Alric Karimi | The Disgraced Knight

Character Name: Alric Karimi

Age: 34

Gender: Male

Race: Human - Castinian

Nationality: Castinis

Place of Residence: Formerly of Madrigal, Knight’s Court of the Fifth Vessel. Currently a fugitive.

Appearance: Even as a fugitive, Alric has retained his knightly demeanor. Each morning, using an ointment he creates himself, he shaves his head and trims the edges of his great, black beard. Born in the relentless sun of Castinis, Alric is dark in tone, his skin leathered by exposure. A headband wraps around his skull with a square of engraved silver that settles on his forehead. It depicts the pale rose, an emblem that represented his matriarch, an emblem he has to, regrettably, hide more often than not. Occasionally, when the unforgiving weather warrants it, he wraps his bald head in a thin, multi colored scarf to protect himself from the harsh sun. Over a short dress of chain mail (covering the extent of his biceps and his groin, he wears a blue surcoat with two white stripes going down both sides of his chest. Covering his forearms are reinforced bracers, military grade. Over tan slacks he wears reinforced boots that are worn from days of constant travel. Strapped over his shoulders is a round, iron shield, covered in dents. In the small of his back is a sheath holding a curved blade of thick steel, a deadly razor that is adept at piercing armor. Finally, doubling as a walking stick, his great spear is almost always found in his hands. Deadly at a distance, it is an excellent weapon for range and defense, fully capable of being thrown or used behind the cover of his shield.

Background: Alric was born to fill his father’s boots. The quarry let him in at an early age. They heard the eleven year old's story, watched as the tears ran down his cheeks, and gave a job. The boy’s father was dead. A disease ravaged his body for weeks before leaving Alric with a father who was nothing more than a lifeless husk. Near the end his father begged him to kill him, to end his misery.

Alric thought about that a lot in the mines, working every day, time disappearing. He grew older without realizing it. Most days he never saw the sun. He'd rise early enough that it wouldn't be out yet and retire late enough that it had already set. When he was fifteen there was a collapse. With a dozen others he was trapped in the mine, with nothing for food other than what they'd brought with them. Three months later, they were freed, only three of them left, the others killed by mutiny and greed. When Alric left the quarry that day, he never returned.

After a year of working in the marketplace selling fish, Alric left for Bikhari's capital, Madrigal, to enroll in its academies. Students are out through rigorous tests, both physical and mental, to gauge what specialty would best suit the individual. Alric was quickly seen as much stronger than his peers, with an unwavering work ethic even if he came across obstacles he could not overcome or understand. Alric was quickly shuttled to the Knight’s academy, and his mother was allowed to move within the city on the campus grounds.

Years of martial and tactical training led to Alric serving the Fifth Vessel, the prime matriarch of Madrigal. Though he'd never set eyes on her, he could see the results of her work in the city itself. Madrigal was flourishing, a beautiful city that was an intense change from his former life on the fringe. Years passed and Alric began to hear rumors of a sickness. Not an epidemic, fortunately, but a sickness that was affected the Fifth Vessel herself. Healing arts were no use. Alric was told this was a disease of the soul. The goddess within the Fifth was trying to leave. It wanted a new subject.

Desperate, Alric was tasked with a small group of knights to pursue an old legend, the only possible hope to save the Fifth’s life. It seems ridiculous to chase what people normally thought of as fairy tales, but the elders could not see any other logical pursuit. They needed a miracle to save the Fifth. Alric’s company began the lengthy pursuit of an old man, known as a the Chained King, who evidently had experiencing in the binding of gods and souls. He was said to be the oldest being alive in the nation, a person of great power and knowledge. Who else could help their matriarch but him?

For two years the knights chased these stories. They found only cobwebs, old widows, bedtime stories, and ghost towns. Wen they returned, Madrigal was gone. It'd been sacked, looted, burned. Before they entered the city they knew the Fifth Vessel was dead. Alric was the only one with the audacity to enter the city. The other knights, full of despair, left. They rode into the distance, unable to look upon a city that they had ultimately failed. The city smelled of soot and death, but there were no bodies to look upon.

Alric checked numerous households, searching for even a pile of bones, but could find nothing but ash. When he climbed the tower to the Fifth Vessel’s throne, he found the doors were still locked, sealed in such a way that he would never be able to pry them open with brute force. He needed a key, and there were none to be found. As he descended the tower, head pounding with rage and confusion, he saw, out the windows, a group of scavengers, looters with empty bags hoping to take advance of this glorious opportunity. He slew them all. In the heat of the fighting, he found himself enjoying it.

Emotions took him over, turned him into a beast of killing instinct. In the aftermath, he found that the looters weren’t hardened criminals or beastly men. They were commoners, a few of them women. His anger had blinded him and now guilt was consuming him. He buried them all in the city and left, hoping never to return. Sorrow and regret followed him. He journeyed from town to town aimlessly, sometimes working for hire, but mostly just marching on.

Within a month, he discovered he was being followed. A month after, an attempt on his life was made. At first he had assumed it was for revenge, but these assassins seemed far too organized to be related to commoners. They were professionals. Seeking safety, Alric searched for evacuation from the country. During his query, he discovered that he was a fugitive, marked for a reason not explained by an entity he had never heard of.

His search moved to the underground, a place he detested. There, he discovered a scoundrel named Scratch, a woman with a history he was sure he did not want to know. For a price, she, along with her companion, would lead him to a group of thieves called the Fallen. They would organize his escape, aid him in crossing the heavily armed borders, and bring him to whatever country they felt would bother him the least. Now, on the run and escaping from a country that he had once sworn to defend, Alric has embarked on a journey with an outcome that could not be foretold by even the most proficient sages.