Post by texaswatermelon on Oct 7, 2007 8:00:30 GMT -8
.__{{T H E Writer
.Name. TexasWatermelon
.Age. 16
.Activity. I'm on Sundays through Tuesdays every week, Wednesdays through Saturdays are iffy, but I keep up with my stuff.
.Experience. I've been RPing for about 8 months now, improving at a rapid rate. I've been writing since I knew how. Description and dialogue are my thing... character depth is good, but I'm working to make it better.
.Contact Info. Check my profile, you can email me or PM me or IM me. I'm pretty friendly, just let me know who you are. ;D
.__{{T H E Character
.Name. Xaxus Merwhyn Sorr
.Nickname. Generally, Syph of the same rank address each other using whole first names, or whole names when addressing Syph of a higher rank, but when dealing with mortals, Xaxus allows them to call him Xax for short.
.Age. Mortal for 32 years, Syph for 126, collectively for 156 years
.Birthday. Syph aren't born, they're made. Because of this, they have no birthday, nor is it likely they would celebrate it if they did. Most Syph have been around so long that they don’t even remember their birthdays from their previous lives.
Race: Xaxus is of the race known as Syph- strange fawn-like creatures that act as corruptors. A Syph's sole job is to interact with the other races, using any means of destruction and discord to convince a perfectly good person to commit some crime and sign away their soul. Each soul gathered goes into the Puhl, a vast source of energy from which the Syph draw their power. Syph are not incredibly strong creatures, but instead use their quick wit, swiftness, and magic of all arts to achieve their goals. If the Puhl somehow becomes low, every Syph suffers from a loss of magical abilities and weakness until the Puhl is restored to full level. Syph are immortal creatures, however they are not actually born. Each Syph is given a quota at the time of his or her creation: a certain number of souls he or she must collect to be able to advance in rank. A Syph is never aware of its exact quota, and only when they finally advance do they know they've reached it. When a Syph reaches its quota, the last person that they corrupt takes its place among the lower ranks, becoming a new Syph entirely. Because of this, Syph are soulless creatures and feel no shame or remorse for what they do. As a Syph advances in rank, the importance or status of the people they corrupt increases, as does the purity of the soul and difficulty of corruption. It is said that the only way a Syph of the highest rank can be released from the world and reclaim their soul from the Puhl is to corrupt a creature of pure innocence; an infant child who has yet to commit a sin. Because this is such a difficult task and because high-ranking Syph usually enjoy great power, many of them refrain from attempting it, and only a few instances have been recorded in which a Syph has actually been freed. Syph have the ability to sense the aura of a person, or more specifically the amount of purity within them, which helps them pick out their targets. Once they've corrupted a person, they use a special dagger to draw blood (it's become custom to make a slice on the palm of the hand), which draws the soul out and sends it to the Puhl. The person remains alive and in tact (just soulless) unless they are one of the few that become a new Syph.
Allegiance: Order of Lumen, believe it or not
Profession/Rank: Within the Order of Lumen, Xax is merely a Private. Among the Syph however, Xax has reached the second level of corruption. Known as an Agent, he now corrupts the wealthy, important members of small organizations, or business owners. He was promoted only three years ago, and figures he has a long way to go before his next advancement.
.Hair. Xax has virtually no body hair. What little hair he does have (underneath his horns, a small patch on top of his head, and a small patch on his chin) is long and stringy, a brownish red color.
.Eyes. Xax's eyes are a very light, mystifying blue, usually narrowed in thought as he watches the mortals around him.
.Physical Description. All Syph look about the same, save the markings that cover their bodies. Xax looks somewhat like a faun, with the legs and hooves of a faun and the upper body of a small man. His thick skin is a grayish blue color, and acts as an armor of sorts if he gets into trouble. There are tribal-like markings on his chest, arms, and forehead. His face is small and pointy. Atop his head are two black horns, much like that of a ram. Inside of his mouth are two rows of brilliantly white teeth, and one odd black tongue.
.Picture.
.Celebrity Portrayal. Doug Jones, or the guy who play's the Faun in Pan's Labyrinth
.__{{T H E Thoughts
.Likes. In general, of course, Syph are very fond of discord, evil, and danger (as long as it poses no threat to them). Xax is no exception. He enjoys observing conflict, though he's never been much for participating in it. Unlike many of his more serious counterparts though, Xax also enjoys a good laugh with whomever he can get it with and is often the mind behind pranks and schemes. He's picked up the mortal habit of smoking (though addiction is a leftover from his mortal past) and smokes a special blend of herbs (the contents of which he'll divulge to no one) from a pipe he acquired from a past victim. He also has a fondness for music and carries a pan flute with him at all times that he often plays when bored or contemplative. Perhaps Xax's strangest attachment (more of a weakness really) is one that he holds for the descendents of Neelah (see history). Though his soullessness prevents him from actually loving them, he feels as affectionate as he can and garners a sense of duty towards them. He does his best to ensure that they stay safe and wards off any Syph attempting to corrupt them through bribery, threats, or blackmail, a fact that his superiors disapprove of, but have yet to interfere with.
