Kökedai

Kökedai's way of thinking aligns with that of his clan's, focusing on struggle and the suppression of emotions that wouldn't be seen as "manly enough". His immediate response to meeting someone is thinking of ways in which they could threaten him, rarely letting his guard down even among people that he supposedly trusts (trust issues). His behavior can also be seen as slightly less "civilized" than the typical nobleman of other cultures, and will not usually go for chopsticks or utensils when eating, save for a knife and the occasional spoon, provided the food is not served in a bowl (as it should, filthy dish-eating degenerates). His vision when it comes to war and hunting is similarly stern, as he believes that hesitation will only expose one to danger. He was never trained in the proper art of war, only having been in a few skirmishes. After his adulthood, he has similarly only fought others in self-defense.

Due to his head aching "condition", he dislikes magic and, by extension, has a bias towards those who practice it. He has been saved by healers and had contact with seers of a handful of steppe clans in the past however, so he understands the need for the craft. Adverse weather conditions, such as severe rain, blizzard, tornados etc. are also included, and compose something that he and some other people of his land have come to refer to as "nature spells" or "wild magic".

1. Observing wild predators, such as tigers, cats, dogs, spiders, and such, for inspirational purposes (he even names almost all of his moves after such predators, but he believes this to be childish behavior and will never outright mention this).
   
   
2. Hunting is the sport that can clear his mind. Kökedai likes the instinctive nature of it, as he is able to simply stalk and loose an arrow, without the overthinking involved in fighting people.
   

1. Lack of honor is one thing that gets on his nerves, due to the betrayal of his family.
   
   
2. Mare's milk is a traditional drink of his people that he absolutely despises. This is not a bias towards equines, however, and the goats and cows from the west get the same treatment, he dislikes milk of any sort. Oddly enough, he tolerates cheese and kumis (the fermentation does the trick), among other dairy products.
   
   
3. Magic affects him negatively, giving him a persistent and rather foretelling migraine, as he feels it before a spell is even cast in his vicinity. The reason, although he does not fully understands it, is due to the gathering of rukh affecting his senses.
   

In the past, his only ambition was to ascend to his father's position and act as the raider/conqueror he was raised to be. After the betrayal, however, he had doubts. Kökedai currently seeks a purpose in life, drifting from settlement to settlement, meditating and training his skills for the day when he will need them to wage war, whether it be to fulfill his original plan, or to support another lord.

• He has a very irrational fear of ghosts, spirits, and curses in general, contributing to him being very superstitious about the occult. He can feign bravery very well, but should he see an apparition of any sort, terror may take over.
  
  
• Bugs also have a place in his list, but only if they touch him. The predatory creatures that fit this category, such as spiders, ants (they are good for warfare tactics), centipedes and mantises, are things that he enjoys observing, but if one of those happens to land on him, it will trigger unusual reactions.
  

In his adulthood, Kökedai is an imposing man, with muscles formed and kept throughout his lifetime. Standing at very nearly 190 cm, his height is much above the average of the people of Tenzan, as is, consequentially, his physical strength. His expressions tend to be stern, involving a lot of crossed arms and fierce stares (with eyes that have been compared to those of a hawk, or a particularly ill-intentioned owl), and his resting face could be described as "unfriendly".

His outfits are traditional to his people, often being made of thick horse leather, cotton, or wild silks. He wears heavy leather boots in most terrain, and wears his hair in the best copy he could make of the traditional way of Temurai chieftains. He usually carries a knife in his belt as a tool of varied purposes, that would be hardly more useful than his hands in a skirmish. Upon his right brow, he has a scar, acquired in the struggle that costed his father's life.

• Little Birds in Your Head: Kökedai possesses heightened sensitivity of all sorts, and for whatever reason (maybe a magician ancestor or other), that causes his body to physically feel strong manipulations of nature, much to his disadvantage. He cannot see rukh as a magician can, but large concentrations of either type will give him a persistent migraine (and he resents magic of any kind because of that, as well as extreme weather conditions).
  
