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Tolten was born Prince Tolten of Uhra, to King Zypha and his wife. Uhra was one of the major countries in Plank, the world the majority of the action in Lost Odyssey takes place in. Together with the non-human country of Khent, the industrially advanced kingdom of Gohtza and the mysterious island state of Numara, the four countries controlled most of the known world. Tolten was born following the start of what is known as the Magical Industrial Revolution - magical energy, a source existing in some form in all life on Plank, suddenly became more prevalent as well as harness-able. This revolution changed the way the world functioned. It made life easier, and when combined with steam power, created marvelous inventions, vehicles, and weapons of war. Following the start of the MIR, Uhra soon fell to war with the western country of Khent. The war raged for years, and combined with the new reliance on magical energy destroying jobs in Uhra, civil unrest began to rear its ugly head. Shortly after the death of the queen, when Tolten was seven, King Zypha made an unprecedented decision. He relinquished the monarchy, the Holy Institution that had led Uhra for almost 50 generations, and turned the country over to a Council - forming the New Magic Republic of Uhra.
It is unclear in canon as to why, exactly, Zypha did this. Some citizens claim it was because the king lost his will after the death of the queen. Others claim it was due to Prince Tolten's insufficiency to be king after him. Canonically, the explanation offered from an NPC Uhran citizen is that it was the death of the queen. In Tolten's bio, the reason is presented that it was because of him. From an early age, Tolten showed himself to be a timid, quiet boy with no skill for magic, leading, or battle. Despite taking well to military training, he was simply too gentle a child to ever be able to fight. Tolten and Zypha continued to live in the palace, but as simply wealthy citizens. Zypha died under mysterious circumstances a few years later, leaving pre-teen Tolten to be brought up in the near-empty palace by a handful of servants and a Councilman who took pity on the boy - the sorcerer Gongora. Gongora stepped in after the death of Tolten's father and acted as a tutor and paternal figure to him.
The former prince was more than happy to live his life in solitude, keeping to the palace and having little contact with people outside of his personal servants and Gongora. He had no desire to be king, knowing full well what sort of a person he was. Even Gongora, regarded as one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world, wasn't able to teach him much magic or inspire any sort of ambition in him. And while there were revolutionaries who wished to return the monarchy to power, Tolten often and publicly said he had no desire to ever bring back the monarchy.
His life was a quiet and simple one until he was about seventeen years old. Uhra was still at war with Khent, and there were rumors that the magically advanced country of Gohtza was funding the Khent battle forces. The council, under the urging of Gongora, began construction of a great magical engine called Grand Staff, in the Sea of Baus just over the mountains from Uhra capital. Magical engines were commonplace by this point, generating, refining and directing magical energy. Magical energy became much like electricity, running nearly everything. Including both Khent and Uhran war machines. Grand Staff, a tower that reached taller than any manmade building, would be able to give Uhra the advantage they needed to end the war for good and to improve the quality of life for Uhran citizens doubly. Tolten funded a large part of the project himself, believing fully in Gongora's vision for a stronger, happier, more bountiful Uhra. Despite not having - or wanting - any political power, Tolten still felt very strongly about his country.
All was well until the final battle of the war between Uhra and Khent. Far to the west, in a place called the Highlands of Whol, a great meteor fell from the sky and wiped out both armies - except for a handful of mutated Khent beastmen and two soldiers from Uhra's magical battle division. The meteor and devastating loss of life was blamed on Grand Staff. Head Councilman Roxian ordered all construction halted until an investigation could be launched. Gongora was to be confined to his mansion during the investigation. It was decided that the two surviving soldiers would be sent - upon learning from Gongora that both were immortal due to a spell of his creation. Both soliders - Kaim Argonar and Seth Balmore - were suffering amnesia. Tolten, upon hearing the council's decision, rushed to Gongora's side and swore to do everything in his power to help the man. He briefly met Kaim Argonar at Gongora's mansion, but dismissed him with little thought. The investigation was underway, and Gongora warned Tolten that it would be best if he didn't visit - the council was already prying into Gongora's life, there was no need for them to start prying into Tolten's as well.
