Harnock Kossk's Comments

Name: Maude

Age: 45yrs

Pronouns: she/her 

. PERSONALITY

Honest and direct | Organized | Strong-willed | Elitist | Assertive and authoritative | Tactful

• Maude considers herself organized and follows a strict schedule, which she makes a great effort to maintain.
• Known for her integrity, she could almost be a stereotype for the perfect employee - if only she weren't so strong-willed. Whether it be a disagreement about orders given to her, or the promise to complete a task for someone, Maude is uncompromising in her adherence to her principles and values. This integrity extends beyond the workplace as well, making her a dependable and dedicated friend. She is honest to a fault and fiercely loyal.
• She finds difficulty in functioning without structure. Reluctant to step outside the boundaries of The Order, and fears what life is like for mages without the guidance from The Order.
• As a skilled tactician, Maude is always analyzing and organizing information about the world around her. She prefers a “take action” approach when it comes to solving problems, and prides herself in being able to adapt quickly to situations as they arise.
• Assertive and authoritative, feels a strong desire to be in control and struggles with subordinate roles.
• Textbook definition of an elitist; believes that her role as Mage Protector makes her better and more important than other mages.

. HISTORY 

Timeline (for reference) 

• 0-5yrs: Living in Mead with her family
• 6-18yrs: Sent to The Order to develop her magical abilities, apprentices under a senior battlemage
• 19yrs-39yrs: Serves as a battlemage in the Ivratian Navy 
• 40yrs-present: Granted the title of Mage Protector, plays a role in the attack on Faline

A combination of age and magic use has caused Maude’s memories before The Order to fade. However, a collection of old journals and paperwork kept by The Order has allowed Maude to recall some of the things from her early years.

Maude was born into a large family that owned a bee farm. Her father Thomas, a retired navy soldier, settled down in the small town of Mead after sustaining career-ending wounds in battle. He met Maude’s mother, Magdalene, shortly after moving to Mead, and it was not long after that they were wed. Thomas purchased a plot of land for them to begin a bee farm after Magdalene became pregnant with their first child. After the birth of Maude, Magdalene was warned not to conceive again due to the adverse risk that it would pose to her health, making Maude the last (and 16th) child to be born.

Maude’s powers were revealed at a young age during a play fight with one of her siblings. An innocent accident that caused her family to fear her, they took little hesitation in sending her to The Order. Maude does not remember the details herself but once read a statement taken from her parents about the incident, which claimed that she had been in the front yard playing with her sister, when her right foreleg appeared to move through her sister’s abdomen. It then claimed that, in the panic and confusion, Maude ripped her leg out from her sister’s abdomen and killed her sister in the process - witnesses included her parents and three of the other siblings.

Anger festered within her; As far as she had remembered, her parents abandoned her in The Order.
Her memories surrounding the incident were fuzzy, thinking about it only made her more upset. This began to interfere with her studies, as the unchecked anger continued to manifest, and caused both emotional and physical issues for her. Maude lashed out at her teachers and other students. She became the class bully - as she felt the need to assert dominance over her peers - and struggled to maintain positive relationships due to her volatile behaviour.

Maude focused on developing her skills as a battlemage, with the hope that she would one day be selected for the role of Mage Protector. Like many others, she was drawn to the fame and wealth associated with the position. Shortly after she turned eighteen, Maude was assigned to apprentice under a senior battlemage. And as her magical discipline and power grew, so too did the cost of her magic. Initially when in use, her magic disabled her sense of hearing, and left a ringing noise in her ears for a short period afterward. This only continued to get worse, forcing Maude to make a serious adjustment to how she interacted with her peers - especially if she wanted to be successful. Through resources from The Order, Maude was able to befriend other soldiers who had become deaf, and learn from them on how to adjust to her new way of life. These close relations to  fellow soldiers allowed her to begin to heal the anger she felt towards her biological family.

A year after graduating from her apprenticeship, Maude enlisted in the Ivratian Navy. She was assigned to serve aboard a ship known as The Executioner, who’s crew had earned themselves the nickname The Butchers of The Sea. They were proud and fearsome soldiers, each loyal to the kingdom of Ivras, and determined to protect it at any costs.

