Lance McKenath
Lance McKenath (Lans mick-ken-ath)
Aquarius of 36 years; born Winter 1334 within the waters of Dea's GrottoDean Race and decent, No Eleanoran or Gierran blood present.
Pirate King of the country Dea
Close follower of Dea (Deity)
"Toxic" Alchemist (mithridatism)
Captain of Rhovanielle
Main weapons are his rapier Julius, and a steel balisong. Table of Contents
Children
Lance is a puzzling, yet alluring individual. His initial cool stone wall demeanor emanates a brooding vibe; However, when the wall cracks and his intentions show through it can be suprising. Lance is in fact an emotional man whose feelings take the extremities from anger to mischevious enthusiasm. He can be quiet and collected one moment, then slide everything off his desk laughing because you looked at him funny. The judgement here is insanity.. but insanity does not have control. Lance is best described as an intensely passionate person who thrives on the simmering emotions he experiences.
[Early Life]
[1334-1347]
Lance was born in the winter of 1334 in the waters of Dea's Grotto Inner Sanctum. He lived in an upper-middle class household with prestige and integrity. His father Dieter McKenath was a renown weapon and metalsmith. His mother and sister worked with fine gold work and jewelry.
During his thirteenth year of life, his father and sister were slaughtered during the catastrophic event of the Dea's Grotto Massacre. This had set him on the path of revolution and piracy.
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[1353] The next six years of Lance's life was of anarchic acts as he explored his new purpose. At nineteen years old, he murdered Elias, King of Gierra. "Wasn't much to it," he told a young asiring Tabian whom inquired. "Gettin' through that arse achin' desert is one thing, but to be honest they didn't expect us to travel that far in the heat and all. Ain't use to it by far. But we had excellent guide," he paused to snarl like a Wolfex. "Once we got there, I found an underground river connecting an oasis to a fountain in the center of the palace. Fookin' easy, really. We had a chat and, well... that was that."
[1354] Lance's aspirations did not stop there, and are far too great to just be satisfied with the glory that came along with such an achievement. He did not want the fame, shrugging off claims and dodging questions as people pointed him out. Lance began to gather a large unintentional following. This naturally captured the attention of Dea's King Ulrich, who at the time sailed Rhovanielle. Lance was showing signs of revolutionary greatness. Ulrich's reason to recruit Lance is unclear. Was he simply drafting a new talent? Or was it hindsight and wanted to press Lance under his control? Whatever the true intention may have been, Ulrich summoned Lance to Rhovanielle directly and offered a position as one of her tenders as a Raider.
[1356] At age 22, Lance murdered King Ulrich off an island of Dia Nathair's Archipelagos and immediately assumed succession to Kingship. Life ended with heartbreak and fire, as do most lives surrounding the Dean pirate. However, this tale is best told by Lance himself. So if you are ever curious, ask him.. if you dare. Although this finalized the position, Lance said he felt as though Rhovanielle had been his rightful place to be his entire life. Rhovanielle had been calling to him since he was a lad. Kingship only happened to came along with taking Rhovanielle's helm. The New World Order is most important to his aspirations, but his political views aligned with these goals well enough. He hated the way Ulrich was treating Rhovanielle and the Dean people.
[1355 - 1358] Lance made immediate changes to Rhovanielle and Dea's infrastructure. First he reversed the laws Ulrich had set upon the Dean people. This gave them relief, more freedom and better protection while he, the King, is away at sea. He also made sure to visit the capitol and make appearances more often. Former King Ulrich's absence was an aberration he is certain to never be repeated. Lance proceeded to cut off all international trade by land. No one could cross the Ariella Divide without Dean control and supervision. The rest of the world is now feeling pressure by the Dean pirates. Queen Misha of Eleanora made several attempts to send Gierra aide, but Lance would not allow passage. He practices a non-traditional tactic which he named, "organized chaos". He stopped for nothing in his quest to quench his thirst for revenge, and knocked out every Gierran port along the southern coast one by one. Eleanora declared itself neutral as Gierra fell silent. On Rhovanielle, he did not recruit new tenders for years with the intention of downsizing Rho's census for a more tight, specialized crew. Since being a Rhovanielle Tender is for life, he morbidly had to wait for the numbers to decrease on their own. This had only taken a decade of time because Lance's focus was demolishing the Gierran people; they were constantly in a fight. By 1358, Rhovanielle's census decreased from 45 to 25. He uplifted the ban to have women aboard and had recruited five females since.
