Kaeno spent the vast majority of his young-adult life in a place that
uses trauma to obliterate memory. What little information he retained from
his life before 'The Priory' seems of little importance, but vague details
are retained. The unwanted product of a human serving girl and an elven
lord, Kaeno's life on the margins of society were predetermined. His mother
held resentment for the young half-blood for ruining, what seemed to her, a
perfectly good arrangement. Abandoned at a young age, Kaeno was forced to
fend for himself on the streets of a nameless urban metropolis. Young and
impressionable, he really only strove for companionship and acceptance,
making him easy pickins for some of the more sadistic and manipulative of
his peers. One of these opportunistic young ones told Kaeno that he should
travel far outside of town to a collection of ancient monoliths, where
feeble old men and women guarded untold treasures. Kaeno obliged, but
lacking the skills of infiltration capable of besting these keen monks, he
was snatched into their egalitarian society to be trained... And punished.
Trauma does a funny thing to the brain. What Kaeno remembers are not so
much memories, but bursts of emotion often conflicted with pain and
suppression. He keenly remembers holding the serpent form for three hours,
only to wince when a beetle crawled across his foot. As punishment, he was
held upside by his ankles and dipped into a cauldron of snakes while the
elders beat his torso with yew staffs.
Such was Kaeno's lot in life, but the naive and impressionistic boy became a
hardened stoic of peerless skill. The Elders took notice, and as a final
test, tasked him with the true purpose of 'The Priory': to take a life when
ordered to, without question. In this, Kaeno hesitated. While he thrived
in the competitive atmosphere of 'The Priory', he saw no purpose in wasting
life in such a reckless way. This moment of empathy nearly costed Kaeno his
own life, as he was beaten to near death and thrown into the Priory
Dungeons, until the Elders could decide what to do with him.
Thankfully, that moment never came. That night in the dungeons, Kaeno
witnessed a strange sight during the midnight hour: a child, hooded and
cloaked, frolicking through the dungeons.
"Why have you come to such a dismal place, little one? Surely you must
leave before you are discovered."
The child, from behind a concealed cloak, giggled playfully.
"Why, to pick flowers silly! And of course, it is you who must surely leave
this place."
The child extended a small hand through the bars of Kaeno's cell, depositing
in his palm a single rose petal. As the scent reached Kaeno's nostrils, he
was overcome with a sudden urge, and without question ingested the rose
petal instinctually. All faded to black as Kaeno felt his body become
weightless and move towards the small window of his cell. Kaeno's next
memory was waking up in the midnight hour on a grassy hill, staring upwards
at a star-filled sky. The landscape was alien to him, and he knew that
wherever he was, 'The Priory' was far behind him. Kaeno would later learn
that he was in the land of Serin, but that was of little consequence in that
moment. That night on the grassy hill, Kaeno had no truly happy memory. He
swore that he would remedy that. He would never be able to shake the rigid
mental hierarchy placed in his mind by 'The Priory', but he could fill his
life with all manner of experiences, luxuries, and challenges that his
previous life could not offer. Without prompting, Kaeno had been offered a
second chance. And he intended to make the most of it.
Description:
An unassuming individual of medium height and tawny skin presents an
image of tranquility. His gray-black hair hangs loosely just below his
shoulders, grayed apparently from experience rather than age. His clothing
appears comfortable, well-fitted, and varies little with respect to its dark
earth-tones, colored like fresh soil. His perfect posture causes his neck
to extend prominently from somewhat slight but toned shoulders. Upon closer
inspection, one can notice small irregular scars covering this individual's
neck and face. His angular, stubble-free jawline compliments a rigid nose,
atop which is perched two pale-green eyes underneath thick but well-kept
eyebrows. Soft cheekbones and smooth skin betray his youth, but there is
nonetheless an aged presence to this man.
1- 0- 0 Karmag the Fierce Combatant (Fought at rank 25) 1- 0- 0 Luffius the Gladiator (Fought at rank 25) 1- 0- 0 Arianelle the Seeker of Knowledge (Fought at rank 25) 6- 0- 0 Tayina the Wrath of Nature (Fought at rank 50) 1- 0- 0 Odessya the Communer of Damnation (Fought at rank 38) 1- 0- 0 Breiwyn the Master Bard (Fought at rank 50) 0- 6- 0 Thoom the Battlemaster (Fought at rank 50) 0- 2- 0 Alkas the Grand Master of Seasons (Fought at rank 50) 2- 1- 1 Beyatik the Ruler of the Dead (Fought at rank 50) 0- 1- 0 Weawin the Unholy Knight (Fought at rank 50) 1- 0- 0 Calird the Sage of Arcane Power (Fought at rank 50) 0- 1- 0 Rhoa the Holy Knight (Fought at rank 50) 1- 0- 0 Heratta the Holy Shaman (Fought at rank 50) 2- 2- 0 Kremina the Shadow Master of the Marama Kuei (Fought at rank 50) 1- 0- 0 Solmundi the Holy Knight (Fought at rank 50) 0- 2- 0 Thalandir the Holy Knight (Fought at rank 50) 1- 0- 0 Ilromie the Sage of Arcane Power (Fought at rank 50) 1- 0- 0 Wylsin the Sage of Arcane Power (Fought at rank 50) 1- 0- 0 Grimple the Sage of Arcane Power (Fought at rank 50) 0- 2- 0 Faedove the Holy Knight (Fought at rank 50) 0- 1- 0 Lerimar the Shadow Master of the Marama Kuei (Fought at rank 50) 0- 3- 0 Saxa the Battlemaster (Fought at rank 50) 0- 2- 0 Dogran the Holy Shaman (Fought at rank 50) 1- 0- 0 Serra the Holy Patriarch of Healing (Fought at rank 50) 1- 0- 0 Larenn the Holy Patriarch of Healing (Fought at rank 50) 1- 0- 0 Yrlssa the Wrath of Nature (Fought at rank 50) 0- 1- 0 Ciradan the Holy Knight (Fought at rank 50) 0- 1- 0 Erelanidd the Holy Knight (Fought at rank 50) 0- 1- 0 Astorennon the Grand Hierophant of the Forest (Fought at rank 50) 0- 1- 0 Rodakki the Unholy Knight (Fought at rank 50) 2- 0- 0 Mikiel the Wrath of Nature (Fought at rank 50) 2- 0- 0 Lumubella the Holy Patriarch of Healing (Fought at rank 50) 0- 1- 0 Gwevym the Holy Knight (Fought at rank 50) 1- 0- 0 Kali the Grand Spectre of Beguilement (Fought at rank 50)
That makes me smile. You were fun, you certainly stuck to your guns. I really liked how you went after me after I broke the duel and killed Ilromie, even though it seemed like you knew you would lose. We fought some, and then got to know each other and ended up working together a bit. It was fun. Good luck with your next.
