Jeridan of the Arrowfist
| Jeridan of the Arrowfist | |
| Birthplace: | Shuman Mountains |
| Height: | 6'4" |
| Job: | Doma City Guard |
| Affiliation: | ? |
| Weapon: | Iron Knuckles |
| Weapon Name: | Iron Knuckles |
| Race: | Garoujin |
| Gender: | Male |
| RPer: | Besyanteo |
Jeridan of the Arrowfist is a Garoujin/Mazoku half. Resident and high ranking guard of Doma City. He is about 6'4" and well muscled, with a lean athletic build. He has dull brown fur, thick but well groomed. His eyes are a dark shade of green, and a long, twisted ebony horn sits on his brow.
When Jeridan was young, he traveled with his Father, Greg, all over Doma, The Great Plains, and into the expanses west of the country. However, they always avoided the Shuman Mountain range whenever possible, for reasons Jeridan did not at that time know. They made a living as a father son mercenary business, which Derek occasionally assisted in. This did not leave much time for formal schooling for Jeridan, as his father was always teaching him the art of the sword, and unarmed combat. Derek, meanwhile, planted the early seeds of magic instruction. However, it was very much forced; Jeridan had little or no interest in magic.
When Jeridan reached the age of 17, he made his first kill. He was on a job in Kohlingen with his father and Derek, and they got into an unfortunate entanglement with some sentries. Jeridan ran the man through, and lifted a sack of what he assumed where valuables from him. He found a picture of the man's family among his things, and has never quite forgiven himself, despite Phyllias's councilings.
That same night, after the success of the mission, they were forced to spend the night in a cliff based cave; A hurricane was blowing in, and travel simply wasn't feasible. Greg, Jeridan's father, remained outside for a while to gather some drift wood for a fire before the rains hit. While Derek and Jeridan waited for Greg's return, Derek did as was his habit: He began to drink, and heavily. He quickly became very, very drunk. He made several passes at the young garoujin to no avail. He eventually went to take what he wanted by force, and was quickly foiled by the younger, stronger and faster Jeridan. He then ran out, knowing that even a drunk and pained arcanist could still be a threat once pushed to violence.
Greg returned to find Jeridan missing. To this day, Jeridan does not know how that scene played out. However, he does recall himself running, and the wind blowing, very hard. He lost his footing somewhere, and was blown off the cliff and into the water... And the next thing he can recall is waking up on unfamiliar coast. No idea who he was, where he was, or even what he was, he simply got up and began walking. For the next two years he wandered northern Doma, until entering the capital purely through dumb luck.
He spent a few months settled here, jobless, scavenging and stealing to get by. He wandered into a tavern one night, hoping to find a dozey drunk with a heavy coin purse to acquire for his own use, when he met a creature named Keet, and his friend Kylitos Broadsky. When asked for a name, he quickly came up with "Jonas", loathe to tell them that he didn't actually have a name. Over time, "Jonas" grew under these two men, gaining the self-esteem and confidence he needed to go out, get a job, and commit to it. His first job was as a simple wood cutter, the work dull and tedious, but he was able to support himself.
One day, while having a drink with Kyle in the Jade Dragon, Derek happened to walk in, notice and identify him. Jeridan didn't recognize him, and Derek took this chance to become friends with him. He gave Jeridan snippets of his past, along with his true name. He did, however, leave out the details of how Jeridan came to be Amnesiac, and a great deal regarding his father. During this time, he worked slowly but doggedly to build a relationship with Jeridan. Ultimately, he was only successful in earning an uneasy friendship, and nearly lost that when Jeridan eventually recalled the events of that stormy night on his own. Not long after, Jeridan met a young celestial woman by the name of Phyllias Brightwing. A bit shy, but passionate and pure, Jeridan soon became enfatuated with her. They began to see one another, and she quickly fell in love with him as well. In the winter of 1312, Jeridan and Phyllias announced their engagement.
Not long after, Jeridan took a job with the Doman Guard. The pay was better, if the work was decidedly more dangerous. Still, it meant he'd be able to buy himself and Phyllias a decent home, and pay for their wedding. He spent a year gathering money for the event. In the winter of 1313, he was almost ready. He met his father in the early days of winter, who spent several days and nights with him, discussing his life, before and after the accident. Greg was never told of Derek's indiscretions that night, though he had some suspicions. After a week's time, Greg asked Jeridan to return with him and continue where they left off, the life of a mercenary on the open road. He held little regard for this angel Jeridan was engaged to, or the roots Jeridan had set down in Doma. Jeridan refused, and this soon led to a bitter argument between the two. They avoided coming to blows, but by the time Greg left, it was agreed that they need not consider themselves related any longer. Less than a month later, the Mallian occupation and war took place.
