RipleyTheAxolotl

"Thoughts on pasta?"-RipleyTheAxolotl 2022

(Portrait 1 drawn by Acerina, and portrait 2 drawn by Quaza)

RipleyTheAxolotl is a humanoid with the features of an axolotl, such as pink skin, and red gills on the sides of his head. He stands at 6'3", making him taller than average, due to his species slightly extended limbs, and just below the height to not have to duck when moving through doorways. He has purple eyes, with a scar over the left one. He is usually seen wearing a short olive coat, on the right shoulder of which are the tattered remnants of a hood attached to the coat. It is made if a strange material, as durable and protective as diamond, yet light and breathable like silk. Ripley has not elaborated on where he got his coat or what ripped the hood. On the harness he wears, he has a tough leather pauldron on the left shoulder, and a quiver of red fletched arrows strapped over his back, along with various pouches and satchels. His footwear consists of riding boots with stirrups, or engineer boots on other occasions. He always wears a pair of black gloves he used to wear to hide his constantly bruised knuckles, now he simply wears them because he likes them. While Ripley is a well-known figure, no one has seen his entire face, being covered by his old brown tricorn hat, and/or with his grey scarf, the only one seeing his full face being his husband Ceannard Cogaidh V. Ripley can also be seen wearing various other outfits, such as suits and other coats. He is seen in Rathnir, manning his bar DaLounge with his friend HotDogDude42, or visiting his husband’s palace in Vasteria.



Personality
RipleyTheAxolotl is a humble individual, only boasting for comedic purposes, and prefers to cite his own accomplishments and capabilities instead of relying on relations with other famous people. He usually prefers to simply be called Ripley, rather than any last names or titles he possesses. While he is a popular figure, he gives his allegiance to no religion or nation, but still has good relations with most people and groups, along with affiliating with more universal guilds. Through many years of hardship, battle, and life experience, he has grown into a calculating, shrewd individual, but maintains extreme loyalty to friends, family, and certain principles.

Species
RipleyTheAxolotl is a part of a species called the Axolotians.

Experiments
The first 2 parts of a journal RipleyTheAxolotl stole from The Professor, the maker of the axolotian species, titled "Journey", and "Experiments" (Not published yet), document The Professor's journey on how he ended up making the Axolotians, with a majority of the information known about the Axolotians coming from it. The rest of the journal is used as a diary by RipleyTheAxolotl, documenting his many misadventures, and his early life on the run.

Skills and Abilities
Being an Axolotian, he has all the abilities that come with it. These include Incredible regeneration, which has allowed him to survive many injuries that would be fatal to other beings. This power has been enhanced the more abuse Ripley has taken and the longer he has survived, now to the point that the only thing that might permanently kill him is getting completely incinerated to ash. Other abilities include enhanced stamina, speed, strength, heightened senses, etc. all enhanced to the level of being able to pull off many feats such as easily dodging speeding arrows, killing a man in iron armor with just his fists, being able to run for days without tiring, and being able to sense movement and sound through solid walls, or from half a mile away. Aside from his natural abilities, he is a good marksman with a bow, and skilled in the art of stealth, and assassination. He mainly prefers to hunt his enemies when they do not expect it, using intimidation and surprise tactics, and his various weapons effectively. Though, he makes exceptions to these tactics if he judges individuals as honorable and worthy opponents, and will then fight them face to face in single combat. While he possesses much skill and technique in fighting, he is also a scrappy fighter who is proficient with his fists, able to beat enemies to a pulp with experience gained in a fight pit. Aside from his fighting skills, he has proved to be an adept brewer when coming to Rathnir, founding DaLounge, his famous bar, which has risen to great success due to Ripley employing his charm to connect with the customers, and the use of his skill with marketing and advertising to interest people into coming to his bar. This skill with people has also secured him land in Vraelea without being a citizen, and helps make his public image very likeable.

Weaknesses
Ripley is weak to getting burned, and ingesting alcohol, like the rest of the axolotian species. While Ripley's regenerative ability has grown so strong that barely anything can kill him, he can still be weakened and/or incapacitated if injured enough. Ripley mainly specializes in fighting the mythic monsters that often plague the lands of Rathnir, but has more trouble with fighting other people. While he is proficient with various weapons and is a decent swordsmen, Ripley is far from the best. While he excels at underhanded tactics and dirty tricks, he usually views them as dishonorable and prefers to face his opponents face to face in fair fights most of the time. Due to his method of attack being very offensive, opponents have been able to exploit how exposed he leaves himself, or like his friends HotDogDude42 and hitthepin, use a more defensive form and focus on counterattacking him.

Family Life
Ripley had no surname or titles when he first came to Rathnir, only receiving the surname Cogaidh when he married Ceannard. While he is distantly related to other families such as the Marshal family, the Bakura dynasty, and House De Manteu through Ceannard, he mainly prefers to not be called by any surname, only referred to by the surname Cogaidh in formal settings. He has lived many years, and has many adopted grandchildren, and an adopted son named Sherman. Ripley's work with the Maple Adventurers' Guild, DaLounge, and hunting mythical monsters keep him busy most of the time, resulting in him being estranged to most of the family lines he is a part of, but he has kept a well-functioning long distance relationship with his husband.

