[OOC] Plague of the North

[Partisan]

We'd need to scavenge right?

[rivaan]

yeah it will turn into a game of survival! :3 and everybody likes those! I do at least

[The Captain]

<Snipped quote by The Captain>

Sure... unless other players appear and quickly snatch up the last couple of spots. Hurry! :P

Just a quick bit of info about the State Of Florine. There is no monarchy, but rather a senate; very much like ancient Rome. Though it's not in the Northern Lands, it's certainly not a hot country (think of Dawn as like North England/Scotland climate, and Vasili as like Norway climate). Religion would be mostly COL (at least 60% COL). Of course feel free to fill in the gaps and add lore.

@Fat Boy Kyle

This meshes really well with what I had in mind, actually. I was thinking Florine would have a centralized society, a lodge or academy or what have you, that had a virtual monopoly on the training and control of the state's magicians. They'd be very secretive, be really steeped in ancient tradition and ritual, with roots stretching all the way back to antiquity.

Naturally this sort of organization isn't going win many friends among the devout of either major faith, but it's managed to maintain its place in Florine politics and society as the safer alternative to magicians being dispersed around the country and largely out of the public eye.

So the character I had in mind, while firstly being a wizard would also be a scholar, having been essentially raised within this mystery cult-esque academy.

[Fat Boy Kyle]

<Snipped quote by Fat Boy Kyle>

This meshes really well with what I had in mind, actually. I was thinking Florine would have a centralized society, a lodge or academy or what have you, that had a virtual monopoly on the training and control of the state's magicians. They'd be very secretive, be really steeped in ancient tradition and ritual, with roots stretching all the way back to antiquity.

Naturally this sort of organization isn't going win many friends among the devout of either major faith, but it's managed to maintain its place in Florine politics and society as the safer alternative to magicians being dispersed around the country and largely out of the public eye.

So the character I had in mind, while firstly being a wizard would also be a scholar, having been essentially raised within this mystery cult-esque academy.

@The Captain

This sounds fine to me. The only thing I would say is that because the country is essentially a COL country, magic would really be disliked, as you acknowledged yourself. This would mean that any magic organisation would either be incredibly secret (as in the public wouldn't even really know about them) or it would be regulated and overlooked by the Church (think Templars in Dragon Age). At least, those are two possible scenarios that I can think of. My advice would be to submit a CS here, but PM me some more about your ideas for Florine so we can throw some ideas about without clogging up the OOC.

Note: I'm quite tired now, so any responses I give may or may not be awful :P

P.S. I know you said they would be 'secretive' anyway, but there is a difference between secretive and secret.

[Partisan]

Hmhm. Guess Orwen could sell slaves to these secret mages to be used as experiments. Hehe.

[Fat Boy Kyle]

Just so you know, this RP is definitely still on. Please don't take my quietness as a cue to leave! I've actually written most of the first IC post, but I've been busy. I can't see it being up before Wednesday because between now and then I have: A laser-quest tournament; a date; a house party; my last ever piece of university work to submit; and I'm moving back home.

Just out of interest though, could you please post something here to show that you're still alive and wanting to participate. A simple hello will suffice :)

[Rare]

Alright, I am back and I am now on my summer break. So, I will try to finish up my character sheets.

But, I am going to go to a water fight event (it's between the juniors and the seniors). I am going to stay up all night, because of no school for the summer.

[Partisan]

Just so you know, this RP is definitely still on. Please don't take my quietness as a cue to leave! I've actually written most of the first IC post, but I've been busy. I can't see it being up before Wednesday because between now and then I have: A laser-quest tournament; a date; a house party; my last ever piece of university work to submit; and I'm moving back home.

Just out of interest though, could you please post something here to show that you're still alive and wanting to participate. A simple hello will suffice :)

@Fat Boy Kyle

Aye aye cap'n.

[rivaan]

I LIVE! TIRED BUT ALIVE!

