ooc: application
Feb. 13th, 2012 10:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ligbrynedracaplayer information.
name: Mhairi
are you over 18?: Yes
personal dw: deathwailart
email/msn/aim/plurk/etc: email: eyelinerkisses@hotmail.com||aim: deathwailart
characters in abax: n/a
in character information.
name: Veles - no surnames where he comes from
age: 7752
sex: Male
race: Dragon; he'll be turned into a human for this game (and will not be amused by that; height and weight below given for the human form)
height: 6'4"
weight: 154lbs
cause of death:Killed by Mathurin's magic
canon point: During the second war where he died saving Lioriley like a big scaly champ||end of written history
previous cr: None except his existing canon with Lioriley
physical appearance: As a dragon, Veles looked like this, an actual gargantuan red dragon with a tremendous wingspan - if anyone can see into his mind etc, this is what they will see.
For Abax though, rather than being shrunk, he now looks human. Tall, standing at around 6'4", broad shoulders, narrow hips and around average in terms of overall muscle mass, perhaps with a tendency to come across as somewhat gangly. Dark eyes and dark hair, around shoulder length because fantasy dictates that men wear their hair long and he is from a fantasy world, also fairly pale, no significant markings or tattoos whatsoever.
For the game, his PB will be Francois Arnaud.
world information:
General world info on Kilarria - all of the world information that pertains to Lioriley will pertain to Veles but I have elaborated on Travrra Island below.
Veles comes from an island populated solely by dragons known as Travrra - there is a visual reference here where the seas are choppy and dangerous to navigate as well as it being rather remote in terms of other lands. The dragons can often be seen flying in and out of the sea, hunting sea beasts and whales, their main source of food and the rocks at the front where the sea hits the shores are the safest way to get on and off the island as all other areas are a straight climb up huge mountains that only have the sparse toe holds of the younger dragons.
history:
Veles was hatched on the island known as Travrra Island, a Seer dragon and one of many that populated it, thousands of years old. A red dragon, his speciality was fire magic although he had knowledge of all and, being a Seer, if he focussed hard enough on an individual, he had the ability to see their future. The majority of his life was spent on the Island with the other dragons that populated it. Being a dragon, a great majority of his time was spent hunting for fish, sleeping and being irritable as most dragons typically are. Life seemed set to continue on in that fashion, until a young dark elf arrived on the Island, searching for help.
This interruption was named Lioriley.
Lioriley, a young dark elf, sought the aid of the dragons but dragons, being dragons, were unwilling to aid her without a price. That price involved the completion of tasks and trials, set to determine whether or not the person completing them was worthy of the information they sought to gain and that they would go to any lengths for it. The quests were challenging and Veles watched them with mild, amused detachment as the girl failed task after task but he was struck by the fact that not once did she give up. Eventually, pitying her and tired of her constant failures, Veles went to her and told her what she needed to know: that Irial wished for the light and dark elves to destroy one another and had taken on the guise of a dark elf to do such a thing. With the knowledge that she didn't stand a chance on her own, he accompanied her off on her journey to save her people and stop the brewing war but he did not do so lightly; he believes that anything another wants must be earned, hence why Lioriley was pushed so hard to gain help from the dragon.
That and he didn't want an insane lunatic with a lust for power taking over the world as there were always ripples from an event such as Irial had planned and someday, it would affect the dragons of Travrra Island.
Off Veles set with Lioriley, looking to find a book Irial sought, hidden deep in the mountains Maligrae was a book of powerful spells that could bring all the nations under Irial's control. Unfortunately, Irial, still disguised as a dark elf, had taken the opportunity of the war to sneak into Maligrae to steal the book undisturbed. It was during this time that Lioriley's other companion, a dark elf knight by the name of Alairr who had aided her before she set off to Travrra and had remained behind to track Irial faced off with the warlock. Alairr was overcome by Irial although he did manage to wound the warlock but the knight was left to die before Lioriley and Veles could come to his aid. Alairr's last actions were not in vain - he had wounded the warlock enough to allow Lioriley and Veles a chance to stop Irial from taking the book from the mountains.
The ensuing fight was vicious and very nearly lost and Lioriley was badly wounded but so was Irial so the parties retreated to heal and regroup. Once the young woman had recovered, Veles accompanied her to bury her friend and went to tell the king of what had occurred; another possible reason for Veles to tag along with the girl, to lend her the gravitas she really was rather lacking in. Whilst the king still retained a degree of skepticism, he agreed to station some soldiers and mages to guard the mountains as Veles followed Lioriley to attack Irial for a second time.
War raged in the elven cities and for a time it looked as if Alairr's sacrifice and all of Lioriley's hard work might be in vain as Veles headed into the mountains with Lioriley once more, intent on stopping him before he could fulfill his plan. They arrived just in time, Veles pinning him down in the main chamber as he held the book, Lioriley using a powerful spell from it to finish him off just in time. When Lioriley ended up in a coma due to this, rather than leave, Veles remained and watched over her, grumbling all the while - Maligrae is a cold place and he was used to being far warmer than that.
Once she awoke, she returned to Travrra along with Veles to hone her magical abilities and they spent five decades doing this because Veles had a ridiculous amount of knowledge to pass on to her and because he'd honestly have missed her companionship if they had parted ways. And because he'd already seen all of this happening before years ago. He taught her not only magic but to trust her instinct and normal combat training so that she would be like a knight of Maligrae, the same as her fallen companion Alairr.
But not all was at peace.
For fifty years, a light elf by the name of Mathurin had disguised himself as a human, blending with his surroundings – he was no normal light elf though as he had once been a student of Irial, the man Lioriley and Veles had defeated and now that Irial had failed, it was time for Mathurin to take centre stage. It was at this time that a world-wide treaty was being discussed in Kilarria between the rulers as before there had only been one for the elf kingdoms who had been at one another's throats. Mathurin killed and took the place of the human ambassador who had been sent along with the king and before a final decision on the treaty could be made, the light elf king was murdered. The world plunged into chaos ith this action and light elves and dark elves found themselves drawing battle lines once more, this time with the humans getting involved.
