[center][h3][color=crimson][b]Vec's "Barren Shores" Characters[/b][/color][/h3][/center]
[hider=Gabriel Antares]
[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/3l6rNsx.gif[/img]
[h3][color=crimson]Gabriel Antares[/color][/h3][/center]
[center][sup][sup][h3]Human Male | 31[/h3][/sup][/sup][/center]

[sub][h2]Basic Information[/h2][/sub]
[sup][sup][sup][hr][/sup][/sup][/sup][indent][b]Birthplace[/b]: [color=crimson]Inoka[/color]

[b]Appearance:[/b] Standing at 187 cm and weighing a little over 82 kg, Gabriel is lithe with strong, lean muscle all over his body. He has thick brown hair and blood-red eyes, a hereditary feature of all Inokans.
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[center][img]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/e8/42/f2/e842f27a261acfaf8f8293f750774a03.jpg[/img][/center][/hider][/list]
[b]Personality:[/b] Gabriel is a pain in the ass. Even before getting captured by Astrid forces, he was hard to deal with, even his allies thought so. This came mostly from the fact that he's overly sarcastic about everything and anything, as well as the fact that he revels in pointing out the flaws and mistakes of others whilst completely ignoring others when they point out his mistakes at him. Additionally, he generally has a thing for refusing to obey orders, although that facet of his personality has been curbed by the collar on his neck.

He always likes to state his opinion in every matter, even those that do not affect him in any way and WILL get on your nerves, if you let him. Give him an inch and he will take a mile sort-of-thing. However, that does not mean that he doesn't have his good points as well.

Gabriel is above all, a man of his word. Now, how you get him to promise you something, that is another story altogether. But if you do, then you better be sure that he will deliver. Inokan Values and all, something that's ironic when you think about how his country was ruined by inner conflict and betrayals.

[b]Background:[/b]
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[*][hider=A long one, once more...]
Gabriel hails from the renown Antares Clan. A family known for its strict rules and undying loyalty to the Emperor of Inoka. Thus, It would not come as a surprise to find out that Gabriel grew up a fanatical supporter of the Imperial rule. His family was one of the four Grand Families, ruling over one of the Four Grand Provinces, the province of Laon. He grew up in the pavilions of Laon's biggest city and one of Inoka's biggest trade centers, Jo. Suffice to say, he was pretty wealthy.

However, that does not mean that his upbringing was any different than that of a common soldier's son. His grandfather and the then head of the Antares Clan, Yang, made sure of that. Every day he trained under the supervision of either his father or his elder brother who were under the supervision of his grandfather. As you may understand, he was not allowed a moment's rest, for if he did, not only him but also his father and elder brother would get punished. 

Nevertheless, Gabriel always managed to find time to mess around with the ladies or sneak out of his family's household in order to go on one of his grand adventures, as he so called them. Every time he left the house, his grandfather raised hell on earth in order to find him and every time he was eventually forgiven, but only after suffering multiple punishments. Gabriel, however, did not care and continued finding ways to go out on adventures.

He was on one of those adventures when tragedy struck home. He was staying in an inn, around the outskirts of Tawken when he heard a group of mercenaries over at a table talking about a rebellion. When he approached the mercenaries and asked them where the rebellion was taking place, their answer shook him to his very roots.

[color=crimson][i]"A coup? At Inoka?"[/i][/color] Myriad of thoughts whizzed through his mind as he tried to comprehend the sudden news. The next day, he was on a horse, galloping as fast as he could back to his country. Unfortunately, he returned to a razed-to-the-ground Jo and a completely obliterated Antares Household. The bodies of his father, elder brother and grandfather laid headless in the front yard of the house, with their heads spiked on the walls of the entrance. He later also found out that his little sister and mother were sold off to slavery.

He was 21 at the time. 