[Rare]

Remember, this is a work in progress. So, I don't have much here, but I am still working on it.

Mathis Azaïs

Character Theme – Let's Explore – Rachel Wilson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Mathis stands at an average height of 1.8034m (5ft 11in) and weights around 200 pounds. His body isn't overly muscled, but it isn't fat as well. However, he has some fat, so he could be warm during the harsh winters in the Far North. The long and loose darken hair is tied, because it would most likely get caught in branches or get grabbed by bandits. His face makes him look older, but that's just for all of the stress that he kept to himself ever since he left the Kingdom of Dawn

The clothes are just something that Mathis brought at Southarbor when he first set foot at Vasili. Since the day he got them, he has added in a couple pockets and kept it clear. His armor is just made out of hardened leather, so he could move around while he is firing his bow. He also tied some leather around his legs to put his dagger in, it's a lot easier to pull it out when he needs it. They don't look 'wealthy' and the colors are mostly dark, but Mathis doesn't care how 'good' his clothes looks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
【Full Name】
Mathis Azaïs

【Alias】
Mathis

【Gender】
Male

【Age】
Twenty-Nine

【Sexuality】
Questioning

【Birth Place】
Dawngaurd

【Nation/Allegiance】
Kingdom of Dawn

【Profession】
Explorer

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
【Personality】
Mathis is loyal and honest with people that he cares for; however, he isn't a person to trust. He doesn't flirt as much as the common man does and he isn't such on what gender he likes. Since he has spent time exploring the Far North, he has become more curious and risk-taking of things. Like, go to a tribe's camp and write down stuff on how they made their homes. And he is optimistic to the bad side of things.

Because of his times away from civilization, he doesn't know how to socialize with people that well. Of course, he has the manners and he does talk to people; but, he isn't emotionally with people at all. Especially with the wealthy or most people who were born in Vasili, those kind of people Mathis hates. However, he doesn't state that when he meets them. His hate could be just anger over the fact that Vasili tried to invade his home country.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
【History】
The only person that Mathis loved more was his mother and brother. His mother supported his dreams of becoming an explorer and brother told him that he would still love him 'no matter what happens'. School was his second home as he spent time studying the history of The Northern Lands and the world. And at the age of fifteen, he was for such that he wanted to become an explorer. His father didn't like that and told him that goal was 'so stupid that he should just become a farmer'.

His mother and brother were supportive of his dream and soon he was going to explore Far North. He spent years getting ready for the expedition to the uncharted lands. Mathis trained on the bow and arrow and learned how to survive out there. He also learned how to use a dagger by his brother, just in case he didn't have any arrows left. Funding the expedition was the easy part, because his charm and determination got him the funds needed.

At the age of twenty-six, Mathis was ready to leave his family and nation behind. With the war between Dawn and Vasili going on, he had to leave quickly before Vasili launch another invasion. He said his goodbyes to his family and left Dawngaurd.

He boarded a trading ship going to Southarbour and prayed that the ship wasn't attacked. Thankfully, he got off the ship at Southarbour and soon hired guards to escort Mathis to Fort Cain. The ride from Southarbour to Fort Cain took a long time; however, he decided to stop at Boulder Tower. The guards didn't agree with his decision, but they went anyway. He documented the whole area and it's people before racing away the area as the people threw rocks at them.

He then spent two years of his life documenting the area around Fort Cain and other parts of the Far North. He published his first book, Beyond Fort Cain. It was an interesting book about the tribes of the Far North and the areas beyond the control of Vasili. Mathis' book was mentioned all over The Northern Lands at schools and scholars debated about the book. It kept Mathis exploring the Far North and the tribes for many months until the plague surfaced.

