Eldrin was turned into a werewolf as a teenager. After being hunted and losing his parents, who gave their lives to protect him, he fled his village and made his way to a monastery, who agreed to teach him their ways and help with his lycanthropy. After gaining excellent self control and progressing all the way to grandmaster, he departed the monastery to wander and live a more nomadic life. Nowadays, he seeks to aid others and adventure, learning more about the world than he could just in the monastery alone, and to share what teachings and guidance he can provide with those he meets.
Personality
Eldrin is normally very calm, kind, and wise. He is exceptionally difficult to anger, and fiercely loyal and protective of those he cares about. His friends are his weakness, harming them is definitely a good way to upset or anger him, and when he does become angered, he can become difficult to stop and exceptionally dangerous. He prefers to avoid violence when possible, and will always make efforts to reason and negotiate with those he can reason or negotiate with, to avoid fighting. If he is angered, that becomes considerably more difficult, or impossible depending on the level of rage. Very slow to wake, but unstoppable once awoken would be a good way to describe him. Even in most fights he will hold back if he is not angered, and try to nonlethally subdue an opponent. Only if lethality is absolutely necessary, or he is enraged, will he actually kill, and he always regrets a death if it can be avoided. Such regrets do weigh on his soul sometimes, though he will lean on his friends for support in such moments. He understands the value of working together and leaning on your friends, and is unafraid to ask for help if needed. By the same token, he is equally willing to lend someone his aid, whether it be in diplomacy, in combat, moral support, or whatever he can do to help.
Background
Eldrin had a rather nice childhood. He grew up in a small village near the Kingdom of Lyne, born to an elven mother and a human father, both of whom loved and cared for him deeply. He had an older sister, who had gone on to an adventuring academy in Altur not long before he'd reached his teens, who he would later find out had become a highly skilled warrior.
When he was 14, he was bitten in a wolf attack while wandering the woods outside the village, and come the next full moon, he'd found out the hard way that this was no ordinary wolf that attacked him, but a werewolf, and he'd been turned into one himself. It didn't take long for news to spread throughout the village, and hunters with silver arrows and swords came after him.
Cornered, his parents made a last stand, giving their lives to protect him against the hunters. Enraged by his parents' deaths, he suffered his second involuntary shift into wolf form and fought back, grievously injuring several, and causing the rest to flee. However, he managed to regain control of himself before truly killing them, and he chose to forgive them and give them a chance to live, even if it meant they could come after him again.
After that he fled the village entirely, and managed to find a little, hidden monastery through sheer luck. Surprised to see a stranger at their gates, the monks there nonetheless offered him hospitality after he had explained his story, and wished to aid him in getting control of his lycanthropy. They also agreed to keep him restrained on the full moons until he could avoid shifting. He accepted their teachings and became a student of the monastery.
It took years of hard work and dedication, but he earned new belt after new belt over time, eventually reaching the rank of master, and being permitted to begin learning advanced chi techniques, and new, even more advanced martial arts techniques as well. Becoming a master was really only the start of the journey, however, and it took him nearly twice as long as it had to become a master to finally master all of the advanced chi paths and become a grandmaster, something he accepted with great humility and honor. But even so, he wished to see more of the world than the monastery had to offer.
So, nearly 30 years after joining the monastery, he finally made his way out into the world, with a much deeper understanding of many things, and much, much better control and bonding with the wolf within him, seeking adventure, companionship, and new experiences.
SIGNATURE ABILITY
Chi Capstone Techniques
As part of Eldrin's study of the three paths of chi, he has attained the peak ability in each path, granting him access to capstone techniques that drains a monk considerably and can only be used once every so often. The capstone for offense is the ability to make an all out attack that would grievously injure even dragons, and destroy most things weaker, though this would take the monk out of the fight immediately and they would need several days and a great deal of meditation to recover. Defense is the ability to become completely incorporeal and invulnerable to damage for about a minute, though the monk cannot attack during this minute, and cannot use any further chi techniques after the minute is up until they have spent time meditating and recovering their chi. Regeneration is the ability to take a disease, poison, or broken limb from another person. This will apply the condition to themselves and instantly heal the person they have taken it from, and they can then use their meditation, and in Eldrin's case, his lycanthropic gifts, to heal and recover from said condition.
SKILLS
Armed Combat - Competent Level
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Although most of Eldrin's combat training is in the use of his body as a weapon, he is also somewhat skilled at combat with small melee weapons, such as knives, daggers, and other small blades. He also has some ability with larger weapons, mainly swords, though he is not very good with blunt weapons. He also prefers to avoid the use of weapons in most cases, preferring to fight unarmed.
