OOC Minecraft Username: Yannes12 Are you at least 18 years old?: Yes (I'm 24 years old) Have you read the rules? (Link): Yes(Optional) How did you hear about Avalore?: I found it in a Minecraft server list(Max. 1) Were you referred by someone? If so, please provide their in-game username: Not Applicable (Optional) Introduce yourself if you’d like, as well as any creations you want to share (e.g. art, builds, skins): My name is Yannick and I'm, as mentioned earlier, 24 years old. I currently life in The Netherlands and have a full-time job in Accounting. In my free time I like to have some drinks with friends, play games (board or online) and I also like to watch series and movies. Regarding this last hobby, I particularly enjoy watching sci-fi and fantasy movies and series. Therefore, I'd love to join this roleplaying server! In addition, in game (Minecraft) I would describe myself as a relatively peaceful guy who likes to farm and mine. However, I also like building medieval themed houses, castles and other structures. — In-Character Read the following prompt: The rhythmic lull of hoofbeats are a marching drum to the small group of pioneers and variety of folk you have found yourself amongst, packed into a wobbling wagon. The rolling plains of the Southern Reach and a clear sky stretch out all around you, the buzz of excited chatter a dull wash in your ears as your mind strays to your former life and what has led you here to new lands. “Nervous?” You blink, returning to the present moment. A kindly older woman sat near you is smiling warmly with a crinkle to her eyes. “I can tell it’s your first time. Still remember mine,” she flashes a grin and leans in. “Tell me my dear, why have you come to the Reach?” How do you respond (in character)? (250 word minimum - please make sure to include at least three references to our lore in your response, with two coming from different pages in the Compendium.  Two of the three selected should also be in-depth, avoid simply name-dropping lore terms. Tie the terms into your character's backstory. Why are they important to them?) I smile faintly at the question, though the truth weighs heavier than my pack. “Nervous? Aye… though perhaps more restless than afraid.” I was born in the shadow of The Wall, in a little village clinging to the Duchy of Rulan. You’ll know the sort, stone houses blackened with soot, the air always thick with the hammering of masons and the smell of crushed grapes. My father worked the vineyards before the Red Fists began their endless conscriptions, and by the time I could walk, my brothers were marched north to hold the border. Rulan folk pride themselves on standing guard for the Valkian Realm, but pride does not fill a belly, nor bring a son back from the steppe. When I was of age, I saw what little future lay for me there: toil, debt, and the quiet grief of mothers with no children left to comfort them. Yet my blood carried a different calling. My grandmother was Fey-Touched, her eyes bright as the river at dawn, and she never let me forget it. She told me of Faerie’s Eve, when Falstoners leave out lanterns and wreaths to honor the old bargains with the Fey. To most, such tales are harmless fancy. To me, they were a tether, proof that my blood carried something more than Rulan’s vineyards and stone. I longed to find whether Avalore itself still remembered such ties, whether the Fey whispered beyond The Wall. But it was not only whispers of the Fey that marked my path. As a boy, I bore witness to a Fireborne wandering our lands, scarred and strange, marked by flame yet walking still. The Valks cursed him, spat that such folk were omens, yet I could not look away. There was strength there, and survival carved into his very flesh. I wondered what fire he had endured, and whether I, too, might be tempered in such a way. His passing left me restless, as though Avalore itself was daring me to step beyond my small life and follow where he could not linger. And so here I am, chasing what lies beyond The Wall and into the Southern Reach. Perhaps I seek fortune, or perhaps I seek answers, about the Fey, about the Fireborne, about my own place in this woven tale. Either way, I will not find them by staying where I was. I glance at the horizon, letting out a long breath. “That is why I’ve come. To see if Avalore still remembers folk like me.” — Character Name: Kaelen Thorne Character Race: Half Human / Half Fey-Touched Character Age: 26 years old Brief Physical Description: I’m twenty-six years of age, built broad and muscular from the work I was raised to, tending the vineyards and stonework of the Duchy of Rulan, and later laboring near The Wall itself. My hair is a mid-long blonde that refuses to stay tamed, often falling across my eyes no matter how I tie it back. Those eyes, blue as a summer sky, are my most striking feature; some say they carry a strange brightness, as though touched faintly by the Fey blood that runs from my grandmother’s line. My skin has been toughened by the sun and wind, a farmer’s tan over calloused hands that know the weight of tools and the pull of bowstring alike. A thin scar runs along my jaw, not a tale of great battle, but the mark of an accident with a mason’s chisel, the sort of scar common in Rulan villages where stone is more plentiful than bread. I carry myself with purpose, but I know I lack the polish of a Valkian courtier. I was never raised for silks or courts, only honest work. Still, in my stride there lingers something quieter, something my grandmother always said was not wholly of this world. Perhaps it is only her Fey stories echoing in me, or perhaps Avalore itself has seen fit to shape me into something beyond what my blood alone would allow. Image of Skin and Figura Model: Included in the Appendix of this application