Caspian, Detrier, Sephora [FINISHED]

“Fate has a way to forces the most unlikely destiny upon the most unlikely of souls. From the humblest of beginnings the greatest heroes of heart are born. Take courage and find yourself find the hero of heart within you. Choose your allies carefully and your friends even more so. For in the darkest of times a true friend will never abandon you in your hour of need. And you as well must return that. Should you be lucky enough to find one who speaks to your very soul, then protect them with your life. For you must learn to be as one. Should your soul mate die, half of you shall die as well.”

-- Alton, storyteller of Cantos, quoting from the story of the Legend of Felwyn

Caspian Tarlach

Other name: n/a
Race: Human
Side: Varden
Magic User: Yes
Gender: Male
Preferred Weapon(s): Yew bow

Birthplace: Cantos
Age: 15
Birthday: May 23
Eyes: Hazel
Hair: Brown
Weight: 146
Height: 5’7”


Appearance: Caspian appears to be no more special than a common villager. His brown hair is long and often in disarray. His expression is usually of naïve innocence, of one who is still trying to figure out who he is, and who he wants to become.

His very appearance hints of his history. He is well muscled from working in the fields of his father’s farm and from handing the few oxen and horses they had. His hands are rough from the labor but his skin is surprisingly unblemished other wise.

He looks much like his mother and has her eyes and kind heart. But his upbringing was a hard one and he has a subtle hard edge. He often wears very simple clothing and has his yew bow and quiver of arrows slung across his back. Destrier, his horse, is his near constant companion and with him around Caspian seems more at ease.

On occasion, he also has a sheath on his belt containing a simple steel sword. It was given to him by the Varden. He was expected to learn the art of swordplay. His natural strength from his hard life was useful but he finds he is rather clumsy and unskilled at swordplay. He prefers to use his bow when fighting an opponent and merely staying out of range of the enemy’s blade.

He does not have any formal clothes as he grew up with little more than the clothes on his back. On the rare chance he attends a formal occasion he cannot dress up for it unless formal clothes are provided for him.

When a war or battle is imminent, he wears the suit of chain mail armor the Varden gave him as well as a reinforced wooden buckler shield and his sword and bow. As often as possible, he brings Destrier into battle with him. Without the horse he often lacks the look of a confident person, but when astride his horse he is confident and fearless.


Personality:
Caspian is a rather down to earth person. His up bringing leaves left little room for fun and games. He enjoys hunting and spending time with Destrier. He isn't very adventerous and seldom left his village. He knows little about the other races and finds it rather awkward to work with them.

He has become rather introverted over his time with the Varden. But when he opens up he can be quite emotional about his past or passionate about something he enjoys. He finds being introverted helps in the military lifestyle of the Varden and simply answers yes sir or no sir when given orders.

He is young and a bit naive. He doesn't know how to read and only has experience in farming and hunting. this makes it hard for him to feel comfortable in any formal setting or making any close friends. He is rather creative though and improvises when needed.

He his loyal to the Varden for their aid but he is more loyal to his horse, Destrier. He finds the Varden's life style not quite to his liking. He likes open fields and hard rewarding work.

He despises the Empire and constantly worries about what happened to his family. He doesn't know if they are even alive. He is also fearful of dragons and their riders. They wield great power but they only remind him of the destruction of his home. Even within the Varden he avoids their riders as much as possible.


---Likes: Open fields, Destrier
---Dislikes: Empire, military lifestyle, dragons and their riders
---Strengths: Archery, determination
---Weakness: illiteracy, lack of experience


Family:
Agnar –father (status unknown)
Neva -- mother (deceased)
Jodale – brother (status unknown)
Aiaruen – sister (status unknown)


Not-So-Brief History:
Caspian grew up on his father’s farm in Cantos. It was a relatively peaceful place with mild summers and winters. The surrounding land was somewhat plain-like and had a lack of tall trees; most likely due to the extensive farming surrounding the main village of Cantos. The village was not a glamorous town build of stone or careful craftsmanship, but the village was small and most buildings were made of rough wood. The main street was little more than a two lane packed down dirt road, and only one or two shops could maintain business there. Most of the town’s exports were produce, and imports were only basic items the few villagers and farmers required.

It was into this that Caspian was born. His father Agnar, was one of the farmers who lived just outside of town. He was married to Neva, a rather sweet woman with a kind heart, who was the daughter of one of the few merchants. Unfortunately her family fell on hard times, lost their business and left Cantos shortly after she married Agnar. Caspian was preceded by Jodale and Aiaruen making him the youngest in the family.

Caspian’s family was not rich and often barely got by. Caspian and his older brother Jodale, often helped in the fields with their father. Their life was peaceful but not without problems. For one they were often taxed beyond their means, this among other things led them to dislike the Empire, as did most of the village.