Jeridan, along with his commanding officer Griff Amanziani, his friend Derek, and several others he'd come to know over time were more or less trapped in the city. Forced to go into hiding, and form what came to be known as the Inner Doman Defense force. The things that happened to Jeridan there made progressively less and less sense, but it made them no less real. First Jeridan met Nakibe, the god of chaos. After a very short, one sided conversation, Nakibe turned Jeridan into a half Mazoku and granted him the knowledge required to wield earth based magics. He then disappeared into the night, leaving Jeridan feeling confused and violated. Still, it did not end there. Soon after, he was abducted from the IDF along with several others. The particulars of that abduction are detailed in the Roleplay Dark Tidings.
As if all this were not enough, Nakibe felt the need to rub just a bit more salt in the wound; Not long after his return home, Jeridan and Phyllias very suddenly began experience severe burns from slight touches with one another. His now Shadow aligned demonic aura had become volatile when placed in contact with a holy one, and would harm both him and any holy thing he touched. With heavy hearts, Jeridan and Phyllias decided to post pone their engagement. Jeridan soon fell into a deep depression, and developed a drinking problem. He had the support of his employer, and good friend as time went on, and he started to redirect his anger and frustration into various activites. First, weight training. Then, boxing practice. Without a need for sleep, he began to educate himself at night. And still he had time to perform his rounds for the guard. He started climbing in rank as his mind sharpened and his skills refined. However, none of it really made him happy.
In the summer of 1314, Jeridan met a Garoujin Vampire, by the name of Ferran. The pair met while attempting to aid Jonas Kilmett, a werewolf who had been suffering from an inability to control his animalistic wolf side. Mutual friends of Jonas, the pair began to discuss their history with the man, and Jeridan explained some of his history to Ferran. Ferran, a member of the Blue Hearts, curiously questioned what clan Jeridan hailed from. Jeridan knowing nothing of clans, was only confused by this. Ferran readily explained about Garoujin clans and ways of life, and set him on the path to finding his people; Supposedly, his features, scent, temperment and abilities marked him as being typical of the Arrowfist clan. Jeridan longed to know more, but that was all Ferran knew. Still, it was a place to begin. Jeridan began making plans to leave his post with the Doman guard, just long enough to search the Shuman Mountains, and find his long lost 'family'. Only a few days before he meant to leave, he was happened upon by a pair of demons from the nation of Avon. They explained that their order may know of a means to shed his demonic form, and regain mortality. Though wary at first, Jeridan was too desperate to refuse them. They took him to Avon by means of teleportation, and there he met with Reshkigal.
Reshkigal appeared to be entirely human, but claimed to have once been a demon himself. Like his many followers, he wished to live out of the wild and abominable influences of their sordid heritage. Aparently wholly out of the kindness of his own heart, Reshkigal offered him a place in Avon should ever he need it, and taught him how to deny the urges and dark hungers of his demonic form. With painful slowness, Jeridan's Mazoku side has begun to diminish. Still, two years later, he struggles with the craving to devour negative human emotion.
After returning from Avon, Jeridan set out for the Shumans as planned. He searched for months before he found anything. His first break came in the form of an abandonned campsite, on the eastern side of the mountains, on a high ridge to the north, not far from Gunnir. He was surprised by the sheer size of the vacated encampment. It was hard to judge without the presence of any dwellings, but if the number of buried fire pits was any indication, there could easily be several hundred souls in this grouping! He had expected he might find several dozen people to justify the title of a "clan", but hundreds? He continued on, confident now that he could find the answers he sought. He did not have to wait long. He was surprised to find the coming morning that he had actually been found long before he found the abandoned campsite: A pair of young men from the Arrowfist clan were waiting by his sleeping roll when he woke. After a rushed meal, and packing up what few belongings he'd brought alogn with him, he was escorted to the new camping site of the clan. He was indeed of the tribe; He learned there of how his father had stolen him from the tribe as a babe, met his mother, step siblings and many communal siblings. (These events will be better explained in the future, in a story I intend to write.)
After a fond farewell, Jeridan began on his journey home with new hope for his future. He intended to return to his job, but for the first time since he could remember, he had a real family to return to, should he ever need to. What's more, he had a shot at being with Phyllias again. Life wasn't perfect, but it was certainly getting better.