Even for Veles, this war was something new, uncharted. The humans and elves had equal strength and numbers and so a centuries long feud began, the younger generation being handed the bitterness, hatred and lust for conflict from their predecessors and hundreds of thousands lost their lives, soldier and civilian alike. The human had been assumed to be dead but Lioriley knew better, as did her mentor.
Veles agreed to help her (as much as Veles agreed to do anything) and they set off once more to find out the truth of the matter where they came upon the Lady Diamanda, a soldier who had learned to fight since she could wield a sword. She wanted an end to the bloodshed as did Lioriley but she did not hold out much hope. Diamanda guiding them through the battlefield and to the light elf city and it was there that Lioriley first met Mathurin as he spoke to the newly appointed king, wanting to curry favour, joining as a ranked captain in the war. All this was so he could access the tome Irial had failed to retrieve giving him ancient magic to overthrow all the warring races with little difficulty to allow him to rule supreme. It was here that Veles thought that the true nature of humans had been revealed – Diamanda betrayed Lioriley and Veles, siding with Mathurin. She changed her loyalties in the hopes of making a bargain to stop the violence and although he had his suspicions, it di not take long for her to become a confidante to him. His plan was to climb the ranks, murder the king and ascend to the throne with this new magic he would possess.
Veles – who had remained abreast of news but far enough away that his presence would not cause undue unrest – was met with a devastated Lioriley who came to ask his advice yet again. Veles of course began one of his speeches about the nature of humans, that this betrayal had always been coming from a race that could never be trusted; he even went so far as to tell her that trusting others was the biggest mistake Lioriley made. But there was a method to this madness. It made Lioriley angry. Angry enough that she made her way through the armies, human and elf alike, to reach Diamanda. Then tragedy struck – Diamanda revealed the true nature of her perceived betrayal to Lioriley but Mathurin was also there and at the news of this double cross, he wanted to destroy Diamanda before she could put an end to his plans. Mathurin had in fact become obsessed with Diamanda and had planned to make her his wife when he ruled over all of Kilarria because in his mind such a union between elf and human would have the population on their knees before him in worship. That would not happen now and so they fought until Diamanda was slain.
To avenge Diamanda, Veles joined Lioriley to do battle against Mathurin as history repeated itself with Mathurin holding the tome as Irial had except he had a chance to use it again and in this battle, Veles fell to protect Lioriley, his last act in a long and well-lived life.
personality:
As a dragon, even in human form, Veles is a big arrogant smug bastard. He is a walking and talking Omniscient Council of Vagueness who can see into the future of any event of person he so chooses and can, if he feels like it, pass on relevant advice although most of that advice is giving in a long-suffering manner amidst a sea of metaphor and hypberole - if you have ever watched a Large Ham in action then that is Veles. He can rant and rave on any given subject and is prone to exaggeration, making everything seem like folly and catastrophe and he lays it on thick. He is incredibly long-winded and will take tangents and give numerous examples, saying what could be said in five words in around five hundred. He is extremely wise as dragons know everything - they do not hoard gold and jewels in the world of Kilarria the way Smaug does in the Hobbit; knowledge is prized. Veles loves nothing more than to learn something new although he would prefer to learn something new about a world in general or philosophy, history, science, language than frivolous nonsense. Veles is an avid reader and is one of the most (or was, prior to his death) the most learned dragons on Travrra. In contradiction to his vagueness in terms of what he says, he rarely uses contractions, coming off as very formal and will refer to people by their title (such as Lady Diamanda, Lioriley's human knight companion instead of just Diamanda and he has not once shortened Lioriley's name to Lior as many others have.) He can be a deadpan snarker though when he has to be but he will never utter an obscenity with the closest to that being 'damn' or 'bloody'. As he has seen so many things in the history of Kilarria, it would be impossible for him not to be jaded and cynical which leads to his biggest failing below.
Veles is racist, or more appropriately, he is specist. Dragons are the oldest beings in Kilarria and he judges all other races to be utterly beneath him - him being in a human body is not going to make up for millenia of behaving that way. The race he hates most are humans because he has met perhaps one example of a human he could stand throughout the course of his life as he has met them many, many times. As a dragon from Travrra, more importantly a Seer, he has been asked for aid many times and has found that the light elves don't really bother asking a dragon for their magic due to how it works and will instead barter for knowledge if there is no other option (light elves are pretty high and mighty too), dwarves are more likely to want material resources or basic informaton and will provide something in return after much dwarvish grumbling and dark elves are the most respectful. Humans demand answers. Demand to be taught a specific magic as if it is their right to know all and that, added to their general attitude in Kilarria (they are prejudiced, believe themselves to be better than all and have a habit of trying to steal magical tomes) then he hates them. So basically, it won't matter what ethnicity or skin colour a person is, if they're human, he'll hate them, judge them, chew them out until they somehow manage to prove that they are slightly better than the typical human. Dark elves are a rather large exception to this rule due to how pure of heart Lioriley is and also due to their plight as outlined in her history as they demonstrate many of the principles Veles likes to rail against.
This is not to say that Veles is incapable of caring. He is quite sexist in that he is more likely to befriend a girl than a boy and believes they are inherently 'better', with 'better' meaning less prone to violence, vulgarity and so on. A young girl in need is liable to catch his attention. Veles does not believe in sugar coating anything but he is liable to be more delicate in his choice of words and tone when dealing with a girl but if he feels they should hear the truth - and he often does - then he'll tell them, despite what others might say against that. Misuse of magic drives him up the wall as he has seen it inflict so much misery on people and because he has been studying it from more or less the moment he hatched. Dragons are incredibly selective in who they teach, putting them through trials where it is not always the outcome of the matter that decides whether or not they will be taught but the qualities displayed: heart, dedication, perseverance, grace in defeat - a dragon looks for those and acts accordingly.
