Llyre es vel Volaerys

Llyre es vel Volaerys wir O'Valmen (formerly known as Lirei-Nai of House Is, and more commonly known as The Traitor or The Warden) is a politician and the leader of the Almmori Freehold, a nation in Sparwood.

Appearance
Llyre often cuts a distinctive figure, standing quite tall in comparison to many people around him, as well as his notable wooden wolf's-head mask and wings. Despite his rather imposing first impressions, he is on the lean (bordering on gangly) end, and surprisingly young, looking around 17 or so.

He has pale, greyish-tinted skin, messy black hair, and distinctively pale grey eyes circled by long eyelashes and fading dark circles. His eyes are described as the colour of dirty ice, paler than stone and darker than milk, like two white moons. He has pointed ears shorter than those of a fullblooded elf, and wears many earrings in them, as well as a multitude of simple rings on all of his fingers. He also has two large, bird-like wings on his back. The left side one has been (haphazardly) pinioned, rending him incapable of flight. They look most close to crow's wings, being black but faintly iridescent in the sun.

While rarely unmasked, his face beneath lies on the plainer side of handsome, or would be without the scars he bears, most noteworthy of which is across the left side of his face, from his mouth to his ear, exposing some teeth. Others include old, faded scars around his eyes, and a newer, still healing scar that cuts across the right cheek and up onto his nose bridge, from when he was killed in Viodoxa City. The rest of his body are speckled with faded scars from his adventures in Rathnir, some of them held together by staples. He has distinctively long canine teeth, and when he does smile, it looks like an animal bearing its teeth.

He is most commonly wearing a tight black tank top and brown or black cargo pants with leather booths, though he just as frequently wears a heavy grey poncho. As of lately, Llyre has also taken to wearing a pair of goggles, either in his hair or around his neck, as well as armour, which he previously distinctively disliked.

Biology
It's unclear what exactly is going on with Llyre, at least biologically speaking. While reaching milestones at the rate an Elf would, his aging has stopped almost entirely since turning 17, likely as a result of his botched ressurection. Outwardly, on first glance he does highly resemble an elf, with pointed ears and a rather tall, slim build. Due to his Celestial Elf blood through his paternal line, he has a slight resistance to higher temperatures, but not to the degree that a full-blooded Lhûren would.

His skin is colder than that of a regular living being, and he posesses no detectable heartbeat, likely also due to his ressurection

The first thing of note are the wings mentioned in the previous section. Unfolded, Llyre's wingspan is close to 10 feet (300 cm). These wings are somewhere between the appearance (in terms of shape) of a hawk or owl's wings, adaptable to passive soaring as well as more high-energy flight. The plumage seems to extend across his back between the wings as well, before trailing off. The natural colour of his wings are tawny brown with white undersides and speckling, but are dyed black for unknown reasons.

In terms of internal structure, he has a body optimised for flight and survival in high mountainous reigons and in the upper canopy of trees. In addition to the previously mentioned wings, he also posesses hollow bones, allowing him to theoretically lift off far easier. The downside to his more delicate bone structure is that blunt-force trauma can be particularly dangerous, thus he tends to avoid melee combat whenever possible.

Llyre's body is not particularly adapted to storing fat, and requires high amounts of proteins and calories to function. Beyond these things, his eyes posess a nictitating membrane that offer a degree of protection from debris and wind while flying, and he posesses pointed canines and some of his molars seem to have been converted to carnassials.

These traits have been proven to not be a result of his mother's (unknown) race, as his sister, Rhaelys, does not posessess many of them, and instead bears antlers and traits common to cervids, unlike her more avian brother.

Personality
Llyre rarely takes off that mask he wears, both literal and figurative, of being a friendly, charming leader, a serial flirt and sappy poet who writes romantic little sonnets for whoever has caught his eye in the moment. Outwardly, he seems much an awkward, shy young man, prone to getting flustered as he speaks or when placed under pressure, but confident in more private situations.

But under it, he's just as somber as his appearance suggests. He rarely smiles, rarely laughs, and seems to always be in control of the situations he finds himself in. He wears his calm face until the last minute before the mask slips, at whhich point his response is often nuclear, with days of planning leading up to his scorched earth tactics. His actions tend to be quite calculated and honed to the point that it seems deliberate more than anything, intentional and purposeful rather than true anger.

