Raiqwen

Raiqwen (a.k.a. The Hero of Arechi)

Raiqwen was one of the greatest Talons, before they were nearly killed by Sa'nakt and their mind was stolen by the angel of destruction Gabriel. They now walk the earth under the name Dolk Fredriksen, having lost their memory.

Physical Description

Special abilities

• Immunity to fire
• Oathbound magic
• Fire breath

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Raiqwen was once a dragon of Myrsky, the noble family of Tveiharr. Born just after the conquest of Tveiharr, in the 257th year of the Imperial Age, Raiqwen was bonded to the Storm King's fifth son, Ivar Myrsky. Ivar and Raiqwen bonded well, both of them being adventurous, brave and naïve souls. But the good times did not last. Tveiharr was still contested by storm giants for years after its formal conquest, and a particularly powerful and dangerous storm giant quintessant came to the province to challenge the authority of the Storm King. The Storm King answered the challenge in true Myrsky fashion and the two factions met at the Scar, an ancient battleground for claimants to the crown of Tveiharr. Raiqwen and Ivar rode into their first truly great battle, flanked by dozens of dragons against hundreds of griffons, giant birds of prey and other creatures. The Storm King's forces were destroying the flying pests and sending them burning to the ground. In an act of youthful bravery and folly did Raiqwen and Ivar make straight for the quintessant, hoping to win glory and freedom by claiming first blood. The Storm King shouted out in anger at his son to stay back, but Ivar had made up his mind. The flew to the quintessant's flying fortress, engaging her in single combat. Raiqwen made a good blow with a great bellow of fire, but it did not last long. A great thunderclap ripped through the heavens as the quintessant threw a spear of lightning through Raiqwen, narrowly missing their heart. Instead the lightning travelled through Raiqwen's spine, burning away at nerves and paralyzing Raiqwen in the air. Raiqwen fell to the ground and was horribly wounded, while Ivar was instantly killed and disintegrated by the lightning. Raiqwen was found the day after the battle, amidst the corpses of griffons. A group of alchemists, led by one of Ivar's brothers, recovered Raiqwen's body and nursed them back to health. The brother blamed Raiqwen and their bond with Ivar, which had made him adventurous and reckless, for his death. Raiqwen felt the burden deep in their heart and could not help but feel regret for their actions. This feeling of guilt churned in Raiqwen's heart. This, combined with the fact that Raiqwen's body would never fully heal, and that they would forever be reduced to crawling on the ground, soon drove them to bitterness. They lay there in that hospital ward of Stormhaven, the Myrsky family's holdfast, for years, letting their anger grow. And then they met a curious fellow, who came to visit them one day. This person, who wore the cape of a wizard and had swirling, beautiful tattooes that glowed in the dark, introduced themselves as Aarjhan, and told Raiqwen that there existed a way for them to be healed and whole again, although they would have to give their life to the protection of the Empire and destruction of its enemies. Raiqwen, whose anger was now a potent force, agreed instantly. This was how Raiqwen was recruited to the owls, with the promise of healing and vengeance. Raiqwen was listed as killed due to their injuries in the records of the Myrsky dynasty, and was moved in secret to the Aviary, the headquarters of the Talons. There Raiqwen underwent the changing of the Talons, and was transformed into a human-like creature. They found that their body, while weaker, was fully functional and they began training with all manner of humanoid weapons. Raiqwen, driven by anger and hatred, quickly learned all the tricks of the fighter and wished to be pointed at the enemies of the empire. They trained together with four other new recruits to the Talons, including Aarjhan, and these bonded together to become a tightly knit warband. They soon elected to make Raiqwen their leader, as they was the most dedicated and relentless of them. Raiqwen led their group with relentless tenacity, taking part in many engagements against the Empire's enemies. They also fought in the Hobgoblin rebellion. After a long and illustrious career, during which Raiqwen grew more and more in the esteem of their fellow Tallons and the Gold Emperor himself, Raiqwen and their siblings were sent to Akshus, as prophecies delivered to the mightiest Gold Priests showed that a great undead threat could spawn from the province and cast the Imperial Far