[1358 -1365] Queen Misha Grace of Eleanora died, opening the flood gates of opportunity for the pirate culture along the west coast and within the foreign capitol. The princess was too young to assume the throne, and the King had a disabling illness. Lance pushed his campaign North, successfully taking over all Eleanoran ports on his way, totaling to three quarters of the continent. These years were chaotic, dominating, and messy.
[1365 -Current] The world settled into a steady, yet anxious pace under the manipulative pirate leader. King Xavier of Eleanora remained neutral in his political stance, and ignored Lance's push into Eleanoran harbors. The reasons for this are not yet clear. Gierra's side of the continent continued to be excommunicated and assumed deceased. Lance and Rhovanielle spent half of the more 'quiet' decade recording the world in grand explorations to the extreme Northern glaciers and southern isles. He recently visited his home at the Grotto, and learned of a group of Gierrans on the rise, with Eleanoran aid...
Stage One: High similar to weed, hyper, giggly, subconscious addiction.
Stage Two: Nausea, vomiting, paranoia, dizziness, syncope, intense uncontrollable craving and withdrawal.
Stage Three: Body fever, shock, violent emesis, death.
Long term effects:
Salt water immediately seals wounds closed by breaking apart dead cells like a firecracker, then the opening instantly cauterizes itself in a pink glossy sheen. New tissue is impossible to regenerate in its’ place while the toxin remains in the body. Therefore, he can take on more damage by simply taking a dip into the sea, or dumping a small bottle of sea water over himself while on land. Unfortunatly, the scars will never fully heal.
Bleed less, like a coagulant effect. Another reason why mixing the poison into liquor is the best choice.
Heightened sensitivity to pleasure and pain.
Other charmed, or cursed, attributes are hinted by bizarre happenings of numbers. He always draws a five as his first card during poker games, and rolls the number five dice no matter how it is dropped. You’d think this would mess up his gambling, but he makes fun of such in very sneaky and mischievous ways.
You see, when you ask Dea for a favor, he will grant your wish and charm you in return… but the price you pay is never what you expect and barely what you "agree" to. How Lance has come to be charmed under Dea is thought to be simply that he is devout captain of a holy ship. Though… there is much more to it than that. As is once said by his Admiral, “Lance is a man of many secrets."
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"Say it. Tell me out loud what you lost. Say it twice over, then let it burn."
Villain, or just a mysterious man?
If something has to be had, Lance will take direct initiative to get it. His theatrical charisma and underlying talent to seed curiousity and initiative in others make his mysterious aspirations almost effortless, and an excellent leader. People feel drawn to confide in him even though his presence tends to make those around him feel nervous and act infamously clumbsy.
Heart-to-heart conversations are uncommon for him. He rarely shares personal details unless directly prompted. His past is fragmented and recounted in snippets by Rho tenders when they gather, always ending with a question.
Truth is, Lance will answer any questions; it's just that few will ask him in the first place. His emensely emotional heart is on his sleeve- or so the saying goes. There is one problem: the man has "resting angry face." And so, he continues to remain an unsolvable puzzle to most by teetering on the obscure border of one explanation to another.
"I have the feeling you could know him for years and never really know anything."
History
Lance had awoken from a dream of golden threads and a rhythmic three tap knocking. He looked around his dark room that suddenly felt cold. A shelf fell over in his sister's room, followed by crashing. He jumped out of his bed and ran to her room's doorway. His sister is being assaulted by a freakishly tall black Tabian with bright yellow eyes; a Gierran! Lance helplessly held his hands out to stop the man, but his blow was too powerful to be swayed. The Gierran powerfully pushed Lance out of the room then skewered his sister into her bed with his needle blade.
