Hello, one and all, and welcome back to the gates of Enverdolmal!
I hope that this day or night finds you well, and that life has been treating you just as well.
Me? Eh.
How I feel really doesn't matter much...
Not as long as you all are okay.
I am very secondary.
I won't bore you with the details of my life; just know that I am hanging in there!
Remember, it's okay to not be okay sometimes, Folks.
I am probably not okay right now, and that's okay.
To be human is to feel.
The good.
The bad.
Everything in between.
I won't waste either of our time with complaints, lbvs.
I love and appreciate all of you for coming back here to hear my weird little story parts.
It and you mean the world to me, you know?
More than you will ever know...
This world, this land, these stories, these characters.
All of them would be and mean little to nothing without all of you loving them and looking for their stories weekly.
I will let you get to it, and I hope this is enough to fill you till the next chapter part is released!
Again, and as always, I love and appreciate you all.
See you soon, yeah?
Enjoy.
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Here is a recap of some of the finer details concerning the way ages work.
I hope it helps!
Lifespans are a bit weird here in Enverdolmal :-) Nothing too crazy, though I assure you.
A year is known as an SC or "Sun Cycle," and one SC is 366 days (give or take)
One day-night cycle is 28 hours, about 30 additional hours a year when compared to our real-world calendar.
HLS- Human Lifespan.
Humans: 1x1 Sun Cycle. = 1 Year or one rotation around the Sun.
Dwarfs: 3x HLS. The average Dwarf will live 3 times longer than the average human.
Elves: 4x1HLS. The average Elf will live 4 times longer than the average human.
Goblins: 2x1 HLS. The average Goblin will live twice as long as the average human.
Orcis: 2.5x1 HLS. The average Orcis will live 2.5 times longer than the average human.
Ogre: 3x1 HLS. The average Ogre will live 3 times longer than the average human.
Ordin: (Goblin/Orcis hybrid. Randomized physical characteristics based on parental species.) 3.5x1 HLS. The average Ordin will live 3 times longer than the average human.
Dwarfym: (Human/Dwarf hybrid who retains Human height and features.) 2x HLS. The average Dwarfym will live twice as long as the average human.
Tinker-Kin: (Dwarf/Human hybrid who retains Dwarven height and features.) 1.5x HLS. The average Tinker-Kin will live 1.5 times longer than the average human.
Changeling: ??? HLS.
Elfym: (Elf and Human genetics are always harmonized if the pregnancy makes it to the second trimester. A rare happenstance. Neither bloodline's characteristics show more physically than the other.) 2.5x HLS. The average Elfym will live 2.5 times longer than the average human.
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"Gotta start somewhere."/ "My path to travel." Part 01, 1.5, & 02.
Character: Bastion Ridder. "Main" Character/Narrator.
Species: Human/Dwarf Hybrid -Dwarfym-.
Class: Knight.
Nation: Leafaria, A.K.A. Sondermahgi, Crayosia.
Age: 70 HLS/ 35 Dwarfym years.
Weapons: Aetherite-tipped collapsible Spear.
- Situ-Shift Buckler shield and War Hamaxe (Hammer/Axe hybrid.)
The Situ-Shift Buckler is constructed of several durable yet light sheets of Flex-steel that can be manipulated into different shield forms via the user's mental impulse. This includes (but is not limited to) the Kite shield, the Targe round shield, the Nguni long shield, and the aforementioned Buckler.
- Bastion's armor is Aether-enhanced and has been constructed not only of Flex-steel, but in a way that allows its user to adjust to varying situations by shifting the plates about. It is tempered to withstand high levels of both heat and cold; it can absorb and redirect the energy from blows, and it can lock up at the joints, allowing its user to avoid being crushed by heavy objects.
- Wilderness Survival Kit.
- Dual Boot knives.
Origin:
A knight from Crayosia, a war-torn continent far to the North and West of Enverdolmal over the Deep Stone Sea, whose five nations are perpetually at odds due to a heavily regulated trade system and constant warring over the distribution of natural resources. His nation is at the center of the five, and the inhabitants of this nation are mostly magicless by both genetics and the anti-magic effects of the region. After the destruction of his home and the following cataclysm, Bastion sought out a new start in a new land, only to be plunged into another war. One that he wanted no part of.
