Ōmen St. Leyrose
ALIASES
Thunder WolfThe Eighth Brother
ALIGNMENTS
Lawful NeutralTrue Neutral
Agnostic
AGE
33GENDER
MaleSEXUALITY
HomoSPECIES
Demi-RaijuHOME
TethisOCCUPATION
CrusaderROLE
Dark Knight, Championclick for more info +
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persona
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Mercurial. Electric. Ground-shaking. Quick. Sly.
Observant. Menacing. Suave. Well-Traveled.
The Youngest of 8 St. Leyrose Brothers.
Observant. Menacing. Suave. Well-Traveled.
The Youngest of 8 St. Leyrose Brothers.
// LOVES //
His 7 brothers. Toking tinsfoil. Fishing and camping. Charity and goodwill. Heroic raiju tales.// HATES//
The nickname Thunderstruck. Indoctrination. Persecution. Cults and fanatics. // GOALS //
Protect his St. Leyrose family, his Crusader comrades, and his Eternal City, Tethis. // FEARS //
Being thunderstruck again. Foul, twisted magic. Losing any more family to the Infinite Wilds.⠀
visage
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// HEIGHT //
6'3".// HAIR STYLE //
Brown hair; spiked back, short, sharp, and static. Trimmed beard.// EYES //
Electric blue, made radiant during thunderstorms and nights like a wolf's or raiju's eyes.// SKIN TONE //
Olive; Deep bronze by midsummer.// PHYSIQUE //
Greek god; massive, chiseled, tapered waist.// DOMINANT HAND //
Left handed.// VOICE //
Booming and warm cadence; baritone.// ATTIRE //
White cloak, black tunic, and chrome armor, as befits a Tethis Knight. The family emblem of Saint Leyrose is a compass with roses on each side. The sword hilt, his white cloak, and his banners all bear this crest for fame and glory. // SCARS //
THE FIRST SCAR is small and vertical down his left eye from brow to cheek, a clean slice by blade; comrades jest that he nicked that himself shaving, but none of his lovers know its true story. THE SECOND SCAR is white fractal lichtenberg fern-like flowering down the spine of his back. Perhaps a curse bestowed by thunderbolt, the Faithful oft said this natural tattoo was a divine warning: to prepare for an impending and brutal fate. Eye-rolling, Ōmen wondered if his demi-raiju lineage had more to do with it. HIs flowered back even glows electric blue in the dark, matching his reflective eyes.Insensitive people called him the Thunderstruck, a moniker he hated. It wasn't enough to incur his wrath, but did expedite his departure. He understood how cool his scarred back looked to anybody come from a distance so he took no offense. His 7 brothers winced at his wound and would look at him like he wasn't demi-raiju enough to crusade with them, and sheltered him like a cripple. Ōmen zoned out, recalling at how the lightning bolt trickled down like rain upon glass, how the white-violet fireworks multiplied and spread across the sky into talons that hungered and having had just one nearly devour him. THE THIRD SCAR is unseen trauma that puts him in a trance he must snap out of.
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skills & equip
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Not all demi-raiju shared the same innate abilities or were lucky to have been trained by a demi-raiju parent. Not all Crusaders fought or enforced as dirty as Ōmen either. These differences aside, demi-raiju generally move faster than the average human, as half-elves or tieflings would. Demi-raiju are scarce in Khare only sighted on the islands and even rarer in Tethis, let alone among Crusaders. All Crusaders went through the same regimen at the University of Tethis (Crusaders Halls, the headquarters complex of Crusaders) and shared the standard armor, weapon, and equipment. They chose a starter spell and acquired it by baptism, a boon supposedly given by the god(s). Like gods and dragons, raiju are myths - never seen but always discussed or blamed.
// INNATE ABILITIES //
Galvanic Dash - Blitz in a straight line 30 feet, dealing lightning damage along the path.Raiju Eyes - Neither darkness nor light can impede his sight.
Raiju Nose - Sense of smell, as sharp as a wolf's, up to 100x more powerful than a human's.
// LEARNED ABILITIES //
Warmonger - Talented at inciting violence and besieging or occupying a point of interest/territory. Weaker and unlikely to conquer if acting alone; stronger and near unstoppable if aiding a Crusader troop. Generally understands the hierarchy of towns and strongholds, knowing how to find their leaders and commanders. Terrorize - Unfaithful to the gods, Ōmen resorts to unlawful and shadowy tactics. His extortions, coercions, and ambushes are famously, allegedly, more violent at night. Tasing is his favored means of torture or capture. Although he has been rumored to use Whispering Gloom poison as a last resort, should he get his hands on any.
