Single Malt

Tales From the Realm of Laelilon

@TiI hope the start of my second last paragraph allowed sufficient lapse of time for you to introduce Amandine properly. It wasn't my intention to ignore anything. Let me know if you'd like me to edit.

Tales From the Realm of Laelilon

Maltar

Spirit of the Beast

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The Elvian hunter had returned a nod to the burly man and had barely established his footing by the bookshelf, when the redhead woman turned to welcome him and provided her name. Maltar's discomfort for being around people was slightly enhanced by her comely emerald stare. He required a moment to reciprocate before acknowledging her introduction with another nod, but he didn’t have time to reply with his own name before her attention turned. Faline's following comment to the man in the loveseats demonstrated what her mind was focused on. As it turned out, she too was of an opinion like Maltar’s. Both of them preferred to work alone.

It was then that Maltar’s attention was drawn toward the door by a strong energy approaching from the other side. The energy he felt was dragonian. No sooner had he felt the energy did the door swing open with the entry of Dorian and... a little girl.

Maltar tilted his head and assessed the girl quickly. The white-haired girl didn’t appear older than a teenager, but there was something about her visage that told him he was being deceived in that aspect.

While the girl removed her cloak and hung it on a peg, and the man in the loveseats then introduced himself as Torsten, the beast stirred within Maltar.

Maybe it was the rosy cheeks of Torsten’s jovial persuasion, or the awkwardness of Torsten’s shut-eyed consternation in not knowing which way to turn, or the presence of the dragonian girl and her Déjà vu wise crack that almost went over his head, or maybe it was Faline's relatable comment about preferring to work alone that had Maltar accept the situation. He would need to conform to the company of these people, at least for now. He suddenly found himself walking across the room as Torsten requested their names.

“My name is Maltar,” he spoke plainly for all to hear as he arrived at an empty seat, only to be stopped by a sense of courtesy. The seat was the last available of the three seats in front of the fire. Maltar held out his hand to offer the seat to the dragonian girl, then went and sat himself in one of the chairs by the wall beside the fire instead. He unhooked the Burden Flask from his belt and swallowed back a mouthful of its contents. Returning the flask to his belt, Maltar rested forward with elbows on his knees.

Once Dorian had returned to his post again and the four members of the group had formerly been introduced, Maltar pensively assessed the other three people in the room. Torsten's comment of starting off well on a good footing, and Faline's prior comment on their host having ideas for them to be working together, resounded with the shared assumption that they had all been brought together to continue their search. Maybe.... 'Strangers' with a shared objective being herded together by uncertain forces indicated there was more to this situation than a search for missing people. At least, that is how Maltar saw it.

"Do correct me if I'm wrong." Maltar started speaking with eyes on Torsten, though as he spoke his stare addressed all three of them. "I assume we are all here as a result of searching for people missing." Maltar's eyes fell on the bag by Faline's feet for a moment as he paused. "But the current situation reeks of a different agenda for those who brought us here." Maltar knew that inevitably Dorian may shed light on their situation, but he didn't necessarily trust Dorian, and prodding for information that the others had picked up along the course of their journey's might prove helpful in providing alternative insights.

Tales From the Realm of Laelilon

Tbh, I've got a bit of dyslexia. When I first read that, I thought, why would she want to eat a peasant? Dragons.... xD

Tales From the Realm of Laelilon

Maltar

Spirit of the Beast

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His pack was light. His weapons were housed in their places. Drenched in a tattered attired of a leather coat, gray undertunic, patched dark-leather trousers and black scuffed boots, Maltar stood outside across and down the street from the tavern. He had been there in the darker shadows of a straggly tarmar tree watching at the entrance of the Lock and Key for an hour or two, assessing those who would come and go. Though his physical size was intimidating, it was fortunate that his unkempt appearance presented himself as no one more than a common wanderer of the lands.

The rain didn’t bother Maltar. Being a hunter of animals, monsters, and monsters of men, had him spend much of his life in the wilds. He was desensitized to the elements. He enjoyed the rain. The weighed chill of the water rippling down his clothes made it feel like he was dissolved in the dreary night ambience of the street, unnoticed on the most part by those who may pass by.

