Kahll

[Kahll]

Kahll Von Kliv am Agam, Son of Doness, Whose father was Sigurd Appearance Race: Human, regular. Gender: Masculine. Age: 23 Birthday: 45th of Summer, 493. AV Birthplace: Alvadas Face used: Theo James Height: 6'1'' Weight: 172lbs Appearance: On first sight, anyone not native to Alvadas could quickly could pick him out of the crowd by his bearing and colorful attire, but at home, he fits well. Kahll gives off an impression of a tidy, well groomed man. His clothes are always clean, his beard is always either shaven or neatly trimmed, and his hair is always kept short and in check. His posture is straight, almost aristocratic, but his hands are calloused, betraying the nature of his job. Beneath the layers of social norms, Kahll is a good looking man. His jaw is squared, and his cheekbones pronounced. His skin is a bit paler than some would expect, but that too is quickly forgotten after switching focus on his friendly demeanor. The man is good at keeping eye contact, even if his eyes align themselves with an unimposing brown. The same average color, albeit of a darker note, is reflected on his hair. All these things make Kahll seem approachable and easy to acknowledge, with his mannerisms only strengthening the apparent. If one pays really close attention, and if his clothes allow it, one can spot some coloring around his clavicle. If allowed proper inspection, anyone aware of Divination would recognize Avalis' mark. Character Concept Kahll is a practical man. This is his main trait, and reflects in all he is - all he does. He's a proud Alvad, and living in the city means a lot to him. It was the place that spawned him and shaped him into what he is today. Even though prideful and easy to offend, Kahll remains on point. This makes it hard to tell his real reaction to matters that affect him on a personal level, unless he finds it fitting to be less stingy in his expressions. His is a life of discipline, and he won't abandon anything he started working on without a good reason. Even though his appearance accentuates it, after a few interactions with Kahll, it's readily visible that he's driven. Being a craftsman has taught him a different way of thinking, and as such his reasons are never linear. Instead they take on 'step by step' nature, almost as if leading up to something. Another visible trait is his relation to strangers. He's readily friendly and helpful, but it seems a bit too quick. Almost to the point where he sounds like a shop owner half the time. His morals are hard to pin down, because there aren't any to speak of. Ends justify the means with this guy, even though he doesn't wear it on his sleeve. He has long since decided that he had a worthy goal ahead of him, and he'll allow little distraction from it. You see, Kahll harbors a deep seated hatred of personal magic because of his history. His worldview paints it as an evil thing and if it could be removed from his life and surroundings altogether, he'd be happy. This is no easy feat though, and therein he perceives his purpose. Scrub the filth of magic from his life, and all others that can't do so for themselves. Character History Kahll Von Kliv am Agam was born as the first and only child of Doness and Arabella. His father was a well to do businessman, and his mother... well it was never clear what his mother did for a living before she met his father, but that hardly mattered. They had enough to afford themselves all luxuries of a good life. Doness would often be gone on business trips, but never for too long and the time he spent with the family never suffered for it too much. His mother was never alone in raising him either. Doness' best friend Sigurd lived close by, and since he could not have any children with his wife, he and Giselle treated Kahll as one of their own. He was never wanting for attention or resource. It was easy to raise a good kid in those parameters. When Kahll was eleven, he and his father witnessed his mother overgiving, even if it was not quite so obvious at the time. In her delusional state, she killed Giselle. Doness, who turned to his son and vowed him to silence, quickly dispelled shock that first overcame them. Soon after, Kahll was sent to his room.. When he got up, Giselle was gone, and so was his father. After a while, he found his mother mumbling in the basement - whispering gibberish he could not comprehend. The one-sided conversation stopped as soon as he entered the basement. Without any further word, she left the house looking over her shoulder. Kahll wondered where she was going, but she looked to careful to follow and so he let her go. He could not get spotted she scared him. He did not see his parents much in the following days. What was worse is that Sigurd often watched him while his