Bastion arrived in Enverdolmal not long after the war in his homeland came to an end. His life had been a series of difficult events, starting from a very young age when his Aether-sensitive mother had been taken from him and his father by ill-willed Mages. Bastion served his country as a staunch and loyal knight in the great war that would come to consume nearly all of the land of Crayosia. With his hometown all but demolished and desolate, he chose to cross the sea to Enverdolmal and start a new life, serving not only as a Knight for the Queendom of Naeri, but as a Knight Instructor for the world-famous school known as Garth Verlore.
Bastion's dream is to be an effective educator, mentor, and tutor to the youth of Enverdolmal in any and all ways possible. His homeland was destroyed by war and greed, and he seeks to teach the next generation of Knights and Mages the best ways to wage war without an immense loss of life or even the express need for violence.
Words have power as well; one just has to know what to say and when to say it.
On his way to rendezvous with an old friend and begin his new career, his plans were thrown aside by the sudden arrival of a rampaging Cyclops.
Bastion has found himself in the center of a battle between a small, isolated dorpie's militia force and a great and lumbering monster the likes of which he had yet to encounter.
With little choice but to intervene, and no way he was going to ignore his Knightly calling, Bastion threw himself selflessly into the fray.
His objective?
Divert the thing's attention long enough for the bystanders to escape.
Little did he know that help was on the way if he could just hold out long enough.
Update/Origin retcon!
Bastion was born and raised in his homeland of Leafaria, Crayosia.
His normal life would come to a swift and brutal end at the hands of a mysterious and apparently phantasmal army that was led by a man by the name of Yatsimoto Shicato.
Yatsimoto Shicato was a tyrannical ruler whose father was once just as cruel to the people who lived on the continent of Crayosia, and whose greed and hoarding of wealth and resources had plunged the nations of Crayosia into an ever-expanding series of wars.
Bastion's father had once been a knight for Yatsimoto's father, but the mad king's ambitions and destructive actions had been so very against those of even his closest knights and subjects, and a great coup had been staged.
Kenji Ridder -Bastion's father- and his group of rebels managed to oust and kill their corrupted king, and set Crayosia free of his evil and withering grasp, only for his secretly hidden son to rise and take his place.
Upon acquiring an ancient and powerful artifact from the rubble of his father's castle, Yatsimoto Shicato raised his father's armies from the dead and imbued them with great and lingering ghostly powers.
These Phantasmal Draconian soldiers could be summoned almost anywhere their master was, and Yatsimoto quickly put the massive force to use in his revenge plot against Kenji Ridder, Batinmune Himora, Luemalissa Ivy, and all of the other people and nations who had aided in the fall of the Shicato Empire.
A young and inexperienced Bastion and his cousin and best friend, Himora Amir, would find themself in the center of it all one fateful day as the Shicato army would materialize at the gates to Leafaria.
In the fray, Bastion would lose both of his parents, and 98% of his people, the Leafarians, would be lost to history, with him being one of the very last to exist.
Abilities:
- Above-average strength, resilience, and stamina due to his Dwarven blood.
- Natural resistance to Low-Magic.
- Seasoned battle strategist.
- "Rapid Adjust" Allows Bastion to pick up on enemy combat styles easily in comparison to even elite-trained fighters.
- Exceptional Hand-to-Hand combatant.
- Spearmanship mastery.
- Single-hand weapon mastery, including bladed and blunt weapons.
- Low-level affinity to the element of Earth.
Stats:
Strength: 8/10.
Stamina: 5.5/10.
Agility: 6.5/10.
Dexterity: 8.5/10.
Intellect: 7.5/10.
Aether: 2.5/10.
Resilience: 8/10.
Resistance: 9/10. (Low magic)
6.5/10. (High magic)
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"My path to travel. Part 1.5"
Character: Yenoog, The Tough.
Species: Cyclops.
Nation: Western region of Naeri.
Age: ???
Class: Heavy Brawler.
Weapon: Sheared-gate Cleaver and Blood-tempered Cudgel.
