Roland

Overview

Roland is a human male, looking like he is in his fourties. He got the title of "the Undying" during his time as a mercenary and it kinda stuck. He likes to wear robes in all variants and colours and has an inscripted staff to conjour magic. After he had killed ████████████████████ he kept his sword from the Goddess of the Forge.

He likes to braid his long hair, his beard is only a few centimeters long. He moves in a steady, calm way since he figured out that haste is mostly not healthy or helpful. Nothing is so important that it can't wait a few seconds or minutes. And if people die... yeah, they do it all the time.

History

Content Warning: mentioning of suicide and depressions. Proceed to "Being a War Mage" if necessary

You can read his origin story in the sidebar, but after his elvish partner Althaea died of old age, childless and happy, he continued to exist. Roland started as a blacksmith with his partner and to resurrect them he needed to learn a lot about magic - he discovered that he had a huge magic potential (but didn't care for it before) - and he trained with the sword. A god doesn't kill itself, right?

So after the slaughter of said god and the inevitable death of his partner Roland fell into a dark, deep hole. The things he did for his love, the love he felt for them, it left him hollow, alone. The sun wasn't bright anymore, the bread tasted like ash or nothing, the water was cool and that was it. Even Chocolate couldn't raise his mood. Not even smithing got him in a better mood so he tried different things as well, even got into a band of mercenaries, found other short-term partners, but couldn't fill the abyss in his mind.

At some point he offered his services as a blacksmith, mage, warrior or advisor openly on the blackboards of mercenary groups, job postings or whatever he could find. It wasn't for the money, it was to fill the abyss and maybe to find something which sparked his interest or the will to live.

Roland has tried to end his life in a multitude of ways. Poison, knives, drowning, drugs, alcohol, even throwing himself into a volcano. But he always comes back, either with healed wounds or organs or - in the case of the volcano - somewhere outside clothed or naked with his clothes and belongings nearby. But since the Eternals closed every afterlife for him he always comes back.

At some point he started to visit the Garladans. At first he got entangled in their experiments, then in their procreation experiments and then in both. After a few years he had enough, freed himself with a little bit of bloodshed on both sides and ventured west again. They hadn't helped him to feel something again.

But now the Electorial Congregation had a sweet little contract for Roland which he accepted. Due to his knowledge and experience he was now assigned the title of a Threat Assessement Expert, sent to the Seven Nation Alliance to assess their willingness to sent out their armies to the Spiral and to assess if the Spiral was still as dangerous as always.

During his visit in Vraitha he met the ruling Mistress Vrinis and something peaked his interest. But before he could find out what it was, he had to go to the Spiral.

Being a War Mage

Being a War Mage isn't a pretty thing. He learned a lot about the arcane rules, how to craft enhancers and dived deep into the old and new runes, even into ancient magic and those which might be considered black magic. He understands the workings of Vaels and Witches, even the corrupted ones.

During battles and his time as a mercenary he honed his battlecraft and his usage of all kinds of blades, be it a knife or a sword, a spear or a halberd in combination with his staff or without it. He prefers his staff and the god-killing sword because it was a nice combination. His staff was mostly used as a defensive mechanism for personal shields and only sometimes for offense. His spellbook contains a lot of helpful spells starting from lighting a fire up to melt half a mountain.

Roland only got contracted three times to fight in larger wars where he got the honorific title of "the Undying" and some people - Pisocenia, Hulwar, Elves, Dwarves - started to call him War Mage as well. War Mages are rare, so it was an honour as well. An honour he prefered not to have.

Personality

Roland is a calm nature by default. Even during his time as a blacksmith or after the (second) death of Althaea. He was upset, yes. He was angry, tired, sad, grieving and only one time he was really mad and swore never to go this mad again.