Gabriel's rage could have probably sliced through mountains if it was a sword at that moment. Alas, he did not know who was the culprit. Gabriel mourned for a whole month. At day, he would pray over his deceased family members' graves and at night, he would hone his sword skills and techniques. He was hell-bent on finding out the culprit. Fortunately, during his month-long mourning, he found out that it was Astrid that had actually instigated the coup and as such, made meticulous preparations before setting out.

At that day, the Deacon of Astrid was scheduled to make a public appearance. Following the annexation of Inoka, the government needed to be reestablished and the rage of the people needed to be quenched.

When the Deacon took the podium, Gabriel made his move. He unsheathed his treasured sword, Tenryu, and lunged towards the Deacon. Countless guards got between him and his target, trying to stop him from getting any closer but he slashed through all of them. Normal guards were like straws in front of him. That, could not be said for magicians, however. Five or six magicians jumped out of nowhere and cast restriction spells on him. Black chains coiled around his arms and legs whilst vines grew around him, their thorns seeping with a poisonous substance that weakened and slowed down his movements whilst at the same time putting him to sleep.

The last thing he saw was the smile in the face of the Deacon. Some time after, he woke up in a cell with a collar around his neck. Whenever he tried to get rid of it, he was met with a splitting headache that left him moaning for hours on end.

Later he found out that the Deacon had taken a liking on him and arranged for him to be one of his personal bodyguards. For ten whole years, he served under the Deacon. He saw many wars being waged and battles being fought throughout, this time, even participating in some as well. Eventually, however, the warring era came to an end and although his services were no longer needed, he always made sure to maintain a honed edge over his skills, just in case.

And then came Tawken with their Arrowhead. The whole of Astrid was making a fuss about how the people over at Tawken had actually managed to discover a new continent. The there was the meeting between the leaders of the major countries. When the Deacon came back from the meeting, he called for Gabriel.

[b]"You are to escort our envoy to this new continent. See to it that she's safe,"[/b] the Deacon simply told him before dismissing him. Gabriel was left speechless and for a long time, he wondered what did he ever do to deserve his fate. Was all the fooling around with the ladies in his younger years the problem? [color=crimson][b]"Alas, the past was the past and the present is the present..."[/b][/color]

Soon enough, he met with this envoy the Deacon talked about. [color=crimson][i]"A young girl!"[/i][/color] Gabriel almost doubled over and vomited a mouthful of blood right then and there when he saw her. [color=crimson][i]"And a pretty one to boot at that![/i][/color] Gabriel shook his head and walked over to her, introducing himself. He also passed over to her a sealed letter from the Deacon that detailed how the restraining collar on his neck worked, so she would have an easier time controlling him. Not that he had any thoughts of rebelling.

They eventaully boarded the Arrowhead and went off on their journey. But little did they know, nature had other thoughts. When the ship capsized, Gabriel and Charlotte were separated.
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[b]Salvaged Item:[/b] His clothes. Unfortunately, his sword did not survive the ship capsizing and was dragged to the bottom of the ocean...[/indent]
[sub][h2]Nation Information[/h2][/sub]
[sup][sup][sup][hr][/sup][/sup][/sup][indent][b]Name:[/b] [color=crimson]Inoka[/color]

[b]Capital:[/b] The Former Imperial City of Tangjiang

[b]History:[/b]
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[*][hider=Sometimes, danger can come from where one does not expect it...]
Inoka was a medium sized country situated next to Astrid. It had a flourishing economy centered around trade through land and seas as well as being a strongly militarized country. Inoka was ruled through monarchy. Specifically, since It's founding, It always had a ruling Imperial Family as the head of government with ten vassal families ruling over ten different provinces. 

All of the families would send one representative to take the position of Imperial Advisor in the Counsil of Ten, which would then offer advice on every sort of matter considering the wellbeing if the nation, from legislation to military matters and even statutory matters of the Imperial Family, such as marriages, forfeiture of the Imperial status of a member of the Imperial Family, changing the order of succession of an heir who suffers from an incurable disease or even regency, in case of there existing no apparent heir to the throne.

