- BANDIT LORD OF THE EAT
KAINEN ARTIN
"Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup."
- THE BASICS
Full Name: Kainen Thelmar Artin
Nicknames: The One-Eyed Dragon of the East
Gender: male
Age: appears 28
Species: Dacian Dragon
THE BODY
Height: 6' 4"
Build: lean, but muscular
Distinguishing Features: missing right eye, razor-sharp teeth, and long, ribbon-like scars covering his body.
Magic/Powers: Though most don't realize it, due to the fact that Kainen prefers to keep to his human form, Kainen is not human. He is a dragon. He was raised by dragons and he grew up around dragons. Dragonkin are a very proud race of worldshapers, capable of moving the earth and the clouds to their will. For the most part they avoid interaction with other races, their homes usually being hidden or far away from prying eyes. They come in many shapes and sizes, but for the most part are divided into two main subspecies: Lungs, the snake-like, wingless dragons with the water and air attributes, and Dacians, the winged dragons with the fire and earth attributes.
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When they first hatch (as they hatch from eggs that have been kept warm by their mother'sfire), dragons are curious, but highly dependent on their parents. After they pass through the hatchling stage, they enter adolescence, where the males become reckless, and the females reclusive. So the young males will run out in their 'teens' and burn, pillage, steal, and murder all in good fun, while the females will find caves far away from society, reflecting on themselves and the world around them. Eventually with time, they will reach maturity and the females shall begin to travel, and the males will calm down. At the adult stage the males are still more violent than the females (except when it comes to young), but with mating season pairs will form and they shall begin raising their own hatchlings. When their own children leave they enter the elder stage, a time when they gain wisdom and find themselves fascinated with knowledge and philosophy. Their lifespans are much longer than that of your average creature as well, and though their kind has yet to provide an actual range of years, many believe that they live for thousands of years.
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Dacians dragons are, on average, larger and more physically powerful than their Lung cousins, and Kainen is a prime example of that. Rather than being thin and snake-like, Dacain dragons are massive with powerful arms and legs. They fly though the use of their massive, powerful wings and breathe fire. More powerful Dacain's can concentrate their fire into a blue-white beam of energy, an ability that Kainen has developed over the years. All dragons are able to use magic, though Dacains aren't nearly as proficient as the Lungs. Rather than rely on spells, they choose to make use of their large size in combat.
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All dragons are, through the use of magic, capable of retaining a humanoid form, which is the form Kainen prefers for interacting with "the smaller folk." This is a term used as a literal definition rather than an insult; in his dragon form, Kainen towers over buildings. In his human form he posses 'superhuman' strength, agility, senses, though in terms of dragons it's very limited. He is still also able to breathe fire, though not as hot as his dragon form. Like most dragons he is capable of partial transformations, sprouting claws, horns, scales, and wings when needed. Most dragons actually prefer keeping much of their draconian traits in their humanoid form, but Kainen keeps his human form looking like another man. In fact, he rarely shows any draconic traits, leading many people to believe that his title as the "One-Eyed Dragon of the East" is a reference to his combat rather than his actual race. He is also immune to fire.
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In the event that Kainen is several injured, his life is in immediate danger, or he goes off thedeep end, he reverts into what called chi ikari, or The Blood Rage. In this state he will revert to his dragon form and go on a vicious rampage, destroying everything between him and his target. His healing rate is massively accelerated and as are his powers. Though for the most part Kainen is 'out-of-touch' with his Earth element, in his rage is is capable of causing massive earthquakes and raising mountains. Because of this unstable nature of dragon's tempers, and their massive levels of power, they learn to control themselves.
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Dragons are capable of manifesting their life essence as a sizable crystal, often mistaken for a jewel. It is an ability gained with age, as dragons in the Elder stages do it for safekeeping. The dragon is capable of putting their entire soul into the stone in emergencies, so the stone may be tucked safely away and the dragon will avoid whatever danger was coming from them. But for the most part they merely tie the stone to themselves, feeding it energy and giving them strength. If someone else possess the soulstone, they have full control over the dragon and can kill them whenever they wish. Because of that, dragons are extremely protective of their soulstone, stealing other precious jewels and gold from others to misdirect the few people that do try to invade their caves (for a time, dragons' soulstones were hunted for). This has led to the common myth that dragons are obsessed with precious minerals and gems, but it's not the case at all. They merely want to keep people away from their soulstones.