Like most old people, it's very easy to irritate Veles because he sees and hears the same basic arguments and problems over and over and over ad infinitum. This leads him to be irritable, short and will chew someone out at the slightest proclivity. He sneers a great deal when dealing with the young because most of the time that have seldom enough manners and open their mouths without thinking but he has put up with a great deal from Lioriley who is his closest companion and honestly, the bond between them is stronger than that of mentor and teacher after centuries of companionship. From the moment he met her, he knew he would die defending her so that she would save their world again and he was happy to do so, not only because he had seen it, but because he wanted her to survive. He cares greatly for Lioriley and anyone who upsets her or harms her in any way will have to deal with his wrath and will earn themselves a spot on his most hated persons list, a list extensive enough at the best of times. He is physically affectionate with her but will not suffer being touched by others - as a dragon he'd blow fire or whip them with his tail, as a human he'll probably break their nose or try to. Others might see their relationship as odd; Veles does a lot of things that Lioriley protests mightily about, he can be very blunt to her about things but it has to be remembered that Lioriley was very young, very innocent and very naive when they first met. Part of Veles would dearly love for her innocence to remain intact but he has acknowledged that such a thing is impossible and so instead he has tried to point out how harsh the world is so that she is prepared and so that she would be able to go on without him when he died, in part preparing her for his own passing. It's debatable as to how well this approach has worked.
Despite all of this, Veles would not see the world changed for ill or see destruction for the sake of destruction. His methods in getting things done may be questionable but he will do what he must to help, to allow good to thrive, going above the laws of the people and kings, ignoring the petty squabbles to aim for the heart of the issue; he joined Lioriley's quest because he had no desire to see it in the hands of a madman. If he were an idealist rather than a realist that honestly borders on pessimism or fatalism, he'd like to see a world that could be far more innocent but he knows that there are those who will lust for the darker things in life and so that cannot be and it is why when the call is made, that he will always be willing to step in so that the world will remain as peaceful as possible.
Finally, it would be remiss not to mention the great love of his life: sleeping. Sleeping a great deal - as in days at a time is a passtime he enjoys and he is most displeased if he is woken from a slumber, even in a dire emergency. What he will not divulge though, is whether he sleeps so much due to his age, because of the company he is often around or just because he likes to sleep.
abilities/powers:
In terms of abilities, as a red dragon, Veles is capable of fire and lightning magic, both of which he taught to Lioriley. He is also a Seer which I will detail below.
Fire magic:
(these are the same spells as Lioriley only to a much higher level)
æledfýr - flame
bælblys - blaze of fire
edwylm - whirlpool of fire
heáhfýr - flame pillar
additional fire spells
lígbryne – burning of flame
aldrnari dýr – fire beast
brenna lopt – burning sky
ál flánas – burning arrows
Lightning magic:
(these are the same spells as Lioriley only to a much higher level)
heofonfýr - "fire from the heavens"
additional lightning spells
léoma gárwudu – lightning lance
bjartur ljós – bright light
ljós dýr – light beast
þrumði - thunder
beorhtnessa flánas – lightning arrows
Red (as well as gold) dragons on Travrra are able to see into the future with absolute clarity (although in game I am very happy to dial this down) if they so choose to. Veles has seen the entirity of his life many millenia ago as a young dragon and has done nothing to change the course of events as it is his belief that when you meddle with the future, you make it even worse. Veles normally looks into Lioriley's life as she is his charge and the only being he truly cares about, even including the other dragons of Travrra who he was never close to.
Veles can see the future, as previously stated. And, due to Lioriley have a good gut instinct from a young age, he taught her without actually teaching her (as in, no formal lessons such as with her fire and lightning magic) to learn to trust those instincts and to know something was going to happen so she'd be able to prepare. Essentially he performed inception over several hundred years while they were both awake. He's a sneaky bastard like that.
Because Veles is now a human, he is going to have to relearn how to use his magic. The knowledge is still going to be in his head but for all his life, he's had it as a dragon which means it was insanely powerful owing to the fact that he was gigantic. As a dragon he was able to breathe fire with absolute ease but now that will be difficult for him - perhaps even impossible - and so he'll need to learn to channel it correctly.
Additionally, Veles is going to just have to learn a lot in general. How to be bipedal. How to work opposable thumbs. How to negotiate stairs. He can talk fine, he'll be able to write once he gets going (although he speaks a language similar to Old English & Old Norse) but in addition to having to learn how to deal with modern conveniences, he's just going to have to learn a lot of co-ordination in general to get him up and around without making an utter embarrassment of himself.
first person sample:
Veles posts at Il Promenade
Posts Veles replied to at Il Promenade
Dragon sample: first person (from a previous game application)
[Two long plumes of thick, dark smoke cloud the screen and obscure a great deal of what has created them. As it dissipates though, a dragon can be seen. An annoyed looking dragon, deep red, eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as it regards the book before it, looking down at it as it watches words and pictures appear through magic of some means he has not encountered before.
There is what could almost be termed a sigh, more smoke billowing and giant claws nudge at the book before the dragon opens its mouth, not to roar as some might expect, but to speak.]
Lioriley? Lioriley I do blame you for this disturbing aberration. You know well by now the limits of my patience and I find myself truly vexed; I am not difficult to find so come out from wherever you are so we may leave. Immediately.
[A long pause and his head dips lower, eyes just a touch wider to show just how annoyed he is.]
Do not dawdle child, it will not serve you well.
Human sample: first person
[There is a ridiculous degree of fumbling from what looks to be a modern young man from his hooded top as he tries to get the communication device to do what he wants, checking and double checking it before he settles down, looking unspeakably awkward and concerned.]
Whoever has done this to me [and it's not clear what 'this' is but it involves much gesturing to himself] they had best explain why they have done this. I demand to be returned not only to where I previously was but to what I was as well. None of this is close to being dignified and I will not suffer such mortification in silence!
