[hider=Rhys] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/hDzcvES.jpg[/img] [b]Name: Rhys Cavanaugh | Human | 27 | Male | 5’10”| 175 lb 0th Circle | Ice | [url=https://youtu.be/StjxfSnwiVg?si=kwGCAgq8HcbzFtwK]🎵[/url][/b][/center] Born in a small mountain community, Rhys was a commoner through and through, and his lands as well could hardly be considered affluent. With the soil and foggy peaks covered in snow year-round, the winters were especially brutal. Resources were scarce to the point it wasn’t uncommon for those unprepared to die from the elements, with there never being enough to go around. If that wasn’t enough, thanks to the wound inflicted by the Perishing Star, the villagers also had to contend with attacks from fell creatures and the like. While this made life more than difficult, it also made the villagers strong and gave them a large sense of community. This strength is what guided a young Rhys in his day-to-day life. Being one who had a gift for martial talent, Rhys often found himself among select villagers who went out to gather resources and fight back against monsters to provide for his homeland. Most days were a life-and-death ordeal for him, but in his mind it made him who he is and stronger for it. His exploits earned him the respect and admiration of his peers, and it gave them something they lacked for a long time: Peace of Mind. For once, it seemed the villagers could focus more on building up their home as opposed to focusing solely on survival. At least, for a while… During an eventful trek, the party that Rhys was a part of had encountered a particularly powerful monster. Despite their efforts, they could do little to stave off the beast, soon all Rhys could hear were the beast’s bellows and the sounds of his comrades' pained screams. The fight had caused enough damage to the cliffside they were on to collapse, with Rhys seemingly falling to his death. As he fell, he thought he saw two turquoise sparks of light falling at him as he descended… Rhys then awoke after a period of blackness. He had no recollection of how long he had been unconscious or how long he fell, but somehow he managed to survive. His thick coverings were all but mangled, and his body was battered and bruised. However, he felt strange - he wasn’t cold. It had to have been below freezing in the cavern he fell in, his surroundings being completely covered in snow and frost. All the same, he felt no chill blowing over his beaten body. He left a sensation on both his neck and right wrist as well. The two sparks of light he thought he saw earlier were of the countless shards from the Thousand Faced God, they punctured his neck and were absorbed by his body. The aspect of the power manifested as a crimson sigil that appeared on his wrist. Unaffected by the cold, he managed to find his way out of the cavern without too much trouble. He was determined to head back to his village, as he felt it was in danger. However, upon entering he saw that his worst fears had come to fruition. His home had been destroyed. The streets were littered with corpses and debris. He saw the monster there as well, much to his rage-filled delirium. The creature, however, appeared to have suffered numerous injuries. It seemed that the last of the villagers banded together to put forth an effort to stay the beast. Having nothing left to lose, the only thing on Rhys’s mind was revenge. No longer being deterred by the perpetual blizzard that was custom in his lands, in addition to the creature’s weakened state, Rhys was able to finally slay the creature. Atoning for the loss of his villagemen didn’t feel the void that their absence had left, of course, but it did tell him that it was time to move on. Survival was the core of his culture, wallowing in self-pity until his eventual death would betray that. Deciding to continue moving forward, he found that adventuring work was the most lucrative path for him, given his skill set. He heard tales of the Adventurer’s Guild in Oratorio, so it was decided that his travels would take him there next. [hider=Path to Ascension] [u][b]0th Circle Ichor-Blessed[/b][/u] 🔷[b]Ichor[/b]: 0 🔷[b]Wealth[/b]: 0 🔷[b]Paladins[/b]: 1 🔷[b]Followers[/b]: 0 🔷[b]Resources[/b]: None. 🔷[b]Artifacts[/b]: None 🔷[b]Property[/b]: None. [b]Divine Protection of Ice[/b] 🔷[i]Permafrost Oracle[/i] - You no longer feel the horrid sting of sub-zero temperatures. Even in the most rapacious blizzard, the lack of sight and warm will not impede you. You can also sense and predict certain types of precipitation. [b]Starting Benefit[/b] 🔷[i]Treasured Companion[/i] - 1 Paladin. You've granted your grace upon someone whom you trust deeply. [/hider] [/hider] [hider=Lysanndra] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/CxH4IVZ.jpg[/img] [b]Name: Lysanndra Neider Human | 23 | Female | 5’7”| 140 lb Tier 1 Paladin | Privateer | [url=https://youtu.be/eVsLt1JuPfg?si=Mxag8RLjusUIsydD]🎵[/url][/b][/center] A young and calculated warrior who once served a local upcoming government as a privateer, tasked with hunting local corsairs or other sellswords who disturbed the peace of their lands and interests. Her skill with the blade and ruthless efficiency earned her the name “Huntress Neider”. Unfortunately, whether by bad luck or a cruel twist of fate, she lost her vessel and crew during a terrible storm. The only thing she kept was her life, but having failed her mission she also failed to secure an asset that was integral to maintaining her employer’s political power. She was decommissioned from her station and was forced to live as a common adventurer with no backing to make end’s meet. Upon a chance meeting, she stumbled across Rhys during a mission, apparently he had been hired as an adventurer to take out a small swarm of monsters alongside her. Aside from being impressed with the man’s skill, she became interested in the rather peculiar abilities his Ichor granted. If she had the ability to sense and predict weather patterns, perhaps she would’ve been able to avert the tragic loss of her crew and thus not have to live this troublesome cutthroat lifestyle. She decided to become Rhys’s paladin and champion his cause, perhaps feeling that she could make an even stronger crew with him. She may have also felt a sense of kinship with him, both knowing what it’s like to lose everything in an instant. [b]Skills[/b]: 🗡️[i]Deadly Huntress[/i] - Lysanndra possesses great insight into predicting the movement patterns and habits of targets she’s hunting, whether it be criminals or monsters. [b]Grades[/b] [b]STR[/b] - I | [b]END[/b] - I | [b]DEX[/b] - I | [b]AGI[/b] - I | [b]MAG[/b] - I | [b]LCK[/b] - I [/hider]