Karal's Application (oh so tl;dr)
Appearance = With short dark hair, dark eyes, and sharp features, the olive skinned Karal is typical of the Karsite people. He's of average height, around 5' 7", slender, fit, and healthy. He always wears his Vkandis medal, a sun in glory, and, except when riding or doing other physical activity, wears simple priest's robes of black and gold. For formal occasions he has a range of ever more formal and ornate robes.
Background = Valdemar is a small landlocked country, ruled by a monarch who must be also be a Herald. Heralds are the main tools of peace in Valdemar: police, secret service, travelling magistrates, spies, and special ops military all rolled into one. Heralds are chosen by Companions, ie: psychically weighed and tested by beings which look like blue-eyed white horses. Companions are (for the most part) actually the spirits of reincarnated Heralds. If deemed worthy, they bond to each other for life and they are uncorruptable.
Karse is its neighbour and is a theocracy under the church of Vkandis Sunlord. The Son of the Sun, High Priest, head of the church, and direct, personal representative of Vkandis, is the equivalent of a monarch. Several centuries prior, the Priesthood began to be corrupted, serving their own desires rather than those of Vkandis, and things grew rapidly worse in Karse as it became insular and rabidly intolerant of other beliefs.
Valdemar and Karse are historically bitter enemies, have been for centuries, who joined together to fight a common enemy. Karal is a novice of Vkandis, sent as secretary to his mentor Ulrich - who is the envoy to the Court of Queen Selenay - from Karse to Valdemar. This - mission and alliance both - was only possible because of the ascendance to the head of the church (and thus of Karse) by Solaris, the first female Son of the Sun, chosen by Vkandis Himself.
Karal's childhood:
Children in Karse all go through a testing. Sun-priests travel from village to village, looking for children who are special: who have the mage gift or potential, have psychic gifts, or are highly intelligent. They are claimed, drugged for ease of transport, and taken to the Children's Cloister, never to be seen by their families again, destined for the priesthood or other, more specialised, endeavours.
Some of the children who are claimed are given to the Flames: burned alive for the heresy of harbouring witch powers, and all the children at the Cloister are required to watch.
Karal is the son of the chief stableman of the Rising Sun Inn, and has three sisters and a little brother. He was claimed when he was nine, and he grew up and was educated in the Cloister, quickly rising to advanced classes with the highborn students due to his intelligence and devotion to studies. He pleased his teachers but was ceaselessly bullied by his classmates.
The priest Ulrich eventually chose him as mentoree and secretary, and fostered both his love of scholarly pursuits and his love of horses, giving him time from his duties to ride his gelding, Trenor (who is named after his little brother). When Karal was twelve, Solaris ascended and the entire corrupt hierarchy and customs of the church were overhauled. Ulrich - and perforce Karal - were in the thick of it. One of the things she decreed was that the children should have contact with their families, allowing Karal to visit his several times and write regularly.
Immediate History (AKA the events of Storm Warning):
Valdemar is the heart of an Alliance, which includes Karse, working to try and solve the twin dilemmas of the mage storms - storms of magic that warp and mutate physical things and cause active magics to go haywire or fail altogether - and the Eastern Empire - most particularly in the person of Grand Duke Tremane and his army who are occupying another neighbouring country.
Karal was very nervous about coming to Karse's traditional enemy. Sun-priests had always taught (before Solaris's ascendancy) that they were evil, the Heralds White Demons and the Companions Hellspawn. He also had the unenviable chance to see his people and his religion as the evil ones, looking at history from the Valdemaran perspective.
After several initial shocks, Karal settled fairly well in Valdemar, learning basic self defense and the Valdemaran tongue, and befriending several disparate people, including a very emotionally damaged young mage (An'desha) and the Herald's daughter Natoli, in training to be an artificer (basically an engineer, as much as one could be in such a low-tech place). He also acquired a Firecat (Altra) and was befriended by a Companion (Florian), as the Companions wished to ensure he had a balanced view of Valdemar and access to the knowledge he'd need. It was through his friendship with Natoli that he brought the artificers into solving the mage storm problem.
Several months after their arrival, there was an assassin's attack, magic fuelled darts which burst out of the wall, aimed at all the envoys. Altra saved Karal and almost managed to save Ulrich, but he was hit by a dart and died after a short time. Karal was devastated by the death of his mentor and surrogate father, as was Altra, both blaming themselves for not saving him.