Getting Married
Ripley first met his husband Ceannard in Athazolant, where they became acquainted with each other, and would grow to be close friends from the time they spent together. On one to Ceannard's town Crescada, Ripley would watch him get married to four people. While this would upset Ripley and make him slightly jealous, and he would not speak to Ceannard for a while. But when it became more apparent that Ceannard had a drinking problem, Ripley would continue visiting him to try and help him. With Ripley's help and support, he did so. Afterward, Ceannard would divorce his previous partners, and he and Ripley would get engaged during the merging of the Frosterium, and marry months later, where Ripley would take the last name Cogaidh. (He did so because he previously had no family nor last name)

Weapons
Over the course of his long life and many adventures, Ripley has acquired a large arsenal of powerful weapons. This is a list of them in the canon chronological order he has obtained them.

ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ʖ╎ℸ ̣ ᓵ⍑ ᓭꖎᔑ||ᒷ∷
"A katana seemingly made with a damascus-like combination of emerald and diamond" This would be the first weapon Ripley would obtain in his massive collection. After losing his home when the horse thief attacked, Ripley would run as far away from home as he can get. After working as a miner under a boss who was involved with questionable business practices, and possibly nefarious connections, he murdered his boss in self defense and was on the run again. After an encounter with bounty hunters hired to kill him (likely hired by those nefarious connections), Ripley would get into a scuffle with them. Another warrior would then join the fray. Armed with a netherite naginata and katana, he helped Ripley dispatch the adversaries. Ripley would go on a few adventures with the mysterious swordsman who said he was from a land in the east. He told Ripley his name was hitthepin. During their time together, hitthepin would train Ripley in the ways of the sword, and instill in him a strong code of honor in battle, and in duels. Even though Ripley often had to put these values aside as he ran into situations where he had to prioritize survival over honor, he would always keep these teachings with him, and practice them whenever possible. Before they parted ways, hitthepin would gift Ripley a katana of unknown material, Ripley guessing it being a strange alloy-like combination of emerald and diamond resembling Damascus, judging by the blue and green waves that can be seen in the blade. He would use it to defend himself on his travels, and to face worthy opponents in honorable duels, even to this day.

Ripley's Longbow
"A great bow carved of dark oak, carried by Ripley on his many adventures." While it may not be as powerful or as expensive as many of his other weapons, he has been saved by it many times, and has slain many with it. There is much mystery regarding the origin of this weapon. From what Ripley has told, he carved it when he became a ranger in the far off land he lived his early life in. He has also said this was where he acquired his iconic olive coat. He said the forest the rangers inhabited was a massive one. With dark oak trees as large as small castles. Due to reasons he has not told, he had to move on, but implied that something horrible happened which forced him to leave. He has developed great speed and accuracy with the bow, and many have seen on several occasions his skill with it, pulling off shots that many people are incapable of. Even drawing the bow is a tall task, with a draw weight of 150 pounds, it is an abnormally strong bow, able to whip arrows into people at record speeds, shattering bone and piercing flesh. Over time, he has heavily modified the longbow overtime, making it foldable to make it more compact for travel, with it functioning as a compound bow when the longbow form would be too cumbersome.

Green Death
"Villagers, a race long gone from Rathnir, forged a blade of their most precious gem, to be wielded by a hero that would vanquish evil." This was the first weapon Ripley obtained when first coming to Rathnir. As he explored the land, he swam deep into the ocean. After days of swimming down there, he came across a giant sunken city. It appeared to be villager architecture. It was a miracle he found it, as Villagers went extinct in Rathnir long ago. He saw that the people of this city worshipped Neo-Axolotians as gods of the ocean, judging by the many ruined statues of them he found. He would eventually come across a tomb. He would search it for loot. In a special section of the tomb, which Ripley assumed was reserved for royalty, Ripley opened a coffin, and pulled out a tarnished object. Curious to see what this was, he brought it back up to the surface. After restoring the object, he could see it was an emerald sword. Studying it, he found that those who have pure hearts can make the weapon glow brightly, unlocking it's full magical potential. While he is unworthy of the blade, the glow of it dimming when he holds it, it is a weapon he refuses to use in battle. Instead, Ripley guards this weapon until a worthy hero comes to claim it. After many years, he would give it to Grant Legoman for defending him in battle.

Song of The Tide and Dance of The Tide
After an adventure where Ripley and HotDog found the kingdom of the Neo Axolotians. The massive underground ocean was buried over thousands of years, and only revealed as fissures opened up deeper into the earth. They helped the Neo Axolotians in their war against the guardians, fearsome sea monsters that shoot lasers and bristle with spikes. As a reward, Ripley was gifted The Song of The Tide. A trident that had bonded itself to him, that he can call to his hand, and use to channel the power of ocean storms. He was also given the Dance of The Tide. A trident that allowed him to fly through water and rain, like waves over the ocean. These tridents are made of a special alloy of prismarine and netherite, promptly name prismerite.