As such, from an outsiders point of view, the country's foundation was rock solid and was in no apparent danger of collapsing. That's why the whole world was shocked when Astrid declared war on Inoka. Within a month, the whole country was overrun by the Astrid armies and their powerful magicians. The cause? Over half of the vassal families were bought off and betrayed their own. They staged a coup in the Imperial Capital, killed the ruling Emperor and his wife, along with all of his heirs. All this happened whilst the armies of Astrid were practically marching unimpeded towards Tangjiang. When the Deacon of Astrid set foot inside the Imperial Palace, the heads of every member of the Imperial Family awaited him on a platter by the throne.

Unfortunately for those who were bought off, Astrid would never trust someone who betrayed their own. Who said that they wouldn't ever betray them as well? So after they had annexed the country, the Deacon sent assassins to all seven of the betrayer clans and killed off their leaders while letting behind a warning that if they didn't mind more blood being shed, they should bend the knee and obey, something they eventually were forced to do, after a series of bloody battles that nearly annihilated the remaining families.

Eventually, the war was over and the country became a province of Astrid. Countless war prisoners were gathered from the defeated families and sold as slaves to rich merchants and magicians as bodyguards or expendable bodies for experiments.
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[sub][h2]Abilities[/h2][/sub]
[sup][sup][sup][hr][/sup][/sup][/sup][indent][b]Skills:[/b][list][*][hider=Flash Sword Style]
The [b]Flash Sword Style[/b] is an extremely devastating form of swordsmanship that can only be used by certain devoted practitioners, some of the most notable hailing from the Antares Clan.

[b]Description:[/b] The Flash Sword Style is an extremely dynamic form of combat, as suggested by the name of the style itself. It revolves around the concept of flash, and therefore primarily requires an enormous amount of speed and skill in order to initiate within any combat situation. While the general expression of one's Flash Sword Style is based on their own interpretation of the fighting style, at the core lies a single philosophy: [i]"a flash is not born from a single light, but thousands strung together as bright as the sun."[/i] And truthfully, that is how the style functions. Rather than utilizing singular hits to create an enormous amount of damage, the user concentrates their efforts in the build up of damage over an extensive period of time. Therefore, they are able to cause their opponent's stamina to be winded down significantly while also causing them to be in severe pain from the constant slashes that are placed upon them. The style almost appears sadistic when viewed by other individuals, in that the constant pain brought about through non-fatal slashes would normally be associated with a sociopath.

