[b]Name:[/b] Temen [b]Race:[/b] Vensh [b]Gender:[/b] Preferentially Male. [b]Age:[/b] 184 [b]Birthday:[/b] Thirty Eighth Day of Vermillo, 116 DM [b]Birthplace:[/b] Silent Rise [b]Resides in:[/b] Forest cottage between Silent Rise and Green Fall [b]Occupation:[/b] +3GP/Day Highwayman [b]Appearance:[/b] Variable save a ragged scar over the heart. [b]Personality:[/b] Embraced by a cynicism reinforced by what he sees as a life spent observing the world's cruelty Temen tends to mistrust others, when he interacts with them at all. Regardless of the gravity Temen seems to alternate between apathy and facetious humor in most situations, treating the world like an amusing comedy performed at the expense of the actors rather than anything weighty and tangible. As a result of such thinking Temen imagines life as something without inherent and immediate worth, often judging others by how much he sees them as defying the world's brutish order. A creature like himself, something spoiled by circumstance or fate and at peace with the wickedness of nature is not a thing worth saving. However, Temen considers those who have held onto hope, those who not only imagine a better world but try to forge one in spite of all evidence pointing towards the impossibility of such a thing, as uniquely interesting individuals. Such people not only deserve life, but in Temens eyes are the only ones that can make others deserve it too. All in all Temen is a cynical individual who cannot see past the malevolence of the world, but he is also one who hopes that should the right person come along such evil could change. [b]History:[/b] Born as a Human boy to supposedly Human parents in the village of Silent Rise Temen spent his childhood as most young denizens of such a locale would, pushing his luck and narrowly avoiding death. Even after dozens of close calls he proved himself one of the boldest most promising of the new generation, and indeed many at the time considered him to be a fine hunter in the making. That was however, not to be. For reasons never made known to him Temen’s parents would allow their son to live unaware of his own species until a scant year before his power awakened, and even then only conveying the most basic details about what he was, and what he would soon be able to do. More than any information they passed on a simple warning, to never allow others the knowledge that the Vensh lived on. It was a warning that while weighty and clear, was also one of a sort the young are all too hasty in disregarding. Nearly halfway through his eighteenth year Temen underwent the transition as most Vensh would, and almost immediately began to misuse it behind his parents backs as they made preparations to depart the village as was customary. From innocent tricks to outright theft Temen quickly attracted attention to the unusual happenings in the village, a feat considering most in Silent Rise preferred not to involve themselves in frivolous disputes. It was nearly two weeks after he first gained his ability and with days left before his family departed the village that Temen would come to understand why the Vensh had kept themselves hidden for more than a century. Arriving surreptitiously in Silent Rise five cloaked men quickly sought out the victims of Temens foolish antics even in spite of to locals renown reticence. Before he knew it the strange individuals were closing in on Temen as if they somehow understood a Vensh was behind the mischief, and showing sense where their son had none Temen’s parents made arrangements for him to ascend into the forest. Concealed deep within the trees deep he thought himself safe. For what seemed like an eternity he waited, and only when his paranoid mind could stand no more did he venture back to the village in the guise of a traveller he’d seen years before. It was clear the strangers had left, but such news served not to mollify his anxiety. Temen’s parents had bet upon the strange interlopers in the town failing to connect the dots before preparations for the family to vanish were complete, and it was this bet they lost entirely. After a frantic search in which he already knew the answer Temen found the pyre just beyond the village perimeter, and in that moment his fear turned itself unwaveringly into rage. Familiar with the forest and with a whole life of training Temen ignored all the caution his instincts demanded of him and revolved to pursue his would be killers, to the ends of the world. It was on the then-dangerous road between Silent Rise and Green Fall that he found them, and it was there he watched them for days as they plodded along still giddy from their victory. All the skills Temen once used to fell the beasts within the forest were turned upon the men in their black cloaks, and on the third night of their journey one of them vanished into the night. The remaining four woke to screams from the forest, and the next night three men did the same. Those survivors tried to fight sleep, vainly pushing their bodies in an attempt to ward off the nightmare that awaited them. It did them no good, even though it took a week of patience the