Guinevere

 Emplacement - Boutique de fleuristes Patsy 

Au début, au milieu d'un profond sommeil ce matin-là, Gwen avait inconsciemment cru que les bruits de grondement étaient ceux de gardes montés qui tonnaient sur le pont en bois à la maison, sur leur chemin pour envoyer des messages ou inspecter des rapports de troubles dans l'un des villages.
Quand les images ont commencé à tomber du mur pour l'effrayer dans la conscience groggy, elle a réalisé que ce n'était rien de plus qu'un autre tremblement de terre.
Le sommeil ne devait pas revenir et il n'y avait pas de raison de le poursuivre. C'est ainsi que, tout comme le gris pâle de l'aube a commencé à s'infiltrer dans le monde froid et humide, Gwen est sortie de son appartement loft et a fait son chemin vers le magasin fleuriste en dessous.
L'électricité ne s'est pas déclenchée lorsque l'interrupteur a été retourné.
Pas tout à fait surprenant quand aucun des autres bâtiments de cette rue n'a montré un soupçon de lumière non plus. Mais il était vaguement irritant de savoir qu'elle aurait à tisser avec succès à travers ce qui était certain d'être un labyrinthe de tables encombrées, de poterie cassée, et des plantes renversées dans le noir proche avant qu'elle puisse trouver la lampe de poche Patsy gardée derrière le comptoir.
Le verre se cramponnait sous ses bottes alors qu'elle enfonçait gingembrement à travers le mess, en envisageant brièvement de se retourner et de partir jusqu'à ce qu'il soit assez léger à l'extérieur pour être en mesure de voir. Plus elle s'approchait de l'arrière de la pièce, cependant, un son presque indistinguable a attiré son attention.
Le bruit de l'eau courante qui n'était certainement pas la pluie qui coulait du toit.
Un faisceau de lumière pâle s'est répandu de la lampe de poche, brouillant et clignotant d'un motif irrégulier, un signe clair que les anciennes batteries n'allaient pas tenir beaucoup plus longtemps.
À côté d'une boîte de rubans froissés et d'un monticule d'enveloppes en plastique, Gwen a soigneusement assoupli la porte à la serre ouverte, l'enfilant à la dernière seconde pour l'obtenir au-dessus de la prise dans le sol. L'air humide s'est échappé dans le magasin, lourd avec les odeurs de saleté, de feuillage, de fraîcheur et de pourriture, et le parfum de nombreuses fleurs exotiques. Un film de condensation accroché à l'intérieur de la structure, l'air chaud se levant pour rencontrer le verre frais, les gouttelettes ramassant et glissant à l'intérieur des panneaux pour correspondre au cours de la pluie qui a éclaboussé contre le sommet de la serre.
À première vue tout était normal, étonnamment rien ne semblait être déplacé ou même bouleversé par le tremblement de terre, donner ou prendre quelques pots qui avaient renversé. L'espoir que rien n'avait été gravement endommagé est mort le second Gwen est descendu du magasin, l'eau boueuse s'éclaboussant autour de ses pieds alors qu'elle atterrissait dans une flaque qui n'aurait pas dû être là.
Le son faible qui avait conduit à l'enquête s'est avéré être plusieurs tuyaux d'éclatement qui poussaient joyeusement de l'eau froide sur des plantes déjà asséchées, bien sur le chemin de créer une inondation intérieure si laissé sans contrôle pour beaucoup plus longtemps. Se diriger vers la valve Gwen a fait de son mieux pour la fermer, sachant bien que le vieux sceau ne ferait que ralentir le déluge, pas l'arrêter complètement. Pourtant, il a réussi à ralentir suffisamment l'eau pour garder le désastre à portée de main un peu plus longtemps.
Incapable de se tenir debout contre la pluie et les batteries sévèrement drainées, la lampe de poche est morte à mi-chemin vers le loft, et Gwen a dû se faufiler dans l'obscurité jusqu'à ce qu'elle trouve son téléphone, ne voyant pas complètement l'avis qu'elle avait manqué un appel alors qu'elle passait les deux heures suivantes à essayer d'obtenir une prise de plombier.
Étrange comme cela aurait pu être pour les gens, Gwen n'a pas donné plus qu'une pensée de passage aux autres en ville. Elle avait l'habitude de dépendre d'elle-même depuis son arrivée ici, trouvant difficile de former des amitiés étroites avec n'importe lequel des autres. D'ailleurs, elle savait parfaitement qu'ils pouvaient faire face à un tremblement de terre, Dieu sait qu'ils en avaient eu beaucoup ces derniers temps.
En ce moment, elle a dû essayer de régler la situation et de garder son travail.
The Raven

"When you no longer see the light in the world and you find you understand the darkness, you have become lost."

T H E H E R O
 •  N A M E 
Sebastian V'allish, Prince of Kesion, Earl of the Deep Wood, Keeper of Secrets.

 •  S T O R Y 
The Six Swans/The Seven Ravens - There are conflicting tales of what they were, be they swans, ravens, or some other winged creature.
 •  B I R T H P L A C E 
Bellegarde
 •  M A G I C 
Not exactly . . . his ability to shift into the form of a raven is more of a side effect than natural ability. 
 •  A G E 
29
 •  R O M A N T I C I N T E R E S T S 
 Someone special would be nice, but there is that whole mistrust-women-thing that makes meeting someone difficult. But surely not all of them are all conniving and manipulative . . . right? 
 •  A T T I R E 
 Sebastian doesn't really care what he's wearing, as long as it's comfortable and isn't falling apart. His wardrobe on Earth consists of pretty much the same as at home, give or take a few different fabrics. Jeans instead of riding pants, loose t-shirts instead of a tunic, a worn leather jacket when weather requires, and whatever shoes are handy, normally a pair of worn leather boots. He rather misses his leather bracers, bow, quiver, and battle axes, but truth be told they tend to freak people out just a little bit if he wears them around town. Unless he says he's going to a costume party, and then no one bats an eye. Strange . . .
Stands at a solid 6' 2" and wears the scruffy look pretty well. Steel grey eyes that can be warm and friendly or sharp and cold as ice. A jagged pair of twin scars slash down his left shoulder, curving across his back and right ribcage.


I N A L A N D F A R F A R A W A Y . . .
 •  H E R O ' S N A T U R E 
 As a child Sebastian wasn't the one convincing a younger brother to jump off the wall into the moat, that was far too basic for him. Not only was he the one that came up with the idea, he was also the one that hurled himself into open air a fraction of a second after the idea entered his brain.
Time did little to temper such an impetuous nature and the older he got the bolder he grew, always up for anything and paying no heed to broken bones or bleeding cuts, the flame of adventure and rash decisions burning in his gaze. Not to say he didn't mature, for eventually he did manage to do some of that as well. It didn't seem to lessen the number of dangerous stunts he pulled, but there was the sliver of comfort that, at the very least they were thought through a bit better.
While he still clings to bits and pieces of an easy going nature, time and hardship have moulded him into something different than what he might have once been.
A volatile side lurks beneath the surface, developed with the necessity to survive in the wild and face the darkness of murderous creatures and overcome an evil queen. Already a force to reckon with when cool headed and rational, the combination of naturally reckless tendencies and pure, unchecked rage can be downright dangerous.
An unexpected side effect of such a tumultuous childhood is his deep mistrust and wariness of women.
Not that he had the most shining examples growing up.
It was a woman that cursed him and his brothers with the form of a raven, killed their father and turned their kingdom into a torture pit; It was a woman that put his sister through overwhelming pain to free them; A woman who attempted to burn his sister at the stake; and a woman that killed a brother.
The only woman he has ever truly loved and cherished with a fierce loyalty is his sister, otherwise he holds fast to the unshaken belief that women, in general, are all out to trick and deceive. 
 •  R E N O W N E D S K I L L S 
While being known for the ability to shift into a large, black raven isn't exactly something everyone wants to be known for Sebastian suffers from just such an affliction. No matter his other hard earned or naturally gifted talents the first thing people normally focus on is the whole bird thing. Typical.
If you were to look past that you would find he possesses a number of reasonably useful qualities that he happens to excel at; Commanding elite forces of soldiers that focus more on guerilla type tactics than open conflict - Excellent skill with bow, battle axe and poisons - Scouting and tracking through unpredictable terrains - Exceptional eyesight that is probably another side effect of his stepmother's curse - Interception and deciphering of messages - Rumored to be fairly effective with certain torture methods, but those are probably just bitter ideas planted by jealous, thwarted villains . . . . probably.

