Chris
Active member
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2019
- Messages
- 53
- Thread Author
- #1
The vortigaunt who identifies himself only as Karl, is a mysterious character, who appeared out of seemingly nowhere. He is driven by an apparent quest which he is not entirely forthcoming about. All anyone can coax out of him is that he is looking for someone, though he refuses to say who. He spends much of his time helping the insurgents operating in City Twenty-Four, offering his guidance and experience. Despite this outward altruism, Karl insists that he does so purely out of necessity - his motivations driven entirely by his desire to complete his mission.
If his story is to be believed, he has travelled from City Thirty-Six. The journey between these cities has been: "An ordeal, a perilous undertaking which I am glad to have survived." Though he refuses to elaborate on the events of his journey, suffice to say, this alien has endured the many horrors of the outlands to reach this place. Though Karl's reasons for this feat are vague - his mission, This person he is looking for... Whoever they are, were important enough to risk his life travelling alone across the wastes.
Despite his position as an outsider, Karl has established himself within the city's insurgency. His willingness to help strangers and his general calm and collected demeanour has seen him grow his influence and respect. Whether they merely trust Karl's experience, or whether they are simply desperate for real change, his immediate cohorts have come to see him as their de-facto leader.
Karl has come to understand the resistance forces within the city are broken. There is no central leadership or cohesive ideology driving their actions. They are merely an assortment of disparate individuals, working together by chance. Making their decisions on a whim, rather than any long-term strategy.
With everyone at each other's throats and one step away from being wiped out, Karl has taken it upon himself to organise the resistance into a united force. While his attempts to form a lasting coalition have failed so far, he nonetheless manages to capture the imagination of the more open-minded insurgents in the city and has begun drawing them to his banner.
Karl's influence while for the moment remains limited, ensures that these insurgents - who until now have been working without any clear direction or purpose, are beginning to organise. Karl's ability to see what the resistance could be, if it would just take control of itself and stop working for their own self-interests, is proving to be an effective motivation for the majority. Who are beginning to see the perks of mutual cooperation over self-serving ambition.
That is not to say Karl's efforts are unchallenged - while many of the insurgents in the city see Karl as a staunch ally, there are those who are opposed to his slowly growing influence. They resent his efforts, seeing his desire for a stronger united front as a threat to their individual interests, being motivated solely towards achieving their personal goals at the expense of others.
While Karl does not have the power to oppose these dissenters directly, his ability to persuade them through reasoned discussion remains his greatest weapon. His charisma has served him well and while he cannot expect them to accept his plans on the first attempt, he is confident they will come around to his way of thinking eventually.
Of course, Karl is not the only vortigaunt within City Twenty-Four. There are many more of them here, the majority of which are aligned with the elder Krass'Etan. [ @Raptorian ]For whatever reason, they have chosen to isolate themselves from the human inhabitants and focus their efforts on perfecting their martial prowess.
This isolationist stance is a source of frustration for Karl, who would like the support of these vortigaunts to help the insurgency, but their membership remains elusive. The few times Karl has spoken to these warriors has been cordial but they have remained closed off. Only acting through direct prompting from Karl himself or when Krass'Etan calls upon them to do so.
Their lack of initiative when it comes to working with the humans has made these vortigaunts barely a blip on the radar to the insurgency. Most members of the resistance, including Karl, would hardly know these vortigaunts were even here, were it not for their "Blood Pit" - a arena in which these vortigaunts regularly hone their skills against each other in combat.
Though Karl does not begrudge or judge the ways of this tribe, he is saddened to see them wasting their potential on frivolous bloodsports, instead of engaging in a greater purpose. But it is not his place to meddle in the affairs of his kin. So he has taken to silently observing these warriors, waiting for a time when the vortigaunts may be willing to work with him and the resistance.
But for the moment, Karl must focus on his own agenda. If he is to stand any chance to find the person he is looking for, he must first forge a lasting and strong alliance among the resistance forces.