.Dislikes. Xax hates failure. He loves to be on top, to have a plan, to be organized despite his love of causing chaos to others. When things go awry, he tends to get angry and slightly neurotic. An easy signal of this distress is his pipe; he smokes like a chimney when he's nervous. He's also not very fond of authority. Syph superiors generally leave the lower ranks to their own devices unless circumstance calls for intervention. Mortal races, however, are not so generous, and Xax hates it when they attempt to pull superiority over him. This, coupled with other obvious shortcomings has made his time with the Order a bit strenuous, at best.
.Goals. Xax's immediate goals are fairly simple and obvious. He wants to collect as many souls as he can and keep the Puhl strong, as well as help the Order of Lumen bring down Osirus' regime. His long term goal is to advance in rank as quickly as possible and become one of the few Syph to reclaim a soul and return to the cycle of life and death. Other minor goals include keeping Neelah's family safe and finding a way to market his pipe blend (which would act as a strong hallucinogen in a mortal's system) without bringing authorities onto his trail.
.Fears. Being immortal, Xax is not a fearful creature. He has no fear of death, and though he avoids conflict, he has a high pain tolerance, and so has no reason to fear pain. His one major fear is that the Osirus regime will result in a severe amount of corruption, thus taking business away from him and compromising the availability of energy from the Puhl.
.Personality. Syph are known to be serious, sometimes malicious creatures as a whole, though each Syph has his or her own individual personality. Xax has never seen much reason to be miserable; if you’re going to live forever, might as well make it enjoyable. He derives pleasure from his interactions with mortals, making companionships (his inability to love makes him incapable of friendship) with them. When working on a job, he uses his charming personality and endearing wit to gain trust. He enjoys pranks and has a good sense of humor, and tends to be a bit conniving at times. Being alive for over 150 years has expanded his vocabulary considerably and his dealings with different races have made Xax a fairly convincing fellow when he wants to be. He’s not quick to temper, and perhaps his only display of true mercilessness is when dealing with overly proud do-gooders, whom he ensures have long, painful corruptions. Though his profession and appearance makes him slightly formidable, he is an overall likeable creature. One just needs to be weary; you never know what he’s planning.
.__{{T H E Fairytale
.Family. Being over 150 years old, and having no children of his own, Xax has no surviving family that he knows about. The closest thing he has to it are Neelah’s descendants, and even then he doesn’t have much contact with them.
.Father. Lohrkhn Zelvus (deceased)— Lohrkhn was a Southern Elf who grew up in a small farming community and worked on his family’s farm for the rest of his life. He was never particularly wealthy and had a nasty drinking habit. His wife was the daughter of a neighboring farmer that he’d grown up with and never particularly liked. He died supposedly of disease (though his son would contest that bitterness had a large part in it, and his wife would simply shove the poison bottle out of sight).
.Mother. Ellenir Zelvus (deceased)— Ellenir grew up in the same small community as her future husband, though she was never suited for the life. Forced to clean, cook, and participate in dirty farm activities, Ellenir believed that she belonged in a big city, making a life for herself. Problem was, she never had the money, means, or dedication to make it happen. She ended up marrying Lohrkhn (more becase there weren’t any other options than anything) and living out the rest of her days as a miserable old housewife.
.Siblings. Lohrkhn and Ellenir barely wanted the son that they had, let alone any other children. No siblings for Xax.
.History.
Xaxus was born Merwhyn Zelvus the Southern Elf to his parents Lohrkhn and Ellenir approximately 158 years before our story begins. He was not an accident, nor did his parents have him out of pure want for a child. No, dear Merwhyn was conceived out of pure need for someone to run the farm after his parents died.
Even from birth, his father was never pleased with him. Lohrkhn felt the boy was too small; a scrawny little thing that would hardly be able to do all of the work that was required of him. Still, from a young age Merwhyn tried his best to please his parents, showing them both love and devotion, though he never received any in return. His mother had never wanted children, and his father had never wanted his mother. The result was a fairly dull and miserable childhood, with long hours spent working in the field and caring for what few animals they had. There was one thing, however, that kept Merwhyn interested.
