Zealous Blade

The Dragon Dance - A Dark Fairy Tale Fantasy (High-Casual/Always Open)

By the way, just out of curiosity, will there be a map of the lands for visual reference?

Lantern

There was never a moment to relax. Never mind that they were in the middle of an alluring forest, conflict was rearing its head and preventing them from catching their breaths. The reaction that Kituo received from the spear craftsman was not exactly what he expected. He had read the man as being hardy - which he probably was given his familiarity with the wilderness - but Kituo predicted a disparaging response to his concerns. He always did for they were usually marked off as paranoia. The look that the spear craftsman gave Kituo signaled to him that he considered the truth in his statement. At least they could all agree that masks didn't grow on trees. But alas, which was now becoming habit, there were more pressing matters that required their attention.

The Sparrow King wasn't an immediate threat. But something was. While he didn't notice any sign of impending trouble - if the phantom standing nearby didn't qualify as such - Kituo could tell by the spear craftsman's immediate reaction after he grabbed the mask that there was a new emissary a foot. Keeping up with his tradition, Kituo's teeth chattered and his knees knocked together. There was only threat worse than a visible one and that was an invisible one. Being the nervous wreck that he was, Kitou's mind went on a festival conjuring up visuals of hypothetical monsters and assassins who were waiting for their chance to spring from the shadows and tear into the trio. That was Kituo's problem. He allowed his mind to pilot itself and he seldom grabbed the reins of his thoughts. Most of the time he was really scaring himself into not taking any action. He would find a way to justify his cowardice, though. He wasn't planning on coming out of his comfort zone even if he had to.

And of course, as fate would have it, the makeshift spear that fell into his free hand messaged Kituo that his comfort zone was effectively neutralized. He looked at the spear craftsman with disdain, his jaws a gap in disbelief. Did he really expect him who was perhaps the scrawniest of the bunch to put an adequate fight? Kituo was better off lightning the fire that was ordered. His stomach fluttered as the spear craftsman shifted into a fighting stance. The leader of the trio was preparing for battle not even knowing if he could trust his "comrades" to aid him. While he was clutching a spear of his own, Kituo knew that his weapon wasn't the best for it had been forged in a matter of seconds. He marveled the lantern and its green glow. He had relied solely on it and dumb luck with roughly successful results. No use changing from a working strategy. Of course he wouldn't dare leave the company of a survivalist. He glanced at the one who introduced himself as Simon. While he didn't look like a fighter in comparison to the spear craftsman, the way he carried himself led Kituo to believe that he was at least capable of thinking his way through a tough spot. Kituo lacked the necessary confidence to do anything for himself. If an assailant were to truly emerge then he would stick close to Simon. He expected the spear craftsman to charge head on into battle and he did not want to be within a giraffe's neck's reach of the violence.

"Do you want to get started on that fire?" Kituo asked Simon. He held out his incomplete spear to Simon. "Also, you can have this if you want. I won't be needing it."

Kituo was not going to risk having another part of his body shredded. While the pain had simmered for now, he wasn't in a hurry to be reminded of how badly that rat had mangled his ear. Fathoming how horrid it would be for his eyes or nose to suffer a similar fate made Kituo's heart skip a beat. If the heat became too intense for him handle - and he was very familiar with high temperatures having grown up in the desert - he was fully prepared to run away. With the lantern nestled within his arms he could hopefully last at least a day on his own.

The Dragon Dance - A Dark Fairy Tale Fantasy (High-Casual/Always Open)

Name: Baleno

Titles: N/A

Affiliation: Freelance at the moment.

Age: 26

Birthplace: Olympus Imperium

Origin: Othello

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Appearance: Of half Alkhebulan and Imperium heritage, Baleno is significantly darker than his mother's fair complexion and is only a couple shades lighter than his swarthy father. His skin is a smooth ochre, a medium brown pigmentation that edges only a smidgen closer to the light variety. The genetics of his father are clearly prevalent over those of his mother. From Othello he also inherited curly black hair. Because he spends most of his time traveling, Baleno tends to neglect it and has grown it into a unkempt mid-length afro. Perhaps the only noticeable trait his mother gave him was her eye shape. While his father's were small and close set, supporting his stern gaze, his mother's were large and upturned. He did not inherit their green color and his irises are instead dark brown like his fathers. Baleno has a square shaped face lined with a thinly trimmed goatee.

Not a fan of spending his hard earned money on trivial objects such as flashy clothes, Baleno frequently dresses in modest attire. His usual outfit comprises of brown trousers and shoes with a blue long-sleeved shirt. Occasionally he wears a black cloak, particularly when the temperatures are cold. He keep his sword equipped to his right hip.

Occupation: Sellsword

Resources:

• Sword: Besides the clothes on his back and the few coin he has managed to procure, Baleno's sword is his only true possession as well as his lifeline. His current one, an old gladius with a withered blade, is not his first. While fighting at the Colosseum as a novice he went through plenty that he broke during combat. He was allowed to keep his last sword as a reward for surviving.