[At the shout, there are bursts of flame and he jumps, shaking his hands as he looks at them with mingled disgust and abject horror.]
This is not what I am, I am repeating this for I do not think you are able to grasp the gravity of the situation and doing such a thing to one of my power and standing. If it is you Mathurin, I have forseen your failure the same way I saw that of your mentor. If it is anyone other than that then there is no place you can hide and no apology or excuse you might make that will spare you from being slowly roasted.
third person sample:
Veles log at Il Promenade
Logs Veles was in at Il Promenade
Dragon sample: third person (from a previous game application)
They were all so young to him and he supposed that they always would be now. Thousands of years old, thousands of years spent gliding through the skies above Travrra and diving into the sea, the icy blast of salt water against his scales as he went chasing down his meals and then clinging to the rocks of the island, looking out to the skies and spending time with others of his kind. That had been the norm, the routine for so many years. The arguments over the futures they would see and what they would mean, things that had him rolling his eyes and departing in annoyance and he knew that even for his kind he was bad tempered; their kind were not so good at getting along and he had long since abandoned his tastes for letting his temper show with a burst of fire magic and instead chose to sleep.
There were those who came to the island too. Fools. The trip to Travrra was a hard one undoubtedly, treacherous too but the arrogance of some of them who came to seek wisdom and teaching simply astounded him. As if reaching the island in one piece was all the accomplishment they needed to gain whatever it was that they sought and the attitude some of them had when they were corrected would have made him laugh if he weren't so insulted by it. Lioriley had changed that. Honestly, he had been amazed she'd managed to arrive upon the island at all, pathetic, pitiful little thing that she was. But she had not truly complained when the tasks had been set before her. Oh of course she had failed but she her determination had spoken to him.
Which was why he found himself in his current situation, attempting to teach the damn girl a lesson and how to use fire magic, sure that back on the island, the other dragons were sniggering away to themselves. Old mad Veles had finally lost the last of his sanity, going away with a little dark elf who had scarcely a clue.
"Heáhfýr*!" The girl cried but it was not so much a pillar as...well, it was rather pathetic. Distracted again, he could tell, her mind on her Knight Alairr. No matter. There were to be no excuses here and if she truly wanted to help her friend and her race and stop this Irial character then she had to master what he taught her and the only way to master that would be through paying attention to what she was doing.
"Lioriley!" He punctuated it with a snort of sooty smoke from his nostrils, lowering his head to glower at the girl who puffed out her cheek and bottom lips as she stared back and her blue lines gave a little burst of colour, indicating that she was annoyed although they were somewhat pale compared to normal. She had to be tired by now. "If you wish to learn this, you will concentrate!"
"I am Veles!"
"No, you are not, I can tell. You must shut out all other distractions."
"But I--"
He cut her off with the raise of a talon, drawing himself up to his full height. "Concentrate." She made a noise and pouted again and he pretended not to notice but sighed anyway and continued on, "If you focus for the next hour or so, we will stop and you may rest and eat."
And again, he pretended not to notice when she beamed and squeaked out a thank you.
*heáhfýr - flame pillar
Human sample: written with him interacting with Lioriley some time into the game
It was like being a hatchling once more. No, he took that back. This was worse than being a hatchling because if he was a hatchling, he would at least be the correct species instead of inhabiting the body of the race he despised above all others. Examining his reflection in the mirror (and what a thing that was, to be able to be inside a building in general) he curled his lip in disgust because this body was still so weak, so unbelievably pitiful and it didn't seem to house nearly as much strength as his normal form had, obviously. At least his mind had not left him yet, he would rather die again than lose his precious knowledge. Sighing, he turned away to dress in the simple clothes Lioriley had helped him to pick.
He hadn't quite mastered all the mulitudes of fastenings available on clothing yet.
Dressed, he padded out of the room, one hand to the wall should his balance fail him – he'd like to see others suddenly take to being bipedal after thousands of years – because although Lioriley rarely laughed at his failures, it was still the height of personal affront to suddenly trip and sprawl on the floor like some toddler.
In the kitchen, Lioriley, lines bright in the darkness, smiled encouragingly as he took his seat at the table, the smell of food finally reaching him - his sense were so incredibly dull now, that and his ability to regulate his body temperature was utterly compromised and he heaved a sigh as he picked up the knife and fork. At least he was coping with opposable thumbs at last.
"You're getting better," Lioriley said encouragingly when it finally became clear that Veles was falling back into what had become normal here which meant being silent and remote, stuck in his own head as he tried to gain some dignity once more.
"I do not wish to be 'better' Lioriley," he muttered sourly but he accepted the food when she presented it, noting that as always, she did not eat any herself. It was absurd but he noticed her eating habits more now as his had fallen into a predictable pattern of three meals a day rather than gorging himself on raw whale meat whenever he could, sleeping it off after. The role reversal still troubled him too - he had been her teacher and now she had to be even more than that to him, trying to guide him through having this body even when it was still so different to hers.
"Well you're going to have to make do until we can figure out how to turn you back," he scoffed and she rolled her eyes, muttering his name under her breath, "or until we leave."
It was not a whimper of despair he made, he was not capable of such pathetic sounds but it was perilously close to it and he did not complain or jerk away when she laid a comforting hand on his arm. At least she had stopped laughing and declaring him 'cute' and 'adorable' and whatever else flitted through her head, he needed a companion in his solidarity and there was no other he could trust here.
"I will endure," he said grandly.
"Just eat your eggs Veles."
He did so only because he was hungry and because she would look incredibly put out if he did not, not for any other reason.
case no: Random/no preference
name: Mhairi
are you over 18?: Yes
personal dw: deathwailart
email/msn/aim/plurk/etc: email: eyelinerkisses@hotmail.com||aim: deathwailart
characters in abax: n/a
in character information.
name: Veles - no surnames where he comes from
age: 7752
sex: Male
race: Dragon; he'll be turned into a human for this game (and will not be amused by that; height and weight below given for the human form)
height: 6'4"
weight: 154lbs
cause of death:Killed by Mathurin's magic
canon point: During the second war where he died saving Lioriley like a big scaly champ||end of written history
previous cr: None except his existing canon with Lioriley
physical appearance: As a dragon, Veles looked like this, an actual gargantuan red dragon with a tremendous wingspan - if anyone can see into his mind etc, this is what they will see.
