[center][i]Peace cannot be achieved without compromise. It is my firm belief, that compromise is better than war.[/i]

[b]Name[/b]
Rainard Valentine

[b]Age[/b]
21

[b]Gender[/b]
Male

[b]Aura Color[/b]
Gray

[b]Appearance[/b]
Rainard is a brown haired, brown-eyed, tan, six-foot tall man. His hair, when untied, reaches a couple of inches past the top of his shoulder. Normally, he pulls his hair back into a ponytail at the base of his skull and ties it with a strip of rawhide. He is of an athletic build, broad shouldered, and muscled. He has a chiseled, good-natured face. He has very open expressions, and his default expression seems to be a very faint smile.

[b]Personality[/b]
Rainard is a calm, cautious, curious, and cordial person. He also seems to be a very hard-working individual.

He does not want to kill, and he does not want to die, so he compromised. To kill is the very last resort. If someone attacks him, he will try to dodge, if he cannot dodge, he will try to block, and if the person is too strong for him to simply dodge or block, then he will attack. If the person came with the intent to capture or kill, he would reason with them as much as he could before resorting to violence. If that wasn’t an option, than he would try incapacitating them, but if that was not possible and the attacker remained dangerous, he would then have to kill.

[b]History[/b]
When Rainard was first brought to practice, he was intimidated. After participating and learning, he discovered that he really enjoyed the morning practices. When he started school, he at first hated it. The classes he took didn’t really make sense to him, and even though he knew he needed to learn how to read and write, it seemed difficult. Weirdly enough, at some point, reading sort of clicked, and suddenly became interesting. After that, his enjoyment of learning expanded to the scholarly areas as well.

He learned the layout of the area, how to find food, and how to find water. He learned how to protect himself from the rays of the sun and prevent himself from overheating, but the classes that intrigued him the most were the history and philosophy classes. He became curious about the people in the world outside, and what happened in the past. Why had the atmosphere disappeared? Why did people have to fight? Wasn’t there a simple solution to this? So why hadn’t it worked before. 

The purpose of the philosophy classes was to bring understanding about the current war and the belief systems of the people fighting in it. The goal was to give the people information and allow them to draw their own conclusions. Of course, bias couldn’t be avoided. Diplomacy and compromise was made to seem the best solution, what with discussions of the deaths and loss of loved ones that came with war. Special attention was also brought to the fact that the man-made atmosphere seemed to be becoming thinner. This helped focus members of Shiloh on the issue of the atmosphere and give them a sense of urgency that something needed to be done. It also reinforced the sense that fighting a long drawn out war was ridiculous, when time seemed to already be running out.

Due to this, a great many of Rainard’s classmates focused on either improving their technology and science or on improving their skills so they could protect their town from the people after their knowledge or their town. The general consensus is that they would have to improve their town fast to make it completely self-sustainable in case the atmosphere disappeared, and find a way to protect it.

Rainard himself was considered a brilliant student, who could have chosen either path. The path he chose was to learn some of both. So he would train for the first half of the morning, then he would go and immerse himself in the research work of others and gather knowledge for himself, and then he would practice again, research again, and practice again before going to bed. This does not mean that his time was filled entirely with practicing and researching, it just meant that he spent a lot of time doing them.

Rainard gave himself plenty of breaks and spent time socializing. Since Rainard participated in so many things, he was relatively well-acquainted with those who went to practice and those who researched. When he found a theory or a subject he was interested, he would always go out of his way to find people who knew about the topic or created the theory. Due to this, he was also well known among researchers. Because of his rigid schedule, he was relatively easy to find. So his friends would always show up at the end of practices or research and they would go enjoy themselves for an hour or two before they’d part.

Of course, he rarely interacted with people from the cities, though if he ran into them, he did try to strike up conversations. It seems the ones sent to his town were mostly close-mouthed individuals. Either that, or there was a huge culture difference he was unaware of. So among members of Shiloh, he is very good at socializing, but among strangers… he has trouble striking up conversations.

Recently, Rainard has been more interested in the outside world. He’s begun exploring a bit to the edge of the borders of the town. He might well consider exploring outside of town soon.

[b]City[/b]
Rainard lives in a neutral town about equidistant from Solumfortis and Terraspei though it is not in between the two cities. This town is called Shiloh.

Shiloh is an interesting town, in that it is peaceful, neutral, and has a well-trained, organized militia. 

