The Spider

[shieklord]

Name: Simply, “The Spider”

Age: 17

Race: The Shieka

A little bit about the race: The Shiekas do not give their children names in the sense that we think of names. The children do not get a name until the age of twelve. The leader of the tribe observes the habits of the child, and names him or her after an animal, or something elemental that coincides with their character. To avoid confusion, and describe the child better, the name is usually a combination of two words. The result is something that sounds like a Native American name. Something like, running eagle. The tribe itself has served the King for generations, and the first assignment for a new Shieka is to guard a royal person in the King’s court.

They live in a secluded village that is hidden in a place nobody can find, and most likely wouldn’t want to find. And although the Shiekas consider themselves a race, they are not very different from humans. It is believed the reason for their great magical power is that the skill increases as father and mother hand it down to their children.

Gender: Male

Hair: non descript brown

Eyes: Green

Weight: 150 lbs

Height: 5 11 in

Weapons: As with most of the Shieka, stealth is his most important weapon. He is supplied with basic tools, small knives, enchanted vials, some even carry claws. The weapons of the Shieka tribe have no uniformity at all. The tastes of each person differ from small swords, to strange weapons that have no name. The Spider tends to carry weapons of his own make. A small, straight bladed sword, a piece of cloth rope, and a small wooden crossbow his teacher gave to him.

Skills/Magic: He has experience with most magic forms, though the Shieka teachers encourage a general knowledge of the magic arts rather than to focus on one. It helps them to adapt to the situation better. To heal himself of any wound does not take long, as he has a very focused mind. A favorite spell of his is “meh haslad de.” Meaning, “freeze his heart.” It cools the person blood he is fighting, and gives him an advantage. But the magic power of the Shieka are rather weak, they can manage to hurt, or at best kill someone with a concentrated spell, but they rarely do this. They use magic for stealth purposes mostly, primitive enchantments on their knives, and clothes. Their weakness lies in the fact that they are not magicians, and so they can not use magic to read minds, yet they put their own minds at risk when they use magic of any sort. A skilled mage could read a Shiekas mind with no trouble.

Appearance: A plain earth colored brown, blue, green, or black cloak suites him. The Shieka cut their cloaks in strange diagonal slices, making them look like they are old and worn out. Even I am not really sure why they do this, it is a very old tradition.

Personality: Outwardly, he is reserved, cold, and thoughtful, even by Shieka standards. His favorite things to do are, singing and drawing. This is a strange contrast to his job. His friends think he is a little two faced, but that is only because his personality changes during battle from a quite, peaceful boy, to a cold, deadly persona. His relationships are few, but strong. And the people who know him, know that he is a good friend. He loves his father, and tries to imitate his fighting style and manner. His mother is one of the most respected people in her tribe, the granddaughter of a famous Shieka who defended the queen in peril.

Strengths: The spider is known among his friends for his clever traps, hence the name, Spider. He is elusive in a battle, but is trained like all Shiekas to handle himself calmly in a fight. His opponents find themselves unable to out think The Spider. He lays traps within traps. And trains his mind to think ahead, by playing a complicated game called Massada where two opponents create a miniature magical statue in a special glass box. They then proceed to take turns trying to cast the strongest combination of spells. The losers statue is crushed by the magic. There are many complicated rules to this game, and it’s fun once you get the hang of it.

Weaknesses: He sometimes thinks too much about a decision, and the makes his move to late, whether it is in battle or life. Mistakes are not encouraged in the Shieka’s tribe. Also, when he focuses on one thing too long, he doesn’t always realize what is going on around himself. Also, fire is an element that particularly dangerous to him. It throws his calm mind into panic, and makes his usually calm attacks wild.

Where he has grown up: One of the main functions of his tribe was to protect the Royal king, yet it has been years since any King ruled of the land. The land is in fact divided into small sub kingdoms, each little Earl greedily grabbing what land and power he can. In this unstable time, the Shiekas are under the rule of their individual tribe leader.

But things are getting worse for the few Shieka tribes left. The idea of a people free, living by themselves, (especially ones that can use magic to any degree) does not appeal to the monarchies existing in the land.

And as the search goes on for the royal family, the Shiekas train and live day to day praying for the day when their service will be used again.

Biography: When the Spider was only fourteen winters old, his closest friend’s sister, Chameleon, was taken by a scouting party from a nearby castle. She was a girl alone in a forest, dressed in Shieka garb. That was enough for the captain. They took her, and brought her to the Earl Benton’s castle. Where they kept her in prison.

The Spider was enraged. She was only nine! Bastards. Without asking or telling anyone, he left that very night for the castle. The Spider still remembers it, whenever he is alone in his favorite spot, it comes back to him like a dream.

Cursing in the darkness he had crawled through the forest, like an infuriated tiger, pushing the itchy weeds out of his face. Through the irregularly situated houses that dotted the outer wall of the Earls castle.

The Spider’s father had taught him to be kind, thoughtful of others, and diligent in his tasks at home. But he had also taught him to be a just person, with a hate for everything wicked.

