Judah Rikard
Dec 15, 2010 8:05:47 GMT -6
Post by Judah on Dec 15, 2010 8:05:47 GMT -6
Name: Judah Rikard
Class: Acolyte -> Sage
Hair Color: Black with a few white streaks. The white is due to a few injuries on his scalp he received years ago, in a magic duel. They were healed, but the color of his hair was changed.
Eye Color: Grey
Age: 27
Born In: Etruria
Appearance: Judah stands six feet in height, with a thin, lithe build. His body has been honed down to lean, sturdy muscle from the training he underwent. You couldn't tell it from looking at him though, as his clothing covers it. He mastered the ability to both stand out as a beacon of attention, and fade into the background during this time.
Judah can be thought of as supremely confidant, or extremely willful depending on where you're looking from. Like all people though, he doesn't always show forth his tendencies. He typically isn't the most friendly or social person you could find, but he is capable.
Clothing: The actual clothing he wears is not standard to the church. Sturdy pants and tunic. tough, yet flexible boots. A durable hooded cloak. His clothing is made up of Dark colors ranging from between black and grey, with a small amount of gold ornamentation.
Story:
Among those watching waiting and acting for the betterment of the Etrurian state are the inquisitors. It is the solemn duty of these men and women to serve by being the judgement of the Holy Prophet, waiting to rain down on the rebellious and the wicked. Confirming the loyalty of the followers of Elimine and her church's authority was yet another task. It is a more than a mere job. It is life to those who take it up. Whether they are hands, eyes, or mouth, the Etrurian Inquisitors serve the will of the divine as interpreted by the Prophet.
Judah didn't begin as one of the Prophet's lackeys though. His younger years were banked against him as a street urchin making a living off of what he could snatch while others weren't looking, but he lucked out when a man named Spectre stumbled across him. Spectre was a judge of character. Profit was his business, and he cared little for the welfare of those who had built their fortunes on the backs of others. Fortunately for young Judah, the man favored the everyman who was bold enough to reach out and take what they needed from those who had. Or perhaps Judah's apprenticeship was merely a manipulation by the enigmatic man who found him that day long ago. Whatever the case, Judah's training began quickly. As a young boy, he was able to pass into many places without accruing much more than an annoyed glance. At worst, he'd be chased off by someone with a stick. Spectre would use these moments to strike, rarely outright taking things. Instead, the lightmage would plant something that didn't belong. Something out of place, which would inevitably end up being checked on by someone. This was usually associated with Spectre's true target. Whether it be merely getting a door unlocked, or taking advantage of someone's absence while they were off checking on things, the sneaky lightmage found a way to make use of it. Judah was a fast learner. Especially when the obvious advantages of causing the opportunities to arise versus waiting for them to come up became apparent.
As Judah's talents grew in both cons and in the use of the lightning tome his mentor had begun instructing him in, he began branching out. He would work alongside Spectre occasionally, but he grew tired of the way Spectre hid beneath layer upon layer of illusion. It became increasingly simple to connect the dots of the political battles between Etruria's nobility. Look for the injured party. No matter how petty an insult it may seem to you, expect them to try and retaliate in some way. Look for dirt on the hated foe of the injured party. Then you had two options. Approach them with a suggestion of vengeance, or plant your plan in their world somehow. With a little persistence, it normally would take root, and you had created a job opportunity for yourself. More and more often, hostilities between church and noble seemed to be easy to cause. The nobility had this inability to accept newcomers on the block, while the church officials were beginning to get a bit of a taste for luxury themselves.
During the years of the Bandit War with Hargus, a new power came into order. Someone claiming to be St Elimine rose to power. She was good too. Many were convinced, while many more were to scared to speak up about their doubts. She had enough power to back up her demands that Etruria's leaders follow here, so even if there were dissenters, they wouldn't get far. During this time, Judah and Spectre kept a low profile. After her fall though, things did not revert to what they had been. A man claiming to be St Elimine's Prophet rose to power, and reshaped the government of the countryside to follow him. His power was absolute. Soon, nobility meant little more than that you had been born with responsibilities and money. Both of those things were being taken by the Prophet's clergy though. Judah saw how this Prophet had taken the opportunity presented by the events of the Bandit War, and ridden them to conquer a country. It was impressive to say the least. Spectre did not share his student's outlook though.
