Aya Clarke
Lady Clarke, Saint of the Crimson Eagle
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OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To flesh out and solidify Aya Clark's influence base, create a character to act as her future bodyguard, and provide an initial antagonist personal to the woman.
- Image Credit: Found Here, Holden Cross of Ubisoft's "For Honor"
- Role: Former member of the Sentinels of the Faith, Family Friend to Aya Clarke, (Eventual) bodyguard
- Links: Sentinels of the Faith (Former Member), Aya Clarke
- Age: 46
- Force Sensitivity: Non-Force User
- Species: Human
- Appearance: The man is tall, towering over most individuals, and tends to seemingly live in his imposing armor. His head is shaven completely, leaving only the shadows of a beard seeming to form on his face at any given time, and looks relatively good for his age. The faintest hints of his age can be seen in the way he looks, particularly around his eyes, having seen much of combat in his time and experienced loss more than he cares to admit. Regardless of how much armor he wears, the man always stands tall, as if attempting to impose his position and capabilities at any given moment.
- Name: Former Sentinel Cyril Abbey
- Loyalties: Family Friend to [member="Aya Clarke"], Loyal to Kalis
- Wealth: Somewhere in the lower part of nobility for Aelozath, the upper middle class for the rest of the galaxy. Due to his former background, he keeps personal tithes low for those who have sworn fealty to him, but possesses a rather sizable wealth regardless.
- Notable Possessions: His heavy durasteel armor, His polearm
- Skills: Trained in the use of his polearm by the Sentinels, Talented at commanding Siege forces, Exceptional stamina for one of his age
- Personality: Despite his status as a former Sentinel, Cyril is extremely devout in his beliefs, only disillusioned with the exact paths to honoring them. He is completely loyal, first to his religious beliefs, then to his Monarch, and down the line thus. As such, he can set aside obligations to others should a 'higher power' so demand it, making him seem gruff, and coarse to be around. However, while it is true that the average individual will find him to be a zealous, stone headed individual, he does not abandon the ability to reason like some Sentinels who devote entirely to zealotry. He can think, reason to make his loyalty upheld while ensuring his friends are safe, as under the cold steel is a sentimental man wishing to never again lose that which he holds dearest.
- Weapon of Choice: His Polearm, or Siege Weaponry
- Combat Function: Cyril is the apex of his art, a calm, collected warrior among the chaotic throngs of war and death. In personal combat, his faith in his armor means he will often focus on a single enemy, devoting his efforts to that target and that target alone as he engages them with slow, precise strikes. He uses jabs, with the spear end or butt of his polearm as appropriate, waiting for enemies to make a mistake, leave themselves open. Then, he responds by capitalizing on that, using disorienting strikes to setup heavy swings with the axe portion of his weapon. He does not lead the charge into a fight, but he will end it.
In larger scale engagements, he often returns to the end of a combat zone, coordinating siege weapons to fight the enemy with, and defending them. Despite his age he has shown to be quite capable, when not forced to move rapidly across a combat field.
Born in the years of darkness, Cyril was left with the Church to live safely as he could, away from war, and death. Not that it necessarily worked completely, but at the least the fading church kept him free from the raging Sarengoli Kingdom. Having only ever known the Church, the man grew with a desire to return something to his guardians, training to become what his church in particularly believed would be their last Sentinel, if not forever than for a long time to come. It was three years after Queen Nia would begin creating what would become the great kingdom of Kalis when he took his final oaths, becoming a Sentinel in full. From that day, the man had given himself to something greater, devoted to a cause. He was among the first Sentinels to speak of his belief in the Queen as one of the Goddess's chosen, what would eventually become common belief, as she showed her power to gain the loyalty of others.
Cyril, at this time, preferred an active role in his task of protecting the faith, often taking long quests to seek smaller kingdoms, speak to the people, to spread the word of his faith to them and perhaps protect them from those who would do harm. It was on one of these journies he met Ser Clarke, no not Aya, her father. The two happened upon a settlement of Sarifs during the attack of bandits, protecting the people from harm where their Knight Lord failed them, becoming fast friends in the process. The two often took time together to travel, speaking of everything from combat, to tales of adventure, to faith and beyond. Over the course of their friendship, the loss of their Queen, Clarke's ascension to Leige, the birth of Clarke's only daughter, the man grew distant from the Church as an entity itself.
When his friend lost his life needlessly, Cyril questioned everything. Ultimately, he could no longer work under his oaths, and with the blessing of the church he let go of his Sentinel duties. A Sentinel did not break their oaths easily, and it was rare for them to be 'retired', however for his dutiful service Cyril received the rare privilege to leave, with no ill will, retaining the armor and weapon of his order. His authority was stripped from him, however, and his armor was given a special mark to the back, signifying the owner's lack of authority, forever etched into the metal.
It was like this that Cyril sought to find Aya, and determine her worth to continue her Father's legacy. For both their sakes, he truly hoped she would prove adequate.
