New Character Submission - Shalar Aza'iel

[The Servant]

Name: Shalar Aza'iel
Age: 137
Class: Cleric
Race: Elf
Subrace: Sun Elf
Alignment: Lawful Good
Diety: Aeridin
Domains: Healing and Sun

Description: Hair - Gold; Eyes - Blue; Skin - Bronze; Ht - 5'7; Wt - 116

Biography:
I am a simple servant of the Lifegiver. It was said that my mothers life was taken, so that my life might have a beginning. Only weeks earlier, my father who was a servant to the military of Sadinia, gave his life in defense of the elven cause. An orphan, I was raised by the clergy at the temple of Aeridin, since my parents who were sun elves in good standing with the local church. Many of the priestesses of the temple wished to raise me as their own and many desired to be the one to name me, since my mother had not before her passing. That honor was left to the eldest and wisest priestess of the temple, who prayed for many days about the name that I should receive. The name was given after three days of prayer...Shalar Aza'iel, which means in the common tounge, Sunshine of the Lifegiver.

I was taught the language of my people from the priests of the temple and trained as a priest of the faith of Aeridin. I learned the art of healing by both natural and magical means, curing the many illnesses of those in need. I served both the clergy and the needy, learning to live contently with in my means, often giving my allowance from the temple to those with greater need. I found great joy in those times. I studied not only dogma of the faith, that which the clerics follow in spreading the word of Aeridin to the common folk, but also the oaths and vows of the paladin sects of our faith. I learned that protecting the helpless was a great part of our faith. Life was to be cherished above all and those that could not defend themselves was of great importance. I was trained in the art of fighting the undead, training in the use of fullplate armor and the warhammer during those times when force must be used. The order of the Great Cycle must be maintained. I began to pray to Aeridin to recieve his power from the Healing and Sun domains.

I lived in the most beautiful lands in all of Layonara, Voltrex the land of the elves. The beauty that is here is unmatched, I believe, to all others. As I studied the elvish ways, I fell in love with the beauty of elven art, music and craft. The history of our people, especially that of the sun elves, held me captivated and mesmorized as I listened to my teachers tell of elven heroes. But something seemed to bother me in my studies. It was what I found in the oaths and vows of the paladin code. The seventh law which states, "Abandon all greed, hatred, and evil feelings towards others. These close the mind and engender a hatred for life." and that of the tweleth law, "Not pride, humility...", I found lacking in the ways of my people. The sun elves are a proud and even arrogant people at times. And although I love my heritiage and all things elven, I love the ways of the Lifegiver more.

I know my life will face many trials trying to live my life by such a strict code of honor. Living on the continent of Voltrex, I have seen very few of the other races that inhabit these great lands. A few humans I have seen and even a Halfling, but I know that there are many more with varied backgrounds to see. Many of these 'lesser races' are viewed with contempt from my bretheren. The dwarves, mainly due to the ideological and complete contrasts of our lifestyles. The 'half-breed' races, my teachers would call them, are despised as outcasts and lessers due to their very nature. Humans with their greed, halflings with their childish nature, and the list goes on and on. But my duty is not to the teachers of my studies, although I respect their opinions. My duty is to Aeridin. "Judge not others. By judging others, you yourself are judged", is my duty to myself and to Aeridin. My biggest test of faith to that law will be when I meet my first 'most vile of the vile,'...a dark elf. But faith is the evidence of things unseen, for I have never truly seen a dark elf and do not know how I will react when face to face with one. My prayer is that through Aeridin's power I shall overcome the many centuries of hate, for I am a simple servant of the Lifegiver.

I truly could have been happy to live out my life, serving and helping those at the temple of Aeridin in Sadinia. But, much to my humbled honor, I was asked to spread the word of Aeridin to the lands beyond Voltrex. It was requested that I visit the many temples and shrines of the Lifegiver, to give the elves of Voltrex some insight to how the faith had progressed on the lands of the other races. I truly know what this means. I shall not see the land and the people that I love for perhaps centuries, if ever. I will continue to write to the temple at Sadinia, though I know that I will probably never hear back from them. The elves of Voltrex do not wish to introduce the 'taint' of non-elven ways to this great nation and once I leave, I know that many will hope I never return. But, I shall leave all that I love, for it is Aeridin that I serve and not even the elven nation of Voltrex. I am saddened and yet full of anticipation to see the world. I hope to spread the faith of Aeridin to the many lands far and wide. I am a simple servant of the Lifegiver.

Cleric Submission Requirements:
1. I have read the dogma of Aeridin and plan to follow closely the tenant of the faith. I have also read the oaths and vows of the paladins of Aeridin and shall follow closely the laws laid forth there in.

2. Shalar's interpertation of the dogma is that of a close following of both the dogma itself and the paladins oaths and vows. First is the defending of the helpless. Although he is not a paladin, the events at his temple in serving the needs of others, has truly impacted him to help those that need help. He respects life and cherishes it, even to the point that he will aid those that are enemies to his faith and his friends. He will also seek out the dead to return them to the Great Cycle.

3. Shalar follows the normal practices of clothing and colors closely, so that the common people know him as a servant of the Lifegiver. His normal attire is a white robe with silver trim and carrries a quarterstaff for protection. During the times when he is prepared for combat, he wears silver fullplate armor, a shield emblazed with the symbol of Aeridin, and carries a warhammer. He never has used a weapon that breaks the skin. His holy symbol is always visible to see, so that those in need may approach him openly.

[darkstorme]

Hi there!

Your writing is excellent, and this is a lovely submission - but beyond the phenotype, I see no support for Shalar being a Sun Elf. Presumably, due to the isolationist nature of Sun Elves, Shalar was raised by other Sun Elves (the priestesses and other clergy of the temple). This would imply that the Sun Elf racial arrogance would show through - if it doesn't, I'd still like to see why it doesn't, spelled out.

As I said, this is an excellent submission - but for the Special Subraces, we require greater detail in the bio, and strong support in the biography for the race of choice. At the moment, this submission could be approved for Moon Elf with a trivial change in the physical description. If you wish Sun Elf, we'll have to ask for a little bit more writing, both expanding on why he's a Sun Elf, and possibly an expansion of his personality beyond fanatical devotion to Aeridin.

Thanks!

[The Servant]

I thank you for the kind words as to my submission. I have added a new paragraph detailing his sun elven heritiage and why he has forsaken the arrogance of his people. Please let me know if there is anything else it needs.

[darkstorme]

Good detail on the sun elf. We will, however, still need a little bit more (special subraces raise the bar on submissions). Two things that seem to me to be desirous of additional expansion:

• His trip from Voltrex - an elf who leaves Voltrex is not allowed back except under very special circumstances. So if he's being sent out to tend to the world, he has to accept that this is effectively banishment from Voltrex.. at least for a long while. How he's handling that might be something to address.
• His views on other races: if he runs into a Dark Elf, or a Half-Orc, or even a dwarf, how is he likely to react?

With the inclusion of details on these (and/or additional topics of your choice) you should be ready to go.

Thanks!

[The Servant]

Updated for the requests that were made.

[darkstorme]

Well done.

Approved

Server address: west.layonara.com
Server password: layoplayer

Good luck in-game - always good to see another servant of the Lifebringer about. It means Therise lives that little bit longer between perils.