Veles Laverne Gennings {Tsunderis/Ars Sanctum Alt}

[Deleted]

The Hedonist - Veles Theme I

Name: Veles Laverne Gennings

Class: Swordmaster (2k gold loan -> Ruin Tome Magic Sword)

Age: 28

Born in: Western Isles

Appearance: Veles' tall, toned body bears the scars of his profession. From literal scars to healed burn wounds, he bears the body of a man who has fought against a great deal of foes. 6 feet even, 175 lbs. Veles is no giant, but still taller than most men. His face, miraculously, had gone mostly unscathed, his bangs hiding a rather nasty scar near his forehead and hairline. His pale hair, depending on the light, can be described as silver, grey, or white, and while he doesn't stress over it he tends to take at least a bit of care to keep it from growing unruly.

Those scars and wounds of old seem to do little to darken the light in Veles' eyes. There is always an air of ease, with a calm smirk or even expression worn near constantly. Even his rare scowls fail to disturb that light, as if there is some degree of natural disconnect between his own emotions. When he so wishes, his face becomes quite expressive. From heartfelt to downright smarmy, Veles is a naturally difficult to read man. Yet some may be able to see the simplicity beneath the theatrics. The simple truth behind the mask.

Ah, yes, life in Elibe may be awash in danger and blood, but Veles liked to think he had found solutions to both problems. Rather than give in to the danger, instead he opts to flaunt his fearlessness. A bold style, that usually involved heavily stylized long-coats, boots, and gloves, with a heavy amount of “red” as a noticeable touch.

Tucked beneath his collar is a mask. A literal one, not a figurative one this time. It is black, lest it clash with his outfits, and worn to filter clean air from potential disease or toxins. Who said style couldn't be efficient?

Personality: It must be odd, to witness a man so constantly at ease. One would imagine that Veles may meditate or pray to find some form of zen, but the reality is natural personality and conditioning from his youth has left Veles incredibly hard to visibly shock and nigh impossible to enrage. To gaze at the man from the surface, just about any situation is taken in stride. He may act in opposition to a changed situation, of course, but genuine frustration or fear never make themselves known. If anything his smirk grows wider, and his eyes gain an impish-twinkle to them.

Veles likes to keep things interesting, with boredom as his one true enemy. If he feels a situation needs to be spiced up he will take to dramatics, not through tears or false emotion, but surprising prose and mockery of...someone. Almost anyone, though very rarely his friends. A man who never fully outgrew the deviance of his youth, Veles is quick to make a witty jab at a stranger, tease a friend, or outright taunt an enemy, no matter how dangerous.

That sort of aloofness could easily be off-putting to others. It isn't hard to believe that Veles is little more than a punkish man-child, someone who fails to take anything seriously. This isn't always false, either, but it is far from the whole truth. Even if blatantly called out for his own nonchalant nature, though, Veles isn't likely to defend himself. There are things that he values. His family, and their legacy, and the admittedly semi-flexible moral code he abides by, as well as any person who can tolerate his presence long enough to be considered a “friend”.

His true acts of kindness, though, tend to be masked by his act. The act is certainly a part of who he truly is, a part of himself he cannot and will not release, but it is not all there is to him. Veles can be incredibly selfless when the time calls for it, but he will not call attention to those kind acts. If anything he's far more likely to play them off, treating them the same as he does just about everything else. He's likely to treat acts of kindness towards himself the same way, but anyone who truly knows him can pick up on the subtleties. The nuances that give way to his deep gratitude.

And at last, the third layer. A soft touch in the morning, an aloof hedonist through the day, but by night comes a different layer. Ever present beneath the twin masks, but rarely does it rear its true face. On top of all else, though, Veles is a man who takes his heritage far more seriously than he cares to openly lay down. While he jests and confounds his eyes constantly search for opportunity. His sharp mind and honed senses allow him not to bring order to chaos, but to force chaos to serve his needs. To re-position himself amongst the clashing of blades and gnashing of teeth, utilizing his versatility in combat styles to keep his enemies off-guard.

Veles is at home in the midst of danger, and has long since been desensitized to carnage, bloodshed, and death. He revels in the chance to push his skill and his body to their utmost limits. Be it a rare artifact or weapon, hidden away in a ruin lost to time, a brigand leader who had claimed the lives of countless innocents, or a mad beast whose instincts drive it to commit atrocities. To Veles, the thrill is always different, but the high always the same. It's what he lives for.

And he's absolutely crazy about it.

History: Veles is the eldest son to Victor Cephas Gennings I and Marceline Silene Miquen, though only the second eldest sibling. He has an older sister, three younger brothers, and a younger sister as well. He was a bit of a deviant in his youth, and often did not act as the ideal elder brother to his younger siblings. Nothing truly malicious was ever done to them by him, but he teased and prodded and taunted, as he would continue to do his entire life. Still, he was quick to embrace the life his family lived. The life they had always lived.

Veles never shied away from his lessons. Cleaning weapons of blood, lest it dry and cause damage. Mending clothing and even tending to wounds. He lived the same childhood as all of his siblings, raised to be a Hunter as every Gennings was. Veles was rather content with the life, truly. He had always been an active lad, hence patience had been a difficult lesson to teach, and preferred such a “hands on” existence, nestled away in a mountain on the Western Isles.

In time Veles was of age to complete the “rite” of his family. To create an altered weapon, versatile enough to use against any foe. While Veles did not necessarily need to gather the resources on his own, the actual crafting of the weapon was his task alone. Veles' first attempt had been a sort of “grapple hook” blade. To utilize a trigger and reinforced wire that he may fire the blade of his sword into an enemy from a distance.

