Lukas Fairbright
Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 5:29 am
Player Name: Jordan
Character Name: Lukas Fairbright
Age: 23
Race: Human
Height: 187 cm
Weight: 84 kg
Physical Description: Tall, lean and muscular, Lukas Fairbright is not someone that people want to mess with. He has tan skin; blond hair and extremely piercing green eyes that make most men feel insignificant. His face has multiple scars, including one on his chin and one on the bridge of his nose; but once you get past those, most people would find him attractive. He has multiple tattoos on his back, all of which are of psionic origin. He wears a sleeveless black top, a pair of lightweight pants that are stained with mud and other elements of nature, a pair of heavy-duty hiking/combat boots, and a large brown cloak with a hood. He always stands up straight, and almost always stands out in a crowd.
Personality Description: Lukas will treat everyone, no matter their race, profession, or social class, with respect. The only thing he asks in return is the same level of respect. If that respect is not given, be prepared for a tongue lashing at best; a spear in your side at worst. He has little experience with society, and even less with the subtleties that being a part of one requires. He is rather intelligent, but sometimes lacks the wisdom to make good choices. Somehow, even though he wears clothes dirtier than a beggar, and is more blunt than the backside of a hatchet; he still has a noble air about him, and people are easily swayed by his words. Despite this, he wholeheartedly believes that you are the only one who can fix your situation, and that those who complain about their lives, but expect others to fix it for them, are the worst kind of people.
Possessions:
Custom Pole-arm: This glaive is 250 cm long from the tip of the blade, to the end of the shaft. A psionic craftsman crushed an unrefined diamond, not of the gemstone variety, into a super sharp, durable blade that is blacker than the night sky. The pole is made of oak, and is carved with psionic symbols that make it easier manifest powers through the weapon.
A large brown cloak
Barely enough bishani to feed him for the next week
Small combat knife
Advantages
Pole-arm expert: Every member of the Healand Nomads gets advanced training with spears and other pole-arms from a very young age. It helps them stay fit enough to withstand the harsher elements of nature.
Keen intellect: It takes a keen mind to open up ones mind enough to gain access to the immense psionic powers residing in the untapped part of every living creatures brain. Lukas is able to keep up with the best and the brightest, and able to pick apart most languages to at least understand them fairly quickly. While not a specialist in any intellectual fields, it takes a lot to confuse him, and rarely ever comes off as dumb. The exception to this is he knows very little about society, and the people that inhabit them.
Excellent Shape: Living off the land, and training in the art of battle has kept Lukas in peak physical condition. He is capable of impressive feats of strength, though not abnormal ones, and has excellent stamina.
Charismatic: People are drawn to Lukas, for better or for worse, and are easily swayed by his words. This is not an advantage he uses on a regular basis however, as he tends to prefer his own company.
Weaknesses
Revenge Driven: Lukas’ only goal in life is to find and kill the Marn Battlemage who led the attack that wiped out his tribe. If he ever gets information on his target, he will ignore all other “distractions,” until the Battlemage is dead, or the information proves fruitless. This sometimes leads him to let his guard down, making it much easier for him to be snuck up on. It is not known what will happen if he ever completes his revenge.
Guilty Conscience: Lukas feels guilty for accidentally leading the force that killed his tribe, right to them. He has nightmares about the event on an almost nightly basis, making it difficult for him to sleep. He usually gets enough rest to function normally, but rarely gets enough to feel rested and comfortable.
Alternate view on Justice: Back in the tribe, if someone wronged you, you did something about it. There were no guards to call, and the one who had done the wronging usually admitted his mistake. In Marn, no such thing happens, and Lukas’ insistence that he solve his own problems is bound to get him into trouble more than once.
Societally Challenged: Lukas’ has never had experience with a city, or even a small town. Society as people view it, is a completely foreign concept to him. In the tribe, everyone was equal. Everyone had a specific task to do. Sure there were leaders, but they weren’t treated better, it was just another job. When Lukas stepped into the city, it was as if a child stepped into the city. Only people are a lot more forgiving when you are a child.
Loner: To put it bluntly, Lukas likes his own company, and very few others. He’ll work with others when it’s necessary, and he’ll do so extraordinarily well, but he prefers relying on only himself. There’s a lot less to explain that way.
Migraines: After Lukas’ started trying to break the barrier between him and his psionic powers, he started having terrible migraines. These had the ability to render him almost useless, and could last for upwards of an hour. These only happen after he attempts the breakthrough, can manifest anytime during that day, not always right after.
Outlaw: Lukas' face is recognizable to a number of the guards as well as the battlemage who he failed to kill. If any of these people realize he is alive and see him, they will very likely kill him on site. Or worse...
Former Powers
Manifestation: Manifesting is what it is called when a creature with the Manifestor gene, enters the state with which they can use their powers. Any race can acquire the gene through blood, or through spiritual intervention. While the powers themselves are difficult to detect, you can tell when someone is manifesting by their eyes. The pupils grow large enough to cover the entire eye. In this state, the manifester has heightened awareness and can react much quicker. The only draw back to this state is it greatly increases your metabolism to the point that your body will die of hunger after approximately two days. It was first taught to the Healand Nomads by a benevolent spirit of the Astral Plane when the seal was broken.
Telekinesis: This allowed Lukas to pick up objects of up to 500 kg. The object cannot be larger than a large carriage. An object that is fastened to the ground weighs has weight added based the additional resistance.
Telekinetic Crush: This ability allows Lukas to bring up to 300 kg crushing force on a living being, or an object. His version of this ability is for offense only, and is not refined enough to craft items. This ability is very tiring to use at full power. It is usually used to break enemies limbs so that they couldn’t continue the fight.
Telekinetic Blast: This ability shoots a high-speed lance of energy at and enemy. It is very accurate, and extremely deadly. It was the last psionic ability Lukas learned before sealing off his power.
History: Before the Changer War, when Pal Tahrenor first merged with the Astral Plane, a powerful spirit of intellect became trapped in a mages circle of binding. As a being of the Astral Plane, it could not break out. But the veil between the two was so thin that if it died, its death would be final. It searched in vain for a way to break the seal, and save itself from the malicious mage. Eventually giving up hope, it prepared for its inevitable end. It was at this time that a man with a grudge against the mage came along. The man attempted to kill the mage, who had stolen and experimented on the children of the man’s tribe. Although strong, he was no match for the conjurer and it looked like he too would succumb to the mages powers. As luck would have it though, during the battle, the circle entrapping the spirit was broken. The spirit didn’t hesitate, and quickly crushed the mages body. As thanks for rescuing it, the spirit offered the man a reward. That reward was the ability to enter the Manifestor state. With this, he gained the ability to manipulate reality with his thoughts, an ability that would later come to be described as, Psionics. This is where the story of every member of the Healand Nomads begins.
