Name: Leiz Ryada
Nickname: N/A
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Position: Neutral
Powers/Abilities/Techniques/Skills: - Soldier: As a result of his training in the youth corps division of the Ebaujian military, Leiz is a bit of a force to be reckoned with. Leiz's ideal goal in any skirmish, however, is to disarm ... not to maim. If he really feels threatened, his alternative goal is to fight back with force until his opponent is critically wounded or unconscious. Besides his unarmed knowledge, Leiz is also proficient with bladed weapons and firearms. Compared to more seasoned warriors such as keyblade wielders and nobodies, Leiz is 'green'. This may change due to the natural accumulation of experience, though he isn't doing any serious practicing at the moment. To summarize this the best, Leiz is a potentially dangerous combatant with a preference for disarming his foes. Leiz is most effective against humanoids.
- Survivalist: Leiz is trained in basic survival skills. He can pitch a tent, he can forage for supplies, and he can cook - but he is by no means well-prepared to go through harsh environments on a whim. Case and point, he's probably not very likely to go toe-to-toe with a grizzly bear or some radioactive space troglodyte and come out unscathed. However, he is ...
- Intelligent and Constructive: Leiz only has a few years of formal education under his belt, but he's well-read and is usually up-to-date on recent events. Bear in mind that while the intelligence division of the Ebaujian military does provide him some information, he's the one often encountering the information before it's formalized in some form of dossier. Nevertheless, he's resourceful - a talented do-it-yourself kind of guy who'll try to solve problems on his own before having to defer to an expert. As a result of this DIY attitude, he is able to maintenance all of his equipment. This drastically cuts the expenses of traveling on his own.
- Pilot: Leiz pilots a Gummi Ship for the Ebaujer military. Being that he transfers supplies and information from headquarters to other various locales, his ability to pilot is his most practiced skill. Asides from the fact that he can outmaneuver most small heartless in space, there's little to say here: he's piloting a travel ship, not an attack ship.
- Magically Inept: The potential for using magic exists within this military boy like any other denizen of this universe, but such abilities have not yet been awakened.
Weapon/Items:- Asides from the clothes on his back and a Gummi Ship that can hold 300 pounds of cargo and seat three people, Leiz has a combat knife. He's long-since stopped carrying firearms with him, as his job has gotten quieter and not as dangerous in recent months.
Picture:
Appearance: Leiz is a humanoid of Ebaujian and Tenurian descent who possesses a darker skin tone and wild, emerald hair. From a distance, he appears to be a lithe boy teetering between childhood and adulthood. Standing at an unimpressive 5'7", he may be shorter than other men his age, but he makes up for his height through his aforementioned qualities.
However, there is one thing that he can never seem to compensate for.
Up close, Leiz has looks so soft that you'd swear he was a girl or an extremely feminine guy. This has caused him much trauma to this day, and he's often gone through the thoughts of maiming his face or growing facial hair to create a look that would exude a more masculine visage. However, he simply cannot grow facial hair due to mixed genetic factors ... nor can he ever bring a blade against his own skin. At the same time, it cannot be denied that his facial features have been marginally hardened from years of training and work.
His eyes are as sharp as a hawk's, almost slanted in design, and carries with it dark violet pupils. Leiz's nose is petite but rounded at the tip. Then there is his mouth. With a subtle underbite from the jaw and thin sultry lips, Leiz's mouth is probably his most attractive feature.
Leiz's attire is rather glum and unsaturated. He is almost always seen with a black, short-sleeved windbreaker with an imprint of the old Belevadian flag on the back (which Ebaujer uses -kind- of incorrectly, but for the purposes of propaganda). He also often wears black capri jeans along with two mid-calf-high leather boots, though this is subject to change based on climate conditions.
Personality: Leiz is mainly introverted, almost always thinking about himself instead of other people. Although this makes him out to be rude, he doesn't always act like it. He's also rather cynical when it comes to working with others, believing that everyone else is incapable of doing anything the right way. This is almost perfect for his line of work, considering that it only takes one person to do his job.
