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A U N
Clay Shaper
General Information
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Full Name: Aun RuskaiKnown As: Aun (Pronounced 'Orn')
Gender: Male
Race: Aukari (Note: Aun is likely the fourth or fifth generation of the Ruskai family. Little record was kept by Aun's distant ancestors during the chaos of the resurrection phase of the early Aukari).
Weight: 210lbs or 90kg
Height: 6'2" or 1.88m
Religion: He appears, to his family, his peers, even to Faldrun himself, to be religious man, loyal and serving. Perhaps this is so. And yet, deep within the fire of his heart, there is a whisper of doubt and bitterness. His dependence on Faldrun is so complete that he feels his life at ransom. His desire for freedom is kept at bay by the insurmountable walls of fear.
Location: Sirothelle, Northern Idalos
Age: 24 Arcs
Occupation: Artisan - Apprentice Potter
Factions Joined: None.
Appearance
Aun's eyes, undoubtedly his mothers, are a very dark brown. They are often reflective when lost in thought, during times alone. When in company, his eyes are slightly more alert. When they focus on who is speaking, his eyes do not bore into their target - they search.
His brows and beard, of similar dark red, is short but gnarled and makes him look older than he is. It is the sun that has left its mark - forming the faintest of wrinkles upon his mid-twenties, a complexion that will continue to mark each arc of age.
Aun has a physical presence when he enters a space. He is tall, above average of his race and, having been well-fed and worked, of solid statue. His height distributes the weight and is considered not to be overly muscular. Hair finds its way, not only on face but arms and legs.
Old beatings have left a faint mark on mind and body - the healed scars difficult to see. Recent cuts and bruises are from recent fights. Only one mark does not seem to fade - the tell-tale line and triangle of the Occult on his inner wrist signifies his subordination to Faldrun.
Clothing: Worn dark brown leather sleeveless jerkin. One leather band around forearm. One hand, a leather glove up to forearm, worn. Leather trousers, tied leather belt, boots up to mid-calf, mismatched, ends of boots turned over. A few large silver family heirloom rings on both hands.
Personality
He is a keen observer and spends much time analyzing situations, in his attempt to make sense of everything before making assumptions. He likes to look deep into detail and step back to look at the general gist of things, and leaves little in between. This has helped him so far in pottery.
Much of his personality was brought upon him growing up as an Aukari. This type of behavior allows him to bring about his own feeling of control without betraying his own self - for he, like any of this race, are faced with bursting into flames at any time, if one is not devoted and compliant.
Meeting these expectations of Aukari society has left him somewhat bitter. He was always been brought up to follow the immortal Faldrun unquestioningly, yet he has never really, deep down, wanted to be led by the neck into a destiny that he was not fully in control of. He has used much time to reflect on this but no one to truly talk to about it.
Growing up being pushed around at an early age has taught him to fight his battles. Often he cannot let things go. Occasionally, he does, when the going gets him down, giving out a laugh and throwing care to the wind. Even if when he doesn't care, deep down he knows he should.
History
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To fully understand the history of Aun, one must go back many generations before Aun. Back at the time that the slain humans were resurrected by Faldrun to become the Aukari. The time of chaos brought the Aukari to bond among themselves and share their despair. Soon children were born with the same fiery hearts and they were introduced into an uncertain world. One of these babes, delivered at the foot of the Heart of the World, was the first known descendant of Aun: his name was Har-Kai.
Har-Kai grew up into a community where life was cheap, conditions were atrocious and there was a general feeling of helplessness. But there was soon found to be hope. It was learned over time that pleasing Faldrun earned a blessing that allowed control over the fire within. Har-Kai grew up to be inducted into the Aukari to perform assassinations on other races, wreaking the havoc that Faldrun wanted. After his blessing, Har-Kai was loyal at a point considered fanatic.
Thus began a serious family tradition of fanaticism, worship and unshakable loyalty. As Har-Kai wed and many children were born, the extreme values of before were forcibly passed down. Generation after generation - the rate of blessings among them was high - but at what cost?
Trusting the Heart
Some generations passed and the story of Heia begins.
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Heia had married one of the Ruskai family - his name was later erased and kept forgotten. She was the first in their family to publicly doubt it all - blessings, loyalty to Faldrun, self-imposed slavery. She let her heart lead her head and had influenced her husband to defect, so the story goes. Both she and her husband disappeared. Supposedly, this resulted in an assassin murdering the husband while Heia was in hiding. A price was put on her head for she was a thorn in the side of the Ruskai family. How she managed to stay concealed is a mystery for she was able to give birth to one child. The stress of her circumstances lead to her combusting shortly after. The babe, Aun, was found and rejected by the family, cut away like a malignant tumor and placed back into the system - for lives were of high value to Faldrun and it was hoped that the baby would grow to follow a straighter path than his mother's. Fitting in
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Aun was never told about the fate of his mother nor his father of unknown identity. Only stories and gossip of their treachery remain as a cursed ghost of the past to haunt their child legacy. The low life expectancy meant a high percentage of youth amongst the Aukari and those without parents, and there were many, lived within the institutions. Aun was almost thrown into institution as early as could be, at four years old he began his education. He began as a sociable child but this was soon beaten out of him. Like many, he controlled his behavior almost stoically and emotion was frowned upon - dangerous. Nevertheless, Aun enjoyed learning and his scores in test allowed him passage to Oikeia.