Skills:

• Swordsmanship Practitioner: While he attempted to teach himself how to wield a weapon as a teen, that training ultimately amounted to nothing. It wasn't until he was forced to fight at the Colosseum that he truly attained any aptitude for the sword. Baleno was given his first blade along with some light armor and told to wing it. Faced with a new threat on a daily basis, he at first swung his sword around mindlessly with very little success. He began to obtain meaningful experience about sparring against other gladiators. Taking a few minor wounds in the process, he memorized some of their techniques through repetition and interwove them into his own fighting style. Presently, Baleno is not strong enough to be considered neither an expert nor a master. He is talented enough to hold his own against another capable swordsman and can handle weak opponents such as bandit grunts with ease. If he were to engage a higher tier opponent he would undoubtedly struggle. At best his skill level can be described as intermediate and at worst average. He has never had any professional training which is evidenced by his erratic movement during battle. He is very aggressive and quick with his strikes and they can be improperly coordinated, leaving him open for attack if he isn't careful.

Personality: Baleno is a man whose heart has been hardened by his experiences. As a child he was like any other. His innocent outlook put a veil over him and prevented him from seeing the truth surrounding his own being. He paid very little attention to the physical differences between himself and the man and woman he believed were his parents. The raised eyebrows of his neighbors did not bother him until they started blatantly asking questions about his origin. It was only when he realized that not everyone was favorable of presence did Baleno become aware that he was a pariah even to his own family. He manifested a complex about himself and determined that he was the problem and not those who thought ill of him. Fortunately, the adoration of his adoptive parents withdrew him from his sorrows before it was too late. But, he was branded with negative impressions that would seep cynicism into him. He became withdrawn from his village's community and lost trust for them. In response, the people of the village increased their disdain for him which accepted as a means of justifying his coldness.

A life of mercenary work has made Baleno less honorable than most. Money has ascended to a core priority of his and he will gladly slay almost anyone he is hired to if he is to be paid enough. His loyalty can also be brought or sold. If he can get a sufficient amount of gain out of lending his services to someone, he will do so without inquiring about specifics. He will work with anyone to survive and no one to fall. Also, he will appease anyone who he could gain from and disregard those who have nothing to offer. That isn't to say he won't help a person in dire need. He might if he assesses the risk to his own safety as minimal. For the sake of profit he doesn't like to mix business with pleasure nor does he prefer to befriend his clients. Whatever honor that still remains within Baleno restricts him from committing outright betrayal to those who has formed a personal connection with. Although he may take actions that may not be morally correct, his conscious is alive and well. He is able to come to terms with his wrongs and carries the weight of his guilt as punishment. Because he is willing to hold onto his guilt, he isn't likely to make any apologizes for his offenses.

Socially Baleno is a soft spoken man who tries to pick his words wisely. He isn't very expressive, preferring to keep his internal thoughts closed off but will communicate as needed. He prefers his conversations to be terse and straight to the point. He is impatient, especially when it comes to payments, and greatly values his time. This behavior stems back to his childhood during which he felt that he could seldom trust others. In constant fear that whatever information he does release may be used against him, he carefully inspects his associates before sharing anything personal. He likes to keep a small circle of people whom he can consider close. Even he who is not the friendliest person knows that one cannot prosper without any allies.

Biography: Unbeknownst to Baleno, he was conceived as the illegitimate child of Moorish general Othello and his lover Desdemona. To conceal their relationship, Desdemona made arrangements to be rid of him shortly after his birth. It was then decided that she and Othello would marry to compensate for the procreation that resulted in the child. Desdemona gave Baleno to a common man and his wife who could not bare children. They raised him as their own and his early days were spent residing in the Olympian Imperium countryside. He realized that he was not the couples biological son by age eight, his darker complexion being a dead give away. He was a rare sight within village and was often ostracized by his peers. Although he loved his adoptive parents, Baleno harbored a desire to learn about his biological parents and why they weren't raising him instead. No matter how hard he tried to ignore the facts, it was obvious that his village would never accept him. He figured it best to set out on his own when he grew older and discover his roots.

Social conflicts put aside, Baleno's upbringing was otherwise quaint. He received a sufficient role model in the form of his foster father and his mother was kind to him. Their impression of Baleno was that of a blessing. While he was in their household he was well behaved and got into minimal trouble when under their supervision. However, he was known for getting into rumbles with the other boys within the village who picked on him. There was one in particular with whom he had a fierce rivalry. Kaeso, because of a girl who they both allegedly liked, was very competitive with Baleno and frequently challenged him. They fought a lot and that was how Baleno discovered his innate combat potential. Wanting to be better than his rival, he began solo training in swordsmanship using wood as a substitute for an actual blade. Fearing that he would fall behind to Baleno, Kaeso concocted a scheme to get him out of the village so he wouldn't surpass him.