Every Healand child is given three opportunities to gain their abilities. It is expected that they will fail the first time, but gain the knowledge and experience required to succeed on the second. The third is a sort of last chance and if they are unable to pass that, they are abandoned at the nearest settlement. When Lukas turned nine years old, it was time for him to take his first test. He was quick witted, and seemed to exude an impressive amount of confidence for someone of his age, and great things were expected of him when he grew older. The truth was, he was nervous. He hadn’t been able to sleep much in the months before his birthday, and whenever someone mentioned the test, his stomach would tie itself in knots so tight that it hurt. The test was simple, the tribe would find a small cave, and then using their powers, would create a cover for the entrance that was exactly 250 kg. The child taking the test would sit in the cave and the cover would be placed over the entrance. They have 24 hours to move the cover, and make it out of the cave. The test is mandatory, but you are allowed to give up during the first one.
Lukas walked into the cave where his ninth birthday would take place. He fought his hardest to hold back his tears and the beads of sweat on his forehead were not caused by the bright sun outside. Almost immediately after entering, the cover was placed over the entrance. The cave was pitch black, and warmer than Lukas had expected. At the back of his mind, he thought this might mean there was another entrance from which he could escape the cave, but he pushed this thought away. The clan expected him to be strong, and he was no coward. He moved a few meters back and sat on the floor. A few months back, during his training, he had managed to enter the manifester’s state. He did that now. Sweat began to pour off his body, seeping into every crevice. His head throbbed and the veins in his forehead bulged. His pupils grew until they took up even the whites of his eyes. The whole process took about 20 minutes and exhausted the young boy. He had made it this far before too, but was unable to learn any powers. That would be todays test it would seem. He sat there in his state of heightened mental awareness for hours. No matter what he did, where in his mind he looked, he couldn’t figure out how to move the cover.
It turns out Lukas’ initial thought of there being a second entrance was correct. It also turns out that the cave was primarily used by smugglers to store the goods while slowly bringing them into towns. Things hadn’t been going badly for Lukas. He hadn’t gotten any farther with the test, but there were still twelve hours left. Unfortunately, things were about get bad. The smugglers had returned to the cave, only to see a large group at the main entrance. Knowing the group was too large to deal with, they went through that back entrance in an attempt to get their goods and get out without notice. It wasn’t long before they noticed the boy in the cave. It was a lucky break for them. They could use the boy as a hostage if they were caught, or sell him as a slave if they weren’t.
In his mentally enhanced state, Lukas was aware of the smugglers as well. Instead of waiting for them to act, he got up and moved in their direction. He wasn’t sure of their intentions, but his curiosity got the better of him. “Stop right there, kid!” One of the smugglers yelled. Another one, using his companion as a distraction, lunged at Lukas. The darkness did a good enough job of concealing the boy that the attempt failed, while also giving the man’s position away. For his mistake, he receives a surprisingly powerful kick to his ribs. The disgusting cracking sound surprised even Lukas. As did the speed at which he had reacted. The situation was still not in his favour, and he knew that his size would not fool them again. Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted from the side of his head. It was unlike anything he had experienced before. Similar jolts of pain erupted in his side, thighs and groin. The already dark cave became even darker as his vision swam and he eventually passed out. He woke up a few hours later, not far from where he had fallen. He tried to get up, but realized his arms and legs were bound. Even if they weren’t he wasn’t sure if he could’ve. The smugglers must have beaten him for a while after he passed out, for his entire body felt like it was on fire.
“Looks like the little bastard woke up. He’s a tough one for a kid. Almost expected him to be dead.” The voice was not far, but Lukas couldn’t tell exactly where it was coming from. The smugglers had lit some torches, but his eyes were swollen shut, so he could only see a faint glow.
“This kid is going to pay for what he did to me. We’re definitely going to get caught now that I can’t make it back to the city.” Footsteps. One of them was definitely coming over. Another sharp kick to the side. He barely felt it though; his body was already in enough pain. The kicks continued for a few minutes and then stopped.
“Not feeling my boot anymore huh? Well I’ll just have to try something a little more drastic. I’m going to make you bleed.” Lukas thought that he didn’t care any more. That is, until the blade entered his stomach. The pain was worse than everything before. He felt blood pour out of his wound, and could feel it rising in his throat. The shock of it all forced his eyes open. Leaning over him was a short man with thin greasy black hair, a very plain face, brandishing a now very red knife. The man looked exactly like you’d expect him to. He leaned over Lukas once more and pressed the knife into the bridge of his nose. More pain shot through his face, but surprisingly, there was no fear. There was only understanding. His pupils grew until they covered the whites of his eyes. He had complete control now. The smuggler looked, at first confused and then down right terrified. He backed away a few steps, but it was no use. Within seconds, his body burst apart spraying blood all over the cave. The other three smugglers got up to try and run, but Lukas had given up on escape and decided to bring the entire cave down on them. He once again fell unconscious, but not before he heard the death cries of his murderers.
Much to his surprise, Lukas woke up again. He had no idea where he was, or how he had got there. When the men outside the cave heard it start to collapse, they quickly removed the cover and retrieved Lukas’ body. They were beyond surprised by the state he was in, and it was known that none in the tribe had the ability to heal such wounds. His father took a great risk, and moved him to the nearest settlement. It was fortunate for everyone that the town had a talented mage for a doctor. It took well over a week before Lukas would wake up, but he was out of critical condition the day after he arrived. When asked about what happened, Lukas refused to go into detail. He mentioned the smugglers, but did not mention that his powers had awakened, or that he had killed them. He didn’t want them to pass him on pity, as he had not finished the test. Four years later, when he was allowed to take the test again, he smashed through the cover almost before they had finished placing it.
A lot had happened since Lukas had passed his test. He was 19 now and was one of the few survivors of mage hunts. The tribe had gone from almost one hundred members, to just over three-dozen. He had survived a fair number of battles and grown into a fine young man with a bright future. The scars of his childhood were still there of course, but they were part of what shaped into who he was. Recently, they moved into a small region known as Thar Shaddin.