He recovered and managed to move on - he had to, it was his duty - assuming Ulrich's place on the Alliance Council, but he still desperately misses Ulrich. Work on the mage storm problem continued, a temporary solution was found which would protect Valdemar - erecting a magical breakwater. Karal, An'desha, Florian and Altra were responsible for one border - the border with Iftel, which required a Karsite Sun-priest of a particular kind. Karal acted as a mage channel, essentially a mage power magnifier, with all the magic being funnelled through and back out of him, an extremely painful and draining process.
The breakwater worked, giving them all much needed time and breathing space.
Personality:
Karal is only a novice priest, but he is a true priest at heart, recognised as such by the Iftel border. He is deeply empathic and compassionate, and will put aside personal desires in favour of doing what is right. He believes deeply in Vkandis and has seen his god intervene personally at least twice in his life. He is a scholar and a lover of books who wishes for the simple life of a quiet scholar-priest, which he is destined never to have. At heart, he is a homebody.
Quick-witted and very intelligent, he is a highly adaptable and flexible thinker, with a mind trained to remember speech or text word for word and recall it later, and he excels at being unobtrusive.
He is also shy, and is very intimidated by strong women -- Karse is a male-dominated society, women cannot own property or join the military, not even as healer-priests, and a woman who assumes the role of a man is deemed guilty of heresy -- but close association with Solaris taught him to never underestimate the competence of a woman, and this was reinforced by his time in Valdemar.
It's worth noting that Sun-priests are required to be neither chaste nor celibate, and Karal knows about sex, has "had an amazingly broad education in worldly matters", though he is a virgin. Karal does not lack a sense of fun or mischief, however, and quite enjoys a night at the tavern with friends. He can also be selfish, jealous, vengeful, and quick-tempered but he has great control over his mind and emotions and rarely allows these to show, or to affect his actions.
Where in canon:
Karal comes to Fandom just after the end of Storm Warning. Solaris, rather than declaring him her envoy then and there, decrees - and the idea is backed by the Companions - that he shall go somewhere he can learn and get much needed experience, and gain the time and distance he needs to be ready to be the envoy.
I'm stretching canon here by making the breathing space granted by the breakwater far longer and, at the time Karal comes to Fandom, having the Alliance believe it's a long-term solution, and by downplaying the threat of Grand Duke Tremane. Time in Fandom will also run differently from time in Valdemar. Months will pass in Fandom and only days will pass in Valdemar, so Karal will be willing to come, else he'd feel he was abandoning his duty. This fits in with the motive behind sending him - to give him time to become ready for the role he is going to play in saving the kingdoms of the Alliance.
Altra will bring him to Fandom from Valdemar and appear from time to time, according to need and whim (Firecats are still cats, after all). Karal will also bring his gelding Trenor with him.
And a Firecat is...?
Firecats are a bit like Companions. They are avatars of Vkandis and are said to be reincarnated Sons of the Sun. They are huge, standing thigh high, and look like cream bodied, red-point Siamese cats with intense blue eyes, but they can appear to others as a regular house cat. They speak mind to mind with whomever the choose, have god-given powers, including shielding and the ability to 'jump' (teleport) carrying other people/things over great distances and - at least according to me for the purposes of getting Karal to Fandom - across dimensions when so decreed by Vkandis.
Links = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velgarth
Includes info on the various countries, creatures and peoples, including Karse, Valdemar, Companions, Firecats et al.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_Warning_%28Mercedes_Lackey_novel%29
About Storm Warning.
Staying = Stay on for the Fall
ProblemSolving = In character - Karal is a priest. Solving problems is part of what he does. He always sees both sides of a situation, he can't not. Once he knows something, he can't forget or ignore it, and he always thinks of how the other person must feel. Thus he will find a way to work with people to achieve what needs to be done, using words and an appeal to what is right, or to logic, or to whatever will work best on a given person. He can be stubborn, and if it is a question of helping someone or addressing a potentially dangerous issue, he will do whatever is necessary to find a solution. If it's just something he personally wants, he will let it go.
OOC - Communication is key. Find out if there is actually a problem, because sometimes it's easy to imagine issues where there are none. If there is, see if I can find out why it started, and find out what's necessary to fix it. If it can't be fixed, move on if possible. If not, and it is a problem that is going to have a major impact, then it may be necessary to refer the problem to a mod or an admin for guidance/assistance/intervention.