Mer was a bright boy, a fact that even Lohrkhn had a hard time denying. He read whenever he could, which generally wasn’t much, and his mind worked quickly to solve whatever problems e came across. He was a talented craftsman, mending fences and rigging a new feeding system for the hens and cows to save time during the day. More than anything though, Mer was a musician. When he was eight, his father sent him up into the attic to fetch another water bucket (it was raining that day, the best time to collect). There were no lights or windows in the attic, and Mer had only a candle to see by. Despite this, he still managed to find the bucket sitting on top of what looked like an old chest. Too curious to ignore it, he set the bucket aside and lifted the heavy wooden lid, hinges creaking as he did. Inside was a thick layer of dust, and under that a small pan flute broken in two. Thoroughly excited by the treasure, Mer took it down to his father who identified it as his great grandfather’s flute. It was broken though, Lohrkhn said, and would be of no use now. But Mer had more faith than that. Using the sap of an old oak tree, he glued the flute back together. Though a little out of tune, it played just fine. From that day on, Mer took pleasure in nothing so much as he did in playing that flute. For years he played it every night under the oak tree at the edge of his farm, teaching himself songs and perfecting his technique. And that was how he met Neelah.
Only a few yards away from the oak tree was the house of the neighboring farmers. Mer had seen the men of the house, just in passing, but he’d never really paid much attention. It was one hot summer night in his seventeenth year when he realized just how foolish he was for that. He had been playing his flute under the tree, like always, for a good fifteen minutes before he noticed a figure climbing his fence. He stopped his playing, watching the figure, his guard up in case of danger. As the person came closer, he realized that it was a young girl, about the same age as he with the most beautiful, kind face he’d ever seen. The girl stopped just in front of him, and he stared up at her, mouth slightly agape.
“Please, don’t stop on my account. You play beautifully,” she told him.
“Who are you?” Mer asked, still slightly awestruck. He hadn’t met very many people in his life, and the ones that he had were never so pleasant, nor had they ever given him a compliment before.
“I’m Neelah,” the girl said after taking a seat beside him. “I live in the house just over there. I was getting ready for bed and opened my window to let the breeze in when I heard you playing. I decided to come over and meet you, finally.”
It became a ritual after that for Neelah to sneak out of her house every night and sit beside Merwhyn as he played. They would talk as well, and Neelah would tell him of all of the things she’d heard about the cities, and of how she would become a healer some day. Mer was fascinated by her. For years he’d known only the selfish misery that his parents lived in every day, and yet here was a girl that made the best of her less than glamorous life, and that wanted nothing more than to help people. The two became friends, and Mer fell in love.
Lohrkhn, for all of his shortcomings, wasn’t a stupid man. He noticed his son’s distraction, and he’d seen Mer and Neelah together on several nights. It was on a night that he’d been drinking particularly heavily that he decided to take his bitterness out on his son. Merwhyn feared for his life, but Lohrkhn destroyed what he believed to be the source of the problem: the pan flute. When it was all said and done, Mer’s flute lay in hundreds of tiny, splintery pieces on the floor. He’d fixed the flute once, but this time, it was irreparable. Mer was heartbroken, as was Neelah. She believed that Merwhyn deserved better than what he had, and sought to make him feel better. For months, she saved up what little money she made by selling baked goods to wayward travelers. When she finally had what she thought was enough, she gave the money to her older brother, requesting that he buy a new flute the next time he was in town to sell their produce. He came back as promised with a beautiful new instrument, very similar to the one that Merwhyn had before. He was ecstatic when she presented it to him, but his happiness was short lived.
Only three years later, at the age of twenty, Mer watched his father fall mysteriously ill and die. As much as Lohrkhn had never been good to him, Mer still missed him. Ellenir was much too old to work, and Mer wouldn’t have allowed her to do so even if she wasn’t. He was forced to work overtime to keep the farm running and food on the table. To make matters worse, Neelah did leave for the city, just as she always said she would. She begged Mer to come with her, but he insisted that he had to stay and take care of things at home. She confessed that she was in love with him, and that if he only asked her to, she’d stay. Tempted as he was, Mer couldn’t bring himself to be the cause of Neelah abandoning his dreams. To ensure that she would follow through with her plan to leave, he told her that he didn’t reciprocate the feelings, and that it would be better for her to go. Disappointed and hurt, she did.
Eight years later, Ellenir died, leaving Mer with no one. Not wanting to end up like his father, and believing that there may be some chance of finding Neelah again, he sold the farm and everything on it, taking only money, clothes, and enough food to last him the journey to the nearest city. The money he got from the farm was enough to rent a room in a shabby inn. Even so, he needed a way to support himself. So Mer did the only thing other than farming that he knew how: he played.
