[hider=Velyn Virith][hr][color=#daa520][CENTER][h1]V E L Y N V I R I T H[/h1][/CENTER] [table][row][/row][row][cell][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/PxRezPc.jpg[/img] [sub]Original Art by [url=https://theminttu.tumblr.com/]Minttu[/url][/sub] [color=daa520][sup]____________________________________________________[/sup][/color][/center] [indent][sub][b]Character Information[/b] [COLOR=SILVER] [b]Name[/b][COLOR=#807B84] - Velyn Virith of House Redoran[/COLOR] [b]Gender[/b][COLOR=#807B84] - Male[/COLOR] [b]Race[/b][COLOR=#807B84] - Dunmer[/COLOR] [b]Faction[/b][COLOR=#807B84] - House Redoran (former), Buoyant Armigers (former)[/COLOR] [b]Class[/b][COLOR=#807B84] - Spellsword[/COLOR] [b]Birthsign[/b][COLOR=#807B84] - The Lady[/COLOR] [/color][/sub][/indent] [center][color=daa520][sup]____________________________________________________[/sup][/color][/center] [indent][SUB][b]Character Skills[/b][/sub] [sup][color=silver][b]Martial[/b] [color=807B84]Velyn is a skilled martial combatant with both the use of the spear and the short blade. His fighting style is fast and agile, using lighter armour to prioritise speed over protection. Though age saps his strength and agility, Velyn more than makes up for that in hundreds of years of martial experience.[/color] [b]Magical[/b] [color=807B84]Though some Buoyant Armigers were once great users magic, Velyn is not among their ranks. He understands the basics of magical practice but is no expert. He has some small skill in the schools of Restoration and Alteration. The Healing of Sick was a core tenant of the Tribunal Temple, and all those who served it learned something of the restorative arts. He also learned some of the tricks of the Buoyant Armigers, such as water breathing and walking, as well as the art of magically shielding the body in combat.[/color] [b]Miscellenous[/b] [color=807B84]In his youth Velyn was a fine acrobat, but such exertions are much beyond him now, he still however retains a soft tread and an excellent balance. Velyn's other great skill has only increased with age, his eloquent speech. Velyn has increasingly dedicated himself to the study and creation of poetry in his later years.[/color] [/color][/SUP][/indent] [center][color=daa520][sup]____________________________________________________[/sup][/color][/center] [indent][SUB][b]Character Equipment[/b][/sub] [sup][color=silver][b]Weapons[/b] [COLOR=#807B84]Chitin Glaive, fashioned in the traditional Dumner style. Twinned Steel Wakizashi and Tanto, worn at the waist. [/COLOR] [b]Armour[/b] [color=807B84]Worn Chitin Armour, much patched and repaired.[/color] [b]Enchanted Items[/b] [color=807B84]Amulet of Fortify Stamina, made from a carved Guar tooth. The Chitin Glaive also bears a minor flame enchantment.[/color] [b]Miscellaneous[/b] [color=807B84]Ragged Red Travelling Cloak. Spare Bundle of Clothing. A Few Days of Rations. Jar of Matze, a rice wine from Morrowind. Ceramic Drinking Cups. Patterned Fabric Bedroll. Paper Lantern. Incense burner with Fragant Incense. Dunmeri Lute, similar to a Shamisen. Books and Scrolls, mostly the teachings and poetry of Vivec.[/color] [/color][/SUP][center][color=daa520][sup]____________________________________________________[/sup][/color][/center][/indent][/cell] [cell][sub]A P P E A R A N C E[/sub] [color=#807B84][indent]Velyn Virith is an elderly male Dunmer, well into his third century. Despite his venerable age he is not frail or decrepit, he stands tall and straight still, thin with age and hard living, but possessing wiry strength and cultivated grace to his movements. The way Velyn moves is like a dancer, with light quick steps, but he carried himself with all the confidence and surety of a warrior. When his face is hidden beneath his chitinous helm, he could pass for a mer more than half his age. Velyn's face, however, shows the truth of his age. His sharp angular features are lined and wrinkled, crows feet radiate out from the corners of his narrow blood red eyes. The ceremonial tattoos and scars of his young are pale and faded. The dark hair pulled back into his high topknot is so threaded with grey that they now outnumber the black. In his youth, Velyn would have been considered handsome, and he still retains a element of refined dignity in his appearance to this day. A sign of his former vanity can be seen the golden jewellery than hangs from his pointed ears. When not dressed in the worn and patchwork chitin armour that he wraps in a tattered crimson cloak, Velyn prefers to dress in the many hued and patterned fabrics of his homeland, instead of the local Nord furs. He does however, often wear multiple layers, with long robes over his normal clothing. The cold gets into his bones and aching joints these days.