Changes: Captain:Mequelet the Blooded

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Měquelet Caaras, usually referred to by her infamous moniker, the Blooded, is probably the most obscure member of the legendary Dawn Wardens of yore. The name of that elven swordmaiden has been stricken from all chronicles and historical records that describe her famous compatriots' glorious deeds, surviving only in tales and legends told from father to son and from adventurer to adventurer - and always in whisper. It wasn't her enemies that condemned her to oblivion, though, but Mequelet herself - for the sake of preserving the honour of her family, her descendants and her people. For so deadly was the Blooded One in battle and so cruel and merciless to her enemies that even now, her nameless ghost still instills fear both into the black hearts of the Adversary's minions and into the hearts of innocent Koldenweltians.

Forever condemned by the vile magic of her cursed sword, Fellcraver, to kill and slaughter mindlessly to sate its unquenchable lust for blood, Mequelet was a living incarnation of death, hatred and torment. The damned blade's wicked cravings had lead her own home city of Iria to ruin and destruction, and since that day the elven swordmaiden swore that she would master the powers that claimed her soul and turn it against the darkness that permeated the world. Mequelet's brutality, mercilessness and power have made undoubtedly her one of the greatest - and the most terrifying - heroes Koldenwelt has ever seen.

Biography

Youth

Although Mequelet known today as the living avatar of cruelty and brutality, it is said that it had not always been so. The one who would be later be known as the Blooded One was born to nobility, in the original seat of power of the Vila: the First Iria, the dark and majestic city built in the clouds above the Mana Glades, the Twilight Elves' ancestral domain. As the firstborn daughter of House Caaras, which at the time was among the most powerful and influential aristocratic families of the Ravencourt, the young Mequelet was raised in wealth among Iria's crème de la crème, acquiring with her upbringing both the smug sense of superiority so common to the nobles of all races and lands and the fervent, unflinching belief that the phrases "I want" and "I have" were synonymous. When she was 30 - an age considered by elvenkind to be the time of transition between childhood and adulthood - Mequelet recieved, as per Vila noble tradition, her wings, and entered the ranks of the Twilight Elves' most sacred warriors, the august Wardmaidens. Used to special treatment, the young Caaras considered her new duty to be not a sacred responsibility, as was expected of new recruits, but merely yet another privilege; neverthless, gifted from childhood with agility and strength, she showed remarkable success in her training, besting her sisters-in-arms during the trials and eventually earning the respect of the Highmistress.

It was thus predictable that Mequelet, with her family's position and her mastery with the blade, swiftly ascended the ranks of the Wardmaidens once her trials were complete and her ceremonial golden armour given to her: within but a few decades - a short time for the long-lived Vila - she was already one of the order's captains, answering only to the Highmistress and the Grand Duke himself. Since then, Mequelet had quickly carved a reputation for herself, waging war with the enemies of the Twilight Elves and the young Dryadali Sovereign, her courtly arrogance and haughty confidence serving her quite well on the field of battle. Courageous, visionary, and ruthless, Caaras was unmatched both in martial prowess and tactical thinking: fending off the outbreaks of the feral Crux-slaves, hunting down the savage Fire Drakes plaguing the lands of mortal races, and even, sometimes, launching deadly raids upon the demon legions of Caligaduro Provectus. Few, even among the immortals, escaped the Wardmaiden's wrath; that gave her all the more proof that she, lady Mequelet of Great House Caaras, was indeed the greatest commander Koldenwelt had ever seen.

Fellcraver

Then, the legends say, there appeared a foe who challenged the Wardmaiden: a former human slave, of ignoble breeding and an inferior race, yet gifted with genius and battle prowess that matched Mequelet's own - Ahmalhrich Stormsword, one whose name is now spoken in reverence across the domains of mankind. Leading an army of rebels and renegades against the Duchy of the Vila, the "impudent drapetomaniac insurrectionary", as Ahmalrich had become known among the elves, soon became a gaping wound on Mequelet's pride, besting and outsmarting her Wardmaidens on multiple occasions. Enraged by her continuous defeats, she grew more and more reckless and desperate as the rebels progressed deeper and deeper into the Mana Glades until they were finally nearing the First Iria itself. When Mequelet, probably for the first time since the beginning of the rebellion, actually thought she defeated Ahmalhrich's warriors - only to realise that the Stormfather was in fact merely distracting her to lead the vanguard of his forces directly to Iria - the proud Vila warrior finally realised that this war could not be won by ordinary measures. Thus Mequelet returned to her home city and then left in a shimmering portal, commanding her Wardmaidens to defend the magnificent sky citadel and await her return, to one of Koldenwelt's most magical lands, the Ar-Klith Mountains, the home of the powerful and terrible Cobalt Kingdom.