He has some moral restraint and wouldn't do anything that would inadvertently cause the harm of someone that didn't deserve it. However, in his book, anyone that seriously gets under his skin qualifies as 'deserving' ... it's a subjective metric that changes a lot, frankly.
Leiz has the short end of the stick when it comes to his temper and patience. Almost anything that's intended to piss him off probably will, and if he's pissed off enough, he might just go into an ass-kicking rage. This is likely attributed to the bullies who insulted his lack of masculinity in his childhood. He wasn't fond of the remarks he received then, and he isn't fond of them now.
If one were to take a look at his few decent traits, his most admirable qualities would have to be his loyalty (more on that below), determination and discipline. When he has something on his to-do list, he'll deal with it as soon as he has the next available opportunity to do so. His determination is also strong: when Leiz is motivated to do something, he often pulls no stops in getting it done. Essentially, this leaves him with a strong heart (in the sense of determination), but also a stubborn nature. Almost in defiance of his introversion and short temper is the aforementioned loyalty he has to Ebaujer as a soldier.
Loyalty to others, however, is a quality few can ever expect to get from him. The trade secret to gain his loyality is this: his modus operandi for being loyal comes from his desire to be accepted ... a very primitive, but basic need. Given his introversion and cynicism, this may seem farfetched. But his motivation to prove his strength and capability shows that he is insecure at the core and ultimately wants to be loved and wanted by someone - no matter who that is. This is something that Leiz isn't always conscious of. Many other things could be said as well, such as that he doesn't understand where true strength comes from - or that he doesn't have to be so relentless in order to get what he wants. The saddest part of it all is that it is something that he has done to himself... his insecurities about his physical identity resulted in his breaking off from his family, ultimately losing his support structure. Will he ever return to his family or find the loving support that will get him back on his feet?
Ultimately, his desire for social acceptance is the driving factor behind many of his actions. And because he doesn't really understand how to be accepted as an individual, his tendency to display his bravado and strength have prevented him from going beyond the military.
Original World: Belevadia
Current World: Belevadia (but he's all over the place!)
History: Enter Leiz Ryada, a seventeen year old boy from Belevadia.
Belevadia, a world ravaged by the corruption of nature, serves as the perfect breeding ground for boys like Leiz. The air is polluted and its once-radiant sky is now but a dull gray, always covered with smog. Majestic lakes and pastures that once populated the land are now barren wastelands and canyons. Ancient cities that would have told people of their past and heritage have either been worn down or decimated. Instead of the sights that would make this world a pleasant place to visit, it has large, industrial cities that only serve to further convolute the land. One major hand to blame in this is the shady and benevolent corporation known as XMR Industries.
Alas, this story is about Leiz, not so much about Belevadia's ebb and flow. The boy was born into a family of four. Growing up in the slums of Geneil, Leiz quickly learned what it meant to be a kid in a post-war civilization: even with family surrounding you, the loneliness was unbearable. Leiz's father and mother worked tirelessly to provide a stable household for him and his sibling, even though they would hardly get to enjoy their company. Leiz's father, Usen, was primarily a warehouse finances salaryman for XMR Industries. His position might imply a middle-class lifestyle at first glance, but he wouldn't have made enough at that job to rent out a shitshack on the coast. His second job (which would have been his preferred vocation) was playing jazz in big band quartets at various clubs around the city. Leiz's mother, Rolou, was waiting tables during the day and dancing in burlesque bars at night - though her latter job was a profession kept secret from her husband and kids.
At the age of six, Leiz was finally enrolled into primary school. At that time, he was a relatively normal boy, though he did have some quirks. He had inherited his father's negativity as well as a dislike for the system that kept his family financially shackled - other kids his age wouldn't have understood, but he did... albeit in terms that adults wouldn't use ("big mean jerks stopping you from becoming rich"). He got the point, basically.
Leiz had learned how to socialize and make friends in primary school, slowly carving out his own path in life. Although his grades weren't astounding in comparison to the school's honor roll, both his teachers and friends could see that he had some brains and respected him for it. Even still, Leiz had more talent up his sleeve than his classmates expected of him. He had a knack for sports: due to his lithe body and flexibility, he was quite capable of participating in many sports that didn't involve height (which he lacked). His athletic friends were envious. It also didn't help that he was appealing and received the attention of almost any girl on campus. Heck, all of his friends were envious. Even though they didn't want to get 'cooties', they certainly didn't like the fact that he was the only one getting them.