Maude served for two decades aboard The Executioner as it’s only assigned battlemage. And as she neared her twentieth year of service in the navy, she was finally granted the opportunity to become a Mage Protector.

The excitement of achieving the new position was short-lived; two weeks after becoming a Mage Protector, a many-headed monster tore through the city of Faline. The city was beginning to fall when Maude - along with six other mage protectors - worked together to chase the monster from the city. With their combined efforts, they were able to successfully vanquish the monster - but not before it was able to cause unprecedented levels of destruction and chaos. Faline was nearly unrecognizable after the attack, and the death toll only continued to climb as bodies continued to be found beneath the rubble.

Maude spent countless hours dedicated to helping the survivors in the aftermath, all the while trying to process the events that had taken place. She lost many friends in the attack, some of whom she even considered family. The attack on Faline had not been an isolated incident, as the number of mages becoming corrupted had been on the rise. This caused Maude to feel a growing sense of unease about the possibility of corrupting her own magic, and her distrust towards mages outside The Order only grew. From then on, she made it her mission to personally see that no monster - or mage - could ever cause such destruction again.

With The Order’s recent initiative to invite mages from all walks of life to become Mage Protectors, Maude now finds herself beginning to question the authority of The Order, and is an adamant voice against the decision.

(WC: 875)

. MAGIC

Power: 3

Discipline: 5

Cost: 3

Corruption: 0

6 stat points +2 Discipline (8 total), 3 cost

Maude’s magic comes in the form of density manipulation.  With this, she has the ability to control the molecular density of her body and has learned to apply this magic in a variety of ways; she can make herself become denser to increase her weight and durability, or alternatively, lower her density to become lighter and more agile. She can also lower her density to make herself become intangible, this allows her to seemingly disappear and move through solid objects. 

Cost of magic: Magic has a constant adverse physical effect on the caster, whether it is in use or not.

Maude is permanently deaf as a result of her magical abilities. 

Name: Alrekr Falkgard

Age: 45

Pronouns: they/them

Personality: Pensive yet outspoken; the frontrunner for everything. Dedicated to their profession and can oftentimes seem 'holier-than-thou' when in reality they're just very, very strict on what they see as right or wrong. Witty in a very lowkey way that usually flies over people's heads and makes them seem odd. Broody (a sign of age, they say) at times.

History: Raised by a family of Order mages who dedicate their lives work to protecting Ivras. Alrekr is taught no different in this family-wide aspiration and was groomed from a young age, eventual mage or not, into becoming a new shield under Ivras' banners. As unruly and cocky as the young mage was, their power remained dormant until their later childhood years. It's an over joyous occasion when their 'gift' is discovered and Alrekr does not protest to immediately being packed up and sent to the Order for their powers to be utilized into a sharpened weapon. After all, becoming a worthy defender for the crown is nothing short of an honor in their young, impressionable mind. Despite being referred to as a 'child prodigy' in their youth, it takes years of tedious lessons and more years of near-freezing themselves in order for their power to be viable. Their status as a formidable mage only solidifies when they help slay the beast that plagued the city of Faline and earn the favor of the citizens that live there.

Magic:

'FROSTBOUND' User has the ability to create and manipulate ice. A mist-like energy can exude from the caster's hooves, solidifying into weaponry and minions. Drawbacks include stiff joints, frostbite, and a big grumpy attitude.

Discipline: 8 Power: 4 Cost: 3 Corruption: 0

Name: Harnock Kossk

Ambient soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S45wEsQCmXo

Age: 54  

Pronouns: he/him

Personality: Reserved and distant if approached and generally uninterested in most interactions. Often accused of looking displeased when that’s just his face. Naturally curious and non-traditional, seeking out novelties or interesting procedures when working. Extremely headstrong and prefers to work alone though frequently ends up in group settings due to the nature of his profession. Wishes he had an ivory tower.

