*I don’t know how often I will be able to attend, but when I do, and I’m not NPCing here’s my history*

Name: Matt Bradley

Character Name: Rudolph Washyen

Age: 550

Race: Elf

Class: Mage

Appearance: Rudolph is a disheveled old man. Large dark circles are constantly under his eyes, and he always seems to be on the verge of falling asleep. He dresses fairly well for a man doing what he does, though that may go along with his opinion of himself.

Personality: Rudolph is a generally kind person, though he may not come off that way at first. He demands a certain amount of respect regardless of whether or not he has earned it. He believes that just because he is older than those around him, he deserves to be treated a certain way. When he receives the treatment he is looking for, he is in a happy mood, and generally happy. However, if he is not treated with the respect he believes he deserves, he gets very rude and angry. Rudolph has also lost a little bit upstairs, being described by some as senile. He is also fairly easily confused if he’s not paying close attention, but if he is keeping track of things, he is sharp and it is difficult to throw him off.

History:
“Attention!” The holler was immediately followed by a sound of feet stamping and hands clapping against foreheads of hundreds of troops. “Alright ladies and gentlemen it’s almost time for the inspection so look alive.” The man walked away, leaving the other standing not entirely sure what to do.
Hundreds of men and women stood in lines awaiting the arrival of their leader. His name was known, but beyond… nothing. A few of the men and women whispered back and forth exchanging nervous glances. A few moments passed and the man who had been hollering reappeared followed closely by a man wearing a long black coat. He had two swords at his side, and bandanna across his forehead. The two men turned to the group, and everyone fell silent.
The first man stepped to one side and motioned toward the men behind him, “this is your commander, the head of the army, Sir. Giles Vant. You will refer to him only as ‘Master’ and you will do as you’re told for as long as you are here. Do I make myself clear?”
“Sir yes sir,” the crowd replied at once.
Giles stepped forward smiling at the crowd before him. The man standing beside him began to walk down the first line of soldiers; he stopped in front of one man and stared at him. “Do you know why you’re here!” the man shouted loud enough for all to hear.
“T-t-t-to serve Sir-”
“Master, didn’t I just go over this, you will show some respect.”
“Right, sorry Sir, forgive me,” the man bowed. “I am here to serve Master.”
“Well, you’re half right. You’re here to serve the council, which Sir. Vant is a part of. However, do you know why you were selected?”
“Well Sir, I graduated with some of the highest marks in my class, I practice my abilities daily, and if I do say so myself, I think I stand out of the crowd.”
The man shook his head slowly, “no, that’s not it.” The man took a few steps back and pulled his hood down revealing his pointed ears. “Listen to me closely now. Look around you, you are not a special snowflake, you are all the same, interchangeable and to some degree expendable. You are here because of your ancestry. Take another look at everyone in this group; you are all elves like myself. However, that isn’t the only thing; you are all pure blooded elves. We have done our research and none of you have any ancestors that are not elves, which makes you the perfect group to be the magical backbone of this army. You all have your specialties, be it celestial, earth, or necromantic. So, I’m done here for now, you will soon be dismissed to your barracks and you will be split up based on your magical preferences.” The man turned on his heel and walked away.
Giles stepped forward smiling at the crowd “well then, I believe the general covered everything. You’re all dismissed get a good night sleep, the work begins tomorrow.”
The women and men turned and slowly made their way to the barracks. Occasionally stopping to look around at the training ground, it was a fair size, but not quite what anyone had been expecting. When all of the troops had made it to the barracks they were directed by the higher-ups to their rooms. Three men entered a single room with three cots set up in a line. They looked around in dismay at the accommodations before setting the possessions at the foot of a cot. One of them looked up and sighed, “not as glamorous fighting for the government as I thought it would be.”
Another man lowered his head, “yeah, I was thinking I’d join up have a little fun in what should be a time of peace, and practice celestial magic. After I’m done here I’m going to go ahead and find me a nice woman and settle down. Way I see it, serving in the military will make me look pretty good. That’s the real reason I’m here.” He turned back to the other man, “what about you, why are you here?”
“Well, I just needed a place to stay, and some money is always good, am I right?” the man smiled.
The third man coughed and sat on the bed, slowly lying down and lifting his feet off the floor. The first man looked over at him, “what about you aren’t you a little old to be in the military,” he stopped to laugh at his own joke. “So old man, why are you here?”
“The man quickly shifted his gaze from the ceiling to the young man. “You want to know why I’m here? I’m here to take blood, I’m here to fight, to kill, and I’m here to push myself to the limits. These old bones still have some fight left in them, and it’s about time I learn more about the celestial arts.” The man tightened his hand into a fist, it glowed blue, and the air around him grew cold as he focused the energy. “I call forth an ice bolt!” the shard of ice flew toward the young man and cut through his cot, freezing the ground below it. “Well, what do you think now? Do I belong here, sonny?”
The man gulped, “y-y-yes.”
The old man laughed, “relax kid, it’s true I wanted to learn more, but I’m not really out for blood. Scared you though eh?” The old man laughed again, “anyway, as long as we’re going to be sharing this room, I believe introductions are in order, mine’s Rudolph, and you two?”
The first man looked up, “I’m Kento.”
“My name’s Harrome,” the final man said smiling.
Rudolph smiled, “nice to meet you two, well we ought to get some sleep. Oh, and Kento, I hope you like the floor,” Rudolph laughed as he fell asleep.

* * *

“Rudolph, let’s go! Didn’t you hear, the second war is about to begin, we’re needed on the battle field! Master Giles has sent word, Lord Korag has approved the attack on The Meta’s, his time is over, we attack at dawn.”
Rudolph stood and dawned his uniform; he smiled, “so this is what we trained for eh? Let’s begin then.”
The troops traveled to the outskirts of The Meta’s territory and stood at the ready taking their positions. The fighters and clerics marched in followed by the necromancers, while the mage troops stayed behind in order to utilize the siege weapons, and enhance their power. Rudolph awaited the signal to fire. The battles raged on for days, yet the signal never came. Over the horizon however, came clerics dragging batter fighters. One spoke up, “the other nations have turned on us, we were deceived, this war is lost.”
Rudolph stood up quickly, “never say that! Master Giles still fights, and so do we. Prepare yourselves for battle, Kento, Harrome. Let’s go, it’s time to move the mages in and finish this fight.”
“Wait!” the cleric shouted, “Master Giles is nowhere to be found, he has abandoned the fight, many believe he was never even here. There’s no point in continuing, get out before it’s too late.”
Rudolph stood and turned away, “I’m going to find Master Giles, you’re all wrong, I’m sure he’s working on a strategy to finish this war, and win it for us.” Those were the last words anyone heard Rudolph speak.
There were rumors passed around by those who knew him. Some said he may have found Master Giles and continued to serve under him, though some believe he went off to live in the forest, isolated from everyone. The most widely accepted idea though, is that he did indeed go into isolation, but that he went insane and killed himself. What truly happened though, no one can be certain of.