While traveling back to Fort Cain, Mathis and the guards were riding their horses. The peaceful ride soon turned deadly as a man came out of the woods and attacked one of the guards. The man managed to bite into the guard's neck and he was running towards another guard. However, he was put down by Mathis' arrow and dropped dead below the guard's feet. They raced towards the wounded guard and carried him back to the Fort. The fort was the best option, because they were away from any nearby villages and even the tribes didn't have the proper medical equipment. Thirty minutes of carrying the man on horseback later, they got to the fort. By that time, his skin and blood soon became darken and he was immediately sent to the nurses and doctors for help.

Mathis and the others were told to wait until the wound was treated. And they went out of the room and waited outside. They heard mentions of the plague from people at Rundorm; but, they didn't care much about it as the plague was away from them. As they were talking to the fort's guard about what happened, they heard screaming coming from the room and sounds of horror. The fort's guard ran towards the room and saw the wounded guard chewing on a doctor's left arm.

Outside the fort, the infected were running to the fort and they were near the fort's wall in a couple minutes. The people were starting to panic over as the plague was invading the fort. The guards defended Mathis against the infected, which gave him to get his horse and race away from the fort. Of course, he knew that they were going to die and he thanked them for helping him the last time.

He raced away from the fort as the infected soon claimed Fort Cain, Mathis knew that he needed to get to the nearest town and report about it as soon as he could. So, he rode to Boulder Town and rested there for a couple days. He helped the people pack their belongings and rode with them to Titus. He stayed there only for a couple and then went to Minorhold to get on a ship, that was going to the Kingdom of Dawn.

However, he learned that his home country was shooting down any ships trying to cross the channel. Mathis couldn't believe it and now he didn't know what to do. He decided to go to the Crossroads and then to the capital, Sovereign. At the capital, he would hide there until the plague was under control and go back to his home.

Mathis needed to find a way out of this hell hole and this plan was the best one.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
【Skills and Abilities】
Because of his profession, he's better educated than most people in the Northern Lands. Mathis knows how to read and make maps, in fact, he has some made of the local tribes' villages. With the maps and other information, he knows more of the Far Norths than anyone else. Well, he doesn't know beyond the village of Rundorm and he barely knows the Grey Islands.

And his charismatic and persuasion has improved, due to his time in the Far North and with the tribes. They are useful for getting out of sticky situations or just getting something for someone. Other than those skills, he knows how to aim and fire a bow and he also knows how to stab someone with a dagger. And he knows about the history and the politics of the two countries.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
【Weapons/Tools and Magic】
Weapons/Tools
He has a bow and arrows that he uses for defensive. And he also has a dagger that he uses if he runs out of arrows.

Magical Spells
Mathis doesn't have magical spells to cast or anything that's magical.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(I don't love your milkshakes. Also, my GMT is -7 (-8 if it isn't daylight saving time))

[Denalz]

I'm still kicking...

[Partisan]

Any ETA?

[Fat Boy Kyle]

Any ETA?

@Partisan

It'll definitely be up for Wednesday night! I'm moving house tomorrow, so unfortunately I won't be able to get it up any earlier than that.

[RIengo]

I

[Partisan]

We can form a group called the bandana boys. It encompasses all the guys who have bandana's in their hair. They'll slowly start hating everyone else because they don't have bandana's.

[Fat Boy Kyle]

Oh. Uh, hi there. I did a thing.

Zacharias

Character Theme – Into the Fire
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pic

Zacharias is an uncharacteristically short man, at first glance. He barely reaches 1.75 meters, and often puffs himself up or sits on something large to make up for the height difference. He also seems fairly stocky due to his short height, muscles fairly prominent. It doesn't help that he likes his shirts as loose and open as possible.

Zacharias's face is relatively handsome, but it's really nothing special. The main attractive feature would be the blonde hair held back only by a bandana. However, the permanent grin on his face is just as much of a part of his face as his jawline, greenish-blue eyes, or strong nose, and equally dismissible. The most unusual aspect of his appearance would be the strange markings tattooed on his forearms. Zacharias has as many explanations for the tattoos as there are stars in the skies.

