[quote=@Zeropathic] This is still very much a work in progress, particularly in the Personality department, but I have a decent idea of who my character is and who my people are. A lot of this is just my notes to myself. I intend to finish this in the next couple of days, but until then, here's something for you guys to work with. [hider=Ovan of the Steppes] [color=ffe040][b]Name[/b][/color] Bekter Ovan-Shar - Ovan Khan - of the House of Touman A curiosity of the Yagar naming tradition is that the father’s name is used as a prefix to the given name, or in the case of girls, their mother’s name is used. As such, Bekter is the name of Ovan’s father. The “Shar” suffix, meaning “yellow”, is an honorific indicating his descent from the legendary Yellow Khan of two centuries past. Those close to him would simply call him Ovan. [color=ffe040][b]Age[/b][/color] 31 [color=ffe040][b]Race[/b][/color] Human [color=ffe040][b]Nationality[/b][/color] [i]Yagar tribes[/i] North-east of the Godsfang Mountains lies a vast expanse of open, untamed land stretching for thousands of miles. Sometimes called the Land of Winds, due to the the harsh gales that whip across the open plains ceaselessly. Thunderstorms appear with startling suddenness, turn the ground to mud with torrential rain, and then end as abruptly as they started. Winter’s inevitable march shrouds the plains in frozen white, the biting cold a deathly trial for even the hardiest of beasts. These are the Steppes, and their harsh conditions have forged a tenacious people: the horse nomads, some call them; barbarians, others say; the Yagar, they call themselves. Throughout the ages the names of the tribes have changed, as have their customs and faiths, but their nomadic way of life has remained true for as long as history has been written. They are the people of the horse and bow, hunters and herders, their children taught to ride from the moment they can walk and to shoot from the moment they can hold a bow. They enter and leave the tapestry of history as suddenly and unpredictably as the thunderstorms sweep the plains. Normally, the tribes turn their weapons against each other and feud over centuries-old transgressions, giving the settled kingdoms little more trouble than occasional raids into their border territories. But occasionally, a great figure emerges and unifies the tribes, and with newfound strength sets their eyes on the riches of the sedentary world. When they are weak, they are little more than a pest. But when they are strong, the tribes pose an existential threat to those who border the steppe, something the kingdoms felt dearly when the Yellow Horde of two centuries past emerged to subjugate all at the behest of their Yellow Khan. Such empires have never lasted, rotting from within with the tensions of power-lusting men and unrevenged grudges. Military expeditions by the settled kingdoms into the steppes have only ever been partially successful at best: there are next to no settlements to pillage, no cities to capture, and the food is scarce. The tribes know this and simply pack up and retreat into the vastness of the steppes, goading invaders to pursue them, harassing them all the way and striking when they are tired and hungry. Many an over-eager would-be conqueror has lost his armies this way, and the kingdoms have learned that the best way to handle the nomads is to fight them with their own, pitting tribe against tribe through the use of cunning diplomacy to prevent them from uniting in the first place. [hider=The Tribes] The [color=ffe040]Yellow Horde[/color] was a great confederation of tribes centered around the Shargal tribe and its legendary [color=ffe040]Yellow Khan[/color], who united the tribes and brought them to bear against the settled kingdoms two centuries ago. They conquered the peripheral lands with bow and lance, and used captured engineers to tear down the walls of the great cities. Those who submitted willingly were spared. Those who resisted were often mercilessly slaughtered as examples to others. It was a time of misery for the kingdoms and of glory for the tribes. In his later years, the Yellow Khan distanced himself from the task of administering his empire. His descendants would say that he dedicated himself to spiritual matters. Others whisper that he went mad, twisted delusions perverting his mind. When he unexpectedly died with no appointed heir, chaos ensued. The eldest son, Altan, was assassinated, some say by his younger twin brothers’ conspiracy. The descendants of