And as the years passed, his friends started developing into young men, losing much of that flexibility and petitness that was often associated with early childhood. In Leiz's case, however, these traits never seemed to diminish that much with time. He was ten now, and doctors were baffled at the curious case of the boy's almost “womanly” limberness. So, desiring to get to the source of the boy's physical development, the medical staff ran a few examinations. After running a few tests on the boy, the doctors eventually came to the conclusion that the boy was simply behind in his development and that he would begin to develop properly after puberty.
But not too long after his experience with the school's medical staff, he started noticing things about himself that hadn't been all that obvious until now. Previously, compliments towards his good looks were abound, but they had now ceased. He had found odd, contemplative stares in its stead, wondering why he received those kind of looks. His classmates started shrugging him off, and his inner circle – his proverbial 'justice league' of best friends - had found other kids to hang out with. Yet he never knew the reason why.
Until one day in gymnastics where the teams were being picked for a game of basketball. Leiz was sure that he wouldn't get picked for the team with the taller kids: he was six inches shorter than everyone else, after all. And just as he anticipated, he didn't get picked for that team. But he didn't get picked for the shorter team, either - even though the team numbers were uneven and both could have done better with an extra player, he was left out. When he confronted his classmates about it, they all gave him the same reason: "You'd give us cooties!". It was clear to him what they thought of him now - they thought he looked like a girl!
That was the first step of Leiz's hellish descent into childhood depression, and he now knew that he would never have the same respect that he had when he first started school. Every day from then on, Leiz feared that he would become less of a boy. Anything that came off as girlish to him was met with disdain: he hated their hair, he hated their clothing, and he most certainly hated their faces. And it only got worse from there. His former friends became bullies that preyed on his irritability. Leiz's patience and temper whithered away, leaving him a grim and tortured child. He began to distance himself from the real world, becoming antisocial as he bitterly carried on.
People who could have cared for Leiz were absent, in point of fact, and counselors at the public school weren't paid nearly enough to care about the plethora of issues he had day in and day out. He'd tell his dad about it before bed-time, but solemn replies would only leave the middle-aged man's mouth:
"It's okay."
"Huh."
"We'll talk about it tomorrow."
Only they never did talk about it. Days would go by without a single word of it. All the while, the situation at school only worsened. Trying to ignore the bullies at his school only made them get physical. He'd get the snot beat out of him and then some - leaving him in the dust. He'd pick himself up, say something about it to the teachers, but no fingers would ever get pointed. Things largely stayed the same until a teacher finally caught a student literally assaulting the boy ... little did anyone know this would set off a chain of events that would lead to an event most tragic. Both Leiz and the other boy involved were expelled from the school, spurred to go on to some other public school or thereabouts.
Except there was no other school that his father's social insurance benefits covered - life around the house got weird for a few nights. His dad would be the one home first, grumbling about uncooked dinners, but his mom would be back later ... first at times like 10PM, but quickly dragging to the early morning hours. He remembered waking up in the middle of the night to screams and shouting. Broken dishes. Dragged out of bed he'd find his dad's hands wrung about his neck as his father sobbed uncontrollably, lamenting about how the 'stupid boy' had made his mother unfaithful.
At the time, Leiz had never known the meaning of what was going on. Yet, stricken with stress and grief, the boy had broken free of his father's grip and fled to the streets where he became a vagrant for a number of weeks before settling on something that seemed right for him. He had seen the ads: "Join the Youth Corps today!" ... propaganda for the Ebaujer military, but a public program that promised a fruitful, secure career for anyone. But it wasn't the career he was interested in. He felt responsible for everything - his meek demeanor, his feminine body. With this belief, Leiz vainly decided that he had to do something so extreme and manly that it would get people to look past his girlish appearance.