Given the climate of the North, which Zacharias is unused to, he generally wears his normal, loose-fitting clothes under his armor, which consists of chain and a small amount of hardened leather, as well as an iron shoulder-guard. When not in his armor, Zacharias prefers to wear loose, stylish clothing, generally something that a higher-class person would prefer. Style trumps practicality, even in some frigid wasteland.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
【Full Name】
Zacharias Morgan

【Alias】
Zach Hellacious

【Gender】
Male

【Age】
33

【Sexuality】
Homosexual

【Birth Place】
Lion's Keep, the Kingdom of Dawn

【Nation/Allegiance】
Deep down, he still believes in the Kingdom of Dawn, but won't even admit it to himself

【Profession】
Professional Soldier
(Though he'd never just come out and say it)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
【Personality】

Zacharias is the type of man to try to smile through the most grievous wounds. He delights in putting on a show, pretending to be something that he isn't. He comes across as an affable soul, almost infuriatingly easy-going. Of course, despite his affability and sense for the dramatic, his pride is a fragile thing, and easily bruised. The fact is, much of his cheerful personality is a constructed act, an attempt to seem more trustworthy than he feels that he is.

Underneath the apparent easy-going nature is a deep-set frustration: with his surroundings, with his circumstances, with himself. Funnily enough, this doesn't manifest during crises, like one might expect. It's during the down-time, when Zacharias has time to think and regret, that he snaps at people. Thankfully, though, he's a master at bouncing back from these times, and always has a quip and an apology prepared. Though it's quite the feat to find the difference between the two.

Zacharias may appear to be quite inconsistent, in both his stories and his behaviors,

But, for better or worse, Zacharias keeps up the act, even if he derides those around him in his mind. Despite his noble upbringing, which he fearfully hides from all those around him, he sees a life among the common people, even heretic barbarians, as preferable to living an entirely different lie. It can be difficult for him to truly be attached to someone, not just appear that way, but once a person has earned his loyalty and trust, it can never be revoked. After all, if there's one thing in this world that is an obvious virtue, it's the pure and durable bond between friends.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
【History】
Zacharias's life has been a pursuit of goals that he could never possibly reach. He desperately wished to earn the affection, and perhaps inheritance, of his father, but as the third son, never got so much as a second glance. He wanted to live as a holy man and attend a prestigious Academy of religion to achieve his dream, but was instead sent off to a military Academy to be a soldier. But perhaps the only thing that he could do to make his father proud was cruelly snatched away from him by his own nature: He would never produce heirs to the Morgan family name, due to his… Preferences.

Zacharias cannot recall much of his youth before the Academy. He has dim recollections, at best, of his mother's voice, or perhaps the voice of a servant, scolding him. To this day, he cannot recall his father's face. Instead, his first, solid memory is the sting of embarrassment, as his face was ground into the mud by an upperclassman. To his vindication, though, Zacharias also recalls the stern scolding that the boy got, after being caught.

However, for the first few years, Zacharias never understood how to quite blend in. Even when he tried his hardest; when he got up before the Sun had come up, made his bed, shoveled bits of food stolen from last's night dinner into his mouth, and used the privy, he still managed to be late for each and every single gathering of the student body in the morning. His teachers had almost come to expect him coming in late for their classes, for entire years in a row, with a different excuse every time. Understandably, Zacharias became very familiar with the school's various switches.

But perhaps worst of all, the thing that constantly tortured Zacharias was the constant reminders of his, as he puts it, “idle indulgence.” He was, after all, constantly surrounded by fit men that he held dear respect for. But he wasn't just going to just expose a potential weak points to the other boys, who he was still on bad terms with. Zacharias kept it hidden as long as he possibly could, but found it difficult to control himself. He had always been an emotional boy, and finally caved in and had a few flings (outside of the student body, of course) during his time at the Academy. Perhaps that was what set him on the path to becoming his own man. Acceptance of his actions, even if his father would have seen them as detestable, gave Zacharias a new, powerful maturity. Goals that he once pursued with fervor were left on the wayside, and he could decide his own path.