Lightbane and Nightbane
Two very powerful swords, gifted to Ripley by his friend Noctis when he married Ceannard. Found under a temple that worshipped a god of light, Lightbane purifies all that it touches. The exact opposite to it's counterpart, Nightbane. No one knows where the sword came from, but it corrupts all that it touches. After testing how the blades interact with each other, Ripley has learned that they act as balancers for each other. A person cannot wield Lightbane for an extended period of time, without disintegrating from the sheer purity of the weapon, nor do the same for Nightbane, without giving in to it's corruption. But by wielding both swords, the powers of the sword will counter each other, and prevent the wielder from dying. Lightbane is a weapon that appears to be particularly effective against demons and other creatures of darkness, while corruptable beings such as humans, and those of similar origins, along with beings to an affinity with light, are susceptible to the corruption of Nightbane.

BlackBone
"Forged from the spine of a wither, This bastard sword is a lethal weapon" On another adventure with HotDog, the pair would track down and prevent a band of Segra followers from releasing a wither and an undead army onto the world of Rathnir. After the journey, and thankfully killing the wither before it did any damage, Ripley would take it's spine, and forge a sword out of it. The sword appears to have a remnant of the wither's power, where cuts from it can inflict wither, a deadly force that eats at the flesh and soul of a victim.

Burgamerian Royal Rapier
"A beautiful, but simple and functional rapier, carried by members of the Burgamerian royal family" With Ceannard becoming the Eternal Khadir of Burgamere, this made everyone that is part of House Cogaidh royalty. Ripley would commission for rapiers to be forge as a symbol of nobility and status and was intended for each member to carry one of these expertly crafted rapiers. While this was supposed to be standard issue for all Cogaidh house members, only one was forged where Ripley would eventually give it to Ceannard. It is an extremely nimble and maneuverable blade, often used for quick and graceful stabs.

Maple Adventurer's Halberd
"This halberd collecting dust in the guild's headquarters in Gaular, it has been restored, and used to battle mythical monsters." The halberd is made out of a material Ripley has only seen once before, which is leafsteel. It is the same material that the ripped remnants of a hood on Ripley's coat are made of, but it seems to be a stiffer version of it. The durability allowed the weapon to be forged with an extremely thin edge, making it extremely sharp and deadly, and while it is a brutal weapon, it is also very versatile, making it perfect for fighting the many monsters Ripley hunts. The decision to restore the weapon would come after a hunting party lead by Hinda Bolodrov had a particularly nasty run-in with a couple of Ent Kings.

hitthepin's Naginata
"A powerful naginata wielded by the ronin hitthepin" When hitthepin would leave for his homeland, he would leave Ripley with his naginata and armor.

Additional Combat Tools
Aside from his main weapons, Ripley has other tools that can help him in fights that he uses from time to time.

Redstone prosthetics
After losing his eye, arm, and leg when Segra attacked Tortuga, Ripley would receive redstone prosthetics welded by his husband Ceannard. While they did not work as well as his normal limbs, Ripley saw potential in them as tools. After he grew his limbs back with the help of Gaian magic, he would modify the prosthetics so he could simply wear them. The arm gives him extra protection on his arm, along with increased strength. The foot on the leg can shoot out for a powerful kick, or to leap with greater vertical height, or over a longer distance. The redstone eye allows Ripley to see openings in his opponent's defense, or see where they will strike next (Canon explanation for seeing hitboxes).

Enderpearl Harness
Underneath his clothes, Ripley sometimes wears a harness that employs enderpearl technology to summon weapons, with teleporters on his back, wrists, and in his quiver, allowing him to pull a seemingly infinite amount of arrows from it, with his satchel working similarly (canon explanation for inventory). From the teleporter on his back, he can summon larger weapons such as his tridents, or BlackBone. From the teleporters on his wrists, he can summon his rapier, katana, Lightbane and Nightbane, or his longbow. However, there is a limit to this. The teleporters require a charge, and when overworked, can become unusable, indicated by the teleporter sparking or fizzling out.

hitthepin's Armor
"A powerful set of samurai armor worn by the ronin hitthepin" hitthepin, Ripley's good friend and mentor, would leave Ripley with his samurai armor as he left Rathnir to journey back to his homeland. Ripley would then restore and upgrade the old set of armor, making it nigh indestructible, where whoever wears it would become an unstoppable juggernaut. Ripley often wears this armor on many hunts for mythical monsters, and into battle.

Ripley's Niedene Armor
"A suit of Niedene armor modified and upgraded by Ripely for additional protection and mobility" With the help of his friend Xemhased, Ripley and Xemhased obtained a rare suit of Niedene armor, and modified the suit to accentuate Ripley's speed and agility, while providing high amounts of protection. It took the pair months to finish the armor that now serves as Ripley's main monster hunting suit, usually only using hitthepin's armor when dealing with greater threats.

Ripley's Journal
Ripley's Journal is a documentation of much of Ripley's life. When Ripley left The Professor's lab, he took The Professor's journal with him. This is why the beginning part of the journal will be about how The Professor made the Axolotians. The rest of it is a first person telling of Ripley's life and adventures. The journal will be released in different segments, each of which are prominent parts of Ripley's life that shaped him into he is today. It it not yet released to the public as of now.