At the age of twelve, Leiz joined the Ebaujer Youth Corps program and never looked back. All they needed was his signature and the signature of a legal guardian, but he had copied his parents' signatures for legal documents so many times that this was a non-issue ... all those years of taking some amount of responsibility for the things his parents couldn't do at home amounted to something, clearly. He never considered the consequences in his desperate, impulsive state. He had unknowingly signed his life away: he had no guardian. He had no family. The military
owned him.
As Leiz passed through the folds of the Youth Corps, he slowly transformed into a truly dangerous commodity. At the age of thirteen, he was already equipped with survival and hand-to-hand combat knowledge. He showed promise, but lacked the strength that his comrades had. Even after he started going through puberty, this fact remained consistent. Leiz realized that the medical staff at his former school were quite wrong – not only was he not developing 'properly', he certainly wasn't all that manly, either. In fact, he couldn't tell the difference between his own face and a girl's. His frustration with this became a catalyst for his quick progression as a soldier.
Little did XMR know that they created a monster - several monsters, rather. The company that essentially owned the military had created a program that was guaranteed to produce terrifying killing machines in a span of three short years. But only if the conditions were right - if they were young, virile and of sound health. Leiz may not have been as masculine as his peers, but if he was a human - and he was - he could build muscle and grow just like anyone else. While his body did not develop nearly as quickly or even to the same extent as his peers, his hand-to-hand combat skills were unmatched. He'd use his quick reflexes and grappling techniques to bring larger, more well-equipped foes to their knees.
By the age of fifteen, Leiz had satisfied his drill instructors and was released from the training program. Amazingly, Leiz found himself somewhere amongst the members of the group that XMR had been aiming for. The Youth Corps training regimen carried a risk that all children were made well aware of. That it would be brutal ... unforgiving ...
long. They would train their mental and physical talents to their full potential, but
then ... push it over the limit as much as possible. Some children ended up broken in mind and in body. Others ... dead. The remaining ones would be exemplars of everything a soldier should be and more.
Leiz wasn't sure where he ended up on the spectrum: he was skilled and strong, no doubt. But not even
close to looking like an average soldier. His body was already battered beyond belief. A good quarter of the major bones in his body were broken and replaced with artificial replacements that were sufficient and of the same consistency and density. In mind? He wasn't sure. All of his nuts and bolts seemed intact, but he couldn't be sure ...
Despite his best efforts, he didn't come out on top of his training class. He wasn't the cream of the crop, but the military did put his talents to good use. Given his nimble skills and lithe physique, he was officially designated as a 'private first-class courier' - something they define as an 'extremely valuable transporter of high-priority, compact goods in exchange for commodities of equal value'. Commodities that would, in fact, either benefit XMR or the military itself. However, such a designation was only a cover story for the truth - Leiz was, in secret, a high-level reconnaissance agent who would be expected to collect information and share it with his superiors on a routine basis. His 'job' as a private courier was a mask for his activities on other worlds, though it was often convenient enough for him to actually be delivering something to contacts and clients. Sometimes he'd be delivering "firearms" to a guy out in the desert. Other times he'd go out thousands of kilometers to deliver a small pipe of unknown significance and use. Most of the time, he wasn't delivering anything but empty boxes. The truth of the matter is, Leiz has never really known what XMR specifically trades to these clients when he's asked to make real trades. He has never cared to pry into those matters.
In a sense, the boy was the military's eyes and ears when it came to external affairs - but not just outside XMR's own jurisdiction. To the bounds of the universe
itself! Leiz's world figuratively expanded in so many ways as he realized just how infinitesimally small he really was in relation to the universe. Not only that, but the diversity of the people that lived outside his own world - different hair, skin colors, backgrounds, dogmas ... the Gummi Ship enabled him to become a more varied and cultured person, although he was wary of the multicultural ideals these otherworldly people were trying to instill in him.
