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Revision as of 16:55, 16 June 2015

"War is my father. Battle my purpose. Death my destiny."

Origin

Birth and early years

Born near the end of the 15th century as Karl Arnold Reginald, the first-born son of a noble in the town of Nordstedt, he lived a rather good life, receiving a better education than most at the time, including reading, writing and math besides combat and tactic training. He grew up to a healthy, strong and handsome man and his father had good hopes to marry him to the daughter of one of the more powerful and wealthy nobles of the country and Karl himself did indeed look forward to it, having the choice between several young, equally beautiful and intelligent women. Things did look good for him and his family at this point, especially after he made a choice and preparations for a wedding could begin.

Turning points

Two weeks before the marriage was to take place, grave new arrived at the caste: One of their neighbors was closing in with an army, no doubt with the intention of razing the caste. Why he did this or how he had been able to amass a force of the size approaching in the first place remained unknown. What was known, that they had less than three days to prepare.

When the day of the battle arrived, Nordstedt was as good prepared as humanly possible, but still vastly outnumbered and any reinforcements were still days away and not numerous enough to pose a threat to the army besieging the town and castle. The most disturbing thing though, was the fact that the attackers had brought large numbers of sealed coaches and coffins with them. The reason for this remained a mystery until the second night of the siege. The defenders already had repelled several attempts at breaching the walls and new had arrived that the reinforcements coming were coordinating themselves, thus posing an actual threat to the attackers force.

When the night came though, the terror came with it. The coaches and coffins were unsealed and unleashed an evil never seen before: Vampires. While there had always been rumors about these fiends, few actually believed in them and even those who did never thought of something like this happening. Within hours the castle had become a field of death and wholesale slaughter, the fiends taking delight in a feast the likes has never been seen before. Karl’s father was one of the first to be killed, a vampire lord literally sucking him empty in front of his son’s eyes. Preparing for his last fight and to kill himself instead of being emptied, Karl made peace with the world. That was, when the tides of battle turned again…

A howl ran through the air, quickly answered by more and soon the air was filled with a crescendo of wolf-like howls. Within minutes the castle had become a battle-field between these age-old enemies and the human inhabitants that hadn’t been killed yet were caught in between.

The battle lasted until dawn and ended with most of the vampires and their human allies dead or on the run, the werewolves victorious – and most of the castles population dead or wounded. Karl himself was just barely alive at this point, having received several severe wounds during the battle. The last heir of town and castle was dying.

A new chance, a new life – the birth of Karn

Only a handful of humans had survived the slaughter, with Karl being among them yet slowly dying from the wounds he had received. The castle and its outskirts were now dominated by the werewolves and the townsfolk had few hopes that things would turn for the better for them. It was then, that one of the beasts approached the survivors, a towering giant with grey fur, clad in surprisingly heavy armor which didn’t seem to constrain his mobility at all. He introduced himself as Auroch and made Karl a simple offer: Die from his wounds or become one of them, a Lycan. Why he made this offer, Karl only learned years later. In that moment, it was simply an offer to live on, to be reborn as something, someone else. Karl considered, especially regarding his people whom he wanted to be safe from any more harm. After a short, but heated discussion between him and Auroch, they came to an outcome both were satisfied with. The survivors were allowed to leave or become servants of the Lycans (a few received the offer to be turned as well, but refused) while Auroch turned Karl himself. While the turning had taken place, it wouldn’t be until the next full moon that he’d transform and thus fully become a Lycan himself. Until then, Auroch and his comrades cared for Karl, tending to his wounds and making sure he survived the days and nights.

13 days later the night of the full moon arrived and the transformation took place turning Karl into the beast he still is today. The next years he spend with Auroch, learning to control his feral instincts and to keep his more human characteristics dominant while using his newfound abilities and powers to their full effect. Auroch also asked Karl to adapt a new name for his new form to fully leave his old life and person behind and while reluctant at first, he ultimately accepted and took on the name of Karn, closing the chapter of his human life.

Karn proved to be an excellent apprentice to Auroch, learning quickly and combining his old skills with the newfound strength, turning him into a fearsome warrior and hunter who quickly earned the respect of other Lycans and tested his strength more than once against others both of his kin but especially against Vampires, his sworn enemies.

After almost a century Auroch decided it was time to part ways. Karn had grown and gained experience and as far as Auroch was concerned, it was time for him to stand on his own. Following their parting, Karn roamed the lands of Germany and its neighboring countries for half a century, before things changed once more for him.