Origin:
Yenoog has existed for as long as many of the smaller, younger dorpies that dot the forest lands of Naeri. He and his ancestors have plagued the Western coast of Naeri for centuries, as none have been able to hunt them all down at once at any point in history due to their burrowing nature. The fact of the matter is more so that they don't seem to stay gone, even after the "last" of them has been hunted.
Although Cyclops tend to live in monogamous pairs, they have only been spotted out in the wilds of Naeri alone as of the last couple of decades, indicating that their number have truly fallen.
Yenoog is one of a litter of eight, and his age puts him somewhere between the youngest and the eldest.
They are in all:
Yenood, The Fierce.
Yenoor, The Mild.
Yenook, The Vile.
Yenoop, The Silent.
Yenoog, The Tough.
Yenoot, The Dreaded.
Yenoom, The Bold.
And last but in no way the least, Yenool the Sharp.
Yenoog and his kind were birthed from the rage and worry of Humanity and its Dwarf and Elf counterparts, and they will continue to reincarnate for as long as these feelings persist in the ever-growing world. This would explain why their kind can never truly be driven to extinction, for as long as one of the eight siblings lives, they can and will generate more of their own while feeding from said emotional states.
Many theorize that the Cyclops species is one of the monstrous beasts manifested by the will of the Grand Dragons to slow and stabilize the growth and spread of the Humanoid species. They may also be a side effect of humanity's direct effect on the natural world around them, as they began to pollute and thus ruin the environment.
Update!
Yenoog was prematurely awoken by some unseen force with motivations that have overpowered even the mighty urges of the great Cyclops.
With little to no control over his actions, Yenoog has very suddenly found himself in the battle of his life against a lone and incredibly skilled knight.
How did he get here?
What was going on?
What in all hellz was that buzzing at the base of his skull?
There was simply no time to think, and far too much going on at once.
Swords.
Flames.
Lances.
Chains.
And suddenly...
A shield?
Yenoog's night was going from bad to worse.
Abilities:
- Supernatural strength and durability.
- Perfect vision, motion tracking, and depth perception
- Aether beam blast (from singular eye.)
Stats:
Strength: 9/10.
Stamina: 6/10.
Agility: 6.5/10.
Aether: 4.5/10.
Dexterity: 7/10.
Resilience: 8.5/10.
Intellect: 3/10.
Resistance: Low: 4/10. High: 2.5/10.
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"My path to travel. Part 1.5"
Character: Valerin Jurant/ Valerex, Harbinger of Disorder.
Species: Human.
Nation: Stenkule, Lumaleza.
Age: 46 HLS.
Class: Aetheral Mind Projectionist.
Weapon: Enchanted Staff.
- Crown of Mentax.
Origin:
Valerex, Harbinger of Disorder, was born Valerin Jurant in the early, developmental days of Stenkule. His parents wanted little to do with him; his schoolmates bullied and belied him daily, and nearly everyone else within Stenkule either ignored him or simply didn't know he existed. This sort of cold and detached upbringing forged Valerin into an equally cold and detached child, teen, and later, adult.
Valerex had developed the ability to read minds at a very young age. His parents had figured this out as well and had all but taken advantage of this ability for their own gain. This would later leave him both feared and ostracized, as not a single person would ever truly trust him or let him close enough to form any real or lasting friendships.
His was a life of forced solitude and loneliness. He would use this time, of which he had plenty, to study the Human and Humanoid mind, using his inherent ability. With time, he would learn to not only read minds, but enter them and "direct" the owners' very actions.
Upon the discovery of this newest ability, he was officially banned from his hometown and kept away by the promise of death. No one could trust that with him around, their actions were truly their own.
They would come to regret that choice.
On the night that he was banned from Stenkule, a group of traveling mercenaries had come to the dorpie, passing and mocking him on his way to exile.
He had singled out the strongest among them and taken hold of his mind...
Stenkule was burned to the ground within hours, and nearly all of its people were killed. Only a handful of children were left alive.
He had switched minds so many times that night that he had lost a part of his own as he sought only to wreak havoc and cause as much death and chaos as he could. As a side effect, he had not only absorbed many of the people's memories but a sliver of each of their Aether pools as well, leaving him more powerful than he had ever been, yet also far less mentally stable.
The few survivors that remained would spread the tale of Valerin, the bringer of disorder.