sentry posted that night succumbed to the whispers of rest, only to never wake again. The next confrontation would come three days later, when the remaining to black cloaks set a trap. Thinking too little of his would be prey Temen stumbled into it like a fool, and soon enough faced two men with far more experience than he. Slashed, bruised, and on the brink of death it would be luck that came to Temen’s aid when against all odds the sky burst with rain and allowed one his his attackers to simply… Slip. A lunge with a knife and only one of the men who’d murdered his parents lived, and slipping into the night Temen did as well. Days passed as the last wounded killer stumbled down the road in fear, unable to heal his wounds like his attacker. Refusing to give in no matter the cause the once high man whose cloak looked the colour of mud persisted until Greenfall was just within reach, and it was then Temen struck. With the savagery of a wounded animal the last human fought, and in that fight Temen came to learn from the babbling of his opponent that remnants of the old Vensh hunters persisted. One enraged and one desperate Temen and his target both sought to end their plight, and in their struggle both inflicted apparently mortal wounds on the other. Stumbling to the side of the road and aiming to cheat death Temen began a transformation to the form of the very man who lay dying meters away, an individual no more than a few years older than himself. In the change Temen would leave only the ragged scar over his heart from the wound both he and his adversary had received. Luck would have it the weather held travelers back for the time the metamorphosis took, and when patrolling Ebon Knights discovered the rotting bodies in the woods the monster that had killed them was long gone. Staying in the form of the man who would have, who should have killed him, Temen found himself alone and afraid. With no clear next step he was filled with regret that he allowed those who raised him to die, and filled with remorse that killing was his only answer to death. From that moment he resolved to live the full of a human's life, both to understand the men who had killed his parents and find an answer to the question that consumed his mind: was he really the monster that the fearful eyes of those he’d killed asserted he was? Arriving in Ruby banks in 135 DM at nineteen Temen would find employment under an older farmer overseeing foreign slave workers on one of the region's many fertile fields. For ten years Temen would not only witness the barbarism of men, but keeping to his promise he would participate in it. On his twenty ninth birthday the dying childless farmer who’d once employed Temen would leave the farm to him, and Temen would act just as his predecessor had. For fifty years after Temen would do as anyone would and unthinkingly hold living beings in bondage as he expanded the lands they worked and came to be known as a reliable and upstanding member of the community. In that time Temen would raise an orphan as his one, a girl who’d grow into a woman not so different from her father. On his eightieth birthday Temen would feel his body slipping, and would leave all his holdings to the woman he’d done so well to raise before going on an apparent last journey. Returning to the stretch of road where it’d all began Temen would undergo a transformation for the first time in a full human lifetime, returning to the young body he’d abandoned all those years ago. The one he’d been born in. It was a return that filled him with disgust, resentment, and hopelessness. A human life had not led to the understanding and a peace he wished for. No… It had led to him learn a simple truth, he was a monster just as those men had said so long ago, but they were too. All living beings exploited others, they all hid the truth status and power, but each and every one couldn’t give a damn about those who they saw as other. Somewhere a daughter he loved would grow old, and some time in the future she would die. Even knowing it was wrong to love her alone and worry for her while writing off all those who’d suffered under his commands--he still did. It was in that which Temen felt a melancholy that beggared description. Isolating himself in the woods Temen would build a cottage from nothing, and for more than a century he’d maintain it alone. Anything that couldn’t be gathered would be stolen from the travelers that frequented the nearby road, and in time Temen would resign himself to a life he felt was deserved. [b]Skills:[/b] Persuasion: 10 (+30 Racial) Weapon- Long Spear: 15 Wilderness Survival: 15 Observation: 10 Camouflage: 10 Tracking: 10 Agriculture: 10 Carpentry: 5 Cooking: 5 [b]Possessions:[/b] Forest Cottage Cold Weather Outfit: 8GP 6 Wool Peasant's Outfits: 6GP 2 Silk Peasant’s Outfits: 5GP Traveler's Cloak: 1GP Studded Leather 25GP 2 Long Spears: 10GP Dagger: 2GP Caltrops: 1GP 2 Gallon Pot: 1GP Flint and Steel: 1GP Waterskin: 1GP Fishing Kit: 15GP 2 Hammers: 1GP Hooded Lantern: 7GP 3 Chairs: 9SP Table: 1GP Bedroll: 1GP [b]Ledger:[/b] +100GP Starting [b]Story List:[/b] Date - URL - Charact