The Horse Thief
Although Ripley's journal is not available to read, he has told stories which he had recorded in his journal. The first known story in the journal was of how Ripley lost his eye. In a far off land from Rathnir, Ripley lived peacefully, and worked at a horse stable. One day, a thief stole a prized stallion under Ripley's care, and got it killed. It was blown up by a creeper, an explosive creature that is abundant outside of Rathnir and Eldham. In his anger and desire for justice, Ripley takes up a sword and attempts to take his revenge on the horse thief. Even with his specie's abilities, Ripley was young, inexperienced, and far outmatched by the cutthroat bandit. In the ensuing battle, Ripley was defeated, and his Eye was slashed by a cursed flaming sword, burning it. The pain and burning of this wound had tormented Ripley for a long time, until he decided to gouge out the burned eye to allow a new one to grow back. The scar can still be seen over his left eye though. Then, to add insult to injury, Ripley staggered home to find his home and the rest of the town ransacked and burning, the rest of the horses and other people that lived there massacred. With nothing left their, Ripley scrounged up what money he could, and boarded a boat off the continent.

The Fight Pit
The details of this story are much more unknown. The time at which this took place is difficult to determine. All the information known is that Ripley was 6 years old at the time, making it a year or less until he would come to Rathnir from that point. Ripley has not disclosed much on this story. Only that he and his friends were captured by someone who Ripley had angered in the past. They were then forced to brawl in a fight pit, where people would watch and bet on them. In one such fight, Ripley had to face his best friend, a 16 year old human boy. Initially, Ripley did not want to fight him, but ultimately ended up breaking the boy's neck. Since it was too quick of a fight, they let 10 more people, most likely captured like him, into the fight pit. They had knives. Ripley snapped and went insane, not seeing the scared faces of his opponents as he beat them into the ground, not feeling the several knives they jammed into him, and not hearing their screams, only the pounding of his heart in his ears, and feeling the rush of blood pumping to his head and seeing red. He only felt the need to satisfy the animalistic desire to kill. He would stop caring about his life, and the lives of those around him. He became hollow, and in the pit, he killed without remorse, whether or not it was one of his friends, or someone else who was forced into the life of suffering like him. It is unknown how he escaped, but it is clear that this was the most mentally scarring event of his life. The tipping point where many of his mental problems and erratic behavior originated from.

Coming To Rathnir
RipleyTheAxolotl decided to come to Rathnir when his friend/mentor hitthepin contacted him for his skill at mining, to get diamonds for Vraelea. Ripley decided this would be a good decision, since he was once again on the run. So immigrating to Rathnir, he meets an old fisher name HotDogDude42, and gets equipped with quality tools and gear, and sets off to find diamonds for Vraelea.

Working as a Miner
Ripley's first occupation was a miner, that supplied Vraelea with a large amount of diamonds. Mainly uneventful. But an interesting story when first coming to Rathnir, is how he acquired an emerald sword named the Green Death.

Sandburg
In his early days on Rathnir, Ripley would come across a town called Sandburg when traveling in his spare time. It was a humble little town in the middle of the desert. Ripley would continue to come back, and make friends, such as Dominik of Sandburg, Clokemaster123, BMKERR, and Valeania. By this time, Ripley and the other three had come to Rathnir recently, all before their rises to fame and power. When Ripley first came to Sandburg, Lilyprism would manipulate the citizens, goading them into war, and then massacring them. Ripley would then donate some of his money he got from mining for Vraelea. Afterward, his visits to the town would decrease, and it would fall on times of turmoil once again, in which today, it is now a ghost town.

Creating DaLounge
DaLounge is a renowned bar in Rathnir located under an outhouse at 4870/64/520. It was a lush cave found by Ripley on a mining trip. Thinking it would be a great place to put a bar, an idea that hitthepin, and HotDogDude42 had been talking about to Ripley for a while at the time. So they began construction of a fancy looking bar with the the highest quality drinks for everyone to enjoy. But after a while, the natural plant life of the cave began to creep back in.

Managing DaLounge
With hitthepin, and HotDogDude42 busy, It was mostly up to Ripley to man DaLounge, since he owned the land. At first, he knew nothing about brewing, mainly there to make sure there was no trouble at the bar. But one day, he was taught the basics by a mysterious cloaked stranger. He would then go on to hone his skill at the craft, and now holds himself responsible for making the high quality drinks sold at the bar with the DaLounge team, consisting of hitthepin, who invested money into the bar to initially get it off the ground, and HotDogDude42, who is the official manager of DaLounge. There is also DenoraDoodles, CrashSyndicate, Laughedcoast817 who were additionally employed by Ripley and Hotdog to help out with brewing. Dommic would later be hired to sell cheese at DaLounge as well. When he is not working the bar, he is usually handling affairs in the Maple Adventurer's Guild, mining for gold, hunting mythical monsters, or forging powerful weapons.