At first, he stationed himself outside of the inn, devoting day and night to playing his flute. He made a modest sum, but he became recognized by the locals. Eventually, inn owners began paying him to play at their inns, hoping to attract customers for food and bed. The pay grew better over the next year, and things were starting to look up, until one night when Mer did exactly that, and his world came crashing down. He was playing at an inn in the central part of the city three years after he’d arrived when his gaze drifted to the crowd, and he saw the first person he’d been hoping to see, and the last he’d expected. Neelah sat staring at him from the back of the room, looking older, but no less beautiful than she had the last time Mer had seen her. When he’d finished his song, she came to greet him. The meeting was awkward, and even more so when Neelah told him that she was married with two children. Merwhyn’s heart broke horribly, but he swallowed his pride and told her that he was happy for her. When she left, Mer took himself to the bar, hoping to drown his sorrows in a couple of ales. Instead, a strange little faun approached him, offering a brew of his own. The Kaelvis, as it was called, was sweet and slightly dizzying, and Mer found that he liked it quite a bit. The faun gave him the name of a dealer that would be more than happy to supply him with it.
So began the vicious cycle that would eventually cause Merwhyn to lose his soul. He would play at night wherever he could, and during the day he would drink more Kaelvis than was legal or sanitary. But Kaelvis was expensive, and Mer didn’t make quite enough to cover the costs of the amount that he was in need of. The drug was taking over his life, as well, and eventually the boy stopped playing altogether. After six months of his addiction, Mer was approached by the strange faun again. He begged the faun to help him out, to lend him some money. They faun agreed to give him a lifetime supply of Kaelvis, for a small price. If only Mer would agree to sign away his soul, he could live without ever having to worry about having to pay for Kaelvis again. It was then that Merwhyn realized how serious his addiction was, but by that point it was too late. He agreed to the faun’s offer, but only if the creature would deliver a note for him. The faun agreed, and used a dagger to make a slice across Mer’s palm. Merwhyn felt a chill pass through his body before promptly blacking out.
When he awoke, Mer found that he was no longer in need of Kaelvis. The haze that the drug had put him in was gone, as were a lot of other things. The faun that he’d sold his soul to was waiting for him, and explained to him what had happened. Merwhyn was a Syph now, which was apparently what the faun fellow was as well. It was now his job to corrupt the good of heart and pure of soul to sustain something called the Puhl. One look in the mirror (and the floor, where his dead Elvin body lie) led him to believe that the Syph was telling the truth, though he found that he wasn’t as upset about the change as he perhaps should have been. On top of everything else, the Syph explained that he would now be known as Xaxus (for that was what his creator, the other Syph had decided to name him). His middle name would be Merwhyn, as a reminder of his mortal self, and his last name would be Sorr, the Syph word for greed, which was the sin that had caused Mer to lose his soul.
It took a while for Xaxus to get used to the change, but he embraced his new purpose. He believed that this was a second chance, something much better than what he had before. Xax stayed in the city, corrupting whomever he could, and keeping a watch on Neelah. Though he no longer loved her, he was still fond of her. She had gotten his note, and he was there to witness her open it just after his burial (which she had attended). The note said only one thing, but it meant more to Neelah than anyone else could understand. I do love you, it proclaimed, and somehow she knew it was true.
Xax stuck around for twelve years, until Neelah herself was murdered by a band of thieves in the night. Xax carried out a justice of his own, killing every last one of them as painfully as he could manage. Still, Neelah’s death made him realize that his time in the city was more than expired, and he decided to leave, becoming one of those wayward travelers that Neelah had made a profit off of so long ago to buy him a new flute, which he still kept with him after all those years. He kept a watch on her children, and their children after that, all while fulfilling his duties as a Syph, and never complaining for one moment of it.
And then King Osirus came to power, and corruption took over the lands. Xax, having been a Syph for over a hundred years, realized the danger in this. More natural corruption meant less business for the Syph and less souls for the Puhl. If something wasn’t done, the Syph would be in danger of extinction. It was by chance, as he was playing his flute in an inn one night, that Xax heard whispers of the Order of Lumen, a band of people dedicated to taking Osirus out of power. Though his motives were slightly different than theirs, Xax realized the potential benefits to joining the group and made a request to join their ranks. The Order was suspicious of him at first, for surely a corruptor would be in league with Osirus, but Xax explained the dangers of having Osirus as a kind for the Syph, and the Order finally agreed that he could join. Now Xax acts as an agent for the Order, helping to undo the corruption that Osirus spread (while still managing to make a little corruption of his own), in hopes that the balance will return to normal so that he and the other Syph may continue to survive.