All of this was put out of Tolten's mind for a few months, until Gongora burst into his dining room one night to warn Tolten of an assassination attempt. Gongora explained that there was even more political unrest now then when the council took over, and many were afraid that Tolten's continued existence was enough to inspire revolts. Gongora also swore to Tolten that he would be safe, that the sorcerer had secret passages that linked their homes. Unfortunately, Gongora couldn't seem to make all that good on his promise. Just a few nights later, Tolten found himself attacked in the palace courtyard by a group of magically summoned monsters. After defeating them, Roxian revealed himself as the assassin and attempted to kill Tolten himself. Tolten refused to fight until he had no choice, and cut Roxian down with his sword.
Once more, Gongora came to the rescue just in time. Tolten explained that he had no choice, that Roxian had attacked him and wouldn't listen to reason. He was overcome with the fact he had taken a life and killed a man. But Gongora convinced him that everything would be fine. No one knew what had happened but them, and Gongora would announce that Roxian fell ill and died suddenly. But that left one problem - the fall of the Council. With Roxian's death, he argued, they had no choice but to revive the monarchy. Tolten had to step up as king. The teenager had no desire to do so but Gongora convinced him.
It was then that Tolten learned more of Gongora's planning. Grand Staff had been destroyed by the Numaran army, and Gongora had received first hand visual evidence of Numara massing war ships and war engines to sail on Uhra. If Uhra was in danger, then Tolten would do what had to be done. The next morning he announced - not just to Uhra, but in a broadcast televised all over the world - that with the unfortunate death of Roxian, he was stepping up to become the 45th king of Uhra. And that Uhra would not stand idly by while Numara massed an invading force.
Already, construction of a second Grand Staff were in the works, this time funded solely by Tolten himself. He gave Gongora full leave to do whatever it would take to make the second Grand Staff fully functional as quickly as possible.
The next months were full of the minutia of assuming a kingship. Tolten did what he needed to do, and Gongora worked on Grand Staff #2. But odd things started happening with that Grand Staff, too. Tolten went personally to the construction base to bring reports and discuss the situation with Gongora. This Grand Staff was further from Uhra, in the unclaimed seas off the independent merchant town Saman. The sea around the experimental Grand Staff had gone crazy, and some sort of magical disturbance was occurring at the top chamber. When Tolten arrived, he was greeted by a sight he wasn't sure of.
Gongora was in the central top chamber, surrounded by the unconscious bodies of a variety of people. Three of them, Tolten recognized. Kaim Argonar and Seth Balmore, the immortal soldiers that Gongora had sent to Grand Staff, and Gongora's own valet. Along with those three were two women Tolten didn't recognize, and a pair of children who could be no more than eleven. And the Staff was sinking into the sea. Gongora convinced Tolten to leave the wounded, as they were traitors and enemies to the Uhran crown. Even the children, for children grew up and they would grow up to be Tolten's enemies.
This was the first sign that Tolten had that maybe Gongora wasn't entirely deserving of blind, unconditional trust and adoration. But Tolten still trusted the sorcerer, and allowed Gongora to make most decisions in regards to Uhra and the threat of both Numara and Gohtza. Which is why Tolten agreed to meet with King Mars Gohtza in secret, to try and forge an alliance with Gohtza against Numara. Tolten would go alone, with only two personal mage guards, and meet with Mars on the other king's royal train outside of Gohtza. But when Tolten arrived for the meeting, he found himself confused and shocked.