The style's basis uses high-speed movements from the drawing of the blade in order to completely eviscerate an enemy's chance of victory. However, rather than being fatal in nature, it is used primarily as a means to deter the enemy from their decisions to engage in combat. This is achieved through the sadistic nature of the combat form, which in turn is supposed to cause a realization in the enemy that they are inevitably going to be overpowered regardless of what they do.
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[*][hider=Training]As one would expect from such a consuming form of combat, the Flash Sword requires extreme dedication and training in order to successfully master its various nuances and individualize it to one's own preference. Unlike the majority of styles that solely require physical training, the Flash Sword also has compulsory mental conditioning as a part of its regime, giving the individuals a mentality in order to sustain and follow the principles of the Flash Sword when it is being executed within combat.[list]
[*][hider=Physical Training][b]Physical Training[/b] A practitioner begins to take their physical training as soon as he picks up a sword. It involves an extremely strict resume of exercises that create an overall very well-rounded body, both in physique and subtlety. Ironically, despite Flash Sword being a style of swordsmanship, the practitioner/apprentice's swordsmanship is not trained by another individual, as refining one's own art cannot be done with assistance from another, despite how much one tries, they may not interfere.
[list][*][b]Speed[/b]: The most important aspect of one's physical training. Flash Sword emphasizes on immense speeds. As such, first and foremost, training is given to one's speed. Instructors are instructed to give an immense burden to their students, such a burden that plunges all but the strongest of light. Essentially, this "burden" are a pair of extremely dense weights. With these weights, the apprentice must perform daily chores, and various other activities in order for one's lower body to run on willpower alone. Achieving this, the instructor may be able to take these weights on and immediately gives the apprentice a test. To be able to catch the instructor off-guard, using their newly attained speed to do so. If achieved, the training progresses onto its next stage. If not, then one must resume this training, once more.
[*][b]Stamina[/b]: A very important aspect of one's physical training. Due to the immense levels of speed one achieves through speed training, stamina is equal, if not, more important in order to be able to prolong the use of such speed. Done through various light exercises that progressively become heavier in order to achieve the desired effects required for this style.
[*][b]Strength and Durability[/b]: To inflict damage and take damage. Although important, these aspects can usually be overlooked by most due to the style not relying on individual techniques, but a culmination of multiple strikes. However, an increase of strength and durability may be done in many ways, most of which are up to the instructor themselves.[/list][/hider]
[*][hider=Mental Training][b]The Mental Training[/b] is the second aspect that students train in as a means to epitomize their combat abilities instead of simply being physically dominant. The advanced mental faculties are generally relevant to the speed and efficiency of the style.
[list][*][b]Observation[/b] is to observe an enemy's every movement is the core essence of the Flash Sword. For to land a hit, one must be knowledgeable on where his enemy lie. The user gains keen training in observation via the enhancement of their natural Five Senses to the point where they are considered on the verge of "superhuman". This allows them to be able to keep up with virtually any opponent only with their natural abilities. In rare cases, there are some surpass this amazing observational skill by leagues, to the point where nothing can be missed from their six senses.
[*][b]Exploitation[/b] is to exploit an enemy's weakness and take advantage of it. Flash Sword pupils are trained extensively to exploit weaknesses that come to their light, utilizing appropriate and devastating counters to destroy their opponents. However, this takes keen sensory along with enhanced feats of physical strength, making it the reason why an all-around training is so important.
[*][b]Manipulation[/b] is to manipulate one's own strengths and an enemy's weakness is the art that very few are able to achieve. Through keen intellect and subsequent amounts of training, one is able to overwhelm their opponent through simple movements merely by counter-acting every one of their attacks with an appropriate response. An immense amount of focus and sheer experience is needed to master this art.[/list][/hider][/list][/hider][/list][/hider][/list]	Gabriel practises the above sword style. Through his training of this style, his physique has been upgraded to above human standards, enabling him to do amazing feats with his body. Unfortunately, due to his carefree personality during his younger days and the fact that he was never a diligent student, to begin with, he has not dabbed into the mental part of the style at all. And now, with the complete and utter annihilation of his clan, he has no instructor to teach him further.

Thusly, his form of the style would be described by the elders as very lackluster. Although his body can follow through with the movements, unless he diligently trains, he will never be able to unleash the full splendor of his clan's sword style.

[b]Weaknesses:[/b] Gabriel is a very impulsive person and he is liable to make spontaneous decisions, some of which never turn out good for him and the ones around him. He's also a very headstrong person. Once he has something in his mind set, it will be very difficult for him to think otherwise.

Aside from his personality issues, he's actually a very unreliable person. Unreliable in the sense that he knows nothing about cooking and the like. For sure he can set up a tent or something if you ask him, but his adventurous days are long over and as such, has forgotten most of what little bushcraft he had knowledge of. Even back then, he almost always found an inn to stay the night or for food and drink.
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[/hider][hr][hider=Update Log][list]
[*][color=gold][b]04/08/16[/b][/color] - ADDED GABRIEL'S CHARACTER SHEET
[*][color=gold][b]04/08/16[/b][/color] - Changed Imperial Capital name to Tangjiang
[*][color=gold][b]10/08/16[/b][/color] - Changed Gabriel's appearance and minor edits.[/list][/hider]