<div class="floatright">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/9/90/WTMaster.jpg)</div><div class="floatleft">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/9/90/WTMaster.jpg)</div><div align="center"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: times new roman;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">Master of Arms Kalain Baneron </span><br/>By Cerigo</span></div><hr/><div class="floatright"><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Picture</div><div class="spoiler_body">(http://i.imgur.com/7CPTjrw.jpg)</div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Age:</strong> 39<br/><strong>Nation:</strong> Saldea<br/><strong>Gender:</strong> Male<br/><strong>Orientation:</strong> Heterosexual<br/><strong>Talent:</strong> Resistance to Compulsion<br/><br/><strong>Position:</strong> Master of Arms, Gaidin to Moira Niall<br/><strong>Skills:</strong><br/><ul class="bbc_list"><li>Grand Master Swordsman – Keeps the Heron Marked blade in his trunk</li><li>Master Horseman – Saldaea is famous for their horseman, Kal follows in the tradition and is just as confident on foot as he is in the saddle</li><li>Master of the Spear</li><li>Master of the Staff</li><li>Trained in all other forms of combat</li><li>Exceptionality bad at wood carving and iron working</li></ul> <br/><strong>Appearance:</strong> Dark hair streaked with gray hangs loosely around his face. The years have not exactly been kind to him, deep lines decorate his face with otherwise angular features. There always seems to be a thin layer of scruff around a prominent goatee no matter the time of day. Blue eyes are the only thing that has not been dulled over the years and those who look within can see a fire there that is always burning. His frame is defined with muscles that only a lifetime of training could produce. His normal attire is earthen tones and loose fitting clothing. The rare times that he is seen without his body is covered in scars, further proof that his life has been a hard one no matter how easy going the smile is that decorates his face.<br/><br/><strong>Personality:</strong><br/>Alert – Nothing can escape the gaze of the Master of Arms, a lifetime of training coupled with a healthy dose of paranoia have kept him alive thus far. His eyes are always moving rarely staying in one place for any extended period of time unless directly addressing someone.<br/>Assertive/Argumentative – When he believes he is right there is nothing that will stop him from speaking his mind. He will not back down unless bludgeoned or beat over the head with a logically better idea<br/>Blunt – Life is too short to hide behind flowered words and false promises; say what you mean, mean what you say<br/>Brutal – Strike quickly with enough strength to shatter your opponent. It is a lesson that he has learned over and over again, the moment you feel compassion for your enemy is the moment they stand back up to stab you in the back<br/>Jaded – Kal has seen everything. Women conjuring fire from their fingertips and hordes of trollocs do not even phase him. It takes something truly special to surprise him.<br/>Hardworking – If It is worth doing, it is worth doing right. Anything that Kal takes on he does so with his full ability. There are few things better than the feeling of sore muscles at the end of a long day<br/>Honorable – Give your word and keep it. Kal goes through extraordinary measures to make sure his promises are always kept. The biggest one is bringing the body of his Aes Sedai home after she passed.<br/>Intuitive – leaps of logic or just trusting his gut has always been a part of the soldier. It has kept him alive thus far and he is not going to start doubting it now.<br/>Passionate – Some say that passion is part of his bloodline but with so much darkness in life it means that when he finds a light he holds tightly to it. Live when you can, embrace those sweet moments.<br/>Possessive – When bonded, it was always <em>his</em> Aes Sedai. This applies to when he has taken lovers even to the way he kisses.<br/>Sarcastic – Quick witted with a tongue that is sharper than his blade<br/>Strong Willed – Borders on obstinate, how else can he stare down the coolest of gazes from women that could rip them apart with a thought and not back down?<br/><br/><br/><strong>History:</strong><br/>It would be easy to say that the story of Kalain Beneron comes from a long line of warriors. That his bloodline consisted of nothing but honorable men that all died so that the others would live. This was far from the case. His life started with a broken promise. They were supposed to be ice pepper farmers. They were supposed to live a quiet but happy life but on the borderlands it is seldom quiet. The drums of war sounded and the young Kal answered the call, even though he promised he would stay. There on the farm he would have been happy, on the front lines he would make a difference.