akuholyJun 08, 2017Jun 08, 2017 at 04:55 AM
#1
@akuholy
Cyrodilic Name: Cracks-the-Mountain
Black Marsh Name: Sekk’qocenmeht
Race: Argonian (Saxhleel)
Age: 44
Sex: Male
Marital Status: Single
Sexual Orientation: Straight
Affliction: None
Physical Description:
Stocky and tall, as far as Argonians go, with the kind of muscle structure only a lifetime of fighting can build. His grey-brown, crocodile-like scales are dulled in both color and luster, meaningless to the casual observer, but any Argonian knows his age at a glance. His head lacks the horns or frills or feathers of his kinsman, only a few bony protrusions from his chin. Numerous scars across his body suggest that he has, or at least had, a particularly brutal fighting style. One rather nasty wound has rendered his left eye milky and blind, though his right remains a clear bright amber. His heavy armor is meticulously maintained and immaculate in its appearance, and though he may be seen with a variety of weapons, he is almost never without a shield handy. His graveled Tamrielic carries the hiss and clicks of his native tongue, and when he speaks, it is slowly, softly, and with care.
Personality:
Likes:
Books on the history, poetry, or anthropological study of other races
Swimming
Traveling/Exploring
People watching
Eating/drinking strange things
Dislikes:
Loud places and people
Drunks
Slavery
Prejudice
Telvanni
Strengths:
A powerful swimmer, even w/ heavy armor and weapons
Extensive combat experience
A logical, strategic mind
Robust constitution
Open to new ideas/cultures/people
Honesty
Weaknesses:
Rebuffs specific questions about Black Marsh
Refuses to lie, even to spare feelings or protect himself and others.
Lacks depth perception
Can be easily provoked to violence and anger when the subject of slavery is brought up, particularly by those who favor or practice it
Logical thinking goes out the window in matters concerning the Hist. Fails to see the hypocrisy.
Soft spoken and even-tempered, Cracks-the-Mountain has mellowed considerably since his youth. Though not very good at approaching others, he enjoys making small-talk, and finds that most people enjoy talking about themselves at length, given the right prompting. His views on slavery and prejudice are common enough, after all, who doesn’t hate prejudice? But his ideas regarding “slavery” tend to go a bit far, sometimes to extremes others can’t agree with. When not engaging with others, he pores over books he has found, attempting to transcribe them into the Argonian native tongue (Jel) for later consumption.
Why is your character in Dominion territory? How did they get here?
In an effort to rid himself of his own prejudices, Cracks-the-Mountain has retired from military service and taken on adventuring and travel to experience the other peoples and cultures of Tamriel. The differences are obvious, and so he seeks to discover the similarities. His journey has taken years and led him across both Pact and Covenant lands. His arrival in Velyn Harbor marks the beginning of his trek through Dominion lands and already he can draw similarities between the Bosmer and Argonians’ connection to nature. He very nearly rode through the heart of Vulkwasten without realizing it was a settlement! With clear ocean just to the north, clear rivers just to the south, and verdant vegetation all around, what better place could there be to serve as base-camp for his forays into Dominion lands? If only there were a hist around, it could be a second home!
Background:
Cracks-the-Mountain hatched sometime during the 539th year of the second era, in the hatching pools of Helstrom deep in the impenetrable center of Black Marsh. During his formative years, his keepers taught him of his people's culture, spirituality, and history. Initially it seemed he might become a tree minder and follow a spiritual path, but when Cracks learned of the fate of his more northerly kinsmen, captured and enslaved by the Dunmer of Morrowind, his indignation and rage drove him down the path of the warrior. As soon as he was able to swing a weapon effectively, he departed north to join with the resistance fighters that harried the slavers’ efforts and raided the more southerly Dunmeri slave plantations. Passion and fury drove him in battle. It made him fearless, but reckless, as he drove himself harder and harder, trusting in his natural strength and durability to see him through as he carried out a relentless campaign with his like-minded kin.
Black Marsh lacked the resources and numbers to wage a true war with Morrowind, and so instead focused on mastering guerrilla tactics to resist the summary enslavement of its people, and Cracks-the-Mountain was exactly the type of warrior needed. He was eventually inducted formally into the armies of Black Marsh, and his new commanders tempered his battle-fury with vicious and brutal tactics. He served with distinction in the shock troop corp and was many times offered an opportunity at promotion, but such was his hatred for the Dunmer that he turned away every one that would take him off the front lines. He developed a fearsome reputation among both the Dunmer people and his own, earning bounties for his head from the enemy, and inspiring more of his own people to join the resistance. Eventually, the day came when he was nominated by his commander to be appointed to the most elite fighting force in the Black Marsh military, the Shellbacks. This was an honor too great to refuse, and in 567 the King of Argonia approved his appointment, and Cracks-the-Mountain became a Shellback. Over the next 5 years, his new commanders would break down this wild, brutal killer and rebuild him as a loyal and disciplined soldier. Taught to reign in his temper and not break formation, he came to learn the value of allies and coordinated effort. The Shellback legions were only deployed where need was greatest, and he watched as both Dunmer ebony and moral shattered against the phalanx wall.
