New Member - Khunvyel

There was a time when Kelsey knew exactly where he came from, was a firmly established personality not only content with himself but also the people around him, had a good grasp of what happened to the nation he lived in and the world outside, proudly carried the burden of a noble purpose and was respected and well known through his realm. These times ceased to be when he died an unnatural death, and he should never come to know how this actually happened and what kind of other forces were involved in the immediate aftermath. What did happen though, is he woke up somewhere else, an entirely different world, with little more than the memory of his name and an innate knowledge of some of the proficiencies and skills he acquired in this "past life", so it came to him more naturally as he developed them and trained further. The post-death amnesia covered the majority of his past life, but he was very aware that his life definitely ended back then, among other things. His memory suffered the most losses when it came to people, places, happenings and the like, but the experience of things he figuratively trained in - "Muscle-memory" so to speak, but it also includes magic - seemed to be only locked in hibernation, and was accessible through progressive work.

In this new world, he tried to establish himself with the innate characteristics of dignity, fervour, cunning and leadership he possessed and he made bonds to new friends, travelled the plains, mountains and seas, battled evildoers and monsters, but little could give him an idea of how and why he came here. The inevitable happened though, and again, he faced a situation going awry, resulting in his death, with nobody nearby to patch him up...
... and he awoke on a beach, not quite knowing what and how happened, only realizing that this was not the world he just left, and not the world he originated from. So the cycle started over.

Kelsey has lived several lives incomplete, being ripped out of them and put into the next one through death, losing a bunch of memories in the wake. But the thing is, sometimes memories of another life than the one just passed started to trickle in and through that he patiently and meticulously gathered what happened so far. Like trying to fit puzzle-pieces from different boxes to still make one fitting picture. There always have been certain similarities. He either was Elf or Human, almost always of light tan and either of white or blonde hair. So far he remembered that his original existence was that of an Elf. The origin of his whereabouts upon entering a new world have never been really concluded. He did not possess the body of someone else, nor was he "bumping" into a summoning ritual. He always woke up on a lone place, but never looked the same as before, so the evidence hardened that whatever carried his essence onto the next world, his body was always part of this, shaped to some extent to accommodate to the new world.

Sometimes the world Kelsey was plunged into had him be more than a mere mortal, among other supernaturals, so the concept of immortality and re-awakening on the same world is not new to him. What remains strikingly odd, despite this immortality and high powered state of being that he spent with individuals alike him, still only lasted for so long, until the day came when one deathly incident was indeed the terminal one, and so he was promptly catapulted into the next realm. So far, Kelsey could not conceive a pattern, nor was he able to remember the exact cause of any death and its aftermath, even as a seemingly immortal creature. In addition to all that, the "injection" of his essence in a new existence seems to absorb some of the paradigm of the area with him, so language was never a problem. He could communicate with everyone of the land he stranded in with native tongue, and through the numerous lives he waded there have been remnants of the older tongues he spoke.
As for the here and now in Erinn, his physical appearance differs only slightly from the native Elves. He is shorter and his ears are by far not as elongated (( Apparently there is a subconscious Canon of the vast majority of NPC Elves having the big elongated ears, while I see a lot of player Elves with smaller sized ears )).

Kelsey did not become sloppy over time. On the contrary, he thought that every life could be his last, through some twisted whim of fate, so he tried to make the best out of it, be it regular mortal or be it a supernaturally strong and undying entity. Because time and experience showed him he was not protected by death - or the end of the current existence he came to know - by being immortal. He didn't take it for granted that he would wake up every time "elsewhere". The only thing of his original whereabouts that remained the same throughout every world, was the remembrance of his name and heritage, which he dearly holds on to with all the elven pride he can possibly sport. Sadly, not even his skills are always able to fully transcend to the next world, some of them utterly unrecoverable, so really the only constant that remained... was his full name and legacy.

As he was waking up to the glistening white construct from yet another death slumber, seeing Owls flying around and a woman clad in black with white pigtails smiling towards him, Kelsey knew "it" happened again. The woman introducing herself as Nao was asking politely for his name even though he got the impression she didn't need asking. He stated it and the title with all the dignity he could muster despite how feeble he felt from the transition. Nao smiled the smile of better knowledge and suggested friendly but in a solemn voice, that he better should skip the last part of his introduction to anyone... to avoid troubles. Kelsey blew a raspberry and demanded with gritted teeth, hurt in his pride, what there was to know about ... "all this". So Nao pleasantly described that he was now on the world Erinn as a visitor from outside, to which Kelsey had no better response than; "again?". Nao further explained about Milletians and how he was now immortal. The Elf standing there with arms crossed looked completely bored out and cynically replied; "Yeah. again...?" and further assured in all his strained patience and wisenheimer attitude that he got used to the drill of landing on a world unprepared and made his way from there. Again. Thankyouverymuch.