Now, it was no secret that XMR dealt with individuals as shady as themselves, but it wasn't long before denizens of other worlds began to notice the strange, green-haired boy roaming about. Contacts were made over time, and a network of commerce slowly began to develop. Unwittingly, Leiz had become a beacon of change as XMR started to take on public-class Gummi Ships for the express purpose of trading some goods with vendors and suppliers in locales such as Traverse Town, Twilight Town and Radiant Garden. He had done some good. But by no means would Leiz be asked by his benefactors to cease consorting with the high-priority clients dwelling in the crevasses of some of these worlds. XMR Industries was a trading partner, after all,
not an ally, and they would see to it that they knew more and more about the activities of other worlds than anyone knew about them. As the months passed by, Leiz would become more secretive and reserved. With real couriers now doing a lot of the legwork for XMR, Leiz was less frequently being asked to deliver packages and instead being asked simply to "blend in and watch".
When asking his supervisor what that actually meant for his position, his superior could only laugh and say, "you're a real agent now, kid. Don't sweat the little things anymore."
Since becoming a reconnaissance agent, Leiz has visited Agrabah, Atlantica, Deep Jungle, the Land of Dragons, Twilight Town, Traverse Town, Radiant Garden and Olympus Coliseum. Although his travels have toughened him up considerably, it hasn't changed the fact that he's still easy to confuse for the fairer sex. Leiz has often reflected on where his life could have gone had he not reacted the way he did, but he is always uncertain of who was in the wrong. Did he overreact? Was his father right in what he did? He'd look back to those painful memories only to recall the burning sensation of winded lungs and puffy tear ducts.
The months would go by. Acquaintances would come and go. Encounters would threaten his life, and he'd pull out okay. For a while, the tedium of being given goals to accomplish was enough. It gave him a sense of purpose. But there was one thing it would never bring him.
A sense of belonging.
A POST-MORTEM ON XMR AND BELEVADIA'S HISTORY
About XMR
- Origins: XMR Industries is a vague, corporate government. Not many people know of the corporation's exact origins, but it is generally accepted by commoners that they came into power around two-hundred years ago after what appeared to be a total collapse of civilization and governance. By offering social policies and strategically re-instituting an economic system, XMR's founders catapulted the expanding group to the status of an actual governing power. They are often referred to as "the first business", given the hard and unforgiving times in which they were founded in. Since then, XMR Industries' efforts have been aimed at innovative technological research... and their less admirable goal, "how to squeeze more resources out of the public without making them hate you".
- Virtues: Since they regard themselves as a business before a government, XMR knows better than to lend a hand to people that aren't willing to "get with the program". Politically, XMR would be best described as a national socialist dictatorship that only offers security and aid to families where the highest income earner happens to be working for them. When it comes to competition with other businesses, however, they are capitalists through and through ... placing higher taxes on business owners and heightening the barrier of entry if they refuse to act as a subsidiary of XMR Industries.
- Profit source: XMR Industries is a diverse and multi-faceted company whose main source of income stems from research, manufacturing, providing securities and generating power. Oddly enough, another source of profit happens to come from their most recent endeavor as a sort of galactic trader. This is possible because of ...
- ... Gummi Ships: Around eleven years ago, XMR came into contact with Gummi Blocks. Realizing its potential use for space travel, some of Belevadia's finest minds got together to form XMR's first space program... and subsequently their first Gummi Ship, which took three years of intense research. More ships have followed since then, but many have gone missing or astray: XMR never really knew the dangers of the universe until Leiz came along, who was reliable enough to provide reconnaissance for them and establish trade routes. His efforts have catalyzed the formation of XMR's presence as a galactic trade company. Despite the newfound spotlight being cast on the company, however, they aren't always public about what gets shipped out. A good portion of outgoing packages are discrete, shipped out to customers whose best interests might not be that of the universe's. XMR's major export is steel and minerals because of how plentiful these resources are. However, the price is steep, and they always expect something highly valuable in return because they recognize how valuable their offerings are. They often ask for packaged barrels of oxygen or strange gadgets of unknown make and origin.
- Technology: Thanks to XMR funneling a lot of its income into research, Belevadia is considerably more technologically advanced than other planets. On Belevadia you might expect to find modern conveniences like computers, televisions and cars. Fifty years ago, XMR lobbied for a movement towards green energy and as such gas combustion in vehicles is a thing of the past. However, the damage to the environment has been done: many civilized areas are covered in smog and plant life seldom grows there. To combat this, XMR has started the relatively recent practice of creating oxygen farms to make up for the lost amount of oxygen content in the air. In these farms, organic material is broken down into refuse, and the refining process generates oxygen gas that can be shipped and distributed through pipes, similar to natural gas. While oxygen farms are few in number, enough oxygen still exists to lead a somewhat ordinary life.