With time and many, many more assurances of death and destruction over the next two decades, the legend of "Valerex, Harbinger of Disorder" would solidify itself within the annals of Enverdolmal's history.
Valerin had gifted himself the name of Valerex and the title of "Harbinger of Disorder" after he had defeated a Warlock by the name of Mentax the Mindbender, an infamous Warlock who had risen to power by doing much of what Valerin had been doing up until their confrontation.
With his new name and title, Valerex would leave Lumaleza altogether, not only to avoid the many bounties on his head but to make a name for himself within the bounds of a new region.
Update!
Valerex had found just what he had been looking for.
A small, isolated town to torture,
A big, powerful monster to puppeteer,
And a challenge great enough to make his Aether expenditure worth it.
This was turning out to be a better day than he had expected.
That was about to change as an unexpected arrival would send all of his plans into a spiral.
A lone and audacious Knight would appear from seemingly nowhere, and with him would come direct and potent opposition to the Mind Mage's fun.
Little did he know, he had more to worry about than just the Knight.
A S.T.A.R. Agent was onto his trail and closing in fast.
Things were about to get a lot more complicated than he had bargained for.
But chaos was what the twisted man lived for, and chaos was the only thing he would rather die by.
That was his path to travel.
Abilities:
- Aetheral Projection of his own mind into the mental space of others around him -up to five miles in range-
- He can project images into others' minds, causing them to act towards the projected objective. If the controlled mind snaps or is destroyed, he can be directly affected if he cannot disconnect in time.
- Can control the bodies of those that he is in his mental space, like a puppet. The amount of control that he has is limited only to how "immersed" he cares to become.
- Staff allows him to use, absorb, and redirect most forms of elemental magics.
- Crown of Metax: Boosts the range at which his mind magics retain their effectiveness.
Stats:
Strength: 4.5/10.
Stamina: 5.5/10.
Agility: 5.5/10.
Aether: 8/10.
Dexterity: 6/10.
Resilience: 6/10.
Intellect: 8.5/10.
Resistance: Low: 8.5/10. High: 7/10.
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"In the name of love. Part 1 & Part 1.5"
Character: Boongaloot.
Species: Orcis -Type Sand- species.
Class: Brawler.
Nation: Suidelain North East desert region.
Age: 70 HLS. 28 Orcis.
Weapon: Hume-Doom, a corrupted Paladin broadsword. Previously known as Orcis-Bane.
- Short bow + Poisoned arrows.
Origin:
Boongaloot was born as one of one. A rare thing among Sand Orcis, who tend to be born in litters of 3-5. This fact made him an Alpha without contest.
But this one was different.
He was three times the size of his fellow kin at birth, and with age, this became more and more evident. While the average Orcis wasn't the brightest or most inspired thinker, Boongaloot was a standout in this area as well, being not only cunning, greedy, and selfish but capable of thought beyond just his next meal. The last quality, as wild as it may sound, is what has made him such a good leader among his kin and clan.
This celebrated Squad Leader has used a supersized amount of tact and strategy in many of his raids on both human and enemy Orcis clan settlements. One such raid saw him come face-to-face with a young and overconfident Paladin whose sword and head he took. He uses said sword to this day.
Update!
Boongaloot is no stupid Orcis.
His schemes run deep, and he would need his military might to match those ambitions.
Gather the scattered Orcis clans.
Unite them against Bant.
Rule Bant as his own.
Kill all of the other Orcis leaders.
Unite all of the clans under one banner, the banner of Clan Bant.
Simple, right?
Not so, but he had a plan, and he had Anti-Aetherite.
He had to do only a handful of humans a handful of favors, and he and his people would be on their way.
The first?
Kill a man and his wife.
Davien and Amoura Jakon.
How hard could that be?
Abilities:
- Can double his considerable strength by infusing his muscles with Aether.
- Surprisingly skilled at swordplay.
- Can harden his fur patches -located on the forearms and shins/calf areas- to steel-like levels of durability.
Stats:
Strength: 9/10.
Stamina: 6/10.
Agility: 6/10.
Dexterity: 7/10.
Intellect: 6.5/10.
Aether: 4.5/10.
Resilience: 8/10.