That path happened to be the military that he had once bawled into his mother's skirts about joining. His fellow soldiers gave him no small ribbing about that, you can be sure. But slowly, painfully slowly if you asked him, Zacharias was determined to be an equal to his comrades- No! Better than an equal, their superior! He knuckled down on his studies. Generally, students had to read about six dull, dry, irritating total tomes over the course of their training. Zacharias read twice that number, and actually understood a fair amount of it to boot. Despite the difference in their work ethic, Zacharias' classmates and he actually began to get along. The teasing, which had once been mean-spirited picking on perceived weakness, became good-natured.

Unsurprisingly, Zacharias's single-minded dedication to his education, including the school of hard knocks he was enrolled unwillingly in at the beginning, led to him graduating at the top of his class. Days out in the training yard and nights spent pouring over technical tomes had turned the boy into a man, and he accepted his stripes with pride. These days, it almost seems like a dream to him.

Inevitably, Zacharias enlisted in the military, full of confidence in his many, many years of training. That faith was shattered in his very first battle. Zacharias had always pictured wars as noble affairs, and his readings had only confirmed this. Knights, with noble banners unfurled, would line up, and charge each other, dying in a glorious affair. Many of the books had, unfortunately, neglected to mention everything else. Even with his extensive reading, nothing could have prepared Zacharias for the crunching of men and metal, the chaos of a general melee, men coming at you from all sides with swords drawn and you can't tell if they're yours or the enemy's and the acrid scent of smoke fills your nostrils and there's men thrashing on the ground and you CAN'T THINK-

Zacharias spent a long time thinking after that first battle. He wasn't even entirely sure who they had been fighting. All he did was revert, mechanically, back to his training- Find a target, engage him. Block, parry, strike home. Next target. It wasn't for several years that he managed to get a general sense of the very layout of a battlefield. Where to be, where not to be, who to engage and who to leave to the others.

Of course, Zacharias didn't spend all of his time fighting Vasili. As a professional soldier in an expert regiment of the Army, he had many responsibilities to attend to, and had to represent his fellow soldiers in the best possible way. What he had thought to be the boring parts of soldiering- Keeping watch, marching, war games, attending balls as a guard- had become welcome distractions from the horrors of Vasili skirmishes.

He never quite learned to love soldering as his fellows did. Zacharias was never what truly held him back from becoming like the sorry bastards still holding off Vasili assaults to this day. In part, he muses, it was sheer, dumb luck. His father had gotten wind of his sexual orientation- With the life as a soldier constantly on the move, Zacharias had felt that there was little harm in having some fun on the road. Obviously he was wrong.

Zacharias was not even given an ultimatum. After confessing to his father in a particularly heartfelt letter, he received a one-word reply:
“Go.”

Well, that was all he needed. Zacharias turned in his formal resignation, adopted a fake last name, and went as far as he could from his father. In this case, North. He boarded a merchant vessel, promising to defend from any sort of pirate or Vasili privateer interference, and silently swore to himself that he would never return to the Kingdom of Dawn.

Almost a year later, and Zacharias has made it as far North as he could go on his own. He's already feeling some chill in his loose garments (however, he refuses to wear something warmer) and, hearing of a group that both wants to help people and head further North, has decided to throw his lot in with the Consano.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
【Skills and Abilities】

Zacharias trained his entire life to be a warrior, and is the best of the best. He has both extensive theoretical study from his time in an Academy of swordsmanship and practical experience from exhaustive training and time spent in the field against Vasili forces.

While he has been trained to recognize many different styles of fighting, he only practices one: A Dawn-style combat stance that relies upon near-clockwork-like movements and regimented perfection. Were one to recognize the style, they would ultimately find it easy to counter, but Zacharias has not had to face such a foe yet. Thus, he has been able to utilize his rapier and buckler with deadly efficiency.