After only a few further words of exchange with Nao, materializing in Filia and grudgingly going through the "introduction rites" he was talking to the Elves around him... and came to dislike them. Normally, if he was reincarnated as an Elf, he rather sought the company of said race, but here on this world there was something he found repulsive about them, they all struck him as apathetic and delusionally "off reality". He came to deem the only Elf "tolerable" in Filia - if not all of Connous - the young Weaponsmith Meles. Being more and further disgruntled by the mere presence of the inhabitants of Filia - especially that sketchy and ominous Castanea - he just packed his few belongings and started to travel around and practice his rusted skills. He learned Humans are a far more tolerable lot, and the Giants are actually not half as bad as they are painted by the warmongering propaganda of the elves. Of course, he was not treated nicely by the Giants, however there was an successfully discussed agreement of armistice which allowed Kelsey to set up a home on the far outskirts of Physis, where he kept for himself and did not disturb any of the giants, and in turn worked the small spot of land he was allowed to grow food which he would ferry to the Giants free of charge. He enjoyed the cold weather, it gave him a sense of respite and focus while strumming some chords in blissful solitude on his lute... and he is pretty much as far away and safe from those obnoxious Elves as... elvenly possible.
Perhaps, eventually, some day, he will pick up this memory recovery thing of the Elves again. It might prove useful for him.

How to catch up with Kelsey in the world: I don't know how possible or impossible it is for the Elves in Filia to drop a line about his whereabouts or rather, his rather unforgiving appearance, but perhaps the gossip from Giants in Physis about "tha puny Elf out there growin' stuff" is more plausible. Its also not like... he spends his entire time there. Crops need time go grow, and he might dabble around to improve his skills. And when the fields require rest to avoid depriving the soil of nutrients, or when there are just no real season-hard crops around, he goes on longer journey, sometimes back to other parts of Iria, sometimes over to Uladh, and checking in with the rest of civilization... in his usually straightforward, no-nonsense, zero-bullshit-tolerance attitude.

(( OOC information: I don't think I will ever will request a single power with Kelsey, since he will only use what has been learned ingame, but who knows what the future holds. For all that matters, I'd rather request to REMOVE a power of his from the IC list, being Transformation. He isn't able to do that. But *I* very much like getting around FASTER with transformation And yes I know about that "memory tower" and how detrimental it would be for Kelsey to actually dive into this matter. It is just another event that beckons irony ^^° ))

His form started to corporealise while walking towards the center of the white circular platform where a lady in black just finished introducing a wandering soul to Erinn and sent them flying with the best of hopes. The hands inside the pockets of a worn, beige-coloured leather jacket, with a nondescript dark green shirt with a blue symbol on it that could vaguely resemble a bird, and red-brown leather trousers, the newcomer casually walked towards Nao while solidifying fully into reality. Coming to a halt in front of her, he took the initiative of the conversation, and bowed his dark-blonde head slightly in a gesture of appreciation and commended Nao on the remarkable work she has done, speaks highly about her patience and sense of duty, and assured her that he would not think there is anyone better suited for the task than Nao was. His facial features being amicable and the disarming smile and friendly eyes - which had a weird but very comfortable colour... but which actually? - assured Nao that he was not meant to cause any trouble or harm, and everything on this person looked like he was wholeheartedly honest about this. Even further radiating this gentle presence he proclaimed to be eager to fit in and see Erinn for himself, as well as not wanting to miss a golden opportunity to watch over an individual that he came to know, who happened to wash ashore on Erinn just recently. His closing words were the question of what clothing would be fitting for a newcomer like him, and Nao suggested something based on her perception and knowledge of fashion, as well as granting him with a benevolent smile the usual goodies she handed out to other first-time visitors who would soon after travel to solid ground. Being the Deity (Demigod / Halfgod / Guardian / whathaveyoulore) she was, there was no spark of deceit and danger she could sense from this one. With a smile and word of gratitude he took the tan-and-yellow casual wear and the small pack of goods and started to make his way past Nao, assuring her by pointing with his chin forward, that he "knows the way down there", while on the other side of the platform another wandering soul manifested and therefore demanded Nao's attention.

The woman who guarded the Soulstream's entrance might or might not have the senses to see what happens behind her back, so she either was or wasn't aware of how the man flung the casual wear on his shoulder, and the same moment this happened, his appearance shifted into a bit smaller and thinner frame of a young man, now with longer and darkbrown hair with a hint of red and eyes of a very tangible dark teal. Simultaneously the casual wear shifted in an instant to cover the body, the old clothing completely disappearing. The face now had the look of a rather good-minded rascal, with a spark in the eye that was both indicating a little boyish scoundrel as well as a helpful soul. It took merely the blink of an eye for all this shift to happen, and while it did, he was already half translucent and a moment later he appeared with a grin in front of Duncan, the Town Chief of Tir Chonaill.
Nao never had to ask for his name, because she always knew of the ones that came before her, and the person just passing by did not mention it as well. But Nao was aware that two layers of names were present... one for the body, and one for the being inside, and perhaps a third one that was strangely enveloping, however only those two names were really present and accessible. She knew that Peter walked past her, and that Khunvyel entered Erinn. And for some unfathomable and irrational reason, it was an alleviating thought.

