Post by No. 1 on Dec 23, 2004 17:22:57 GMT
The Redemption of One:
- The Path To Wolfenden: The Nameless [ModNote: link added.]
*He doesn't really have a name - at least, he never uses it in public, save for in the presence of those he trusts most. And since such people are so few and far between, he sticks to the moniker assigned to him by his former comrades-in-arms. Call him... No. 1.*
*Once, he had been the head of a powerful rogue clan, comprised of he and eight others, each individual united by a fundamental and undeniable desire for power. As a unit, they swept across their native lands, wreaking untold havoc and consuming anyone who dared to oppose them. Men, women and children perished under their reign of terror - a plague of brutality and sickness that passed by, largely unnoticed by all but its victims, just beyond the extreme borders of the realm.*
*However, as with all servants of chaos, an ill wind was gathering. The clan fragmented, turning in upon itself, and No. 1 was the first to be cast out. Remorseful of the evil deeds that he and his kin had perpetrated in the name of power, he was branded a heretic and a turncoat by his brothers. Yet instead of a sentence of death, the clan bestowed an altogether more tortuous punishment upon their former comrade. Invoking a curse, they fitted No. 1 with a mask, bound in place by arcane sorcery, and ejected him from their ranks.*
*That was two years ago. Now, at last No. 1 has come to Wolfenden, in an attempt to right the wrongs of his old ways. No. 1 is about five-and-a-half feet tall, with long, raven-black hair. His attire is unusual, being unique to his old clan; a single-piece black outfit that covers him from his neck downwards, emblazoned with the clan's emblem - a white, nine-pointed runic symbol. It serves as a reminder of his grave misdeeds, and it wills him on to put things right.*
*Yet the most striking - and disturbing - thing about No.1 is his accursed mask, which he has to this day been unable to remove. It is made from an unknown material of purest white, and is molded to the shape of his own face, like a death-mask. It has symmetrical black spiked patterns around the eyes and down the forehead, and black lips. Closer inspection will reveal a substance like caked blood around the edges of these black areas. Completely expressionless, it has condemned No. 1 to an almost exclusively vocal means of communication, as his face appears always devoid of any and all emotion, overriding joy, anger, sorrow and fear equally. It is a most unlikely yet effective prison; a testament to the twisted genius of his former brothers.*
*No. 1 makes his living as part travelling musician, playing stringed and percussion instruments where available, and part bounty hunter. Yet he longs for atonement, for the chance to do good, and the outbreak of conflict and evil across Wolfenden has drawn him to the realm like a moth to a flame. Starting today, he will never leave another victim deserted, and he will always fight for the ones who can't fight.*
*And if he loses? Then at least he has tried.*
- The Path To Wolfenden: The Nameless [ModNote: link added.]
*He doesn't really have a name - at least, he never uses it in public, save for in the presence of those he trusts most. And since such people are so few and far between, he sticks to the moniker assigned to him by his former comrades-in-arms. Call him... No. 1.*
*Once, he had been the head of a powerful rogue clan, comprised of he and eight others, each individual united by a fundamental and undeniable desire for power. As a unit, they swept across their native lands, wreaking untold havoc and consuming anyone who dared to oppose them. Men, women and children perished under their reign of terror - a plague of brutality and sickness that passed by, largely unnoticed by all but its victims, just beyond the extreme borders of the realm.*
*However, as with all servants of chaos, an ill wind was gathering. The clan fragmented, turning in upon itself, and No. 1 was the first to be cast out. Remorseful of the evil deeds that he and his kin had perpetrated in the name of power, he was branded a heretic and a turncoat by his brothers. Yet instead of a sentence of death, the clan bestowed an altogether more tortuous punishment upon their former comrade. Invoking a curse, they fitted No. 1 with a mask, bound in place by arcane sorcery, and ejected him from their ranks.*
*That was two years ago. Now, at last No. 1 has come to Wolfenden, in an attempt to right the wrongs of his old ways. No. 1 is about five-and-a-half feet tall, with long, raven-black hair. His attire is unusual, being unique to his old clan; a single-piece black outfit that covers him from his neck downwards, emblazoned with the clan's emblem - a white, nine-pointed runic symbol. It serves as a reminder of his grave misdeeds, and it wills him on to put things right.*
*Yet the most striking - and disturbing - thing about No.1 is his accursed mask, which he has to this day been unable to remove. It is made from an unknown material of purest white, and is molded to the shape of his own face, like a death-mask. It has symmetrical black spiked patterns around the eyes and down the forehead, and black lips. Closer inspection will reveal a substance like caked blood around the edges of these black areas. Completely expressionless, it has condemned No. 1 to an almost exclusively vocal means of communication, as his face appears always devoid of any and all emotion, overriding joy, anger, sorrow and fear equally. It is a most unlikely yet effective prison; a testament to the twisted genius of his former brothers.*
*No. 1 makes his living as part travelling musician, playing stringed and percussion instruments where available, and part bounty hunter. Yet he longs for atonement, for the chance to do good, and the outbreak of conflict and evil across Wolfenden has drawn him to the realm like a moth to a flame. Starting today, he will never leave another victim deserted, and he will always fight for the ones who can't fight.*
*And if he loses? Then at least he has tried.*