His morals are rather fluid, fluctuating with his goals, and has few qualms against distasteful acts such as murder, treason, massacres, and other crimes, most often seeing these things as means to an end. He could be best described as somewhere between chaotic neutral, neutral evil, or chaotic evil, depending on who you ask.

As of recently he's also exhibited delusional, obsessive, and otherwise "unhinged" mannerisms, mostly directed at the primary recipient of his affections, Jonathan Lozharo, as well as his extremely concerning and somewhat fanatical religious beliefs. He seems to be alternating between profusely apologising, intense paranoia, anxiety, and sobbing uncontrollably, to ranting, incomprehensible and feverish writings, and threats of violence, accompanied occasionally by attempts to actually inflict bodily harm on people, some of which have succeeded. He at one point expressed a desire to line up the heads of Karolium soldiers atop the walls of Viodoxa City and as destroying Leithinis Fort with the occupants inside using TNT, as well as on two seperate occasions killing people with an axe for relatively mild offenses (leaving doors in town open and repeatedly pushing him while fishing).

Early Life —
Llyre's mother died when he was just a young child, leaving him and his older sister, Rhaelys, alone before they were sent to join their father, the then-Lord of House Volaerys, where he was renamed from Lirei-Nai to Llyre. He and Rhaelys were also granted the name “yu vel Volaerys”, one meant to denote an illegitimate bastard child.

There’s nothing left beyond snapshots and memories. He remembers his mother's laugh, soft, his siblings, a brief glimpse of the sea over a field of golden wheat. He knows that his childhood was happy, for a time, but much of it is tainted with a deep sense of misery.

The siblings were subject frequently to their father’s anger and disdain, though Rhaelys was saved from much of it when she came of age and left home in order to seek a higher education and to see the world.

Not much else remains. Years have long slipped away to nothing more than these fragments.

Wanderer —
By his fifteenth birthday, his father seemed to have grown weary of his youngest child, and following what could have been a harmless misunderstanding or an act of wilful malice, removed his son from the family tree, exiling him to the wilderness. Much of his time as an adventurer is also shrouded in the same mystery as his youth, large gaps in his memory that he can’t seem to recall much of, if anything.

While travelling, Lyre kept a (now-lost) journal detailing his findings, including sketches and pressed specimens of plants, and detailed notes on a strange discovery he had made– the ruins of a city now wreathed in fire. It is thought that this city was Asahiri, but due to his journal’s whereabouts being unclear, this fact is unknown.

During this time he was captured and hunted for sport, getting his left wing pinioned haphazardly using shears, which almost killed due to the resulting infection.

Shortly afterwards, while he was still recovering, the people hunting him caught up once again, mortally injuring him. Far from a warrior and unable to fly or do much more than lay down to wait for the blood loss to overcome him, the boy found a small cave and accepted his fate.

Resurrected —
When he woke up again, things were different. Someone, or something had brought him back from the darkness, the eternal void, but it had gone wrong. Cold, delirious, and barely clinging to his newly found second life, the young man found that despite his revival, some of his wounds would not heal, and his mind was infected with a quietly simmering anger, a desperation to see the world around him engulfed in flames like the strange city he had once seen. Quelling this desire, he slowly began to recuperate in the cave that he made his home until he was well enough to travel. On his journey home, he began to hide his disfigured face with his distinctive wooden mask, dying his wings black for a reason he could not explain.

After months of travel, he had finally made it home.

Homecoming and Time in Serafaint —
Lyre returned to Serafaint to find his father dead and his older half-brother, Aerin, now head of the house. His reunion with his siblings was short lived, but he set to rebuilding his own life, as well as the family name that had been so long slowly descending into obscurity. During this time, Noodle joined the family, initially as an employee, but soon revealed his true identity and purpose.