Joining the pack – Clan ‘Selenias’

During one night, while hunting for something to eat, Karn found a lone Lycan under attack by a group of Hunters, humans who had dedicated their lives to hunting Lycans, Vampires and other creatures.
He quickly assessed the situation – the Lycan was badly wounded and only barely defending himself – and announced his presence with a mighty howl, quickly forcing the Hunters to change their attention to this new opponent. While one continued to attack the wounded Lycan, the remaining four faced Karn who quickly proved to be more than a match for the humans who swiftly fell under his attacks, forcing the last one, who was still trying to deliver the coup de grace to his enemy, to flee the scene of battle lest he wished to die as well.
Tending to his wounded brother, Karn ensured his survival, cleansing his wounds from any silver remains so his regenerative ability could do the rest. Introducing himself as Leifr of the Clan Selenias, Karn learned that the rather young Lycan was on a scouting mission, scouring the area for livestock and humans to feed on, when the Hunters had ambushed him.
Accompanying the young one back to his Clan and their current residence – and old, abandoned castle – he was introduced to their leader, Nikias, an old, venerable wolf of almost six-hundred years of age at that point. Impressing Nikias with his attitude, skill and the saving of one of their own, he was offered a place amongst them, an offer he gladly accepted.
Karn quickly became a respected member of the Clan, proving himself to be a reliable and valuable member of the pack by teaching the younger, less experienced members, learning from the older, more experienced ones and bringing in his knowledge from his prior life in many situations, allowing the Clan to further prosper.
It was in the sixth decade after joining, that he and another member of the clan, their blacksmith Taryn, fell in love with each other, eventually marrying and mating.

Rise of the Warmaster

Making a name for himself within the clan, marrying their blacksmith – herself a deeply respected member due to her skill – and proving himself to be not only an excellent warrior, but also an apt tactician and – if necessary – diplomat, Nikias eventually offered Karn the position of Warmaster after the previous one decided to step down.
Taking up on the offer, Karn quickly got to work, changing quite a few things as well as planning a campaing against a neighboring clan of Vampires with whom the Selenites had several clashes over feeding grounds. One of the first things he did, was to return the castle to its former glory, turning it into a formidable fortress with proper guarding and patrols, while having pairs of scouts gather Intel on their opponents.
The following ‘war’ wasn’t so much a war as a slaughter. Despite warning the Vampires by officially declaring war upon them, when the pack attacked, it found their enemies utterly ill-prepared, being wiped out without inflicting more than a few minor wounds on the attackers.
In the aftermath, Clan Selenias not only secured their feeding grounds, but doubled the territory they possessed and even managed to find some humans who were not only willing, but also able to be potential ‘recruits’ to be turned, increasing the clans numbers by a good amount.
Bolstered by the confidence gained in this swift victory, the new additions to their ranks and the excellent planning that allowed things to occur as they did, clan Selenias began a campaign of expansionism lasting almost two decades, increasing their territory tenfold, quadrupling their number and erecting several smaller strongholds to watch over this territory.
With the territory gained, they also gained access to new areas, towns and thus, options to gather food and supplies, increasing the clan’s strength furthermore, turning them into one of the more powerful clans around. With these victories, Karns fame and reputation grew further, many wishing to become like him, admiring him, but also envying him.
And of course not only Karn drew more attention to him with these, but also the clan itself. Many other clans, Lycans and Vampires alike, turned their attention to this new power and not all did so in kind. While the Lycan clans were at worst jealous and a little wary, the vampiric clans on the other hand were rightfully worried that with these events, the balance of power in that region might shift in favour of their enemies.
But Karn was no fool and quite aware of the sentiments others had towards them, thus refraining from further expansion, instead focusing on securing what they had and improving relationships with other clans in the area.

War and downfall

Aftermath

Personality

Proud, direct, honorable. A promise given is one to uphold, at all costs. He despises weakness and sees strength, glory and honour only in the purity of combat (that is: close combat, be it with blades, axes and other melee weapons or fists and claws). Has only contempt for other (lesser) beings like humans, cat-people and lesser werewolves, though this has slightly diminished due to his recent interactions and some of the people he has met. Regarded humans as ‘cattle’ at some point, but eventually came to realize the stupidity behind this concept and that a more cooperative relationship is more beneficial for both sides. While potentially able to turn others into werewolves, he prefers to only turn those he deems worthy of this honour and who agree to be turned, frowning upon those who turn humans due to carelessness or to torment them.

He also has quite a temper and reacts usually very badly upon being called ‘dog’, ‘furry’ or something similar. He’s also very sensitive when it comes to his species and especially his fallen clan-members or his dead mate/wife. Doing any of these is often a sure way to end up as another corpse or – at the very least – with broken bones and wounds, though this isn’t always his reaction, especially since he has started to somewhat mellow out.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Dexterity:

Durability:

Enhanced senses:

Regeneration:

Reflexes:

Stamina:

Strength:

Abilities

Archer:

Artist:

Blacksmith:

Goldsmith/Jeweller:

Master Swordsman:

Master Tracker:

Equipment and gear

Weapons

The Wolf's Fang: Karn's weapon of choice in most sitations, carried in a scabbard on his left side. A carefully and artistically crafted longsword with a wolfs head seemingly potruding from the hilt to devour the blade itself. A fine blade, yet nothing more. No magic or rare materials in it, this sword is merely a well-made sword and as such is useless against certain types of enemy.