WritingSample = Things were so much simpler on the back of a horse. Karal leaned into the wind, legs firm around Trenor, hands light as they circled the park at a slow canter. Here, he could forget everything that weighed on him, even if it was a temporary respite. He trusted Vkandis not to load him to the breaking point, but it was still hard, and these moments of peace were welcome.
All too soon he had to pull up, the park too small to ride in for long, and he didn't want to hinder anyone else who might want to use it. Dismounting, he gave Trenor a quick scratch, then shortened his stirrups, pulled the reins over his head, and led him towards the edge of the park. He paused when they reached it, looking around curiously.
This was more what he expected of a strange place than Valdemar had been. It actually looked strange: the people, their manner of dress, even the streets themselves. Not to mention the automatic wheeled cart that had come past earlier and startled Trenor into shying.
The gelding nudged his back and he petted him absently, leading him forward onto the hard road which chimed under his hooves, making him snort and dance in place. "Easy, Trenor. We'll be back in the stables soon." It was the only place he really felt comfortable, its familiarity soothing, and Trenor was good company, a friend in this place which seemed so alien.
So engrossed was he in puzzling out what some of the stores must sell that he didn't notice the girl crossing the road. The girl he would have run into had she not stepped quickly out of the way.
"You're new here, aren't you?"
Karal jumped a little, pulling Trenor to a halt, and smiled shyly, trying hard not to show how uncomfortable he was. The clothes she was wearing were very revealing. "Sorry. I am, yes. I guess it must be fairly obvious. I'm Karal, from Karse."
She smiled and held out a hand. "Isabel Evans, from Roswell. And yeah, newbies to the island have a certain stunned look to them. Plus there's only one other horse here and that's not it."
He took her hand and shook it, knowing he was blushing at her attire. "Pleased to meet you, Isabel," he said. "I should have guessed there weren't many horses. Apart from the stables, there doesn't seem to be a lot of places for them to fit in. I may have to send him home," he added sadly.
Isabel cocked her head, looking thoughtful. "Have you tried the preserve? It's down behind the school. It's sort of a forest: trees, some nice trails, clearings. That might be a good place to ride."
Karal's eyes lit up. "That sounds ideal, actually. I'll try there next time. Thank you, Isabel," he said gratefully.
She laughed. "You're welcome, Karal. And I have to go, my friends are waiting," she said, waving over her shoulder as she walked away. "But welcome to Fandom."
He watched her leave, then smiled and patted Trenor. He did feel slightly more welcome than he had at the beginning of the day. Maybe this wouldn't be such an exile as he'd feared.
Background = Valdemar is a small landlocked country, ruled by a monarch who must be also be a Herald. Heralds are the main tools of peace in Valdemar: police, secret service, travelling magistrates, spies, and special ops military all rolled into one. Heralds are chosen by Companions, ie: psychically weighed and tested by beings which look like blue-eyed white horses. Companions are (for the most part) actually the spirits of reincarnated Heralds. If deemed worthy, they bond to each other for life and they are uncorruptable.
Karse is its neighbour and is a theocracy under the church of Vkandis Sunlord. The Son of the Sun, High Priest, head of the church, and direct, personal representative of Vkandis, is the equivalent of a monarch. Several centuries prior, the Priesthood began to be corrupted, serving their own desires rather than those of Vkandis, and things grew rapidly worse in Karse as it became insular and rabidly intolerant of other beliefs.
Valdemar and Karse are historically bitter enemies, have been for centuries, who joined together to fight a common enemy. Karal is a novice of Vkandis, sent as secretary to his mentor Ulrich - who is the envoy to the Court of Queen Selenay - from Karse to Valdemar. This - mission and alliance both - was only possible because of the ascendance to the head of the church (and thus of Karse) by Solaris, the first female Son of the Sun, chosen by Vkandis Himself.
Karal's childhood:
Children in Karse all go through a testing. Sun-priests travel from village to village, looking for children who are special: who have the mage gift or potential, have psychic gifts, or are highly intelligent. They are claimed, drugged for ease of transport, and taken to the Children's Cloister, never to be seen by their families again, destined for the priesthood or other, more specialised, endeavours.
Some of the children who are claimed are given to the Flames: burned alive for the heresy of harbouring witch powers, and all the children at the Cloister are required to watch.
Karal is the son of the chief stableman of the Rising Sun Inn, and has three sisters and a little brother. He was claimed when he was nine, and he grew up and was educated in the Cloister, quickly rising to advanced classes with the highborn students due to his intelligence and devotion to studies. He pleased his teachers but was ceaselessly bullied by his classmates.