- Not that dominant: As of the present, XMR has occupied a good 3/4ths of Belevadia, but are mainly centralized in a small continent by the name of Ebaujer. The rest of the civilized world where XMR doesn't have influence are occupied by many factions of varying power. While many may be vying for control of their respective districts, these factions are consumed with the common passion to crush XMR. Many rebels hail from Tenurae, a former prison continent that had long since been engaged in a war with Ebaujer (and only just ended recently). It's important to recognize that this war was fought on decentralized terms as there is no main faction to oppose. Because they could not fight a war where there is no clear enemy and they would virtually have to engage in genocide, XMR Industries stopped funding the war and pulled all of their forces out of Tenurae. This is a necessary move as well because they are ...
- ... on the brink of collapse: XMR is threatened every day by the forces of corruption and a looming insurrection. No one is safe from the heartless, not even the Belevadians. Guns are stationed outside the borders of many cities in the hopes of warding off attacks by the small creatures. More often than not, the heartless are driven off ... but not without a few people being dragged off every day to their demise. Political officials and high-ranking officers have erupted with darkness and their forms twist into sights most inhuman. Expert task forces are sent out to quell these situations and to restore order, but more have failed than succeeded. The denizens of coastal cities have been crushed and swallowed whole by leviathan-like heartless. In brief, nothing about Belevadia - at least civilization - is utopian. While the people of this world fight and struggle against the heartless hordes for many years to come, it stands to reason that their world heart cannot remain untouched forever.
Timeline
- Unknown Date: Belevadia, a once powerful country, falls. Several wars are fought in a massive event known as the "Great Close". States secede. Mysteriously, this planet's peaceful era has come to an end. A dark age descends upon its inhabitants...
- ~200 yrs ago XMR's first recorded presence in "Ebaujer", a slum city. XMR works towards restoring civilization and order, and ultimately, Belevadia.
- 195 yrs ago XMR consolidates their security officers into an actual military.
- 185 yrs ago Several Belevadian states reformed, though rebellions form to hinder their progress.
- 180 yrs ago XMR forays heavily into research: metallurgy, physics, etc.
- 170 yrs ago The district of Ebaujer expands to the size of a small state as many bases and outposts begin to crop up.
- 160 yrs ago Rebel forces for the first time ever are actually beginning to be pushed back by XMR's growing military, forming a consistent boundary line.
- 150 yrs ago Combustion engine, first CRT television.
- 130 yrs ago Rebels begin to diminish in number and stay out of XMR's territories.
- 120 yrs ago XMR starts an education initiative that removes World history from the curriculum. The current president of XMR, Stadfonn, argues that knowing too much about the past might spur another war like the one that broke civilization countless years ago.
- 100 yrs ago Most previous Belevadian states have been reformed, but new areas have also been included into rebels go underground. In light of their dominant presence, XMR begins declaring that the planet's name is "Belevadia". On an even more positive note, the first computer is created.
- 80 yrs ago A new generation of revolutionaries surfaces, claiming to want to restore Belevadia back to its true, original state. Many attacks are attempted but many are thwarted, resulting in thousands of rebels and suspects getting arrested by XMR - most without trial or jury.
- 75 yrs ago Thousands of imprisoned rebels are shipped off to another end of the globe, forming a penal colony by the name of 'Tenurae' - the "wild continent".
- 65 yrs ago Trading embargo placed on Tenurae after suspicious 'terrorist' attacks in southeast Geneil.
- 58 yrs ago Raa`en Olweus, Leiz's future supervisor, is born.
- 50 yrs ago Gas engines scrapped, Hydrogen fuel cells made commercial in fear of environmentalists conspiring against XMR.
- 47 yrs ago Usen Ryada is born in Tenurae.
