shadow-snake: she’s a sneaky, vicious b****. However she is extremely loyal to Honoria and will glad put herself in harm’s way to protect her. She has been trained not to attack sentient beings unless in defense or when commanded. 

Honoria has recently gained the ability to see through Colubra’s eyes and control her. They have to be within a certain range for this to work. Surprisingly, Colubra is either unaware of this or simply doesn’t appear to mind. 

[b]Other:[/b] Oh Polaris, how I miss you so!
[/hider]

[hider=Kuruk]
[b]Name:[/b] Kuruk (son of Beodrum)
[b]Age:[/b] 61
[b]Gender:[/b] Male
[b]Species:[/b] Centaur
[b]Kingdom of Origin:[/b] [i]Nomadic[/i]
[b]Physical appearance:[/b]
Kuruk stands at an impressive 7ft tall and weighs around two thousand pounds, making him a giant even amongst his kin. He is very strong and heavy set, with large defined muscles that seem ridiculously big when compared to a human or elf. His skin is very dark and is almost as dark as the jet black hair that covers most of his body. He has a strong square face with clearly chiseled features, although it’s fair to say that in this case it makes him look more brutish than handsome. He has a messy set of hair that he never allows to stretch further down than his shoulders, and which extends into an equally messy beard. His entire body is covered in scars, with many being superficial. His most prominent scars include one that stretches from his left shoulder down to his right nipple, a long bald scar on his hide that stretches down his back left outer thigh, and a scar that runs from his hairline to his eyebrow. His voice is low, loud, and coarse and has a sinister ring to it. Due to his nomadic lifestyle and his estrangement from his clan, Kuruk has no easily identifiable accent. 

[b]Attire:[/b] He wears a gladiatorial style helmet made of steel, which he adorns with streaks of blood for no apparent reason. He wears chain-mail armour that drapes back to cover a fair section of his lower half, and which is supplemented by leather shoulders and arms. He would like to buy better armour, but his current armour alone cost him a bomb because it had to be specially made and tailored. He has recently had his horse shoes replaced, an event neither he nor the fitter enjoyed. He wears a large leather belt over his mail which has various sized pouches. He only carries what he needs. 

His helmet is based off [url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/71/7a/b6/717ab629bd4a2740057e62d8c960fd31.jpg]this[/url]. And his armour of a mixture of [url=http://ironwindmetals.com/store/images/fantasy/DF-726.JPG]this[/url] and [url=http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/333/0/3/brown_leather_armor_by_vofffka-d5mjrah.jpg]this[/url].
 
[b]Personality:[/b] Kuruk is a combination of some of the worst traits a person can have; he’s short tempered, arrogant, stubborn, vicious and pretty stupid for the most part. He has a raging blood-lust that might be considered psychopathic were it not for the odd bout of sympathy or lust. He has little time for loyalty, though he has the audacity to expect it from others. He has never lost his sense of entitlement and will take whatever he thinks he deserves. Overall, he’s just a nasty p**** that most should stay clear of. Two of his few redeeming features include the fact that not only does he not discriminate against any race, but he is also angered by slavery and has often worked to free slaves for cheap pay. 

[b]Hobbies/interests:[/b] He lives for three things: Fighting, drinking, and having sex. The last of which is a rather nightmarish sight to behold. He has little time for anything else unless it can help him achieve the first three things. 

[b]Skills:[/b] Besides being a fighter, Kuruk is a very good drinker. He is good at manual labour, but anything that requires him to rub a few brain cells together is probably going to leave him stumped.

[b]Backstory:[/b]
Kuruk was the first born son of Beodrum the Brave, Alpha of the Numidian Herd. The herd was, and still is, one of the largest and most powerful centaur herds in the known lands. His father was also gifted with a titanic body but had a sharp mind to accompany it, making him a powerful entity. Kuruk was therefore brought up in his father’s shadow and was made to believe that one day he would rise to become the herd’s alpha. As a result he spent the first 25 years of his life growing into a fine warrior, though that’s about all. Even from a young age it was clear that he lacked his father’s mind and in fact was rather dim and odd. However his younger brother, Yao Guai, actually seemed to surpass their father’s intellect if anything. 

When Beodrum eventually passed away the herd followed Centaur custom and held a series of duals to determine who would be the next Alpha. Kuruk cleaved through the competition until he came across his final opponent. Much to his shock, his younger brother had also decided to fight for the title and clearly seemed to have the crowds favour. Kuruk thought the fight would be a breeze, but he was terribly mistaken. Not only did Yao Guai best him in speed and agility, but he had also spent years studying Kuruk and his fighting style. Kuruk wasn’t just beaten, he was humiliated. Yao Guai did not rush to beat his brother and spent time showboating to the crowd, who clearly had expected the spectacle (much to Kuruk’s confusion). When the fight eventually drew to a close Kuruk was forced to the floor and was told to grovel at the new Alpha’s feet. Yao Guai did not want to kill his brother, but he did want to make it abundantly clear who was in charge. Kuruk was too full or pride and anger though, and he would not submit. Instead he took out his brother’s legs and fled, incurring the herd’s anger. A few chased after him and one Centaur even managed to hit Kuruk with a spear, but fortunately they quickly gave up the chase having thought he would be too stupid to survive on his own. 

