Post by Leto on Aug 10, 2013 8:00:05 GMT
(c) to me.
Leto
Species: Lion.
Gender: Male.
Age: Adult (26).
Homeland: Ti'wenkai.
Kingdom/Pride: Xaxios'h/Xax'as.
Caste: Seeker.
Rank: Lieutenant.
Parents: Shani; mother, Ahzidal; father.
Siblings: Sienna; half-sister.
Mate: Xaxas.
Offspring: None.
Occupation: Assassin/Ambassador/Diplomat.
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral.
Sexual Orientation: Homosexual.
Personality: Despite being raised on strict military doctrines Leto remains a relatively free-spirited, maverick, and fiercely independent character, he gets restless if stuck in one place for too long. Leto on the surface comes off as a generally carefree person with an overlying aura of casual indifference but coupled with an uncharacteristically stoic demeanor, despite his hard shell he does have a soft indeed even caring side; this is especially visible when it comes to the protection of those few he cares about, a potential loved one is someone he'd fiercely protect. However it's rare he lets anyone see these softer sides of him on top of it all he isn’t really a social butterfly, the soldier’s also a philosophical individual, but with a noticeable feral streak to him. He places great personal empathize on the act of hunting; the chase, capture and kill.
But overall he’s a cynical, blunt and more than often sarcastic individual who’s not afraid to state his opinions even it comes off as potentially hurtful or even downright offensive to an opposing party he has little regard for any authority, no matter the form it takes. With the exception of his Seeker commander and other Ti'wenkai that outrank him, he doesn't pay much heed to the yunkai and their rules of law he's particularly lenient on respecting yunkai prides territorial borders and hunting grounds, but much less to follow their orders even if he can on very rare occasions act respectful enough to those he deem has deserved it, or at least, those that demand it at claw point.
He is deep down beyond his shield of disregard; a highly social and generally quite friendly person at least to those that have earned his trust or those he ends up liking for some reason or another, though he’s extremely wary in the presence of strangers and gaining his trust takes a lot of work, given his upbringing it’s no surprise that his social nature sufferers, not used to behind around non-military personell makes him come off as socially awkward a majority of the times, which can perhaps explain his over-hanging sarcasm but that may also just be a trait of character. Leto is a bit of a harmless flirt and a tease though only to other males, he knows that he is handsome in the eyes of some and he can, and will use this to his advantage. The rare time he throws flirtatious remarks at a female it is just a jest, perhaps even sarcasm never anything more.
He’s morally ambiguous at best not a trait one would expect from someone of his background though this ambiouty only extent to everyone not of Ti'wenkai affliation towards his homeland and people however he retains an almost unflinching loyalty. On the other hand he can keep loyalty towards others as long as it’s personally beneficial for him; like if he's under mercenary contract with someone. This fleeting loyalty also shows when it comes to forming friendships; Leto finds making friends among peoples from outside Ti'wenkai whom he refers to as 'yunkai' to be difficult, mostly due to cultural differences, so it’s very rare he’d actually go to the lengths of calling much of anyone a friend preferring to keep mere acquaintances if nothing else.
The young lion favors and values the virtues of the self: self-awareness, self-reliance and self-confidence, often tying philosophical contemplation into his personal ideas about his role through the dusty road of life, specifically what it means to be a hunter. He oppose traditional pridal society, finding it a weak contrast to the societal structure that raised him thus he preferrs to rely on his own skills and expertise to provide him food, shelter, and anything else a lion would need to thrive; even if this means stealing, or killing for it. Leto follows the brutal and savage rules of Nature, she is his mistress, his only queen and liege... nothing is ever free.
History:
Leto was born into a highly militaristic society, every member of the Ti'wenkai Federation; from the ruling Highmane to the common free-lion is trained to fight and defend themselves with lethal force from the day they are born, assimilated, or conquered. Even if most conquered or assimilated members are capable fighters, the young ones of all the prides conqoured/assimilated or native undergo a highly rigorous, borderline brutal education and training regimen called Far'nok, which is a military agoge mandatory to all Ti'wenkai younger than teenagers, born Ti'wenkai like Leto typically start their training at the moment they’re weaned, this often gives them an advantage over their conquered/assimilated comrades.