As well as Mars Gohtza, joining in the negotiations were the mysterious and never-before seen Queen Ming Numara, the immortal Seth Balmore, and Gongora's valet, Jansen Friedh. All of whom had supposedly perished when the experimental Grand Staff plunged into the sea. According to them, Gongora was the traitor. He was an immortal as well, not through any spell but because he came from another world. He had been orchestrating everything, and using Tolten. Tolten refused to believe it, and was ready to strike a deal with Gohtza, when a great ice storm engulfed Gohtza. Magical in origin, it froze everything it touched, encasing the country in ice. And the train tracks and train as well.
Tolten was stricken to near paralysis at what was happening. He tried to reach Gongora but was unable to, and the rest of the meeting members blamed him! The ice had reached the chamber, Mars Gohtza and his guards were dead, and Tolten was still immobilized. One of his personal guards pushed a transportation crystal into Tolten's hands and told him to get out of there. As the spell was building, the train crashed and Seth Balmore was caught in it as well. She and Tolten were transported from the crashing train to the streets of Uhra.
Upon being attacked by his own guards and learning that Gongora had announced his death - before the train crashed - Tolten finally realized how he had been used this entire time. Grand Staff had nothing to do with advancing or protecting Uhra, but to seal the link between Gongora's world and Plank, allowing the sorcerer to take over the world. He had been a pawn and a figurehead, and Gongora was going to proclaim himself king of Uhra. The ceremony -which involved Gongora needing to drink the blood of all 45 former kings and offer human sacrifice - was set to begin in only a few hours.
The truth eventually all came out. Gongora and four others had been sent from their world, a paradise world of pure energy, to Plank. The two worlds were linked, and the life-force of Plank was somehow sickening and destroying the immortal's homeward. After one thousand years, they were supposed to return. Gongora, however, had no desire to. He emotionally tortured and erased the memories of his fellow immortals and launched his plan to use Grand Staff to break the magic mirror that was the link between the worlds and cut the two apart forever.
Tolten, disgusted with himself and Gongora, swore he would join forces with Seth and the others to stop him.
Together they managed to disrupt the ceremony - the underground Gohtzan invasion that erupted at the same time helped - rescue Seth's son Sed who was part of the sacrifice, and escape on Sed's submarine. Despite a great deal of resistance at having him along, Tolten was grudgingly accepted into the main group, all of whom had survived the attack on Gohtza. While traveling together, Tolten developed something of a bond with Seth. She encouraged him, and recognized the man he could be with the right guidance. She did all she could to whip him into shape, and for once in his life, Tolten had the inner drive to better himself.
Gongora had escaped in yet a third Grand Staff (it's never really explained canonically where that one comes from) and the rag tag group went after him. After journeying to ancient ruins to find a magical item to allow the submarine Nautilus to go after Grand Staff and saving Numara from a pack of Gongora's magical beast, they were ready to confront him. Over this time, Tolten had great difficulty proving himself as one of the group. Most were suspicious of him, for his close connection to Gongora. Even though nearly all of them had been in some way used or manipulated by the sorcerer, only Tolten had truly trusted and loved the man. But over time and countless battles and obstacles, Tolten began to find his strength and prove himself. Though still timid and soft spoken, Tolten risked his own life to save the others. Seth's - and eventually Sed's - encouragement and tough love helped a great deal as well.
When Gongora was finally confronted, it looked as though they were assured a victory. It came down to a fight of four immortals against one in the Tower of Mirrors. But Gongora had a trick up his sleeve. He had lured them there for the simple reason that the time flow matched that of their world. The 'immortals' were immortal no longer in the light of the mirror. The only solution, apparently, was to use magic to shield the light. Jansen Friedh leapt into action, and Tolten followed suit. Within moments, all the mortals in the party were lending their own energy to the shield. Gongora was defeated, but the shield had absorbed the light of the mirror and couldn't be dropped. Tolten and the others were trapped inside. Despite defeating Gongora, death was imminent. Nothing the immortals tried worked. Tolten ascertain he was going to die, and thanked Sed and Seth for all they had done. The three had a tear filled goodbye before Gongora, wounded and weak but not defeated, made one last attempt at victory. In a desperate move, Seth grappled him and broke the mirror with their bodies, returning to their world and cutting the link. The shield dissolved, and those left were able to escape.