For Abax though, rather than being shrunk, he now looks human. Tall, standing at around 6'4", broad shoulders, narrow hips and around average in terms of overall muscle mass, perhaps with a tendency to come across as somewhat gangly. Dark eyes and dark hair, around shoulder length because fantasy dictates that men wear their hair long and he is from a fantasy world, also fairly pale, no significant markings or tattoos whatsoever.
For the game, his PB will be Francois Arnaud.
world information:
General world info on Kilarria - all of the world information that pertains to Lioriley will pertain to Veles but I have elaborated on Travrra Island below.
Veles comes from an island populated solely by dragons known as Travrra - there is a visual reference here where the seas are choppy and dangerous to navigate as well as it being rather remote in terms of other lands. The dragons can often be seen flying in and out of the sea, hunting sea beasts and whales, their main source of food and the rocks at the front where the sea hits the shores are the safest way to get on and off the island as all other areas are a straight climb up huge mountains that only have the sparse toe holds of the younger dragons.
history:
The world of Kilarria was home to many races, living peacefully amongst each other for thousands of years. The light elves in the north, surrounded by villages of dwarves, fae and gremlins. The humans in the east along with the nymphs and half-elves, the orcs and trolls in the west and the dragons inhabiting most of the south. Within the northern region though, unknown to most and dreaded by all as disgusting creatures of forgotten lore, were the dark elves. Surprisingly enough this race of dark skinned, white haired elves were extremely good-natured, keeping to themselves for a long, long time. They were nothing but myths until they suddenly began building a kingdom of their own.[[Most of his history is a straight rewording from Lioriley's because before he teamed up with her, he really did very little as dragon elders study, debate, practice magic, debate, eat and sleep. That is all.]]
-- fromsaeptuose
Veles was hatched on the island known as Travrra Island, a Seer dragon and one of many that populated it, thousands of years old. A red dragon, his speciality was fire magic although he had knowledge of all and, being a Seer, if he focussed hard enough on an individual, he had the ability to see their future. The majority of his life was spent on the Island with the other dragons that populated it. Being a dragon, a great majority of his time was spent hunting for fish, sleeping and being irritable as most dragons typically are. Life seemed set to continue on in that fashion, until a young dark elf arrived on the Island, searching for help.
This interruption was named Lioriley.
Lioriley, a young dark elf, sought the aid of the dragons but dragons, being dragons, were unwilling to aid her without a price. That price involved the completion of tasks and trials, set to determine whether or not the person completing them was worthy of the information they sought to gain and that they would go to any lengths for it. The quests were challenging and Veles watched them with mild, amused detachment as the girl failed task after task but he was struck by the fact that not once did she give up. Eventually, pitying her and tired of her constant failures, Veles went to her and told her what she needed to know: that Irial wished for the light and dark elves to destroy one another and had taken on the guise of a dark elf to do such a thing. With the knowledge that she didn't stand a chance on her own, he accompanied her off on her journey to save her people and stop the brewing war but he did not do so lightly; he believes that anything another wants must be earned, hence why Lioriley was pushed so hard to gain help from the dragon.
That and he didn't want an insane lunatic with a lust for power taking over the world as there were always ripples from an event such as Irial had planned and someday, it would affect the dragons of Travrra Island.
Off Veles set with Lioriley, looking to find a book Irial sought, hidden deep in the mountains Maligrae was a book of powerful spells that could bring all the nations under Irial's control. Unfortunately, Irial, still disguised as a dark elf, had taken the opportunity of the war to sneak into Maligrae to steal the book undisturbed. It was during this time that Lioriley's other companion, a dark elf knight by the name of Alairr who had aided her before she set off to Travrra and had remained behind to track Irial faced off with the warlock. Alairr was overcome by Irial although he did manage to wound the warlock but the knight was left to die before Lioriley and Veles could come to his aid. Alairr's last actions were not in vain - he had wounded the warlock enough to allow Lioriley and Veles a chance to stop Irial from taking the book from the mountains.
The ensuing fight was vicious and very nearly lost and Lioriley was badly wounded but so was Irial so the parties retreated to heal and regroup. Once the young woman had recovered, Veles accompanied her to bury her friend and went to tell the king of what had occurred; another possible reason for Veles to tag along with the girl, to lend her the gravitas she really was rather lacking in. Whilst the king still retained a degree of skepticism, he agreed to station some soldiers and mages to guard the mountains as Veles followed Lioriley to attack Irial for a second time.
War raged in the elven cities and for a time it looked as if Alairr's sacrifice and all of Lioriley's hard work might be in vain as Veles headed into the mountains with Lioriley once more, intent on stopping him before he could fulfill his plan. They arrived just in time, Veles pinning him down in the main chamber as he held the book, Lioriley using a powerful spell from it to finish him off just in time. When Lioriley ended up in a coma due to this, rather than leave, Veles remained and watched over her, grumbling all the while - Maligrae is a cold place and he was used to being far warmer than that.
Once she awoke, she returned to Travrra along with Veles to hone her magical abilities and they spent five decades doing this because Veles had a ridiculous amount of knowledge to pass on to her and because he'd honestly have missed her companionship if they had parted ways. And because he'd already seen all of this happening before years ago. He taught her not only magic but to trust her instinct and normal combat training so that she would be like a knight of Maligrae, the same as her fallen companion Alairr.
But not all was at peace.
