About Talmanes al'VenceTalmanes al'Vence
__________________________________________________________________________ Background- Talmanes is a young Taldan; tall and extremely wiry, with only a modest amount of muscle on him. He has dull green eyes and dark brown hair, kept short. He moves with grace and confidence, light on his feet and with the "look of eagles" about him. Originally hailing from the Taldan capital Oppara, he has travelled across Avistan with caravans and mercenary bands to reach Brevoy in the hopes of becoming an Aldori Swordlord. Finding that he lacked the local family background, prestige and coin to be formally trained in the Aldori schools, he pridefully scorned the prospect of saving up time and money for this route; instead rashly deciding to volunteer for an expedition south to tame the "Stolen Lands" and test the skills taught to him by his monastic mentor and his grandfather. Talmanes' grandfather was a Brevic immigrant who eventually rose to the position of minor noble in Taldor; mostly based on his formidable prowess with an Aldori Dueling Blade and unforgiving, ruthless nature. While Talmane's father did not inherit his grandfather's warrior spirit or wanderlust and became a merchant, Talmanes himself was shaped by the experience of listening to his wonderful grandfather's tales of Aldori blade prowess. His father was a distant figure, always busy trying to further the al'Vence house of trade. His grandfather, still a respected if declining warrior himself even past middle age, would take the young lad to see performance fights and duels; showing him martial techniques and feats of agility that astounded the boy. Yet, his grandfather always hinted that Brevoy was home to greater feats of prowess still. He decided to become a warrior at a young age and begged his father and grandfather to allow him to train. His father did so with great reluctance, only after Talmane's younger brother had shown to possess a keen aptitude and interest for trade. However, the family could not afford a retained duelist to train him, like many other nobles had. Instead, they employed a wandering Half-Elven Monk as his instructor, who required little more than a hearth and three square meals as his payment. Talmane's agility, dancing and dexterity were developed; the Monk quickly realizing that the boy's almost unnatural speed and reflexes would develop better than his small muscles. Talmanes did learn to wield the Aldori sword his grandfather bequeathed to him; a master crafted sword known as Severance with a minor history all of its own. But he also learnt to fight unarmed and unarmoured, to dispatch a foe with only the limbs of his body. He was put through grueling physical exercises and swiftly learnt that it was better to avoid a blow entirely than be struck while equipped with only the light training armour he wore. His monastic master was cruel; but Talmanes eventually came to value the harsh lessons. It was stressed in his training that the only tangible thing in life worth seeking was power; and that no one had any right to it. If someone did not have the strength to gain and hold it, they deserved to have it taken from them. In this way, the sentient beings of Golarion improved their very species- by purging the weak and encouraging the strong to continually improve and to thrive. A somewhat neglected child, Talmanes latched onto these ideals and was slowly subverted to become a worshipper of Asmodeus. Talmanes is not naive, and realizes his philosophy must be kept well-hidden in most societies. Publicly, he ascribes to a "golden age" of men and heroes. This is a fabrication and the only aspect of this false personality that matches his real beliefs is that he sometimes expects more from others than is fair to. He believes in a strict, some would say tyrannical, meritocracy, serving and governing the people who were not worthy to rule themselves. For such a young man, he is perhaps a little trapped by these beliefs; a result of tales taught to him by his charismatic grandfather while he was only a boy upon his knee and the teachings of an evil monk with a hidden agenda. When he speaks, he usually does so after great consideration, weighing his words up carefully. He is also fiercely proud of his heritage, and the fact that he is a Taldan only compounds this vice. This pride is not as cunningly hidden as he likes to believe, and others often sense the contempt or judgement he has for them. Talmanes is tall and lean, with extraordinarily honed reflexes and dexterity. He fights in little to no armor, preferring to trust in his agility and swordsmanship to keep him safe. Talmanes is perhaps the most dangerous brand of evil, because he genuinely believes that his philosophy is a force of good. This is compounded by the fact that he does have a code of honor, which he believes separates him from "mere brutes". It is true that his actions do have a hint of utilitarianism about them, but the cruel hierarchy and ambitious attitude he wants to instill into a founded nation leaves little room for mercy, compassion and redemption- instead resembling a particularly malevolent hierarchical model of justice, where the weak are considered exploitable by the strong due to their very nature. He would want to build a strong nation where people are promoted and raised above the toiling masses based on merit, deeds and ambition. |
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