Nothing became of their dislike for the Empire for a number of years. It was in these years a storyteller named Alton came to the village. He told stories of the past, of great heroes and victories, but strangely, he never mentioned the riders even once. Caspian was enthralled by the tales, and could recite them all by heart. He longed to be one of the heroes, as most young boys did.

Caspian learned from his father how to farm and hunt. He became a rather good shot with his bow and would sell the furs he got to the merchants. The stories Alton told still resounded in his memories and he wished for a true friend like the heroes in the stories had. He was not very close to any of the young children in the village though. In fact Caspian was somewhat of a trouble maker. He learned the hard life of the streets and stole plenty of loaves of bread from a windowsill or two. The other children's parents didn’t want him to be a bad influence on them and forbid them to play with him.

It wasn’t long after that before his father was drafted into the Empire army. And a year later his oldest brother was drafted as well. He never saw either of them after the day they left, and he doesn’t know if they still live.

The village was tired of the Empire drafting them and planned a revolt. Word leaked back to the king of this and the village was attacked. If that was not bad enough, Caspian, his mother and his sister were forced to flee. They traveled a long ways and only returned a year later. By then the town was considerably smaller with most of the men gone.

By now Caspian had saved the money he got from his furs and bought a young colt, of a prized bloodline, from a merchant. The price was not cheep and cost Caspian all he had saved as well as a loan to pay back. He raised the black colt and named him Destrier. The young colt was his only friend.

And for a time all was quiet in Cantos again, but not for Caspian. He had fallen in love with a neighbor’s daughter. He would spend as much time with her as he could, for she was quite beautiful and her family better off than his own. But Caspian was not the only one, another boy in the village wanted her as well. It wasn’t uncommon that he and Caspian got into a fight over her, often with Caspian loosing. However, by loosing he found the girl had pity on him and seemed to love him more than his competitor.

However, it was then that his mother fell deathly ill. They could not afford to pay for the medicine she needed. Caspian, desperate to help her, broke into a merchant’s store and stole the medicine. Some how the merchant knew he was going to do so and as he was fleeing he was caught. Caught in the act there was no doubt of his crime. He was publicly humiliated and flogged. The merchant insisted on taking Destrier as payment for the crime. Caspian was heart broken when Destrier was taken from him. His horse was his best friend and he did not go willingly with the merchant. What hurt almost as bad was the disappointed look of the girl he loved. His mother died a few days later, leaving him and his sister.

Unbeknown to Caspian, Cantos again started to plot rebellion against the Empire. They harbored refugees from other towns and had outside help. However, they were found out and Murtagh and Thorn were sent with a troop to quell the rebellion, and they laid waste to much of the town.

Caspian was terrified by the sight of a rider and his dragon, for he knew nothing of them. His sister strove to fight the soldiers who were trying to break into their home. He shot arrows at them from an open window on the second floor, while his sister blocked the door. She called for him as one soldier managed to get in. Caspian came running just in time to see more soldiers coming in. They fled out the back door and into the fields. Aiaruen, his sister, was armed with only a dull kitchen knife and Caspian had his hunting bow but had run out of arrows by now.

Thorn’s flames had burned down the merchants shop and the stables. Destrier, who had been in the stables, survived. Frightened the black horse ran to the farm he had grown up on. Caspian was more than shocked to see his best friend running across the field towards them. He embraced Destrier, he never thought to see him again. Aiaruen urged him to take Destrier and flee Cantos and told him to never return. Caspian protested, he wouldn’t leave his only remaining family member. But Aiaruen refused to flee with him, instead saying she’d buy him time to escape. Before Caspian could say more she hit Destrier on his flank with the flat of her knife. Destrier already some what spooked and bolted taking Caspian with him.

It wasn’t until they reached a hill that Caspian stopped Destrier. He paused to look back. Their home was now in flames and the soldiers were rushing at Aiaruen. Tears were in his eyes as he watched Aiaruen face the soldiers. She stabbed one with a knife before being hit herself with a sword. The soldiers soon subdued her. She glanced up and saw him in the distance. Caspian could not make out her expression, but suddenly he heard her voice in his head. It was a strange sensation. CASPIAN RUN! she yelled at him. Aiaruen had never touched his mind before, in fact he was surprised she even could as far as he knew such abilities were only in great stories, he didn’t have time to ponder it much though as he turned Destrier and fled Cantos.

Caspian mourned for the loss of his home and of his sister. He didn’t know if she were still alive, nor did he know if his brother or father were alive. And on top of that he didn’t know where he was to go. It was unfortunate then that Destrier and Caspian fled into the Hadorac Desert. Without any rations or water they suffered. A rather strange group of travelers found them and gave them water. Caspian traveled with them until they were out of the desert. He had told them of his plight and they in turn told him of the Varden.