For fifty years, a light elf by the name of Mathurin had disguised himself as a human, blending with his surroundings – he was no normal light elf though as he had once been a student of Irial, the man Lioriley and Veles had defeated and now that Irial had failed, it was time for Mathurin to take centre stage. It was at this time that a world-wide treaty was being discussed in Kilarria between the rulers as before there had only been one for the elf kingdoms who had been at one another's throats. Mathurin killed and took the place of the human ambassador who had been sent along with the king and before a final decision on the treaty could be made, the light elf king was murdered. The world plunged into chaos ith this action and light elves and dark elves found themselves drawing battle lines once more, this time with the humans getting involved.
Even for Veles, this war was something new, uncharted. The humans and elves had equal strength and numbers and so a centuries long feud began, the younger generation being handed the bitterness, hatred and lust for conflict from their predecessors and hundreds of thousands lost their lives, soldier and civilian alike. The human had been assumed to be dead but Lioriley knew better, as did her mentor.
Veles agreed to help her (as much as Veles agreed to do anything) and they set off once more to find out the truth of the matter where they came upon the Lady Diamanda, a soldier who had learned to fight since she could wield a sword. She wanted an end to the bloodshed as did Lioriley but she did not hold out much hope. Diamanda guiding them through the battlefield and to the light elf city and it was there that Lioriley first met Mathurin as he spoke to the newly appointed king, wanting to curry favour, joining as a ranked captain in the war. All this was so he could access the tome Irial had failed to retrieve giving him ancient magic to overthrow all the warring races with little difficulty to allow him to rule supreme. It was here that Veles thought that the true nature of humans had been revealed – Diamanda betrayed Lioriley and Veles, siding with Mathurin. She changed her loyalties in the hopes of making a bargain to stop the violence and although he had his suspicions, it di not take long for her to become a confidante to him. His plan was to climb the ranks, murder the king and ascend to the throne with this new magic he would possess.
Veles – who had remained abreast of news but far enough away that his presence would not cause undue unrest – was met with a devastated Lioriley who came to ask his advice yet again. Veles of course began one of his speeches about the nature of humans, that this betrayal had always been coming from a race that could never be trusted; he even went so far as to tell her that trusting others was the biggest mistake Lioriley made. But there was a method to this madness. It made Lioriley angry. Angry enough that she made her way through the armies, human and elf alike, to reach Diamanda. Then tragedy struck – Diamanda revealed the true nature of her perceived betrayal to Lioriley but Mathurin was also there and at the news of this double cross, he wanted to destroy Diamanda before she could put an end to his plans. Mathurin had in fact become obsessed with Diamanda and had planned to make her his wife when he ruled over all of Kilarria because in his mind such a union between elf and human would have the population on their knees before him in worship. That would not happen now and so they fought until Diamanda was slain.
To avenge Diamanda, Veles joined Lioriley to do battle against Mathurin as history repeated itself with Mathurin holding the tome as Irial had except he had a chance to use it again and in this battle, Veles fell to protect Lioriley, his last act in a long and well-lived life.
personality:
As a dragon, even in human form, Veles is a big arrogant smug bastard. He is a walking and talking Omniscient Council of Vagueness who can see into the future of any event of person he so chooses and can, if he feels like it, pass on relevant advice although most of that advice is giving in a long-suffering manner amidst a sea of metaphor and hypberole - if you have ever watched a Large Ham in action then that is Veles. He can rant and rave on any given subject and is prone to exaggeration, making everything seem like folly and catastrophe and he lays it on thick. He is incredibly long-winded and will take tangents and give numerous examples, saying what could be said in five words in around five hundred. He is extremely wise as dragons know everything - they do not hoard gold and jewels in the world of Kilarria the way Smaug does in the Hobbit; knowledge is prized. Veles loves nothing more than to learn something new although he would prefer to learn something new about a world in general or philosophy, history, science, language than frivolous nonsense. Veles is an avid reader and is one of the most (or was, prior to his death) the most learned dragons on Travrra. In contradiction to his vagueness in terms of what he says, he rarely uses contractions, coming off as very formal and will refer to people by their title (such as Lady Diamanda, Lioriley's human knight companion instead of just Diamanda and he has not once shortened Lioriley's name to Lior as many others have.) He can be a deadpan snarker though when he has to be but he will never utter an obscenity with the closest to that being 'damn' or 'bloody'. As he has seen so many things in the history of Kilarria, it would be impossible for him not to be jaded and cynical which leads to his biggest failing below.
Veles is racist, or more appropriately, he is specist. Dragons are the oldest beings in Kilarria and he judges all other races to be utterly beneath him - him being in a human body is not going to make up for millenia of behaving that way. The race he hates most are humans because he has met perhaps one example of a human he could stand throughout the course of his life as he has met them many, many times. As a dragon from Travrra, more importantly a Seer, he has been asked for aid many times and has found that the light elves don't really bother asking a dragon for their magic due to how it works and will instead barter for knowledge if there is no other option (light elves are pretty high and mighty too), dwarves are more likely to want material resources or basic informaton and will provide something in return after much dwarvish grumbling and dark elves are the most respectful. Humans demand answers. Demand to be taught a specific magic as if it is their right to know all and that, added to their general attitude in Kilarria (they are prejudiced, believe themselves to be better than all and have a habit of trying to steal magical tomes) then he hates them. So basically, it won't matter what ethnicity or skin colour a person is, if they're human, he'll hate them, judge them, chew them out until they somehow manage to prove that they are slightly better than the typical human. Dark elves are a rather large exception to this rule due to how pure of heart Lioriley is and also due to their plight as outlined in her history as they demonstrate many of the principles Veles likes to rail against.
This is not to say that Veles is incapable of caring. He is quite sexist in that he is more likely to befriend a girl than a boy and believes they are inherently 'better', with 'better' meaning less prone to violence, vulgarity and so on. A young girl in need is liable to catch his attention. Veles does not believe in sugar coating anything but he is liable to be more delicate in his choice of words and tone when dealing with a girl but if he feels they should hear the truth - and he often does - then he'll tell them, despite what others might say against that. Misuse of magic drives him up the wall as he has seen it inflict so much misery on people and because he has been studying it from more or less the moment he hatched. Dragons are incredibly selective in who they teach, putting them through trials where it is not always the outcome of the matter that decides whether or not they will be taught but the qualities displayed: heart, dedication, perseverance, grace in defeat - a dragon looks for those and acts accordingly.