parents were away. Time spent with Sigurd not knowing was a special agony, but he worried what might happen to his parents if he ever told anyone what he saw. Sometimes Sigurd would mention that she has probably left town - they had some marital issues recently. He would never find her, so Kahll took some joy in Sigurd not trying. They were going to separate anyway, right? There was little need to break his heart further. The older man grew distant in those days, and even though Kahll could see him suffering, he would not tell him the truth. All would have eventually returned to normal had it not been for his mother's added strangeness. He would often wake up late at night to hear her moving around the house and muttering to herself. He could never get close enough to hear any of it properly, and every time he attempted anything of the sort, she would stop talking and turn straight towards him as if she had been expecting him the entire time. This made his skin shiver. She was still his mother, so he kept quiet. No matter how rarely he would see her, or how creepy those run-ins had become. This was until he saw another dead body in the house. This time it was just him and his mother alone in the room, when he heard a commotion downstairs. When he finally got to the noise, he could clearly see a pale woman’s hand before it skidded across the floor and out of his sight. He pondered running up the stairs in terror at first, but was too afraid mother would hear. Instead, he stood on the stairs for good half a bell before slowly skidding up to his room. That day fear trumped family. Given a few more bells to calm down, he would come downstairs, and tell his mother he was going out. He must have said something wrong. She gave him a long glance before nodding, as if only hearing him then. Without taking another moment, he skipped out of the house before his resolve weakened. He did not know where to go – only that he had to pass his words off to someone. He vowed to silence, but the letter in his pocket would fix that. Someone had to know, even if he promised not to speak. His silent prayers got an answer after turning a corner. Temple of Ionu loomed before him, its entrance mere steps away. He took it as a sign, and it calmed him. The newfound confidence was short lived and he soon found himself trembling at the steps. He could not do this. Instead, he threw the letter beside him and ran away from the place. As he looked back, in the distance he could make out a figure bending over and picking up the letter, before it too warped out. Where the temple stood mere moments ago, now there was a tailor’s shop. Kahll went home. That night, as he lay in his bed, he wondered would anyone ever read his words. What would happen if they did? Would anyone believe? Would anyone care? Most importantly, would his father find out? Somehow, he feared losing him if he ever found out what his son had written. In the morning, she was not there. This was normal. Then came the next day, and she still was not there. Come next week, no sign of her still. Shortly after, his father returned from his latest business trip and wondered where she was. Doness went looking for her. The man came back after being away for three more days. His face was pale and gaunt, but his palm his true across the boy’s cheek as soon as he stepped over the threshold. Sigurd, who almost moved in the period both parents were gone, seemed shaken, but kept his silence. Doness was a reasonable man and a friend, and perhaps Kahll had really done something terrible. However, when Doness disowned his son and ordered him to leave the house, Sigurd seemed surprised. Kahll got more thrown out the front door than he left on his own, and there he sat down, not knowing where to go. Someone was shouting inside. Another voice overtook the yelling. Why were they fighting? They were friends. After a while, Sigurd came out the door. Picking Kahll up like a sack of potatoes, he carried him away from the house, while furiously explaining that the two of them would be living together from this day. The tone of his voice worried Kahll that he found out the truth about Giselle. Worse was the suspicion that he knew of Kahll’s part in this. These fears dispelled themselves over the next season where Sigurd acted almost like Kahll was his own son. Sometimes Kahll wondered if he knew regardless, but the older man never talked about it. All attempts at finding peace with his father ended equally poorly. After a few more, Doness inexplicably left Alvadas. The story he told Sigurd was that he was going away to Syliras on business and that he does not expect he will be coming back. His words offered no explanation or concern for Kahll. After that, he was gone. Sigurd never found out what happened