Once out of the Hadorac desert he followed their directions and found the Varden. The Varden took him in and allowed him to join the fight against the Empire after his mind was searched. Having his innermost thoughts exposed wasn’t something he liked at all, for until that point he had forgotten about Cantos and his sister’s sacrifice. The mental contact reminded him of his sister touching his mind, back in Cantos, but she had been much more gentle than the Varden mages.

Once cleared he was given a steel sword and sleeping quarters. He was expected to train and learn how to use a sword. His strength he had from years of farming helped but swordsmanship was not easy.
He was unable to spend much time with Destrier as he was kept busy with training and chores. Not many days later he decided to ask about touching another’s mind. He wanted answers and more importantly to understand how his sister had done it. What he learned only confused him and he found he did not have the ability to do such a thing himself.

One morning at dawn and he became was somewhat lost in the maze of the main palace in Belatona, where the Varden were currently staying. He wandered into a sparse chamber with a low table with what he thought were gems on it. Taking a closer look he picked up the gems to examine them. As he turned to leave a loud crack sounded through the room. Before he knew it a gold dragon sat on the table and he was reaching for it only to feel a cold burning sensation. His had appeared to be scarred from it.

Fearing to get caught or blamed for the incident Caspian fled the room leaving the dragon there. He knew nothing of riders or dragons, and he knew even less of how much his life had just been changed by the gold dragon.

i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb413/fire115/destrier.png

Other name: n/a
Race: Horse
Side: Neutral
Age: 2 years
Gender: Male
Birthplace: Cantos


Appearance:
Destrier appears to be just an average black horse. But he is more than that to Caspian. Destrier is always well groomed and taken care of. His dark eyes seem to show a friendship with his rider and complete trust in him.

He is a well breed horse with a long bloodline linage. He is strong and does not tire easily. He can travel many miles in a day if Caspian asks it of him.

Upon closer inspection he is slightly bigger than an average horse, it is not that he is over fed but that he was breed to be able to work in fields for extended periods of time.


Personality:
Destrier is loyal and a rather calm animal. He doesn't really like it when others besides Caspian ride him. Caspian was the one who raised him and he seems to show a certain loyalty to only allow one rider.

One of few things that he is terrified of are dragons. They are large and frightening to him. His natural instinct is to bolt when he is near a dragon and just get as far away as possible. Surprisingly he stays fairly calm in battle, at least until a dragon shows up.


---Likes: fresh hay, Caspian
---Dislikes: dragons, fire
---Strengths: endurance, loyalty
---Weakness: fear of dragons


Family:
Rathyen – paternal great-grandfather
Merla -- paternal great-grandmother (deceased)
Raydel -- maternal great-grandfather (deceased)
Lunete -- maternal great-grandmother (deceased)
Emrys -- paternal grandfather
Jader -- maternal grandfather
Evaine -- paternal grandmother
Nadya-- maternal grandmother (deceased)
Sadoc -- father
Llyla -- mother (deceased)

Not-So-Brief History:
Destrier has quite a bloodline linage. Most of his relatives are used for work horses on farms and a few have found their way into the service of Galbatorix's army.

He was born in a small village a little ways from Cantos. A merchant bought him and then traveled to Cantos where Caspian bought him. He grew very loyal to Caspian and was required to help pull plows and such on the farm.

He like any other animal has a simple mind and did not comprehend any of the circumstances that got him taken away from Caspian when he had stolen from a merchant. All he knew was he was being taken from his friend. He fought against it but eventually had to leave.

The merchant used him to pull wagons of supplies from town to town but he usually ended up back in Cantos in the end. It wasn't until Thorn had burned down the stables that Destrier got his fear of dragons and fire. He was spooked and barely managed to escape the burning structure. He fled to what he thought of his home where he had grown up. Then he fled with Caspian.

The time in the Hadorac desert was harsh on him and his black color didn't help matters. He was grateful when the travelers gave him water and food. From there he traveled to the Varden. Most of the time he resides in the corral with the other Varden horses.

Other name: Kuldr skul
Race: Dragon
Side: Varden
Age: 1 day
Gender: Female
Birthplace: Belatona


Appearance:
Sephora's scales look like liquid gold. She is young and about the size of a cat or maybe a small dog. Her wings are small and can't support her in flight yet, nor does she have the strength yet. She takes pleasure in using them to glide short distances, such as from a table top to the floor.

Her scales are very vivid and she takes pride in them. She is rather self centered and tries to act very important. Her spikes are hardly noticeable as they are small and still growing, but they are gold like her scales.

Her eyes are a gold/orange color that might remind you of a sunrise. Her eyes show a curiosity in everything that exists down to the smallest details.


Where she hatched: Belatona


Personality:
Sephora is proud and rather arrogant. There is nothing she likes to hear more than how beautiful her scales are. One comment of that and you will have her respect and maybe even friendship.