Like most old people, it's very easy to irritate Veles because he sees and hears the same basic arguments and problems over and over and over ad infinitum. This leads him to be irritable, short and will chew someone out at the slightest proclivity. He sneers a great deal when dealing with the young because most of the time that have seldom enough manners and open their mouths without thinking but he has put up with a great deal from Lioriley who is his closest companion and honestly, the bond between them is stronger than that of mentor and teacher after centuries of companionship. From the moment he met her, he knew he would die defending her so that she would save their world again and he was happy to do so, not only because he had seen it, but because he wanted her to survive. He cares greatly for Lioriley and anyone who upsets her or harms her in any way will have to deal with his wrath and will earn themselves a spot on his most hated persons list, a list extensive enough at the best of times. He is physically affectionate with her but will not suffer being touched by others - as a dragon he'd blow fire or whip them with his tail, as a human he'll probably break their nose or try to. Others might see their relationship as odd; Veles does a lot of things that Lioriley protests mightily about, he can be very blunt to her about things but it has to be remembered that Lioriley was very young, very innocent and very naive when they first met. Part of Veles would dearly love for her innocence to remain intact but he has acknowledged that such a thing is impossible and so instead he has tried to point out how harsh the world is so that she is prepared and so that she would be able to go on without him when he died, in part preparing her for his own passing. It's debatable as to how well this approach has worked.
Despite all of this, Veles would not see the world changed for ill or see destruction for the sake of destruction. His methods in getting things done may be questionable but he will do what he must to help, to allow good to thrive, going above the laws of the people and kings, ignoring the petty squabbles to aim for the heart of the issue; he joined Lioriley's quest because he had no desire to see it in the hands of a madman. If he were an idealist rather than a realist that honestly borders on pessimism or fatalism, he'd like to see a world that could be far more innocent but he knows that there are those who will lust for the darker things in life and so that cannot be and it is why when the call is made, that he will always be willing to step in so that the world will remain as peaceful as possible.
Finally, it would be remiss not to mention the great love of his life: sleeping. Sleeping a great deal - as in days at a time is a passtime he enjoys and he is most displeased if he is woken from a slumber, even in a dire emergency. What he will not divulge though, is whether he sleeps so much due to his age, because of the company he is often around or just because he likes to sleep.
abilities/powers:
In terms of abilities, as a red dragon, Veles is capable of fire and lightning magic, both of which he taught to Lioriley. He is also a Seer which I will detail below.
Fire magic:
(these are the same spells as Lioriley only to a much higher level)
æledfýr - flame
bælblys - blaze of fire
edwylm - whirlpool of fire
heáhfýr - flame pillar
additional fire spells
lígbryne – burning of flame
aldrnari dýr – fire beast
brenna lopt – burning sky
ál flánas – burning arrows
Lightning magic:
(these are the same spells as Lioriley only to a much higher level)
heofonfýr - "fire from the heavens"
additional lightning spells
léoma gárwudu – lightning lance
bjartur ljós – bright light
ljós dýr – light beast
þrumði - thunder
beorhtnessa flánas – lightning arrows
Red (as well as gold) dragons on Travrra are able to see into the future with absolute clarity (although in game I am very happy to dial this down) if they so choose to. Veles has seen the entirity of his life many millenia ago as a young dragon and has done nothing to change the course of events as it is his belief that when you meddle with the future, you make it even worse. Veles normally looks into Lioriley's life as she is his charge and the only being he truly cares about, even including the other dragons of Travrra who he was never close to.
Veles can see the future, as previously stated. And, due to Lioriley have a good gut instinct from a young age, he taught her without actually teaching her (as in, no formal lessons such as with her fire and lightning magic) to learn to trust those instincts and to know something was going to happen so she'd be able to prepare. Essentially he performed inception over several hundred years while they were both awake. He's a sneaky bastard like that.
Because Veles is now a human, he is going to have to relearn how to use his magic. The knowledge is still going to be in his head but for all his life, he's had it as a dragon which means it was insanely powerful owing to the fact that he was gigantic. As a dragon he was able to breathe fire with absolute ease but now that will be difficult for him - perhaps even impossible - and so he'll need to learn to channel it correctly.
Additionally, Veles is going to just have to learn a lot in general. How to be bipedal. How to work opposable thumbs. How to negotiate stairs. He can talk fine, he'll be able to write once he gets going (although he speaks a language similar to Old English & Old Norse) but in addition to having to learn how to deal with modern conveniences, he's just going to have to learn a lot of co-ordination in general to get him up and around without making an utter embarrassment of himself.
first person sample:
Veles posts at Il Promenade
Posts Veles replied to at Il Promenade
Dragon sample: first person (from a previous game application)
[Two long plumes of thick, dark smoke cloud the screen and obscure a great deal of what has created them. As it dissipates though, a dragon can be seen. An annoyed looking dragon, deep red, eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as it regards the book before it, looking down at it as it watches words and pictures appear through magic of some means he has not encountered before.
There is what could almost be termed a sigh, more smoke billowing and giant claws nudge at the book before the dragon opens its mouth, not to roar as some might expect, but to speak.]
Lioriley? Lioriley I do blame you for this disturbing aberration. You know well by now the limits of my patience and I find myself truly vexed; I am not difficult to find so come out from wherever you are so we may leave. Immediately.
[A long pause and his head dips lower, eyes just a touch wider to show just how annoyed he is.]
Do not dawdle child, it will not serve you well.
