Ryder Locke

= Ryder Locke =

Early Life
Ryder Locke was born into a middle class family in a small town on the outskirts of Tortuga. His father, William, was a factory worker and his mother, Maria, was a clothing maker. They lived a relatively peaceful and happy life in a beautiful coastal town. When he was a young boy, he became friends with Xenythios and Beep. The three became very close friends. Despite all being from different towns, they would meet up multiple times a week to play in the woods. Xenythios, being a Slimerio n, even taught Ryder the Slimirakii language.

One day, the town Ryder lived in was raided by Tortugan pirates. His father, in an effort to protect his family, held off the pirates while Ryder and his mother ran into the woods. Ryder got separated from his mother in the mayhem. A few hours later, when he retuned to the burning and ransacked village, he found his father dead. His mother was nowhere to be seen, either. Ryder walked through the ruins of the once lovely fishing hamlet. Bodies littered the roads, peoples valuables were thrown everywhere, buildings crumbled, and all the trees and plants had caught on fire and withered.

The next day, Beep and Xenythios walked into town to find the town's rough state. When they finally found Ryder, sitting on the dock, Ryder told them he would hunt down every pirate and kill them all. He vowed to rid this world of evil. This is why, when Xenythios turned to a life of Piracy, Ryder attempted to kill him the moment Xenythios told him this. Xenythios lived and escaped, only to become a "foul pirate" according to Ryder. After this, Ryder and Beep had a falling out.

The Swordsman
Ryder, all his life, picked fights that he couldn't win. One day he walked into a tavern and met a pirate, who he challenged to a duel to the death. The pirate laughed confidently but accepted. Of course, Ryder was beaten to a pulp and even ignored his own conditions of "to the death" and ran away. He ran without looking where he was going, for hours even, before he passed out. Ryder woke up on a bed next to a fireplace, where an old man was heating up a glass of milk. Ryder was grateful to the old man, and they began to talk.

The old man was named Wyslan, a hermit living in the mountains. Ryder told Wyslan about what had happened, and Wyslan had no response. A day later, when Ryder regained his energy, he woke up and prepared to leave, right before noticing Wyslan's collection of swords from all over Rathnir. Wyslan admitted to being a former swordsman, and Ryder immediately begged the old man to teach him how to fight with a blade. Wyslan was apprehensive, but after hearing Ryder's story and insistent begging, he relented. For three years, Wyslan taught Ryder the art of the blade. Ryder was a fast learner, but even he could not best Wyslan, who (despite his age) was truly a master. Sadly, Wyslan grew ill. He had been taking herbal medicines for the past few days, but nothing it didn't seem to help. Wyslan didn't use non-herbal medicines often, but asked Ryder to retrieve his emergency stash from a chest under his bed. Ryder opened Wyslan's chest and got the medicine, but something caught his eye. Inside the chest was a pirate hat, and an old dagger that was engraved with: "Captain Wyslan Skar, the Blade Rat".

Ryder confronted Wyslan about the objects he had, and Wyslan simply took a deep breath and admitted his backstory to Ryder. While he was a swordsman, he had also been a former pirate captain. However, Wyslan promised he left that life behind and agreed that pirates these days were a scourge. Ryder was suddenly filled with anger. He felt betrayed. He didn't know what to do and, without thinking rationally, stabbed his mentor with the old knife and killed him. Ryder broke down in sorrow. He didn't know if he was meant to feel guilty or not. What was happening to him? How could he do this?

Ryder "The Kraken" Locke
Ryder became the most feared pirate hunter in the Tortugan seas. Pirates began calling him "the Kraken" because of how many captains he had killed and how many ships he sunk. It was true; Ryder was feared in the pirate community. He would encounter Xenythios for the first time in years after tracking down a pirate fleet known as the Ashen Thorns. Ryder felt cheated out of an opportunity to exact his revenge, as he never had a change to fight face-to-face with Xenythios. What he did do, however, was kill the captain of the Ashen Thorns. Unfortunately, Ryder's pirate hunter crew still lost this battle, and the Ashen Thorns came out victorious when Ryder was forced to flee to prevent anymore losses.

His most daunting encounter would again be with Xenythios, who was now captain of the Ashen Thorns. Apparently, Xenythios had built up quite the name for himself. Their first battle was sword-to-sword, as Ryder prevented Xenythios from raiding a town. Xenythios and his crew fled with what they could get, and Ryder mercilessly pursued them for days on end. Eventually, his crew of pirate hunters led the Ashen Thorns into a trap, and a six hour naval battle of attrition ensued. Both crews were massacred, and Xenythios was presumed dead. Ryder was badly burned and beaten. His arm had been blasted off with cannon fire and his hair was scorched off of his scalp, but he was still rescued and brough to safety, even being given a prosthetic arm.

After this, Ryder would still go on to hunt down pirates in Tortuga. Alas, he was not satisfied. He began to wander all across Rathnir in search of any "impure maniacs" to get rid of. He never lost a fight again.

On the Outskirts of Yimmu-Audal
One day, on the outskirts of Yimmu-Audal, he would have a surprising and highly unlikely encounter with a group of nomads - consisting of Xenythios and company. Without though, Ryder slaughtered the nomads. Surely they had to be bandits working with Xenythios, right? It didn't matter; it was all a means to an end, after all. The battle between Xenythios and Ryder was intense. Xenythios had grown a lot stronger. Despite Ryder pouring his blood sweat and tears into killing Xenythios, Xenythios finally bested Ryder. Ryder was weak and he spoke briefly about his parents, though he was so out of it that he barely remembers what was said. Whatever it was, Xenythios did not take Ryder's life that day. Xenythios blinded Ryder and removed both of his hands from his arms, before leaving Ryder to the elements of the desert and walking away.

Ryder would wander aimlessly in the scorching heat of the desert for hours before being found and helped. He ended up in Lirgal, where a kind family took him in. Ryder eventually got two prosthetic hands, but remains blind to this day. He still lives with the kind family, and has been practicing being able to use a sword without sight ever since he was blinded.