They both continued in their dark ways. It was monetarily worth it to act as the instrument of someone's petty revenge, to blackmail someone into trading away their security and effort in life, and to ensure that someone's family secret never made it out to the public. Of course Judah loved reveling in the sense of power he had as he did these actions. No longer the little scamp scavenging the streets for food and coin. Now he was a wolf in a chicken coop. He could hardly take a step without hearing of something that would let him get the drop on someone or something. Judah found himself acclimating towards the relatively easy job of starting rumors about a noble's family being heretics. He'd feed it to the church, and inevitably someone would denounce the family quite quickly. This left him in a position do one of two things. Find proof for the family's innocence, or deflect blame onto someone they hated. Either option was a risk, but if there was one skill he had maintained since his childhood, it was the escape.
Spectre and Judah became more and more distant during this time. Spectre didn't approve of the insanely zealous behavior of the new lords of Etruria, while Judah found himself reveling more and more in the ease with which he could start rumors and manipulations in this climate. Eventually, he found regular employment with one politically minded Bishop within Elimine's church. This man had a problem that he wished dealt with. Somewhere in the city, there was another like Judah, but this man was beginning to challenge the Church's holy right to rule by bringing forth the vices of some of its members. He wanted this man dealt with, whatever the cost, and offered a fortune to do it. Judah knew the man the Bishop spoke of: Spectre had made an enemy of the state, and no money reward would be enough to turn Judah against his teacher.... But there was something that was: Power.
In this new country, it wasn't wealth, or titles, or land that made someone powerful. Here, there were ways to gain the greatest power to be had. Freedom. Serving the Prophet was one such avenue to that goal. Here, if you could point to the Prophet as your patron, no one could touch you. At least not openly. With only a moment's pause Judah named his price to the Bishop. He wanted "in". There was power in a name, and Elimine's was the biggest one around. Judah would deal with their Spectre Problem if they would then sponsor him as one of their own. The price was provisionally acceptable.
The young lightmage didn't act right away. He prepared carefully, selecting something which was sure to draw Spectre in without fail. A tale of none other than the Bishop he'd spoken to carrying on secret affairs and blackmailing people with confessions. It was true, actually. Judah had managed to finger it from the Bishop's office once upon a time. That little book and a few communications vanishing was no doubt why the Bishop wanted this vigilante revealing all the faults of the Eliminean Clergy dealt with so quickly.... Judah had learned well when it came to creating opportunities for himself.
As predicted, Spectre came for Judah's trap, once it had been baited. He took care, fishing the other roguish lightmage out into the open, before sending a stream of burning lightmagic down onto his teacher. What followed was probably the most tense duel of Judah's career, as bolt after bolt flew back and forth. Spectre would multiply himself using illusions, and Judah would counter by refracting his magic and targeting each illusion with a bolt of lightning. The illusions would bend and twist into unearthly distortions as his magic mixed with Spectre's. As the battle progressed, neither stopped to speak or ask questions. Each wore a grim set of determination on his face as they fought.
Judah's chance finally came when he managed to get up close to Spectre, and gripped the other's Shine tome, trying to pry it away. They fought over it's magic while fighting over the book itself. They broke apart when each took a major blow. Spectre blowing up a shine spell on Judah's face as the younger lightmage actually physically struck the older hard enough to knock him back. Face scorched by the spell, and ears still ringing from it's impact, he pushed himself up long enough to see Spectre laying on the ground nearby. The shine tome he had been using lay at his side unclaimed, and Judah scrambled over to grab the superior spellbook. Spectre didn't move though. It looked like he had caught some of that shine spell himself. Magic was a dangerous tool to handle, and this proved it. As Judah looked down at his battered teacher, he was presented with two options: Spare him or kill him. This man had used him when he was younger, but he had also trained him. Judah wouldn't be able to do half of what he could today without this man's intervention. At the same time, Spectre had made some powerful enemies, and his head would be the key to gaining some of that power for himself. He gave it another moment's thought, then reaffirmed his choice for power and sent a surge of scouring light magic down through the man on the ground in front of him until he was reduced to a seared corpse.