With the decrease in the tribe’s size, individuals were expected to take on more responsibilities. One of Lukas’ extra responsibilities was to take the children out to be tested. After his own testing experience; it was a responsibility he took very seriously. Today, he and his friend Darren were taking a young boy named Kristoff to his first test. It was a grey morning. Not ideal for this sort of thing, but it still had to be done. The three of them made their way to an abandoned cave that had been scouted out a few days earlier. Lukas checked the cave to make sure that there were no alternate entrances and when none were found, motioned the boy into the cave. He crouched down next to the Kristoff
“If you aren’t ready, you can let me know now and we’ll just go through the motions. There is no shame in giving up the first time. I didn’t succeed on my first try.” Lukas knew that Kristoff wasn’t ready. He hadn’t even made it into Manifester’s state and it takes months of practice with that before you’ll have even a hope of accessing any power. Months of practice, or a moment of extreme shock. Unsurprisingly, the boy says he is ready. Lukas gets up and walks out of the cave. The boy not being ready was only part of the reason he wanted him to give up though. The cave was only a few kilometers away from the city of Marn, which was known for harsh views on magic and things linked with it. Him and Darren closed off the cave. All that was left to do now was wait.
“How do you think he will do?” Darren asks Lukas rather casually.
“He’s going to fail. There is no doubt in my mind.” Lukas’ voice was stern. Not uncaring, but he was beyond certain.
Darren looked surprised at first, but he then laughed. “You can be a cold man sometimes. You outta try being optimistic for a change. Besides I was just trying to make conversation.”
Maybe Darren was right, maybe he should lighten up sometimes. Maybe his bad feeling about today was just him over thinking everything; after all they had been there for eight hours and nothing had happened yet. “Optimist huh. Perhaps I’ll give it a try. Who knows, maybe it’ll give me as much luck with the women as you have.”
Once again Darren laughed. “Lukas Fairbright making a joke? This has to be recorded somewhere. No one is a popular with the women as I am. You have a long way to go my friend.” The two of them carried on like that until it was getting close to dark.
The foggy grey day steadily turned into a torrential rain filled evening. The clouds were almost black and the ground turned to mud beneath the two men’s feet. Optimism hadn’t held off the weather it seemed and it wasn’t like they could just leave. Unless Kristoff called to them to give up, they were stuck at camp until the morning. Darren offered to take first watch and Lukas was happy to oblige. The weather had drained his energy and sleep, even on a wet ground was a very welcome thought.
Sleep came fast to Lukas. So used to the sounds of nature was he, that the rain hitting the ground was more like a lullaby to a child, then any kind of annoyance. With sleep came dreams. Some were good; of times when the tribe had prospered. Others were terrible; his first attempt at the test, where instead he hadn’t been able to call upon the power of his mind. None of them were surprising; most nights were filled with similar dreams.
Lukas was woken up to a worried looking Darren. He jumped to his feet wondering what was wrong. It didn’t take long to figure it out. They were surrounded by a group of militia archers with a few real guards dispersed among them. About thirteen men in all. How were they found when their camp didn’t a torch, let alone a fire? So much for optimism.
“What is it that you want from us?” Lukas asked cautiously. He was pretty sure he knew what the response would be, but if there was a way out of fighting, it would be best. thirteen on two were not odds he’d want to bet on.
One of the guardsmen stepped forward and spoke. “We heard about a couple of mages who were hiding out in this area. Apparently they are capable of lifting great amounts of weight with naught but their will.” As he said this, he pointed to the large stone covering the entrance to the cave.
Something caught Lukas’ eye when he did this. His gauntlets were red. It almost clashed with the rest of his armour. After quickly scanning around, it was clear that no one else had these strange gauntlets. Was it some symbol of rank?
“We are not mages, we are simply travellers who got caught in the rain and decided that it would be easier to rest then to press onward.” Lukas tried to be as polite as possible, without showing any hints of the agitation that the situation caused him.
“It seems too convenient for you to be in the exact spot that was described to us. Besides the city is close enough that you could have just as easily taken shelter there.” The guard with the red gauntlets smiled a wicked smile as the words came from his mouth.
Darren, who was having much less luck hiding his annoyance, finally spoke up. “Why would you bring so many men if it was just some anonymous tip?”
That question gave away everything the guard needed. His smile turned into a disgusting grin that did very little to cover up the man’s sadistic glee. “Because we trust our citizens of course and it’s always better to be safe then sorry. I’m going to have to dispose of you now, so that you don’t cause harm to anyone.
Darren griped his pitch-black glaive and prepared to defend himself. “Who do you think you are, just declaring people mages and deciding that you have the right to kill them?”
The guard laughed at this. “Who exactly, doesn’t matter. It’s what I am that matters. I am a Battlemage of the city of Marn and it is well within my authority to be your judge jury and executioner!”
Darren’s eyes immediately turned black. “ You are a bastard. A mage who revels in the persecution of other mages? I’ll show you that attacking us was a mistake.” He charged at the Battlemage and let loose a wave of psionic energy.
The mage was surprised for a second. He couldn’t sense any magic he could recognize in the attack. But he quickly regained his focus. He sidestepped the attack and let it kill one of his militiamen instead. All they were good for was fodder anyway. He shot off a bolt of lightning at the fool who charged. It pierced him and he crumpled to the ground. That was the thing about fights with magic. It was almost always over before you knew it had begun.
Lukas hadn’t had time to stop Darren. He had seen the firepower that mages could wield before. A plan of action needed to be created. Without even realizing it, Lukas had also entered the Manifester’s sate, where his mind was capable of thinking many times faster than normal. Even if one of them wasn’t a mage, he had no chance against twelve armed men in a head on assault. He might be able to kill two or three of them before they brought him down, which might have been okay, were it not for Kristoff still being in the cave. He’d need to escape and then pick them off one at a time. He too shot a shockwave of psionic energy at the mage. But without even checking to see if it hit, he bolted left, shooting off another blast at a couple of men that blocked his path. With the chaos in the clearing, he managed to escape into the forest.