For a few years he wandered aimlessly about and only survived by robbing the odd unfortunate traveler, until he had a rather juicy bounty on his head that is. As it would turn out, one of the many people he had robbed was actually a rather wealthy nobleman and slaver, a man by the name of Vasilly. This resulted in Kuruk being captured and made a slave himself. He was taken to a mining town and was forced to do various tasks, from dragging around ores to working a horse mill. He spent nine years a slave in Shimmerock at the mercy of Vasilly and his friends. In that time he befriended both Icemen and Minotaurs, realising that at their cores these strangers were not so different. He even had his way with some of the female Minotaurs when the guards were not around. 

It was not long after his 38th birthday that he was pulled from his normal duties to undertake a rather unusual task. Due to an attempted escape attempt by a few icemen the previous night, Vasilly found himself with a bunch of dead horses and a wagon that was unable to pull itself. Vasilly therefore given the option of going to trade with one less wagon full of ore, or to have Kuruk pull a wagon beside his own steed. His greed quickly made up his mind for him. That said, Vasilly was not foolish and so sacrificed some of his load in order to accommodate a few extra guards. The expedition was agonisingly long and took the convoy all the way south to Olenport, the blackmarket port city of Talbor. Unfortunately for Vasilly however, he did live long enough to set his eyes upon the rich assortment of market stools or the deep blue sea. It was as they approached the city that Kuruk finally found his chance at freedom, for the convoy was forced along a rocky bank. Unwilling to live another day as a slave, Kuruk charged down the slope with Vasilly’s wagon right behind him. In a feat of utter insanity Kuruk managed to break free of the carriage by jumping over a pile of rocks which the carriage then buckled against and shattered with the speed. He was not completely uninjured, but was still together enough to recover his master and drag him into the nearby forest. A small manhunt did eventually pursue him but all they ever found were Vasilly’s various limbs scattered around.

After this Kuruk fled into the south and spent the next few decades working as a mercenary, having learned from other slaves that such a business promised both blood and gold. He worked with various groups and individuals, and at one point even led his own ragtag company of Orcs, Saurians and Doraks. He eventually began to specialise in slave rescues and other messy operations. Over the last few years he has begun to venture North again, but really he just goes where the work takes him. 

[b]Family:[/b] Both his parents have been dead for decades. His only other family is Yao Guai, the Alpha of the Numidian Herd, whom he hates and has not seen in more than thirty years. 
[b]Relationships:[/b]
WIP 

[b]Weaponry:[/b]
[i]Large Weapons: Warhammer | Medium Weapon: Whip | Small Weapon: Medicine[/i]
[indent]Kuruk is rarely seen without a Warhammer in his hand. He currently uses a heavy steel mace that would be too heavy for most to use. In fact the smith that made the weapon forged it to be a showpiece, thus the neat engravings of chains and skulls. Due to its weight it is not the easiest thing to handle, but in Kuruk’s strong hands can be swung with devastating force, made worse by the spikes that adorn it. Even if someone was to get caught with the staff part of it they would suffer severely. He tends to use both his hands when using it, but can alternate between either of his hands for a weaker one handed swing. It looks a lot like [url=http://images.wikia.com/pjdf/images/2/2f/Warhammer_render.jpg]this[/url] but bigger and thicker. 

Kuruk also carries with him his former master’s whip. A nasty little thing with multiple metal tipped lashes. He rarely uses it in battle, and instead saves it for whenever he gets the opportunity to go head to head with a slaver. He keeps this on his belt.

Lastly, Kuruk is currently carrying 3 small vials of ‘Stone Blood’ and 2 bottles of weak health poultice. Stone Blood grants its consumer a much higher pain threshold, but arguably to a risky extent. It should be noted that whilst the consumer may [i]feel [/i]less pain, the amount of damage they take is no different. The Health Poultices (which are called something stupid too) are applied to wounds to relieve inflammation, prevent infection, and aid in the healing process.[/indent]

[b]Abilities:[/b] Kuruk relies purely on sheer strength and power, and to be fair, it has served him fairly well the majority of the time. Whilst he might not be as fast or agile as other centaurs due to his bulkiness, he makes up for it in endurance. He is good at leading a charge due to his confidence and presence, but to call him a good leader in general would mean that you have failed to see his stupidity and rashness.

[b]Weaknesses:[/b] Like all centaurs, Kuruk is weak to cold iron and his legs provide four easy weak points. Due to his bulkiness he finds it particularly hard to protect his back end, and so you are likely to see him spinning about wildly during battle in a dizzy attempt to combat this. He is easily outsmarted, but one should be cautious when trying to take advantage of him. He really is the perfect archetype of a dim-witted brute.

[b]Companion:[/b] Though not really a companion per se, there is currently a chocolate [s]flavoured[/s] coloured wing lemur stalking him. It is a small thing that looks like an earth lemur but with larger ears, larger eyes and has furry parachute like wings beneath its arms. It has a habit of randomly appearing to steal Kuruks food just as he’s about to eat it. It also appears to be relatively clever, having learned to sit on a particular spot on Kuruks hide which he can never reach (with angers him to no end). Kuruk has not named the fiend and will often go berserk in an attempt to catch and crush it. 

[b]Other:[/b] P-P-P-Polaris! Don’t you dare go changin’! I know you want me! Ooooohhhh ohhh oh oh ooooo!
[/hider]