Maltar didn’t like crowds, but that wasn’t the reason he hadn’t entered the tavern yet. As a formidable hunter, it was good to be cautious. Normally, a tavern wouldn’t fall into a category of caution, and it wasn’t like looming about outside of taverns was a hobby, that would be odd, but Maltar hadn’t wound up at the Lock and Key by chance or casual wandering. He’d been led there by a cryptic trail of indicators to the possible location of the only two people that meant anything to him in this world. No, Maltar didn’t believe that Thoren and Marya were in the tavern. He suspected the tavern would provide little more than just another piece to the puzzle but, under the circumstances, assessing the outside situation before entering seemed reasonable.

It was after he saw a cloaked woman with an Elvian energy enter the tavern, followed shortly thereafter by a sturdy combative-looking human male, that Maltar’s insight stirred within him. He felt a sense of undefined connection between to the two strangers. Though the sense of connection between them was vague at best, it brought with it the notion that they were also connected to his own quest in some way. Provoked by this sense of intuition, Maltar waited a short while longer before crossing the street to the Lock and Key.

---

Maltar refrained from revealing his destain for the boisterous crowd as the tavern door shut behind him. He swiped his hand down his face to rid himself of excess water and took a moment to familiarize himself with the room. The Elvian woman and Human male he’d seen enter a while earlier were not in the barroom. It didn’t take long to establish an association to their absence by the presence of the Governor’s son. Dorian, a familiar face to many. The gleam of his privileged, icy blue eyes soon locked on Maltar’s from across the room. The men's stares remained locked for a few seconds, before Dorian stood from his seat at the table to approach Maltar as he too made his way across the barroom.

The two men met with a quiet understanding by the bar. The Governor’s son presented a narrowed grin of amused interest toward the tall Elvian male before tossing his head and turning to lead the way. Inexpressive, Maltar followed him into a back room.

As suspected, the half-Elvian woman was there, her now lowered hood revealing her fiery locks and penetrating green eyes of an obvious druid countenance. Of course, the human man who had entered the tavern close behind the woman was there as well, his Fighter's vibe now solid as his physical form. It became quickly obvious that more than just another set of clues were awaiting Maltar at the Lock and Key. The reasons for the connection he had earlier sensed between the Elvian woman and the Human became apparent. They were there for the same reason Maltar was. Maltar was disappointed that his quest had resulted in the pending companionship of others. He considered walking out and continuing his quest alone, but the requirement to establish understanding of this situation made him stay. At least for now.

Maltar nodded to Dorian, who then left to return to his place at his table in the barroom. The door closed in his wake. Maltar casually assessed the furnishings and items while making his way toward the far side of the room. Preferring to stand for now, he took position near a desk and bookshelf and pocketed his hands in his coat. Not showing his regret for the need to become acquainted with the two strangers, he regarded the woman and then the man with an unassuming look. He would wait to be spoken to before speaking.

Tales From the Realm of Laelilon

@Pandolin Thought Pebble was great too btw. She's awesome!

Tales From the Realm of Laelilon

Thank you, @Pandolin! Glad you love him. Makes it worth the effort.

Tales From the Realm of Laelilon

Hey, just letting you all know I changed my character, again. Apologies for the incontinence. Just wasn't happy with my last char.

Tales From the Realm of Laelilon

@jasbraq I read Gus in the original thread the other day. I know I'm new to this RP and not the GM or anything, but I just wanted to say I really like Gus. He sounds awesome!

Tales From the Realm of Laelilon

FYI. Edited my CS. Reconstructed my entire character.

Tales From the Realm of Laelilon

𝓜𝓪𝓵𝓽𝓪𝓻

Spirit of the Beast

Hider

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Basic Information

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Age

30

Gender, Pronouns, Preferences

Male. He/Him. Heterosexual.