Tooth and Claw: Two arming swords - also known as short swords - that Karn tends to carry around in reverse scabbards on his back. A special mechanism only known to him prevents them from falling out at inopportune moments, yet is easy enough to use that there's no delay should he need to fall back on these two short, yet exceptionally deadly and swift blades.

The Damascus Greatsword: A present Elizabeth made Karn some time ago, this magnificient blade has been made in the city of Damasus by some contacts of her, people still familiar with the old method of creating swords out of the legendary Damascus Steel. While it has yet to see battle or receive a proper name, its size and quality mean it'll be well suited for larger engangements in the open or to act as a longsword in Karn's hand when changed into his lycan appaerance.

Mateba Model 6 Unica: Another recent present by Elizabeth. Having been trained by her in the use of firearms and having taken a special liking to large caliber revolvers like the Colt Anaconda, Karn soon found himself presented with this extremely rare and fine weapon that will certainly prove to be very useful to him.

Taryn's Rememberance: The oldest weapon in Karn's arsenal and the emotianally most important: The huge bidenhander that has been forged centuries ago by his late wife Taryn as a gift, this enormous blade has seen many battles and too many enemies fall to still be able to count. Even Karn doesn't know the details of its forging process but he suspects there's more than mere steel involved as this blade has proven to stand up to nearly anything it has encountered so far. Being taller than Karn himself from tip of the blade to its pommel only one as him can effectively wield this blade and only his centuries of experience of doing so allow him maneuvres one wouldn't expect from this large a weapon. Fighting Karn when he's wielding this sword is equal to challenging death itself as only very few have ever been able to prove themselves able to fight on equal terms with him under those circumstances.

The Dawn Bringer: Forged by Karn himself in late 2013 as an alternative to Taryn's Rememberance, this is a large and menacing warhammer whose top is adorned with two thorns meant to penetrate even heavy armour. Meant as an alternative to his humongous sword when dealing with heavily armoured enemies or golems that are resistant to blades, this hammer has already seen some battle and prven to be frighteningly effective in it.

Throwing Knives: A set of about half a dozen small knifes, silver-lined and hollowed out to allow a liquid to be held that's released upon impact, usually a combination of silver-nitrate, garlic and holy water. Mostly an auxiliary weapon, these knives have proven themselves to be quite effective, especially against vampires, but also other enemies, provided the liquid inside them is tailored to effect their target.

Gear

Combat Armour: When out on the streets and expecting combat, Karn tends to don one of two versions of combat armour. The lighter version is a piece of leather armour reinforced with steel-plates (which can be taken out and exchanged for other materials from the insides of the vest) in vital areas without impeding his movement too much. Underneath he tends to wear a lighter, sleeveless leather suit to add to the vests protection value. Combat gloves and boots and simple pants complete the rather minimalistic outfit, with his revolver and longsword strapped to his right and left leg respectively and the shortswords strapped to his back in a special reverse (upside-down) dual-scabbard. With it he tends to wear a black leather trenchcoat that offers some additional protection but is mostly to hide his arsenal and keep himself better covered. The heavier version comes in if he expects heavier resistance or enemies capable of actually hurting him where an increase in protection is advisable. The main difference is that instead of a sleeveless leathersuit he wears a full-body suit that covers everything except his head and face and is thick enough to withstand knives and similar weapons without too much of a problem. Additionally he tends to wear leather bracers with steel elements inside them as additional protection and to allow some deflection capabilities should the need arise. In this version the suit even extends beneath his pants, hidden by them and offering additional protection in that area while restricting his movement very little, partially thanks to his super-human physical attributes that allow him to wear even heavy plate armour with little effort or trouble. Even with this version of his armour he tends to wear the trenchcoat, still to hide the degree of protection but also to serve as a form of now I'm getting really serious.

Medical Equipment: Lycan or not, healing factor or not: Karn is quite familiar with injuries sustained in battle and always carries some personal supplies with him to either take care of his own injuries or those of his teammates. While certainly not on the level of a professional medic/doctor or a magic healer, Karn's skills and his selection of supplies tend to be more than enough to keep someone alive long enough to get them professional/magic help. Scarring is still possible though as his methods tend to be more classic than modern.

Friends, allies and enemies

Friends

Taryn (deceased): His former mate/wife, killed during the battle that annihilated his clan centuries ago. She was backstabbed by Rondara Faryn, denying her an honorable death in combat. To make matters worse, she was pregnant with Karn’s child at the time. He never forgave himself for his failure.