((My magnificent post was too much for proboards to handle, so roleplay sample is in the next post down yonder *points below*))
.Name. TexasWatermelon
.Age. 16
.Activity. I'm on Sundays through Tuesdays every week, Wednesdays through Saturdays are iffy, but I keep up with my stuff.
.Experience. I've been RPing for about 8 months now, improving at a rapid rate. I've been writing since I knew how. Description and dialogue are my thing... character depth is good, but I'm working to make it better.
.Contact Info. Check my profile, you can email me or PM me or IM me. I'm pretty friendly, just let me know who you are. ;D
.__{{T H E Character
.Name. Xaxus Merwhyn Sorr
.Nickname. Generally, Syph of the same rank address each other using whole first names, or whole names when addressing Syph of a higher rank, but when dealing with mortals, Xaxus allows them to call him Xax for short.
.Age. Mortal for 32 years, Syph for 126, collectively for 156 years
.Birthday. Syph aren't born, they're made. Because of this, they have no birthday, nor is it likely they would celebrate it if they did. Most Syph have been around so long that they don’t even remember their birthdays from their previous lives.
Race: Xaxus is of the race known as Syph- strange fawn-like creatures that act as corruptors. A Syph's sole job is to interact with the other races, using any means of destruction and discord to convince a perfectly good person to commit some crime and sign away their soul. Each soul gathered goes into the Puhl, a vast source of energy from which the Syph draw their power. Syph are not incredibly strong creatures, but instead use their quick wit, swiftness, and magic of all arts to achieve their goals. If the Puhl somehow becomes low, every Syph suffers from a loss of magical abilities and weakness until the Puhl is restored to full level. Syph are immortal creatures, however they are not actually born. Each Syph is given a quota at the time of his or her creation: a certain number of souls he or she must collect to be able to advance in rank. A Syph is never aware of its exact quota, and only when they finally advance do they know they've reached it. When a Syph reaches its quota, the last person that they corrupt takes its place among the lower ranks, becoming a new Syph entirely. Because of this, Syph are soulless creatures and feel no shame or remorse for what they do. As a Syph advances in rank, the importance or status of the people they corrupt increases, as does the purity of the soul and difficulty of corruption. It is said that the only way a Syph of the highest rank can be released from the world and reclaim their soul from the Puhl is to corrupt a creature of pure innocence; an infant child who has yet to commit a sin. Because this is such a difficult task and because high-ranking Syph usually enjoy great power, many of them refrain from attempting it, and only a few instances have been recorded in which a Syph has actually been freed. Syph have the ability to sense the aura of a person, or more specifically the amount of purity within them, which helps them pick out their targets. Once they've corrupted a person, they use a special dagger to draw blood (it's become custom to make a slice on the palm of the hand), which draws the soul out and sends it to the Puhl. The person remains alive and in tact (just soulless) unless they are one of the few that become a new Syph.
Allegiance: Order of Lumen, believe it or not
Profession/Rank: Within the Order of Lumen, Xax is merely a Private. Among the Syph however, Xax has reached the second level of corruption. Known as an Agent, he now corrupts the wealthy, important members of small organizations, or business owners. He was promoted only three years ago, and figures he has a long way to go before his next advancement.
.Hair. Xax has virtually no body hair. What little hair he does have (underneath his horns, a small patch on top of his head, and a small patch on his chin) is long and stringy, a brownish red color.
.Eyes. Xax's eyes are a very light, mystifying blue, usually narrowed in thought as he watches the mortals around him.
.Physical Description. All Syph look about the same, save the markings that cover their bodies. Xax looks somewhat like a faun, with the legs and hooves of a faun and the upper body of a small man. His thick skin is a grayish blue color, and acts as an armor of sorts if he gets into trouble. There are tribal-like markings on his chest, arms, and forehead. His face is small and pointy. Atop his head are two black horns, much like that of a ram. Inside of his mouth are two rows of brilliantly white teeth, and one odd black tongue.
.Picture.
.Celebrity Portrayal. Doug Jones, or the guy who play's the Faun in Pan's Labyrinth
.__{{T H E Thoughts
.Likes. In general, of course, Syph are very fond of discord, evil, and danger (as long as it poses no threat to them). Xax is no exception. He enjoys observing conflict, though he's never been much for participating in it. Unlike many of his more serious counterparts though, Xax also enjoys a good laugh with whomever he can get it with and is often the mind behind pranks and schemes. He's picked up the mortal habit of smoking (though addiction is a leftover from his mortal past) and smokes a special blend of herbs (the contents of which he'll divulge to no one) from a pipe he acquired from a past victim. He also has a fondness for music and carries a pan flute with him at all times that he often plays when bored or contemplative. Perhaps Xax's strangest attachment (more of a weakness really) is one that he holds for the descendents of Neelah (see history). Though his soullessness prevents him from actually loving them, he feels as affectionate as he can and garners a sense of duty towards them. He does his best to ensure that they stay safe and wards off any Syph attempting to corrupt them through bribery, threats, or blackmail, a fact that his superiors disapprove of, but have yet to interfere with.