Given his extensive combat training as a monk, it should be no surprise that Eldrin is exceptionally athletic. He is incredibly good at most athletic persuits, but especially acrobatics and throwing in particular, and martial arts, of course, though this is detailed in a separate entry.
Thanks to a combination of his training as a monk, his lycanthropy, and his time living in the woods, Eldrin has tained excellent awareness of his surroundings, able to notice little details. In combination with his enhanced senses as a lycanthrope, it is very difficult to sneak up on him, or catch him completely offguard.
Monks train extensively in the art of diplomacy. Although they are incredibly skilled and dangerous opponents, many, including Eldrin, would much rather solve a conflict without violence when it is possible. As such, they use their wisdom and training to help negotiate deals, moderate disagreements, or calmly plead their own case in their own disagreements.
Investigation - Competent Level
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Eldrin is rather good at investigating and searching an area for clues. He is competent at discovering things, and using logic to put together connections when investigating things such as crimes or puzzles.
Martial Arts - Expert Level
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Due to his training, Eldrin is highly skilled at many martial arts techniques, from simple punches and kicks to joint locks, grapples, throws, and exploitation of pressure points and vulnerable places on an opponent's body. It is undoubtedly the form of combat he is most trained in.
Eldrin is not very skilled in medical practices, preferring to rely on chi techniques and lycanthropic gifts to heal him. However, he is able to apply basic first aid to an ally who is hurt, which may potentially save their life until more help arrives.
Meditation - Expert Level
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It should be no surprise, given his training, that Eldrin is incredibly good at meditation. It is very difficult to break his concentration, and while he meditates, he becomes in touch with his inner chi, allowing him to heal and recover much more quickly. He is also able to reflect while meditating, and even ignore pain and recover from poisons or diseases that would otherwise be harmful to even a werewolf.
Monk's Wisdom - Expert Level
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Eldrin is generally considered to be quite wise, befitting a monk. He does not know everything, nor could anyone that isn't a god or higher power of some sort truly know everything, but he is rather good at applying the knowledge he does have. He can offer guidance to others, and uses such guidance within his own life as well.
His training did not cover the use of mounts, nor does Eldrin have much need of one. He can run as fast as, if not potentially faster than, many horses while in wolf form, and being mounted makes unarmed combat more difficult. However, he still has some knowledge and skill of how to ride a horse, in case he ever needs to.
Scholarship - Competent Level
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Eldrin is not as academically inclined as he is in other persuits, however he is able to read and write, both in the common language and any elven language without issue. He has basic reading knowledge in all other languages as well, although not as well as in common or elven languages. He is also decent at research and somewhat knowledgeable in most things.
Self Control - Expert Level
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Eldrin, thanks to willpower, years of practice, and forming a bond with it, has become very good at controlling and being one with his inner wolf. He no longer is affected by the lunar cycle, and, though it isn't completely impossible, it is also very difficult to force him to shift against his well, either via magical means, or extreme emotion. And even if he does shift into wolf or hybrid form against his will, he will never fully lose complete control in the new form.
Spoken Languages - Expert Level
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As part of his training, and also partially thanks to his chi techniques, Eldrin is able to speak and understand every language spoken within the world of Arcadia fluently, as if he were a native speaker.
As part of his training, Eldrin learned the ways of stealth. He is incredibly good at sneaking and moving silently, aided by his elven grace and lycanthropic gifts, allowing him to move through even somewhat open areas undetected by the average person, and very difficult to detect in places with cover to hide behind, such as forests.
Eldrin is a wandering nomadic werewolf. As such, he is rather in touch with nature, and has learned many survival skills such as foraging, hunting, and identification of harmful and edible plants and fungi. He is also good at building improvised shelters for protection against the elements and wilflife.
Thrown Weapons - Expert Level
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Though unarmed combat is undoubtedly Eldrin's most trained and practiced combat skill, throwing weapons is a close second. He's highly skilled at the use of small weapons designed for throwing, such as throwing knives, darts, or shurikens. He is also highly skilled at throwing the environment, such as dirt, fir needles, leaves, or small stones as projectiles as part of his martial arts training, meaning he is far from defenseless at range.
