Name: Solinus Svipdag

Race: Skeleton

Class: Town Guard

Born Arthur T. Collins in the winter of the year of the dragon, in a village named Cryn. A hardworking youth with a sharp mind, he was approached by members of the mage's guild and offered an apprenticeship at an academy nearby, but he turned them down in favor of joining the town guard the day of his coming-of-age. He quickly gained recognition for his fiery passion for justice, held in check by a drive to defend the innocent, especially the falsely accused. He might have become the Guard Captain one day, but a year and a half after his enlistment, the town was beset by undead and destroyed. Sgt. Collins, as he was then known, was shot in the back by a ghoulish crossbowman and died in the streets. However, this was not to be the end of his tale, as the undead host was led by a Necromancer named Mordak. An ambitious fiend, Mordak fed the flesh of all the victims to his ghouls and raised the stripped bones of the entire town as skeletons to serve in his horde. Sgt. Collins served Mordak mindlessly as a personal bodyguard, since for some unknown reason his animated husk was more powerful and tougher than the average skeleton, and quite a few assassination attempts against Mordak's life were ended by the tip of Collins' blade. Mordak became a sort of regional power over the next few years, and Collins became known to and feared by innocent townspeople and town guards as the Nightclaw. Innocent civilians, children, those he had sworn to protect, shivered at the mention of his name.
Through the next few years, Mordak was not idle. After attacking and destroying a half-dozen villages in surprise raids, he raised enough corpses to operate in the daylight without fear of destruction. He even met and destroyed a small army of militiamen led by a Knight Templar on the field of battle, and though he suffered severe losses, the corpses of the strong and brave volunteers swelled his ranks even further. The Knight Templar himself fled the battle and was hunted down by the Nightclaw himself. After six years of marauding Mordak turned his eyes toward the walled city of Weldyn, seat of the Mage's guild and trade center for the northern territories. He sought to slay the mages and gain access to their forbidden tomes of dark magic. He besieged the town for two fortnights, but on the morning of the thirtieth day he issued what would prove to be a fatal order: He charged his Nightclaw with the execution of a woman and her child, captured the night before trying to escape. Mordak wanted them eviscerated before his eyes. As Nightclaw raised his blade in Mordak's tent, a white fire ignited in the dull, empty sockets of his skull and he turned and threw himself at Mordak. The Necromancer's foul magic could not damage the undead, and he was cut down by his own creation. All the animated corpses surrounding the city fell lifeless to the ground the instant Collins' old blade sliced the Black Mage's head off. All the corpses, that is, with one exception. The Nightblade remained, animated perhaps by the zeal of his former days as a Town Guard, or perhaps by the lingering magic of the necromancer's destructive spell. Either way, he was free and his personality returned, but all memory of his past life had faded. Unfortunately, his appearance and nature were not altered, save for his eyes, and even the woman and child whose lives he spared ran in fear from him that day. He was hunted by the soldiers of Weldyn and he barely escaped with his life. He realized he had but one chance for survival. He traveled by night, on foot, for many years, but time is like the wind to a skeleton. Eventually his armored frame made its way to the gates of Haven, where he was given an audience with the town leader and was granted a post as a night watchman, where he began his long journey towards absolution by once again putting his life, or unlife, on the line to protect the innocent.

sweet
i enjoyed it!
will we see this awesome undead at war hmmmm????

: X dunno
If I can go, I certainly won't have any undead garb
and as of now, I don't know if I can get a ride
I'll keep bugging the Alterri.

bug them
bother them
brainwash them

That's what I told Constantine to do anyways. XDXDXD

Surely Alterra is going to Gates. They'd have to be real d#$%s not to let you carpool with them. (Which seems unlikely, given our long history with Alterra)
So yes, keep bugging them. Perhaps offer to split gas money. (If you don't have gas money, I'm sure some Havenors would be willing to pitch in to get you to war.)
Also, if you can get me some measurements and a concept sketch or two, I might be able to make you some undead Garb. I do have a sewing machine, lots of cloth, and plenty of material for chainmail.

That was in reference to War, Angus. And apparently they didn't give him a ride, since he didn't come and a few of them did.

as i head it the ride he did have bailed at the last moment.

Ya, as I understood it, 3 cars canceled last minute. ALOT of people got screwwed...

I see. I assumed War referred to the next upcoming war. (wasn't paying attention to the post date)
Gates is still considered a war though, or is that incorrect?

war= events

I think calling them all war is not a good thing. to many events have names with it, and it can get confusing. Like this topic shows.

I just call Gates of Summer=Gates and War of the Iron Fist=War
I agree with Orrin.

yar me too
Orrin knows

You'd be right in that assumption methinks.

I have noticed Iohn refering to Gates as war alot on here. I think that has added to teh confusion.

yeah its all his fault!!

I accidentally say War when I mean Gates in conversation, but I don't know if I've ever done that on the forums. It's not hard to do, though: they're very similar events. -.-;

So, for the purpose of clarification:
Gates means Gates of Summer, the Dominion hosted event that happens in the Spring (April this coming year).
War means War of the Iron Fist, the Dominion hosted event that happens in the Fall (September this past year).
Any event is referred to as an event, and not a war, unless we're talking about WotIF specifically.
This sound better? (:

I loved the story, Svipdag! Great bio.

Sorry for the derailment. It was a good story!