.Dislikes. Xax hates failure. He loves to be on top, to have a plan, to be organized despite his love of causing chaos to others. When things go awry, he tends to get angry and slightly neurotic. An easy signal of this distress is his pipe; he smokes like a chimney when he's nervous. He's also not very fond of authority. Syph superiors generally leave the lower ranks to their own devices unless circumstance calls for intervention. Mortal races, however, are not so generous, and Xax hates it when they attempt to pull superiority over him. This, coupled with other obvious shortcomings has made his time with the Order a bit strenuous, at best.
.Goals. Xax's immediate goals are fairly simple and obvious. He wants to collect as many souls as he can and keep the Puhl strong, as well as help the Order of Lumen bring down Osirus' regime. His long term goal is to advance in rank as quickly as possible and become one of the few Syph to reclaim a soul and return to the cycle of life and death. Other minor goals include keeping Neelah's family safe and finding a way to market his pipe blend (which would act as a strong hallucinogen in a mortal's system) without bringing authorities onto his trail.
.Fears. Being immortal, Xax is not a fearful creature. He has no fear of death, and though he avoids conflict, he has a high pain tolerance, and so has no reason to fear pain. His one major fear is that the Osirus regime will result in a severe amount of corruption, thus taking business away from him and compromising the availability of energy from the Puhl.
.Personality. Syph are known to be serious, sometimes malicious creatures as a whole, though each Syph has his or her own individual personality. Xax has never seen much reason to be miserable; if you’re going to live forever, might as well make it enjoyable. He derives pleasure from his interactions with mortals, making companionships (his inability to love makes him incapable of friendship) with them. When working on a job, he uses his charming personality and endearing wit to gain trust. He enjoys pranks and has a good sense of humor, and tends to be a bit conniving at times. Being alive for over 150 years has expanded his vocabulary considerably and his dealings with different races have made Xax a fairly convincing fellow when he wants to be. He’s not quick to temper, and perhaps his only display of true mercilessness is when dealing with overly proud do-gooders, whom he ensures have long, painful corruptions. Though his profession and appearance makes him slightly formidable, he is an overall likeable creature. One just needs to be weary; you never know what he’s planning.
.__{{T H E Fairytale
.Family. Being over 150 years old, and having no children of his own, Xax has no surviving family that he knows about. The closest thing he has to it are Neelah’s descendants, and even then he doesn’t have much contact with them.
.Father. Lohrkhn Zelvus (deceased)— Lohrkhn was a Southern Elf who grew up in a small farming community and worked on his family’s farm for the rest of his life. He was never particularly wealthy and had a nasty drinking habit. His wife was the daughter of a neighboring farmer that he’d grown up with and never particularly liked. He died supposedly of disease (though his son would contest that bitterness had a large part in it, and his wife would simply shove the poison bottle out of sight).
.Mother. Ellenir Zelvus (deceased)— Ellenir grew up in the same small community as her future husband, though she was never suited for the life. Forced to clean, cook, and participate in dirty farm activities, Ellenir believed that she belonged in a big city, making a life for herself. Problem was, she never had the money, means, or dedication to make it happen. She ended up marrying Lohrkhn (more becase there weren’t any other options than anything) and living out the rest of her days as a miserable old housewife.
.Siblings. Lohrkhn and Ellenir barely wanted the son that they had, let alone any other children. No siblings for Xax.
.History.
Xaxus was born Merwhyn Zelvus the Southern Elf to his parents Lohrkhn and Ellenir approximately 158 years before our story begins. He was not an accident, nor did his parents have him out of pure want for a child. No, dear Merwhyn was conceived out of pure need for someone to run the farm after his parents died.
Even from birth, his father was never pleased with him. Lohrkhn felt the boy was too small; a scrawny little thing that would hardly be able to do all of the work that was required of him. Still, from a young age Merwhyn tried his best to please his parents, showing them both love and devotion, though he never received any in return. His mother had never wanted children, and his father had never wanted his mother. The result was a fairly dull and miserable childhood, with long hours spent working in the field and caring for what few animals they had. There was one thing, however, that kept Merwhyn interested.