His adrenaline rushed through his head, looking at the four story wall that stood in his way now. It had looked flat and smooth from a distance, but it was actually rocky, and full of large cracks. “I won’t even need my rope,” he thought starting the climb. Like a Spider, he picked his way up the wall, slowly and carefully. Looking in all directions, especially at the guard towers.

There! A guard was sleeping near the tower wall. Well he would make sure. The Spider snuck up along the wall until he reached the stone walkway that went along the whole wall. He quietly slithered into the shadows behind the guard. Spinning his fingers in a clockwise motion over the sleeping man’s head, he muttered “selfes un rise fi” (sleep until rise of fire, or sun)

Nothing happened! The guard started to wake up! The spider panicked, “what did I do wrong?” Then he remembered, it was a counter clockwise motion! Clockwise woke them up! Whispering the same spell, he spun it around the man’s head again. This time the guard slipped into snoring slumber. His heart beating, he took a moment to breath. “Oops.”

Then he took in his surrounding, the prison shouldn’t be hard to find. The thatched roofs looked like stairs in the inside square of the castle walls, all of them leading up to the tallest tower in the center. There! It was the only lit building in this place. Creeping through the cold pre morning darkness, he made his way to the building. The door had lantern light pouring from within through its cracks, and the silhouette of armed men he saw through the window. The building was just a long hallway with cells lined one after another, like animal cages. They were all sleeping.

Going around the door, avoiding the light, He climbed onto the roof. It was sturdy. He pulled at a piece of loose thatch, and peeked into the prison. There were three guards, all sitting at the table. They were playing some sort of gambling game. Peering into the cells, he spotted her, Chameleon. She was the second to last cell from the far wall. Good, far enough to stay out of the sight of the guards. The lantern’s light didn’t quite reach the far end of the prison.

But how would he get her out? Her cell was a metal cage. The Spider thought for a moment. He knew a acidic spell, no, that would smell, and he wasn’t good at that. Then he knew, “of course!” Fire and ice.

He quietly crawled alond the roof until he reached the spot above her cell. He walked to the very eve of the house, and slowly, worked his way through the thatch. Placing a hand on the metal cage, he got on his hands and knees, and crept along it. He was at the very edge of the cage, and still halfway in the thatch. Then he went to work.

He touched a section of the flat metal cage bar, “ire!” he whispered. It started to glow after a while. Then, when it was white hot, he whispered “era.” It made a quick hissing noise as it cooled quickly. He looked around startled. The guards were laughing and, yes, drinking. Good.

He repeated the process until the metal became cracked and brittle, then it broke. Making a square large enough to climb down and pull her out, he worked hard. After about ten minuets, he was cooling the last one, he held on to the square cage piece, and when it broke, he removed it and placed it on the side. Quickly he climbed down the cell, and placed his hand over the girl’s mouth, her eyes went wide. Then she smiled through his hand. He took it off her mouth, and motioned to the ceiling. She nodded. They climbed up the cell wall, through the hole, and worked their way through the thatch and onto the roof.

She hugged him, he quietly hugged her back, and smiled. “Try to keep quiet little Chameleon.”

Starting back the way he came, The Spider stopped for a moment. “Wait here,” he whispered. He walked over to the edge of the roof over the doorway. He thought for a moment, then bent over. He touched the door and said, “or ate en, ire acidea.” Chameleon put her hand over her mouth and giggled.

They both crept back the way he had come, over the rooftops, and past the snoring guard. Chameleon Motioned towards the snoring man questionably. He nodded.

This was the tricky part. “Put your hands around my neck, he said.” She did. She wasn’t heavy at all, a thin reed more like. But he still was frightened.

“Close your eyes,” he said. She shut them tight. He slung out over the edge of the wall, and started down the four story drop. Down, down they went, almost slipping twice, The Spider was sweating, and his arms were getting sore. He slipped and lost grip with one of his hands, and fell, thump!

They only fell a few feet. The Spider looked and saw that he had climbed down much faster than he thought, they were free! He checked to see if the Chameleon was hurt. She smiled, dusting herself off. “To the forest quick,” he whispered. They ran until they reached the thick woods.

But just then, The Spider saw two men following them. He pushed her down behind a tree, and pulled his short sword out of its cloth sheath. The two shadows came closer and closer, and then stopped, right in front of them. The Spider and Chameleon held their breath.

“Well,” a deep voice said, “a nice escape, but you will have to come with us.” Then he stood closer, and laughed, it was his father! And the Chameleons father too.

“Well done, my little spider.”

[Euphoria]

I've been forced into typing with the Wii, so excuse the rushed reply.

- Delve into his magic more. I need this thoroughly explained before I decide if he is too strong.
- Expand weaknesses. It is the general consensus of the Council that a character can't excel at both magic and combat. Moreover, I would like to see some magical drawbacks.
- Expand the bio to include events in the Spider's life.

[shieklord]

I added what you suggested, and put everything in a little more descriptively. I was going to put the short story in character fiction, but I put it in his bio, like I have seen everyone else do.

I would say that he does not excel at magic at all, but he uses minor spells a lot.

[Euphoria]

You could use some work getting into character, but other than that, it's fine. Go check out Battle School (which is for everyone, by the way; half the Councillors are enrolled!).

<-Approved->

[shieklord]

*bows*

I am honored, thank you very much.