Back in the clearing, the remaining men attempted to restore a sense of order. Between the two blasts that Lukas had fired off, he had killed four men. The mage was not one of them, but he didn’t get away without a scratch. His left arm had been ripped off of his torso from the force of the blast. This was certainly not how he had intended the situation to go. The one he had hit with the lightning had somehow survived too, albeit not in the best of shape. No one back in Marn would be happy about this mission either. Leaving with thirteen men and coming back with eight at most was going to greatly damage his reputation. Especially since there were only two targets. The deaths weren’t what truly bothered him though. The two of them could release massive amounts of energy, yet he couldn’t sense even a fraction of it. His ability to sense magical energies was why he was so good at hunting rogue mages. He would succeed however, even if he was the only one who returned. After what they did to him, there was no way he would let this one go. He sent all but two men out into the forest to search and waited for the man to return. He had to return.
Lukas had been hiding for a day and a half now. He had killed three more of the militiamen who were out searching for him, but hadn’t had a good opportunity to head back to the clearing and rescue Kristoff. Not to mention the Battlemage was almost guaranteed to be waiting for him there. He decided that it was now or never and headed back to where he would either die, or finish this. All of a sudden, there was a flash of pain in his right shoulder. When he looked, he had an arrow protruding from it and it had gone in pretty deep. Lucky that it wasn’t just a bit higher. When he looked at the men who had shot at him, they froze. These people weren’t fighters; they were peasants who thought they were helping. He gave them the same option he’d given the other seven men. The option to run away and keep their lives. These ones like all the others refused. It was sad that they could hate him so much that they would give up their lives for the chance to take his. Lukas sighed, removed his combat knife from it’s pouch and within a thirty seconds, both men were dead.
Not much later, the clearing came into view. He could see the mage standing over Darren, talking to him. Did that mean he was alive? Or was the mage really that crazy. That was a question for later though. He could also see two more men, these ones actual guardsmen, standing at the entrance to the cave, trying to get the cover off. Getting rid of them was going to be easier than he had thought it would be. Taking out the mage though, he wasn’t sure how that would turn out. The wound from where the arrow had been began to throb. It was now or never.
Darren heard screams from the entrance of the cave. He looked over and saw the two guards crushed by the cover. Could he hope that Lukas had returned? He also noticed that the mage was looking around almost horrified. Losing his arm seemed to have been a major blow to his confidence. Then much his surprise, he saw Lukas walk into the clearing with nothing but his combat knife.
Lukas ran past Darren towards the, now one armed it seemed, battle mage. Before the man could react, he had been stabbed very cleanly through the neck. He fell off the blade and onto the ground. Lukas went over to Darren to see how he had faired. There was serious damage to his chest where the bolt of lightning had hit him and it seemed they had broken his legs in order to get him to talk. Suddenly Darren pushed him backwards. He knew what had happened and before the bolt struck Darren, who was now in it’s path, turned around and crushed the mages head. Darren’s already badly damaged body now had a gaping hole in it just below the rib cage. Lukas rushed back over, but there was nothing he could do.
Darren looked up at his friend and smiled. “Thanks for coming back for me. I didn't think you would. In thanks, I want you to have that glaive of mine. I know you’ll put it to much better use then I ever did.”
Fighting back his tears, Lukas nodded. “Does she have a name?” Naming your weapon was said to give it its own will and personality. If you could work together with the weapon, you would be that much more capable with it.
“She does not. It’s up to you to name it for me. Name it after the most important person to you. You’ll either know who they are either when they show up, or when they leave.” With those words, Darren ceased to be alive.
Lukas got up and headed over to the cave in order to find Kristoff. He climbed over the cover and into its mouth. What he found was not a joyful if shy child of the age of nine. No, what he found was a corpse that looked like it hadn’t eaten for months before it had died. It was so shriveled that it was nearly impossible to tell it was Kristoff. It turned out the boy had managed to achieve the Manifester’s state. But likely due to fear, he refused to let go of it and it used his body as the energy it needed. For the first time since before his ninth birthday, Lukas let the tears flow. There was no one there who he needed to be strong for. All the tears that he should have cried when the smuggler’s had beaten him near to death, when his older brother died of disease, when they held the mass funeral for all those killed by the mage hunter raids, when Darren died… He knelt there with the boy’s body in his arms for hours. Sometimes crying, other times cursing. With all the power that he had, he couldn’t even save his best friend and a small boy. He dug their graves by hand and used his powers to carve out tombstones for them. This would be the last time he’d enter the Manifester state. It was at first a personal choice not to use his powers, but eventually, his mind built up a wall and he was completely cut off from them.
As soon as Lukas returned to the tribe and told them what happened, they packed up and headed east. It would be another four year before they returned to Thar Shaddin.
The plan was to leave fairly quickly. Staying for a week at most. Lukas decided to go visit Darren and Kristoff’s graves. The journey would take him less than a day each way and he felt he owed it to both of them. He still hadn’t found a name for that Glaive, but he was certain that he’d just know what to name it one day. Darren would have to deal with it. The trip there and back went very smoothly. No odd encounters, no crappy weather and no sign of Marnians or whatever they called themselves. He made it back to the tribe in two days and there was talk that they would pack up and head out again in a couple more days. That night, Lukas slept better than he had in years. Visiting Darren and Kristoff seemed to have lifted a small weight off of his shoulders. Unfortunately, that night would be the last time he would be so at peace. The second night, he was woken up by the sound of screaming. His tent was on fire and based on the sounds he could hear from outside, it wasn’t the only one. He grabbed his weapon and ran outside. The first thing he noticed was a man conjuring fire. On his hands he wore the red gauntlets of a Battle Mage. Rage boiled up inside Lukas and he started running towards its cause. He knew that it wasn’t a good idea. Even if he had his powers, running headlong into battle was foolish. But his feet just kept going. He cut down a few men on his way, but was hit with several arrows before he was even half way to his target.
Much to his surprise, Lukas woke up. Somehow the arrows had all missed vital organs and no one had thought to check to make sure he was dead. He thought about what had happened. Everyone was quite obviously dead and it just didn’t make sense how it could have happened. Then it hit him. He must have led them here somehow when he went to visit Darren and Kristoff’s graves. It didn’t matter that this logically doesn’t make sense. He hadn’t used anything resembling magic and there wasn’t enough time for a force to mobilize and get there if they were following his trail. It was what he believed. He then remembered those crimson gauntlets and rage ignited once again. He didn’t know anything about the man who had done this, but his hatred and desire for revenge were all that allowed him to stand up. After tending to his wounds, he went around to check the dead. It was official, he was the only one left alive. He gathered up all the Bishani he could find off of the dead and in the burnt out tents, which wasn’t very much. Maybe a weeks worth of food at best. With that, he stumbled in the direction of Marn, where he would either find his revenge, or he would die trying.