[/indent][/color] [sub]P E R S O N A L I T Y[/sub] [color=#807B84][indent]Velyn is a mer who has been through many trials and tribulations in his life, trials that have had him question his faith and own decisions. As Lord Vivec once cautioned the Hortator Saint Nerevar, beware the wrong walking path. Velyn's path has been one of struggle, soaked in blood, beset with Violence. But it is only through Violence that one might reach Heaven. And so Velyn Virith is at peace. But his frequent philosophical ruminations do not mean he is dour or dull, far from it in fact. Velyn is an eloquent conversationalist, a skilled orator, poet and musician. He enjoys performing and entertaining, and like all entertainers he enjoys a stiff drink shared with good company. At times like these his wry sense of humour becomes increasingly apparent, as well as a somewhat rakish and flirtatious side to old Knight Errant. Ultimately, however, he views distractions of the flesh as just that, distractions, despite the allure they sometimes still hold for him. There are only two things Velyn truly cares about, aiding those in need of his assistance, and carving his own path to Heaven. [/indent][/color] [sub]H I S T O R Y[/sub] [color=#807B84][indent]Velyn Virith was born on Vvardenfell in the year 3E412. He was a younger son of Theldyn Virith, Kinsman to the Great House Redoran. Growing up, most of his childhood was spent between the Redoran district capital of Auld'ruhn and his family's ancestral estates in the West Gast near the port of Auld Velothi. Like his brothers and cousins, he was expected to join his father's house as another proud Redoran warrior, but fate had other plans for Velyn Virith. Once, while visiting the great city of Vivec as a child, Velyn witnessed a regatta being held on the grand canal. Barges of beaten gold, wreathed with garlands, floated upon the shimmering waters, oars manned by beautiful maidens and comely youths. From the decks, knights clad in iridescent glass laughed and sang as they threw roses to the watching crowd. And hovering above them all, a seated figure, half gold, smiling, and radiating the light of heaven itself. This was the first time Velyn saw a God, and he vowed that day, that it would not be the last. As soon as he was old enough he pledged himself as novice to the Tribunal Temple, and then to be apprenticed by the Armigers once he had proved his worth. In those days the fear of Sharmat hung over Vvardenfell, and the ALMSIVI receded from the outside world, but Velyn did not forget what it meant to see a God in all their glory. He never would. [/indent][/color][/cell][/row][/table][/COLOR][color=#807B84][indent]Velyn kept his faith, his love for his Lord Vivec, even after the deaths of the other Triunes. When the gates Oblivion opened and daedra ravaged Morrowind, he kept his faith still. When his Lord disappeared, he kept his faith. When the moons fell from the sky and fires rose up from earth, he kept his faith. When the Argonians invaded and sacked their cities even as the ash and fire rained down still, he kept his faith. He fought though all these terrors as an Armiger, doing his deeds in Love and War in the name of his Lord, Vivec. And when the New Temple emerged triumphant from the rubble of their nation and proclaimed Vivec was a false god, Velyn kept his faith. And won himself exile for it. He fled to Cyrodil, following in the footsteps of countless Dunmer refugees, to find a province also lost to chaos and war as chaos of the the Stormcrown Interregnum unfolded. There he joined a group of rebels fighting against the tyrannical count of Skingrad. These were darkest days of his existence. Bereft of his Lord, his land, and his love, Velyn turned to a darker path. He indulged in unworthy vices and fought not for Love, but rather to die. He was broken in those days, and it would take many years for him to find his true path again and to fight under the Will of Love once more. He wandered Tamriel for a long time, never truly settling anyway, never truly putting down roots. Over those long years there were companions, friends, lovers, and enemies. But they were all transient. So do were roles at which he played. Sometimes he was a solider and a mercenary, at others a poet, musician, or acrobat. But always was he one thing, a holy man. For above all else, as he wandered, he searched for answers to the questions that still haunted him, the questions that lingered despite his faith. Why did Vivec leave his people at the time of their greatest need? Why did Vivec allow such terrors to befall the faithful whom he had loved and cherished? And why, why, did his Lord abandon him, his most loyal and adoring of servants? It took many years for Velyn to come to a conclusion. He consulted great sages and philosophers from across the lands, read the holy books and poets of his Lord countless times. He found an answer, his answer at least, though sometimes he still doubts it himself. But did Vivec not say: Beware the wrong walking path? Did he not also say: Beware the crime of benevolence? Chimer were taught to struggle by the Anticipations and Saint Veloth, and they became greater for it, they were changed by it. The Dunmer had prospered under the benevolent rule of the Tribunal, the benevolent rule of his Lord... but now, it seemed they must struggle again. Greater things awaited them still, and only through struggle would they be changed once more. So Velyn would struggle on his own path, and he would help to teach his kin how to struggle too. Anywhere Dunmer struggled on the path, he would be there to try to teach them how to struggle, how to grow stronger, how to change, how to Reach Heaven by Violence. This was why Velyn Virith came to Skyrim in the third century of Fourth Era, for it was here, he believed, that the struggle of his people was greatest. If he could teach the Dunmer to walk the path in Skyrim, and struggle their way to greatness, then he might change his whole people, he might change the whole world. For the ending of the words is ALMSIVI. And the worlding of the words is AMARANTH.[/indent][/color] [/hider]