Maelyn Visenya

“Sure, I think I can handle that,” - Sir Maelyn Visenya

Appearance
Maelyn is about five feet and eight inches tall with what has often described as an athletic, feminine build. Though his build is slight, he has a wiry strength and a physique that suggest martial skills. As a marble cat, he carries a distinctive fur pattern common to his breed. Tans, browns, and blacks pattern a marbled set of markings all around his body, and very prominently on his back. He has a small flat pink noise, a rather small mouth for his breed and big copper colored eyes that transfix those who gaze upon him. Though male, he Merely has a particularly girlish and delicate face. Often mistaken for a woman, many remark on his exotic and feminine beauty. His ears are slightly wide and pointed as they stand perked up on his head and his hair is a long tumbleweed brown, with bangs that frame his face. His face carries a distinct pattern of markings that draw themselves around his eyes and often times draws others into his stare.

 

Maelyn has been long regarded by all genders as beautiful, but in a very womanly way. Constantly propositioned by nobles, lords and knights of all genders, Maelyn has a tinge of arrogance about his appearance. While his feminine appearance is disarming, giving others the idea that he’s ‘mostly’ harmless, Maelyn is anything but. Using his looks and cunning as a weapon, he’s maneuvered for years through the odd social battleground of the nobility.

 

Personality
A man of wit, sarcasm and unflappable directness, Maelyn often comes off as rude or dismisive to others. Socially, he’s very used to speaking his mind having grown up hand and hand with the Lioncourt Royal family, but without lessons in social grace and humility that were taught to the princes and the princess. Having very little interaction with those outside the nobility also adds to his matter of fact way of speaking to people. Having been looked down upon as a stray the King happened to pick up, Maelyn had to develop a thick skin growing up. His defense was his sarcasm and his unwillingness to feign social niceties with those who looked down upon him.

 

Though he’s mostly a calm and rather even keel person, Maelyn enjoys teasing others a great deal. He is quick to mock friends and strangers alike for their various shortcomings or misfortunes. He deflects negativity with humor and is never sinister or mean about his teasing and will stop if someone is genuinely offended by him. Though he is not the type who would apologize for such an offense.

Rather indifferent about his appearance. He is well aware that he isn’t the most manly of individuals, but is fond of his look. He isn’t easily offended by insults about his looks or sexual orientation and often times enjoys using them to his advantage. He isn’t flirtatious, but does have an understanding of how to be quiet and let others project what they think he’s like on to him and roll with it. He isn’t a moody person nor a cheerful one. Though he does smile often in the company of those he cares about.

 

As a fighter his fierce determination and ruthlessness come to the fore. In battle Maelyn is nothing short of vicious. He shows opponents no quarter and fights as fiercely in a bout or proving as he would in a life threatening situation. His aggressiveness is a sight to behold as he prefers to outmaneuver and then overwhelm opponents. Often his calm and unflappable demeanor melts away in battle revealing a hidden rage just beneath the surface.

Despite his personality quirks however, Maelyn is a honest and dutiful man who is largely misunderstood. He loves his kingdom and it’s people and refuses to abandon other knights who are in trouble. He has a sympathetic side to those who have grown up in difficult situations because of the nobility and he shows respect to those who have earned it. He has true loyalty to the Kingdom and the ideals that it was based upon, even if that loyalty conflicts with orders and ideals of the current nobility.

 

Childhood
Born during the frenzy of Valdis’ invasion of Pandorica, Maelyn was born to a Valdinian soldier names Rasha. The boys father was named Orto Visenya, one of the five generals serving under the command of Prince Baelin Argyllian. A rather average soldier, Rasha’s only remarkable feature was her uncanning beauty. A beauty to which Orto had ordered be in his company many times. Though there was no love between Rasha and Orto, the young warrior gave herself completely to her superior. When it was found that she was pregnant, Orto ordered that the baby be killed, a bastard child would not be welcomed in House Visenya. Orto however did not punish Rasha, whom he commanded to follow out this order, sending her away from the front lines. Though this was stated to protect her through child birth, the real reasons was to hide her pregnancy from other Valdinian Nobles. Confined to her tent and under guard of the elite soldiers, Rasha gave birth to Maelyn one snowy day in the spring of 234 AC.