The priest Ulrich eventually chose him as mentoree and secretary, and fostered both his love of scholarly pursuits and his love of horses, giving him time from his duties to ride his gelding, Trenor (who is named after his little brother). When Karal was twelve, Solaris ascended and the entire corrupt hierarchy and customs of the church were overhauled. Ulrich - and perforce Karal - were in the thick of it. One of the things she decreed was that the children should have contact with their families, allowing Karal to visit his several times and write regularly.
Immediate History (AKA the events of Storm Warning):
Valdemar is the heart of an Alliance, which includes Karse, working to try and solve the twin dilemmas of the mage storms - storms of magic that warp and mutate physical things and cause active magics to go haywire or fail altogether - and the Eastern Empire - most particularly in the person of Grand Duke Tremane and his army who are occupying another neighbouring country.
Karal was very nervous about coming to Karse's traditional enemy. Sun-priests had always taught (before Solaris's ascendancy) that they were evil, the Heralds White Demons and the Companions Hellspawn. He also had the unenviable chance to see his people and his religion as the evil ones, looking at history from the Valdemaran perspective.
After several initial shocks, Karal settled fairly well in Valdemar, learning basic self defense and the Valdemaran tongue, and befriending several disparate people, including a very emotionally damaged young mage (An'desha) and the Herald's daughter Natoli, in training to be an artificer (basically an engineer, as much as one could be in such a low-tech place). He also acquired a Firecat (Altra) and was befriended by a Companion (Florian), as the Companions wished to ensure he had a balanced view of Valdemar and access to the knowledge he'd need. It was through his friendship with Natoli that he brought the artificers into solving the mage storm problem.
Several months after their arrival, there was an assassin's attack, magic fuelled darts which burst out of the wall, aimed at all the envoys. Altra saved Karal and almost managed to save Ulrich, but he was hit by a dart and died after a short time. Karal was devastated by the death of his mentor and surrogate father, as was Altra, both blaming themselves for not saving him.
He recovered and managed to move on - he had to, it was his duty - assuming Ulrich's place on the Alliance Council, but he still desperately misses Ulrich. Work on the mage storm problem continued, a temporary solution was found which would protect Valdemar - erecting a magical breakwater. Karal, An'desha, Florian and Altra were responsible for one border - the border with Iftel, which required a Karsite Sun-priest of a particular kind. Karal acted as a mage channel, essentially a mage power magnifier, with all the magic being funnelled through and back out of him, an extremely painful and draining process.
The breakwater worked, giving them all much needed time and breathing space.
Personality:
Karal is only a novice priest, but he is a true priest at heart, recognised as such by the Iftel border. He is deeply empathic and compassionate, and will put aside personal desires in favour of doing what is right. He believes deeply in Vkandis and has seen his god intervene personally at least twice in his life. He is a scholar and a lover of books who wishes for the simple life of a quiet scholar-priest, which he is destined never to have. At heart, he is a homebody.
Quick-witted and very intelligent, he is a highly adaptable and flexible thinker, with a mind trained to remember speech or text word for word and recall it later, and he excels at being unobtrusive.
He is also shy, and is very intimidated by strong women -- Karse is a male-dominated society, women cannot own property or join the military, not even as healer-priests, and a woman who assumes the role of a man is deemed guilty of heresy -- but close association with Solaris taught him to never underestimate the competence of a woman, and this was reinforced by his time in Valdemar.
It's worth noting that Sun-priests are required to be neither chaste nor celibate, and Karal knows about sex, has "had an amazingly broad education in worldly matters", though he is a virgin. Karal does not lack a sense of fun or mischief, however, and quite enjoys a night at the tavern with friends. He can also be selfish, jealous, vengeful, and quick-tempered but he has great control over his mind and emotions and rarely allows these to show, or to affect his actions.
Where in canon:
Karal comes to Fandom just after the end of Storm Warning. Solaris, rather than declaring him her envoy then and there, decrees - and the idea is backed by the Companions - that he shall go somewhere he can learn and get much needed experience, and gain the time and distance he needs to be ready to be the envoy.
I'm stretching canon here by making the breathing space granted by the breakwater far longer and, at the time Karal comes to Fandom, having the Alliance believe it's a long-term solution, and by downplaying the threat of Grand Duke Tremane. Time in Fandom will also run differently from time in Valdemar. Months will pass in Fandom and only days will pass in Valdemar, so Karal will be willing to come, else he'd feel he was abandoning his duty. This fits in with the motive behind sending him - to give him time to become ready for the role he is going to play in saving the kingdoms of the Alliance.