  
• Ill Met by Moonlight: The sight of a full moon will immediately fill Kökedai's mind bad memories, affecting his temperament and attention span negatively. This can lead to unusually bad decisions.
  

The steppes of the Tenzan Plateau had long been ravaged by war, many warlords having risen in the power vacuum left by the fall of a great nation a long time ago. There were already warring clans before said polity, but the years of expansive warfare and trading with the east had brought new technologies to the plains. Where once wars were fought with wood, stone and iron, now they were fought mainly on horseback, with composite bows and steel. As a consequence, no one was safe anymore, and the tribes needed to adapt. Fierce clans rose and fell in the generations following the fall of the Bey Clan, one such group being the Temurai. Temurai descended from one of the Bey generals of the past, who had settled in the central plains. His father Kökerai was Khan - a local indicator of lordship - over the Temurai Clan, a coalition of warlords who shared a mutual interest in conquest and warfare in general. They did not have a set "village" or "city", rather a territory to patrol, raiding and pillaging as they willed. A striking feature kept the Temurai as a dominant group, their hardiness. The warriors of the clan depended on their "Winter Trials" to keep their ranks strong. From the age of 10 to 15, every man and woman of the clan had to face the trial, being left away of the horde for the entirety of winter, and only at the end of the season the clan would start looking for survivors. The mortality rate of the trial was high, but those that survived were seen as versatile, dependable warriors. The trials were numbered by importance:

1. The first, called the Trial of the Hare represents the struggle of killing, where the warrior is to learn to trust his instincts and track his quarry; this is the trial that kills the most youths, and is done with several items: a small food supply, a knife, a recurve composite bow with a quiver and 10 arrows, a filled waterskin, and warm winter clothing. The survivors were called a "hare", only slightly more important than those who gave up the trials.
   
   
2. The second trial, the Trial of the Deer, represents the struggle of hunger is done without any kind of food supply and with an empty waterskin. A survivor of this trial is a "buck" or a "doe".
   
   
3. The third was the Trial of the Falcon, representing the struggle of thinking where the bow is not given, nor are the arrows, waterskin or quiver. Survivors of this trial are called a "tiercel" or "tiercelet".
   
   
4. In the fourth, the Trial of the Wolf, the represented struggle is the cold, and the heavy winter clothing is not given. Survivors are full-fledged warriors, and can be known as "wolf" or "she-wolf".
   
   
5. Finally at the fifth and final trial, the Trial of the Horse, the youth is given nothing more than regular clothes. Mastering the Horse means overcoming the struggle of certain death. The trials marked social status among the clan and were not a requirement beyond the Hare. They could also be attempted at a later age up to Wolf, but the Horse was the "all or nothing" trial that could only be taken at 15, and marked its survivors as "fit to rule", blood-brothers to the warlord. A graduate is a ruler, usually referred to as a "stallion" or "mare".
   
   

Kökedai entered each trial accordingly, and was notable for having completed every one of them as the son of the then-ruler of the clan, being a favorite for succeeding him as soon as he reached the age of 15. He was to be crowned one day, if not for the betrayal of his father's kin. A blood-brother is considered more than family in Temurai culture, and in a moonlit night, the mutual oath of loyalty between his father Kökerai and a handful of his court's stallions was broken, resulting in a murderous coup by those that were not fond of being replaced entirely as a choice of succession. The majority of the royal family was slain that day, but to save themselves from complete dishonor, the  rebels did not break the sacred rule of "not killing children", instead exiling the boy from the horde. Already having reached the age of a warrior, and trained in all trials, he was able to survive the vast steppes, eventually committing himself to the life of a wanderer, but always with feeling that he would once have to get into that world again. The world of cutthroat politics and warfare.

