“Funny thing about that name, I was actually an archer in training but I was horrible, all I ever heard was 'you're miles off the mark!' well, one day during class I trip and hit my head...they ask me if I can remember anything and I immediately said...well...Miles off the Mark...I did eventually remember what my name was but people liked this one better”
Age: 26 || Sexuality: Bisexual ||Protector
Mark is best described as the beaten clown, while he externally he is strong willed just for the pleasure of laughing at the worlds attempts to bring him down he is affected by the wounds and things he has seen within his life time, he doesn't brood but he does think and while he may sound awkward at times when trying to pull off another horrible joke in an attempt to break the ice the hesitation in his voice is clear as if what was once a proud and optimistic young man once had not got the memo that what now stands before people is a solder decimated by the club of the world. Its's hard to attribute what part of Miles is stubbornness to not change and what part of him is lack of self awareness, he is hardly smart nor intellectually endowed in any specific areas and yet he retains a sense of wisdom in his battle against not only the darkness of the world but within.
Miles is an idealist first and the easiest way is to get on his bad side is to go the pragmatic approach however on the other hand he is just as hateful of idealism being an end to justify the means, wedging himself between the two although his growing cynicism and exhaustion shows at times when he can offer advice or say things that seem disturbingly out of character not only for Mark himself but a general Paladin of Nep. Proud and determined to keep his image up to only to himself but to others stout hard man ready to fight for himself and others it takes a lot to put him down, words funny enough slide of his back being able to take mountains of verbal abuse at any volume with hardly a shiver in his confidence or general comfort however his disabilities he keeps secret in fear of facing pity from those who would upon him as a warrior, be that a warrior of good deed or bad.
Stubborn in optimism also makes him annoyingly a good holder of a grudge, once you get onto the wrong side of Miles even if you are on the right it can take a lot of persuasion and time to get ass back to talking to you again however he is just as to hold the grudge against those who hurt his friends he is just as swift to utilize it on those he calls companions when they make moral choices he considers fundamentally evil as he expects better of them. His devil may care attitude can serve people well in many areas but it also can make him disappointingly dismissive of peoples emotional issues, while not exactly cruel he is not really sensitive to the private and personal scenarios that play in peoples if they fall out of the scope of his limited view of things that serious, lacking the ability to analyze people and what is important to them very well and thus trivializing their concerns...this flaw also makes him a bit easy to betray due to his stunt social people skills.
Round Helmet with a protective cage visor: Good against projectile magic such as fireballs, rocks, bolts and so on. Very effective against stabbing or slashing weapons and arrows.
Steel Buckler Shield: Good against slashing weapons, projectiles both magical and none-magical and reasonably good defence against blunt weapons.
Steel Short Sword(with waist Sheath)
Finely Crafted War Sword-One Handed-(Back Sheath)
Armored boots: Capable of defending the wearer from stabbing attacks and hazardous ground such as sharp rocks, horns and hot or overly cold areas, also can offer protection from harmful liquids.
Armored Gloves: Protects the users hands and wrists from slashing attacks.
Steel Breast Plate: Defends against arrows, glaciers and throwing weapons as well as slashing attacks.
Seven Pouches for various items such as herbs, spices, general tools for camping survival and fishing along with maintaining armor.
Three moderately sized bags that sit at the front of his waist filled with 4 solid iron ingots.
Chest Strap with various smaller pouches holding tiny pieces of Jewelry.
Wands:
The Guardians of the Gift do not actively practice magic nor any elemental manipulation due to their belief that things must remain in constant balance and that they;the outside force and observers of these powers must act as the antithesis to these elements and the enforcers of directed change which demands neutrality not only from nation but from elements. Of course the group would be poor constables of these forces if they didn't battle them on their own grounds and as such stock and develop many stone wands and torches that have the power to cast specific magic and spells, a standard guardian can be seen carrying around seven at least of these weapons in their daily life.
All wands consume 1 ingot or metal substitute(jewelry or metal art works)
Relic of Rust:
A spell that causes metals both formed or pure to instantaneously rust and lose their potency for spells or as items within a five second period.
Target has to be within ten feet.
Architect of Annihilation:
Release a massive amount of deadly energy within a specific location in a 5 foot radius, causing crippling blunt damage to any foes caught within its stated area of effect.
Touch of Entropy:
An incantation that gradually weakens others spell effects in the area weaker until the point of ceasing to function even ones of a friendly nature. Each passing second that the caster wields the active wand in the air and twirls it barriers, boosts, traps, curses or even travelling magical attacks will dramatically weaken with most moderately powered spells diminishing within a 5 second span.
Wand of Mutilation:
Specter of the Crying Crows:
Finger of Faith:
Obsidian Tongue:
Whistle of Nep:
Skills:
One Handed Swordsmanship: Moderately skilled with one handed blades Miles is capable of standing on even footing with trained warriors and wild beasts although he is a worthy foe to the common enemy his skills as a blade master dwarf in the shadow of elite or specialized enemies.