Elizabeth McAllistair: Elizabeth is special, in more ways than just one. The most obvious one is her being a Vampire, something that not too long ago would've been a good reason not to deal with her at all, except maybe in combat. But times changed and so did Karn and over the course of their interactions each developed feelings for the other, leading to the rather unlikely union of Vampire and Lycan that - despite some initial troubles - seems to have taken of to achieve new heights for both of them.

Elsa Mayer: A young, trueborn Lycan he met at Club Caprice, only days before his final confrontation with Rondara Faryn. This proved to be a quite fateful and deciding factor in his future development, since she called him out on his behavior and – for the first time in centuries – showed both an interest in him as well as raising some doubt about his path and whether or not Taryn would approve of it.

Jessica Dawn: Similar to Elsa, the first meeting happened in Caprice, when Karn – more by accident – chose a place apart from the crowd at the bar, which happened to be close to her. While this involuntary meeting was dominated by insults and mockery, it again raised more questions for Karn which, coupled together with the events concerning Elsa, lead him to question himself even more, eventually leading to him actively walking up to Jessica the next time he entered Caprice and picked up her scent. This conversation was quite different, leading to several insights on Karn’s part as well as admitting his own faults, eventually even leading to a friendly trial of strength which ended with her earning Karn’s respect. When they next met, he had recently returned to his human shape, which lead to him facing the problem of a shelter which – much to his surprise – was offered by Jessica with whom he's shared an apartment for some time before moving on on his own.

Allies

See above.

Enemies

Vampires in general, but especially those from the clan responsible for the murder of his friends and family: Umbra Nobilitas.

Jean-Pierre de la Criox: Cultured, mannered, sophisticated and ruthless. Jean-Pierre de la Croix is the classic vampire archetype. He rarely loses his cool and if he does one quickly finds out that it isn’t just his intellect that made him leader of this clan but that he’s also a very skilled combatant, employing a combination of technique and strength to swiftly defeat those who dare to challenge him.

After long consideration, some nudging from Jessica and week long preparations, Karn and de la Croix met on September 22nd 2013 at a disclosed location for negotiations, finally ending heir centuries long feud and making peace with each other.

Rondara Faryn (Deceased. Killed by Karn on July 16th 2013): Cunning, deceptive and seductive, Rondara Faryn prefers subtlety and finesse over brute strength, which is odd considering her psychotic nature.

Being one of de la Croix first and most loyal servants, she is often at odds with his other lieutenant, Corran Crein, a hulking brute who prefers the most direct and brutal approach possible. She prefers to avoid direct combat if possible and prefers ambushes, killing her opponents before they even know she’s there. A trademark of hers is the neckband she wears, a deep red with a shining blue sapphire on its front. It once belonged to Karns mate, Taryn, who was killed by Faryn in an ambush during the final battle between their clans. Faryn now wears the neckband as a reminder of this particular triumph, much to the disgust of Karn, who survived and vowed revenge on Clan Umbra Nobilitas and especially the murderer of his beloved Taryn. After having her finally tracked down in her fortress mid-July 2013, Karn assaulted it, singlehandedly killing everyone present and finally Rondara herself, who quickly proved to be outmatched in open combat. Upon having killed her, Taryn’s choker finally retunred into the possession of Karn, who waers it around his right upper arm ever since.

Corran Crein (Deceased. Killed by Karn on November 21st 2012.): Dumb, brutish but undeniably loyal to his master, Corran Crein lives for only two things: Battle and blood.

While not as cultured as his master or as clever as his comrade, Rondara, Crein makes up for anything he lacks with sheer strength and brutality. Why he’s following a vampire who is definitely weaker than himself can only be guessed but it has probably something to do with the fact that with de la Croix as his master, Crein has no need to think too much and has always someone or something to kill.

What others think about him

The usual. This place is reserved for other players.

Tropes associated with Karn

Under (re)construction

Themes

Regular/idle: Two Steps From Hell - Love and Loss - Karn’s “basic” theme, reflecting his life and especially that so far, each woman he loved/cared for has been lost to him due to circumstances.

Battle: Two Steps From Hell - To Glory - The most befitting theme for him when fighting. Especially when outnumbered or against an especially powerful foe.

Rage: Within Temptation – Iron - When he goes berserk due to his unstoppable rage triggering. Unstoppable, brutal, taken up in his purpose to his fullest.

Hunter: Metallica- All Nightmare Long - When he puts his mind on hunting someone or something down (like he did with his vampiric enemies), this is the most appropriate music for that. He doesn’t tire. He doesn’t give up. You can run. You can hide. But you can’t escape. You’ll just end up too tired to fight anymore.

Gallery