About Ifris LanvaldanIfris Lanvaldin, Soulknife [Armored Blade, Shielded Blade, Gifted Blade] 1, Aegis 2
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Base Customizations (Psychic Skin)
Customizations:
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Feats
Traits
Trained Skills (4+Int Modifier+1/Level); Asterix denotes class skill
Languages Primordeal, Common
At the age of thirteen she was accepted into the Battalion School, the youngest cadet in her class and the only woman to join that year. Coming from a prestigious military family, Ifris had considerable hurdles based on the expectations she was held to given that pedigree, however as an educated cadet she had privileges afforded to her that were not afforded to the rank-and-file conscripts or recruits that came in from a lesser station in life. For the first two years of her training, Ifris struggled to present an innovative sense of self and appreciable combat skills. While she was a fair swordsman and very well learned, she lacked an area of focus that would help specialize her skills and bring her to the attention of the admiralty board beyond her family name. In spite of this, she was still offered special training opportunities and accommodations above other typical recruits due to the power of her family name. This preferential treatment, like was given to most cadets bound to become officers, was no small source of enmity to those who would become rank-and-file grunts. By her third year, it would seem that Ifris would be graduating with no accolades or special commendations, pulled up the military's ladder by her bootstraps. It was in this year that Ifris began branching out her studies away from the focuses her parents had been forcing her into. Researching combat styles from distant nations, researching the history of foreign wars, Ifris pushed herself to find the spark she had been missing. She would spend weeks attempting to self-initiate an arcane discovery, such as she had read about in Trascending the Aetherium, to tap into potentially latent sorcerous power. She had studied Vertani's Magi of the Windshear Coast in an effort to grasp wizardly magic, but found the eldritch calculations and theorums far beyond her comprehension. In a sparring match with a cadet versed in unarmed combat, Ifris had attempted to manipulate ki energy by focusing on her breathing and sense of personal energy flow in the way she had read those becoming neophyte monks do, though the bruises and cracked ribs she recieved instructed her that a monastic style could not be her calling. However, Ifris did claim to briefly create a flash of yellow light from her hands before she was knocked unconscious, though her instructors believed that to be a side-effect of her head trauma and no confirmation of this manifestation was made by her sparring partner. Before her graduation, Ifris and her class would be called away from the Battalion school to reinforce a naval blockade at one of the islands in the Yerasol Archipelego. Presumably safe aboard the flagship Argentum Ifris would be present for the brutal battle of Sirai Island, serving as a "front-line coordinator," a title that holds little actual merit and is considered to be a glorified map-holder or squire to actual seasoned tacticians. In truth, the admiralty board was trying to groom Ifris for a command position, based in no small part by pressure put on the board by her father. The other cadets from Battalion were relegated to the troop-transport ship Vitae, closer to the predicted field of engagement. The battlefield, Sirai Island, was a largely inconsequential hunk of rock that had the unfortunate distinction of being pinned between Risur and Danor's border territories. Sitting in contested waters, it had been held by the Risuri for three years until a sudden push by the Danor navy forced the Risuri hand to hold the island. A blockade was formed, and cadets from the Battalion School in Flint were called to serve on troop transport ships in the event that the flagships were boarded or a storming of the island occurred. Both were seen as unlikely outcomes. Both happened. In a brazen attack during stormy weather, Danor forces rammed the blockade sinking two Risuri ships. The Vitae was called in to fill the hole in the blockade, despite being a vessel orders of magnitude smaller. The Danor ship that broke the blockade proceeded to pull alongside a Risuri flagship and board, causing the captain of the Vitae to send a platoon of cadets, to repel the boarders and reinforce the flagship. At the helm of the Argentum, Ifris was flung into action defending the navigation and other essential ship crew from the boarders. It was here where Ifris fought in her first real combat at only the age of 16. Locked in a fierce life-or-death struggle, Ifris was shown first-hand the horrors of war in a personal and visceral manner. While she fought in relative safety alongside more seasoned marines at the aft-castle, she recognized two squads of young cadets pinned down in the midship, cut off from the others and from reinforcements. Eventually, the cadets were forced up to the forecastle of the flagship, cornered by advancing Danor marines. Unable to intervene without risking the men she had been stationed with, Ifris was forced to watch as the cadets were slaughtered to the last by the Danor forces while she hunkered down in the aft-castle. Eventually, the Danor forces stormed the aft-castle and Ifris caught in a desperate melee. She was quickly disarmed and savagely attacked by two Danor marines. Without weapon and with her back against the wall to defend the non-combatant crew, Ifris tried to calm her mind but found only panic and fear. She threw herself, bodily, at the Danor soldiers and when one ran her through she nearly collapsed to bleed out on the deck of the ship. Instead, she had discovered that she had also run the soldier through at the chest. In Ifris' hand was a gleaming amber-colored blade of coruscating light in semi-solid form. She withdraw the blade, leaving the marine's knife in her abdomen. The Danor were given momentary pause by this strange turn of events, but moved back in to finish her off. A sudden sense of ease filled Ifris' mind, as much as confusion and fear were being washed away, and she began to understand the nature of what supernatural event had occurred even if the exact specifics seemed hazy. By understanding the flow of her own personal energy as had been outlined in one of the ascetic combat books she had drilled through in school -- A Study of Ki and Mental Prowess -- Ifris realized she could manipulate this energy, she could turn willpower into a tangible force. When the Danor came in again, they were amazed to find Ifris able to conjure a shield of the same amber energy that deflected their attacks, a shield that she conjured instinctively. Now re-armed, the young soldier slaughtered the remaining Danor marines as the remaining crew of the flagship finished repelling the boarding. Shortly after the battle, Ifris collapsed of her wounds, though not before several members of the flagship crew saw what she had done in battle. Weeks later Ifris would be recovering from her encounter in a military hospital back on Flint. The medals of commendation she received for her efforts at the Battle of Sirai would be the foundation upon which a sense of superiority would be built. Ifris possessed a gift no other of her race did, she was the first recorded psion in human history. Superior officers commended Ifris on her determination, while military scholars wished to investigate the powers she manifested during the battle. Ego stroked and her own unique niche formed, Ifris found herself propelled up the ranks by her own merit, more so than just her famous name. At the recommendation of her parents, Ifris stayed on after graduation to perform supplementary studies of the unique powers she demonstrated during the battle with a team of military scholars and academics. With the aid of the Battalion School's resources, Ifris was able to discover the staggering versatility of her kinetic powers, and hone her art as the first human psion. Mastering her ability to shape both a sword and a shield out of psychoactive energy, Ifris pushed her studies further into adaptability and versatility, learning how to maintain focus and concentration to will that energy into hovering plates of armor-like light around her body. In her third year of post-graduate study, Ifris wrote the war journal, Transcending the Limitations of Humanity, a treatise on innovation in combat for the sake of humanity and detailing her psionic discoveries. Following the publishing of her journal, Ifris was offered a position in military intelligence and the rank of Second-Lieutenant. As a commissioned officer She served two tours of duty in advisory positions, traveling to remote battlefields to instruct soldiers and give lectures, receiving honorary medals of commendation while front-line soldiers received series of distinguishing scars. Now 23, Ifris returned to Flint at the war's conclusion a "veteran" by military records, but having never truly been put directly in the line of fire thanks to Risur's sense of entitlement to her psionic secrets and not wanting to endanger their new specimen. With the war over, Ifris continues to instruct cadets at the Battalion School with a focus on seeking out bright young psionic talents as they manifest. So far, Ifris is alone. |
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