Heavy Armor and Defense: While not heavily equip in the defensive area Mark has come to learn to make the best out of his choice of defensive items, able to expertly use his buckler both for attack and his own protection he as well reflexively assumes positions that allow his steel shell that don his body to absorb large amounts of damage aimed at him.
Magical Knowledge: As a guardian of the gift and a general anti-magic warrior he is well versed both in the practices, writings and types of spells and magic out there which allow him to react and transcribe both item or spell itself once he gets a good look at them.
Look upon me and know despair: Mark has highly damaged eyes, only letting him see distorted warped colors of the original world, while he understand that something is a table and another is a person within 5 feet of his face that ability is rough and vague. He loses no sanity from sight and is immune to eye to eye based spells more than 5 feet away.
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Squinting your eyes won't help: Can't use arrows, throwing weapons, long range spells. He loses twice the sanity to touching and hearing based attacks that cause psychological trauma. His sense of sight is terrible and without enough light he will act more or less blind, having to use echolocation to determine where he is. Echolocation of his shield also allow him to determine where allies and enemies are when they exist his field of vision, this fact makes its really obvious when he searching for an opponent to cast one of his spells at.
Religious Horror: Mark loses twice as much sanity when dealing with illusions, hallucinations, spells or any other psychological attacks based or tied to religion.
Warrior of Nep: Thanks to the princes of nep, the paladins that once were loved are considered rather poorly to the world thanks to them being marginally not being involved and unaware of the battle and politics inside the chapter due the Guardians of the Gift preference to keeping as much information inside their own circles as possible. It is without a doubt that if "the gift" was known it would only darken the guilds image even more. Now days the last paladins are seen as the fragments of a fallen group of holy men to the religious, earning them silent discontent from their fellow local churches and deluded brutes that gave into their self righteous high by agnostics and atheists. Many of those with extensive military history and old age view them positively but the words of the old didn't do as well to influence others as the swords and damages of the fights.
Tall and Traumatized: Once proud and able Mark finds pity or sympathy to be a deep personal insult and feeling so ashamed of how his dignity has been lost due to his injuries he routinely will stand about in cities with his helmet on as he waits for his charge or his fellow protectors to accompany him so he may follow their footsteps and voices. Having the information public of his disability is a serious insecurity of his to the point that his personal life and ability to socially interact is crippled in public areas.
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His blindness, whenever he can he wears his helmet meaning that a great deal of people are not aware of his current condition and those that do are normally trusted or respect his decision to keep it a secret but naturally some whispers do escape some lips from time to time.
“Day 234
How does one go into becoming a paladin?
It's a question I used to hear all the time in my novice days, once you get out of the chapel all the kids in any nation run up to you wanting to hear stories and touch your weapons. I remember the way their eyes would light up at us and how the people would comment they felt just a little bit safer with the Paladins of Nep around....yes...
Their faces never left me and I shed tears when I realized that their faces would never come to visit again.
One goes into paladin-hood by trying to become a ranger like his father but finding out you couldn't throw an arrow straight yet alone shoot one, Anyway one day I'm out hunting with my dad and he asks me to hit a deer...I couldn't do it so I aim a bit higher with the intention let it fly into the sky...well...it came down...right next into a Paladin flask of whisky. We were sure he was going to kill us but instead tells me that I must either be an ace shot with an hatred of drink or I am an unwitting hand of Pulup for he hates drink.
That's how I got into Paladin-hood; by almost killing one of them”
“Day 252
How do you cope?
Surprisingly the idea of giving up your security and your familiarity with your loved ones and home seems to disorient and fascinate many people for this question always appeared in one city or another. It seems like any man in metal and working for their gods is empowered by faith alone but I found this question not only in the walls of kingdoms but within the hallways of my mind constantly.
They say bravery is acting despite fear and insecurity but I would hardly call my steps brave. Altruism? Please...Honor....in all honesty I don't even understand honor. I guess I cope with what I did simply because I was already walking down that road, the lack of security became my humble abode much like anyone fire lit front room was theirs.
Once you go miles off the mark you find different goals, just like how a wayward arrow led me into ranks of warriors and just like how my vague goal of balance led to me into the hearts of people that I helped. A little bit of chaos can install harmony.”
“Day 278
How Could you do it?
The quest always festered in my mind once my chapel brother; Yunod stare at my bloody sword, whenever I look back at those times the image of that flaks impaled within my mentors hand came to mind as it pour forth fluid with a noticeable babble to it, clapping like pebbles as it fell upon the ground in a puddle that gave off a powerful stench of the hedonism of drink.
It was much like the days of then, reliving that single mistake that brought me here and the first time I had to own a decision no matter how much I wanted to chart them up as further mess ups in my life. The chapel was at war and to retain balance we had to fall into fighting. I recall my answer...it was the same answer as to how I coped.