The training involved learning combat, cultivating loyalty to the Federation, its ideology, the current Highmane and the Council of Warlords, but also their fellow Ti'wenkai. Various degrees of military training are custom, including enhancing ones pain tolerance, but it also held other less directly military pursuits; things involving more day to day living like hunting, storytelling, and also indoctrination into the Xaxios’h spiritual world, ideology, philosophy, and religion. Discipline however is strict and the trainees are encouraged to fight amongst themselves, non-lethally, to determine the strongest member, and there by also the leader of their warband.
Once the training education/reeducation was considered complete usually occurring in the trainee's 15th year, the trainee would have their shoulder marred with a intricate scar tattoo in a communal, and if not bloody coming of age ritual, essentially accepting them as fully fledged members of their assigned cast. Born Ti'wenkai of exceptional skill were allowed the privilege of not having to bear the distinct mark a small sign of their elevated social status in comparison to others, conquered or assimilated Ti'wenkai on the other hand no matter the skill did not receive this privilege, though exceptions to this rule did occur but it was extremely rare, it has only ever happened eight times at the advent of the Federation's modern history.
Leto’s homeland was always riven with war, which given his peoples' violent and expansive nature is not surprising war was always present in some form or another, skirmishes waged every day against yunkai prides over the scarce resources, the Ti'wenkai confederacy consist of almost 30 prides, spread across four kingdoms; Nedra, Corazan, Ge'en, and Xaxios'h respectively each with it's own unique culture and distinct geography, the culture of these kingdoms one would believe is as multifaceted as its peoples but this isn't necessarily the case. All lions regardless of kingdom ascribe to a governing philosophy called 'The Way'.
Xaxios’h is the smallest but also the oldest of four Ti'wenkai kingdoms, unlike the others they however sometimes adopt customs, traits, even take in loan-words from the captured lions they assimilate the captured lions themselves however are completely absorbed into the main body of the governing hegemony, obliterating the conquered lions' culture and customs, even systematically stamping out their native language; once absorbed the assimilated lions become Ti'wenkai. Despite this the kingdom has a surprising degree of equality between its members in contrast to the other kingdoms regardless of occupation or sex; there are very little direct signs of any rigid cast system.
A cast system does exist but it’s so deeply ingrained in the culture and mannerisms of the people that one would be hard pressed to actually notice it; it’s loosely based around physical prowess, skill, and strength, which is the way one earns deference. The only cases were it becomes anything of potentially negative issue is in the treatment reserved for the ones considered at the bottom of the social ladder; these lions are nothing more than slaves, but history has it it wasn't always like this.
----------
Leto was abandoned by Shani his mother shortly after birth due to the political circumstances surrounding his parents, his father Ahzidal was rendered castless shortly before Leto was born leaving the unborn child essentially the product of a forbidden and if not sacrilegious union, and in order to save the life of her cub who would’ve been killed Shani was forced to abandon Leto and renounce her parenthood of the child. He was taken from his northern homeland of Nedra, and sent south to Xaxios’h, there he was placed into the paws of V’dan one of the most respected drill instructors in all Xaxios’h.
Leto would likely never again see his mother, the agoge from that day forth became his family; there the other students treated him with more or less respect and lauded his natural hunting talents, but most of the respect they held for Leto came from fear, the youth quickly proved that he had an uncanny knack for killing. But he was a perpetual lone wolf, Leto was never one to actively make friends or hang out with the other students in any capacity outside of training, the only other students he had any sort of extended contact with was Tian, a native Xaxios’h lion whom had come to the agoge shortly after Leto had been dumped there, the two practically grew up together.
The only other person in the agoge Leto spent any amount of time with him was Reyan, a Corazan transfer student and the heir to the throne of Corazan, but this male was over 10 years older than Leto himself. Reyan and Leto’s relationship was one of pederasty, though the older lion held near full control of Leto’s life he wasn’t allowed friends unless Reyan approved of them or tolerated their presence which was the case of Tian. He controlled every aspect of the young soldier’s life, for all intents and purposes Leto may as well have been Reyan’s castless in all but name, the treatment he received at the hands of the older male was reminiscent of how one would treat a slave, Reyan’s relation with Leto was also sexual in nature but this was hardly a secret as by Xaxios’h custom it was neither banned nor outright discouraged.