He may not seem it, but Zacharias is a practiced and excellent liar. Not only does he keep his cool under pressure, but lies practically roll off of his tongue. After living a life of entirely different lies, they've almost become a second language to him.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
【Weapons/Tools and Magic】
Weapons/Tools
Zacharias's first and foremost items that he cares for are his buckler and rapier, which he named Fortuitous for reasons that he can't entirely remember, but he suspects had to do with a drunken bet. The armor he wears is on the lighter side, he's far more accustomed to platemail, but a small amount of chain, hardened leather, and an iron-shoulder pad on his shield arm do all the defending he needs.

Of course, as mentioned, Zacharias was trained to recognize and exploit many other combat styles, and is equipped for such situations. He possesses a smaller, curved sword that fares far better against opponents wielding similar weapons, and a small, strange-looking dagger with several deep notches in it, colloquially known as a sword-breaker. Otherwise, he doesn't have anything of extreme note tucked away in his pack. Food, water, rope, essentials for surviving in the wilderness. What is conspicuously missing is any memento of home.

Magical Spells
Zacharias has shown absolutely no aptitude for magic.

Whose milkshakes bring me to the yard?

Yours.

It's been a while since I've actually made a CS (*cough*orroleplayeddatall*cough*), so, uh, pardon my rustiness.

@RIengo

Did you even bother to ask whether or not you could join?

No, nor did you need to! Your CS kind of asks that question itself, and fortunately it's a very good Cs. Accepted! Please add it to the list :)

[Partisan]

The captain scared me with his IC post. I was wondering if we'd started already. :p

[rivaan]

I have the vague feeling that was a mistake:3 can't be too sure, but that's probably it.... okey this joke fails >_> Will do a better joke next time!

[Denalz]

Oh. Uh, hi there. I did a thing.

Zacharias

Character Theme – Into the Fire
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pic

Zacharias is an uncharacteristically short man, at first glance. He barely reaches 1.75 meters, and often puffs himself up or sits on something large to make up for the height difference. He also seems fairly stocky due to his short height, muscles fairly prominent. It doesn't help that he likes his shirts as loose and open as possible.

Zacharias's face is relatively handsome, but it's really nothing special. The main attractive feature would be the blonde hair held back only by a bandana. However, the permanent grin on his face is just as much of a part of his face as his jawline, greenish-blue eyes, or strong nose, and equally dismissible. The most unusual aspect of his appearance would be the strange markings tattooed on his forearms. Zacharias has as many explanations for the tattoos as there are stars in the skies.

Given the climate of the North, which Zacharias is unused to, he generally wears his normal, loose-fitting clothes under his armor, which consists of chain and a small amount of hardened leather, as well as an iron shoulder-guard. When not in his armor, Zacharias prefers to wear loose, stylish clothing, generally something that a higher-class person would prefer. Style trumps practicality, even in some frigid wasteland.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
【Full Name】
Zacharias Morgan

【Alias】
Zach Hellacious

【Gender】
Male

【Age】
33

【Sexuality】
Homosexual

【Birth Place】
Lion's Keep, the Kingdom of Dawn

【Nation/Allegiance】
Deep down, he still believes in the Kingdom of Dawn, but won't even admit it to himself

【Profession】
Professional Soldier
(Though he'd never just come out and say it)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
【Personality】

Zacharias is the type of man to try to smile through the most grievous wounds. He delights in putting on a show, pretending to be something that he isn't. He comes across as an affable soul, almost infuriatingly easy-going. Of course, despite his affability and sense for the dramatic, his pride is a fragile thing, and easily bruised. The fact is, much of his cheerful personality is a constructed act, an attempt to seem more trustworthy than he feels that he is.

Underneath the apparent easy-going nature is a deep-set frustration: with his surroundings, with his circumstances, with himself. Funnily enough, this doesn't manifest during crises, like one might expect. It's during the down-time, when Zacharias has time to think and regret, that he snaps at people. Thankfully, though, he's a master at bouncing back from these times, and always has a quip and an apology prepared. Though it's quite the feat to find the difference between the two.