She is very curious and is always exploring and getting into mischief. She gets frustrated by things she doesn't understand and can become destructive when she is bored or frustrated.

She doesn't take to criticism well and reacts violently to it. She may not be able to breath fire yet, but those who insult her or criticize her know she can have quite an attitude and be a pain.


---Likes: learning, herself, compliments
---Dislikes: insults, criticism, boredom
---Strengths: will, curiosity
---Weakness: arrogance, pride


Family:
Amlaith -- green dragon -- wild -- maternal grandmother (deceased)
Tangye -- gold dragon -- wild -- maternal grandfather (deceased)
Miremel -- brown dragon -- wild -- paternal grandmother (deceased)
Eridor -- purple dragon -- wild --paternal grandfather(deceased)
Carimeiv -- father (semi-deceased, Eldunari) -- Rider Llucion (deceased)
Emrya -- mother (deceased) -- Rider Svava (deceased)
Name Unknown -- forsworn dragon -- cousin (deceased) -- Rider unknown (deceased)

Not-So-Brief History:
Sephora was born not born until the riders were in decline. She was only born so that the riders and dragons might survive. Yet her bloodline had an outstanding reputation for the most part but not all her relatives were loyal to the riders. One of her cousins and his rider joined the foresworn during the decline of the riders. His name is unknown and nearly forgotten by all. Her egg was placed in the vault of souls and stayed there for many decades.

She knows little to nothing of her family. Her father's Eldunari was the only one in her family's line to survive and due to the spells even he doesn't know she exists or that she is his daughter.

When Eragon and Saphira found the vault she was taken back to the Varden. Most of the time she was kept under heavy guard but as fate would have it a lapse in the guards allowed Caspian to find the chamber. She saw his heart and hatched for him but he knew nothing of dragons. After he had touched her and gotten the gedwëy ignasia on his palm he had fled the room, leaving her behind.

Without instruction or help Sephora didn't think much of it and slipped out of the chamber to wander the Varden camp. She doesn't know much about riders and doesn't appear to know that she is bound to Caspian.

However, she did take interest in Caspian, as if some instinct told her she needed to. She often follows Caspian around until he shoos her away.

~~~~
Caspian had been ordered to deliver a letter to one of the Varden captains. He of course couldn't read so he had no idea what the letter said. It was a cold morning at dawn and he became somewhat lost in the maze of the main palace in Belatona, where the Varden were currently staying, after delivering the letter.

He opened a random thick wooden door hoping to find something or someone who could tell him where the main doors were. He peered inside the room. The chamber was sparsely decorated, if you could consider a few cobwebs decoration and the sole piece of furniture was a low wooden table. And a single lit torch hun on a bracket in the wall.

But what caught his eye was the gorgeous gems on the table, at least that’s what Caspian thought they were. He slipped inside to take a closer look. He carefully picked up the closest gem, it was purple and very smooth. It wasn’t like any gem he’d seen before, not that he’d seen any in his life before, but such a smooth large round gem seemed unlikely. He nearly dropped it as he heard voices outside. The guards in this corridor were coming this way.

He froze but the guards did not notice the slightly open door and did not come inside. Curiosity got to him as he replaced the purple gem. He continued down the table inspecting the other gems, each one seemed to be a different color and some were a little smaller or bigger than the first one he had held. A lovely gold gem was in the middle of the row of gems. He picked it up, it certainly was the smallest of the gems but something about it enthralled him.

He set it down on the table and decided it was time to get out before he was caught. It wasn't that he was trying to steal from them, no he wouldn't do that, he had learned his lesson not to steal when he lived in Cantos. The whip scars on his back would remind him of that incident forever.

As he headed to the door he heard a loud crack. The guards apparently didn’t notice or were not near the door, for they did not respond. Caspian turned around to see the gold gem had cracked. He hurried back to it and tried to put the broken piece back into place. Had he cracked it when he set it down? Surely someone would notice he had ruined the gem.

Another loud crack and then another and two more pieces fell off the gem. Caspian panicked and tried to put the other broken pieces back into place. This was not good. He couldn’t hold the gem together and soon the whole gem just shattered. But what shocked him was what was in it’s place, a small gold dragon about the size of a cat. Both he and the dragon blinked in surprise as though the other was not what they expected to see.

Dragons were not at the top of his list for thinks he liked. They reminded him of his village's destruction. But seemingly without thinking, he had reached out to touch the gold dragon. But as soon as he did so he yelled as a strange cold burning sensation struck his palm. He pulled back his hand immediately. He looked at his palm, it appeared to have become burned or scarred from touching the dragon. He made a mental note to never touch a dragon again. Then Caspian fled the room, leaving the baby gold dragon sitting on the table staring after him. He knew nothing of riders or dragons, and he knew even less of how much his life had just been changed by the gold dragon.