The rest of Llyre's time in Serafaint was marked with turmoil. While in Serafaint, the family had run a brewery from a large warehouse in the port district of the city near their home. While initially seemingly quite positive, relations with the Doge, Exarian Crimsone, rapidly declined after a perceived slight towards Aerin during a discussion in the brewer's guild. Due to the rising tensions, House Volaerys announced their departure from Serafaint and Tovarisha as a whole, which only drove the wedge further between the formerly friendly relations of House Crimsone and Volaerys. They left shortly after, with the tensions turning to outright hatred and distrust. Following this event, Noodle returned to complete his vengeance against House Crimsone, finally getting justice for his own past.

Thalassii —
After leaving Serafaint, Llyre and House Volaerys as a whole settled in Thalassii, establishing themselves in the promising young nation as it healed from the Kartek Wars. Llyre, who had befriended a young Blake Almmore during his travels, began alongside several others to develop the Thalassii peninsula into a small town, which Blake became the Duke of, founding what would later be known as Almmoria.

While initially continuing their brewing business, Noodle, and later Aerin and Llyre would expand into selling arms and other enchanted gear alongside alcohols, helping to fund both Almmore’s expansion and growth. It was during this time that Llyre also became friends with the ruler of Thalassii, King Chorboi I, who encouraged his political career, first on the Almmori high council, before becoming Chancellor of Thalassii. He was wholeheartedly dedicated to unification and peace in Northern Sparwood as well as the development of a dedicated ice road network, eagerly throwing himself into the work along with his responsibilities as head of Thalassii Secret Police.

He would consider these times his happiest, the return of his sister to the family home and living a relatively carefree life spent fishing, writing, and befriending citizens of the neighbouring states, including Jonathan Lozharo of Lozaria. The two grew closer quickly, sharing a common interest in peace and prosperity for the North. Llyre felt as though he had finally recovered from his own traumatic death and subsequent resurrection, and had begun to look to the future, occasionally even entertaining the idea of building a future with his friend, who he had started to develop feelings for.

The Traitor —
However, it seemed that it was not to last. One day while mining, Llyre found a mysterious altar, and upon touching the idol sat upon it, a figure carved of a black stone, he began to change.

What began as an idle thought and a happy dream soon festered into something darker. Something dangerous. The Unification of Northern Sparwood was all he wanted, all he could think about. Any means necessary, he told himself, as he began to feud with Chorboi over how Thalassii should proceed in terms of international politics. The once pleasant and cheerful young man grew paranoid, prone to fits of madness, the hunger and evil in his mind that he had so long repressed slowly unfurling itself within him.

It's unclear what drove him to this place, the gaps in his memory growing wider and deeper, eating away at his mind. An infection.

When Loic returned to Rathnir, promising conquest, this new creature that Llyre had become saw an opportunity that could not be missed, a chance for Sparwood under one ruler, the Uniter himself. One day Noodle came to him with the news that his order had allied themselves with Loic, he saw it as a natural reaction, as simple as breathing, as simple as flying had once been.

Perhaps this was how things always would have ended. It wasn't hatred for anyone, or a specific desire. He saw it as nothing more than a transaction, business, but in exchange for his loyalty, he would be paid in his dream coming to fruition. The only price was his own honour and the future he’d wanted with Jonathan, one that had become more than just an idle thought.

In time, word of his betrayal reached his former friend, King Chorboi's ears. Furious and hurt, he exiled Llyre, as well as Noodle, the two stripped of their ranks and titles without trial, something that had been promised to them by their citizenship in Thalassii. Horrified by the treason, Jonathan cut all ties with Llyre. By then, the madness had already taken root in his mind, and he resolved to see the Thalassii capital of Nova Thebanii conquered, swearing as he left that he would be back, and Chorboi would regret not seeing reason and allying with Loic when he had the chance.

Almmori Independence —
Following his banishment from Thalasii, he returned to his home in Almmore, where his old friend the Duke, Zeth Ritonidas, secretly sheltered him and offered sympathy for his situation. For the time being, he travelled to the city of Maxstadt, where he spent some time before receiving a letter from Zeth.

