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Just a Flash
- Posts:
- 114
- Group:
- Admins
- Member
- #6
- Joined:
- Jun 19, 2010
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Age: 45
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 210 lbs
~Appearance~ Vaedin had a very boyish face once, but with age it has morphed into ruggedly handsome. He bears two scars upon his face; one slices through his right eyebrow and trails just outside his eye socket, and the other is along the left of his strong jawline. Both give him a more distinguished look rather than detracting from his looks, and his pale gray eyes are always relaxed and gentle in appearance, even during his most vicious of moments. His mouth is usually curved upwards in a crooked or relaxed smile, and when he's deep in thought he tends to subconsciously trace one or the other of his scars repeatedly. His nose is just slightly crooked along the bridge, a sign of previous breakage. He usually wears a thin, well-manicured goatee of the same black hair that graces his slicked-back mane. His wardrobe varies, but he's almost always found in something silk.
~Personality~ A man of money to the core, he is the anachronistic citizen of the merchent nation. He is not powerful enough to sit directly on the Merchant's Circle, but not a one of those that do are unaware of his name or his reputation as a man that will do anything to get his way. He usually wears a crooked ivory smile and his black slicked-back hair is always in-place. His posture always screams that he's relaxed and unconcerned, and his choice of clothing--usually almost entirely silk--is a mark of the decadent and opulent lifestyle he lives. He does not care about flinging money around--he keeps enough on hand to support his extravagant lifestyle without tending to go overboard, and is known to be gracious and fair to those who are loyal. To those that are not he exceeds cutthroat and vicious, and while he never carries grudges over to other people and will let it end with the offending party, he rarely lets their ends be swift or painless. As might seem obvious now there is a ruthlessness underneath his friendly and relaxed exterior, one that speaks of unflappable experience in dealing with things most people might blanch at. Most on the Merchant's Circle either respect or fear him, and rightly so, though he's garnered the ill will of many in the process, some even on the Circle themselves. Sometimes, when he grows bored, he wanders, either as himself or under an alias, just to pass the time and see interesting things, leaving his businesses in the care of their respective heads, both of them working together to serve Vaedin and are intensely loyal to him.
~History~
Spoiler: click to toggle Vaedin was born and raised in Gellieith. His father, Rodae, was known as the Master of Blades, and built a fairly strong empire with obvious intent to hand it to Vaedin once he could no longer run it. Rodae had several children with several different mistresses, but never married. The eldest, Vaedin, was the only one he formally recognized, the eldest son earning the bad blood of the younger kin in the process, and was raised to learn the trade. He had a large textile trading business with several caravans going to most of the various nations around and near the continent, and he also ran his own mercenary band, the Sovereign Blades. This band served to protect his caravans, keeping him from having to pay protection, and took other contracts as well in the process. While he was a savvy businessman, he was a brilliant tactician. While Vaedin does not have the tactical brilliance of Rodae, the man who it was legended to be able to rival a Quin master strategist, he does have a cleverness in his own right. His father taught him to wield every bladed weapon under the sun, he himself knowing their secrets from his own father, who was heralded as one of the few mercenary captains to die of old age due to his overwhelming skill. Rodae did not regularly ride into battle, but when he did, their victories were usually overwhelming, and not because the odds were so dramatically in their favor. The family's tendencies to wield blades has earned them all monikers involving blades of some kind, and Vaedin is no exception.
Vaedin learned tactics and strategy to hone his mind and the bladed arts to hone his body, and when he was old enough his father began to teach him the textile trade as well, which he took to very well, even helping his father expand significantly. Unbenknownst to his father, however, Vaedin also took up with the Hegemony of Assassins, which has no political leanings one way or the other and demands no abject obedience and loyalty to their employees, they simply carry out work in a mutually beneficial manner for both employer and employee, as well as their client. When Rodae was too old to continue the trade he retired, handing it over to Vaedin along with the family signet ring, an heirloom bearing the seal of three crossed swords. Rodae lives comfortably still in a palatial manor with servants that tend to his every whim, and when he has something to say, Vaedin will always hear him out with the greatest of respect and patience. He now has the ear of several on the Council, and is ranked fairly well within the Hegemony of Assassins as well, though none know of his affiliation with them.
~Signet Ring~
Spoiler: click to toggle The family heirloom that has been passed down for generations is actually a piece of Old World magic. It allows the wielder to summon bladed weapons from ethereality, then banish them once done with them. In doing so, the wielder can even mentally control the blades without need to be holding them physically. Additionally, when physically holding blades, their potential damage rises considerably. The more skilled one is in utilizing the ring's power and the more magical potential they have to draw from, the more ethereal blades they can summon and control at once. Vaedin is the first in the line to hold the genetic predisposition towards magic, and as such his magical potential is far greater than the previous owners, and thus his ability with the ring is unparalleled. Where previous heads of the family could call upon as many as a half-dozen blades at a time, Vaedin can call on dozens, even hundreds if necessary, though the more he wields, the faster it drains his energy, and those summoned but not held may only be used for a single strike. It is why his family trains in blades specifically, and why almost every one in their line has had an alternate moniker involving blades...and also why his is the King. The signet ring is the true secret behind the family's skill with blades, as summoning them does no good when they cannot be properly wielded. While this power is active, the wielder's irises glow silver, and a golden aura suffuses them and especially the blades they may wield. The power may only be called upon twice a day, excepting those held directly in the hands of the wielder.
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