to Giselle, and as far as Kahll could tell, Doness never found Arabella. Eventually, Sigurd remarried. His second wife was a Konti, and her name was M’alla. She quickly fit in with the two, and Kahll had even come to appreciate her. What little Kontinese he knows, she taught him. Under her hand, Sigurd was no longer a shadow of his former self, and started being the optimistic sort he had been previously to Giselle’s disappearance. Kahll realized he even looked up to her after a time. She was like the mother he always wanted, even if she was not his mother. Even after marrying, the pair never had children. He would come to know that Sigurd was sterile, and even if the problem was fixable – they never did anything. M’alla did not want any more children. Apparently, she had loads in Riverfall, but she never talked much about that part of her life. All Kahll knew was that by her account she was much older than he would have believed by her appearance. The rest of Kahll’s upbringing was uneventful, and at the age of twenty, he moved out and got his own home. Soon after, M’alla and Sigurd moved away to Riverfall. They wanted him to come along with them, but wanting to be his own man, he stuck around. Sometimes he thinks whether that was the right decision, but he has had no regrets so far. Language Fluent Language: Common Basic Language: Kontinese Poor Language: Isurian - learned through employment at the Kitrean Krafts (an Isur run shop in Alvadas). Skills Skill EXP Total Proficiency Mathematics 5 SP 5 Novice Carpentry 8 SP 8 Novice Drawing 8 SP 8 Novice Auristics 8 SP 8 Novice Metalsmithing 10 SP 10 Novice Gadgeteering 15 RB, 11 SP 26 Competent Lores Alvadas: The Streets Below (SP) Religion: Ionu (SP) Gnosis Marked by Avalis Possessions 1 Set of Clothing -Wool Pants - Black -Linen Shirt - Dark Blue -Linen Undergarments - White -Wool Cloak - Emerald Green -Simple, Brown Boots 1 Waterskin 1 Backpack which contains: -Comb (wood) -Brush (wood) -Soap -Balanced Rations (1 Week's worth) -1 eating knife -Flint & Steel -12 Pieces of Chalk (Purchased before starting) -1 Woodcarver's Hammer (Purchased before starting) -1 Crafter's Toolkit (Purchased before starting) -1 Woodcarver's toolkit (Purchased before starting) Heirloom: A small journal bound in white leather, the contents of it are indecipherable to Kahll, as he doesn't read Kontinese. He knows enough to recognize it for what it is, and has on more than one occasion wondered on its contents. He remains too busy to learn to read Kontinese, and too secretive to have someone else do it for him. The journal was left to him, and as such he should be the only one to ever read it. Housing Location: A house in Alvadas House: Kahll's home is simple and unimposing on the inside. That was to be expected, because what can you really put in a 20 by 20 room? There's an old, brown oak chair that creaks. The table next to it is a sleek piece of black lacquered lumber that seems a bit too elegant for the rest of the residence. The table's surface is marred by all kinds of nicks and scratches, coming from a lifetime of service to a craftsman. Next to them is something resembling a pile of covers, but upon closer inspection, one would find out that's where Kahll sleeps. The makeshift bed lacks any semblance of construction, and is instead a mattress shoved to the corner of the room. The linens and covers are unimpressive and dull in their grey disposition. In another corner sits a beat up, small, tin chest. It would fade into anonymity save for the huge gouge in its lid that looks like it came from something large and bladed. Walls and the floor were once like the sheets, but have since been marred by a white, powdery substance. Upon closer inspection, one notices this is indeed chalk dust. There's always scribbling all over the walls, some smudged, some discernible. The floor is never in the same condition though. White stains on it move around from day to day and sometimes they aren't there at all. At other times, the floor is almost as a piece of paper. The sole window to the room is always pristine and one could argue it actually looks new. It rests on the wall above the black table, and everything else seems as if it is pushed away to make more room for light. The door is blue painted pine and it too seems to have undergone the same careful treatment as the window. The knob is strange and looks almost like someone quite unskillfully tried to model an arm as the handhold. While the house looks quite lackluster from the inside, from the outside it appears well and polished, if a bit quirky. The walls take on a strange orange hue that almost scream the fruit, and the pine window shutters are white. If this weren't Alvadas, the house could be spotted from quite a distance due to its popping colors. Like this though, it's just another of many places until you're looking for it. Ledger Purchase Cost Total Starting +100 GM 100 GM Chalk x12 -12 CM 99 GM 8 SM 8 CM Carpenter's Hammer x1 -1 SM 99 GM 7 SM 8 CM Crafter's Toolkit -25 GM 74 GM 7 SM 8 CM Woodcarver's Toolkit -50 GM 24 GM 7 SM 8 CM Thread List

