Kailus Elboran

Gender: Male

Age: 26

Group: Caravan Guards

Game: An Appointment in Zamora

Nationality

Noble

Job/Skill

Ranger

Herbalist: Knowledge of herbs and poisons.
Ranger: (Bow / Tracking / Trapping)
Noble: (Trained in etiquette and knows something of the senior ranking
Duellist: Some skills in the use of a sabre, epee and rapier, a nobleman’s weapon used in duels.

Physical Appearance

Kailus is about 6’ tall with blue eyes, high cheek bones and an angled jaw, typical noble features with a noticeable hint of ducal blood. His hair, blond and long, is tied back. He wears the forest green that denoted him as a ranger, an adorned sabre and plain bow by his side, and a knife at his belt. His leather armour is visible but mostly concealed by his cloak and tunic.
Friendly and gregarious, he is easy going and open to new experiences, though vague about his past. He jokes as coarsely as the rest of them but is familiar with a number of languages. Every now and then he slips a phrase or two suggesting that he originally came from a more refined life.

History

3rd son of the Duke Gelric Elboran

Being a ranger is no big surprise for those of the forest lands. born of the noble house of Elboran however, this position was always supposed to be more honorific than actual, something which grated on Kailus. More so that the others in the ranger corps felt that he had not earned his position. He had! He had proven himself over and over again, but it made no difference to the way the others distanced themselves from him.

His fists clenched as he thought about it, and sharp grit in his hands drew blood as he pressed. It woke him from his reverie and he realised that he was once again lying in the dirt. Blood matted his long blond hair which then stuck to his face. An savage booted him in the ribs (caked in mud, they all looked the same to him) and he crumpled, a gasp of pain escaping from his lips before he could shut them to deny the brute such pleasure. His body wracked with pain on what must be multiple bruises over its surface, but if he was to die, he would do so by giving these brutes as little pleasure as possible.

Kailus did not try to move further, or rise. To do so would provoke another attack. Instead he watched through his clumps of blood and hair to see what the scum were doing. He could make out a fire, and figures around it.

They were laughing and joking in the vile language of the barbarians, but he could not make out the words. His eyes were blurring, dimming...

In his delirium, his mind wandered back to the events that had led him to his downfall.

“Out playing ranger again Kailus?” It was Rhylus, his eldest brother and future duke, who asked this with a sneering tone. The eldest son would inherit the dukedom, the second son, would be an earl and advisor, but as the 3rd son, he was destined to become one of the unimportant nobles in the elven court: to endlessly vie for recognition, but to be forgotten by history. It was this destiny that Kailus sort to evade by training in something worthwhile. Perhaps he could do some small good, even if it meant giving up the luxuries that being a noble conferred.

But he did not make a good ranger. He lacked the strength and power that the others had. The little he had in speed and agility hardly made up for it. But he was always a lover of nature, and ever since he was small had enjoyed spending time in the forests. That was in fact how he met the Arch Ranger, who recognised an almost druidic ability in Kailus, and offered to teach him more.

Years later, he felt it was this ability that augmented his ranger skills. It was this ability that had enabled him to beat other potentials to gain entrance into the Ranger academy, unbeknown to those spectators who watched, all save the Arch Ranger who could sense Kailus’ subtle use of nature to assist his success.

In the academy, he had little contact with his once mentor. Instead, those kindly eyes were replaced by the condemning eyes of the other entrants - those who earned their place on the merit of their ranger skills, not (as they believed) on the merit of their royal blood. He had grown up with those eyes, but being a prince does teach you to shrug off those things.

His family were far from supportive. His Gelric and Rhylus thought that it would demean the noble name. His other brother Tanus, and his sister Beatra thought that he was wasting his time. Only his mother, Duchess Annara, understood his desire to do something positive with his life. He was always her favourite son, and she would tell him tales of adventurous ancestors, who would right wrongs and go hunting for treasure. In fact, she had one such ancient treasure map, which had been handed down more of a curiosity than a real map to treasure. Besides, there was no reference for the area it mapped, so no one knew where to start looking. Kailus dreamed one day of doing something like that.
With the other members of the family against him, Duchess Annara was constantly playing peacemaker.

Perhaps it was the effort of suppressing the constant arguments that finally took their toll on her health, for she fell sick and died within the year. Neither elven healing nor herb could save her. Now there was no one on his side.

“It is not a game Rhylus.” Kailus replied curtly to his brother. They had never been close.
“Oh but it is, little brother. All life is a game, and this playing with silly bows is going to stop.”
“I will continue in my chosen path. You cannot stop me.” Kailus replied, wondering why Rhylus was suddenly being so direct.
“Do not underestimate me little brother,” Kailus hated being called ‘little brother’, “but in this case it is irrelevant. Father can and will stop you.”

That was the reason. Without Annara to argue with him, Gelric would remove Kailus from the academy. The duke’s guards and contacts would ensure that he would never be allowed to return, and then he would be held a virtual prisoner in the nobles’ courts until he was too old to do anything else.

In his young mind, he only saw one option: to escape now.

And so, he had gathered what he could, and left. He took with him his mothers treasure map, though he knew not what for. Not even daring to stop to say goodbye to his siblings. He avoided most of the folk that were on his way. Travelled quickly and lightly, living off the land when he could and of his trail rations when he could not.

Within a few days he was far from the palace, and within a couple of weeks, far from the borders of the kingdom. It was then that he though he could relax a little. He pulled out the treasure map that he had taken with him. Perhaps he would follow it to see where it might lead. He did not hear the barbarians until it was too late.

Kailus awoke to a rough laugh. His vision had cleared, and he could see his captors more clearly now. They were handling objects – his possessions.
The thieving swine were dividing his possessions! Anger swelled in him, but he fought to control it. Of more concern right now was the fire, and a cooking pot that had been placed upon it. That was his fate.

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This character is owned by: RoyTxxx