Relias: Uprising (67 page)

     While leadership of the sprawling Highlander Empire under the Blacktree dynasty, it saw leader after leader born into the Blacktree family. However, in the year 6 M.I., Prattis Blacktree contracted a mysterious illness (later determined to be Halzetti's disease) and died without an heir. In a warrior culture, the leader was determined in next most logical fashion: Death match.

     After a series of contests, a leader emerged to lead the Highlander's Arctanican empire. Mavrik Greyhorn became the face of the Highlander regime and pushed the Arctanican Conquest even further, pushing its boundaries outward until only the coasts and northern regions of Arctanica were left unconquered.

     The Arctanican Conquest lasted until 223 M.I. when Morlo Greyhorn, one of the Empire's top leaders, forged an alliance with Luke Semprys and took nearly half of the Arctanican Empire with him. This decision sparked a massive civil war within the Empire, adding fuel to the global conflict as Greyhorn Loyalists combatted the Purist Highlander Nationalists. Still plagued by Halzetti's Disease, the Arctanican Empire stood strongest against the Allied Union armies but ultimately crumbled and failed, serving as the final barrier preventing the formation of the Republican Union of Relias.

Exploratory Renaissance

Happened around 1315 as a result of the human settlement of Solara and the immense potential for profit that exploration might yield. With it came a sudden rush to fill in the empty spaces on the map. It would begin to slow down around 1380 after the disappearance of several vessels around the Aliyan Isles. This decrease in exploration was further exacerbated by the legends surrounding the Aliyan Isles involving beautiful women who lured sailors close to the islands, seducing them with what was believed to be magical voices, causing the sailors to crash their ships on the rocks surrounding the isles and resulting in their disappearances and presumed deaths.

The Durant Genome Project

Taking place during the Durant Relocation Act, the Durant Genome Project was an attempt on the part of Communal physicists to map the Durant cellular biology. And while a number of advanced technologies emerged that sparked a technological renaissance, their attempts at documenting a comprehensive map of the Durants' organic chemistry was met with ultimate failure.

The Durant Mass Exodus

In 253 M.I, the Commune invented a way to track individual Durants using radar that reacted to the unique magnetic signatures that Durants produce. (This technology would prove useless as changes in Havok's orbit cause in increase in solar radiation, making it so that the sensitive technology became glitchy, unreliable and ultimately useless.) In response, Durants from all around the world converged on Brysdal and, when travel to Brysdal was blocked off by the First Legionnaire, Olsgrad. Knowledge of these locations was relayed through Spurence and only a select group of leaders were made aware of these locations as to mitigate the chances of capture by the First Legionnaire.

Modern Figures

Luke Semprys (Pronounced Sem-Priss)

Age: 63

Race: Durant

Height: 6'0"

Hair: Dark Brown

Weight: 315 lbs. (Appears 200 lbs.)

Eyes: Originally blue, currently red

Build: Built, large, muscular

Weapon of Choice: five foot custom Eternium broadsword, handle placed in

Sword's back towards tip, and black, frictionless edge.

Religious Affiliation: Inactive Duranism

Aliases: Milo, The Meat grinder, the Grinder

Notable Characteristics: Blind, has the potential for incredible strength as a

Singularity. Adopted into the Scarsborough family in his parentless Childhood.

Family:

Leon Semprys- Father

Trina Semprys-Wife

Lazarus Semprys- Son

Tess Semprys- Daughter

Leviticus Semprys- Son (miscarried)

Tess Semprys

Age: 18

Height: 5'7"

Race: Durant

Hair: Blonde

Weight: 135 lbs.

Eyes: Green

Build: Muscular, athletic

Weapon of Choice: Rifle

Religious Affiliation: Duranism

Notable Characteristics: While daughter of Luke, Tess possesses no known

Singularities.

