Description
A sturdy dwarf glares back in your direction as he realizes that you're
looking at him.Raven black hair coiled in a tight braid and a heavy thick
black beard frame a craggy face that is well worn and heavily wrinkled.Two
small coal black eyes peer out from underneath thick black eyebrows and a
slash of red is all that you see of his lips hiding beneath his black beard
and mustache. As you continue to look at this dwarf, you notice his clothing
and armor are well-worn but clean and serviceable. Across his back you see
the head of a mace sticking out and strapped to his waist is the scabbard for
a sword. As you make your down to his hands, you notice most strangley that
the back of his hands are covered with intricate designs. His right hand has
seven stars tattooed superimposed over some type of shape. It looks kind of
like a boat, but with no sails.On the back of his left hand is a tattoo of
a hammer and sword crossed with a rune beneath them. Finally, you notice
that,
Role
Lapse in Judgement
Added Tue Nov 21 17:44:30 2006 at level 51:
Astinax trudged through the void on his way to the past and made his way north through the canyons. For some strange reason,
the Void and the canyon north of it always provided solace or a place of meditation when it was needed. More than likely he found
the void and the canyon to the north strangely familiar since this was where he first encountered Thera, either way, Astinax needed
a place to reflect.
As Astinax set his pack on the ground and leaned back against the canyon's wall, he thought over the last couple months. Though
it pained him greatly to ask the Watcher for banishment from the Fortress, he knew it was the right and only thing to do. Astinax
still regretted his actions that led up to his lapse in judgement and the loss of his honor but he was determined to use them as a
tool to refocus himself on the war against the dark and to regain his honor. Furthermore, taking the words of his Captain, Zambirro
to heart, he was determined to be a Guiding Light to the realm.
With that in mind, he was heartened that so many of his former brothers and sisters in the Fortress had taken notice of his
actions. It especially gladdened him that that the Council wanted him to be readmitted. However, he realized that the Lords of
Light might find it more difficult then his brothers or the council to move past his transgression and readmit him into the Fortress.
As he sat with his back against the canyon wall, he vowed he would not rest until his honor was regained and his example shown
as a guiding light to the realm.
Starblazer
Added Sat Oct 14 19:49:40 2006 at level 34:
Though overjoyed at his inclusion within the Fortress as a Squire, Astinax
finds himself more and more ill at ease with himself. He feels as if the
Lord Trabryn has found fault with him and realizes that more than likely, he
is not meant to follow the Indigo Triangle.
That being the case, Astinax ponders what to do. Can one pray to a god who
has not yet come, whose exploits have not yet been documented, whose divinity
has not yet been made known? Unsure of how to proceed, Astinax renews his
dedication to his war and his learning within the Fortress, but his lack of
divine guidance impacts him in his battles.
After reviewing a fight he had had to retreat from, Astinax realizes that the
lack of divine guidance has begun to take its toll, his strikes are without
confidence and his prayers lack conviction. Realizing that he must do
something, Astinax, decides that maybe it is possible for the Starblazer to
hear his prayers from the past.
The Pantheon
Added Sun Oct 1 20:35:53 2006 at level 24:
As he wonders Thera, Astinax is disturb by what he sees of the pantheon. No
longer do the Dwarven Captain, the Heavenly Warlord, the Highland Soulforge,
the Noldarian Smith nor the Divine Smith walk the lands. Nor has the
Builder, the Navigator or the Starblazer stepped forward to lend their
prescence to the stars.
Uncertain how to proceed, Astinax finally decides to remain dedicated to his
path and has pledged himself to Trabryn. However, his talk with Trabryn has
left him wanting. He feels as if he somehow disappointed the Lord of the
Indigo Triangle and wonders if Trabryn's sense of Order is at odds with his
own dedication to light's war with the dark.
Uncertain how to proceed, Astinax, renews his dedication to his war and
decides to seek out the fabled Fortress of childhood stories. But as he does
so, he wonders if he can find a place within the Indigo Triangle or will he
be forced to blaze his own path among the stars.
A constellation
Added Sat Sep 30 07:38:55 2006 at level 21:
Astinax found it truly fascinating. As he continued to wonder around Thera
and gaining more understanding of the political and religious dimensions of
the era that he was he, he slowly began to realize that he was walking the
realms with some of the myths of history.
It really struck home for him one night as he gazed up at the constellations
and realized that where there had always been an starless vacuum in the
night's sky was now filled with the constellation of Corlaan.