Race

Elvian

Class

Ranger Sorcerer

Weapons

Crossbow: As with all his weapons, Maltar's crossbow is crafted and enchanted with knowledge that Thoren passed on. The crossbow is more compact version than most and its limbs can be folded in as not to be cumbersome while traveling. While it is smaller than most crossbows, it was constructed with expertise that allows it to deliver equal power to its larger predecessors. Bolts are not required, because the flight groove of the crossbow is engraved with a sigil that materialized a solid bolt of violet ethereal appearance when the serving is pulled back to the retention lever. Although ammunition is essentially endless, the bolts will deliver no more damage than any standard metal bolt, and the bolts will dissipate after striking the target. The sigil is also light dependent, the less light there is, the slower the reload time. In ample lighting, the materialization of a bolt takes a second or two.

Gauntlet Blade: Maltar doesn't wear armor besides one gauntlet with a retractable blade on his right forearm. The blade extends or retracts when Malter forms a fist and extends his thumb and fifth digit.

Dual Short Swords: Forged from the finest steel and engraved with sigils to prevent the blades from dulling.

Detailed Appearance

Maltar stands tall at 6'5" and has a strong athletic build, ruggedly chiseled features, a dour visage, and dark hazel green eyes. With long, unkempt dirty brown hair, infrequently trimmed beard, soiled skin, and tattered attire that requires cleaning much more often that it receives, his physical appearance displays his utter lack of vanity. Disrobed, Maltar's torso, shoulders and legs exhibit the result of his childhood abuse in heavy layers of scar tissue.

Beast: While Maltar's irises are naturally a hazel green, the entirety of his eyes will flood ink-black at the moment the beast within begins to rise to the surface. Once the beast has fully taken hold of Maltar, his skin will puff, bruise and marble with dark veins, while his digits will thicken, black claws will extend, and although his teeth will not lengthen, they will alter to a serrated triangular shape. Maltar's physical size will not grow while overtaken by the beast, but his strength does increase to that of several men.

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Bio

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Maltar

At the age of 12, Maltar killed his own father. Maltar's father was of no class value, just a wicked man that brutalized and battered his son on a daily basis for no cause but his own sadistic gratification. When Maltar grew old enough to work up the courage, he slew his father with a stone, bashing his head to mush. Upon his father's death, Maltar burned down his childhood home in the Western Ellezag Plains and walked away with nothing but the clothes on his back and blood on his hands.

Maltar started a nomadic existence wandering the lands of Vradia in a constant battle to survive until, at the age 14, he was taken in by a human middle-aged couple who lived in a secluded cabin in the mountain's northeast of the Evergreen Forest. Thoren and Marya were both Rangers and Sorcerers who dedicated their lives to the protection and preservation of civilization in the norther reaches of Vradia. They raised Maltar as their very own and devoted all the time they could to guide him in their beliefs and pass on the knowledge of their ways.

When Maltar was seventeen, while camping alone in the woods several miles from home, a dark entity came to him in his sleep. Maltar's efforts to fight off the spirit entity were futile. It pinned Maltar to the ground and pressed against his will until finally it entered and took possession of his body. Two days later, Maltar returned home in a savage and crazed state, drenched in the blood of many untold victims to his possessed bloodthirsty lust. With a spell to suppress the entity within, Thoren and Marya subdued their adopted Elvian son. For several days, Marya tried by all the means she knew to exercise the evil spirit from inside Maltar but arrived at no success. As a final resort, she concocted an elixir that Maltar would need to drink several times a day to keep the beast within him at bay. Thoren and Marya made a vow to forever withhold Maltar's murderous crimes from the world. The identity of the spirit that took hold of Maltar's body that night in the woods has not been determined.

It soon came to pass that Maltar began experiencing a recurring phenomenon he came to call Night Shifts. He would, on sparse and random occasions, wake up in a different location than he went to sleep. These shifts in location didn't only take place at night, it could happen at any time he slept or was rendered unconscious, but he stuck with the name regardless. When Night Shifts first started happening, Maltar thought that maybe he had started sleepwalking, but the more it happened the more he suspected there was much more to it, as there were times when he would wake up in locations too far for him to have traveled in the time that had lapsed. His suspicion that something supernatural was taking place was confirmed by Marya who one night witnessed Maltar literally vanish from his bed. On that occasion, Maltar woke up the next morning three miles away from home on the bank of a river. For many years, Maltar has attempted to find patterns in the when's and where's of the Night Shifts, but of course, he hasn't been able to figure out why it happens or predict when it will. Only that it's extremely inconvenient, and that it started happening soon after the sprit beast took his body.