'A little chaos can install harmony'”
“Day 292
How could this happen?
This was my question but robbed of my sight I never could give the answer, I questioned many others but all I get in return are whispers of delusions and broken recollections of a world that seems implausible to exist. It was the final push against the princes and the chapel had come under their rule, with our vast armoury under their control and huge metal supplies they created “the gift” and in an attempt to stop them we picked up our left over regiments and charged.
I never thought I would be brandishing a sword at the very place I called home, we called home but in the end when we entered those doors we didn't find a warm welcoming back into the embrace of the chapter. It was a cold and gold ridden place, a love of coin was one of the Princes chief attributes...I recall Unud's words clearly
“Hedonism, petty materialism....a disgrace to the virtues of the chapel”
He said this all while pocketing a bunch of it for himself of course. Didn't see the point of him taking any myself, He wouldn't have it for long. He had a wife.
We made it into the center of the chapel when something just...exploded and my sight was damaged, perhaps that is the only thing keeping me from madness like the others. How could it happen...suppose the world just needed more chaos to put things back into place that we originally thought.”
“Day 300
How can you live with yourself?
I don't know...”
”A new Day
It was no easy task escaping the belly of my old home, the change from the paladins chapel to the princes chapel only further dramatically warped and distorted into a hollow version of itself with the aftermath of the explosion. Undoubtedly I would be a former version of myself if it weren't for the impairment of my eyesight but what also saved me from the horrors drowned me in the maze of that place, how is it standing I do not know for by touch and my crippled sense no debris seem to be around and thus I can conclude, the building itself has sustained any damage.
With my leaving of the chapel I knew immediately that the first thing I needed was a drink, a shag, a good vacation and finally to search for my other brethren”
The Guardians of the Gift were formulated by a league of retired charges of the orb and thus the kings, the students were all unaware of this fact due to the assigned kings bodyguards oath of secrecy so the devotees of this group merely believed that their masters were former royal warriors. There are only 3 devotees that came to know the truth which was passed down since the orbs first appearance, however after the first 3 generations the knowledge was deemed too fragile to trust even to ones own regiment.
The Ritual of Secrecy was introduced later on which entailed the cutting out of one tongues and the use of special gloves that made writing impossible for those chosen, due to the level of sacrifice being made the group became more and more fanatic in their demands for loyalty and belief until the extreme nature of its deviation from the original life style caused a splitting of the guard, in this small skirmish many secrets were lost and in an attempt to stop the information of the orbs leaking out the last of the fanatic ruined countless documents, ended many lives and forged false information.
What arose from the group who had won was the victory of knowing the whole truth of their guild and the right to rule in a way they saw fit, the orbs were no longer transcribed as objects but as gods which led the group to worship 4 false beings:
Nep- The Taint of Truth.
Kuth- Ruler of the Righteous.
Pulup- Callous of the Clear.
Deem- Villain of Valour.
These four deities were depicted as the dangers of the virtuous and in constant battle for the elements, that as long these beings didn't win over one another the world would remain in balance and also does who simulated the same would be balanced themselves. A final idea of the Gift was transcribed, an item that would ensure that these four beings never truly reach their conclusion...and that there was only a gifted few who could wield it.
The group was built on a lie but soon developed into a regiment of paladin like warriors, living in isolation and only sending out its members to do good in the world and retain balance. They aim to combat magic, not using any form of elemental control or wizardry themselves they craft tools designed to slay witches and warlocks alike if need be.
The Group Today:
Guardians of the Gift are a fragmented version of themselves, it was declared that the various forces would break off into their own chapters in order to ensure a wider field of observation and task keeping upon the land.
The Walls of Deem.
The Keepers of Kuth.
The Redeemers of Pulup.
The Paladins of Kep.
The Walls of Deem set up their fortresses and towers on the borders of cities and the outskirts or town, providing aid in the most dangerous and unnatural areas of the world in order to protect the kingdoms from foreign invaders both beast and man alike.
Redeemers of Pulup dramatically turned from warriors more to monks, setting up school and libraries with the goal to make sure that people have the tools needed to be as objective as possible, ironically they became more heavily armed charity workers than anything else.
Keepers of Kuth travelled the world confiscating and trading/ fighting for and finding as many magical items as they could in order to make sure that no rogue magic threaten to tip the already delicate dynamic that the world is in with many of the strongest actively under research in ways to be destroyed.
Paladins of Kep are destroyed with only a few left roaming the world with no real defined purpose but to keep balance, many theorized that the chapter did have a task but after the rise of the Princes of Kep; a series of anti-paladins with ideals to forcefully take over kingdoms the chapter fell into inside war that eventually resulted in the use of magical device named after the gift being utilized, causing the chapters home fortress to be engulfed in darkness...those that wandered out were half mad and crippled.
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