Two things happened in Tir Chonaill. The first being the visit of a new Milletian - nothing ground breaking here - who introduced himself merely as "Pete" (( yes, Pete. not Peter, as you just read above )). Even though he had this vague glint of being a scallywag in his eyes, it came to be nothing more than just a sparky sense of humour, and there were no accidents or pranks happening extra while he was around. On the contrary, Pete got himself well established and rigorously worked those daytime jobs, and whenever he spoke to one of the residents, they got the feeling he really cared about what they say. Everyone got the feeling he is working just for the work's sake, to deliver the positive impact to others by helping them and getting the things required done, and less for the money. Sometimes he travelled and visited other areas of Uladh as well as Belfast and Iria but he always came back, dropped his bag behind a counter and picked up the work and the talk with a smile as if it was self evident. Occasionally he excused himself from the voluntary work to pursue a personal matter, so he said. No signs of nearby violence, death or other strange occurrences appeared while he was doing so. Every now and then, he dropped by the Alby and Ciar dungeons to do his willing share to keep the Fomors a little in check, but Pete appeared to not be big on heroic deeds worth of bard's tales and all the folks cheering to him. He did not throw himself into combat with the goal of glory and riches, he just did what was necessary. Over time, other towns got to know him vaguely too, also doing some jobs, friendly smalltalk and ferrying goods from the Trading Posts around. But he was nowhere as often as Tir Chonaill.

The other thing happening was the visit of a rather playful and charming Raccoon, who evidently found it's way up from Dugald Aisle in all curiousity. This Raccoon helped to fend off the red foxes from the poor hens and roosters, hugged and circled people's legs at random, and made hunt to some other pesky buggers like rats in the food cellar or something like that. Pete and the Raccoon were never seen together in the same place, but hey, who cared about that detail anyway? It really did not seem to disturb anyone, considering that Pete was known to be going away for a bit or being otherwise occupied, thus his temporary absence was perfectly valid.
And if only inhabitants of other towns and travellers far and few in between would talk just by chance about it, they would have agreed that they saw the one or the other Raccoon running far astray from their usual home grounds, in all of Uladh. Or could it have possibly been the same? Nah, too surreal a thought.

He appeared to be quite apt at fighting, but solid work just keept him far happier. Harvesting, gathering, operating the loom or the mill, sheering sheep, chopping wood, picking up the blacksmith hammer..., all this filled him with a lot more joy than burying his armoured knuckles into the flesh of Fomors with unrelenting force.
Pete enjoyed to share stories, and he seemed to have an boundless reservoir of fairytales, legends and mythical lore which kind of made sense in its own, and the way Pete told them, they almost sounded like he was remembering them as if he had been there, so good and delectable his storytelling was. Of course, the young man could never have experienced all this, not a chance, nobody would ever remotely believe that. Or would they? The fact he was Milletian was rather pulled back in the minds of others at the time where they were devouring the syllables pouring from his mildly smiling mouth. Sometimes, when talking to more experienced and knowledgeable persons in Erinn, like Duncan, Pete trailed off after a long talk and mentioned something about uncovering the mystery of a person, but it was too vague and very easily dismissed just right after.

How to catch up with Khunvyel in the world: Gossip in and from Tir Chonaill should provide enough information about him being there, hanging around and what he is doing most of the time. Perhaps even gossip about the Raccoon as well. If he is not there by chance (and not even the Raccoon!) then he is somewhere else, traversing the land, but is bound to come back to Tir Chonaill, as an ever-persistent constant.

(( OOC information: Khunvyel has not shared this name with anyone yet, he has not committed any doppelganger-ish act like one could suggest from the introduction with Nao. No, he always was the same person when he appeared human. Though he indeed is the Racoon mentioned, he makes it a directive onto himself to never show this to any of the Tuatha de Dananns, the Erinnborn people, and makes sure nobody catches him by suprise to uncover this secret. Other than that, whenever in public, he is more the average joe than anything else, albeit a friendly and enthusiastic one. He just savors this world, and makes sure he gets accustomed to it and avoid denting the sensitive nature of its paradigm. He would rather be struck down by a vicious monster than show a glimpse of his power. This is how much he cares for Erinn.
The connection I talked about at the start, is that just by nature, Kelsey is a topic of curiosity for Khunvyel, and would help him in the grand scheme of his metaplot, should Khunvyel be able to find out what is causing the "re-iteration of life" that Kelsey repeatedly has to go through. He "followed" the Elf since two deaths, and also came to realize that the life spans are not even necessarily bound by the ongoing fabric of time.))