The first time Judah killed for the Prophet, he was truly killing for himself. The Bishop who Judah had been dealing with was pleased to hear of the demise of the one challenging the church. Judah said nothing of the book and accounts that he had taken from the man's office previously, and the Bishop seemed to loath the idea of bringing it up. Judah was eventually recruited into service as one of the Hands of the Prophet, but he never quite felt at home. Even with that being the case, his work was still exceptional. While the officers led their armies into the sacking of Ostia, he was there. Afterwards, he wandered the camps, watching and listening to the complaints voiced by the men. Especially paying attention to those units which contained foreigners within it. It was thanks to his snooping that the treachery of Richter Abend and his forces was found out in time to avert disaster. High Commander Arriston was informed, and took steps to deal with the traitors. He was unsuccessful, but Judah was already on the move again.
Messages were carried between certain elements in the Etrurian political structure, and a magic academy's head instructors in Laus. Promises were made to the Laus Academy that if it was to overthrow the Marquess, and bring itself to align with the Etrurian government, they would be given high positions of authority in the new leadership. Judah was among a few agents of the Prophet to take part in these negotiations and messages. By the time they did attempt the revolt, Judah was long gone again. It failed to achieve much thanks to enemies of the Prophet uncovering the attempt early, along with rumors of nothing short of a DRAGON stepping in. It still achieved the dark haired acolyte's goal of destabilizing Lycia further though.
In the north, Ilia lived almost undisturbed. Nothing out of the ordinary could reach them, though the Rebellion in Bern was beginning to draw their ire. At least part of the rebellion was instigated and funded by agents of the Prophet such as he. Some that he had worked with before were neck deep in it. Some of the groups of Bernese that made their way to the northern wastes of Ilia were determined to strike at the frozen lands because he had helped rile them to the point that they believed it to be a good idea.
Judah is always on the lookout to increase his own standing and power within the church or without. He's not afraid to kill or disgrace to get what he wants, but he has learned a few times that he still needs to take care. It can be dangerous when trying to ride a beast like the ones he serves.
Class: Acolyte -> Sage
Hair Color: Black with a few white streaks. The white is due to a few injuries on his scalp he received years ago, in a magic duel. They were healed, but the color of his hair was changed.
Eye Color: Grey
Age: 27
Born In: Etruria
Appearance: Judah stands six feet in height, with a thin, lithe build. His body has been honed down to lean, sturdy muscle from the training he underwent. You couldn't tell it from looking at him though, as his clothing covers it. He mastered the ability to both stand out as a beacon of attention, and fade into the background during this time.
Judah can be thought of as supremely confidant, or extremely willful depending on where you're looking from. Like all people though, he doesn't always show forth his tendencies. He typically isn't the most friendly or social person you could find, but he is capable.
Clothing: The actual clothing he wears is not standard to the church. Sturdy pants and tunic. tough, yet flexible boots. A durable hooded cloak. His clothing is made up of Dark colors ranging from between black and grey, with a small amount of gold ornamentation.
Story:
Among those watching waiting and acting for the betterment of the Etrurian state are the inquisitors. It is the solemn duty of these men and women to serve by being the judgement of the Holy Prophet, waiting to rain down on the rebellious and the wicked. Confirming the loyalty of the followers of Elimine and her church's authority was yet another task. It is a more than a mere job. It is life to those who take it up. Whether they are hands, eyes, or mouth, the Etrurian Inquisitors serve the will of the divine as interpreted by the Prophet.