[Kahll]

Gnosis story It would soon be three years since M’alla first moved in with them. By this point Kahll was quite certain, Sigurd had healed. Konti was a miracle – since she came, the nightmares lessened. Before her, they came nightly. Sleeping was becoming a chore. These days, he would only rarely wake up in the middle of the night – and even then, he would notice her already at his bedside holding out something she claimed to be a remedy. Over time, Kahll grew somewhat addicted to this ‘tea’, but even this seemed a minor problem when it provided some much-needed sleep. She was often home during the day, always moving about and messing with something around the house, but Kahll appreciated the company. It had been a few seasons since he last went to Syliras with Sigurd, and he doubted he would be going again anytime soon. Doness put his disdain for Kahll out in the open. He was to blame for Arabella’s absence, and he could understand his father. For all her insanity, she was still the love of his life. Kahll was her child – their child. Last piece Doness had of her. Even if he could not stomach to look at the boy, he still would not harm him. The two would never be family again, though. There was too much bad blood between them. Syliras was far away, and if it meant almost seeing his father every time, Kahll was glad to stay home. Sigurd was perfectly capable of doing everything himself, and there was no need for the boy to tag along. Kahll found time spent with M’alla to be soothing, and rather productive. When she was not picking apart the house, she insisted that he learned Kontinese. He appreciated the distraction. It could be of potential use, but he worried little for these things at that point. Through their continuous talks, she introduced him to Konti culture, and even if it was hard for him to take the notion of a female-only race seriously, he took everything she told him like a sponge. She even told him how Sigurd and she had met. The man was so intent on finding his first wife, that he spared little expense. Going through all kinds of mercenaries, and bounty hunters, and trackers and detectives, and fortune-tellers...he would not give her up without certainty of her demise. This is when he met M’alla. Konti apparently had an innate ability of divining things, absorbed from the very water that permeated everything on their island. Even more adept at this were those chosen by the divination Goddess, Avalis. She did not dwell too much on the specifics, but it sparked Kahll’s imagination enough to be on the edge of his seat through the rest of it. Sigurd came to her and asked her to do whatever it was Konti did to help in finding her, but when M’alla tried she could not see anything. Even with Giselle’s possessions, it was no help. She told him that sometimes these things took multiple efforts, but even after a few days, she could not see anything. When the days were up, she finally told him that his wife was no longer among the living – for if she were, M’alla would have seen her by that point. They became friends soon after this meeting. After a while, they were living together. Before he departed from the conversation, she sliced him wide open “I know you knew of her death” her eyes narrowed as she seemed to wonder, “I’ve seen you see it.” Kahll froze down to his toes before he mumbled his question “Why haven’t you told him?” and she would actually smile “You love him, and he has come to love you too. There is no need to break his heart further” and with that Kahll shrunk further towards the exit, away from the creature that seemed to look straight through him. “Do you believe you had a good reason to lie to him?” she finally asked as he was all but turning away. “NO!” he said way louder than he intended, patience shattering and fear taking control of him. For that moment he began to despise this creature whose only sin was knowing what shamed him, but that too was dislocated by her next question “Why then?” at this point Kahll was already beginning to tear up. He knew why he lied. He betrayed Sigurd for the same reason he later betrayed his own mother. “For love” the words crept down his tongue as he wiggled out of the room at a snail’s pace. Behind him, he could hear hysteria overcoming the Konti “Love h..” her voice was choked between laughs. This strange occurrence intrigued him enough that he hesitated a moment before exiting. This moment was enough for her to surprise