Brief History: After the invasion of Elysium, Tess was taken to a small settlement on the

Outskirts of Diamide where she remained until the Commune developed technology that could

Globally track the unique Furo radiation that Durants produce. From there she was taken to Olsgrad, as

Were many other Durants as they now had no way to hide from the Commune and instead were forced to Fortify their position and hold out until a more practical solution could present itself. After escaping Olsgrad just ahead of her father, Tess remained in Brysdal only temporarily, leaving with the Ditrinity as they formed a small, Specialized unit of warriors under the new leadership of Nathan Hendrick. Tess, along with many other Durants and members of the Dark resistance, had discovered that increased solar radiation made it difficult for the Commune to make accurate readings on the locations of Durants. From there, the Darks rebuilt while Tess did her part to contribute to the overall effort with the ultimate goal of avenging her father's death at Olsgrad, her brother's execution and her mother's death at the hands of Vladmir Frenz. This drive prompted Samuel Alighieri to enlist her in a small operation known as Operation Rush.

Family:

Luke Semprys- Father

Trina Semprys-Mother

Lazarus Semprys- Brother

Lazarus Semprys

Age: 31 (at age of death)

Race: Durant

Height:6'1"

Hair: Dark Brown

Weight: 175 lbs.

Eyes: Blue

Build: Slender, Athletic

Weapon of Choice: Katana with extra blades for extension

Religious Affiliation: Duranism

Aliases: Knight

Notable Characteristics: Now deceased, Lazarus spent his early years as a

Pit fighter before joining the war against the Commune.

Brief History: Born a few years prior to the Union's establishment, Lazarus was raised in a peaceful and prosperous society. With his knack for athleticism and his father’s natural talent for combat, Lazarus became involved in amateur Pit Fighting at the age of 12, the earliest age an individual could participate. Within years, Lazarus was recognized as an athletic prodigy, becoming a dominating for in professional Pit Fighting and making millions in purse winnings and endorsements while his arena pseudonym, Knight, became a household name. After the death of his mother, though, and his father's failed attempt at

Family:

Luke Semprys- Father

Trina Semprys- Mother

Tess Semprys- Sister

Trina Semprys

Age: 38 (At time of death 247 M.I)

Race: Durant

Height: 5'9"

Hair: Blonde

Weight: 120 lbs.

Eyes: Green

Build: Slender

Weapon of Choice: None

Religious Affiliation: Duranism

Notable Characteristics: Deceased wife of Luke Semprys

Family:

Luke Semprys- Husband

Tess Semprys- Daughter

Lazarus Semprys- Son

Leviticus Semprys- Miscarried Son

Sable

Age: 38

Race: Half-Human, Half-Durant

Height: 5'11"

Hair: Glossy White

Weight: 125 lbs.

Eyes: Pale blue

Build: Slender, athletic

Weapon of Choice: Katana

Religious Affiliation: Duranism

Notable Characteristics: Eyes glow as a result of surviving extreme  Furo

Exposure, possesses s Singularity which maintains her perfect form and rapidly

Regenerates her health.

Brief History: Sable’s history is a mystery before her 18
^th
birthday. After appearing on the banks of a river in the Elysium Basin, unconscious and wearing unusually advanced armor, Sable was taken to Peter Scarsborough, where it was determined that she would become a member of the Ditrinity. From that point, Sable would fight as an integral part of the Ditrinity.

Nathan Hendrick

Age: 56

Race: Altigan

Height: 6'2"

Hair: Dark Brown

Weight: 185 lbs.

Eyes: Sage Green

Build: Slender, muscular, athletic

Weapon of Choice: Blazers, Incendiary Grenades

Aliases: Hendrick the Helldog, the Helldog

Religious Affiliation: None

Notable Characteristics: Lifelong history of psychological sickness, including suffering

Extensively from schizophrenia, Bipolarity, Attention Deficit Disorder, Depression, and Split

Personalities to name a few. Refused to join Ditrinity for personal reasons until the death of

Ayla Reyrock in 247 M.I. whose vacancy in the Ditrinity he filled. Has a unique obsession with

Fire.