All members of Shiloh participate in self-defense and combat training once they are five if they are able to. They undergo a daily practice that lasts about an hour to maintain and improve their skills. They stop this sort of practicing when they are no longer able-bodied. There are other optional training times to suit the schedules of the people. Shiloh maintains several trainers whose sole responsibility is to ensure that the population is capable of self-defense and survival.

They are trained in fighting with many weapons, but most people of Shiloh prefer to use weapons that will not kill (e.g. batons, staves, and brass knuckles). This of course means that they will require more skill than their opponents, to defeat them without killing them. Shiloh generally tries to look for the best methods for their people. For example, if someone cannot fight, they are instead taught ways to hide, run away, and trick pursuers. Those who cannot build up strength are taught to think tactically and make up for less power with skill.

Besides making sure that their population is prepared to survive in case of danger, they are also required to have an education. It is required for all members of Shiloh to learn how to read, write, do at least basic math, and learn other practical skills. This education typically lasts around five years for children before it is no longer mandatory. Lessons can be skipped if one passes all necessary exams to prove one already possesses this knowledge. Occasionally, older people return for refresher classes or to continue advancing in knowledge so the ages of students in a single class can vary greatly.

The residents of Shiloh paid special attention to their own energy dome and another dome they were creating with care. They also paid special attention to sustainable energy sources, and looked for ways to improve their community and current energy source. They focused a great deal on planting trees and vegetation around their houses in hopes of using them to help filter their air.

Shiloh already has quite a few sustainable energy generators. Some of their technology was borrowed from Terraspei, and some of it was created through their own theory and ancient knowledge found on a still-working terminal and in carefully preserved tomes. Shiloh’s own library is hidden carefully deep within the ground. The knowledge is open to all people so long as they promise that there will be no violence within the borders of their town or anywhere near them. 

Due to this, Solumfortis and Terraspei fight elsewhere or ambush each other, on the way in. However, they do keep from fighting within the borders due to the knowledge that the people in town are attentive and would not hesitate to destroy the precious collection of knowledge they possess. There are secret archives, as people in Solumfortis and Terraspei suspect. However, these archives are well-hidden, and no spies seem to be able to find these archives, no matter how hard they look. 

The library is free for access, and people are allowed to take notes or copy the books on their own with their own resources if they wish. They are simply not allowed to take the books out of the library. Also, their library is regularly updated with new discoveries, so destroying the town, killing the people, and stealing their research is undesired.

Shiloh’s stance is that they should be prepared for everything. Shiloh generally takes a long-term view of things and chose to plan for the long-term rather than the short-term. Of course, there are and always will be exceptions. A maxim of Shiloh is that: “There is no one true way.” Due to this maxim, the people of Shiloh tend to be more open minded. They also tend to be more flexible. So if a method doesn’t work for one person, they’ll look for another method rather than force someone to do something they are incapable of.

Their foreign policy is that they are absolutely neutral, and they will not involve themselves in this war. Due to that, any trespass here will not be forgiven, and all data will be given to the other side, or destroyed in an instant if there is no other option. 

Another thing that was discovered was that Solumfortis secretly sent a force to take the data of Shiloh; however, they were spotted before they even reached the borders of the town. That should have been no issue, except that the whole force was subjugated and taken prisoner. Immediately, Shiloh sent some of their newer information to Terraspei, reported this event to both cities, and requested answers from Solumfortis. Solumfortis denied knowledge of this attack, and left the prisoners entirely in the hands of Shiloh. It was also agreed that no one of Solumfortis would visit Shiloh until the prisoners were dealt with.

This proved that Shiloh would do as it said, but more importantly, also proved that Shiloh was strong. Though losing knowledge to Terraspei left a bad taste to Solumfortis, this event established that Shiloh was strong and therefore deserved respect. The extra knowledge made Terraspei happy, so strangely enough, this event improved Shiloh’s relationship with both cities.

Shiloh has already found many ways to make water and energy, so they already have a good start. The town of Shiloh is filled with carefully manicured plants. They also have man-made ponds full of salt water and fresh water, in which they keep a stock of fish. Shiloh has a rather large set of science buildings. They have separate buildings for genetic engineering, zoology, agriculture, ecology, biology, medicine etc. Due to these things, Shiloh is among one of the most advanced towns of the crater, though its research facilities do not compare to those of Terraspei.

[b]Extra[/b]
Rainard is more focused on the defensive aspects of abilities and combat. He tends to use a staff for combat, though he can also use a shield to bash and rush enemies. He is also very skilled at creating, maintaining, and reinforcing armor for himself.

His friends call him Rain or Val.[/center]