Meeting The Gaians
After Ripley and his bar would become well established figures in Rathnir, He would come across a town called Iabet inhabited by an environmentalist tribe called The Gaians. He loved the lushness of the town, and it's large trees, their great size reminding him of when he was a ranger, though, his memory of that time and why he left is somewhat blurred for some reason. He would make friends with the matron of the Gaians, the Assoti Adashi Cornaro, who would teach him about the Gaian culture, and how to use the koruma, which was an iconic Assoti weapon. Ripley would become very popular with the citizens of Iabet, and make some friends in the town. Those being Behetee, Aule the Faded, Noctis, Rasana, and others. Aule and Noctis would die in a tragic event (But would be ressurected), the only thing Ripley knowing about it is that it had something to do with a curse. Eventually, even the Gaian Tribe would be disbanded, and the Assoti faced the dangerous prospect of extinction, with the death of Adashi. but those that were devoted to the cause would continue on in the from of the Bleeding Hearts league. Eventually a new Assoti queen named Skarn Melithera Talatra would fill the role Adashi left behind, and found the Assoti Matriarchy of Farthorn, with her husband Enzohh Talatra. Due to the good relations and trust Ripley had had built with the Assoti and Farthorni citizens, he would be granted the title of Sergeant in their military. Despite him being a sergeant of the Assoti military, he does not officially affiliate or officially give his allegiance to the nation of Farthorn, merely being an independent operative that provides counsel.

Exile
One day, Ripley decided to visit a town called Leolia. When he went there, he got bored after a while, and began pretending to set things on fire in the town. The leader of the town, Tpiddles, then stabbed Ripley, and killed his horse. This triggers Ripley, who then traveled back to the town, and after staking him out, Ripley brutally beat and stabbed Tpiddles. Right after this, Ripley gets banished. It is largely unknown what Ripley has done during this time, but he has told a select few a little bit about his experience in exile. He describes how he was suddenly teleported to a jungle island, where many monsters resided, such as zombies, skeletons, and creepers. During his time in exile, Ripley hunkered down in a treehouse, and would fight the sinister creatures off every night, wearing him down greatly. Then, when his exile was over, he immediately was teleported back to his bar, looking very much disheveled.

The Defense of Tortuga
when the war goddess Segra attacked Tortuga, Ripley took up arms with many others against her forces. When he arrived in Tortuga, the island was in total chaos. An army of wither skeletons in full netherite armor, a pack of giant zombies, and other monsters clashed with the defenders in the water, and on the docks. The carnage was unbelievable. Rioley leapt into the fray, slaying many of the undead, and even downed a giant with his longbow. He fought hard, throwing himself on the enemies until his armor cracked off of his body. Then, after a long, hard battle, with many losses, Ripley was ambushed by A follower of Segra named Jepen. He and other Segra worshippers were silently picking off people during the battle. After most of the fighting was over, Ripley was slumped over. Battered, bloodied, and exhausted. He staggered around the docks, looking at the carnage, which was when he came across Jepen. He was too exhausted and injured to defend himself when Jepen attacked him. Using a weapon called the GodSlayer, Jepen would cut off Ripley’s left arm and right leg, and due to the powerful fire magic the sword had, Ripley would likely not regenerate back from the injuries. He would be one of the many that would fall by Jepen's blade that day. He would eventually be recovered from the battle field, and his husband, who has had experience with welding, fashioned him prosthetic limbs powered by redstone.

The Defense of Ecclesia
As Kartek tried to invade all of Sparwood, The Confederation of Sparwood founded by Ecclesia, and a few other nations would oppose them. Although he was not a citizen of any of the nations part of the confederation, he would join the fight. One battle, Ripley had lost an arm and a leg the day before from Segra’s attack on tortuga, and half of their forces could not show up. They were heavily outnumbered by the enemy. Despite the odds that they faced, the soldiers stood tall. Before the battle, Ripley made a campfire in Voskovy, for the other soldiers to come and relax, in order to put them at ease before the fighting began. Then, when the site of the battle would move, he traveled there with his friend mezur. As they traveled, the friends talked about how they were doing, and how Ripley's marriage was going so far, catching up with each other's lives as this was the first time, they saw each other in a while. When they got to the bunker, Ripley would rally the troops with inspirational speeches, and crack light hearted jokes about the most important reason for being there was to protect his bar. He would be on the wall when the fighting began, being seen sniping enemies from the high vantage point. Then, when the Kartek forces breached the walls, the order to fall back would come. But Ripley and a few others stayed behind at the wall, delaying the enemy as the main force would retreat to a more defendable position. He would be brought down by several men, being chased down and brutally stabbed beyond the point of fighting. Fortunately, he would end up recovering from the battle, and rejoining the fight against Kartek.

Motivations
Ripley does not have any affiliations nationalities to countries. When questioned as to why he would fight for the Confederation, he said,

"I do not fight for Ecclesia, or any nation at all. I fight for myself. You see, if Kartek gets what it wants, thats bad for business. Right now, things are good as they are, and my bar is doing great. So, by supporting the Confederation and making sure Kartek never takes over all of Sparwood, the status quo is maintained, and my interests are protected."-RipleyTheAxolotl 2022

Ripley' bar (and the rest of Sparwood) would be protected, as The Confederation would continue to resist Kartek. After years of death and bloodshed, peace would be negotiated, and Kartek's conquest to massacre Sparwood would be stopped.

New Limbs
As new threats such as Segra, and mythical monsters invading Rathnir, Ripley decided that he would have to be more agile and dextrous. More than what Ceannard's prosthetics would provide him with. With this goal, he rode to Iabet, where his friend behetee performed a surgery on him. The process consisted of his spine being infused with assoti cells. While this would not change him in appearance, it would make him susceptible to the flowering, in which an assoti would experience significant neurological changes, and their muscles and skeletal structure would be replaced with plant life. This was an extremely risky operation where if anything did go wrong, Ripley would have been permanently changed from his old self, and not for the better. Fortunately, everything went according to plan, and Ripley would grow new limbs consisting of lush plant life and spore blossoms. Overtime, the plant life decayed and the wood of the arm and leg decayed and began thinning to a skeletal shape. At this point, his flesh grew back over the substitute bone and his limbs were restored.