Kökedai had recently reached his 11th birthday, and now he stood in the northern forest. He was dressed accordingly this time, and had learned from an uncle how to "feel" an incoming blizzard - had gotten much better at it than said uncle, in fact, as an incoming blizzard was associated with a sharp pain in his head -, as well as fend off any dangerous creatures with a quickly-made fire. Overall, he was much better equipped, physically and mentally, for his second "winter trial", having almost lost his life in the first one a year ago. He was tracking a wild hare for about an hour now, and the trail was getting fresher. With a bow of his own design (admittedly, heavily based on his uncle's), he found the beast close to its refuge. A hare, coming so far of its home like that in winter probably had more than one mouth to feed, but the boy had learned the hard way to block these thoughts. "Eyes on the prey, clear your head, and strike", his father had told him. He had ignored that a year ago. He had spared a single hare in the past winter, and did not have the strength to catch anything else afterwards, having to live off wild berries, bugs and carcasses. This time, he did not think. Instead, he nocked the arrow as soon as his eyes were locked onto the target, and shot it straight through its chest before it could leap into its burrow. That night he feasted, and despite almost dying in a later incident that winter, he felt as if a lesson had been learned. He was a child of the steppes, and should do whatever it took to survive.

Merrze wrote:So your app looks great for the most part, but before I go full in to give the full analysis I do wanna let you know that while your character may dislike magic only magicians can really sense it. It wouldn't really mess with your character. It's harmless for the most part but it would be an issue if he could feel or sense any magic cast near him.

Merrze wrote:Hmm it'd be fine if it's plot aspect only and can't let you actually notice where someone is when casting a spell or immediately know or be aware of it.

Code:

[right][img]https://img00.deviantart.net/e6f8/i/2016/222/b/d/mongol_by_adamasto-dad31f7.jpg[/img][/right]

[b]Name:[/b] Kökedai
[b]Country Affiliation:[/b] Wanderer (to be developed IC)
[b]Race:[/b] Human
[b]Tier:[/b] D-Tier [Novice]
[b]Class:[/b] Ranger
[b]Age + Birthdate:[/b] February 5 (age 27)
[b]Gender:[/b] Male
[b]Sexuality:[/b] Bisexual
[b]Personality:[/b]
[quote]
Kökedai's way of thinking aligns with that of his clan's, focusing on struggle and the suppression of emotions that wouldn't be seen as "manly enough". His immediate response to meeting someone is thinking of ways in which they could threaten him, rarely letting his guard down even among people that he supposedly trusts (trust issues). His behavior can also be seen as slightly less "civilized" than the typical nobleman of other cultures, and will not usually go for chopsticks or utensils when eating, save for a knife and the occasional spoon, provided the food is not served in a bowl[strike] (as it should, filthy dish-eating degenerates)[/strike]. His vision when it comes to war and hunting is similarly stern, as he believes that hesitation will only expose one to danger. He was never trained in the proper art of war, only having been in a few skirmishes. After his adulthood, he has similarly only fought others in self-defense.

Due to his head aching "condition", he dislikes magic and, by extension, has a bias towards those who practice it. He has been saved by healers and had contact with seers of a handful of steppe clans in the past however, so he understands the need for the craft. Adverse weather conditions, such as severe rain, blizzard, tornados etc. are also included, and compose something that he and some other people of his land have come to refer to as "nature spells" or "wild magic".

[/quote]
[b]Likes:[/b]
[quote][list=1]
[*][b]Observing wild predators[/b], such as tigers, cats, dogs, spiders, and such, for inspirational purposes (he even names almost all of his moves after such predators, but he believes this to be childish behavior and will never outright mention this).

[*][b]Hunting[/b] is the sport that can clear his mind. Kökedai likes the instinctive nature of it, as he is able to simply stalk and loose an arrow, without the overthinking involved in fighting people.
[/list]
[/quote]
[b]Dislikes:[/b]
[quote][list=1]
[*][b]Lack of honor[/b] is one thing that gets on his nerves, due to the betrayal of his family.

[*][b]Mare's milk[/b] is a traditional drink of his people that he [u]absolutely despises[/u]. This is not a bias towards equines, however, and the goats and cows from the west get the same treatment, he dislikes milk of any sort. Oddly enough, he tolerates cheese and kumis (the fermentation does the trick), among other dairy products.