 

A beautiful and health child with his father’s eyes. Rasha was pained to let him go. However, as a loyal soldier of House Visenya and to the Kingdom of Valdis, Rasha would not disobey the orders. Walking off with the child merely hours later, the young warrior left to die in the snowy mountains of Pandorica.

Adolyn Valenrow was born under the Amber moon one hot summer night in 231 AC, to Comtesse Elania Christin and Duke Valence Valenrow. A bright and precocious child, Adolyn mastered reading, writing and the pleasantries and courtesies of the royal court by the age of five. In addition to his scholastic studies, Adolyn trained in swordsmanship and martial skills under his mother Elania. The young caracal excelled at it far above his peers and soon began practicing it whenever he could. He was an earnest young child who shared his father’s respect for others and his disregard for the formalities of his status. Because of this he was well liked by his servants and lessers. This is a constant source of headache in the aristocracy who do not approve of his family's preference for commoners over the nobility.

 

At the age of seven while his father and he were accompany an envoy of nobles, including the prince, Essien de Lioncourt to Amarok, he was embroiled in a plot by tribal cultist to unseal ‘the Illich’. During the conflict many Knights of Amarok and Lioncourt were killed. Adolyn’s life would change dramatically when in danger the natural gifts of his bloodline became apparent. Adolyn is faster and stronger than any normal child of his age, taking his mother's sword, ‘The Christin Blade’, a powerful Eldeidan and assisted his father and the prince in sealing ‘the Illich’. He was injured gravely in the conflict, but his Elioudan blood saved his life and accelerated his healing. This was considered his first ‘Knightly Deed.’

 

After the incident in Amarok, his mother stole him away one night from Lioncourt, taking him deep into the heart of the Moorlands, past the ruins of several Kingdom’s long dead, to the secluded Khyber’s Keep, a Druidin hold. There in secret he studied the Arcane and Martial skills of what they called Antediluvian Arts. During his four years of study under the High Druid D'Astil and his Arcane Knight’s Adolyn gained skills and knowledge long thought forgotten by the world. He was taught the basic concepts of cyto-manipulation, that he may properly control his advanced healing and endurance as well as strengthening his body and reinforce his physical defense. He was taught the differences in the energies of a person and the planet they live on and how that a person’s individual essence, their chi can influence the energy of the planet or Mana. He was taught the basic secrets and truth of cognisance and the understanding of the natural world and it’s power and how all things relate to them. But above all else, he was taught the Druidin concept of duty to the land, it’s people and the preservation of the powers of the natural world.

 

Adolyn’s training under the High Druid was intense and often antagonistic. D’astil was hard on the boy, pressuring him to quit whenever Adolyn felt the High Druid was being unfair or harsh. D’astil would answer no questions about why Adolyn was accepted for training under the Druid, an honor that Adolyn had read no one had ever received aside from those being trained as the Druid’s Guards, the Arcane Knights. His questions and inquiries were met with misdirection or downright hostility. Despite this, Adolyn showed a determination and patience that defied his young age. Qualities he’d gotten from his mother and not his proud father. D’astil’s antagonism came to an end three years into Adolyn’s four year apprenticeship under the Druid. when, refusing to back down from a challenge, he was almost killed in combat versus several shades. D’astil aimed to teach the boy his own limitations, but his antagonism pushed the young noble to succeed despite the danger. In the end he’d drawn upon his own life energy in an a desperation technique he’d taught himself. Despite his Elioudan blood, his child’s body didn’t have enough energy to contain the techniques might and though his enemies were defeated, Adolyn was left a drained and near lifeless. Without the ancient Druidin secrets of healing and revitalization, the boy would have been lost.