Almmore and Dubris, two of the provinces of Thalassii had declared independence, temporarily uniting together under the now-King Ritonidas of a united Almmore-Dubris. Thalassii refused to accept this independence, giving the deed to the Almmori peninsula to Rohel, who then granted it to Almmore several days later, officially establishing the state as independent of the Thalassii crown. Dubris and Almmore then seperated. Llyre, who had been heavily involved in the negotiations, was installed as Hand of the King, taking over diplomatic discussions with the neighbouring states.

Peace —
Following Almmore's independance, Llyre put a forefront on his political career, despite the nation's isolationist stance on world affairs. Much of his time and energy began to be put towards construction and terraforming the peninsula, while the rest was put into expanding the family business, The Cache.

During the holiday truce, Llyre seems to have also began to attempt to fix some of his relationships, sending a letter to Jonathan in an attempt to explain his side of the story and any questions the other had. It seemed as though he was in a better place mentally, but it was still unclear if his motivation were a true desire to reconcile or just an attempt to clear his name. He mostly seemed to want to move past the entire situation.

Following the end of the holiday truce, Llyre's mental state seemed to take another turn for the worse, being killed and brought back several times, with each new attempt seemingly degrading his stability. While continuing with his business endeavours with his siblings, he spent a lot of time in the Nether or with bandits, often in Eisenland more than his own hometown.

As the war drew nearer, he travelled to Viodoxa City several times, both to scope out the city as well as see he historical sites, though on his last visit he was apprehended by the town guards under Hazel's orders, leaving the new scar on his face. He was later rescued by his mother, Mel, and didn't return to the city until the seige.

Aroung this time, Llyre also joined the Viesten Order, and began practicing swordplay with Sihor, a warrior from the Kingdom of Councils.

Days before the Viodoxan war began, Mercrio abdicated the throne, and Elijah An Scha Faidh and Llyre were installed as the diarchs of Almmore in his stead, the Warden and Overseer respectively. For several days, this system worked, but it quickly devolved into threats of violence and screaming matches between the diarchs. Following a string of thefts by Blake Almmore and Elijah an Schá Faidh, the pair were exiled from the nation and Llyre took complete power, with no second Diarch.

Seige of Viodoxa City —
During the first battle of the Second Purple Insurrection, Llyre remained in Maxstadt with several others, building up city defenses as the battle waged on in Viodoxa. It wasn't until after the battle that he returned to the south, witnessing the chaos and destruction from the battle. He lingered there for some time with his mothers, briefly visiting the Hexturnal and the library, though he was denied access to the former. The destruction of the city disgusted him and he left to return to Maxstadt.

Shortly afterward, he resumed stabilisation and reconstruction attempts in Almmore, absorbing Refugio and Thalassii under the Freehold's banner, as well as entering discussions with God Emperor Cube of Kartek that resulted in Almmore becoming a protectorate of the empire.

It was around this time that he killed two seperate people with an axe, though the crime seems to have been either swept under the rug or otherwise hidden, as he was never prosecuted in court for either murder. Around this time, he also visited the ruins of Istanboulder, looking for something.

It was shortly after this trip that he went to Voskovy, managing to get his hands on several restricted books and taking them home with him. His mental state took another turn for the worse after this, experiencing long stretches of amnesia and finding a strange book in his own handwriting that he didn’t remember writing.