Having arrived to the homeland of the kobolds, the greatest smiths and crafters of ancient Koldenwelt, Mequelet approached their High King, her sword plunged into the ground of his rock-hewn palace, with a plea: she asked the Cobalt Kingdom's smiths to craft a blade powerful enough to turn the tides of the Vila war against humans, before they would breach the magical defenses of the elf sky citadel - that is, in but a few days. Needless to say, all of the kobold craftsmen were outraged upon recieving such a request, telling Mequelet that to craft such powerful a weapon in such a short time would be impossible. But the Wardmaiden was unflinching, used to getting what she wanted, and reiterated on her request, staying in Agartheim until at last one of the craftsmen, Nithgaest the Vile, relented and agreed to forge the blade Mequelet desired for the time she desired. For two days and two nights the mad Ordnung laboured in his forge deep underneath the volcanic mountains without pause or rest, with Mequelet standing a sleepless vigil alongside him, and on the third day the damned sword was finally completed: Fellcraver, a seven-pronged blade of elemental steel in whose dark metal was bound the dormant facet of Kalisearan herself. Nithgaest warned Mequelet about the power he had harnessed, telling her to show restraint when using such a blade for the energies contained within it could claim her very soul - but the Wardmaiden did not care anymore. Armed with her new weapon, Mequelet left and opened a portal to her home, returning to Iria to break the siege from her home city and restore her besmirched honour. For a second, perhaps two, everything was going as planned; Fellcraver was indeed powerful beyond imagining, cutting down the armour of the rebels like if it was made of paper.

Then, the blade tasted blood, and the wicked Simulacrum magic trapped within it was let free. Eldritch, insatiable lust for slaughter claimed Mequelet's body and soul, feeding on her pride and anger – driving her to brutally kill every single living thing she saw, be it elf or man, friend or foe. As the long night was over and the sword's dark cravings sated at last, the blood haze over the Wardmaiden's mind was finally lifted – revealing to her the once-great silver city of the Vila, now crimson from the blood of human rebels, her own Wardmaiden comrades, and the city's slaughtered denizens, all slain by her hand. It was then when Mequelet at last realised the meaning of the warnings the Ordnung smiths gave her: the price for her victory was nothing less than her very soul, and from then on, she was bound to slake Fellcraver's thirst for blood forever.

Dawn Warden

Mequelet Ahmalrich Sparring — Mequelet and Ahmalhrich sparring.

With nowhere to go and unwilling to risk killing even more innocents, the once-proud champion of the Sovereign flew away from the bloodied ruins of the First Iria to the East where she abandoned her old life and became a wandering mercenary, adopting a new moniker for herself: the Blooded One - all while trying to find a way to lift her curse and redeem herself. Wherever Mequelet came, she left behind a bloodied trail of corpses, and though most of them belonged to wicked creatures, criminals and demons, sometimes even her iron will could not save innocents from falling victim to Fellcraver's hunger. Eventually, the Blooded One's grim reputation reached the ears of the old enemy from her past life, Ahmalrich Stormsword, and his new friends, whose leader found her power a valuable asset against Caligaduro Provectus.

Reluctantly, considering Mequelet's dark past, the legendary Dawn Wardens approached the former Wardmaiden with an invitation to their order; the elven warrior accepted it without any second thoughts, eager to clear her sins and find meaning for her broken life. Although her compatriots were at first wary of an ally that wielded such dark power, soon the Dawn Wardens came to realise Mequelet's good intentions, and eventually accepted her fully, and likewise Mequelet accepted them. Even Ahmalrich, who at first was the most suspicious of the one who once sought to destroy and subjugate his kind, befriended the Blooded One over time; the legends say the two often sparred with each other often in spare time, reproducing the battles they once fought in Mequelet's past life. For the following decades, the Blooded One had earned a new name for herself: the Demonslayer, bane of all that served Caligaduro and protector of the innocent and the defenseless.

Mequelet finally met her demise during one of Caligaduro's attacks on the Dawn Wardens' fortress, killing a massive Chimera while giving her other compatriots time to escape. Some legends say that while battling the giant beast, its cursed blood, given power by the Simulacrum of Destruction himself, mingled with the power of Kalisearan within Fellcraver, thus negating its curse and, ironically, purifying the damned blade. Mequelet's last will to her compatriots was that her name be removed from all historical records regarding the Dawn Wardens; thus, as times passed the legendary warrior was eventually forgotten, and today only the most ancient of the Adversary's minions and the few old noble families of the Sovereign and the Empire still remember the one who once struck fear into the hearts of all Koldenweltians. However, the myths of the nameless Blooded One still persist among the people of the Eastern Plains...