 

When Adolyn’s training under High Druid D’astil was complete, he was merely eleven years of age. His training already making him a match for warriors with far more experience than he. Older and wiser now, he was able to pick up on the tension between the Druid and his mother. Realizing that the Arcane Knights too seem to know her personally. When he asked of this, neither D’astil or his mother would comment on it. He was sworn to secrecy about his time in the Keep and the secrets he’d been taught. He was to only use his skills when absolutely necessary and preserve the traditions of Druid secrecy. He vowed to do just that and left the Khyber’s Keep with his mother, never to return again.

 

Upon returning home, he was greeted by his father with love. Despite obviously wanting to know, his father never asked him about his time away. Instead, he spent every free moment spending time with his son and teaching him the in’s and outs of becoming a Knight of the Realm. The Duke wished for his son to follow in his footsteps and one day lead the Border Legion, the Knights of Evandale who patrol the Eastern borders of the Kingdom of Lioncourt. A free command that held both Knights of noble blood and commoners on equal footing. He enjoyed the time with his father and when he was allowed at the age of twelve, became an Initiate within the Knight’s of the Order.

 

As an Initiate he had no equal in combat or scholastics. He was well liked by most of the other Initiates and his Knight Instructors. It wasn’t long before he was made a full fledged Squire, the youngest there was at the time. Despite his hard work and diligence, there were many nobles and even other Squires who felt that his high marks and high regard was the result of favoritism or nepotism. Many of his fellow Squires refused friendship with him for fear that they’d be seen as groveling to the Duke’s son. He’d have a rough go of it until he met his first real friends.

 

At thirteen he was sent from Evandale’s Knight Academy to the Knight Academy in Bast, the Capital City, where all the exceptionally talented Squires were sent. There, though still quite a great deal more powerful than most any he encountered; Adolyn for the first time met others who could challenge him. One such Squire, was Jonah O’Shannesy. Jonah was the top Squire in the Academy before Adolyn’s arrival and it did not take long for them to clash. Jonah, or Jo as she was called; resented all of the rumors about Adolyn’s skill and challenged him to one on one combat in the proving grounds. Sword to sword, Jo was more than a match for Adolyn with her aggressive combat style and deceptive strength. She’d pressed the younger Squire the entire bout. Adolyn’s sword skills were nearly on par with Jo’s, but his Druid training gave him the edge, however he refused to use any of his Arcane skills to overcome Jo’s physical advantages. In the end, neither Squire could truly best the other. Jo had been too strong and too skilled for Adolyn to defeat with only his skills and wit; and that skill and wit were just too much for Jo to overcome.

 

Though the match was called a draw, Adolyn sought to befriend the haughty piglet, who begrudgingly accepted his friendship. During his time at the Academy he made fast friends with two other Squires. One of which was a fellow noble, the daughter of the Eridanus Family,  Countess Aritrea Angelica Eridanus. A cheerful and sarcastic young lioness who excelled in archery and swordsmanship equally. The two had met when Adolyn had stood up to her for picking on one of the other squires, a young outlander named Cress whose family were new to the nobility, an award his father had earned only two years before his birth. Aritrea had never had any male stand up to her before, especially not another Squire. The daughter of Marquis Harlem Eridanus, Captain of the Royal Guard; she and her siblings lived a charmed and pampered life. A naturally gifted warrior, she didn’t take her training seriously and often bullied lesser nobles and commoners, something Adolyn would not stand for.

Far from embarrassed or contemptuous over his intervention, Aritrea was quite taken with Adolyn. Who had his reservations about her friendship, however she’d made a concerted effort to impress Adolyn with her behavior; learning how to treat others with equal respect and not lord her station above them. Likewise she began to take her studies more seriously, if only to keep up with Adolyn as he quickly rose through them. Eventually, her determination won him over and the two became nearly inseparable friends.