Mer was a bright boy, a fact that even Lohrkhn had a hard time denying. He read whenever he could, which generally wasn’t much, and his mind worked quickly to solve whatever problems e came across. He was a talented craftsman, mending fences and rigging a new feeding system for the hens and cows to save time during the day. More than anything though, Mer was a musician. When he was eight, his father sent him up into the attic to fetch another water bucket (it was raining that day, the best time to collect). There were no lights or windows in the attic, and Mer had only a candle to see by. Despite this, he still managed to find the bucket sitting on top of what looked like an old chest. Too curious to ignore it, he set the bucket aside and lifted the heavy wooden lid, hinges creaking as he did. Inside was a thick layer of dust, and under that a small pan flute broken in two. Thoroughly excited by the treasure, Mer took it down to his father who identified it as his great grandfather’s flute. It was broken though, Lohrkhn said, and would be of no use now. But Mer had more faith than that. Using the sap of an old oak tree, he glued the flute back together. Though a little out of tune, it played just fine. From that day on, Mer took pleasure in nothing so much as he did in playing that flute. For years he played it every night under the oak tree at the edge of his farm, teaching himself songs and perfecting his technique. And that was how he met Neelah.
Only a few yards away from the oak tree was the house of the neighboring farmers. Mer had seen the men of the house, just in passing, but he’d never really paid much attention. It was one hot summer night in his seventeenth year when he realized just how foolish he was for that. He had been playing his flute under the tree, like always, for a good fifteen minutes before he noticed a figure climbing his fence. He stopped his playing, watching the figure, his guard up in case of danger. As the person came closer, he realized that it was a young girl, about the same age as he with the most beautiful, kind face he’d ever seen. The girl stopped just in front of him, and he stared up at her, mouth slightly agape.
“Please, don’t stop on my account. You play beautifully,” she told him.
“Who are you?” Mer asked, still slightly awestruck. He hadn’t met very many people in his life, and the ones that he had were never so pleasant, nor had they ever given him a compliment before.
“I’m Neelah,” the girl said after taking a seat beside him. “I live in the house just over there. I was getting ready for bed and opened my window to let the breeze in when I heard you playing. I decided to come over and meet you, finally.”
It became a ritual after that for Neelah to sneak out of her house every night and sit beside Merwhyn as he played. They would talk as well, and Neelah would tell him of all of the things she’d heard about the cities, and of how she would become a healer some day. Mer was fascinated by her. For years he’d known only the selfish misery that his parents lived in every day, and yet here was a girl that made the best of her less than glamorous life, and that wanted nothing more than to help people. The two became friends, and Mer fell in love.
Lohrkhn, for all of his shortcomings, wasn’t a stupid man. He noticed his son’s distraction, and he’d seen Mer and Neelah together on several nights. It was on a night that he’d been drinking particularly heavily that he decided to take his bitterness out on his son. Merwhyn feared for his life, but Lohrkhn destroyed what he believed to be the source of the problem: the pan flute. When it was all said and done, Mer’s flute lay in hundreds of tiny, splintery pieces on the floor. He’d fixed the flute once, but this time, it was irreparable. Mer was heartbroken, as was Neelah. She believed that Merwhyn deserved better than what he had, and sought to make him feel better. For months, she saved up what little money she made by selling baked goods to wayward travelers. When she finally had what she thought was enough, she gave the money to her older brother, requesting that he buy a new flute the next time he was in town to sell their produce. He came back as promised with a beautiful new instrument, very similar to the one that Merwhyn had before. He was ecstatic when she presented it to him, but his happiness was short lived.
Only three years later, at the age of twenty, Mer watched his father fall mysteriously ill and die. As much as Lohrkhn had never been good to him, Mer still missed him. Ellenir was much too old to work, and Mer wouldn’t have allowed her to do so even if she wasn’t. He was forced to work overtime to keep the farm running and food on the table. To make matters worse, Neelah did leave for the city, just as she always said she would. She begged Mer to come with her, but he insisted that he had to stay and take care of things at home. She confessed that she was in love with him, and that if he only asked her to, she’d stay. Tempted as he was, Mer couldn’t bring himself to be the cause of Neelah abandoning his dreams. To ensure that she would follow through with her plan to leave, he told her that he didn’t reciprocate the feelings, and that it would be better for her to go. Disappointed and hurt, she did.
Eight years later, Ellenir died, leaving Mer with no one. Not wanting to end up like his father, and believing that there may be some chance of finding Neelah again, he sold the farm and everything on it, taking only money, clothes, and enough food to last him the journey to the nearest city. The money he got from the farm was enough to rent a room in a shabby inn. Even so, he needed a way to support himself. So Mer did the only thing other than farming that he knew how: he played.