- 43 yrs ago Tenurae rebels arrested and executed after
- 42 yrs ago XMR amasses a force to invade Tenurae to put an end to rebel attacks. Brutal war ensues.
- 40 yrs ago Rolou Anried is born in Ebaujer.
- 37 yrs ago Usen Ryada moves to Geneil.
- 32 yrs ago Usen Ryada is inspired by news of rebels fighting for a noble cause: the protection of mother nature from XMR's prying, industrial hands. He joins a gang, hoping to funnel its actions towards a rebel agenda.
- 27 yrs ago Usen Ryada damages his back in a gang fight, compromising his goal of leading a successful rebellion against XMR in Geneil.
- 24 yrs ago After eighteen years of death and suffering, XMR's war against Tenurae ends. All forces are pulled back.
- 23 yrs ago Usen is talked out of his gang by a certain pretty woman named 'Rolou'. Usen becomes complacent and gets a job at XMR as a financial paper-pusher.
- 22 yrs ago Usen and Rolou wed. Valryn, Leiz's brother, is born.
- 16 yrs ago Leiz is born.
- 11 yrs ago Gummi blocks discovered. Research program is started to understand the source of these blocks and what can be done with them.
- ~8 yrs ago XMR builds its first Gummi Ship. A space program is started. XMR starts sending pilots out to other worlds, uncovering other civilizations at a slow but consistent pace. However, the dangers of exploration hampers their progress significantly. The space program loses a lot of funding, but ...
- Present Leiz's efforts have helped build solid trade routes between Belevadia and safer planets. XMR is firmly established as a galactical trading company - small in scale, but big enough to make it worthwhile.
The Nationalities of Belevadia
- Ebaujians: Ebaujians possess a caramel to ebony complexion due to many years of exposure to the sun in ozone-depleted conditions. Ebaujians have a greater tolerance for low oxygen levels due to their environment. Ebaujians are technically centralized in Ebaujer, but they are virtually everywhere in countries associated with the Belevadian Commonwealth.
- Thetisians: Before Ebaujer came into being and XMR Industries virtually ruled the world, there were the Thetisians. They still exist today as part of a small state within the "Belevadian Commonwealth", though those who are truly descendants of the Thetisians are fewer than 7 million. Thetisians are tanned and generally have black hair. Thetisians are known for their oral traditions of the old world and its ways. They speak of knights that once maintained order throughout the land and kept the volatile world from going to war with itself. It is speculated that the dark ages came about as a result of the fall of this supposed knightly order.
- Tenurians: Tenurians are, in general, fair-skinned people - but by no means are they ordinary. The tribes of the land of Tenurae have intermingled with penal colonies sent there almost eight decades ago which has resulted in second and third generation people that possess a whole spectrum of hair and eye colors. Some scholars speculate that the bizarre hair colors come from strange molecules of keratin and melanin in their foods that permeate through the scalp and permanently bind to the hair follicles. Others think it's completely genetic. Then there are people who believe there is something otherworldly about the Tenurians - especially the tribe. Some say they have a latent ability to use magic. None of the above has been conclusively proven, however. There's a common saying amongst most citizens of Ebaujer and upstate Geneil: "wherever there is a Tenurian, there may be trouble". Most people in XMR-occupied territories have a hard time teasing apart the distinctions between the Tenurian nationality and the Tenurian ethnicity. This has led to rampant institutionalized racism against people who resemble Tenurians, although these attitudes have become considerably mellow in recent times given the common enemy that are the heartless. Still, boys like Leiz have had to constantly pull their weight and assert their allegiance to "the first business" to prove their trustworthiness. If something true of the Tenurians can be said, it is this: a passion for freedom and adventure runs in their veins.