In 2E 572, the Akaviri invaded Tamriel a second time. After sacking Windhelm, the invading force made its way southeast to assault Morrowind only to become pinned between the Dunmeri defensive and a Nordic retaliatory force. Trapped between the two armies and the Inner Sea, the Akaviri were able to hold out until the arrival of two legions of Shellbacks from Black Marsh. Cracks-the-Mountain was among those two legions. While vocally against assisting the Dumer in any way, military discipline kept him from outright refusing the orders of his superiors. As they marched north through Shadowfen and Deshaan, fearful mothers clutched their children close, watching what for all the world must have appeared as an Argonian retribution force come to strike back against Morrowind while it’s forces were occupied elsewhere. Nowhere in sight were the slavers, come to cut down keepers and snatch up eggs to be hatched into slavery. Here was a side of the Dunmeri people Cracks-the-Mountain had not seen before, and it gave him pause. When the legions reached the battlefield on the outskirts of Ebonheart, the Shellbacks shattered the Akaviri defensive line, and the three combined armies cut the Akaviri down to a man. When the Ebonheart Pact was signed and the Argonian slaves freed, it was beyond the scope of what Cracks-the-Mountain had thought the Dunmer capable of. Even as slaves, too far north for his efforts to have ever freed, returned home to Black Marsh, he could scarcely believe it. Yet, here it seemed there were not just a few Dunmer willing to let go of the slaving aspect of their culture, but an apparent majority, even most of the Great Houses! (His hatred for the Telvanni would never fully abate) It humbled him greatly to see such a change in those he for so long had demonized. It occurred to him that he knew nothing of the people and society he had for so long warred against. His bitterness and hatred had made him devalue the lives of the Dunmer in the same way they had devalued the lives of his own people. On that day, he resolved to do better.
Returning to Black Marsh, Cracks-the-Mountain completed his tour of duty and retired from military life. He struck out to the north once more, no longer as an agent of vengeance, but as a traveler, adventurer, and amateur scholar. Setting down roots first in Shadowfen, one of the only three Argonian tribes to agree to the Pact, he journeyed beyond into Morrowind proper to experience the culture, history, and people he knew so little about.
Cyrodilic Name: Cracks-the-Mountain
Black Marsh Name: Sekk’qocenmeht
Race: Argonian (Saxhleel)
Age: 44
Sex: Male
Marital Status: Single
Sexual Orientation: Straight
Affliction: None
Physical Description:
Stocky and tall, as far as Argonians go, with the kind of muscle structure only a lifetime of fighting can build. His grey-brown, crocodile-like scales are dulled in both color and luster, meaningless to the casual observer, but any Argonian knows his age at a glance. His head lacks the horns or frills or feathers of his kinsman, only a few bony protrusions from his chin. Numerous scars across his body suggest that he has, or at least had, a particularly brutal fighting style. One rather nasty wound has rendered his left eye milky and blind, though his right remains a clear bright amber. His heavy armor is meticulously maintained and immaculate in its appearance, and though he may be seen with a variety of weapons, he is almost never without a shield handy. His graveled Tamrielic carries the hiss and clicks of his native tongue, and when he speaks, it is slowly, softly, and with care.
Personality:
Likes:
Books on the history, poetry, or anthropological study of other races
Swimming
Traveling/Exploring
People watching
Eating/drinking strange things
Dislikes:
Loud places and people
Drunks
Slavery
Prejudice
Telvanni
Strengths:
A powerful swimmer, even w/ heavy armor and weapons
Extensive combat experience
A logical, strategic mind
Robust constitution
Open to new ideas/cultures/people
Honesty
Weaknesses:
Rebuffs specific questions about Black Marsh
Refuses to lie, even to spare feelings or protect himself and others.
Lacks depth perception
Can be easily provoked to violence and anger when the subject of slavery is brought up, particularly by those who favor or practice it
Logical thinking goes out the window in matters concerning the Hist. Fails to see the hypocrisy.
Soft spoken and even-tempered, Cracks-the-Mountain has mellowed considerably since his youth. Though not very good at approaching others, he enjoys making small-talk, and finds that most people enjoy talking about themselves at length, given the right prompting. His views on slavery and prejudice are common enough, after all, who doesn’t hate prejudice? But his ideas regarding “slavery” tend to go a bit far, sometimes to extremes others can’t agree with. When not engaging with others, he pores over books he has found, attempting to transcribe them into the Argonian native tongue (Jel) for later consumption.
Why is your character in Dominion territory? How did they get here?