If a dragon presents someone with their soulstone, it's a sign not only of devotion, but of complete and utter trust. It is something that bondmates will only do after years together, and if given to a non-dragon or a friend, it is a the highest honor you could receive from a dragon.
Weapons & Armor: Kainen prefers to keep his arsenal simple and easy to manage. Given his age he's had plenty of time to master various styles of combat, and is proficient in most conventional weaponry, including swords, staves, polearms, daggers, axes, sai, kusarigama, katanas, nagamakis, and bow and arrow. However, he sticks with his favourites most of the time.
- Daisho: the pairing of a long katana and a smaller daito. Both blades are treated with immense care and Kainen is an expert with them. The katana serves as his primary weapon.
Nagamaki: The nagamaki is a weapon that looks similar to a katana, with a 2 foot blade and with a long handle of the same length. Kainen carries two of them and is rather fond of dual-wielding them.
Hlringr: Legend says that it was forged to slay gods, but most remember it as a legendary dragon-slaying sword. He always travels with it and it remains sealed in its sheath.
Claws: With the use partial transformations, he's able to shift his hands into razor-sharp claws that are easily capable of tearing flesh to shreds.
Battle Armor: Kainen may seem flashy, but he prefers to keep his battle armor simple. If push comes to shove, he can always grow his scales, which are just as useful, even more so in some cases.
THE MIND
Likes: children, sweets (strawberry rhubarb pie is a personal favorite), clean houses, crowds, beautiful people (beautiful souls, not faces. he's odd), tea, showing off
Dislikes: brats, children crying, being proved wrong, oranges, cabbage, dogs
Hobbies: drinking tea, reading, household chores, cooking, sword fighting, flying, sewing, knitting, writing
Fears: forming attachments and loosing them, being hated by a loved one, all of his hard work going down the drain.
Personality: The Lord of the East is an interesting character, known to be extremely dangerous. Smooth-talking yet merciless, he'll flirt with anyone that gets his interest, even people he knows aren't interested in the slightest. A chaotic figure, he's just as likely to kill you as he is to try and get into your pants. He's ruthless in combat and strategy, minimizing the causalities on his side yet wiping out his enemies without batting an eye. He isn't afraid to torture and manipulate to get what he wants, and has established a reputation for it. Though he's flirtatious, he's cold, never developing any physical attachments and instead wearing a self-satisfied smirk no matter what he does. He loves getting a rise out of people, seeing all the different ways he can piss them off. It won't stop him from being friendly to people, but once you're around him you get the sneaking suspicion that his 'friendly' smile is all for show.
The more you get to know Kainen, the more you see the cold, flirtatious leader disappear and the more you realize that this man is ridiculous. He's a sweet old neat-freak of man who loves kids and will mother hen and fret over the people he cares about. A hopeless romantic of a man with bright, toothy smiles instead of smirks, a man of rumbling, thunderous laughter instead of dark chuckles. A slightly clumsy, domestic man who enjoys sunny days and sharing a pot of tea with someone while watching children run by. A wise, sorrowful old man who is content with being hated if it means that it gives him the opportunity to bring happiness to some people. Kainen hopes that his new 'spouse' will learn to accept this side of him as well as his professional, no-nonsense side of him, as it's hard enough convincing everyone else he's a heartless bastard, much less someone he's supposed to marry.
THE PAST
In times long since past, Kainen was a dragon with two eyes. Oh, he is still very much a dragon, but during those times, he acted like it. He was strong and proud, sailing through the sky and doing battle with others of his kin just for the fun of it. He was a vicious, merciless creature and had little care for the lives of others, or even his own, for that matter.
Then he met her.
He had been slumbering in a forest when she came; footsteps light and delicate. When he opened his eyes, he at first thought this girl, this child, to be the goddess of the area, though that theory was promptly thrown out when she hacked up blood and almost fainted. He sat there, watching the girl's life dwindle and flicker, curious as to what brought such a weak, frail human out into the forest to bother him. And explanation quickly presented itself when several men came from the direction she had appeared; obviously tasked with bringing the child back to wherever she had escaped from. Much to everyone's surprise, when they neared, the child clung onto Kainen with all of her strength; it seemed she would prefer death at the hands of a dragon that being returned to her home. After getting rid of the annoying soldiers, the dragon picked up the child, and in his deep, cynical voice asked her why such a child would run to him, a dragon, out of all people. After all, in the area he was in, dragons were feared and hated for their power, for their ability to crush humans without so much as a second thought, which they often did. He never did say what she said in response, but it was enough for him to spare the girl's life and even allow her in his company.