Characteristics

Appearance

Mequelet's appearance was rather typical of the Vila Elves; much like other members of her race, she possessed dark, glistening bluish skin, raven-black hair and (as she was a noble) a set of black raven wings that, however, were wounded severely following her fall from grace, leaving her unable to fly properly. Mequelet was also noticeably tall, towering across most Vila courtiers as well as most Deiwos members of the Dawn Wardens save for Ahmalhrich Stormsword. Although not particularily beautiful, having stopped caring much about her appearance after Fellcraver claimed her soul, it is still said that she possessed a charm of her own, with symmetric and sharp facial features and bright golden eyes - indicating of her family lineage - though due to her rather muscular frame and elven androgyny many of those who didn't know her mistook her for a male. Originally, Mequelet wore a set of light golden armour used by all Vila Wardmaidens, elegant and meant to use in flight; however, following her fall she replaced it instead with Ordnung-crafted plate made of elemental iron, more sturdy but at the same time much more heavy. True to her moniker, Mequelet is often depicted covered in blood of her enemies.

Abilities

Along with Ahmalhrich Stormsword, Mequelet was among the most skilled swordsmen among the Dawn Wardens, even without the advantage of her magical blade. Although lacking the sheer physical strength of her human counterpart, she was much more agile, even in her heavy armour, and due to her experiences with more lightweight weapons was a highly skilled fencer, able to parry the strikes of most conventional weapons and in some cases, even Chimera claws. However, due to her reckless and arrogant character, Mequelet often tended to overestimate herself and enter fights where she was woefully outmatched, a weakness utilised by Ahmalrich during her time as a Wardmaiden. After her fall, however, Mequelet learned humility and had largely overcome this flaw, though she still tended to attack first whenever the opportunity arrived. In addition to this, Mequelet was also a quite skilled military commander and tactician, having studied from the greatest Vila strategists, and often led small squads of Dawn Wardens during their war against the Adversary.

The Fellcraver

Mequelet's most famous weapon was of course the Fellcraver, a cursed sword of Ordnung origins that single-handedly changed the Wardmaiden's entire life. From the first glance, this dark and strange weapon could appear to be rather impractical; made of black, obsidian-like material rather than metal, etched with Eorthisc runes and with six large upward-angled prongs branching from the blade, it seemed to be ceremonial, not a weapon of war. Yet the looks of the sword couldn't have been more decieving: it was indeed a savage, cruel instrument of murder that had but one purpose: to kill. Each branch of the sword was alive and sharpened like a razor, each strike an agonising torment. Bladss of finest, strongest steel broke like reeds when facing it, and the finest orichalcum armour shattered like glass once touched by it. However, such awesome power was not without price: bound within Fellcraver was a hungering demon, a spirit of Kalisearan herself, that fed on the negative emotions of the wielder and further empowered them, thus creating a loop that led its user to a cruel, unstoppable rage that could only be satisfied by spilling the blood of mortals.

Following the death of Mequelet, it is believed that the weapon was purified and the demon that lived inside pacified or banished; thus the blade changed its colour from black to silvery white. Afterwards, Fellcraver, renamed Puretide, was reclaimed by Mequelet's descendants of House Arzanar, who then continued to wield it for the Dryadali Sovereign in the following generations until the Arzanars' eventual demise at the hands of House Marzanna. The blade's dark origins were eventually forgotten and over time, it became one of the main symbols of the Vila Elves and indeed, the Sovereign as a whole; to this day, Fellcraver's seven-branched visage is often seen on elven banners, flags and shields. The weapon is currently kept within Grand Duchess Lucretia Marzanna's personal reliquary.

Personality

Before her fall, it is said that Mequelet was a spoiled, arrogant woman of a rather chauvinistic attitude, with an unflinching belief in the absolute superiority and infallibility of both her people and, by extension, herself, and little respect for her enemies. Reckless, overconfident, she was a bold warrior, and never shied away from combat, even if the odds were not in her favour; preserving her honour and asserting her superiority was far more important than her life.

Relations

Friends

“We are one.”

Indifferent

“Stay away from me. For your own sake. Please...”

Unfriendly

“I do not want to hurt you...”

Enemies

“Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.”

Trivia

Trivia

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 ===Personality===
+Before her fall, it is said that Mequelet was a spoiled, arrogant woman of a rather chauvinistic attitude, with an unflinching belief in the absolute superiority and infallibility of both her people and, by extension, herself, and little respect for her enemies. Reckless, overconfident, she was a bold warrior, and never shied away from combat, even if the odds were not in her favour; preserving her honour and asserting her superiority was far more important than her life.
 ==Relations==