Lance bolted downstairs to find his father dead in the living room. He grabbed his rapier Julius from his limp hand, just in time to pierce the intruder who followed behind him.
Lance froze. He glanced down at the inherited rapier in his hand. A surreal surge of courage and rage swelled within him. He charged at the murderer, who swiped at him with his thin blade. Lance fell to the ground and cut the man's heels. After taking a blow to his shoulder, Lance stood assertively to finally spread his arms wide and pierce the neck in focused momentum; a form that is now his signature.
Where's mom? He bolted outside to the edge of The Lull to find her.
He ran past the crowd of people being pushed off the cliffside. He has to find his mother! She could be okay! He flew down all ten flights of stone steps to the shore littered with contorted bodies below. They continued to fall from above. He called out, but there is no coherent answer; only screaming and confusion. Gierrans in the near distance are going over the fallen. They noticed Lance and began to approach. Reality slammed into the front of Lance's mind like an animal- he plowed through the Gierrans in an angry, blinding, mournful rage. His hands felt guided, and purpose clear for the first time in his young life. He did not stop traversing down The Lull's shore until he was near the Sanctum on the other side.
Another Dean pirate had joined him, astonished at how skilled the young boy is. They paused as they were freed from the chaotic mess at the edge of the sanctuary. Exhausted and badly injured, Lance glanced blearily into the sanctum's teal waters and thought, Why isn't Rhovanielle here? Where is our King? Ulrich had been gone from the capital for so long, Dea's people had already felt neglected. Lance grit his teeth as he cried out, he had to decide. "Where do I go? Dea, what do I do?"
Those golden threads again..
They dipped into the sanctum's waters and floated out to sea.
The Dean pirate asked Lance, "Ey lad, ya comin' with us then'?"
Voices shouted in the distance, “They are taking the bait! Follow behind, to the cavern!”
Lance pushed the smoldering rage to his chest. He wiped his bloody face as his voice declared starkly like an echo beyond his years, "Aye."
Lance's mother survived, though their lives along with countless others had been shattered. Although very young, he was burning with determination to make a difference.. His mother knew he would become someone special someday, to make that difference in whatever it may be in time. Soon after the burial of his family and Dean kind, she agreed and entrusted her only son back into the care of the sea.
Lance had joined the revolt to push the Gierrans at the age of thirteen.
[1353] The next six years of Lance's life was of anarchic acts as he explored his new purpose. At nineteen years old, he murdered Elias, King of Gierra. "Wasn't much to it," he told a young asiring Tabian whom inquired. "Gettin' through that arse achin' desert is one thing, but to be honest they didn't expect us to travel that far in the heat and all. Ain't use to it by far. But we had excellent guide," he paused to snarl like a Wolfex. "Once we got there, I found an underground river connecting an oasis to a fountain in the center of the palace. Fookin' easy, really. We had a chat and, well... that was that."
“Ya want somethin', ya take it. As long as yer strong enough to keep it, tch!! A life huh? Is that all? Make one. You aint ‘Noran, yer Dean.”
[1354] Lance's aspirations did not stop there, and are far too great to just be satisfied with the glory that came along with such an achievement. He did not want the fame, shrugging off claims and dodging questions as people pointed him out. Lance began to gather a large unintentional following. This naturally captured the attention of Dea's King Ulrich, who at the time sailed Rhovanielle. Lance was showing signs of revolutionary greatness. Ulrich's reason to recruit Lance is unclear. Was he simply drafting a new talent? Or was it hindsight and wanted to press Lance under his control? Whatever the true intention may have been, Ulrich summoned Lance to Rhovanielle directly and offered a position as one of her tenders as a Raider.