At first, he stationed himself outside of the inn, devoting day and night to playing his flute. He made a modest sum, but he became recognized by the locals. Eventually, inn owners began paying him to play at their inns, hoping to attract customers for food and bed. The pay grew better over the next year, and things were starting to look up, until one night when Mer did exactly that, and his world came crashing down. He was playing at an inn in the central part of the city three years after he’d arrived when his gaze drifted to the crowd, and he saw the first person he’d been hoping to see, and the last he’d expected. Neelah sat staring at him from the back of the room, looking older, but no less beautiful than she had the last time Mer had seen her. When he’d finished his song, she came to greet him. The meeting was awkward, and even more so when Neelah told him that she was married with two children. Merwhyn’s heart broke horribly, but he swallowed his pride and told her that he was happy for her. When she left, Mer took himself to the bar, hoping to drown his sorrows in a couple of ales. Instead, a strange little faun approached him, offering a brew of his own. The Kaelvis, as it was called, was sweet and slightly dizzying, and Mer found that he liked it quite a bit. The faun gave him the name of a dealer that would be more than happy to supply him with it.
So began the vicious cycle that would eventually cause Merwhyn to lose his soul. He would play at night wherever he could, and during the day he would drink more Kaelvis than was legal or sanitary. But Kaelvis was expensive, and Mer didn’t make quite enough to cover the costs of the amount that he was in need of. The drug was taking over his life, as well, and eventually the boy stopped playing altogether. After six months of his addiction, Mer was approached by the strange faun again. He begged the faun to help him out, to lend him some money. They faun agreed to give him a lifetime supply of Kaelvis, for a small price. If only Mer would agree to sign away his soul, he could live without ever having to worry about having to pay for Kaelvis again. It was then that Merwhyn realized how serious his addiction was, but by that point it was too late. He agreed to the faun’s offer, but only if the creature would deliver a note for him. The faun agreed, and used a dagger to make a slice across Mer’s palm. Merwhyn felt a chill pass through his body before promptly blacking out.
When he awoke, Mer found that he was no longer in need of Kaelvis. The haze that the drug had put him in was gone, as were a lot of other things. The faun that he’d sold his soul to was waiting for him, and explained to him what had happened. Merwhyn was a Syph now, which was apparently what the faun fellow was as well. It was now his job to corrupt the good of heart and pure of soul to sustain something called the Puhl. One look in the mirror (and the floor, where his dead Elvin body lie) led him to believe that the Syph was telling the truth, though he found that he wasn’t as upset about the change as he perhaps should have been. On top of everything else, the Syph explained that he would now be known as Xaxus (for that was what his creator, the other Syph had decided to name him). His middle name would be Merwhyn, as a reminder of his mortal self, and his last name would be Sorr, the Syph word for greed, which was the sin that had caused Mer to lose his soul.
It took a while for Xaxus to get used to the change, but he embraced his new purpose. He believed that this was a second chance, something much better than what he had before. Xax stayed in the city, corrupting whomever he could, and keeping a watch on Neelah. Though he no longer loved her, he was still fond of her. She had gotten his note, and he was there to witness her open it just after his burial (which she had attended). The note said only one thing, but it meant more to Neelah than anyone else could understand. I do love you, it proclaimed, and somehow she knew it was true.
Xax stuck around for twelve years, until Neelah herself was murdered by a band of thieves in the night. Xax carried out a justice of his own, killing every last one of them as painfully as he could manage. Still, Neelah’s death made him realize that his time in the city was more than expired, and he decided to leave, becoming one of those wayward travelers that Neelah had made a profit off of so long ago to buy him a new flute, which he still kept with him after all those years. He kept a watch on her children, and their children after that, all while fulfilling his duties as a Syph, and never complaining for one moment of it.
And then King Osirus came to power, and corruption took over the lands. Xax, having been a Syph for over a hundred years, realized the danger in this. More natural corruption meant less business for the Syph and less souls for the Puhl. If something wasn’t done, the Syph would be in danger of extinction. It was by chance, as he was playing his flute in an inn one night, that Xax heard whispers of the Order of Lumen, a band of people dedicated to taking Osirus out of power. Though his motives were slightly different than theirs, Xax realized the potential benefits to joining the group and made a request to join their ranks. The Order was suspicious of him at first, for surely a corruptor would be in league with Osirus, but Xax explained the dangers of having Osirus as a kind for the Syph, and the Order finally agreed that he could join. Now Xax acts as an agent for the Order, helping to undo the corruption that Osirus spread (while still managing to make a little corruption of his own), in hopes that the balance will return to normal so that he and the other Syph may continue to survive.
((My magnificent post was too much for proboards to handle, so roleplay sample is in the next post down yonder *points below*))