<br/><br/>It is not every day that a man was invited to train within the ivory halls of the tower. It was thought of as an honor, a privilege, to even be considered within its ranks. As he looked over the funeral pyres of his men, the cost of that invitation he wanted to cast it into the fire. They deserved it, not him. He lived while they fell. The mission had been suicidal even on the best of days, they were to charge and distract the growing horde. Harass their flanks so that they would be distracted from their match. It would be the only way that the village would have enough time to make it back to the city. The mission had been voluntary, he had turned his horse down the path and was proud when his men followed.<br/><br/>That pride had turned to ash in his mouth when they made contact with the enemy. Every exchange left more of them behind. The bodies of horse and man unable to be recovered, food for crows and beast alike. They fought till the end, even as they fell to the ground their swords still took many of the beast down at the knee. It wasn’t enough. Every man took ten of theirs but it seemed to be endless. They were harried all the way to the city, the great stone walls looming in the background. Lines of people still waited to get in. It was there that they gave their last charge. They had given their all and it was enough. The people had been saved. The cost had been high. The one doubt refused to let him go. If he had been better…<br/><br/>The training at the tower was nothing like he had ever experienced. It was hard, his life restricted to nothing but the dance of steel. Years passed, he improved. Never did he imagine that he would have attracted the eye of an Aes Sedai. Never would he thought to be embroiled within their plans, to be given a purpose deeper than the protection of his men. With the bond came great strength, greater stamina, and greater purpose. Their missions were varied, often taking him away from the tower for months at a time but when he came back, the recruits were there asking him about his missions, asking him about how they could be more like him. Flashes of memory, of the wars that he had fought on the blight rolled through his mind. If he had been better…<br/><br/>He trained them. It started with one or two at a time but soon it became entire classes working under him. It was no surprise that soon after he was named the Master of the Blade, a title that came with a fancy pin that he never once wore. It was not about the titles but about the men. It was on their shoulders that the world would be held on. The sisters could believe what they wished, but behind every sister was the steel of her warder. The strength that they offered to keep it all from collapsing in on them. Kal has trained several blade masters in his time, often keeping his own heron marked blade hidden. The decoration was a distraction from an honest day of work, only gaining the title on the insistence of the tower. He was a hard man, one that demanded absolute perfection from the men he trained it was to no one’s surprise that he was named to be the next Master of Arms when previous retired.<br/><br/>The Master of Arms was not permitted to leave the tower, his duty kept him on the training sands but that would not stop his Aes Sedai from taking excursions. It was not often, as most of her work relied on managing the expansive eyes and ears network that they had set up in their younger years every now and then it was required. When he left he placed an interim Master of Arms, one of his students to act in his stead. The days of his absence turned into weeks. The weeks, turned into months. Words of violence, of mad men moving through the city killing those in his wake arrived before he did to the gates. Weeks later the rumor was proven correct.<br/><br/>He arrived back at the tower, the body of his Aes Sedai wrapped in a clean linen cloth cradled in his arms while a canvas bag was tied dripping over<br/><br/>At the gates of the city was Kal, the body of his Aes Sedai wrapped in clean cloth cradled in his arm and a canvas bag dripping tied to his saddle. The bag was filled with the heads of those that had been responsible for her death. The only reason that his was not included was because of the now constant pull back to the tower and a promise that he would bring her back. That he would live. Somehow, she had known that this would be the end, that his bond was now held by another. He was taken in, questioned by the yellows to make sure his mind was sound and while they approached him warily, the look in his eyes and the fire contained within a warning all of its own, they could find nothing to stop him from returning to his previous post.<br/><br/>Now he is back at the tower, given a small training class to make sure the stress of the job does not cause him to fold again. Weekly sessions at the hospitals to make sure his mind is not spiraling down into that black place, that place where he had taken so many lives. They call him a broken man behind his back, no one is foolish enough to tell it to his face. Each week he has grown stronger, taking on more of his former responsibility but still… the tower never forgets.<br/><br/> <div align="center"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: times new roman;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">OOC Notes:</span></span></div><hr/><strong>O&amp;O:</strong> Kal is a Dominant both in the bedroom and outside of it O&amp;Os (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=61862.0)<br/><strong>Available for bonding:</strong> Bonded to Moira Niall</div>