Altra will bring him to Fandom from Valdemar and appear from time to time, according to need and whim (Firecats are still cats, after all). Karal will also bring his gelding Trenor with him.
And a Firecat is...?
Firecats are a bit like Companions. They are avatars of Vkandis and are said to be reincarnated Sons of the Sun. They are huge, standing thigh high, and look like cream bodied, red-point Siamese cats with intense blue eyes, but they can appear to others as a regular house cat. They speak mind to mind with whomever the choose, have god-given powers, including shielding and the ability to 'jump' (teleport) carrying other people/things over great distances and - at least according to me for the purposes of getting Karal to Fandom - across dimensions when so decreed by Vkandis.
Links = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velgarth
Includes info on the various countries, creatures and peoples, including Karse, Valdemar, Companions, Firecats et al.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_Warning_%28Mercedes_Lackey_novel%29
About Storm Warning.
Staying = Stay on for the Fall
ProblemSolving = In character - Karal is a priest. Solving problems is part of what he does. He always sees both sides of a situation, he can't not. Once he knows something, he can't forget or ignore it, and he always thinks of how the other person must feel. Thus he will find a way to work with people to achieve what needs to be done, using words and an appeal to what is right, or to logic, or to whatever will work best on a given person. He can be stubborn, and if it is a question of helping someone or addressing a potentially dangerous issue, he will do whatever is necessary to find a solution. If it's just something he personally wants, he will let it go.
OOC - Communication is key. Find out if there is actually a problem, because sometimes it's easy to imagine issues where there are none. If there is, see if I can find out why it started, and find out what's necessary to fix it. If it can't be fixed, move on if possible. If not, and it is a problem that is going to have a major impact, then it may be necessary to refer the problem to a mod or an admin for guidance/assistance/intervention.
WritingSample = Things were so much simpler on the back of a horse. Karal leaned into the wind, legs firm around Trenor, hands light as they circled the park at a slow canter. Here, he could forget everything that weighed on him, even if it was a temporary respite. He trusted Vkandis not to load him to the breaking point, but it was still hard, and these moments of peace were welcome.
All too soon he had to pull up, the park too small to ride in for long, and he didn't want to hinder anyone else who might want to use it. Dismounting, he gave Trenor a quick scratch, then shortened his stirrups, pulled the reins over his head, and led him towards the edge of the park. He paused when they reached it, looking around curiously.
This was more what he expected of a strange place than Valdemar had been. It actually looked strange: the people, their manner of dress, even the streets themselves. Not to mention the automatic wheeled cart that had come past earlier and startled Trenor into shying.
The gelding nudged his back and he petted him absently, leading him forward onto the hard road which chimed under his hooves, making him snort and dance in place. "Easy, Trenor. We'll be back in the stables soon." It was the only place he really felt comfortable, its familiarity soothing, and Trenor was good company, a friend in this place which seemed so alien.
So engrossed was he in puzzling out what some of the stores must sell that he didn't notice the girl crossing the road. The girl he would have run into had she not stepped quickly out of the way.
"You're new here, aren't you?"
Karal jumped a little, pulling Trenor to a halt, and smiled shyly, trying hard not to show how uncomfortable he was. The clothes she was wearing were very revealing. "Sorry. I am, yes. I guess it must be fairly obvious. I'm Karal, from Karse."
She smiled and held out a hand. "Isabel Evans, from Roswell. And yeah, newbies to the island have a certain stunned look to them. Plus there's only one other horse here and that's not it."
He took her hand and shook it, knowing he was blushing at her attire. "Pleased to meet you, Isabel," he said. "I should have guessed there weren't many horses. Apart from the stables, there doesn't seem to be a lot of places for them to fit in. I may have to send him home," he added sadly.
Isabel cocked her head, looking thoughtful. "Have you tried the preserve? It's down behind the school. It's sort of a forest: trees, some nice trails, clearings. That might be a good place to ride."
Karal's eyes lit up. "That sounds ideal, actually. I'll try there next time. Thank you, Isabel," he said gratefully.
She laughed. "You're welcome, Karal. And I have to go, my friends are waiting," she said, waving over her shoulder as she walked away. "But welcome to Fandom."
He watched her leave, then smiled and patted Trenor. He did feel slightly more welcome than he had at the beginning of the day. Maybe this wouldn't be such an exile as he'd feared.