Losing his Weapons
One day, something strange was happening at Arundel. Ripley gathered his gear and took to go investigate. When he got there, there were already a few people there. Suddenly, dozens of fiery birds appeared. One of them threw Ripley up into the air. As he struggled, and tried to free himself from the bird’s grasp, he got in a good stab, killing it. But by doing so, there was nothing left to stop him from falling. He hit the ground hard. The impact broke every single bone in his body and knocked him unconscious. After ten days and nights, he woke back up. His bones healed, but he still felt extremely sore. As he gathered his bearings, he noted that all of his armor and weapons were gone. This was a devastating loss for Ripley, losing the katana gifted to him by hitthepin, along with his precious longbow. He does not know if his weapons were stolen or destroyed, but he hopes to find them again one day. Fortunately, he was able to locate his bow shortly after, but took a few more years to track down the katana.

The Abyssal Isles incident
Strange occurrences and encounters with strange monsters and beasts are not uncommon in Rathnir. One of these was a beast crawling out of the pit at The Abyssal Isles, aptly being named the Pit Beast. When this new threat to Rathnir arose, Ripley and many other players responded to cries for help from the residents of the isles. After a long and hard battle, Ripley and everyone else that participated in the defense of The Abyssal Isles received a reward of 10 gold blocks. LegoTool, the one who delivered the final blow to the Pit Beast received an artifact, though Ripley did not see what it was.

Watt and Blightboy's Wedding
Newly being anointed as royalty, Ripley would hear about a wedding at a town called New Pill. As he had nothing to do that night, Ripley would travel there to have some fun, and take a break from brewing. To his good fortune, his Grandaughter Acerina Alastair would also be there. She was with there with her boyfriend, Quaza_Illay, who Acerina would formally introduce to Ripley, as he and Quaza only met one time when Ripley visited his bar one time. Unfortunately, they did not get much time to talk more, the wedding being crashed by several bandits, who began harassing the partygoers. This would result in Ripley being stabbed through the chest. Being very disappointed with this turn of events and with new gaping hole in his chest, Ripley would go home and sleep it off.

Acerina and Quaza's Wedding
While Ripley received an invite to his granddaughter's wedding, he could not attend, as he was too busy brewing for DaLounge. When he was done though, he made his way to where the wedding was in hopes of catching a little bit of the party. But when he got there, everyone was gone. Contacting Quaza, who was now married to Acerina. he was told they moved to a city called Nahrayn. Ripley rode to Nahrayn, but saw Acerina wasn't there. When he aquired about this, Quaza told him that a jealous suitor and his friends raided the wedding, and attempted to kidnap Acerina. Fortunately, the attendees of the wedding launched a rescue party and saved her, but she would be badly shaken up from the experience, and go home. Ripley would search for the people that ruined her wedding, with the intention of taking their heads. However, he would stand down when Acerina divorced Quaza and married one of the kidnappers, Only100Gamer. He would respect the marriage, but would keep an eye on the man, and would have no reservations about killing him if he stepped out of line. He would still maintain good relations with Quaza, and while they were still not directly related, Quaza would still address Ripley as his grandfather.

Supporting NowaJagoda
NowaJagoda, a town in the Burgamerian would come under attack by Certaria. Feeling like it was his duty as Burgamerian royalty, Ripley would help supply the troops with diamonds for their gear, overall donating 10k and a stack of diamond blocks to the war effort. These contributions would pay off, as they continue to help in supporting the defense of the town as the war still goes on.

Maple Adventurers' Guild
Ripley would be contacted by Rhapsody Azadivar. He would ask Ripley to join the Maple Adventurer's guild, a guild dedicated to guiding people new to Rathnir and Eldham, and connect them with other players, nations, and guilds to help them find their foothold in the world, and to fight unknown and dangerous threats that present themselves in the world. Rhapsody wanted Ripley for his experience gathered on adventures, battles, and connecting with the people of Rathnir. He offered for Ripley to join the council of grandmasters that ran the guild as it's great warrior. Ripley accepted this offer, and has joined the grandmaster council as it's great warrior. Although he feels his skills have somewhat dulled with his age, he still believes he can teach people how to fight well enough, along with the ethics and philosophies he has developed about fighting. He also plans to contribute to the guild beyond his role as great warrior, with his bar always being open to the people of Rathnir, willing to answer questions, and give out advice.

Hunting Mythic Monsters
With his position as great warrior in the Maple Adventurer's Guild, he can be seen at many sites where monsters appear, with a couple guild members accompanying him. One occurrence that stood out was when a catalyst appeared in the town of Gaular. Notified by Rhapsody, Ripley gathered his weapons. Joined by Fredrik Outlander, A keeper in the guild, and iBoxForUSPostal, a squire, they were able to take the catalyst down after a hard and long fight.