Character Name: Lukas Fairbright
Age: 23
Race: Human
Height: 187 cm
Weight: 84 kg
Physical Description: Tall, lean and muscular, Lukas Fairbright is not someone that people want to mess with. He has tan skin; blond hair and extremely piercing green eyes that make most men feel insignificant. His face has multiple scars, including one on his chin and one on the bridge of his nose; but once you get past those, most people would find him attractive. He has multiple tattoos on his back, all of which are of psionic origin. He wears a sleeveless black top, a pair of lightweight pants that are stained with mud and other elements of nature, a pair of heavy-duty hiking/combat boots, and a large brown cloak with a hood. He always stands up straight, and almost always stands out in a crowd.
Personality Description: Lukas will treat everyone, no matter their race, profession, or social class, with respect. The only thing he asks in return is the same level of respect. If that respect is not given, be prepared for a tongue lashing at best; a spear in your side at worst. He has little experience with society, and even less with the subtleties that being a part of one requires. He is rather intelligent, but sometimes lacks the wisdom to make good choices. Somehow, even though he wears clothes dirtier than a beggar, and is more blunt than the backside of a hatchet; he still has a noble air about him, and people are easily swayed by his words. Despite this, he wholeheartedly believes that you are the only one who can fix your situation, and that those who complain about their lives, but expect others to fix it for them, are the worst kind of people.
Possessions:
Custom Pole-arm: This glaive is 250 cm long from the tip of the blade, to the end of the shaft. A psionic craftsman crushed an unrefined diamond, not of the gemstone variety, into a super sharp, durable blade that is blacker than the night sky. The pole is made of oak, and is carved with psionic symbols that make it easier manifest powers through the weapon.
A large brown cloak
Barely enough bishani to feed him for the next week
Small combat knife
Advantages
Pole-arm expert: Every member of the Healand Nomads gets advanced training with spears and other pole-arms from a very young age. It helps them stay fit enough to withstand the harsher elements of nature.
Keen intellect: It takes a keen mind to open up ones mind enough to gain access to the immense psionic powers residing in the untapped part of every living creatures brain. Lukas is able to keep up with the best and the brightest, and able to pick apart most languages to at least understand them fairly quickly. While not a specialist in any intellectual fields, it takes a lot to confuse him, and rarely ever comes off as dumb. The exception to this is he knows very little about society, and the people that inhabit them.
Excellent Shape: Living off the land, and training in the art of battle has kept Lukas in peak physical condition. He is capable of impressive feats of strength, though not abnormal ones, and has excellent stamina.
Charismatic: People are drawn to Lukas, for better or for worse, and are easily swayed by his words. This is not an advantage he uses on a regular basis however, as he tends to prefer his own company.
Weaknesses
Revenge Driven: Lukas’ only goal in life is to find and kill the Marn Battlemage who led the attack that wiped out his tribe. If he ever gets information on his target, he will ignore all other “distractions,” until the Battlemage is dead, or the information proves fruitless. This sometimes leads him to let his guard down, making it much easier for him to be snuck up on. It is not known what will happen if he ever completes his revenge.
Guilty Conscience: Lukas feels guilty for accidentally leading the force that killed his tribe, right to them. He has nightmares about the event on an almost nightly basis, making it difficult for him to sleep. He usually gets enough rest to function normally, but rarely gets enough to feel rested and comfortable.
Alternate view on Justice: Back in the tribe, if someone wronged you, you did something about it. There were no guards to call, and the one who had done the wronging usually admitted his mistake. In Marn, no such thing happens, and Lukas’ insistence that he solve his own problems is bound to get him into trouble more than once.
Societally Challenged: Lukas’ has never had experience with a city, or even a small town. Society as people view it, is a completely foreign concept to him. In the tribe, everyone was equal. Everyone had a specific task to do. Sure there were leaders, but they weren’t treated better, it was just another job. When Lukas stepped into the city, it was as if a child stepped into the city. Only people are a lot more forgiving when you are a child.
Loner: To put it bluntly, Lukas likes his own company, and very few others. He’ll work with others when it’s necessary, and he’ll do so extraordinarily well, but he prefers relying on only himself. There’s a lot less to explain that way.
Migraines: After Lukas’ started trying to break the barrier between him and his psionic powers, he started having terrible migraines. These had the ability to render him almost useless, and could last for upwards of an hour. These only happen after he attempts the breakthrough, can manifest anytime during that day, not always right after.
Outlaw: Lukas' face is recognizable to a number of the guards as well as the battlemage who he failed to kill. If any of these people realize he is alive and see him, they will very likely kill him on site. Or worse...
Former Powers
Manifestation: Manifesting is what it is called when a creature with the Manifestor gene, enters the state with which they can use their powers. Any race can acquire the gene through blood, or through spiritual intervention. While the powers themselves are difficult to detect, you can tell when someone is manifesting by their eyes. The pupils grow large enough to cover the entire eye. In this state, the manifester has heightened awareness and can react much quicker. The only draw back to this state is it greatly increases your metabolism to the point that your body will die of hunger after approximately two days. It was first taught to the Healand Nomads by a benevolent spirit of the Astral Plane when the seal was broken.
Telekinesis: This allowed Lukas to pick up objects of up to 500 kg. The object cannot be larger than a large carriage. An object that is fastened to the ground weighs has weight added based the additional resistance.
Telekinetic Crush: This ability allows Lukas to bring up to 300 kg crushing force on a living being, or an object. His version of this ability is for offense only, and is not refined enough to craft items. This ability is very tiring to use at full power. It is usually used to break enemies limbs so that they couldn’t continue the fight.
Telekinetic Blast: This ability shoots a high-speed lance of energy at and enemy. It is very accurate, and extremely deadly. It was the last psionic ability Lukas learned before sealing off his power.
History: Before the Changer War, when Pal Tahrenor first merged with the Astral Plane, a powerful spirit of intellect became trapped in a mages circle of binding. As a being of the Astral Plane, it could not break out. But the veil between the two was so thin that if it died, its death would be final. It searched in vain for a way to break the seal, and save itself from the malicious mage. Eventually giving up hope, it prepared for its inevitable end. It was at this time that a man with a grudge against the mage came along. The man attempted to kill the mage, who had stolen and experimented on the children of the man’s tribe. Although strong, he was no match for the conjurer and it looked like he too would succumb to the mages powers. As luck would have it though, during the battle, the circle entrapping the spirit was broken. The spirit didn’t hesitate, and quickly crushed the mages body. As thanks for rescuing it, the spirit offered the man a reward. That reward was the ability to enter the Manifestor state. With this, he gained the ability to manipulate reality with his thoughts, an ability that would later come to be described as, Psionics. This is where the story of every member of the Healand Nomads begins.