The relation Leto had with Reyan started when he was five and ended shortly after he had hit the age of twelve, when V’dan the drill instructor thought the relationship had gone on for too long to be proper, normally pederasty relationships are to end when the younger student is on cusp of teens. But Reyan persisted in keeping Leto far beyond the accepted time, which eventually led to his expulsion from V’dan’s agoge and forced him to return to Corazan. Leto finally free from the chains of his master, or so at least it seemed the young soldier tried to adapt to a normal life with the help of Tian, but in meeting Tiacren it was revealed to Leto just how cruel and far reaching Reyan’s influence was Tiacren was an older student eclipsing Leto by a few years Leto was picked by the older male who although his relation held similar themes to Reyan in contrast Tiacren was kind, even loving.
But none of these things would ever last, Tiacren soon turned up dead, the cause was ruled as an accident but deep within Leto knew that Tiacren’s death was far from any accident, Reyan had gotten wind of Leto’s growing relation with male and terminated it out of principle leaving a powerful statement in wake of it; Leto was his! Fearing for the safety of the only person Leto considered a friend he started to distance himself from Tian, much to the dark male’s confusion and if not despair but Leto couldn’t tell him why for fear that it would mark him.
As such the soldier became a loner, spending his time on his own rarely engaging with others unless absolutely necessary, to protect them from Reyan’s wrath. But all this changed when he met Xaxas, a castless unlike any other.
----------
As he hit his late teens, early adulthood Leto had significantly proven himself and due to displaying exceptional skills he had earned the right to join the Seekers an elite unit of counter-intelligence agents involved with black ops operations deep behind the lines of the enemy territory. Earning this right, was the proudest moment in Leto's life.
The seekers are a cross between scout, spy and assassin. Although the exact range of their duties are not known, most typically they are the ones sent out on missions that would usually lead them far from Ti'wenkai land, often spending years isolated from the nation gathering knowledge about more distant prides and lands. They require extensive hunting skills and abilities to survive and thrive on their own in often quite hostile environments. They have extensive training in stealth and subterfuge allowing them to coexist under the radar of the local prides. In the event that their mission stand at the risk of being compromised they would often join a resident pride, even if their loyalty would remain to the Ti'wenkai this was another effective way of gathering intelligence on a future enemy.
Their acts as assassins only become yielding when a Ti'wenkai war party is encroaching on a seekers current position, months sometimes even years of gathered knowledge are exchanged and new orders are given. They play a key role in subtly destabilizing the power structure of a pride, using doubt, as well as blackmail, arranging kidnapping, to pulling off full out assassination of key pridal power figures as way to bring the pride down from the inside, thus making overthrowing particularly very large prides, and prides that also have a strong warrior culture considerably easier.
Due to the rigorous demands both physical, social, and mental that is imposed upon them, very few Ti'wenkai are seekers; those found to have an exceptional natural talent as hunters at a young age can be considered legible for the training, which is considered a great honor. The actual identities of the seekers themselves are not something widely known, mostly because they are usually sent out on their first years long mission almost as soon as their training is complete. Seekers normally operate independently but are always paired into two-man teams, and they may also work alongside Warrior scout teams during times of war.
It was shortly before this seeker training he met Xaxas, this blond maned lion was two years younger than himself, but unlike himself Xaxas was a former castless from a vanquished pride. Despite these differences in both status and age the two struck up a friendship almost immediately, Xaxas forte was defensive combat rather than the stealth so cultivated by the seekers, even if he was learning but he could still fight like the best of them, the admiration Leto felt for this fellow soldier was mutual; the two began spending more than more time together, friendship even across social barriers was not something looked down upon in the agoge after all they depended on each other with their lives, from free lion to castless.
Except Xaxas and Leto’s relationship grew beyond mere friendship, and that presented a few problem; not only was it socially unacceptable a free lion consorting with a castless, even if Xaxas' castless status would eventually be revoked, and also being in the same seeker team and having a romantic relationship could cloud one’s mind to unpleasant decisions that sometimes needed to be taken on the battlefield, which was why it was banned.
Knowing the love they felt for each other could end in them facing a court martial for illegal fraternization or what worse was, they decided to try and keep it a secret, attempting to sacrifice romantic and intimate contact in order to be together and see each other every day. They would allow such things to resume when they were having times all alone, but his arragement didn't last long and the secret was soon out, but despite it drawing condemnation by nearly everyone, there was surprisingly few consequences they faced due to this directly.