 

His best friend in the Academy had been the young Cress, an effeminate young thylacine he’d been asked to look after by his superiors. Cress was an archer by trade, whose blade skills were below average when the two met. Most other Squires regarded the fresh faced Cress with either indifference, scorn or outright antagonism. Adolyn fought many battles with other Squires on behalf of his friend. Eventually he taught Cress to defend himself better by teaching him techniques he’d learned under the Druids that weren’t considered forbidden to the world at large. The two developed a close friendship that would last through their Academy days and into their adult lives.

 

As Knight’s Apprentice he served under Dame Angel Ross a Blade Knight and veteran of many battles. Dame Angel or Mama Angel as she prefered to be called, took him on as her apprentice. Despite many Knights wanting the ‘honor’ of being his Knight’s Master, he’d chosen to train under Dame Angel because he’d known her growing up. One of his father's most trusted knights, she was High Warden of the Border Legion. Under her he would see vigorous combat and go on many adventures. Though he didn’t learn much of combat and martial talents under Angel, he did learn insidious and cunning ways to employ his skills on the battlefield as well as how to lead men. He was an apt pupil earning the respect and admiration of even seasoned knights as he fought beside them in Border skirmishes with Agorians, Saurians and even the savage barbarians in the Moorlands.

 

Adult Life
By the age of Sixteen he was an experienced Borderman. His Academy friends, Cress, Aritrea and surprisingly even Jo had become Border Knights as well, each taking apprenticeship under a Knight within the Legion. Though most Knight’s tended to keep their apprentices close by, Adolyn in his friends were given an autonomy that even seasoned Knights would envy. With Jo as the de facto leader of the group, they had many adventures in the Borderlands and proved to be an invaluable asset to the Legion. This was no more apparent as when Prince Essien’s daughter was kidnapped by Eternian Cultist.

 

Out late one spring night bird hunting, the eagle eyed Cress noticed a large creature flying from the lands toward the Moorlands to the North. When the princess’ bracelet fell to the ground from the creature, he alerted his fellows and they gave chase. Adolyn and his fellow Knight Apprentices braved the ruins of the Kingdom of Garman in the Moorlands to the heart of the former nation. There they found cultist who worshipped the Eternian Gods of old, these cultist wished to use the blood the princess, in a ritual that would break the seal on a Eternian creature known as the Baldimorg. With serious help from his friends, Adolyn defeated the cultist leader and slayed the Shade of the Baldimorg, preventing it’s true form from being unsealed. This earned him and his fellows many accolades and the permanent adoration of the young princess Megan.

 

The world at large took notices after that, Adolyn and his friends were named full fledge Knights by King Legault himself. Despite the honor for one so young, his knighthood was bittersweet. His friends and he would be separated. Jo was sought after by the Home Guard in Assyria and Nemea. Cress and Aritrea had been given an opportunity to train as a forward scouts, with serious considerations of being trained as Rangers, though Aritrea would have moved the heavens to follow him back to the Border Legion had he asked.

 

Adolyn, however did not stay in the Borderlands for long after his knighthood. In the fall on 249 AC as a favor to his father, he was sent along with other Bordermen to Forest Kingdom of Faeorie. The Faeorie were experiencing an unnatural drought and strange forest fires had become common.Their Rangers were taxed keeping the people safe from the Wilderings, forest hare’s whom were outcasted from Faeorie society. In the course of his adventure, Adolyn discovered the troubles were caused by a sect of Faeorie Witches who plotted to reanimate the bones of the great dragon Garvos and use his power to conquer the Kingdom. Eventually with the help of Faeorie Rangers, the surviving bordermen of his Legion and the support of his childhood friend and rival, Dame Jo; he was able to brave the Meandering Woods and defeat the feral beasts within and claim the sword Durendal. With it’s power Garvos was slain and the Faeorie, and perhaps all of Thuria were saved.

 

Though Adolyn would complete many noble charges, as well as survive many dangerous adventures; he is most well known for his actions at the ‘Battle of Herald’s Keep’. What was to be an armistice in order to discuss peace, became a plot by the Saurian King to murder the Lioncourt Royal Family. Poisoned by ancient and black magics, the King was weakened and struck with a mortal blow by the Saurian King Mizer. Though King Legault was able to plunge his sword, ‘The Raven’s Wing’ deep in the heart of the Saurian King, it was not enough to stay the Saurian attack.