[*][b]Magic[/b] affects him negatively, giving him a persistent and rather foretelling migraine, as he feels it before a spell is even cast in his vicinity. The reason, although he does not fully understands it, is due to the gathering of rukh affecting his senses.
[/list]
[/quote]
[b]Aspirations:[/b]
[quote]
In the past, his only ambition was to ascend to his father's position and act as the raider/conqueror he was raised to be. After the betrayal, however, he had doubts. Kökedai currently seeks [u]a purpose in life[/u], drifting from settlement to settlement, meditating and training his skills for the day when he will need them to wage war, whether it be to fulfill his original plan, or to support another lord.

[/quote]
[b]Phobias/fears:[/b]
[quote]
[list]
[*]He has a very irrational fear of [b]ghosts[/b], spirits, and curses in general, contributing to him being very superstitious about the occult. He can feign bravery very well, but should he see an apparition of any sort, terror may take over.

[*][b]Bugs[/b] also have a place in his list, but only if they touch him. The predatory creatures that fit this category, such as spiders, ants (they are good for warfare tactics), centipedes and mantises, are things that he enjoys observing, but if one of those happens to land on him, it will trigger unusual reactions.
[/list]
[/quote]
[b]Face-Claim:[/b] [url=https://adamasto.deviantart.com/art/Mongol-626638579]"Mongol" by artist AdamaSto[/url]
[b]Hair Color:[/b] Black
[b]Eye Color:[/b] Gray
[b]Height:[/b] 189 cm
[b]Weight:[/b] 84 kg
[b]Appearance:[/b]
[quote]
In his adulthood, Kökedai is an imposing man, with muscles formed and kept throughout his lifetime. Standing at very nearly 190 cm, his height is much above the average of the people of Tenzan, as is, consequentially, his physical strength. His expressions tend to be stern, involving a lot of crossed arms and fierce stares (with eyes that have been compared to those of a hawk, or a particularly ill-intentioned owl), and his resting face could be described as "unfriendly".

His outfits are traditional to his people, often being made of thick horse leather, cotton, or wild silks. He wears heavy leather boots in most terrain, and wears his hair in the best copy he could make of the traditional way of Temurai chieftains. He usually carries a knife in his belt as a tool of varied purposes, that would be hardly more useful than his hands in a skirmish. Upon his right brow, he has a scar, acquired in the struggle that costed his father's life.

[/quote]
[b]Rukh Alignment:[/b] White
[b]Special Features:[/b]
[quote][list]
[*][b]Little Birds in Your Head:[/b] Kökedai possesses heightened sensitivity of all sorts, and for whatever reason (maybe a magician ancestor or other), that causes his body to physically feel strong manipulations of nature, much to his disadvantage. He cannot see rukh as a magician can, but [u]large concentrations of either type will give him a persistent migraine[/u] (and he resents magic of any kind because of that, as well as extreme weather conditions).

[*][b]Ill Met by Moonlight:[/b] The sight of a full moon will immediately fill Kökedai's mind bad memories, [u]affecting his temperament and attention span negatively[/u]. This can lead to unusually bad decisions.
[/list]
[/quote]
[b]History:[/b]
[quote]
The steppes of the Tenzan Plateau had long been ravaged by war, many warlords having risen in the power vacuum left by the fall of a great nation a long time ago. There were already warring clans before said polity, but the years of expansive warfare and trading with the east had brought new technologies to the plains. Where once wars were fought with wood, stone and iron, now they were fought mainly on horseback, with composite bows and steel. As a consequence, no one was safe anymore, and the tribes needed to adapt. Fierce clans rose and fell in the generations following the fall of the Bey Clan, one such group being the Temurai. Temurai descended from one of the Bey generals of the past, who had settled in the central plains. His father Kökerai was Khan - a local indicator of lordship - over the Temurai Clan, a coalition of warlords who shared a mutual interest in conquest and warfare in general. They did not have a set "village" or "city", rather a territory to patrol, raiding and pillaging as they willed. A striking feature kept the Temurai as a dominant group, their hardiness. The warriors of the clan depended on their "Winter Trials" to keep their ranks strong. From the age of 10 to 15, every man and woman of the clan had to face the trial, being left away of the horde for the entirety of winter, and only at the end of the season the clan would start looking for survivors. The mortality rate of the trial was high, but those that survived were seen as versatile, dependable warriors. The trials were numbered by importance:

[list=1]
[*]The first, called the [u]Trial of the Hare[/u] represents the struggle of [b]killing[/b], where the warrior is to learn to trust his instincts and track his quarry; this is the trial that kills the most youths, and is done with several items: a small food supply, a knife, a recurve composite bow with a quiver and 10 arrows, a filled waterskin, and warm winter clothing. The survivors were called a "hare", only slightly more important than those who gave up the trials.