******************************************************************************************************************************************
Karl and his rapidly growing alliance have been making steady progress, despite the recent setbacks among his immediate circle, namely the deaths of Dusk Rider [ @Elsida ] and Elizabeth [ @M3ntal ], both of whom were instrumental in securing Karl's position among the resistance. While he was saddened at their deaths. His desperation and fear over the potential loss of his target was only growing stronger, an ever present reminder of the fleeting nature of humanity...
"However the Vortessence is known to work in mysterious ways..."
For Karl had a chance encounter with another faction within the insurgency, led by a man known as Raven [ @BrennenW05 ]. Their group had for quite some time been absent from the city's affairs on account of Raven himself, who was believed to be missing by the wider resistance. While his group: The Ravens, had gained notoriety in the city for their recent attack in District Eight...
Despite their depleted numbers and tenuous position - the remnants nonetheless aided Karl and offered him shelter on his arrival to the city. While he was reluctant to rely on their assistance - their leader's absence prompted him to try and rally them towards a shared purpose. While some of their membership did join Karl in his bid to unite the resistance, the others retained their loyalty to their leader, still believing him to be alive. Though it is doubtless that Karl's intervention within their organization had pulled them from the brink of destruction. With his example at the forefront, Raven's faction rallied under the loyalty to their leader and committed themselves to making amends for the mistakes in District Eight.
Even more surprising was the appearance of Raven himself, who returned to the city some time after Karl's arrival. Having been given a second chance by Karl to lead his people, he has committed himself to aiding him and the rest of the resistance in any way possible. This newfound determination is evident, as he and Karl both share a desire to build a united front, which will see the resistance stand against the Combine's tyranny once more.
Karl's last remaining obstacle was yet another resistance faction, led by a man known as Don Lorenzo [ @Nagi ] - who had gained quite the reputation in the city, for his exploits and brazen attacks on the Combine. Karl had tried to convince him to join his cause, but Lorenzo remained consumed by his desire for glory. His inflexibility proved ultimately to be his downfall as he was captured by the Combine during one of his raids and presumably, suffered a fate worse than death...
With Lorenzo's faction crushed by the loss of their leader, Karl spoke with the remnants of his forces who much to his surprise confirmed his suspicions, that Lorenzo was endangering them all by his actions. His fate had proved to be the wakeup call that they needed. Left with little other choice but to throw themselves behind Karl, the remainder of Lorenzo's faction agreed to join with his cause.
Karl has in his infrequent downtime, continued his search for more Vortigaunts in the city, one of which was known as Kwa'Lillimah [ @Travis ] who spoke on the behalf of his clan unaligned with Krass'Etan [ @Raptorian ], Known as The Chel Ahglah. They too like Karl sought out an alliance with the resistance and Karl's reputation as a central figure within this new coalition had reached them, prompting them to seek him out and capitalize on his influence. Following a brief discussion, Karl invited Kwa-Lillimah and his tribe into his alliance and while their number was small in comparison to the power of Krass'Etan, he was ultimately grateful to have more of his kin joining his efforts.
While his work has been long, Karl has now secured himself and Raven into a position to make their alliance the strongest resistance faction within the city. The remainder of the city's insurgents - who still fight for their own agendas, are now at the very least in the minority, with Karl holding the hope that they will switch allegiance once they realize the potential of his growing power...
The last piece of the puzzle to ensure Karl's place within the city and his mission was to gain the backing of Krass'Etan and his clan - The Krah'Aur'Nur. While he had been wary of the elder's intentions since his arrival, the elder's call to arms and subsequent attacks by his warriors made it clear that his forces were far from idle. With Karl having gained the support of The Ravens and Lorenzo's remnants - he has little other choice but to seek out and confront Krass'Etan himself...
This bio takes a different approach to most biographies and acts more like a chronicle of my character. If you want to be mentioned or learn about how Karl views your character you need to interact with Karl in a meaningful and noteworthy way to justify them being included. The chances of a individual name-drop are somewhat slim most of the information here is curated to act as a summary while teasing enough of Karl's activities to make him a noteworthy character worth seeking out.
Last edited:
