Drake Von Marux

Character Description:
Drake Von Marux (Dmarux), an ashen of unknown originals, founder, and Jarl of the nation, turned the city of Reingard. He is a nobleman with experience in a few different trades (Farming/livestock, Blacksmithing/Mining, and Alchemy. While where he comes from is unknown (noble family or peasantry), he managed to rise the ranks as a nobleman and religious leader.

Appearance
His appearance is an average Ashen male, 7ft in height, 26 years of age, and is relatively bulky. He wears armor with a white fur pelt that hangs off his shoulders and down his back, but during political meetings, he'll wear more formal attire, always wearing an eye patch over his missing eye. Few people see the dragon tattoo on his right arm, the one he earned from his rite to manhood years prior.

Personality
Drake's nature is best described as friendly, caring, and loyal. However, when betrayed or attacked, his personality changes drastically. He'll become vengeful and actively think up ways to "return the favor" to those who harm him or his people.

Forge Mark:
As a smith, Drake leaves a mark on the weapons he’s forged. ☬

Titles
Jarl of Reingard

Warden of Leythe

High Shaman of the Stahl Riesa Church

Childhood:
Raised in the remote Sparwood village, he was left outside the village gate on a cold but clear December morning. When the guards found him, he had a missing eye and had a letter attached to him that read, "Raise him, his name is Drake." He was given to the Jarl of the village. Lighting struck the ground before him upon picking up the child. Shocking the crowd, the Jarl took the lighting as a sign and named the child he held "Drake Von Marux" (Meaning Dragon of Lightning). Over the years, he would grow up living among different households, he had already been told that he was abandoned as a baby, but this didn't keep his spirits down. He was generally like among most people, say for a few who saw him as a bad omen for the lighting incident years prior.

Teenage years:
During his teenage years, Drake began to prioritize learning multiple trades. While he had only one eye, he found that didn't prevent him from improving. Over the years that he lived in the village, he began working in Alchemy, Farming/Livestock, and mining skills. But, at 13, he found that he excelled at blacksmithing, which was unusual for his kind at that age. He dabbled in political learning, but he could only learn so much as the village was relatively remote from the political world. It wasn't until he turned 17 that he went on his first raid; it was a decent size village to the far west. He was told it was a rite of passage, that all village members before they turned 18 must perform a raid, regardless of if it was successful or not. They managed to get out alive without any casualty for either the raiding party or the village, let alone any fighting. While not as exciting as he had heard stories about, he had passed his rite. Upon their return, he was escorted to the village church, where the Shaman spoke, "Stand Dragon of Lighting, for you have passed your rite and are now a man," and gave him both a ring and a dragon tattoo.

Adulthood:
After turning 21, He left home to travel and explore the continent of Sparwood. He would spend months out on the road, exploring various cities and landscapes of Sparwood. After traveling far and wild, he found a ruined settlement in northern Sparwood, ending up in between the Arxella and Niedea borders. He discovered the remains of a previous settlement of Stahl Riese worshippers. Deciding to settle and return the settlement to its former glory, he began to rebuild what had been long destroyed, naming his new home "Ashbourne."

Ashbourne:
As he built up his new home, he would ensure the land's safety by purchasing the land from Arxella, attracting more people to his town, and finding the buried Vulkan Forge while excavating the ground. As his village grew, it soon became a small kingdom, and the land he owned became a nation. Although a small dot on the map, stuck between two giant countries, Drake's new nation of "Reingard '' would continue to grow. Drake and his Reingardians began to reach out to other nations for trade and alliances, joined the CSS, and watched the CSS collapse less than a month later. After a while, a former ally from the CSS approached Drake and offered him a deal; Reingard would join them and help form a Sparwood empire. After consulting his people and thinking about it, he signed the agreement and helped create the Frosmyre Empire. Drake decided that he could take some time off and travel with the new treaty in place, but he discovered a nightmare upon his return. Upon returning home from traveling, it was discovered that Reingard had been robbed in the middle of the night. After some investigating, it was determined that only the castle had been thoroughly looted; the people and their homes were untouched. Although he tried to calm the people, Drake could not stop the spread of fear, with people terrified about whether or not the thief(s) would return to take more. As a result, people fled, leaving a small unprepared population. With no other choices, Drake made the ultimate choice to take his remaining people and find better lands. After speaking with one of the leaders of the new Frosterium empire, Drake and his people made the journey to a new land down south, a new land where they have since started building a small village called New Reingard. (See the Reingard page for the nation's info, history, ext...)

New beginnings:
After settling the population in Leythe, Drake began to work tirelessly to establish his home in the new area. He and his people started to replant trees on the barren landscape, gathering mass sums of resources from the ruins that littered the land and building up a stock of food so they would not starve. He would brave the blood rains (October 2021) to gather resources, wandering the land, searching for essentials, and make diplomatic efforts to ensure his people were treated right with the various changes in Leythe nationality. He led his people through the various political changes, from the Frosterium to Paradise, Tovarshiva to Avaria. It took time, but after what felt like years, he had managed to secure the safety of his town.

Relighting of the Leythe Sword:
On (1/9/22), while traveling to Leythe city, Drake discovered that the Sword of Leythe, a giant sword statue that radiated with magic, was desecrated by an unknown individual. He quickly sent word to the Avaria (NAR) government, the news spread like wildfire. While the structure was repaired rapidly, the magic had left the sword, leaving Leythe with no light. Darkness and plague soon befell the land, livestock began to die, and crops ceased to grow. So, with permission from Higher-ups in the NAR, Drake set out to plea to his gods in hopes of relighting the sword. Finally, on (1/12/22), the ritual began. He and a group consisting of members of the NAR government and the Stahl Riesa church would gather.

Drake would stand before the sword, then he called out. Calling to Vulkan, the Stahl Riesa, the Master of the Forges, hopes that the god would show mercy on the land. At first, it was a silence that felt like an eternity, but then as if on cue, the sword sparked to life. With the Leythe Sword restored to its former glory, Drake returned to Reingard to await what the future had next in-store.

Warden of Leythe & Changing tides:
On (1/24/22), the High Elder of the NAR (New Avarian Republic) placed Drake in charge of Leythe. This, however, would be short-lived as (2/10/22) when the Elder requested that both he and the previous man in charge of Leythe co-run Leythe. He was made a warden, tasked with helping the smaller villages and settlements of Leythe develop. But this was to change quickly as of 2/18. In the earlier hours of the morning (2/18), it was announced that the High Elder of Avaria had disappeared. With the high Elder disappearance, the race was one for his replacement, done by the voting. The Grand general Afferman, Warden/Jarl Drake, and former royal Vali were Stepping up to the run. Election day came, and Drake lost, only coming in second place. However, this didn’t go well as, within a few days, the Regonia state announced they had had enough of harsh treatment and discrimination, declared independents, and separated from the nation. Things quickly went downhill as other nations opened up to the now weakened country.