Inheriting hitthepin's Armor
hitthepin was from the eastern part of the world he and Ripley came from. He used to be a warrior known as a samurai, but his lord was killed in a coup, making him a ronin, which was a samurai without a lord. He was forced to flee his homeland and encountered Ripley on his travels. They would go on many adventures together, and would teach Ripley much about weapons and fighting from his homeland, such as the katana and naginata. They would eventually go on their separate ways, but would meet again when hitthepin would invite Ripley to come to Rathnir. After many years of residing in Rathnir, he would decide to go back to his homeland. But before he went, he would leave Ripley with his old samurai armor and naginata, that Ripley would restore, and upgrade.

Segra Raid on DaLounge
One quiet night at DaLounge, Ripley and a few other customers would be at DaLounge. Then, the well-known Segra-worshipper and bandit Cassie would threaten Ripley with a crossbow, and take the other customers hostage with the help of some other Segra worshippers. Despite how skilled of a fighter Cassie was, her battle prowess far exceeding Ripley's, he still wasn't fazed, and for a moment Cassie was distracted, Ripley slipped into the staff room, donned hitthepin's amor and locked himself in there. After an unsuccessful attempt to neutralize the raiders, he was pushed back into the staff room, being overwhelmed by their numbers. His friend HotDogDude42 would come to help. They would poke their weapons through the window, attempting to stab at the raiders as they attempted to do the same. They would reach an impasse, with the raiders unable to force their way into the staff room, and Ripley and HotDog unable to leave, Cassie would attempt to give them an ultimatum: leave the staffroom or the hostages would be killed. Ripley would then reply,

"Have you read the sign? DaLounge is not responsible for death, lost items, or sex on site, so if you kill the hostages, it is not really my problem."-RipleyTheAxolotl 2022

By this point, news of this raid would become widespread, and were listening in on the situation. Cassie would then shout that Segra owns DaLounge. Ripley would respond saying Segra had come to his bar, and mockingly declare,

"Congragulations Segra, you have been promoted to customer."-RipleyTheAxolotl 2022

More fighting would ensue, and Cassie and another raider named Klasma would force their way into the staff room, where Ripley and HotDog would isolate them and pick them off one at a time. Ripley would get the killing blow on each of them with hitthepin's naginata. After this, peace would be negotiated, and Cassie and Klasma would be allowed to retrieve their possessions. The events of this night would once again reaffirm Ripley's reputation as cunning, calculating, ruthless, and a force to be reckoned with.

Defending The Oasis
One day, a temple in the middle of the desert by an oasis would be subject to an attack by a massive army of orcs. Many monster hunters and other people from all walks of life came to defend the temple. Ripley would grab his weapons and hitthepin's armor, and rushed to the defense of the temple. It was chaos when he got there. The orcs were already striking down many of the defenders, and meteors were rained down from the sky. To protect from the blasts, Ripley quickly constructed barricades out of the broken pieces of rubble that were the entrance to the temple with a pickaxe he had on hand, and would join the battle, killing many orcs with his katana and halberd. After the initial wave, the orcs sent giants and their boars in another attempt to break into the temple. By this time, more reinforcements had arrived to defend the temple as well, armed more readily than those that were already there. After a brutal battle, the orcs and boars would also be struck down, and during the battle, a meteor containing a cat would fall to the earth. It would be called Meteorcat, and after the orcs would be vanquished, cocosmitty would claim the land it was in to protect it, naming it the Temple of Meteorcat. The orc king then came in person to seize the temple, accompanied by more orcs and giants, but the defenders and hunters were able to kill the king, and finally repel the invaders. Many people were killed and wounded defending the temple, but those that remained looted valuable spoils from the dead. Ripley obtained a golden nugget with fiery properties, which he would fashion into a ring, to punch people and set them on fire with. He would later work on repairing and improving the temple after the attack.

Entering The Scumoctacon
When Segra made the second scumoctacon and trapped the souls of the inhabitants of Eldham, Many people outside of Eldham voluntarily entered the nightmare machine to either help or resist Segra's cause. Ripley would be one of these many individuals, entering the scumoctacon with a strike team led by him and his fellow grandmasters of the Maple Adventurer's Guild. Before establishing their hideout, they would initially have trouble finding resources and a suitable place to establish their base, as they entered the scumoctacon with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

Establishing Their Hideout
After suffering a few casualties, they would dig deep underground where they organized looting runs to gather more supplies and gear they could use. These operations were successful, and they would store the many sets of armor, weapons, and ore in their hideout. Ripley would find a well-made bow and emerald sword, then later, a dagger. Unfortunately the location of this hideout would be discovered, and the strike team would sustain a few more casualties as they fought off the ensuing raid.

Moving to a New Hideout
While they still had plenty of gear left, the raiders made off with a barrel full of netherite weapons and armor. With them no longer being safe in the hideout, Ripley, electross, and Rhapsody would coordinate the transportation of supplies to a different location. In the middle of the transportation, Segra would pay a visit to the raided hideout. First she flooded the base with bats, then revealed herself in a mighty flash of lightning, which set a large portion of the base on fire, and forcing Ripley to block the explosion with a shield. But before he could counterattack, the goddess disappeared again. Minutes after Segra's appearance, a brigade of skeleton warriors would be summoned inside the hideout, ambushing them once again. After getting over the initial surprise of the attack, they would dispatch the skeletons with ease. Once the transportation of supplies was complete, they would blow up the base so no one else could use the supplies they left behind, then Ripley and Electross would travel on foot to the new hideout.