Resistance: High Magic: 3.5/10.
Low Magic: 5.5/10.
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"Go your own way." Part 01, 1.5, and 02.
Character: Laxe Moonrey.
Species: Elfym.
Class: Freelance Ranger.
Nation: Lustria South, Lustria.
Age: 60 HLS/ 24 Elfym.
Weapon: Acifan Knobkerrie fashioned after the Boomslang snake. Laxe refers to it affectionately as her Bomkerrie for that reason.
- Ranger's bow.
- Ranger survival kit.
- Hip knife X3.
Origin:
Being born to an Elven mother and a Human father made her very existence against the law in Lustria. Being exiled from her homeland, she grew up in and about both the wilds and more settled lands of Enverdolmal, and learned the ways of the Ranger. Her mother left her with her father as a toddler, who, in turn, left her at the gate of Mornaless, a small village situated on the Northwest coast. Laxe travels across the land, lending her considerable skill to anyone in need.
At a small fee, of course... And only the goodly folk.
Before her life as a Freelance Ranger for the Queendom of Naeri, Laxe had been quite the wanderer. Being forced from her home at a very young age due to her mixed heritage meant that she would be forced to grow up with and live among Humans and other Humanoids for the better part of her youth and indeed for the rest of her days.
This has made her both cultured and cautious at the same time, as she has seen both the best and worst of most species.
On the road between Kabouterval and Kopstad, Laxe had crossed paths with a fellow Ranger. One who was of a higher rank and a different, more prominent banner.
His name was Pomilio Longblade.
He was a member of the legendary Razor Leaf Ranger Company, and he would go on to mentor her for the better part of a decade, saving her life on more than a few occasions.
With Pomilio's tutelage, Laxe would make and carry quite the reputation of her own, one that would, unfortunately, attract the attention of some unsavory folk from her parents' past.
Although Laxe and her abilities have been welcomed and appreciated in most regions, there are still small pockets of Enverdolmal that are prone to unjustified racism.
Elfym. Dwarfym and Tinker-kin tend to receive the majority of that hatred as they are often considered "subspecies" to their Human, Elf, and Dwarf kin.
Update!
Novala didn't care to be a double agent, but life hadn't exactly given her a choice...
And by life, I mean a man who appeared to be Death itself.
Her plans to work for Rayden as a spy were flipped on their heads by the arrival of the strange and enigmatic figures in their dark robes, a steadily growing cult that has deep and evil roots that spread far and wide over the world of Enverdolmal.
Rayden would enlist Novala.
Novala would enlist Ahgo and Ahmay.
Ahgo and Ahmay would enlist... Ripton Skuttlebottom!?
Kabouteval was in for one hellz of a fight, but first, that fight would have to get past Laxe Moonrey, Lisander Caballa, and the Ridders of Kabouteval.
Abilities:
- Above-average strength, resistance, dexterity, and agility due to her Elven blood.
- Senses are 2x as sharp as those of a top-shape Human.
- Self-proclaimed Rank 4 Ranger. (Ranks are 1-10 based on feats accomplished.)
- Weapon proficiency: Short swords. Bows. Staffs, Spears, Javelins, and Daggers.
- Natural remedy expert.
- Call to nature -Tap into Aether veins in plants and some small animals.
- Rune and Sigil magics.
- Master-level stick-based combat.
- Master-level Archery.
Stats:
Strength: 7/10.
Stamina: 9/10.
Agility: 8/10.
Dexterity: 8.5/10.
Intellect: 8/10.
Aether: 8.5/10.
Resilience: 6.5/10.
Resistance: 8.5/10. (Low magic)
5.5/10 (High magic)
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Hey, hey!
Welcome back to the gates of Enverdolmal!
I hope that this is a good and hefty serving for you all until the next one drops!
I have sooooo much writing to do, and soooooo many characters to cover, but for you all?
It is well worth it.
Even for free as it is.
You all give me a reason to go on, and I can tell you how much that means to me.
I will drop a new batch of Character Dives soon, you have my word.
We have many people to get to know, lol.
I will see you all back here soon enough, yeah?
Safe travels as you move about this world of ours, and as always;
Stay safe.
Stay healthy.
Stay vigilant.
-Bluu.