Finding passion in the darkness
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When Aun entered Oikeia, it was in learning and creating that Aun found solace, in particular, that of creating things with his hands. It was normal that children were subjected to a variety of skills, to allow the instructors to take note of what children were interested in. Pottery was one of the artisan skills and was essential to the workings of Sirothelle and Masters like Lenau Galai, who supplied quality ceramic goods, such as pots and ceramic weapons (knives that never went blunt), to service the Aukari society, military and even the Zatkai. In fact, such pieces were often used to contain important offerings to Faldrun himself or to hold the ashes of the combusted dead. For Aun, when he had first sat at the pottery wheel and had a unshapely clump of clay slapped onto the revolving surface, he was mesmerized. The Master of this particular class, Lenau Galai, was a hard faced and aging man, weathered and dry like the clay itself. Aun was instructed by the Master to take control of the clump and center it to the middle of the wheel. It was not enough to pull and push it, it was to use his whole body, to exert force from all parts of the clay at once, until an equilibrium is reached. Being able to control something so entirely with one's hands brought utter joy to Aun.
After achieving this, Aun pressed firmly to the top of the rounding clay. It expanded and a hole widened. All of a sudden, he had the shape of a pot. Master Galai, smiled at the result. It was not bad for the first try, but Galai could not forget that look of joy that seemed etched on the boy's face...
Standing Up Against All
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Master Galai came and went as an instructor, for while he did instruct at Oikeia, he also ran a pottery business that had a waiting list that was months behind. Whether he was present at Oikeia or not, Aun spent as much time as he could practicing the skill of pottery. But while Aun spent time working on pottery, he was inducted into the Occult, whereby he was placed into combat training. Like others with tainted family names, Aun managed to keep a low profile, speaking little, but it was usually not enough. While in Parvos, the bullying was constant, in Oikeia, his larger size meant he could begin to fight back at his bullies and was soon left alone, after his knuckles bled. While the bullies sought different amusements, the combat instructors for the Occult continued where they had left off. Their game was more psychological and so they were severe to him in all lessons. Yet he held his own. The one thing that Aun knew, during his bouts and spars, was to never break in the face of his foes. Showing weakness was a sure way to make things worse...
The beginning of Mastery
When Aun had graduated from Oikeia, he went to Master Galai's workshop immediately. Master Galai refused Aun's request to become his apprentice. Master Galai had raised a son in the family business and he had died young. Galai swore, therefore, to let the business die with him. But Aun was persistent and pestered Master Galai for weeks.
It was not long that the door of the shop was opened with Galai standing over a seated Aun. Galai had jerked his head to indicate for Aun to enter and thus began Aun's apprenticeship. Aun spent the first arc fetching clay and cleaning the workshop as was customary. The second arc was spent wedging by kneading out air from clumps of clay. Soon he was working on pots but taught nothing and was helped, not at all. He attempted to copy Master Galai's technique and after some arcs began to make an acceptable pot. Master Galai provided his first word of advice. After another arc, the advice came
regularly.
Signs of Decrepitude
Galai had discovered he had been reteaching the same lesson over and over. He was shocked to discover that he had been slipping in and out of a failing mental state and has made it clear to Aun to swear secrecy. Galai took a bad fall and Aun carried him to bed. At the end of the day's intense events, Aun closed shop, worried for his master, his own future as a potter and the unknown secrets that may soon be revealed in time.
Relationships
Bad Books
Housing
Items
- One set of clothing: A thick woolen cloak, a loose fitting shirt, trousers, undergarments and a pair of soft leather boots.
- One set of toiletries: Soap, comb, razor, toothbrush, toothpaste.
- One waterskin
- Two sets of eating utensils
- One tinderbox.
Skills
| Skill | Points Acquired | Total |
| Pottery | 20 (SP), 7 (JD), 2 (V1) | 29 |
| Unarmed Combat | 20(SP), 3 (JD) | 23 |
| Brawling | 2 (JD) | 2 |
| Stealth | 10 (SP), 5 (RB) | 15 |
| Acrobatics | 5 (RB) | 5 |
| Interrogation | 1 (V1) | 1 |
| Negotiation | 1 (V1) | 1 |
| Observation | 3 (V1) | 3 |
| Socialization | 1 (V1) | 1 |
| Stealth | 1 (V1) | 1 |
Knowledge
Ledger
| Transaction | Amount | Notes |
| Starting Package | +100 | 100gn |
| Forfeited Housing (pending) | +250 | 250gn |
Total Currency: 0 ON, 350 GN, 0 SN, 0 CN
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