[1356] At age 22, Lance murdered King Ulrich off an island of Dia Nathair's Archipelagos and immediately assumed succession to Kingship. Life ended with heartbreak and fire, as do most lives surrounding the Dean pirate. However, this tale is best told by Lance himself. So if you are ever curious, ask him.. if you dare. Although this finalized the position, Lance said he felt as though Rhovanielle had been his rightful place to be his entire life. Rhovanielle had been calling to him since he was a lad. Kingship only happened to came along with taking Rhovanielle's helm. The New World Order is most important to his aspirations, but his political views aligned with these goals well enough. He hated the way Ulrich was treating Rhovanielle and the Dean people.
Lance shrugged. “A-yup.” He gestured midair, “Ulrich sliced me open thirty some-odd times, so I gut him on shore. Mm.. Didn’t like how he was treating the country in a similar way.” "I'd say we're better off for it," Ekon says, before downing the rest of his drink, and pouring himself another. "Most've the news I've heard in the past few years has been pretty good. Part of the reason I came back, really. Wanted to meet the man who turned things around." The following remark had a note of elated fervor as [Lance] spoke, “Dea’s people were buried in the sand.”
[1355 - 1358] Lance made immediate changes to Rhovanielle and Dea's infrastructure. First he reversed the laws Ulrich had set upon the Dean people. This gave them relief, more freedom and better protection while he, the King, is away at sea. He also made sure to visit the capitol and make appearances more often. Former King Ulrich's absence was an aberration he is certain to never be repeated. Lance proceeded to cut off all international trade by land. No one could cross the Ariella Divide without Dean control and supervision. The rest of the world is now feeling pressure by the Dean pirates. Queen Misha of Eleanora made several attempts to send Gierra aide, but Lance would not allow passage. He practices a non-traditional tactic which he named, "organized chaos". He stopped for nothing in his quest to quench his thirst for revenge, and knocked out every Gierran port along the southern coast one by one. Eleanora declared itself neutral as Gierra fell silent. On Rhovanielle, he did not recruit new tenders for years with the intention of downsizing Rho's census for a more tight, specialized crew. Since being a Rhovanielle Tender is for life, he morbidly had to wait for the numbers to decrease on their own. This had only taken a decade of time because Lance's focus was demolishing the Gierran people; they were constantly in a fight. By 1358, Rhovanielle's census decreased from 45 to 25. He uplifted the ban to have women aboard and had recruited five females since.
[1358 -1365] Queen Misha Grace of Eleanora died, opening the flood gates of opportunity for the pirate culture along the west coast and within the foreign capitol. The princess was too young to assume the throne, and the King had a disabling illness. Lance pushed his campaign North, successfully taking over all Eleanoran ports on his way, totaling to three quarters of the continent. These years were chaotic, dominating, and messy.
[1365 -Current] The world settled into a steady, yet anxious pace under the manipulative pirate leader. King Xavier of Eleanora remained neutral in his political stance, and ignored Lance's push into Eleanoran harbors. The reasons for this are not yet clear. Gierra's side of the continent continued to be excommunicated and assumed deceased. Lance and Rhovanielle spent half of the more 'quiet' decade recording the world in grand explorations to the extreme Northern glaciers and southern isles. He recently visited his home at the Grotto, and learned of a group of Gierrans on the rise, with Eleanoran aid...