Harnock’s thoughts on:

Colleagues: 

Most if not all people tire Kossk quickly, it’s far worse when it’s people he has to rub shoulders often with. He will freely admit that he is difficult and nigh impossible to read, abiding by a strict personal ruleset that he keeps close to his chest. Inevitably, this will cause some unfortunate encounters, that usually end up with the second party storming out of the room and Kossk musing to himself somewhat bewildered that this was a waste of his time.

His closest friends are few from the Order itself, but more from his time spent wandering Ivras, having collected a roster of people that he can either rely on or use whenever the circumstances demand it.

Strangers: 

Kossk hates strangers. Kossk hates most people. Strangers are often unpredictable, require time to analyze what mischief they could possibly cause or if they can be helpful at all, time that Harnock has little of. As a result, he prefers to keep people at several arms length until they prove themselves worthy. It keeps things tidy, and that’s one thing that Kossk likes.

Family? Relatives?: 

Blood-related-strangers more like. Harnock blocked most of the memories from his time as a colt. He lived up to his teenage years within the confines of a coven that dealt with treating mages nearing corruption. The adults were too busy tending to their sickly own to take care of him and he often wondered whether he was even supposed to happen and what will his purpose be there. He assumed that he would be a mage himself, considering that there was not a single non-mage there and he knew that he was born there and not brought from the outside world. He knew he had some sort of magical affinity, though faint and untrained. Golden sweat bullets would form on his skin when stressed and he could make slight wisps of it float in the air, sometimes grasping things with them. 

Often, he would sneak out and practice his magic in the woods surrounding the hamlet, hunting for birds, rabbits and other fast critters, trying to see what his limits were. He even attempted fleeing the coven several times, but the forest was too dark, too deep, thus he always returned home, defeated. 

As an adult, Kossk considered seeking out a mage that deals with memory magic to erase whatever fragments were left from his early years as they haunted his dreams. However, as an act of defiance to his own cowardice, he reached the mage and asked to resurface whatever echoes of the past were left in his head to face his curiosity.

Oddly enough, there was little left from that time.

The most he could muster was visual imprints of ragged, tired faces, warm fires where gnarly silhouettes stayed huddled like rats for warmth, another shadow coming close to feed them something poured from a black bottle. They hissed at the taste and suddenly they lunged at the person, covering them with their bodies, tearing into them.

Kossk remembers iron gates locking over a pit as at the bottom of it, he could hear screams and hisses, with claws reaching out to the light. A person tucked the key into their shirt pocket and beckoned Harnock to come with them. They enter a musty, foul smelling room illuminated by candle light, inside he sees flasks, tubes, beakers built up to the ceiling and several rusty boilers in the corner of the attic. Pungency wafted from these.

‘I know you didn’t listen to me as I ordered you to and are aware what happened to cousin Derek last night, I saw you sneaking out, there’s no point in lying about it.’ The woman stated, as she rummaged through dusty shelves.

Harnock said nothing. He was handed a heavy leather-coated book. Inside there were hand-written notes and various schematics. One was a drawn diagram of the endocrine system, with certain parts blackened and shriveled by the corruption. Next to it were combinations of ingredients such as plants, animal humours and the like, some were striked out, others had check marks.

‘Read up, boy, it’s time we made something useful out of you.’  

Himself: 

Kossk values performance and discipline above all else. He knows that within this lies a chance of arrogance, however, he assumes responsibility for it and believes that he has earned his right to be so. Trust is placed foremost on himself and secondly, the others around him. Fear of the unknown and the uncomfortable do little to him and is not afraid to endure. Harnock’s duty is to himself and anything that comes with the territory, as a result he will not hesitate to help his Order brethren, regardless of his thoughts on them.

---

History:

Earlier this morning I’ve had the chance to pry a few words out of the wandering mage Harnock Kossk, a notorious member of the Order, known for his general apathy towards it, while also contributing to several items in the alchemical field (Kossk’s Soporific, Philtre d'Ombres, Red Verdigris Extract, Corrupted Ichor Apozem, etc.) that have greatly helped us further our efforts against the growing corrupted threat.