 •  F A T A L F L A W 
 The rather dubious situation of being stuck in raven form might not seem all that fatal. However, try spending a couple months stuffed into a cage and then see how you feel about it.
Once wronged he never forgets and returns the favor one way or another, not realizing until after the fact that it could hurt others in the process.
Does not deal with down time all that well, always needing something to occupy a restless, adventurous mind. Which sometimes means that he actually goes out and finds trouble, inadvertently dragging others into it at the same time. 
 •  O N C E U P O N A T I M E 
First of all - Five.
Remember this number, because all of the stories never get it right. Yes, there was indeed a pair of twins, but two plus three more hardly added up to the ever popular Six or Seven.
*ahem* Moving on . . .
Kesion was a tiny kingdom, hardly noteworthy at all if you did not take into account that it held claim to five princes to rule over it. Five princes that just so happened to be ravens . . .
The beginning of their story is tucked among the pages of old fairytales, usually packaged up in a quaint little tale of a king becoming lost in the woods and meeting a woman who promises to show him the way out on the condition that he marry her. Which, in retrospect was a deplorable and frankly disappointing decision of a king who ought to have known better, enchanted wood or not.
Eventually he realized his mistake, but the resulting consequences not only threatened to tear the little kingdom into pieces, but also caused much heartbreak and pain before things could begin to be mended.
Ravens the five princes did become, at the merciless hands of their father's new wife, and their sister did indeed very nearly die trying to save them from their fate. But what none of the storytellers mention is that it was just the beginning.
After regaining their true forms the brothers spent a brief time with their sister, ensuring she was no longer in danger, before returning to their own kingdom.
What they discovered was a land torn with conflict and darkness.
After she had effectively removed the threat that the king's sons presented, banishing them to a fate of never belonging anywhere, Queen Shieema turned her attentions upon her dear husband, weakening his resolve until he succumbed to her tricks, plagued by horrors and illness until he wasted away.
Left without their king or his heirs the people of the kingdom found themselves in the clutches of a woman whose sole purpose seemed to be inflicting as much misery and pain as possible.
Once pure air became clogged with the smoke of smelting pits. Strange, twisted black creatures replaced the palace guards. And life became one long battle to simply stay alive another day.
To say she was surprised to see her stepsons return is not important. The fact that it didn't seem to faze her was unsettling, and it took several armies, assassins, and a gryphon or two before they managed to best Shieema.
When it was all over they were left with a broken kingdom to knit back together.
In order to ensure nothing of the kind happened again the five brothers formed an elite group of protectors, each with an assigned specialty and position. At first it was just the five of them - Keeper of Borders; Keeper of Skies; Keeper of Roads; Keeper of Secrets; and Keeper of Dungeons, but ever so slowly they added to their group until they commanded the most effective group of guards in several kingdoms. Never would you know when a Keeper was around unless they wanted you to, and if they did, it was probably cause for concern and immediate soul searching.
Hardly had life begun to settle down when the world itself turned against them as the great Cataclysm tore through their already weakened kingdom. Attempting to flee to a neighboring kingdom was the first reaction, until they discovered that the entire world was being ripped to shreds.
Sebastian and his brothers worked tirelessly to find a solution, or at the very least a haven, for their people, but there was none to be had.

 •  A N E W C H A P T E R 
 How he had ended up in the company of a wizard called Merlin is still a piece of information that escapes Sebastian, although it most likely has something to do with the head wound he had suffered somewhere along the way. It had taken a good month or so before he had even remembered who he was, and when he did there was a part of him that wished he hadn't.
Ever since arriving in Mystvale the feeling of self loathing and reproach have been constant company, reminding him with every breath that he abandoned his family to a fate he could only imagine. Not knowing if they are alive or dead has nearly driven him crazy, and he has never given up trying to find a way back.