As years went by, the little girl by Kainen's side grew into a woman with, as he claims “beauty that rivaled a goddess.” Her calm, patient ways and wisdom beyond her years, granted to her by an ability to see the future, was a balance that the reckless dragon so desperately needed in his life. Slowly, the dragon found his curiosity turning into attachment, which then developed into affection. The two were never officially married; it was just a status they grew into, a gradual thing. Other dragons were curious as to what happened in Kainen's life that made him so much more calmer and pleasant to be with, and they were quite surprised to find a human woman at the source. But, given her pleasant nature and threatening looks they were getting from Kainen, most of the other dragons pretty much left the pair alone.
Unfortunately, the couple were having a different problem. Several attempts to sire children had resulted in failure; stillborns and miscarriages, as it seemed, would be regular, tragic part of their lives. The few doctors they saw pointed at the difference in species combined with Kainen's wife's constitution was resulting in the loss of their children before they were even born. Both Kainen and his goddess felt jaded, blaming themselves and each other for their failures. In a desperate attempt for a successful birth of a child, Kainen went to a powerful witch for a potion to restore his wife's constitution. As a price, he willingly gave up one of his eye, as a dragon's eye is a priceless tool for masters of magic, rumored to grant immortality if used properly.
The potion worked wonders. At first the effects could barely be seen, but within a few months, the dragon's wife was stronger, and pregnant. Kainen devoted all of his time caring to his wife with child, and forty weeks later, she gave birth to a pair of half-dragon twins. Both the children and their mother were very weak after birth, and while the children slowly began to gain strength, the mother did not. She began speaking of her death to Kainen, and while he drowned in anguish and sorrow she told him that she was supposed to die those many years ago when she first met the dragon; the men were supposed to find her and kill her. Instead, he appeared, something she never predicted, which was quite the feat for an oracle such as herself. Less than a year after giving birth to her children, Kainen's wife passed away silently in her sleep, a peaceful smile on her lips.
Depression hit the dragon hard, but caring for the children he now possessed served as something of a distraction for him and a way to cope. The children inherited some of their mother's weakness; they were far too frail and fragile, even for half-dragons. But he did his best and for many years, he had his children to brighten up his day. Slowly but surely, Kainen began to recover from the death of his wife and was able to truly smile again.
It seemed, however, that tragedy preferred to keep Kainen company. One day, the dragon had gone out to visit an old, dying friend of his. As his friend lived in an area that was inhospitable to humans, he left his children behind, instructing them to stay in their home and requesting another friend to watch over the children for him. When he returned, he was greeted with a house in ruins, his fellow dragon badly wounded, and his children slain. Apparently some of his “old, wartime buddies” of his during his days of mindless fighting and brutality had grown resentful at his “softening up,” and blamed his wife and his children for it. With their actions, Kainen's last ray of hope died, and he retaliated against the offenders with a viciousness that had never been seen from him before.
After the dragons who had killed his children had been slaughtered, Kainen was at a loss, and took on a human form, wandering aimlessly with a dead look in his remaining eye. Half-heartedly searching for something to fill the void in his heart, he passed through the fringes of society, where his heart was wrenched when he saw the living conditions of children who were forced to live in ideas that ignored the law. When nothing was done by the government, he decided to take matters into his own hands.
It started out slow. Jaded and world-weary, most ignored his desperate calls to bring people together. When he could not rouse people, he began to do things himself, bringing supplies and protecting people. That got the attentions of the citizens, and with years of work, people began to listen to what he had to say. What began as a long man wandering the wastes became a leader of a small group. That small group attracted members as more and more people began to reap the benefits of their raids. He stole from the prosperous to give to those who had nothing, and then instructed the hopeless on how to live their own lives. Though Aramis called him a criminal, the people around him hailed him as a hero. He brought irrigation equipment and tools to be used. He brought seeds to be planted and work horses. He brought hope where there was none, and prosperity to those who had never experienced it before.
And then the war started. By this time Kainen was the Lord of the East, commander of his own territory that he settled out with the other 'Lords of Aramis.' And he and his people fought to protect their new-found prosperity and families. But as the death toll began to rise, Kainen realized that the two sides were too evenly matched for any progress to be made. And so he allowed peace talks to begin. And now, he must marry a child in order to bring about that peace.