Touman, first of the twins, would forever blame Zasag, the second twin, whose descendants would in turn point their finger at Touman. Regardless of what actually happened, the younger sons would soon turn on each other and drag the empire into a long and bloody civil war that wrought pain and misery upon all the conquered lands. The conquered kingdoms rebelled and rose in coalition against the tribes, reclaiming their lands and driving the nomads back to the steppes. The Yellow Horde was no more, breaking once again up into myriad tribes. The Shargal tribe would forever be split in two: the Zasag tribe and the Touman tribe, whose mutual hatred burns hot still. The [color=ffe040]Touman Tribe[/color] of today is but a shadow of the Yellow Horde of times past, yet it has still managed to remain one of the dominant tribes of the steppes, along with their bitter rival. Dagon IV, eager to extend his influence and to end the raids at his borders, set out to subjugate the steppe. The Zasag tribe was bribed with power and brought to bear against the Toumans, and with Dagon’s unholy blessing the once-proud tribe was hounded across the steppes until only a few remained. Those who survived have sought protection under the Scarred King, pledging their bows to his cause. Their bitter rival, the [color=dc4c34]Zasag Tribe[/color], would wear painted masks of wood and bone in battle to frighten their enemies and in ritual to honor their god. After forsaking their faith for Dagon’s promised power, the designs of their masks have become increasingly perverse, as if to mimic the twisted, inhuman things they have become underneath their false faces, which they now wear at all times as if to hide away their true visage. It is whispered across the steppe that their transformation is not due to Dagon’s corrupting influence, but the result of a curse cast upon them by their vengeful god for their transgressions. [/hider] [color=ffe040][b]Occupation[/b][/color] Khan of the Toumans [color=ffe040][b]Religion and customs [/b][/color] [i]Polytheism, primarily the God of Earth; shamanism; ancestor worship[/i] • The soul is said to come from the earth and reside in the blood, and as such many of the tribes worship the Earth as the principal deity, though the Sky and Fire are popular choices as well. Regardless of which a tribe prefers, the others will still have some significance in their beliefs. • As the soul comes from the Earth, it should be returned to the Earth after death. • Blood-sharing rite: the blood of two (some times more) people is mixed in a cup, and then drank in turn by the ones performing the rite. This creates a bond of blood, like that of family. The Yagar say that the soul resides in the blood, and so this ritual is like sharing your soul with someone else. This rite is also part of the traditional marriage ceremony. • A barren plain lies in the middle of nowhere, entirely flat, with not a hill on the horizon. There grows a White Tree the height of a horse, its trunk crooked, its branches bare. When struck the tree bleeds black blood, called the Blood of the Earth, used for religious ritual. This is the holiest of sites for the Touman tribe. • The Rite of the Khan is related to the blood-sharing rite. The Khan offers his blood, and thereby a part of his soul, to the soil of the White Tree, and in return he drinks the Blood of the Earth, taking a part of the very soul of the earth itself into him. This is said to give the Khan magical powers, allowing them to sometimes see things unseen to normal men. Certain herbs can be ingested to induce a trance-like state where these things are seen more clearly. With an offering of the Khan’s blood, he can borrow the power of some of these beings that reside at what is believed to be the border of life and death, sometimes with traumatic consequences for the channeler. It is said that old Khans are never truly sane. [color=ffe040][b]Appearance [/b][/color] Roughly human-looking [color=ffe040][b]Personality[/b][/color] • Lived a pretty carefree and adventurous youth, never expecting to claim Khanship of the tribe as both his older and younger brothers were favored over him for the position by their father the Khan. The mantle of responsibility forcibly thrust upon him has made Ovan a more serious person, but the adventurer's spirit lurks just beneath the surface still. [color=ffe040][b][b]Biography[/b][/b][/color] [hider=Pretty much just my notes to myself] • The tribe is a remnant of the infamous Yellow Horde of centuries past, which