Tolten returned to Uhra, a more somber and stronger man. He resumed his kingship and dedicated himself to restoring the damage that had been done to the world by Gongora and, in a small part, himself.
Personality
Tolten is, as has been mentioned, a rather timid and quiet young man. He's spent his life being told and thinking that he's just not good enough. He's too weak, too soft, too frightened to be anything of use. His father was regarded as a great king, and Tolten has always felt in his shadow. He's terribly trusting, as evidenced with how quickly and easily he whole-heartedly trusted Gongora. He rarely raises his voice, and doesn't like being the one to have to make decisions. Even after realizing that he isn't weak, soft and a coward, he remains soft spoken and hesitant to speak up if he feels there are those with more experience/a better grasp on the situation/more authority than him there. Despite being a king, Tolten is more of a follower than a leader.
He still doubts his decisions and actions sometimes, though he's entirely confident in his sword skills. He has a strong sense of right and wrong, but a habit of letting other people influence what he thinks is right and wrong.
He also has a weird little quirk where he doesn't like other people around when he does normal, everyday things. He doesn't like eating in front of other people, or being observed as he goes about his daily life. This stems from being constantly critiqued and criticized as a child.
Tolten is also very easily overpowered by strong women. He defers immediately to Seth for no reason other than she raises her voice and uses commanding language with him. He also defers to Queen Ming in the later part of canon, while he speaks up and voices dissent against the male party leaders.
He is fiercely loyal, sometimes to a fault. Even when he had plenty of indication that Gongora was at the very least harboring ulterior motives and at the very most dangerously unhinged, he still stood by and trusted the man. When he knew the truth and turned against Gongora, he thoughtlessly risked himself for people who were practically strangers and often treated him like an outsider. He felt a connection with them, a common bond and goal, and that was enough to inspire his devout loyalty.
While all this paints a picture of a rather ineffectual sort, Tolten is a strong person. He is remarkably resilient, and while it may take him a few moments to grasp a severe situation, he will meet it head on and to the very best of his abilities. He wants to prove himself as a good man, and will not turn away from anyone who needs help. It just may take him a moment or two to jump in on his own.
Physical description
Tolten is about 5'10, with wavy blond hair brushed back and slicked out of his eyes. He has lightly tanned skin and blue eyes with defined, square features and a touch of baby fat still clinging to his cheeks. He's broad shouldered and well muscled from years of intense sword practice and a year of adventuring and battles. Altogether he has an air of innocence and almost femininity to him.
Otherworldly Abilities
Here's where things get a little weird! Tolten, canonically, has no magic abilities of his own. He understands the theory, he knows all about it, he's spent years trying to learn, but he just doesn't have enough innate magical energy to be able to use it for battle or healing magic, or any of the common spells used in Plank. But for some unexplained reason, he has quasi-magical special abilities that aren't linked to equipment or items. They're all battle related, but he's a good enough fighter on his own that I'm just not going to bother with most of them to save everybody a headache. The only skill of his that I'd like to keep is his ability to (sometimes) lull monsters with his singing voice. Which I consider to be the only thing he can do with his innate magical energy, since it does take Magic Points to do in canon. And even in canon, it's about a 25% - 30% chance of it working.
If present, how do you plan to tweak these powers to make your character appropriately hindered in the setting of Landel's?:
Like I said above, I'm nixing all his abilities save his singing. In canon, this has a small chance at putting a monster to sleep. I figure tweak it so sometimes he can momentarily stun monsters? Three times a night, with a 20% chance of stunning a monster for one turn?
Does your character have any non-otherworldly abilities/training that surpass the norm?:
Tolten is an exceptionally accomplished swordsman. He isn't bad with his fists, but he knows where he stands with a sword in his hand. He's also an extremely talented musician.