him “khghghhhhahah… Guess that makes us same” her voiced seemed cool. He slipped out of the house, frightened about what just happened. He expected something different. In the following days, he tried to pay as little mind to her as possible. She seemed to be wary around him too. This gave him some ease of mind. Even when Sigurd came home, she said nothing. This only cemented his belief that she had known for a while. Soon enough, Sigurd left on another business trip, and M’alla resumed their routine as if nothing had ever happened. She tinkered around the house, and when she was tired, she called to him to teach him some more Kontinese. He paid little heed to these instructions, instead wondering how one exactly prayed to Avalis. He would try that night. His prayer was silent. It went unanswered. He figured she could not hear him, so next time he spoke his prayer aloud – again, nothing happened. He would try this a few more times, before becoming frustrated with a lack of any kind of response. If she even was listening, he was not getting her attention. Deterred, but still true to his cause, he would ask M’alla how one prayed to a God. Her answer “You just do” did not help at all, so he acted confused and asked how she prayed to Avalis, but her answer was the same. She just did. What did that even mean? He had just prayed for days, and nothing happened. A strange thought crossed his mind, but he decided to let it take root. Maybe Avalis only listened to her children, the Konti. This would mean he would need to learn more Kontinese. For the rest of the season he dug into Kontinese, trying to be decent enough for him to voice a real prayer. He even roped M’alla into only speaking to him in Kontinese outside of their daily classes. If the woman ever suspected anything, she kept it to herself. Either way, he appreciated the assumed anonymity of his cause. Even while learning he still tried praying, if infrequently. What he did not quite understand, and would not for a while longer was that language was not the barrier he failed to overcome. For many days, he was too hotheaded and frustrated to ask M’alla anything about praying, but that front eventually cracked. Again, her answers seemed foreign to him. It started on the wrong foot right from the start. When asked how she prays, she had a simple answer “I give thanks” but how did that work? This same thought became voiced and she almost seemed to expect him not to get it “I give thanks for my gift. I give thanks for all the insight it has given me. I give thanks for it telling my children are alive and well. I give thanks for it leading me towards Sigurd. I give thanks that it let me give him some closure. I give thanks that it makes me understand you better. I give thanks for it ensuring I never feel lost” her words were long, and Kahll was stunned enough to blurt out his thoughts “But what do I thank her for?” and as soon as he said the words, he wanted to take them back. He was creeping his way into leaving, and she actually asked him the question he did not want to hear “Why do you want Avalis’ gift?” she paused, before adding, “For all its blessings, it is still a burden. It is not for the weak-willed and infirm” he began to shrunk at the sound of her voice before bursting out at her “I am not weak. I am not infirm!” his words threatened to tear the door of its hinges, but M’alla seemed relatively unfazed. If she realized she offended him, she did not let it show. If she took offense – that too was hidden. On the way to his room, he was furious. With each passing step though, his anger simmered down. He could see her point. She would never hear those words though. Not after the way she spoke to him. Even if her intentions were good, he still took the right to be offended. It was not a deep anger, and by the time he was back to his room, it had gone from him completely. He entered the room, closed the door and sat down on the floor. Then, for the first time in a while, he actually thought about what he was going to say. Only after his talk with M’alla had it dawned on him – up until this point, he must have sounded much like a spoiled brat crying for a new toy. That was not who he was. He would frame his words right – then she might turn a speck of her attention towards him. He started talking to the empty room, hoping someone other than M’alla who was possibly on the stairs would listen “For the longest time I didn’t think I had anything to be grateful on” then he once more looked warily towards the door, trying to hear if someone was outside “I was wrong. I am grateful for M’alla, and everything she has done for both Sigurd and me. I am grateful for the good night’s sleep she has given all of us. I am grateful that Sigurd is finally happy. I am grateful