[*]The second trial, the [u]Trial of the Deer[/u], represents the struggle of [b]hunger[/b] is done without any kind of food supply and with an empty waterskin. A survivor of this trial is a "buck" or a "doe".

[*]The third was the [u]Trial of the Falcon[/u], representing the struggle of [b]thinking[/b] where the bow is not given, nor are the arrows, waterskin or quiver. Survivors of this trial are called a "tiercel" or "tiercelet".

[*]In the fourth, the [u]Trial of the Wolf[/u], the represented struggle is the [b]cold[/b], and the heavy winter clothing is not given. Survivors are full-fledged warriors, and can be known as "wolf" or "she-wolf".

[*]Finally at the fifth and final trial, the [u]Trial of the Horse[/u], the youth is given nothing more than regular clothes. Mastering the Horse means overcoming the struggle of certain [b]death[/b]. The trials marked social status among the clan and were not a requirement beyond the Hare. They could also be attempted at a later age up to Wolf, but the Horse was the "all or nothing" trial that could only be taken at 15, and marked its survivors as "fit to rule", blood-brothers to the warlord. A graduate is a ruler, usually referred to as a "stallion" or "mare".

[/list]
Kökedai entered each trial accordingly, and was notable for having completed every one of them as the son of the then-ruler of the clan, being a favorite for succeeding him as soon as he reached the age of 15. He was to be crowned one day, if not for the betrayal of his father's kin. A blood-brother is considered more than family in Temurai culture, and in a moonlit night, the mutual oath of loyalty between his father Kökerai and a handful of his court's stallions was broken, resulting in a murderous coup by those that were not fond of being replaced entirely as a choice of succession. The majority of the royal family was slain that day, but to save themselves from complete dishonor, the  rebels did not break the sacred rule of "not killing children", instead exiling the boy from the horde. Already having reached the age of a warrior, and trained in all trials, he was able to survive the vast steppes, eventually committing himself to the life of a wanderer, but always with feeling that he would once have to get into that world again. The world of cutthroat politics and warfare.

[/quote]
[b]Role-Play Sample:[/b] "A moment of hesitation"
[quote][center][img]https://img00.deviantart.net/a187/i/2012/253/b/4/the_adventurer_by_shark_bomb-d5ebqk3.jpg[/img][/center]
Kökedai had recently reached his 11th birthday, and now he stood in the northern forest. He was dressed accordingly this time, and had learned from an uncle how to "feel" an incoming blizzard - had gotten much better at it than said uncle, in fact, as an incoming blizzard was associated with a sharp pain in his head -, as well as fend off any dangerous creatures with a quickly-made fire. Overall, he was much better equipped, physically and mentally, for his second "winter trial", having almost lost his life in the first one a year ago. He was tracking a wild hare for about an hour now, and the trail was getting fresher. With a bow of his own design (admittedly, heavily based on his uncle's), he found the beast close to its refuge. A hare, coming so far of its home like that in winter probably had more than one mouth to feed, but the boy had learned the hard way to block these thoughts. "Eyes on the prey, clear your head, and strike", his father had told him. He had ignored that a year ago. He had spared a single hare in the past winter, and did not have the strength to catch anything else afterwards, having to live off wild berries, bugs and carcasses. This time, he did not think. Instead, he nocked the arrow as soon as his eyes were locked onto the target, and shot it straight through its chest before it could leap into its burrow. That night he feasted, and despite almost dying in a later incident that winter, he felt as if a lesson had been learned. He was a child of the steppes, and should do whatever it took to survive.

[/quote]