A tear slowly trickled down out of the corner of his right eye as he remember
the tales his Gran would tell of the great sacrifice the Acolytes would make
in his past but he figured in this era's future. Of how, with the Fortress
hobbled to its knees by betrayal, the darkness within the lands had completed
some dark necromantic spell that would have enslaved all the light had it not
been for the Acolytes' supreme sacrifice.
Instead, the Acolytes, and with them the Lord of Archons, had perished so
that those who follow the light, would not face enslavement, but only
banishment to another realm in the universe.
Dedication (part 2)
Added Mon Sep 25 05:35:54 2006 at level 11:
Long ago in another age, he thought to himself, "Did I no dedicate me self to
eradicatin deh grip o' deh dread empire from deh uni'verse? Is that fight no
still 'ere in dis 'ere age? Who be knowing wat ken 'appen ehh? Mehbe me ken
change deh corse o' time?"
And with that last thought, and a chuckle to himself, Astinax went looking
for the lord who held sway over dedication.
Dedication
Added Mon Sep 25 05:33:21 2006 at level 11:
As Astinax wandered the realms he saw that the stories were all true. The
Fortress still existed and was made up of Marans and Acolytes and they
struggled against the on-coming darkness of the Empire, Scions and other
dark-hearted fellows. The twisted blood-tribunal still adjucated the law and
that the battle-ragers still fought their bloody war against magic. It was
like he was a child listening to his grand dam's stories all over again.
After spending days and weeks exploring the realm and especially the void
trying to find a way back to his time, Astinax realized that he was stuck
here in this day and age. For a time he despaired and grew despondent.
One night however, as he stared up at the pantheon of the gods depicted in
the night's constellations, he realized that though the names were different,
the gods were still the same. They still held sway over courage and honor,
dedication and justice.And as he continued to stare at the night's sky he
realized that though the time and place might be different, there was still a
fight to be fought out there.
A new day
Added Sat Sep 16 21:31:10 2006 at level 8:
Astinax floated in a starless void for a time unconscious and unaware of
where and when he was. Finally he awoke to his surroundings wondering if
this was where dwarves went when they failed to find the Stone's Embrace.
Nothing could be more miserable he thought, than to spend the rest of
eternity staring at nothing.
Just as he had begun to prepare himself for staring at an eternity of
nothing, three adventurers came striding through the starless void from one
direction and exiting it in another. Speachless and amazed, Astinax stared
at where they exited for awhile wondering where or what had happened to him.
Finally, he steeled himself and stepped through the void and found himself in
another world. Amazed, he followed the three adventurers until he came upon a
small village named Galadon.
It was amazing, Astinax thought to himself, he had some how gone back in time
he realized, there was no electricity, no hyper drives, no fusion reactors,
nothing. He was someplace way back in the mists of time. And then he put
two and two together, a village called Galadon, meant he was on Thera. The
mythical, fabled Thera.The planet the Light was forced to abandon eons ago
and the planet that the Great Fleet had been about to launch the final
assault to free from the grip of the Empire.
An end.
Added Sat Sep 16 21:06:51 2006 at level 8:
Astinax strode across the bridge of the BattleCruiser Hammersong, pleased
with himself and his crew. Shortly the great fleet would begin its ponderous
move forward through the warp point and what would hopefully be the last
great fleet action of the war would begin.
More importantly the Hammersong would be in the vanguard of the attack,
leading the forces of light into the black cauldron and against the Empire.
The thought pleased him greatly. For too long the light had been absent from
Thera, and if all went as planned, the Great Fleet would begin, and the
Hammersong with it, what would be initial blows in the final fight to free
Thera from the darkness of the Empire forever.
***Hours Later***
Astinax gripped his armrest as the Hammersong lumbered forward towards the
warp point. The signal had just arrived from the Admiral aboard the Talon of
the Phoenix to initiate the attack. The Hammersong would be the first
through the warp point and Astinax thought it only fitting that a Dwarf would
lead the Light's attack into the Empire's final stronghold.
Astinax felt the now familiar stretching of time and reality as the
Hammersong made transit through the warp point, but as the Hammersong exited
the warp transit, he noticed something terribly wrong. Instead of jumping
into a type 4 star system with a singular yellow G planet, he had jumped into
a system with a cavernous black hole. As the Hammersong was pulled into its
cavernous maw, Astinax quickly sent courier drones back through the warp
point warning the great fleet that something had gone terribly wrong.
As the Hammersong began to stretch and come apart, and he himself began to
stretch his final thoughts were that it was unfortunate he would never strike
another blow against the Empire again.