---------
When a castless rebellion hit the Xaxios'h kingdom it rose in the eastern borderlands, everyone was scrambling their defenses to meet this onslaught of chaos, Xaxas, Leto and the rest of the Seeker units were pretty much fresh out of graduation, having had nothing but a few minor recon missions into the west before the lands erupted into all-out war. They kept up the recon missions, spying to enemy troop movements working alongside the regular scouts which included Tian Leto's childhood friend, relaying information back to the Ti'wenkai military command hold up in the Nedra Mountains far to the north, the best defensive position in the dominion. Unfortunately things would take a turn for the worse for Leto, Tian and two other seeker/scout units;
On day 33 of the Rebellion; the three units find themselves locked in a major skirmish, that evolved into full scale battle, given the seeker units are not as specialized at full frontal combat they are forced into a retreat, unfortunately the advancing enemy is pushing at them from all fronts eventually one of the units manages to retreating back to base. Leto and the other seekers remain behind but the pressing advance has stuck them between enemy forces they are now trapped with no way to communicate for help.
Trapped for almost two weeks deep inside contested territory Leto’s scout unit are forced into an intense survival situation against the massing rebel forces. In the middle of the first week Leto and the others manages to establish contact with an allied flock of ox-peckers that send word for help and so a rescue team is dispatched but the team ends up ambushed and this traps the surviving rescue team with the Seekers. Each day and night is a constant battle for survival; a nightly ambush by a group of castless rebels reduces their numbers down to just Leto, Tian, one other from their seeker squad and two soldiers from the rescue team, the rest of the rescue team and seekers are killed covering their retreat. They continue to try avoiding the rebel forces and any engagements as often as possible while finding some way to communicate for extraction.
By the time a window to call for evacuation opened up Leto along with Tian and the rest of his squad and two remaining rescue team members are the last survivors of the group, desperately holding their own in a box canyon. They are losing ground quickly and are trapped with their backs against the wall, that’s when Leto comes up with a suicidal plan; they will lure the enemy out creating an opening in the blockade of the canyon mouth, allowing one soldier to sneak past and rapport back to the brass in the mountains; unfortunately the rest of the unit will face certain death.
Leto proposed to take point leading the diversion team being the highest ranking soldier of the group, Tian much to his masked shock is chosen as the one will report back to the brass. As they prepare for this last mission, Tian takes Leto aside begging him not to go through with it; stating that in doing this he'd be leaving his mate behind, and Xaxas would likely never recover should he die. Leto says that it’s not Tian’s decision to make, but he’d promise to fight to death be with Xaxas again, and that once this is rebellion has been stamped out he’d be waiting for him; Xaxas better show up! Saddend he can't make his friend reconsider, but to honor is his friend Tian agrees to bear the message to Xaxas should Leto fall, then they set the plan in motion.
It works without a hitch at first; Tian manages to sneak through the opening provided by the diversion and reluctantly sets a course for the mountains. Leto’s diversion team is ripped apart, pressed up against a gorge river the team is dying around him, and Leto himself can feel his strength slipping with each wound received, and each claw swipe he swings deciding he’d not risk the humiliation of getting captured with most of the team is dead or dying he turns tail and runs towards the gorge with the intent to jump off the edge and into the raging waters below; attempting to kill himself to avoid capture. Unfortunately his attempted escape is intercepted Leto is captured by the rebel forces.
Leto is at first presumed dead along with most of the diversion team; only two rescued survivors bear news of the slaughter and tell of how Leto ended up captured.
This reaches a devastated Xaxas though he does not buy into the fact that Leto is dead at first, firmly believing that his companion is still alive, and tries to organize a rescue but the Xaxios'h Council-in-Exile does not consider Leto a high value asset and declines support for a rescue. The castless rebellion is eventually crushed, the outcast leaders fell to betrayal by Ti'wenkai loyal castless, unfortunately the bulk of Ti'wenkai's castless outcast or not end up dead, executed out of principle. But the devestating civil war against their corrupt Highmane Roshan, had barely just begun.
Over 10 years will come to pass before the last embers of the civil war and outcast rebellion in Ti'wenkai is fully stamped out, Leto is eventually confirmed to be alive, having been extracted from a splinter branch of the outcasts after having spent 5 weeks as a POW suffering grueling torture at their paws, by initiative of Xaxas, Tian and the rest of the people Leto trained with as a cub, who took matters into their own paws to save their friend.
--------------
Theme Song: Awakening by Murmur (Thea: The Awakening OST),
The Noose by A Perfect Circle,
Through the Valley by Shawn James & The Shapeshifters.
Voice Actor: Gideon Emery
Also added Christmassy snow and banner :3
I'm currently getting some uni work done before heading to the post office. What's up with you?