Every Healand child is given three opportunities to gain their abilities. It is expected that they will fail the first time, but gain the knowledge and experience required to succeed on the second. The third is a sort of last chance and if they are unable to pass that, they are abandoned at the nearest settlement. When Lukas turned nine years old, it was time for him to take his first test. He was quick witted, and seemed to exude an impressive amount of confidence for someone of his age, and great things were expected of him when he grew older. The truth was, he was nervous. He hadn’t been able to sleep much in the months before his birthday, and whenever someone mentioned the test, his stomach would tie itself in knots so tight that it hurt. The test was simple, the tribe would find a small cave, and then using their powers, would create a cover for the entrance that was exactly 250 kg. The child taking the test would sit in the cave and the cover would be placed over the entrance. They have 24 hours to move the cover, and make it out of the cave. The test is mandatory, but you are allowed to give up during the first one.
Lukas walked into the cave where his ninth birthday would take place. He fought his hardest to hold back his tears and the beads of sweat on his forehead were not caused by the bright sun outside. Almost immediately after entering, the cover was placed over the entrance. The cave was pitch black, and warmer than Lukas had expected. At the back of his mind, he thought this might mean there was another entrance from which he could escape the cave, but he pushed this thought away. The clan expected him to be strong, and he was no coward. He moved a few meters back and sat on the floor. A few months back, during his training, he had managed to enter the manifester’s state. He did that now. Sweat began to pour off his body, seeping into every crevice. His head throbbed and the veins in his forehead bulged. His pupils grew until they took up even the whites of his eyes. The whole process took about 20 minutes and exhausted the young boy. He had made it this far before too, but was unable to learn any powers. That would be todays test it would seem. He sat there in his state of heightened mental awareness for hours. No matter what he did, where in his mind he looked, he couldn’t figure out how to move the cover.
It turns out Lukas’ initial thought of there being a second entrance was correct. It also turns out that the cave was primarily used by smugglers to store the goods while slowly bringing them into towns. Things hadn’t been going badly for Lukas. He hadn’t gotten any farther with the test, but there were still twelve hours left. Unfortunately, things were about get bad. The smugglers had returned to the cave, only to see a large group at the main entrance. Knowing the group was too large to deal with, they went through that back entrance in an attempt to get their goods and get out without notice. It wasn’t long before they noticed the boy in the cave. It was a lucky break for them. They could use the boy as a hostage if they were caught, or sell him as a slave if they weren’t.
In his mentally enhanced state, Lukas was aware of the smugglers as well. Instead of waiting for them to act, he got up and moved in their direction. He wasn’t sure of their intentions, but his curiosity got the better of him. “Stop right there, kid!” One of the smugglers yelled. Another one, using his companion as a distraction, lunged at Lukas. The darkness did a good enough job of concealing the boy that the attempt failed, while also giving the man’s position away. For his mistake, he receives a surprisingly powerful kick to his ribs. The disgusting cracking sound surprised even Lukas. As did the speed at which he had reacted. The situation was still not in his favour, and he knew that his size would not fool them again. Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted from the side of his head. It was unlike anything he had experienced before. Similar jolts of pain erupted in his side, thighs and groin. The already dark cave became even darker as his vision swam and he eventually passed out. He woke up a few hours later, not far from where he had fallen. He tried to get up, but realized his arms and legs were bound. Even if they weren’t he wasn’t sure if he could’ve. The smugglers must have beaten him for a while after he passed out, for his entire body felt like it was on fire.
“Looks like the little bastard woke up. He’s a tough one for a kid. Almost expected him to be dead.” The voice was not far, but Lukas couldn’t tell exactly where it was coming from. The smugglers had lit some torches, but his eyes were swollen shut, so he could only see a faint glow.
“This kid is going to pay for what he did to me. We’re definitely going to get caught now that I can’t make it back to the city.” Footsteps. One of them was definitely coming over. Another sharp kick to the side. He barely felt it though; his body was already in enough pain. The kicks continued for a few minutes and then stopped.
“Not feeling my boot anymore huh? Well I’ll just have to try something a little more drastic. I’m going to make you bleed.” Lukas thought that he didn’t care any more. That is, until the blade entered his stomach. The pain was worse than everything before. He felt blood pour out of his wound, and could feel it rising in his throat. The shock of it all forced his eyes open. Leaning over him was a short man with thin greasy black hair, a very plain face, brandishing a now very red knife. The man looked exactly like you’d expect him to. He leaned over Lukas once more and pressed the knife into the bridge of his nose. More pain shot through his face, but surprisingly, there was no fear. There was only understanding. His pupils grew until they covered the whites of his eyes. He had complete control now. The smuggler looked, at first confused and then down right terrified. He backed away a few steps, but it was no use. Within seconds, his body burst apart spraying blood all over the cave. The other three smugglers got up to try and run, but Lukas had given up on escape and decided to bring the entire cave down on them. He once again fell unconscious, but not before he heard the death cries of his murderers.
Much to his surprise, Lukas woke up again. He had no idea where he was, or how he had got there. When the men outside the cave heard it start to collapse, they quickly removed the cover and retrieved Lukas’ body. They were beyond surprised by the state he was in, and it was known that none in the tribe had the ability to heal such wounds. His father took a great risk, and moved him to the nearest settlement. It was fortunate for everyone that the town had a talented mage for a doctor. It took well over a week before Lukas would wake up, but he was out of critical condition the day after he arrived. When asked about what happened, Lukas refused to go into detail. He mentioned the smugglers, but did not mention that his powers had awakened, or that he had killed them. He didn’t want them to pass him on pity, as he had not finished the test. Four years later, when he was allowed to take the test again, he smashed through the cover almost before they had finished placing it.
A lot had happened since Lukas had passed his test. He was 19 now and was one of the few survivors of mage hunts. The tribe had gone from almost one hundred members, to just over three-dozen. He had survived a fair number of battles and grown into a fine young man with a bright future. The scars of his childhood were still there of course, but they were part of what shaped into who he was. Recently, they moved into a small region known as Thar Shaddin.