for her gift” he inhaled deeply before continuing, “I want to do for Doness…” he flinched when he realized he long ago stopped calling him father “…what M’alla has done for Sigurd. I have seen what not knowing does to people. I do not want him to wait for a miracle to tell him whether she‘s still alive. I want to do this for him, because I am the one that took her away in the first place. I do not know how he found out, but we are both aware of the fact” his mouth snapped shut as the door slowly opened behind him. At first, he thought he had seen M’alla, and thought about apologizing, but the creature that walked through his door was different somehow. He could not really tell Konti apart other than for the one who lived there. This one – he could tell this one apart from miles away. He wanted to move, to stand up in some manner, but something did not allow his legs to respond. Instead, he simply pried his mouth open and looked at the newcomer, positively stunned. He did not know what or whom he was looking upon, but it made him shrink further towards the corner. Somewhere in the back of his mind, bells rang with Avalis’ name, but it took him a while to hear them. Before he even figured out what happened, she was standing closer, and he found himself up against one of the walls. When did that happen? When she spoke, he was certain he had heard her the first time. Somehow, her voice broke away his lack of attention and for as long as her lips were moving his mind kept focus. “Why would you keep calling on me after so many failed attempts?” the Goddess asked, turning towards him. As soon as he did, Kahll’s head bent back to the ground almost instinctively. “I called for an answer” his voice was so weak. He tried to clear his throat, but found that the problem was not there. “I could not ask M’alla for help this time, only to know that I would have to do so again the next” He could sense a change in posture, even if he avoided looking directly at her. “And you are certain there will be a next time?” her voice seemed amused? “Yes” something seemed to allow a little more air to press from his lungs, and for once, he sounded a bit stronger. Whatever amusement he imagined to her voice, he could no longer hear it. “You have betrayed your father, betrayed your mother, and betrayed Sigurd – why?” whatever initial security he might have felt from his voice sounding better, it was gone when he tried to look at her. He opened his mouth to utter that it was all for love, but something in her gaze hardened before he set his eye back down. She would sense a lie for what it was. “I was afraid after Giselle died. She could have killed Doness and Sigurd! She could have…” her interruption actually helped him, as his voice was creaking “Killed you?” and he nodded. She did not press the question further. That was her answer. “If I give you this gift, before long you will find it to be a burden” he could look up to her now, barely. She paused, but just as he was about to say something, she continued. It was not a question. “Will it detract you from finding your answers?” he shook his head feeling strangely confident. Even with the mess in his head, he got a moment of clarity to express what he wanted. “What happens after you get your answer? After your father finally puts his soul at ease?” she smiled towards the end of the sentence. She just insinuated something that would take him years to get around his head. Still, this was what he wanted, no matter how terrifying it was. “I would use the gift to find closure. So that no one ever has to go through what both of my families have been going through for so long” he looked up to her, and could have sworn for a second she was smiling. Then a verbal jab hit his ribs, panicking him “And what if the truth is worse than not knowing?” he cringed before opening his mouth “I would tell the trut..” her gaze hardened a bit “I would not tell them the truth. Words that would break them further would be of no use. If someone has to know them, then I will be the one to do so.” She seemed amused at something again, and as he finished, he felt his legs regaining strength. Taking this as a signal to stand up, Kahll attempted it. To his surprise, the first shot was successful. He still could not look at her when he stood up, even though they seemed to be the same height. Something called him to look towards her, and as soon as he did, she laid a hand on the side of his neck. “Always remember your words. You asked for this” her sad voice made his eyes close, but before he could open them back again, she was gone. Even after she left, he felt something like fingers tracing down the side of his neck and to his shoulder. He felt branded. Branded and content. The question rang in his head. Did she die?