Judah didn't begin as one of the Prophet's lackeys though. His younger years were banked against him as a street urchin making a living off of what he could snatch while others weren't looking, but he lucked out when a man named Spectre stumbled across him. Spectre was a judge of character. Profit was his business, and he cared little for the welfare of those who had built their fortunes on the backs of others. Fortunately for young Judah, the man favored the everyman who was bold enough to reach out and take what they needed from those who had. Or perhaps Judah's apprenticeship was merely a manipulation by the enigmatic man who found him that day long ago. Whatever the case, Judah's training began quickly. As a young boy, he was able to pass into many places without accruing much more than an annoyed glance. At worst, he'd be chased off by someone with a stick. Spectre would use these moments to strike, rarely outright taking things. Instead, the lightmage would plant something that didn't belong. Something out of place, which would inevitably end up being checked on by someone. This was usually associated with Spectre's true target. Whether it be merely getting a door unlocked, or taking advantage of someone's absence while they were off checking on things, the sneaky lightmage found a way to make use of it. Judah was a fast learner. Especially when the obvious advantages of causing the opportunities to arise versus waiting for them to come up became apparent.
As Judah's talents grew in both cons and in the use of the lightning tome his mentor had begun instructing him in, he began branching out. He would work alongside Spectre occasionally, but he grew tired of the way Spectre hid beneath layer upon layer of illusion. It became increasingly simple to connect the dots of the political battles between Etruria's nobility. Look for the injured party. No matter how petty an insult it may seem to you, expect them to try and retaliate in some way. Look for dirt on the hated foe of the injured party. Then you had two options. Approach them with a suggestion of vengeance, or plant your plan in their world somehow. With a little persistence, it normally would take root, and you had created a job opportunity for yourself. More and more often, hostilities between church and noble seemed to be easy to cause. The nobility had this inability to accept newcomers on the block, while the church officials were beginning to get a bit of a taste for luxury themselves.
During the years of the Bandit War with Hargus, a new power came into order. Someone claiming to be St Elimine rose to power. She was good too. Many were convinced, while many more were to scared to speak up about their doubts. She had enough power to back up her demands that Etruria's leaders follow here, so even if there were dissenters, they wouldn't get far. During this time, Judah and Spectre kept a low profile. After her fall though, things did not revert to what they had been. A man claiming to be St Elimine's Prophet rose to power, and reshaped the government of the countryside to follow him. His power was absolute. Soon, nobility meant little more than that you had been born with responsibilities and money. Both of those things were being taken by the Prophet's clergy though. Judah saw how this Prophet had taken the opportunity presented by the events of the Bandit War, and ridden them to conquer a country. It was impressive to say the least. Spectre did not share his student's outlook though.
They both continued in their dark ways. It was monetarily worth it to act as the instrument of someone's petty revenge, to blackmail someone into trading away their security and effort in life, and to ensure that someone's family secret never made it out to the public. Of course Judah loved reveling in the sense of power he had as he did these actions. No longer the little scamp scavenging the streets for food and coin. Now he was a wolf in a chicken coop. He could hardly take a step without hearing of something that would let him get the drop on someone or something. Judah found himself acclimating towards the relatively easy job of starting rumors about a noble's family being heretics. He'd feed it to the church, and inevitably someone would denounce the family quite quickly. This left him in a position do one of two things. Find proof for the family's innocence, or deflect blame onto someone they hated. Either option was a risk, but if there was one skill he had maintained since his childhood, it was the escape.
Spectre and Judah became more and more distant during this time. Spectre didn't approve of the insanely zealous behavior of the new lords of Etruria, while Judah found himself reveling more and more in the ease with which he could start rumors and manipulations in this climate. Eventually, he found regular employment with one politically minded Bishop within Elimine's church. This man had a problem that he wished dealt with. Somewhere in the city, there was another like Judah, but this man was beginning to challenge the Church's holy right to rule by bringing forth the vices of some of its members. He wanted this man dealt with, whatever the cost, and offered a fortune to do it. Judah knew the man the Bishop spoke of: Spectre had made an enemy of the state, and no money reward would be enough to turn Judah against his teacher.... But there was something that was: Power.
In this new country, it wasn't wealth, or titles, or land that made someone powerful. Here, there were ways to gain the greatest power to be had. Freedom. Serving the Prophet was one such avenue to that goal. Here, if you could point to the Prophet as your patron, no one could touch you. At least not openly. With only a moment's pause Judah named his price to the Bishop. He wanted "in". There was power in a name, and Elimine's was the biggest one around. Judah would deal with their Spectre Problem if they would then sponsor him as one of their own. The price was provisionally acceptable.