Maltar was almost 30 when he returned home one night after a week-long hunting trip and found Thoren and Marya gone. The couple's absence from their home was not entirely uncommon and Maltar had not thought much of it at first, but when he discovered the symbol, albeit a message that only he could decipher, etched in the timber of the floor beneath the kitchen table, he knew they were not returning any time soon. The Elvian knew what he had to do. He restocked his pack, gathered his weapons, filled his Burden Flask with elixir, and set out across the land.

The Beast

Life has its ways of dishing out unfortunate events that open the doors to unwelcome circumstances. In Maltar's case, these circumstances - such as going without his elixir for too long, becoming intoxicated with alcohol, sleep deprivation, and arriving at a state of unbridled rage - have allowed the beast to rise to the surface and take hold of Maltar. The first few times that Maltar was overtaken by the beast he was utterly void of control, but in time his internal efforts to try and control the beast's bloodlust resulted in a shift in its focus. While Maltar is still unable to puppeteer the beast, it's savagery now seems to be influenced by Maltar's pursuits, ambitions and interests.

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Likes

Solitude
Hunting
Delivery of Justice
Bacon

Dislikes

Crowds
Loud noises
Cruelty
Disrobing
People breathing on him

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Skills and Abilities

~Transcendence: At times a proficient hunter requires more speed than the physical body can manage when confronted by a formidable enemy, and for this reason Maltar was instructed in the ability to instantaneously traverse short distances. The distances crossed are normally up to a few meters, and requires a heightened state of acuity that is commonly produced in times of battle and other adrenalized situations.

~Night Eyes: Since being possessed by the beast, Maltar is able to see in the dark.

~Mingle: A technique taught by Thoren for the cunning of hunting, Maltar has the ability, when standing completely still, to appear as one with his surroundings, whether it be a wall, a stack of barrels, or part of a tree. The effectiveness and duration of the deception is dependent on Maltar's mental discipline at the time.

Drawbacks of Mentioned Abilities

~Transcendence: Crossing short distance in less than a blink of an eye can be hard to manage. A slight misjudgment of distance can be the difference between success and failure, and in some cases, life and death.

~Night Eyes: Having Night Eyes comes with only one drawback, that is a slight sensitivity to brightness and a greatened sensitivity to sudden illumination of light in a dark place.

~Mingle: regardless of the mental discipline acquired, the ability to camouflage into surroundings will last half a minute at best.

Four Basic Skills of Contribution

~ Perception Visionary: It is a combination of Maltar's Sorcerer and Ranger knowledge and his introverted disposition that has produced in him skills of keen observation and intuitive insight, to the point that he sometimes receives visions and perceptions of truths that lie beyond the apparent.

~ Arcana. Scholarin: Maltar's ability to decipher arcane script and symbols, as well as his proficiency in reading and speaking most languages and dialects is fundamental in solving related problems and acquiring communitive understanding.

~ Investigation. Scrutiny: Practiced observation in hunting and tracking has made Maltar attuned in detecting weaknesses in opponents, unobvious causes of death, wound types, and picking up on inconspicuous or obscure clues in uncertain situations.

~ Investigation. Phantom Eyes: These observation skills have taken on a new level of vision thanks to the spirit of the beast that resides inside Maltar, granting him the added ability to pick up on peoples auras, energy levels, and the capacity see and sometimes communicate with ghosts, spirits, and disembodied souls. At times like this, Maltar's eyes will become gilded with a gray mist.

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Extra Information

Maltar keeps a flask tethered to his belt at all times. He calls it his Burden Flask, as it contains the elixir that keeps his beast at bay. Malter brews more of the elixir as quickly as possible when the flask becomes half empty, which can be difficult because sometimes the ingredients aren't easily accessible.

Maltar has a pet - possibly a familiar - that only he can see... most of the time. This odd creature came to him three days after he was taken by the spirit beast and has stayed with him ever since.