 

The Border Legion was called on to face the Saurian’s Wyvern Riders and their fierce and powerful Dragon Knights. Adolyn however was not at the Keep with his legion, but as a guest of Princess Megan de Lioncourt, along with his Academy fellows who previous helped save her life. It was during this battle that Adolyn again saved the lives of the Princess Megan and her brother Prince Vandell, stowing them away with the Raven Riders to return to Bast. With Jo, Aritrea and Cress by his side, he fought his way deep into the Keep to find their father, Prince Essien de Lioncourt.

 

The prince and his Raven Knight’s were found on the Keep’s walls, trying to make their way to the more fortified eastern tower. Adolyn had known if the King were alive, the Royal Knight’s would have surely took him there. Lead by their Primus Corvinus; Sir Garret Jesstane the weapons master, the Raven Knight’s ferociously fought back the Saurian onslaught. Though few in number, the Raven Knight’s were warriors of incredibly ability, each wielding an Eldeidan. Their archers peppered the skies with explosive and magic arrows, keeping wyvern riders at bay. Their lancers fought back Saurian dragoons as they pressed the lines of the enemy. At every edge they were assaulted, the Raven Knight’s held the line, but the overwhelming might brought to bear against them seemed to be too great. Many of their number were lost in the battle.

 

Adolyn arrived on the battlefield with Durendal in hand, the blades power and legend were enough to give his enemies pause. With it in hand, he did not fear revealing his druid taught skills. Most would credit the feats to the Eldeidan he carried. Though only four, he and his fellows were enough to push back the assault of the Saurian soldiers. All seemed to turn until the a High Wyvern attacked. Massive and breathing fire, the feral beast began to lay waste to the defenders. Sir Garret and his Knight Commanders took on the beast, stabbing their weapons into it and disappearing into the night, leaving Adolyn to command the remaining forces and defending Prince Essien until the Captain of the Royal Guard, Sir Harlem Eridanus and a few of his men arrived.

 

Though Adolyn acquitted himself in command and protection of the Prince, he was not nearly in time to save the life of King Legault. He and his men were slaughtered to the last, having held out in a hall beneath the east tower, their intended escape route destroyed and covered in debris. The Prince had seen his father's final moments, too weak from magic poison to defend against the onslaught any longer, he and his final Royal Guard, the wife of Sir Harlem Eridanus and mother of Aritrea were killed. Adolyn could only watch as sorrow and fury overtook those around him and the king’s killers were butchered to the last. His life, his kingdom, would never be the same.

 

With the Saurian attack beaten back, the Kingdom of Lioncourt mourned the death of her King. Essien de Lioncourt was named King of the Pridelands in the wake of the disaster. The King’s first order was to dismiss the Royal Knight’s whom left his father's side during his darkest hour, especially The Captain of the Guard, Harlem Eridanus who was banished from ever stepping foot in Castle Ravenclaw. This dishonor was seen as both harsh and unnecessary, carrying with it not only significant damage to the Eridanus family as a whole, but leading to Adolyn’s friend Aritrea resigning her post. When Adolyn and the King requested her to reconsider, she spat in the King’s face. Though many wanted to see her hung for this insult, King Essien forgave it and allowed her to leave without incident, with the offer to return to Knighthood if she so chose.

With Sir Garret Jesstane seriously injured and his Raven Knight’s devastated by the battle, Adolyn was offered apprenticeship under the great warrior and the role of Primus Corvinus of the Raven Knights. Dame Jo and Sir Cress were also offered places within the great order. Though Adolyn refused, wishing to return to the Border Legion, the King refused this and named him the future Primus anyway. From that day forth Sir Adolyn’s life would never be the same. No longer just a Knight or a Hero, he was now Champion of Lioncourt and the most recognized name of their order at only twenty one years of age.