He likes Corcha in both variations, but does tend to have the Red Corcha over the Brown Corcha. He is fond of all kinds of fur, wool, cotton, and candy. Dark bread, cheese, smoked meat and grilled fish are always a good choice to lure Roland into your house. Sometimes he gets a little bit nervous over things he can't control, but over the last centuries he got calmer and learned that there is nothing which can't wait a few more minutes. Which makes him a great cook because he always has the time, the timetable and the knowledge to provide a full-course menu.

As a partner he is understanding, calm, gets you at the most times, is supportive and can fulfill nearly every wish, be it for the heart, for the mind or for the body due to his experience.

After some raiders burned his house down he settled for a smaller luggage, which means every coin in any currency he acquires and not uses goes into various accounts and fonds of the Golden Hoard Capital and Investment Management. He doesn't accumulate any kind of trinkets, weapons and clothings which he can't transport in on his own or by horse or donkey. He has a small workshop in the mountains of the Long Neck, but this is for his enhancers or to sleep a few days without disturbances. Otherwise his home are the temples, inns, taverns, and other houses of Koria.

Relationships

Roland

husband (Important)

Towards Vrinis

4

4

Honest

---

Vrinis

wife (Important)

Towards Roland

4

4

Honest

---

Origin Story

Roland - What we do for love in Tales of Koria

Achievements

-killed a god
-survived three major wars
-negotiated peace with a few warmongering parties
-burned down a palace
-had a few relationships inside some noble houses
-survived the Garladans
-has earned the trust of Horifax the Golden
-was honorary guest at the Nox Vael
-has a lifetime discount at the Caves of Joy
-got the title "Fjallvinur" from the Stonekin dwarves, which means "Mountain Friend"

Species

Human

Age

1532

Date of Death

good question

Spouses

Vrinis (wife)

Siblings

Pronouns

he/him

Sex

male

Gender

man

Eyes

brown

Hair

long brown straight braided

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

tanned

Height

186cm / 6'1''

Weight

105

Tales

"And what has your journey revealed?"

"The Seven Nation Alliance is willing to bring forth their armies." Roland prepared his long pipe with cherry tobacco, the soft rustling of dried leaves mixed itself with the scratching of quills on parchment. "But they don't have many arms to wield weapons from what I heard. Twenty thousand people, more or less. Which is more than we hoped for, but less than we need."

"This is correct. Anything else you want to add?"

"Apparently Vraitha has a new Queen. Mistress, as they call her."

"We heard it. What about her?"

"Uh...nothing. She is not like her mother."

"That is good. Vraruka was a difficult person to deal with."

— Roland with the leader of the Electorial Congregation

"What do you believe in, Roland? Life, Death? The Cycle? Or do you only believe in your sword and gold?" asked the small androgynous looking Elf.

"I believe in the strength of my arm, my heart and that the Cycle continues, if you ask me, what you did."

"I did indeed ask you, Human." The Elf showed white teeth and a smile which made Roland uneasy. "But that doesn't answer my question and why do you seek out the Elves for knowledge concerning old gods and even older magic?"

"Because I need to dive into long forgotten magic to secure a future for Koria."

"Aren't you tired?"

"More than you can imagine. I'm that what you would call an Eilhovar."

"Oh."

"Yes." Roland sighed and sat down next to the Elf, fetching his pipe. "Oh indeed."

— Roland with the librarian of the High Elves of Aelorias capital Aeluinstaror

"Why did you come back?"
"Because I thought it would make a difference."
"For whom?"
"You. And me. At least for the next years. I wanted to see who you are and why your eyes made me come back."
"My eyes?" Vrinis chuckled. "Not my bosom?"
"No, your eyes. I mean, if you want me to take a look, then I do it, but it is not honourable."
"You sound like a dwarf."
"I'm a Fjallvinur, a Mountains Friend. It is an honorific title for friends of the dwarves. Of course I sound like a dwarf."
"But you don't expect me to wear a beard?"
"No, my Mistress."
"Good." She made a welcoming gesture with her hand. "Call me Vrinis in private, would you?"
"Of course. Roland, at your service."

— The first more private time between Roland and Vrinis