Zacharias may appear to be quite inconsistent, in both his stories and his behaviors,

But, for better or worse, Zacharias keeps up the act, even if he derides those around him in his mind. Despite his noble upbringing, which he fearfully hides from all those around him, he sees a life among the common people, even heretic barbarians, as preferable to living an entirely different lie. It can be difficult for him to truly be attached to someone, not just appear that way, but once a person has earned his loyalty and trust, it can never be revoked. After all, if there's one thing in this world that is an obvious virtue, it's the pure and durable bond between friends.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
【History】
Zacharias's life has been a pursuit of goals that he could never possibly reach. He desperately wished to earn the affection, and perhaps inheritance, of his father, but as the third son, never got so much as a second glance. He wanted to live as a holy man and attend a prestigious Academy of religion to achieve his dream, but was instead sent off to a military Academy to be a soldier. But perhaps the only thing that he could do to make his father proud was cruelly snatched away from him by his own nature: He would never produce heirs to the Morgan family name, due to his… Preferences.

Zacharias cannot recall much of his youth before the Academy. He has dim recollections, at best, of his mother's voice, or perhaps the voice of a servant, scolding him. To this day, he cannot recall his father's face. Instead, his first, solid memory is the sting of embarrassment, as his face was ground into the mud by an upperclassman. To his vindication, though, Zacharias also recalls the stern scolding that the boy got, after being caught.

However, for the first few years, Zacharias never understood how to quite blend in. Even when he tried his hardest; when he got up before the Sun had come up, made his bed, shoveled bits of food stolen from last's night dinner into his mouth, and used the privy, he still managed to be late for each and every single gathering of the student body in the morning. His teachers had almost come to expect him coming in late for their classes, for entire years in a row, with a different excuse every time. Understandably, Zacharias became very familiar with the school's various switches.

But perhaps worst of all, the thing that constantly tortured Zacharias was the constant reminders of his, as he puts it, “idle indulgence.” He was, after all, constantly surrounded by fit men that he held dear respect for. But he wasn't just going to just expose a potential weak points to the other boys, who he was still on bad terms with. Zacharias kept it hidden as long as he possibly could, but found it difficult to control himself. He had always been an emotional boy, and finally caved in and had a few flings (outside of the student body, of course) during his time at the Academy. Perhaps that was what set him on the path to becoming his own man. Acceptance of his actions, even if his father would have seen them as detestable, gave Zacharias a new, powerful maturity. Goals that he once pursued with fervor were left on the wayside, and he could decide his own path.

That path happened to be the military that he had once bawled into his mother's skirts about joining. His fellow soldiers gave him no small ribbing about that, you can be sure. But slowly, painfully slowly if you asked him, Zacharias was determined to be an equal to his comrades- No! Better than an equal, their superior! He knuckled down on his studies. Generally, students had to read about six dull, dry, irritating total tomes over the course of their training. Zacharias read twice that number, and actually understood a fair amount of it to boot. Despite the difference in their work ethic, Zacharias' classmates and he actually began to get along. The teasing, which had once been mean-spirited picking on perceived weakness, became good-natured.

Unsurprisingly, Zacharias's single-minded dedication to his education, including the school of hard knocks he was enrolled unwillingly in at the beginning, led to him graduating at the top of his class. Days out in the training yard and nights spent pouring over technical tomes had turned the boy into a man, and he accepted his stripes with pride. These days, it almost seems like a dream to him.