This proved to be rather impractical, and incredibly difficult to create. Though despite the failure, it instilled a budding love in Veles. To tinker with weaponry, alter and create something truly unique. It intrigued him, and interested him greatly, and would remain a hobby of his for quite some time.

After a few other failed ideas, Veles eventually came up with a simple but effective one. Very loosely inspired by a sword style, whose origins laid in Sacae, that utilized the sheath almost as much as the sword itself. Veles crafted what appeared to be a standard longsword. Fairly light, easy to use in close quarters. That had been the easy aspect. The blade's sheath, though, was where the interest lay. If further range and power were required over simply speed, Veles had designed the sheath to BECOME a sword. As soon as his longsword was sheathed, Veles merely had to run his thumb over a switch, and the over-sized sheath would sprout a thick, sharp blade that extended around it. The end result resembled a greatsword.

At first the greatsword had appeared rather crude, and Veles had needed a great deal of training and practice to not only be able to swing the greatsword, but to learn to use the dual-function of the weapon to its fullest. To switch his style in the heat of combat. Another love was instilled in Veles, a love not just for crafting and altering weaponry, but to learn to utilize it. To master it. And no weapon seemed to hold this interest in him save the sword. He continued to tinker and update/upgrade his weapon, and in time the greatsword took on a far less crude design.

By the time his younger siblings had begun their rite, Veles had become an accomplished hunter. He had successfully completed jobs across the Western Isles, but also took on hunts on the mainland. “Hunting” became a word with a very broad definiton for Veles. While he still enjoyed hunting beasts that caused issues for locals, or men and women who had evaded being brought to justice, he had met sellswords and other travelers on his hunts. One such group saw his impressive blade and decided to hire him, just as he was between hunts. They sought a treasure, a weapon claimed to be lost in an old abandoned fort in deep Lycia. The fort had been occupied by brigands, but the travelers deemed it unlikely that brigands would be able to find the treasure.

Curious, and admittedly enticed by the prospect of treasure and an extra paying job, Veles accepted. The travelers made their way to the fort, and concocted a plan to drive the brigands out. They had not been the typical sort. Not mere impoverished men or deserted soldiers, but a more...organized sort. Veles had begun to doubt that they were even brigands, as he studied them from the tree line.

Still, the group insisted on attacking, and so he did. The brigands that guarded the fort's exterior were systematically taken out, Veles doing a fair bit more work than his supposed comrades. Those that survived the first attack retreated within the fort, so Veles and co. Followed them in. His long-sword fared better in the stone halls than its great-sword form, so Veles' style was swift and precise as he went about dueling the men. They were worthy opponents, and seemed to be brighter than most. Rather than fight to the death they had begun to retreat, leaving Veles and his comrades victorious.

Once they were certain the enemy had retreated in earnest they began to scout the fort. They checked every room on every floor, and spent so many hours during their search that the sun had begun to rise before Veles finally found it. A trap door, hidden beneath the desk of what had to be the room of the fort's old commander. Excited, Veles descended down a ladder that led to a small, narrow room. He had only the torchlight above him to help him make out his surroundings, but the room appeared to be empty. Save for a rectangular stone table, towards the end of it, that seemed to have been carved out of the back-most wall. Atop that table rest broadsword...but not just any broadsword.

The blade was beautiful. Triangular, built for piercing more than slashing, almost like an over-sized spearhead. The hilt and handle looked to be carved out of material Veles had never even SEEN before. It had to be ancient, yet there was nary a speck of dust along the metal.

He grasped the blade and felt...something run through him. Had to just be adrenaline. Veles carried the blade up the ladder and was met with the blades of his “comrades”. They had no intention of sharing any of the treasure, nor had they intended to pay Veles. They wanted to abuse hired muscle to seize the fort and the blade, most likely to sell it off.

The melee that erupted was a bloody one, and quick but clever use of a torch had it end in an inferno, but Veles managed to walk out of the fort unsinged, with most of the blood failing to stand out against his red clothing. He, of course, had his prize in hand.

And thus another new love was born in Veles. His mind wandered. What secrets did the blade contain? How did it come to that fort? Mysteries that, at the moment, he had no method of obtaining an answer. His best bet was to return to his home, so that he could tinker with the weapon in the family workshop. Yet he never had the chance to do so, for he had returned mere days before a fateful event.

A hunt. One that called for all 36 members of the Gennings family.

It had been an ordeal unlike any Veles had experienced. Trying, desperate, and bloody beyond measure. By the hunt's end, after a hellish two weeks, 36 had become 4. Those who remained of the Gennings family consisted solely of Veles' older sister, and two younger brothers. They had been deceived, and nearly paid the ultimate price.

It was one of the few times in Veles' life that he had been truly moved to silence. He failed to keep the family together in a time of grief, and instead retreated to himself. After a few days he hung up his first blade. The first successful weapon he had forged, and the blade that had served him the most throughout his career as a hunter. The blade that helped him survive that massacre. He would never say why.

Instead he took to the blade he had discovered in the fort.The Gennings, though few in number, were Hunters. As terrible as that hunt's end had been, he did not worry for his siblings. They would survive, or perish, as they always would have. He had many directions to take. Unlock the secrets of his new weapon, take the path of one of his brothers in tracking down the contractor who had deceived his family and led them to ruin. Or he could simply hunt. Hunt greater treasures, greater enemies.

...Heh, of course, “all of the above” is also an option.

[Kenshin]

Accepted.