Karn
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"War is my father. Battle my purpose. Death my destiny."
| Karn | ||||||||||
| Player: @BlackMethos | ||||||||||
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| “No mercy. No pity. No hope.” | ||||||||||
| Biographical Data | ||||||||||
| Real Name: | Karl Arnold Reginald von Nordstedt | |||||||||
| Known Aliases: | None. | |||||||||
| Gender: | Male. | |||||||||
| Species: | Lycan. | |||||||||
| Ethnicity: | Caucasian. | |||||||||
| Place of Birth: | Northern Germany, around the end of the 15th century. | |||||||||
| Base of Operations: | Varies. | |||||||||
| Relatives: | None. | |||||||||
| Characteristics | ||||||||||
| Age: | About 500 years. | |||||||||
| Height: | app. 8’7” (ca. 2,62 m) | |||||||||
| Weight: | app. 532 lbs.(ca. 242 kg) | |||||||||
| Eyes: | Bright red. | |||||||||
| Hair: | Black with grey accents. | |||||||||
| Complexion: | Unknown. Body covered in fur (see hair and features.) Human form has not been seen yet. | |||||||||
| Physical Build: | Very tall and muscular. No fat. | |||||||||
| Physical Features: | Rough. Some spots seem to be less covered by fur and show remains of deep scars on closer examination. Most of them are on his upper body. | |||||||||
| Status | ||||||||||
| Fame: |
Unknown | |||||||||
| Alignment: |
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| Identity: | Confidential | |||||||||
| Years Active: | Almost 500. | |||||||||
| Citizenship: | None. | |||||||||
| Occupation: | None. | |||||||||
| Education: | Unknown. | |||||||||
| Marital Status: | Widower. | |||||||||
| Known Powers and Abilities | ||||||||||
| Inhuman strength, constitution and durability, high regeneration. Extremely hard to kill by normal means, but vulnerable to silver weapons and magic. Being a werewolf he also has very keen senses, especially scent and hearing. | ||||||||||
| Equipment and Paraphernalia | ||||||||||
| A sword on his back, several bags with different items on his belt. | ||||||||||
| Physical Attributes | |||||||||
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Reflexes |
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| Resistance |
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Stamina |
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| Combat |
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Regeneration |
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| Non-Physical Attributes | |||||||||
| Energy |
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Psionics |
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| Telepathy |
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Technology |
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Knowledge |
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Bravery |
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| MaekadaBox created by @Maekada | |||||||||
Contents
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.
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.
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 shares an apartment since, leading to the development of his first friendship with a human being in many centuries and giving Jessica a very special place in his view of things and his life.
Allies
See above.
Enemies
Vampires in general, but especially those from the clan responsible for the murder of his friends and family: Umbra Nobilitas.
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.
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
General Tropes
Berserk Button - Quite a few. While insulting his dead wife is a good way, even better is to threaten, hurt or even kill someone Karn cares about. Do that and you are neck-deep in trouble.
Big Badass Wolf – He’s big, he’s badass and he’s a (were)wolf. Don’t mess with him, he might bite your head off.
Big Fucking Sword – Almost as big as himself and for some reason sharp/strong enough to cut a tank into neat little slices. And it nicely kills Vampires too.
Death Seeker - Kind of. It is more that he'd prefer to die in battle, sword in hand than (maybe) die of old age.
Not Afraid To Die - While being pretty much immortal/hard to kill, Karn has faced death before and with his upbringing and life as a warrior, he's very conscious about him being killed in battle eventually. No reason to fear death, though, for "We all die eventually. What counts, is that we die with dignity and for a worthy cause.", not to mention his creed: "War is my father. Battle my purpose. Death my destiny."
Our Werewolves Are Different – While more man than wolf in most instances, he’s certainly embraced his animalistic side and has been almost permanently in wolf-form, only very recently changing into his human form again.
Unstoppable Rage - Push his Berserk Button often and hard enough (or go and threaten/hurt/kill someone important to him) and this happens, turning Karn into The Berserker who will stop at nothing until you cease to exist. Last time that happend, he went on a 208 year long Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
Voluntary Shapeshifting – He’s able to choose if he wants to be in his wolf-form or his human form and can change between them anytime at will.
Current/Active Tropes
Anti-VillainType 1/2 – Was more driven into being a 'bad guy' due to his history. Losing everything he held dear, twice even, and both times by the same kind of enemy can make a being rather... unfriendly.
Even Evil Has Standards – While he’s definitely somewhere on the evil side, he follows his own code of honour. He only turns people who ask him to be turned and whom he considers worthy of becoming one of his kind. He makes a distinct differentiation between innocent and his prey and enemies.
Fantastic Racism – He deems most other beings as inferior to himself and his race. In his mind, werewolves should rule the world, though this view is slowly diminishing.
Fur Against Fang – Has a serious beef with those bloodsuckers. And a personal war with one of their Clans.
Noble Demon – He’s mean. He kills people without a second thought or regrets. But he also has a code of honour. He doesn’t kill without good reason. He doesn’t turn people against their will. And him helping people and other heroes? It just furthers his own agenda. Prefers his opponents to know he is there and coming, giving them a fighting chance. Despises unnecessary cruelty or sacrifices. And goes out of his way to prevent innocent’s deaths.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge - What he's currently on. He doesn't care for others around him, for friendships and the likes. All he lives for is getting his revenge on the murderers of his wife and Clan.
Took A Level In Kindness – Thanks to Elsa and especially Jessica, Karn has started to become nicer and less aggressive towards others, being more careful with his words and actions.