In an effort to rid himself of his own prejudices, Cracks-the-Mountain has retired from military service and taken on adventuring and travel to experience the other peoples and cultures of Tamriel. The differences are obvious, and so he seeks to discover the similarities. His journey has taken years and led him across both Pact and Covenant lands. His arrival in Velyn Harbor marks the beginning of his trek through Dominion lands and already he can draw similarities between the Bosmer and Argonians’ connection to nature. He very nearly rode through the heart of Vulkwasten without realizing it was a settlement! With clear ocean just to the north, clear rivers just to the south, and verdant vegetation all around, what better place could there be to serve as base-camp for his forays into Dominion lands? If only there were a hist around, it could be a second home!
Background:
Cracks-the-Mountain hatched sometime during the 539th year of the second era, in the hatching pools of Helstrom deep in the impenetrable center of Black Marsh. During his formative years, his keepers taught him of his people's culture, spirituality, and history. Initially it seemed he might become a tree minder and follow a spiritual path, but when Cracks learned of the fate of his more northerly kinsmen, captured and enslaved by the Dunmer of Morrowind, his indignation and rage drove him down the path of the warrior. As soon as he was able to swing a weapon effectively, he departed north to join with the resistance fighters that harried the slavers’ efforts and raided the more southerly Dunmeri slave plantations. Passion and fury drove him in battle. It made him fearless, but reckless, as he drove himself harder and harder, trusting in his natural strength and durability to see him through as he carried out a relentless campaign with his like-minded kin.
Black Marsh lacked the resources and numbers to wage a true war with Morrowind, and so instead focused on mastering guerrilla tactics to resist the summary enslavement of its people, and Cracks-the-Mountain was exactly the type of warrior needed. He was eventually inducted formally into the armies of Black Marsh, and his new commanders tempered his battle-fury with vicious and brutal tactics. He served with distinction in the shock troop corp and was many times offered an opportunity at promotion, but such was his hatred for the Dunmer that he turned away every one that would take him off the front lines. He developed a fearsome reputation among both the Dunmer people and his own, earning bounties for his head from the enemy, and inspiring more of his own people to join the resistance. Eventually, the day came when he was nominated by his commander to be appointed to the most elite fighting force in the Black Marsh military, the Shellbacks. This was an honor too great to refuse, and in 567 the King of Argonia approved his appointment, and Cracks-the-Mountain became a Shellback. Over the next 5 years, his new commanders would break down this wild, brutal killer and rebuild him as a loyal and disciplined soldier. Taught to reign in his temper and not break formation, he came to learn the value of allies and coordinated effort. The Shellback legions were only deployed where need was greatest, and he watched as both Dunmer ebony and moral shattered against the phalanx wall.
In 2E 572, the Akaviri invaded Tamriel a second time. After sacking Windhelm, the invading force made its way southeast to assault Morrowind only to become pinned between the Dunmeri defensive and a Nordic retaliatory force. Trapped between the two armies and the Inner Sea, the Akaviri were able to hold out until the arrival of two legions of Shellbacks from Black Marsh. Cracks-the-Mountain was among those two legions. While vocally against assisting the Dumer in any way, military discipline kept him from outright refusing the orders of his superiors. As they marched north through Shadowfen and Deshaan, fearful mothers clutched their children close, watching what for all the world must have appeared as an Argonian retribution force come to strike back against Morrowind while it’s forces were occupied elsewhere. Nowhere in sight were the slavers, come to cut down keepers and snatch up eggs to be hatched into slavery. Here was a side of the Dunmeri people Cracks-the-Mountain had not seen before, and it gave him pause. When the legions reached the battlefield on the outskirts of Ebonheart, the Shellbacks shattered the Akaviri defensive line, and the three combined armies cut the Akaviri down to a man. When the Ebonheart Pact was signed and the Argonian slaves freed, it was beyond the scope of what Cracks-the-Mountain had thought the Dunmer capable of. Even as slaves, too far north for his efforts to have ever freed, returned home to Black Marsh, he could scarcely believe it. Yet, here it seemed there were not just a few Dunmer willing to let go of the slaving aspect of their culture, but an apparent majority, even most of the Great Houses! (His hatred for the Telvanni would never fully abate) It humbled him greatly to see such a change in those he for so long had demonized. It occurred to him that he knew nothing of the people and society he had for so long warred against. His bitterness and hatred had made him devalue the lives of the Dunmer in the same way they had devalued the lives of his own people. On that day, he resolved to do better.
Returning to Black Marsh, Cracks-the-Mountain completed his tour of duty and retired from military life. He struck out to the north once more, no longer as an agent of vengeance, but as a traveler, adventurer, and amateur scholar. Setting down roots first in Shadowfen, one of the only three Argonian tribes to agree to the Pact, he journeyed beyond into Morrowind proper to experience the culture, history, and people he knew so little about.
RaccoonismJun 09, 2017