Truthfully, Kossk knows his way around the vials, but that’s the only thing the public knows about him and since his heroic stance alongside his comrades on the 9th of the Verdant Season, 1228 in Faline, there have been attempts at actually garnering some more background on this reclusive individual, but with mixed results, most of them ending briskly and me learning something new about my relatives.

In the end, while I was attending the inauguration of the new statue to commemorate the incident, I caught a glimpse of him, his shiny expensive decorations glistening in the sun and betraying his position. After ensuring that I cornered him properly between a carriage and a honey bagel stand I shall relate the entire unabridged variant of this awaited interview:

‘Excuse me, my lord, I’ve been writing some short papers on the brave folk who fou-’

‘No.’

‘No? I only have some brief questions that can have brief answers, if you could lend me a bit of your time.’

‘No.’

Then the carriage moved to the side a bit and like a donkey in thick fog, he vanished in the crowd.

Since this has been the 4th time I got this discourteous treatment I decided to rely solely on second party accounts thus here’s a pieced-together summary of the elusive bastard vagrant:

‘Born in the winter of 1179, Kossk was raised in an obscure and distant community that harbored mages on the brink of complete corruption. It seems that the main purpose of the group was to find ways to control the spread and delay it. Most members could not have been identified, but a few did stand out. Among them were several infamous mages that have been banned from the Order due to them performing cruel experiments on their subjects even going as far as to kidnap people. For a while, certain higher-ups have concealed this in the hopes that the results were going to be worth it, however the mages were edging too close to a potential disaster and the risk of exposing themselves was too great. The exile was a natural follow-up and the mages grouped together to pursue their studies further in an abandoned village. Soon other stray mages joined them and it became an unfortunate, downtrodden community. The mages who were there, hoped that their corruption would be cured, but were mere test subjects at the whims of others.     

Everything about this was dangerous and it soon showed so when the Order raided the settlement and clashed with multiple mages, who under extreme duress both from the attack and the concoctions consumed to subsume the decay, they essentially exploded into grotesque displays, causing heavy casualties on both ends.

Kossk, aged 15, escaped the cleansing of the place, finding shelter in the nearby woods for days before he was picked up by the remainder of the Order mages, headed to their headquarters. Noticing that he exhibits magical capabilities, the mages agreed to make use of him and send him for training and counseling.

Life as a newly appointed apprentice was rough for Harnock, finding it hard to adapt to his new routine and surrounding allies and would often quarrel with his colleagues.

Numerous times he would almost be expelled, but his unique penchant for alchemy was invaluable and ensured his position within the future mage ranks. Most notably, was the fact that he managed to have saved some valuable notes from his former settlement on corruption treatment and has managed to create a substance which would be a safe delaying agent for anyone who might be in danger of losing oneself to corruption. Currently that agent is part of his namesake potion ‘Kossk’s Soporific’ and is currently still in early stages of experimentation on willing subjects with positive results so far.

Otherwise, his time with the Order has been tumultuous to say the least. Once Kossk reached adulthood, he took his belongings and left to wander the world as a mercenary mage, only returning when he needed resources or when aid was desperately needed such as the Faline tragedy where a set of amazing individuals and himself braved a terror that hasn’t been seen before.’

This marks the end of my personal-life-invading notes, from what it seems, it does make sense so I have little reason to believe I’ve been fed false information though verification might still be needed. Either way, one day I’ll learn how to master getting people to talk to me even if they’re canny at first because at this stage, I’m taking it as a personal challenge.

Excerpts of a script from ‘The Journal of a Journalist’, Author Anonymous.

Magic:

Mortal ichor: Molten gold leaks from Kossk’s skin pores. It can be shaped into blades, tendrils, etc. though his most preferred form is multiple hands in order to grasp at the assailant from a distance. The liquid can also act as a barrier or encasing though it never solidifies. It makes for a good oily armor that can absorb and melt arrows, spears and the like, however Kossk gets unbearably warm in it and prefers to not use it as much.

Drawback: heavy overheating and is rather sluggish. Has no actual value as gold as it’s impure and has a strange odor to it, like Sulphur and burnt hair.

Power: 6

Discipline: 3

Corruption: 0

Cost: 3