Genuinely sad to see your name here. You were a great Warlord and I enjoyed all of my interactions with you. I appreciated your input and opinion and felt like I could rely on you to make good decisions. To be honest your record has more duels to it than most get so great job making challenges and fighting duels. You went through a few monk changes and handled them well from what I saw.
Hopefully whatever it was that pulled you away from the game for the last month has not meant bad news IRL and hopefully it does not mean you will be gone from AR, because I look forward to your next character and wish you the best of luck.
Well, there goes somebody I respected greatly. Though I never won a duel against you, there were at least two (possibly three) where it was really close. The duel where I got disarmed at an inopportune time was a great moment of reflection, and would have been annoying if I had let it bother me. I certainly learned a lot about fighting monks from our duels... Which was a good thing, since I had never really fought a monk properly before.
You certainly deserved Blademaster, despite never besting Thoom. The way you carried yourself was worthy of merit, and exactly how somebody of a high rank should carry themselves. The fact that you were not arrogant was also fitting due to being a monk.
Thank you for the kind words, folks. I am pleased to say that this was a happy delete: one that I had thought about for some time and felt good about. Kaeno had a lot of development throughout his life. The delete comes down to two main reasons.
1) I have less time to play these days. To answer your question, Thoom, all is good IRL. Just a busier time for me, and so I am looking forward to starting fresh and pacing my time in Serin accordingly.
2) I made a lot of choices early on with Kaeno that inadvertently pigeon-holed me later on in the game (RP, gear, etc.). Since making Kaeno, I've learned a surprising amount about the game that I didn't know, and I'm excited to leverage some of that knowledge with a new character.
One of the things I learned, that I think everyone should know, is how receptive the Imms are to feedback from invested characters / players. I was really pleased to see much of my feedback about monks was taken seriously by the Imms, and subsequently implemented in the latest patch. This felt very gratifying, like my time-invested was being rewarded, since I really enjoy tweaking game engines in my spare time to make them feel more balanced and fun. I love the changes that came to monks, and you all can bet I'll be back for more very soon.
Warlords, it was truly an honor to be your Blademaster. Thoom and Tayina, you both were a genuine pleasure to serve beside. I'd fight next to both of you on any battlefield any day.
Kalist19
0 , 0 , 0 .
Great char Lion! Good luck with everything irl. Looking forward to your next char!
[reply to Rhoa]
That makes me smile. You were fun, you certainly stuck to your guns. I really liked how you went after me after I broke the duel and killed Ilromie, even though it seemed like you knew you would lose. We fought some, and then got to know each other and ended up working together a bit. It was fun. Good luck with your next.
[reply to Dogran]
Hopefully whatever it was that pulled you away from the game for the last month has not meant bad news IRL and hopefully it does not mean you will be gone from AR, because I look forward to your next character and wish you the best of luck.
[reply to Thoom]
[reply to Davairus]
You certainly deserved Blademaster, despite never besting Thoom. The way you carried yourself was worthy of merit, and exactly how somebody of a high rank should carry themselves. The fact that you were not arrogant was also fitting due to being a monk.
Anyway, best of luck on the next one.
[reply to Tayina]
1) I have less time to play these days. To answer your question, Thoom, all is good IRL. Just a busier time for me, and so I am looking forward to starting fresh and pacing my time in Serin accordingly.
2) I made a lot of choices early on with Kaeno that inadvertently pigeon-holed me later on in the game (RP, gear, etc.). Since making Kaeno, I've learned a surprising amount about the game that I didn't know, and I'm excited to leverage some of that knowledge with a new character.
One of the things I learned, that I think everyone should know, is how receptive the Imms are to feedback from invested characters / players. I was really pleased to see much of my feedback about monks was taken seriously by the Imms, and subsequently implemented in the latest patch. This felt very gratifying, like my time-invested was being rewarded, since I really enjoy tweaking game engines in my spare time to make them feel more balanced and fun. I love the changes that came to monks, and you all can bet I'll be back for more very soon.
Warlords, it was truly an honor to be your Blademaster. Thoom and Tayina, you both were a genuine pleasure to serve beside. I'd fight next to both of you on any battlefield any day.
Kalist19 
0 , 0 , 0 . Great char Lion! Good luck with everything irl. Looking forward to your next char!
[reply to lionSpyre]Who dueled many foes far and yonder.
With those flying fists,
He’ll surely be missed,
For Kaeno the Monk is a goner.
[reply to Valindra]
[reply to Ashlyn]