Mithridatism
His body is toxic. For a decade Lance has studied and practiced mithridatism; the art of poisoning oneself so when he is subjected to foreign poison there is no consequence. However, his ambitions are divergent from common practice. He uses a unique mix nobody knows the recipe of, and has leveraged some of the side effects to his benefit. He has named his poison “Fuisce Cainéal” after his favorite drink; but rarely ever names it thus in front of anyone. The dose must be kept up everyday. If he ceases, it’s expected he could taper into an illness then die. The poison also expires quickly. As a solution to this problem, he mixes it into all of his liquor bottles. Everybody knows not to touch Lance’s liquor unless he offers a bottle to you, and even still then, it is a nerve racking experience... if you know.Effects
Due to the inconceivable level he has worked his body to, Lance’s body fluids are toxic to the touch. WDuring the week of his dosage, he wears fingerless gloves to protect his crew from his constant and invasive touching (sweaty hands!), but even a scratch from his nails will cause a temporary high upon the other. Greater amounts such as saliva will provoke illness; and finally more so than that will cause death. Symptoms of Lance’s poisoning in stages:
Charcoal
The benefits are curious and only properly understood by Lance and the mates he has chosen for himself, who also must take on the practice in order to be with him. During celebrations when there are many people around Lance in a crowded manner, such as a party in example, he will pass around “charcoal” to anyone that would like it. This pitch black liquor has a bizarre licorice taste that is similar to absinthe and wormwood. It is extremely strong at 160 proof. He mixed an elixir into it, creating a tonic that temporarily shields the person from his toxicity. This will only last for a few hours, and any excessive drinking of the substance will reverse the effect and cause illness.Poison’s effect to others
When a mate is chosen they will immediately begin on Lance’s method of mithridatism. He will alchemize the first bottle of liquor by calculating the weight of the person, liquor proof, and volume. They must drink the entire bottle at a steady pace along two days. Around three quarters of the bottle, the person will start to feel sick, but they must not cease or they could get violently ill. Once the introductory bottle is finished, they have successfully entered “The First Descent” and will continue to keep up the body’s levels in a bidiurnal dosage. This is enough to be with Lance without fearing death; although the mild effects will still always be present (feeling high, dizziness, addiction, etc.)Leaving mithridatism
It is possible to taper off of Lance’s poison, but it is a slow and grueling process that can take a year to achieve. Easy to take on, not easy to annul. Lance however expects himself to keep up his extreme level for life, and considers his body transformed and irreversible.
The Trench and God
They say he is cursed. He is religious, but only devoted to Dea. He recognizes the existence of the other Gods but speaks of them as though they are common people. Although Tabians cannot swim and sink like rocks in the water, he, and many tenders of Rhovanielle, can swim. Lance often just hops into the sea to cure his wounds, and somehow manages to surface after long periods.
It is believed he deity Dea rests at the bottom of a cenote underneath Dea’s Grotto.
Once every six months, Lance will visit the Trench to sleep in the bottomless pit to rest. His rouse from this nap is called the Awakening and is a sacred ritual to the Dean people that witness it.
Lance made a scene directly from the waters of his rest, startling the citizens that were on the edge of the sanctuary like the Loch Ness appeared. He stretched his arms and flexed a bit, scars completely healed over and closed, and his eyes brightened in saturation. A small child approached Lance and offered a bottle of whiskey. He grabbed the bottle, “Thank ya laddie.” The child looked shocked shitless but stood firmly. The citizens knew of this ritual, and clamor to witness it every time Lance visits. He continued to make his way up to his home, rallying any crew mates waiting at the summit. Lance and Felix barged into the house first so abruptly, the front door would be relived to already had been open. Draccena, Tyger, Bruno, Jocha and a few other Rho tenders followed behind and flooded into the home. Felix belted ‘Grace O’Malley’ to please that grin on Draccena’s face and screeched a very heavy table to the center of the room. Bruno flipped him self onto the couch from behind it and started to cut up green weedlings. A pirate nudged Tyger to the bonfire brazier on the nearby porch to kindle it up with him. The crew wanted to get twisted tonight, and assembled the scene as though they had done it dozen of times before; which they had! Now that he is healed, Lance’s demeanor is back to what they all followed for; boundlessly confident. As they have witnessed in the past, a trip to the sanctuary not only aides his inconceivable wounds but also rehabilitates his vision and direction. So it is time to pass the sentiment, and get wasted with his crew!”
The Modified Ternary
Lance frequently carries a bag filled with uniquely shaped charms crafted by his mother—small metal trinkets symbolizing the Ternary, created for various spiritual purposes. These charms are commonly made by the people for blessings, gifts, and offerings. However, Lance’s interpretation of the Ternary differs slightly. The point representing the Tabian Soul is weighted with a large disc, a deviation from tradition. Normally, any alteration of the holy triangle would be seen as heresy, but Lance has intense focus on this specific point. The Dean people have embraced this modified symbol, seeing Lance as a clairvoyant leader and follow him with unwavering devotion.
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