With the decrease in the tribe’s size, individuals were expected to take on more responsibilities. One of Lukas’ extra responsibilities was to take the children out to be tested. After his own testing experience; it was a responsibility he took very seriously. Today, he and his friend Darren were taking a young boy named Kristoff to his first test. It was a grey morning. Not ideal for this sort of thing, but it still had to be done. The three of them made their way to an abandoned cave that had been scouted out a few days earlier. Lukas checked the cave to make sure that there were no alternate entrances and when none were found, motioned the boy into the cave. He crouched down next to the Kristoff
“If you aren’t ready, you can let me know now and we’ll just go through the motions. There is no shame in giving up the first time. I didn’t succeed on my first try.” Lukas knew that Kristoff wasn’t ready. He hadn’t even made it into Manifester’s state and it takes months of practice with that before you’ll have even a hope of accessing any power. Months of practice, or a moment of extreme shock. Unsurprisingly, the boy says he is ready. Lukas gets up and walks out of the cave. The boy not being ready was only part of the reason he wanted him to give up though. The cave was only a few kilometers away from the city of Marn, which was known for harsh views on magic and things linked with it. Him and Darren closed off the cave. All that was left to do now was wait.
“How do you think he will do?” Darren asks Lukas rather casually.
“He’s going to fail. There is no doubt in my mind.” Lukas’ voice was stern. Not uncaring, but he was beyond certain.
Darren looked surprised at first, but he then laughed. “You can be a cold man sometimes. You outta try being optimistic for a change. Besides I was just trying to make conversation.”
Maybe Darren was right, maybe he should lighten up sometimes. Maybe his bad feeling about today was just him over thinking everything; after all they had been there for eight hours and nothing had happened yet. “Optimist huh. Perhaps I’ll give it a try. Who knows, maybe it’ll give me as much luck with the women as you have.”
Once again Darren laughed. “Lukas Fairbright making a joke? This has to be recorded somewhere. No one is a popular with the women as I am. You have a long way to go my friend.” The two of them carried on like that until it was getting close to dark.
The foggy grey day steadily turned into a torrential rain filled evening. The clouds were almost black and the ground turned to mud beneath the two men’s feet. Optimism hadn’t held off the weather it seemed and it wasn’t like they could just leave. Unless Kristoff called to them to give up, they were stuck at camp until the morning. Darren offered to take first watch and Lukas was happy to oblige. The weather had drained his energy and sleep, even on a wet ground was a very welcome thought.
Sleep came fast to Lukas. So used to the sounds of nature was he, that the rain hitting the ground was more like a lullaby to a child, then any kind of annoyance. With sleep came dreams. Some were good; of times when the tribe had prospered. Others were terrible; his first attempt at the test, where instead he hadn’t been able to call upon the power of his mind. None of them were surprising; most nights were filled with similar dreams.
Lukas was woken up to a worried looking Darren. He jumped to his feet wondering what was wrong. It didn’t take long to figure it out. They were surrounded by a group of militia archers with a few real guards dispersed among them. About thirteen men in all. How were they found when their camp didn’t a torch, let alone a fire? So much for optimism.
“What is it that you want from us?” Lukas asked cautiously. He was pretty sure he knew what the response would be, but if there was a way out of fighting, it would be best. thirteen on two were not odds he’d want to bet on.
One of the guardsmen stepped forward and spoke. “We heard about a couple of mages who were hiding out in this area. Apparently they are capable of lifting great amounts of weight with naught but their will.” As he said this, he pointed to the large stone covering the entrance to the cave.
Something caught Lukas’ eye when he did this. His gauntlets were red. It almost clashed with the rest of his armour. After quickly scanning around, it was clear that no one else had these strange gauntlets. Was it some symbol of rank?
“We are not mages, we are simply travellers who got caught in the rain and decided that it would be easier to rest then to press onward.” Lukas tried to be as polite as possible, without showing any hints of the agitation that the situation caused him.
“It seems too convenient for you to be in the exact spot that was described to us. Besides the city is close enough that you could have just as easily taken shelter there.” The guard with the red gauntlets smiled a wicked smile as the words came from his mouth.
Darren, who was having much less luck hiding his annoyance, finally spoke up. “Why would you bring so many men if it was just some anonymous tip?”
That question gave away everything the guard needed. His smile turned into a disgusting grin that did very little to cover up the man’s sadistic glee. “Because we trust our citizens of course and it’s always better to be safe then sorry. I’m going to have to dispose of you now, so that you don’t cause harm to anyone.
Darren griped his pitch-black glaive and prepared to defend himself. “Who do you think you are, just declaring people mages and deciding that you have the right to kill them?”
The guard laughed at this. “Who exactly, doesn’t matter. It’s what I am that matters. I am a Battlemage of the city of Marn and it is well within my authority to be your judge jury and executioner!”
Darren’s eyes immediately turned black. “ You are a bastard. A mage who revels in the persecution of other mages? I’ll show you that attacking us was a mistake.” He charged at the Battlemage and let loose a wave of psionic energy.
The mage was surprised for a second. He couldn’t sense any magic he could recognize in the attack. But he quickly regained his focus. He sidestepped the attack and let it kill one of his militiamen instead. All they were good for was fodder anyway. He shot off a bolt of lightning at the fool who charged. It pierced him and he crumpled to the ground. That was the thing about fights with magic. It was almost always over before you knew it had begun.
Lukas hadn’t had time to stop Darren. He had seen the firepower that mages could wield before. A plan of action needed to be created. Without even realizing it, Lukas had also entered the Manifester’s sate, where his mind was capable of thinking many times faster than normal. Even if one of them wasn’t a mage, he had no chance against twelve armed men in a head on assault. He might be able to kill two or three of them before they brought him down, which might have been okay, were it not for Kristoff still being in the cave. He’d need to escape and then pick them off one at a time. He too shot a shockwave of psionic energy at the mage. But without even checking to see if it hit, he bolted left, shooting off another blast at a couple of men that blocked his path. With the chaos in the clearing, he managed to escape into the forest.