The plan was simple but it was enough of an excuse for the village to drive away Baleno who they considered an aberrant among them. Kaeso disguised himself as a wolf using trickery and crept towards the village livestock. As Baleno and his family were shepherds trusted with safeguarding livestock, he managed to deceive Baleno into believing that a wolf was attempting to feast upon the livestock. This result in Baleno "crying wolf" on multiple occasions and losing the trust of the villagers. To finish his scheme, Kaeso led a real wolf towards the livestock and allowed it to feast. When the villagers discovered the wolf, Baleno was blamed for his negligence and ousted despite his parents pleas on his behalf.

After being exiled, Baleno traveled around performing odd jobs to survive. Not yet a skilled fighter, he found himself taking menial tasks in neighboring villages. The work he found was temporary and scarce. Starvation was plenty a problem during periods when he could not find employment. Becoming desperate, he resorted to petty theft. Using his job search as a farce, he would enter shops just to case them before later returning to make his plunder. It wouldn't be long before he was caught. His skills at thievery were mediocre and his heists poorly executed. One faithful day, in a bustling coastal city, Baleno made the dreadful mistake of attempting a pickpocket. His potential victim was a wealthy aristocrat who swiftly had him arrested. However, instead of a death sentence for his crime, Baleno was subjected to an equally horrific fate. He was sent to the Colosseum to partake in gladiator games.

Marked for death should he lose a match, Baleno quickly learned how to at least endure the onslaught of beasts he was pit against. He became infamous for surviving out of sheer luck, his impulsive use of deception allowing him to win numerous battles of attrition. Crowds flocked just to see how long it would take for him to be slain and were sorely disappointed. He gradually adapted to the hostility of the Colosseum and his swordsmanship proficiency increased. Eventually, he earned a pardon for his theft and was released from life as a gladiator. Any fame he acquired subsided well before that, the Colosseum patrons having lost interest in him when he became capable of actually fighting properly. Having picked up a skill that was much desired in a land as turbulent as the Europa continent, he took to mercenary work. While in some regards it wasn't anymore honest than stealing, at least he was finally earning a consistent income.

Regardless of how far he traveled there was one concern that never stopped nagging Baleno. Having never known his real parents, he always felt as if there was a piece of him missing. It didn't help that he was forbidden from returning home and visiting the man and woman who raised him - the only people he knew capable of answering his questions. In the past whenever he brought up the matter of his biological parents he was brushed aside and written off as paranoid. Now free as a vagabond, he resumed his quest to solve the mystery once and for all. Derailed from his objective by the need to fight for money, he ended up sidetracked into the Empire of Europa in hopes of finding better opportunities.

Note:

• He was seventeen when he left home and was sent to the Colosseum roughly a year later.


• He fought as a gladiator for five years, being freed at the age of twenty-three.


• His current primary short term goal is to find a replacement sword. Secondly, he is willing to enlist in the army of a lord.


• His long term goals are to uncover the truth about his parents, come to terms with his existence, and to find a place where he belongs.

Plot Idea

I will go on ahead and detail a potential story line idea I have thought up for this character here. It is of course open for discussion. The main story arc I have for this character relates to the events of Othello and its aftermath. I was thinking of something along the lines of a fated conflict between Baleno and a disgraced relative of Iago who fled the Olympus Imperium and became a person of considerable power in another land. Maybe they gained stake in a noble house within the Empire of Europa? This antagonist, harboring hatred towards Othello for the tarnished reputation of his/her family within the Imperium wishes for a way to get back at Othello but cannot for he is dead. They at some point learn about Baleno's existence and seek to capture and torture him for the sake of redeeming their bloodline. This can lead to conflict depending on who Baleno affiliates with later on as I imagine this antagonist to be the type who takes extreme measures to get what s/he wants.

The focus of this story line is intended to start out as personal for this character but can be expanded in scope depending on who else gets involved. This only a rough draft and I'm willing to completely discard it if it doesn't pan out well.

Lantern

I was intending on waiting for Red_massa to post, but I'll probably have something up tonight as its been a week since I last posted.

EDIT: I know I said I'd post much earlier but...I'm me.

The Dragon Dance, A Dark Fantasy with Fairy Tale and Myth Elements (High-Casual/Always Open)

Sounds great. I'm excited for this.

The Dragon Dance, A Dark Fantasy with Fairy Tale and Myth Elements (High-Casual/Always Open)

Well, before we get started I wanted to run a couple of things by you and ask a question or two. I have an idea for a character tied to the Shakespeare play Othello. Since the eponymous character meets his demise at the end meaning that I could not play as him, I was wondering if it would be acceptable to have a character that is a son or relative of his that has ended up in mainstream Europa after the plays events? If the play itself would even fit in this setting, that is. If that doesn't work then I have another idea pertaining to a fairy tale The Four Skillful Brothers.

I was also wondering if the continent Alkhebulan as a whole was analogous to any particular real world area, and if it would possible later on down the road to perhaps create a minor noble house?

The Dragon Dance, A Dark Fantasy with Fairy Tale and Myth Elements (High-Casual/Always Open)

Void.