South into darkness. Raiqwen was sent to stop it. This was expected to be their last quest before they took up the mantle of Master of the Talons, commanding a Watch Fortress for themselves. Raiqwen and their siblings travelled south and began a systematic purge of the largest amrikh tombs and shadowfell dens, beginning to put together where an attack might come from. They slowly made their way to the City of the Dead, where the immortal ruler of the Amrikh, Sa'nakt, had been burried. They came to the city, fighting through undead legions to get to Sa'nakt's personal tomb, from where they would vanquish the evil and stop it from ever attacking the Gold Empire. They closed the gate with powerful magic behind them, so that nothing would be able to leave the tomb whether they were successful or not. Then they faced the Sword of Destiny himself. The battle against Sa'nakt proved a fateful one, as this ancient hero and champion used every trick in his disposal against the talons. He managed to mortally wound one of Raiqwen's siblings before the Talons put him down. But he was reborn in fire, like a phoenix rising from the ashes. The Talons realized they were fighting the incarnation of an ancient god, a power greater than any they could hope to match given physical form. Down there, below the monument to death, their powers were not great enough to kill Sa'nakt. They fought valiantly against him, but his return from death proved to be their undoing. Raiqwen was horribly wounded, and three of their siblings were killed. As Raiqwen coughed up blood and clutched at their sword again, fire burning in their eyes, Aarjhan ran out in front of them. Sa'nakt exploded in fury, intending to claim both their lives, before they could kill him again, but Aarjhan was faster. He shouted to Raiqwen to find an elemental weapon they knew could cut through the divine magic, before teleporting them out and into the desert. Raiqwen doesn't know what happened to Aarjhan, but before they knew it they manifested in the desert. Coughing up blood, they collapsed to the ground. Willing to be stronger, to stand, Raiqwen rose on shaky legs. And then an angel materialized before them, a being with liquid metal skin, rotating spheres of fire around its chest and eyes like caged lightning. Raiqwen grabbed their blade in trembling hands and asked the spirit what it wished. It answered that it wished to save the gods by destroying the Empire. Raiqwen flew forwards with their swords, intending to cut the spirit before it could say anything more, but their wounds slowed them down. The angel said ten words: "25, Ixen, Ioth, Rapier, Malka, Melech, Malika, 83, 42, Longsword" These words, secret code words implanted in Raiqwen's mind when they became a Talon, were originally designed with good intention. When a Talon became compromised in a position, they could use these words to forget everything they knew, making sure they did not share any of the Empire's secrets. But uttered by this angel, their intent was different. Raiqwen went deep, deep into their own mind, under layers of arcane barriers and protection, and their mind became a clean slate except for the very deepest of Raiqwen's desires. While Raiqwen was catatonic, the angel healed them and stole away their magic items and armour. A nameless being, a person without personhood, woke up in the desert the next day and stumbled into a nearby forrest. A dwarf met them there and asked their name. The nameless being looked down at the dagger at their belt and named themselves "Dolk". Raiqwen, an entity now burried deep in Dolk's memory, is a draconic Lvl 18 Samurai fighter. Dolk is a Chaotic Good character, with tendencies to rage against the enemies of goodness and justice. Raiqwen is slowly growin more and more conscious and sentient as Dolk is discovering hidden secrets from their past. But until the wards put up by the angel Gabriel are shattered, either by very powerful magic (a Wish spell), divine intervention or the correct codewords, this process will be lethal to both Raiqwen and Dolk. The magic is designed so that if the personality of the original Talon begins to resurface, without recieving proper activation codes, the process will kill the Talon to ensure their secrets remain burried.

Character Location

Ælmesleóht

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Alignment

Lawful Neutral

Species

Gold Dragon

Age

235

Date of Birth

4th of Kepesk, 257 of the Imperial Age

Birthplace

Tveiharr

Current Residence

Ørkengriffen/the palace in Ælmesleóht

Pronouns

They/them

Gender

Non-binary

Eyes

Brown

Hair

Dark brown

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Tanned

Height

6'8''