Back in the clearing, the remaining men attempted to restore a sense of order. Between the two blasts that Lukas had fired off, he had killed four men. The mage was not one of them, but he didn’t get away without a scratch. His left arm had been ripped off of his torso from the force of the blast. This was certainly not how he had intended the situation to go. The one he had hit with the lightning had somehow survived too, albeit not in the best of shape. No one back in Marn would be happy about this mission either. Leaving with thirteen men and coming back with eight at most was going to greatly damage his reputation. Especially since there were only two targets. The deaths weren’t what truly bothered him though. The two of them could release massive amounts of energy, yet he couldn’t sense even a fraction of it. His ability to sense magical energies was why he was so good at hunting rogue mages. He would succeed however, even if he was the only one who returned. After what they did to him, there was no way he would let this one go. He sent all but two men out into the forest to search and waited for the man to return. He had to return.
Lukas had been hiding for a day and a half now. He had killed three more of the militiamen who were out searching for him, but hadn’t had a good opportunity to head back to the clearing and rescue Kristoff. Not to mention the Battlemage was almost guaranteed to be waiting for him there. He decided that it was now or never and headed back to where he would either die, or finish this. All of a sudden, there was a flash of pain in his right shoulder. When he looked, he had an arrow protruding from it and it had gone in pretty deep. Lucky that it wasn’t just a bit higher. When he looked at the men who had shot at him, they froze. These people weren’t fighters; they were peasants who thought they were helping. He gave them the same option he’d given the other seven men. The option to run away and keep their lives. These ones like all the others refused. It was sad that they could hate him so much that they would give up their lives for the chance to take his. Lukas sighed, removed his combat knife from it’s pouch and within a thirty seconds, both men were dead.
Not much later, the clearing came into view. He could see the mage standing over Darren, talking to him. Did that mean he was alive? Or was the mage really that crazy. That was a question for later though. He could also see two more men, these ones actual guardsmen, standing at the entrance to the cave, trying to get the cover off. Getting rid of them was going to be easier than he had thought it would be. Taking out the mage though, he wasn’t sure how that would turn out. The wound from where the arrow had been began to throb. It was now or never.
Darren heard screams from the entrance of the cave. He looked over and saw the two guards crushed by the cover. Could he hope that Lukas had returned? He also noticed that the mage was looking around almost horrified. Losing his arm seemed to have been a major blow to his confidence. Then much his surprise, he saw Lukas walk into the clearing with nothing but his combat knife.
Lukas ran past Darren towards the, now one armed it seemed, battle mage. Before the man could react, he had been stabbed very cleanly through the neck. He fell off the blade and onto the ground. Lukas went over to Darren to see how he had faired. There was serious damage to his chest where the bolt of lightning had hit him and it seemed they had broken his legs in order to get him to talk. Suddenly Darren pushed him backwards. He knew what had happened and before the bolt struck Darren, who was now in it’s path, turned around and crushed the mages head. Darren’s already badly damaged body now had a gaping hole in it just below the rib cage. Lukas rushed back over, but there was nothing he could do.
Darren looked up at his friend and smiled. “Thanks for coming back for me. I didn't think you would. In thanks, I want you to have that glaive of mine. I know you’ll put it to much better use then I ever did.”
Fighting back his tears, Lukas nodded. “Does she have a name?” Naming your weapon was said to give it its own will and personality. If you could work together with the weapon, you would be that much more capable with it.
“She does not. It’s up to you to name it for me. Name it after the most important person to you. You’ll either know who they are either when they show up, or when they leave.” With those words, Darren ceased to be alive.
Lukas got up and headed over to the cave in order to find Kristoff. He climbed over the cover and into its mouth. What he found was not a joyful if shy child of the age of nine. No, what he found was a corpse that looked like it hadn’t eaten for months before it had died. It was so shriveled that it was nearly impossible to tell it was Kristoff. It turned out the boy had managed to achieve the Manifester’s state. But likely due to fear, he refused to let go of it and it used his body as the energy it needed. For the first time since before his ninth birthday, Lukas let the tears flow. There was no one there who he needed to be strong for. All the tears that he should have cried when the smuggler’s had beaten him near to death, when his older brother died of disease, when they held the mass funeral for all those killed by the mage hunter raids, when Darren died… He knelt there with the boy’s body in his arms for hours. Sometimes crying, other times cursing. With all the power that he had, he couldn’t even save his best friend and a small boy. He dug their graves by hand and used his powers to carve out tombstones for them. This would be the last time he’d enter the Manifester state. It was at first a personal choice not to use his powers, but eventually, his mind built up a wall and he was completely cut off from them.
As soon as Lukas returned to the tribe and told them what happened, they packed up and headed east. It would be another four year before they returned to Thar Shaddin.
The plan was to leave fairly quickly. Staying for a week at most. Lukas decided to go visit Darren and Kristoff’s graves. The journey would take him less than a day each way and he felt he owed it to both of them. He still hadn’t found a name for that Glaive, but he was certain that he’d just know what to name it one day. Darren would have to deal with it. The trip there and back went very smoothly. No odd encounters, no crappy weather and no sign of Marnians or whatever they called themselves. He made it back to the tribe in two days and there was talk that they would pack up and head out again in a couple more days. That night, Lukas slept better than he had in years. Visiting Darren and Kristoff seemed to have lifted a small weight off of his shoulders. Unfortunately, that night would be the last time he would be so at peace. The second night, he was woken up by the sound of screaming. His tent was on fire and based on the sounds he could hear from outside, it wasn’t the only one. He grabbed his weapon and ran outside. The first thing he noticed was a man conjuring fire. On his hands he wore the red gauntlets of a Battle Mage. Rage boiled up inside Lukas and he started running towards its cause. He knew that it wasn’t a good idea. Even if he had his powers, running headlong into battle was foolish. But his feet just kept going. He cut down a few men on his way, but was hit with several arrows before he was even half way to his target.
Much to his surprise, Lukas woke up. Somehow the arrows had all missed vital organs and no one had thought to check to make sure he was dead. He thought about what had happened. Everyone was quite obviously dead and it just didn’t make sense how it could have happened. Then it hit him. He must have led them here somehow when he went to visit Darren and Kristoff’s graves. It didn’t matter that this logically doesn’t make sense. He hadn’t used anything resembling magic and there wasn’t enough time for a force to mobilize and get there if they were following his trail. It was what he believed. He then remembered those crimson gauntlets and rage ignited once again. He didn’t know anything about the man who had done this, but his hatred and desire for revenge were all that allowed him to stand up. After tending to his wounds, he went around to check the dead. It was official, he was the only one left alive. He gathered up all the Bishani he could find off of the dead and in the burnt out tents, which wasn’t very much. Maybe a weeks worth of food at best. With that, he stumbled in the direction of Marn, where he would either find his revenge, or he would die trying.