ABILITIES
Power: Advanced Chi - Supreme Level
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Monks learn martial arts, diplomacy, and meditation, but a monk's true ability is in their chi. In the monastery where Eldrin came from, once a monk reached the rank of master, or black belt, they were given the privilege to learn how to become more in touch with their inner chi. There were three main paths, that of offense, defense, and regeneration.
Each path comes with a basic technique that increases the attribute in question while it is actively maintained, though only one of these techniques can be used at a time, and it actively drains the monk to maintain it. These techniques grow stronger as one progresses down the paths, and more techniques are learned along the way. Eldrin is a grandmaster, a monk who has mastered all three of these advanced chi paths.
While maintained, the offense path makes his attacks more accurate and more painful. Defense makes him harder to hit and harder to hurt, and regeneration just causes him to heal more quickly. He can switch between the paths at any time, but he can only be focused on maintaining one at a time, so switching to another will stop the one he's maintaining.
Innate: Calming Aura - Basic Level
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Eldrin has a calming aura about him that tends to set others at ease. It will not prevent aggression, but it can aid in his diplomacy, and if others are only mildly irritated or upset, it may help to put them moree at peace, or calm and relax them into a better mood. The aura has come from the rituals that Eldrin underwent upon taking his vows as a grandmaster.
Innate: Dexterity - Supreme Level
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As a werewolf, Eldrin is already quicker than many. But thanks to his elven blood, and his intense training as a monk, he has a great deal more dexterity. He is incredibly quick, able to catch or parry even arrows and other projectiles. In humanoid form, he can run at rather quick speeds, and in hybrid form this goes up even further. However, in wolf form, he can reach considerably quicker speeds, able to outrun many opponents with ease, or travel great distances in a rather short amount of time with relative ease.
Innate: Unarmored Defense - Enhanced Level
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As part of his training as a monk, Eldrin has learned to fight unarmed and unarmored. He is generally considerably tougher while unarmored than while wearing armor, his physical training giving him higher duribility, and higher ability to dodge or block incoming attacks. This is in addition to his enhanced toughness from being a lycanthrope while in hybrid or wolf form. This ability only applies if he is unarmored, and either unarmed or wielding small melee weapons.
Innate: Willpower - Supreme Level
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Eldrin is incredibly strong-willed, due to a combination of his lycanthropy and training as a monk. It is very difficult to alter his mind or compel him against his will. He is also incredibly difficult, though not impossible, to frighten.
ADVANTAGES
Eldrin is still in contact with the council of the monastery he came from. Should he need assistance, they may come to his aid. He has also made a few friends over his time traveling who would likely help him if he were to ask. He would, of course, do the same for any of them.
Eldrin wears a black belt around his waist. The belt has a line of black and white prayer beads along it, and on the belt is the name Eldrin, denoting it as his. This belt has no special powers or abilities, though it denotes him as a grandmaster. Someone familiar with monks may recognize it and thus his status and ability. This may have a chance to make enemies who recognize it think twice about attacking him, if they are aware of a grandmaster's true power, or make those who aren't enemies consider helping him if they were not before.
WEAKNESSES
Eldrin is incredibly honest. Although he is skilled at diplomatically phrasing many things to seem less bad than they actually are, he can sometimes be rather blunt, and he believes in avoiding deceipt and lies at all costs. This is normally a good thing, but can bite him in some cases.
Eldrin believes strongly in honor. This means he is averse to using dirty tactics in battle, such as attacking your enemy from behind, throwing dirt in their eyes, (though other parts of the body as a form of weapon is okay), and crippling moves such as attacks to the groin. He believes in fair, honest fights, which could leave him at a disadvantage against a foe who isn't afraid to make use of such dirty tricks.
Eldrin is incredibly loyal to those he cares about. He will do anything he can to protect them and aid them in any way, even at his own peril. He is unafraid to put his own life on the line to save someone else he cares for.
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As a monk, Eldrin follows a rather strict moral code. This means avoiding violence if at all possible, and attempting to take out enemies nonlethally if violence does happen. Of course, if lethality is required, make it a quick death, do not let your enemy suffer, be merciful. Normally, it is a good, strong code to follow, but it can also mean he holds back at times when he really shouldn't, and that can come back to bite him. It can also be tough when his inner rage comes out and causes him to break, or nearly break that moral code.
Although Eldrin possesses excellent self control, the wolf within can be drawn out, explosively, under the right conditions. It is difficult to get him to that point, but it can be nearly impossible to stop him if he has become enraged. He, of course, attempts to prevent this at all costs, but the right kind of pushing, relentlessly, for long enough, may trigger such a reaction.