united the tribes and swept the settled eastern kingdoms. Upon the death of the Yellow Khan, a civil war broke out over the succession and the Horde was fractured as a result, and the fractured tribes were driven back to the steppes. Two branches of the royal family formed new tribes and have been bitter rivals ever since. (Touman tribe/Zasag tribe) • Dagon moves to subjugate the tribes near his borders. My rival tribe submits in exchange for corrupted power and are tasked with hunting down my defiant tribe to the last man, woman, and child. Weakened after engagements with Dagon’s armies, my tribe is no match for the Zasags and our rapidly diminishing numbers are hounded across the steppes, denied even the time to perform rites for their dead who are left to rot on the steppes. • My father, the Khan is killed in a raid. My brothers and sisters are captured. My pregnant wife is mortally wounded. We escape and head to the plain of the sacred White Tree with a small cohort. My dying wife volunteers her life in sacrifice to the earth. She is fed a concoction to render her delirious, and in an attempt to save the child it is cut from her womb. Her blood seeps into the earth as she draws her last breath. The underdeveloped child is held in my arms; unmoving, unbreathing, void of life. • The Ritual of Khans is performed, with the last remnants of my tribe as my witnesses. The blood of my wife and stillborn child is offered to the earth so that their souls can return to the soil. I give my blood to the soil, and in turn I drink the Blood of the Earth. I am made Khan of the Toumans. • A rib is taken each from my dead wife and stillborn child to be made into an amulet. • I take the remainder of my tribe and seek the Scarred King’s protection. [/hider] [color=ffe040][b]Possessions[/b][/color] • [b]Book of Grudges:[/b] A dusty leather-bound tome passed down since Touman’s time, written in the Yagar script. It is simultaneously a dramatic narrative of the tribe’s history as well as a detailed account of all wrongs committed against the House of Touman. It opens with a vivid retelling of the massacre at the grand assembly after the Yellow Khan’s death, in which Zasag’s assassins butchered Altan and his supporters. • [b]Bone Necklace:[/b] The tips of two human ribs attached to a string of horse hair. The ribs belonged to Ovan’s deceased wife and stillborn child, and serve as both a memento and a connection to their unrevenged spirits. • [b]Yagar Bow:[/b] The Yagar recurve bows – wood, horn, and sinew held together with animal glue – are claimed to be the finest in the world. The tribesmen, who train archery from a young age, are capable of shooting these heavy bows with great accuracy even from atop a galloping horse. Ovan’s current bow was a wedding gift from his wife’s father, who was a bowmaker famed for his skill, and as such this bow is of particularly fine quality. • [b]Hashad's Saber:[/b] This curved sword design of the desert nomads is beloved by the Yagar for how well suited it is to be used from horseback, so much so that it is often imitated by their own weaponsmiths. This particular specimen was a prize won in a bet with a prince of a desert tribe, its high quality workmanship, golden inlays, and intricate engravings a testament to its previous owner's wealth and status. Engraved on the bottom of the blade is the name "Hashad" in the script of the ancient desert kingdoms. • [b]Ulaan:[/b] The Yagar horse is a hardy breed accustomed to the temperamental weather and harsh winters of the steppes. Ovan’s steed is a red-coated mare with a white teardrop spot on her forehead. [color=ffe040][b]Skills[/b][/color] • Shooting • Riding • Slashing • Some shaman mojo magic • Playing the horse-head fiddle [color=ffe040][b]Motivation[/b][/color] • Ensuring the survival of the remainder of his tribe • Destroying the Zasags for their transgressions against the Toumans • Destroying Dagon for his transgressions against the Toumans [/hider] Something I wonder about is the geography of the region. In Vietmyke's sheet is described a desert region to the east. I imagined the steppes to be north of that, and sort of wrapping around the eastern and northern parts of the Godsfang Mountains, parts of it also bordering or being close to the kingdom of Aldebaran. Did you have any preconceptions about what a map might have looked like? [/quote] Accepted, awesome CS. I think I'll begin work on a map once we have all our characters join. Then I'll try to reconcile everything mentioned in the CSes.