Family

 * Rhaelys es vel Volaerys (welcometothehive) - Llyre's older sister, and his only full sibling. She's nice. She has taken a neutral stance on the war, which Llyre dislikes, but accepts for his beloved sister. Rhaelys seems to take a somewhat motherly role, but spends much of her time travelling, leading to a more distant relationship between the two of them, especially once she moved to Vassa, a city in Karolium. He was extremely supportive of her relationship with Kogan.
 * Aerin mo sen Volaerys (Cyme_) - Aeren is Llyre's older half-brother through their father, and the current lord of House Volaerys. They were closer before Aerin left to wander the world for some time, and upon coming back, Llyre seems to have increasingly isolated himself from his formerly close brother. Still, he frequently gifts his brother builds and material items.
 * Noodle es wir Volaerys (Noodle_Woodle) - Adopted family member, Noodle is Llyre's close political ally, the pair frequently teaming up together against rivals. Between the two of them, Noodle almost always plays bad cop, levaraging his own connections with Llyre's charm. Outside of work, they're fairly close, often involving eachother in their shenanigains and pestering Aerin.
 * Frostbite Luon - While they aren’t biologically related, Frostbite sees Llyre as her twin, sharing the same birthday and many other things. In the family home they share a room. While Llyre was initially fond of her and excited to have another siblingc he’s grown to resent her for replacing him as the favourite child and despises her immature and childish behaviour.
 * Valerie Hirishy (ItsLys) - Adopted mother. They're more friends than parent and child, to be honest.
 * Mel Evar Leyla-Earcala O'Valmen (Numis) - Adopted mother. Llyre is closer to her than Val, despite his rather closed-off personality he likes her. He is incredibly anxious about disappointing her, but seems to not realise that some of the things he does are directly fulfilling that.
 * Vansh Tizoc Dougwald Hapaqalchi - Llyre’s stepfather through his engagement to Mel. He seemingly has a strong distaste for the man, often antagonising him at the dinner table or verbally attacking him in response to perceived slights, often regarding his relationship with Mel and Frostbite.

Friends

 * Jerichan (JerichoZ) - They got married for tax benefits and to commit insurance fraud, and currently live together in Llyre's apartment in Almmoria. Canon two pretty best friends.
 * Moncie Se Aldfrith (Mongoose10) - Llyre sees Moncie as a friend and also his political right hand man. They get along well, often mining together or otherwise spending time.
 * King Zeth "Mercrio" Ritonidas I (Mercrio) - An old friend and longtime ally, Mercrio became King of Almmore-Dubris after the Independance. They have long supported eachother, with Mercrio sheltering Llyre after his banishment from Nova Thebannii, and helped eachother rise to the High Council back when Almmore was nothing but a dream by Blake. Llyre served as Mercrio's Hand of the King before his abdication. However, Llyre has been increasingly uneasy around his old friend now that he seems to be having strange visions...

Other Relations

 * Jonathan Lozharo (NateThunder_) - In another lifetime things would have been different. Before Llyre's maddened obsession for Northern unification had consumed his mind, the two were friends. On Llyre's end at least, he had considered courting the king, but never made any moves towards his affections beyond writing some poems that he burned after Lozaria sided with Thalassii. Following his defection to Viodoxa, the two were not on speaking terms for a time, but are currently beginning to correspond through letters, against the reccomendation of Llyre's therapist. His behaviour directed at Jonathan is extremely concerning as of late, and seems much like a dangerously obsessive version of his previous crush on the other.
 * Chorboi Etruscii (Chorboi) - A former friend, their relationship soured following Llyre's choice to follow Loic. For a while, the two stood on opposite sides of a looming war, each with their own hatred and anger. Things are rather complicated now, discussing terms for peace and a reasonable transfer of power.
 * Loic dem Spheniscidae (Loic_exe27) - Llyre idolises Loic, in a sort of form of somewhat unrealistic hero worship to a degree. He was willing to sabotage both Thalassii and Almmore for the Uniter, and expressed a strong desire for the man's approval, happily and eagerly throwing himself into writing speeches and propoganda for the Archonal Union. His mothers and brother being ardent supporters of Loic and the Union are likely to have influenced his opinion as well.

Trivia & Meta

 * He does not like to talk about his death, but knows more than he lets on.
 * The name he was given at birth, Lirei-Nai, is based on the the characters of 黎 (lí) meaning "black, dawn",  鈴 (rei) meaning "bell" or 霊 (rei) meaning “ghost” or “spirit”, and 賴 (nài) meaning "to depend on". Nai was a traditional suffix for House Is, and Llyre is a romanisation. Based on this, his name could be translated as "bell of the dawn", or "the black ghost". The coin has been tossed, but has yet to fall.
 * Llyre's current name is derived from the Welsh or Irish name "Llŷr", meaning "from the sea".
 * His former hobbies included fishing, writing poetry, painting, and exploring. Since the Independance, he no longer seems to find enjoyment in these activies,.
 * He is completely colorblind, seeing the world in shades of grey.
 * Llyre's favourite flowers are lily of the valley.
 * He's very relaxed in terms of relations with bandits, often contracting them for tasks.