- Ximolydians: Also known as "northers", these people from the northern lands of Ximolydia are rarely seen outside of their home. Pale-skinned and possessing no hair pigment, they may as well be categorized as albinos. Like the Tenurians, Ximolydians are expert hunters and gatherers given the inherent dangers of their environment. However, unlike everyone else on the planet, they simply want to be left to their own devices. Not content to be out in the open, they hide in the vast mountain ranges where they cannot be seen. Despite the fact that they want to be isolated from the rest of the world, they are intimately connected with one another and have small trading outposts set up around mountains to act as a place for commerce. This is a necessary act for survival, as most tribes cannot expect to amass all necessary resources on their own. Finally, it should be said that they are not altogether aversive towards technology. They are utilitarians at heart, using whatever devices they have at their disposal to make their way of life easier. It's for that reason that some Ximolydians make the pilgrimage to Ebaujer or other XMR-occupied territories in the hopes of acquiring more efficient weapons and knowledge. However, some who go out on this quest do not come back. Some question if it is because the allure of 'modern' civilization is too enticing for them to return to their old way of life, or if it is something else's doing ...
Role Playing Sample: "Ha ha, ha. Thank you, stranger."The hunched, cloaked elder took the package in his feeble arms, his eyes gazing at a sheet of paper sandwiched between flesh and crate. The delivery-boy's eyes took notice and he promptly snatched it with a gloved hand just as it was about to be blown away by a gust of wind. He sighed in relief.
"Remember, it's a secret to everybody. We're not going to go around telling people who we're making deliveries to. That contract you signed was written confirmation that your lips are as sealed as ours.""Oh, hee hee. It doesn't mattah, there ain't no one out here anyone anyway. Not fer miles." And the centenarian was quite right... Radiant Garden was probably about twenty-five miles away. It would be quite a feat for someone of his advanced age to get out that far. Amongst the rocky purple dunes, the only other beings out here were shadows.
Still, the boy honestly had to wonder how he managed - the elder lived in some small shack this far out into the mountains without so much as an apple-bearing tree. Where did he get food from? Was he the one delivering the food? And, more importantly, where did the old man even get the means to contact XMR?
These thoughts were almost immediately dismissed at the admittance that there were individuals far more shady than this senior. It wasn't really his place to inquire about things that did not concern him. The impact that knowing about these kind of things would be absolutely trivial and that is why he believed XMR to have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
"Pfft. You're off your rocker, old man. Maybe you'd be better off if you had someone watching you."Having completed his business there, the adolescent turned around and began to walk away, concealing his hands in the large pockets of his windbreaker. He headed straight for what seemed to be a large, multicolored piece of architecture. Its geometry was non-complex, composed mainly of interlocking cubes save for two right-angle triangles jutting out from the sides of the large prism. It was a Gummi Ship like any other, not looking to be the least bit conventional or aerodynamic.
On his walk to the ship, Leiz hadn't quite realized two vital things: That in an ironic twist, his inner child screamed for the love and company that he thought the old man had lacked and needed. He was the one that needed someone watching him.
And then there was two: the lecherous old twat mistook the boy for the fairer sex and had been eying his posterior for the duration of this brief little adventure. An action so morbid to Leiz that it likely would have stuck with him for the rest of his days. Fortunately, in this momentous occasion of ignorance... it didn't.
A cleverly hidden hatch about the size of a human made its existence known as it slid out sideways along the ship's starboard, letting light pour out from the interior. Leiz stepped through the opening as the hatch began to close shut, obscuring the view of the Gummi Ship's inner workings and sole occupant from the environment.
Questions/Comments/Suggestions?I know what you're thinking - awww hell naw. If you literally won't take me back for a multitude of reasons, that's fine. However, there's so much I haven't done here that I'd love to be able to do - plotting, mainly. I do believe we did have something between the White Witch and Leiz, Ellie. ;O
As for what's changed in this incarnation of Leiz, I'll help out by directing your attention to the backstory - a lot stays the same here except for a couple of crucial details involved in his upbringing. His family
isn't as prominent or helpful in this backstory like they were in the previous version. Rather than change the outcome of his life, it actually makes his current position in life much more likely given the circumstances. Let me know what needs to be changed and I'll get to it.
Finally, note that XMR does not need to be especially prevalent - they can be as big in scale or as low in scale as you'd like in terms of their involvement with other worlds. I cited them as a "galactical trading company" of sorts and if you look at Leiz's previous profile, you'll see that it's written there, too, so this isn't exactly a recent idea, nor is it one that's been rejected before. But we'll see! Thanks for reading, I look forward to your response.