Disappearance
After spending more time collecting more supplies and fighting off the occasional attack, their scouts brought information that Segra was located in Rattican City. They would also receive information that exits out of the scumoctacon had opened up. Rhapsody planned to launch a surprise attack on the city, and hopefully kill or hurt Segra. Ripley would be apprehensive about this plan, saying they did not know what they were up against, nor did they have adequate resources to succeed. Despite Ripley's concerns, they decided to go through with the plan. Initially, they would capture a handful of Segrists, but the strike team would sustain heavy losses in the fight afterward. Rhapsody would give the order to retreat as the battle would quickly devolve into a chaotic brawl, and they needed to escape the scumoctacon. With Segra's followers and monsters gaining on them, Ripley would whisper to Rhapsody, "Get our guys out of this hellhole. Tell them to run and don't look back. I'll find my own way out." He would then slip a letter into Rhapsody's pocket to give to Ceannard, and turn back to buy them time. The adventurers barely made it out alive, and Ripley's fate is still unknown, but Ripley's family and friends have some consolation knowing no matter what became of him, he would have given Segra and her followers a run for their money.

Surviving the Scumoctacon
After the rest of the strike team made it out, Ripley was still fighting. As he stabbed and slashed his way through the enemies, a genuine feeling of worry was creeping in. A feeling that he did not feel for a long time. After he had dispatched the rest of the enemies, he began to aimlessly wandering around. He was still in a haze after the battle, but he begins to think about how he needs to find another entrance out of the scumoctacon. After walking for several dozen miles, he hears a familiar voice shouting. He runs over and sees it is HotDogDude stuck in a hole.

Escaping The Scumoctacon
After helping HotDogDude42 out of the hole, the two would continue on their journey, trying to find another exit to the scumoctacon. But there were none. They would hunker down with a few other people trapped in the scumoctacon, and fend off Segra's forces that continued to pursue them. Eventually, the scumoctacon would be destroyed and those trapped inside would escape, when the warriors of Eldham weakened her, and the Rat King consumed her.

Return To Rathnir
After Ripley and HotDogDude42 returned to Rathnir, Ripley dove straight back into his work. He has further expanded DaLounge Enterprises, and his hobby of monster hunting.

Disbanding of The Maple Adventurer's Guild
After Segra was defeated, the Maple Adventurer's Guild would decrease in activity, as there were not anymore large threats to combat, and eventually be disbanded. Fortunately, former members still maintain a tight network, and band together for adventures, and investigating threats in Rathnir.

Slaying The Cerberus
Shortly after returning to Rathnir, A friend of Ripley's named Ratchet55, also known as Bigm8, would contact Ripley about a Cerberus that was running rampant in the town of Amarillo. Previously, a band of hunters had gathered to take it down, but failed, with many of them falling in battle to the fearsome beast. When Ripley arrived at the town, it was overrun with Hellhounds, with the Cerberus in the middle of the town. After dispatching a few of the deceptively fast Hellhounds, and figuring out that arrows simply pass right through them, Ripley would battle the Cerberus, alongside Ratchet55. They managed to lure the beast into the water by the town, rendering it's flames ineffective, and limiting it's mobility, and ultimately slayed the beast, and obtaining a number of mythical tools and weapons.

Becoming a Legendary Monster Hunter
When the mythical monsters first started appearing, Ripley joined the Monster Hunter's Guild that rose up in response. Ripley would find and slay many of these monsters over the years, and in time, would gain legendary status in the guild.

The Crawler
One quiet night at DaLounge, Ripley was brewing drinks when he received a letter from his friend Gemryn. The letter describes how he accidentally released a dangerous monster from his cave, called The Crawler. The letter came with a picture of the creature, and a warning that it is attracted to anyone who sleeps in a bed. Initially, Ripley think it is just another monster, and grabs his gear to slay it. Soon, word of The Crawler had spread, and Rathnir was in panic, and firmly established itself as an Entropy level threat. Hearing about the true danger of The Crawler, Ripely gathered a team of hunters, consisting of some of his employees, friends, Gemryn, and former members of The Maple Adventurer's Guild, still loyal to Ripley after the guild's disbanding. The hunting party traveled to the city of Egalia. Hoping to provoke the monster into a battle, they set up several beds, and waited. After several minutes, the creature ran through the party. Ripley chased The Crawler, trying to stab it with his rapier, but The Crawler evaded with god-like speed. The Crawler then flew into the sky, cast darkness over the land, and summoned hellhounds to harass people all around Rathnir. The hunters engaged in combat with the hellhounds. With his enhanced senses, Ripley could see the hounds in the darkness while the human members of the party struggled to see the dark beasts. The party began to take casualties, with a couple hunters being dragged off into the darkness by the hounds. In order to counter the hellhounds that were quickly surrounding them, Ripley ordered the remaining hunters into a defensive shield formation, protecting them from all sides. After hours of fending off hordes of the hellhounds, the darkness suddenly lifted. Many think The Crawler was vanquished that day, but Ripley remains vigilant for it's possible return.