Crane Redthorn

Age (Appearance): 30 | Species: Dhampir | Age (Real): 142

Faction: Ailward Guard | Rank: Personal Guard to Cora Ailward

Colour Affinity: Sky Blue | Weapon Affinity: Twin Tomahawks

Faceclaim: Blair Redford

Like all cultures, the Native tribe Crane was born into had a legend of vampiric creatures which feasted on blood, only am to survive at night. The deity of the moon having pity on them while the deity of the sun despised them for the harm and death they caused to those who dwelled in the sunlight. In the middle of the village a large Hawthorn tree grew, the tribe using it’s branches for weapons while allowing a strange weed known as Daystar to grow surrounding the village. The tribe was a mix of humans and what they called skinwalkers who could shift into wolves in order to hunt along with during the full moon.

Crane’s mother was fearless crossing the protective barrier around the village in the dead of night to feel free. The confines of the village something she didn’t appreciate given her natural free spirit which knew no authority. It was during one such night in her late teens when something much darker found her and she understood why the natural protection around the village was so important. The blood was drained from her body to the point of death before the creature gave her it’s blood infused with shadow magic and she went into transition while she slept.

Hunting scouts found her body and believed her to be dead so brought her to the village doctor who examined her body. It was still human but he seemed to sense something darker. She was moved to the most sealed up hut and kept away from everyone for their own safety. Then everything seemed to be so incredibly clear. That was how his mother became a valkyr, the first and only of their tribe. The blood lust something she was taught to control, the tribe accepting her for the gentle natural she still possessed. The skinwalkers and the blood drinkers were meant to be enemies and yet she caught the eyes of the alpha wolf and the two married, accepting the differences of one another.

Crane was the only child to come of such a union and he was a type of being the tribe had never seen before. The sunlight didn’t hurt him as it did his mother and yet he held the strength of both of his parents other than the wolf side which tended to come out during the teenage years. As he grew he was well loved in the tribe but was also adventurous and mischievous which kept everyone in their toes. Despite it being a peaceful village, when he was five the village hunters began to teach him how to track and hunt to try and get rid of some of his excess energy. When that failed to work they began to teach him how to fight which was something he caught on quickly too able to take down grown men twice his size. However his mother having a soft nature wanted him to also try something else violent and had him learn from the village medicine man who was said to be able to call upon spirits and heal. So Crane learned of both fighting and healing and grew to enjoy both.

When he was twelve things began to change. Other settlers began to move into their hunt land and had a distaste for the tribes which called it home. Having never dealt with that sort of hate before he just kept his distance. That all changed the day he and a few others went out on a hunt, they were done well and had a lot to bring back to the village but as they began to get closer a cloud of smoke could be seen. They all dropped the meat they had spent the day hunting to have and ran towards the village which was ablaze including the hut his mother resided in throughout the day in stay safe since her species was vulnerable while the sun was out. There was so much blood and so many bodies of those he knew of those who had taught him and protected him. Hot metal bit through his skin as he and the hunters with him were shot. They were left for dead but the craziest thing happened, Crane didn’t die. When the stars came out and the moon rose he was beginning to heal, slowly but surely.

There was such rage inside of him as he stood and looked over everyone he had ever known. Everything he had ever known and suddenly a voice which sounded much like his mother’s whispered across his mind for him to run. That was when he began to see the light of torches coming his direction. The young man wanted to fight, he knew that he could but he also knew that death was not the answer. His tribe had been peaceful and believed in the strength and energy of both the living and the dead. So he wouldn’t disrespect the dead and their wishes so instead he ran. It seemed liked he ran all night and as the sun began to rise he found himself on the shores of an island the likes of which he had never seen.

People came to greet him and at first Crane was afraid but they talked him down and told him he was safe. That only those with a pure heart and pure intent could even find this place which left him with even more questions which they agreed to answer but first they provided him with a warm meal and a safe place to rest. He have never seen such a place as the one of the Isle and it utterly fascinating to him and he spent days just wandering.

The Ailward Aspects and Ailward Guard were explained to him and after hearing his story they understood how someone so young was able to find the Isle. He had a choice and instead of giving into violence he had picked the high road which lead him here when he had nowhere else to go. They agreed to train him until he turned eighteen when he would have his choosing ceremony for a weapon and then be able to make his choice on if he wanted to join the Guard. Training with the Ailward was nothing like training with his tribe but they taught him strength of body and mind. How to fight as one and also as a unit and when the time for his choosing came he was nervous but ready. He walked through the rows of weapons waiting for one of them to light up and finally the ruins on a set of twin tomahawks began to glow, a weapon he was well acquainted with. Now it would represent him but to Crane it was a reminder of his father, a strong and patient man who he wanted to be like.

That was also the same day he went from being known as Redthorn, the name his tribe had given him, to Crane, taking his given name as his last. Along with taking his oath and becoming a true member of the Guard. The Guard has given his life back meaning and purpose along with giving him a family again each from different species and backgrounds and he felt completely comfortable there.

As a Guard he’s run many missions and helped to bring peace where he could. The Celestials being a rather sore subject for him since he had once deeply cared for one even so far as to say being in love. So when they had been locked away it broke a part of causing him to fall into himself. It took a long time for him to make peace with it even if he understood the reasoning and necessity. Though he did believe there was always another way, what it was he wasn’t sure.

When the Isle fell he was in Evermore on a mission and the news took another devastating toll on him since yet another home and group of people he considered family was ripped away from him. Crane remembered a saying his mother used to use often those which made it easier to handle, life is what you make of it for you cannot change the past, only how you view it. Now both the Ailward and Celestials reside in Evermore along with a peace treaty and he has no idea what will happen next.

Personality Traits

Adventurous - Open-minded - Perceptive - Resourceful   
Impulsive - Rebellious - Stubborn - Defensive