The young lightmage didn't act right away. He prepared carefully, selecting something which was sure to draw Spectre in without fail. A tale of none other than the Bishop he'd spoken to carrying on secret affairs and blackmailing people with confessions. It was true, actually. Judah had managed to finger it from the Bishop's office once upon a time. That little book and a few communications vanishing was no doubt why the Bishop wanted this vigilante revealing all the faults of the Eliminean Clergy dealt with so quickly.... Judah had learned well when it came to creating opportunities for himself.
As predicted, Spectre came for Judah's trap, once it had been baited. He took care, fishing the other roguish lightmage out into the open, before sending a stream of burning lightmagic down onto his teacher. What followed was probably the most tense duel of Judah's career, as bolt after bolt flew back and forth. Spectre would multiply himself using illusions, and Judah would counter by refracting his magic and targeting each illusion with a bolt of lightning. The illusions would bend and twist into unearthly distortions as his magic mixed with Spectre's. As the battle progressed, neither stopped to speak or ask questions. Each wore a grim set of determination on his face as they fought.
Judah's chance finally came when he managed to get up close to Spectre, and gripped the other's Shine tome, trying to pry it away. They fought over it's magic while fighting over the book itself. They broke apart when each took a major blow. Spectre blowing up a shine spell on Judah's face as the younger lightmage actually physically struck the older hard enough to knock him back. Face scorched by the spell, and ears still ringing from it's impact, he pushed himself up long enough to see Spectre laying on the ground nearby. The shine tome he had been using lay at his side unclaimed, and Judah scrambled over to grab the superior spellbook. Spectre didn't move though. It looked like he had caught some of that shine spell himself. Magic was a dangerous tool to handle, and this proved it. As Judah looked down at his battered teacher, he was presented with two options: Spare him or kill him. This man had used him when he was younger, but he had also trained him. Judah wouldn't be able to do half of what he could today without this man's intervention. At the same time, Spectre had made some powerful enemies, and his head would be the key to gaining some of that power for himself. He gave it another moment's thought, then reaffirmed his choice for power and sent a surge of scouring light magic down through the man on the ground in front of him until he was reduced to a seared corpse.
The first time Judah killed for the Prophet, he was truly killing for himself. The Bishop who Judah had been dealing with was pleased to hear of the demise of the one challenging the church. Judah said nothing of the book and accounts that he had taken from the man's office previously, and the Bishop seemed to loath the idea of bringing it up. Judah was eventually recruited into service as one of the Hands of the Prophet, but he never quite felt at home. Even with that being the case, his work was still exceptional. While the officers led their armies into the sacking of Ostia, he was there. Afterwards, he wandered the camps, watching and listening to the complaints voiced by the men. Especially paying attention to those units which contained foreigners within it. It was thanks to his snooping that the treachery of Richter Abend and his forces was found out in time to avert disaster. High Commander Arriston was informed, and took steps to deal with the traitors. He was unsuccessful, but Judah was already on the move again.
Messages were carried between certain elements in the Etrurian political structure, and a magic academy's head instructors in Laus. Promises were made to the Laus Academy that if it was to overthrow the Marquess, and bring itself to align with the Etrurian government, they would be given high positions of authority in the new leadership. Judah was among a few agents of the Prophet to take part in these negotiations and messages. By the time they did attempt the revolt, Judah was long gone again. It failed to achieve much thanks to enemies of the Prophet uncovering the attempt early, along with rumors of nothing short of a DRAGON stepping in. It still achieved the dark haired acolyte's goal of destabilizing Lycia further though.
In the north, Ilia lived almost undisturbed. Nothing out of the ordinary could reach them, though the Rebellion in Bern was beginning to draw their ire. At least part of the rebellion was instigated and funded by agents of the Prophet such as he. Some that he had worked with before were neck deep in it. Some of the groups of Bernese that made their way to the northern wastes of Ilia were determined to strike at the frozen lands because he had helped rile them to the point that they believed it to be a good idea.
Judah is always on the lookout to increase his own standing and power within the church or without. He's not afraid to kill or disgrace to get what he wants, but he has learned a few times that he still needs to take care. It can be dangerous when trying to ride a beast like the ones he serves.