Inevitably, Zacharias enlisted in the military, full of confidence in his many, many years of training. That faith was shattered in his very first battle. Zacharias had always pictured wars as noble affairs, and his readings had only confirmed this. Knights, with noble banners unfurled, would line up, and charge each other, dying in a glorious affair. Many of the books had, unfortunately, neglected to mention everything else. Even with his extensive reading, nothing could have prepared Zacharias for the crunching of men and metal, the chaos of a general melee, men coming at you from all sides with swords drawn and you can't tell if they're yours or the enemy's and the acrid scent of smoke fills your nostrils and there's men thrashing on the ground and you CAN'T THINK-

Zacharias spent a long time thinking after that first battle. He wasn't even entirely sure who they had been fighting. All he did was revert, mechanically, back to his training- Find a target, engage him. Block, parry, strike home. Next target. It wasn't for several years that he managed to get a general sense of the very layout of a battlefield. Where to be, where not to be, who to engage and who to leave to the others.

Of course, Zacharias didn't spend all of his time fighting Vasili. As a professional soldier in an expert regiment of the Army, he had many responsibilities to attend to, and had to represent his fellow soldiers in the best possible way. What he had thought to be the boring parts of soldiering- Keeping watch, marching, war games, attending balls as a guard- had become welcome distractions from the horrors of Vasili skirmishes.

He never quite learned to love soldering as his fellows did. Zacharias was never what truly held him back from becoming like the sorry bastards still holding off Vasili assaults to this day. In part, he muses, it was sheer, dumb luck. His father had gotten wind of his sexual orientation- With the life as a soldier constantly on the move, Zacharias had felt that there was little harm in having some fun on the road. Obviously he was wrong.

Zacharias was not even given an ultimatum. After confessing to his father in a particularly heartfelt letter, he received a one-word reply:
“Go.”

Well, that was all he needed. Zacharias turned in his formal resignation, adopted a fake last name, and went as far as he could from his father. In this case, North. He boarded a merchant vessel, promising to defend from any sort of pirate or Vasili privateer interference, and silently swore to himself that he would never return to the Kingdom of Dawn.

Almost a year later, and Zacharias has made it as far North as he could go on his own. He's already feeling some chill in his loose garments (however, he refuses to wear something warmer) and, hearing of a group that both wants to help people and head further North, has decided to throw his lot in with the Consano.

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【Skills and Abilities】

Zacharias trained his entire life to be a warrior, and is the best of the best. He has both extensive theoretical study from his time in an Academy of swordsmanship and practical experience from exhaustive training and time spent in the field against Vasili forces.

While he has been trained to recognize many different styles of fighting, he only practices one: A Dawn-style combat stance that relies upon near-clockwork-like movements and regimented perfection. Were one to recognize the style, they would ultimately find it easy to counter, but Zacharias has not had to face such a foe yet. Thus, he has been able to utilize his rapier and buckler with deadly efficiency.

He may not seem it, but Zacharias is a practiced and excellent liar. Not only does he keep his cool under pressure, but lies practically roll off of his tongue. After living a life of entirely different lies, they've almost become a second language to him.

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【Weapons/Tools and Magic】
Weapons/Tools
Zacharias's first and foremost items that he cares for are his buckler and rapier, which he named Fortuitous for reasons that he can't entirely remember, but he suspects had to do with a drunken bet. The armor he wears is on the lighter side, he's far more accustomed to platemail, but a small amount of chain, hardened leather, and an iron-shoulder pad on his shield arm do all the defending he needs.

Of course, as mentioned, Zacharias was trained to recognize and exploit many other combat styles, and is equipped for such situations. He possesses a smaller, curved sword that fares far better against opponents wielding similar weapons, and a small, strange-looking dagger with several deep notches in it, colloquially known as a sword-breaker. Otherwise, he doesn't have anything of extreme note tucked away in his pack. Food, water, rope, essentials for surviving in the wilderness. What is conspicuously missing is any memento of home.

Magical Spells
Zacharias has shown absolutely no aptitude for magic.

Whose milkshakes bring me to the yard?

Yours.

It's been a while since I've actually made a CS (*cough*orroleplayeddatall*cough*), so, uh, pardon my rustiness.

@RIengo

Not that you asked, but this is a pretty awesome CS!

[RIengo]

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