Human sample: first person
[There is a ridiculous degree of fumbling from what looks to be a modern young man from his hooded top as he tries to get the communication device to do what he wants, checking and double checking it before he settles down, looking unspeakably awkward and concerned.]
Whoever has done this to me [and it's not clear what 'this' is but it involves much gesturing to himself] they had best explain why they have done this. I demand to be returned not only to where I previously was but to what I was as well. None of this is close to being dignified and I will not suffer such mortification in silence!
[At the shout, there are bursts of flame and he jumps, shaking his hands as he looks at them with mingled disgust and abject horror.]
This is not what I am, I am repeating this for I do not think you are able to grasp the gravity of the situation and doing such a thing to one of my power and standing. If it is you Mathurin, I have forseen your failure the same way I saw that of your mentor. If it is anyone other than that then there is no place you can hide and no apology or excuse you might make that will spare you from being slowly roasted.
third person sample:
Veles log at Il Promenade
Logs Veles was in at Il Promenade
Dragon sample: third person (from a previous game application)
They were all so young to him and he supposed that they always would be now. Thousands of years old, thousands of years spent gliding through the skies above Travrra and diving into the sea, the icy blast of salt water against his scales as he went chasing down his meals and then clinging to the rocks of the island, looking out to the skies and spending time with others of his kind. That had been the norm, the routine for so many years. The arguments over the futures they would see and what they would mean, things that had him rolling his eyes and departing in annoyance and he knew that even for his kind he was bad tempered; their kind were not so good at getting along and he had long since abandoned his tastes for letting his temper show with a burst of fire magic and instead chose to sleep.
There were those who came to the island too. Fools. The trip to Travrra was a hard one undoubtedly, treacherous too but the arrogance of some of them who came to seek wisdom and teaching simply astounded him. As if reaching the island in one piece was all the accomplishment they needed to gain whatever it was that they sought and the attitude some of them had when they were corrected would have made him laugh if he weren't so insulted by it. Lioriley had changed that. Honestly, he had been amazed she'd managed to arrive upon the island at all, pathetic, pitiful little thing that she was. But she had not truly complained when the tasks had been set before her. Oh of course she had failed but she her determination had spoken to him.
Which was why he found himself in his current situation, attempting to teach the damn girl a lesson and how to use fire magic, sure that back on the island, the other dragons were sniggering away to themselves. Old mad Veles had finally lost the last of his sanity, going away with a little dark elf who had scarcely a clue.
"Heáhfýr*!" The girl cried but it was not so much a pillar as...well, it was rather pathetic. Distracted again, he could tell, her mind on her Knight Alairr. No matter. There were to be no excuses here and if she truly wanted to help her friend and her race and stop this Irial character then she had to master what he taught her and the only way to master that would be through paying attention to what she was doing.
"Lioriley!" He punctuated it with a snort of sooty smoke from his nostrils, lowering his head to glower at the girl who puffed out her cheek and bottom lips as she stared back and her blue lines gave a little burst of colour, indicating that she was annoyed although they were somewhat pale compared to normal. She had to be tired by now. "If you wish to learn this, you will concentrate!"
"I am Veles!"
"No, you are not, I can tell. You must shut out all other distractions."
"But I--"
He cut her off with the raise of a talon, drawing himself up to his full height. "Concentrate." She made a noise and pouted again and he pretended not to notice but sighed anyway and continued on, "If you focus for the next hour or so, we will stop and you may rest and eat."
And again, he pretended not to notice when she beamed and squeaked out a thank you.
*heáhfýr - flame pillar
Human sample: written with him interacting with Lioriley some time into the game
It was like being a hatchling once more. No, he took that back. This was worse than being a hatchling because if he was a hatchling, he would at least be the correct species instead of inhabiting the body of the race he despised above all others. Examining his reflection in the mirror (and what a thing that was, to be able to be inside a building in general) he curled his lip in disgust because this body was still so weak, so unbelievably pitiful and it didn't seem to house nearly as much strength as his normal form had, obviously. At least his mind had not left him yet, he would rather die again than lose his precious knowledge. Sighing, he turned away to dress in the simple clothes Lioriley had helped him to pick.
He hadn't quite mastered all the mulitudes of fastenings available on clothing yet.
Dressed, he padded out of the room, one hand to the wall should his balance fail him – he'd like to see others suddenly take to being bipedal after thousands of years – because although Lioriley rarely laughed at his failures, it was still the height of personal affront to suddenly trip and sprawl on the floor like some toddler.
In the kitchen, Lioriley, lines bright in the darkness, smiled encouragingly as he took his seat at the table, the smell of food finally reaching him - his sense were so incredibly dull now, that and his ability to regulate his body temperature was utterly compromised and he heaved a sigh as he picked up the knife and fork. At least he was coping with opposable thumbs at last.
"You're getting better," Lioriley said encouragingly when it finally became clear that Veles was falling back into what had become normal here which meant being silent and remote, stuck in his own head as he tried to gain some dignity once more.
"I do not wish to be 'better' Lioriley," he muttered sourly but he accepted the food when she presented it, noting that as always, she did not eat any herself. It was absurd but he noticed her eating habits more now as his had fallen into a predictable pattern of three meals a day rather than gorging himself on raw whale meat whenever he could, sleeping it off after. The role reversal still troubled him too - he had been her teacher and now she had to be even more than that to him, trying to guide him through having this body even when it was still so different to hers.
"Well you're going to have to make do until we can figure out how to turn you back," he scoffed and she rolled her eyes, muttering his name under her breath, "or until we leave."
It was not a whimper of despair he made, he was not capable of such pathetic sounds but it was perilously close to it and he did not complain or jerk away when she laid a comforting hand on his arm. At least she had stopped laughing and declaring him 'cute' and 'adorable' and whatever else flitted through her head, he needed a companion in his solidarity and there was no other he could trust here.
"I will endure," he said grandly.
"Just eat your eggs Veles."
He did so only because he was hungry and because she would look incredibly put out if he did not, not for any other reason.
case no: Random/no preference