Brief History: Born in Desden. As a child, Hendrick experienced a good deal of abuse at the hands of his alcoholic father. Much of this, Hendrick feels, could be attributed to his father's confusion over how to handle such a strange, unpredictable and psychologically disturbed son. With home conditions being as they were, Hendrick branched out and joined a gang known as the 451's, a ragtag organization of boys and young men who made fire their calling card. As his initiation, Hendrick was charged with setting fire to a tree outside the public library. This fire immediately escaped their control and the gang fled. Hendrick, however, stayed and watched, entranced by the blaze, until the local police arrived and threw him into a juvenile detention facility. After four years, Hendrick was released at the age of sixteen. Throughout his later teens, Hendrick gained notoriety as a solitary figure known as the Helldog, a merciless, vengeful man who tracked down and murdered the leadership of the 451's. (The 451's, at this time, stood as a strong opposition to the established order, plaguing Desden with a years long crime spree.) With the deaths of these gangsters tagged clearly to his name, it wasn't until a psychological meltdown where Hendrick, convinced that certain citizens of Desden were spying on him and plotting his demise, set fire to a bus full of people on their morning commute. Following this incident he was thrown in prison where he was forced into years of solitary confinement, where his fragmented mind stabilized, though destroying several of its basic instincts including hyper arousal. It wasn't until Desden fell under attack in one of the final large scale battles before the Union was founded where two of the prison's guards released him in hopes that he would help fight a losing battle.  Following the battle's conclusion, Hendrick befriends three other men and forms the Helldogs. As their leader they successfully defend towns along the Argintic front from any other attacks like the one that led to Desden's demise. Many years later, just after the framework of the Republican Union of Relias had been laid and after a period of inactivity, Hendrick and the Helldogs once again had to defend their new home, Brackis, against the Dakuya as they conquered smaller, more remote towns and cities to sap off their resources and fund their international crime organization. Fighting a losing battle, the Helldogs defended and eventually lost Brackis shortly before having their leader, Daniel Ratigan, killed at the hands of Nathan Hendrick after Ratigan had slit his throat and supposedly killed him. With the other Helldogs dead, the Dakuya that remained took Hendrick to a remotely located potato cellar and chained him up, leaving him to die. After a week, he was discovered by a general in the Union army, Luke Semprys, who had learned a great deal about the charismatic Helldog. Hendrick was hired on to reform the International Army, a task which drove him to establish a new military branch entirely which he dubbed the First Legionnaire. From there, he became good friends with Luke, Luke's family, and the Ditrinity until the day came when he would eventually join them.

Morlo Greyhorn

Age: 71 (Born 191 M.I.)

Race: Highlander

Height: 10'6"

Hair: Brown

Weight: 1550 Lbs.

Eyes: Brown

Build: Muscular, Broad

Weapon of Choice: Battlehammer, Chain gun

Religious Affiliation: Elemental Paganism

Notable Characteristics: A prominent Highlander clan leader before the foundation of the Union,

Experiences brutal bloodlusts in ways experienced in others only through the use of a Stimulant Dose

Brief History: Being the son of a prominent clan leader and the grandson of the leader of the Arctanican Empire, Morlo Greyhorn distinguished himself from other warriors his age with a brutal fighting style, die-hard determination and an innate sense of leadership. With those characteristics Morlo quickly rose to notoriety, eventually taking his father's place as head of the clan. In the near anarchic conditions that existed before the Union, Morlo was a much feared lord in a predominantly warrior culture. He won battles, he defended their village and he made sure that his was a force to be feared and reckoned with. His uncle, Gamrik Greyhorn, had a penchant for harassing a nearby Durant settlement. For Morlo, this was no big deal. He didn't necessarily approve of Gamrik's actions but he felt that the matters were none of his concern. After little more than a year of this activity persisting, word came back to Morlo concerning the death of his uncle at the hands of a young Durant warrior known only as Mylo. Taking the death of his uncle as an act of war, Morlo prepared to mobilize his small army against the Durant village. However, in a move that Morlo didn't anticipate, this Mylo came to him. Accompanied only by Miles Scarsborough and Samuel Alighieri, Mylo revealed himself to be Luke Semprys, the last in a long line of historically powerful warriors. Still bitter about the death of his uncle, Morlo challenges Luke to a death match. Luke, of course accepts. After being knocked unconscious by a man nearly a tenth of his size, Morlo agrees to listen to him. After a series of diplomatic meetings, Morlo converts to the ideas that this Luke Semprys had. Luke also proposes to reestablish an old organization based in Runic ideology known as the Ditrinity. With Miles and Alighieri already having agreed to join, Morlo is more than happy to oblige. So Luke, under the leadership of Peter Scarsborough, leads the growing Ditrinity through the world war while Morlo proves himself to be an invaluable asset. With his help and the help of several others that would eventually join the Ditrinity, the Union is established and Morlo continues to serve in the Ditrinity as a bodyguard, most often for Luke's son, Lazarus.