Caper - Trained and experienced much like a gladiator in an arena. Can fight up to two foes at the same time. With fleet footwork and some luck, Ōmen may time and trick one or both foes into impeding or injuring themselves and each other. A dirty technique developed over his childhood from roughhousing his brothers.
// SPELLS //
Thunderous Smite - Upon the first hit, the weapon rings thunder up to 300 feet which may knock affected flying and non-flying foes prone. A concentration that takes up to one minute. An uncommon evocation, learned from his studies at the University of Tethis (Crusaders Hall) and only acquired after baptism. Other Crusaders chose more common cleric and paladin types of cantrips and spells, those of minor healing or umbras of protection; his brothers chose this matching their style.// GEAR //
Zecaliber - Signature heavy longsword and arcane focus. It was forged with Tethian steel, a fabled metal only found deep within the mountains, for Ōmen once he proved his worth, got baptized, and joined the noble militant rank of Crusaders. The blade glows electric blue when triggering a spell.// INVENTORY //
Scope - Magnifies vision by 3x power, up to 300 yards.⠀
lore
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YEAR 0
On a silver wintry morning in the peaks before the second half of the year when Tethis snowed the lightest, Ōmen was born to human father and demi-raiju mother Ser Isi and Ōleythe St. Leyrose. They mulled over a name. A Gold Crow feather from above fell and landed upon the crown of his head. Marveling at such a lucky omen, they agreed that this boy, like their other 7 demi-raiju sons, was destined for greatness.
Ishon [21], Ōrion [19], Aleylan [17], Howlisen [15], Sethandre [12], Cloudon [9], and Ives [6] gazed in quiet awe.
YEAR 18
Ōmen's entrance at the Crusaders Halls was celebrated with a banquet in his honor. Brothers chanted his place among them as the Eighth. He had begun his studies when news broke that mother Ōleythe was assigned to an expedition in the Infinite Wilds. After a month, her party vanished, never seen or heard from again. Refusing to lose her, their sleepless father Ser Isi led his unsanctioned search party, tracking her last whereabouts, and too vanished. The belligerent and eldest son Ser Ishon urged the Crusaders Halls for a larger search party; however, incensed political unrest with Khare delayed them years before the request was heard and denied. Only Sers Ishon and Sethandre married off and had legitimate children while the other St. Leyroses dumped their litter of demi-raiju bastards at Khare or the Infinite Wilds.
Without answers, the St. Leyroses held a funeral for Ser Isi and Ōleythe, struggling to accept that they're really gone.
YEAR 25
Ser Ōmen was baptized a Crusader and armed with Zecaliber, and the St. Leyrose Brothers were at last a complete set of 8. They banded crusading around the mountains, off the Tethis Coast, and into the Infinite Wilds though they did not get far. They soon found that, like mother before them, they're among the handful of Crusaders who naturally repelled Tethis Darkwolves. Demi-raiju were scarce in Tethis as they were useful. The St. Leyroses were oft separated and assigned to different expeditions, spread out to ensure victory. One stormy summer night away on vacation, Ser Ōmen was thunderstruck in front of his devastated brothers and spent the next 7 years at the Crusaders Halls in rehab. The St. Leyroses sobered, bickered less, and rotated in shifts, almost never leaving the Eighth unattended.
Ser Ōmen returned to a life of normalcy but hadn't fully recovered. He shall live with neurological challenges like chronic pain, tingling sensations, and memory deficits.
YEAR 32
One year ago, Ser Ōmen watched a Gold Crow sail in circles above. A scroll dropped. The message it bore was the name St. Leyrose in mother's handwriting. When brought to his brothers' attention, it was snatched away. They barked at him to never speak of it again. For weeks they avoided him until the day they left on their unsanctioned search party.
Stunned to become the last St. Leyrose Brother in Tethis, Ser Ōmen was left behind with sisters-in-laws and children. As they dreaded, his brothers vanished. It wasn't long before the Crusaders Halls declared them dead, adding that the gods worked in mysterious ways. There had been one funeral with 7 closed coffins and a handful of Crusaders sat in the back row behind Ser Ōmen and family who survived Sers Ishon [53], Ōrion [51], Aleylan [49], Howlisen [47], Sethandre [44], Cloudon [41], and Ives [38]. Ser Ōmen wept the loudest.
Since then, Ser Ōmen broke bad. Having developed a taste for violence and underhandedness, the Eighth Brother became a force of nature, terrible to reckon with in and out of battle.