Neill Family/Cid
Cid; son of Kvasir
Contents
Current Age: 65
Class: Priest Ambassador
Weapon of Choice: A simple dagger for personal protection.
Current Title: Eccelsiarch of the Trinity of the Far East, Senator
Titles Held: Baron of Irdalni, Haruspex Maximus of Alowca, Senator, Grand Justicar of Soliferum, Deputy Prime Minister to Prime Minister Conan (Soliferum), Count of Cutnipaniel, Founder and Eccelsiarch of the Trinity of the Far East, Prime Minister of Soliferum
Religion: The Trinity of Khagister, Alluran, and Denarial.
Unique Items Held: Helm of Osaliel
Personal Heraldry
Cid, unlike his family from which he fled (and perhaps as a way to distance himself further), has always favored flying a banner with a heavily stylized heraldry. When he first came to Alowca and served there he favored a white banner with his personal coat of arms that showed a gold shield bearing four images: Three interlocking circles indicating the Trinity, a hand to indicated his pledge of faith, a horse to indicated his readiness to serve, and shell to indicate his great travel to arrive in Alowca. Around the edges of the banner was a tan engrailed line to show his ties to the earth in Irdalni after his appointment as Lord in the region.
When he went to Soliferum the banner initially remained the same before he had the edges removed since his ties to Irdalni had been severed. He replaced these eventually with crimson raguly lines to show his perilous journey.
Eventually the banner was radically redesigned to show the symbol of the Trinity atop a golden sun, to indicate loyalty to Soliferum, with an orange background. This would eventually change to include a crown and the removal of the color orange for purple upon his election as Prime Minister. He eventually discarded this entirely in favor of flying heavily stylized banners that were embroidered with scripture and images of the Trinity in battle.
When he finally returned to the priesthood for good he had his last banner hung in his home never to be taken back up.
Childhood and Teenage Years
Cid, son of Kvasir, was always an outcast in the Clan. Terrible when it came to hunting and smaller than the other children he was often ridiculed and shunned by the other Viking children. As he grew he kept mostly to himself, finding happiness in the Odes of the Clan when they were told. When this knowledge alone wasn't enough he began to sneak out of the village to a small cottage owned by a scholar on the outskirts of Makar. There he was trained in the arts of History, Writing, Painting, and Language. He studied under the scholar (who is believed to have hailed from a land much older than Atamara) until the age of 15 when his father found out what he was doing. Furious he forced the boy to return home and stay there under the constant watch of his maternal grandfather Jarl. Jarl wasn't fond of the boy and quickly grew tired of watching him sit in the corner of the room staring out the window. It was then that Jarl allowed Cid to leave the house to begin basic combat training. Though he was slow to learn he soon became very skilled and though never to any remarkable level, at least not at that age.
Adult Life
When he came of age he decided quickly they he tired of his barbaric family and fled home one day when his Grandfather fell asleep watching him (an act that, unbeknownst to him, would lead to his exile from the Clan. While a seemingly small act, he had been treading on thin ice for sometime with his father). He made his way to the docks and purchased his own boat using gold he had taken from the family vault (Another act that contributed to his exile). For years he traveled the lands learning all he could and honing his combat skills. He began to develop ideals never taught to him by the Clan: Honor and Nobility. He had come far from the weak little Viking outcast of his youth and became a strong-willed noble.
One day a great storm overcame his ship and all hands were lost to the fury of the sea. He washed up on shore in the Colonies where he was taken in by monks of the Trinity. There he found his faith in the Alowcan Trinity and a new home in the Theocracy of Alowca. It was there, amongst those monks that he met his best friend and scribe Tel, whom would serve him all his life. He served there for some time, fighting enemies, and later serving as the Baron of Irdalni. This honor came to him however, at a trying time when barbarians began invading Alowca. He fought tirelessly and was awarded the position of Haruspex Maximus. Soon a vision came to his leader Always from the Goddess Denarial that they should leave Alowca to find a new land for their religion. Cid dreamt one night of the Gods and Goddess of the Trinity beckoning him to a new land and he decided to leave with him.
They landed in the Far East and he joined the Republic of Soliferum. After a time his comrades vanished and he was left only with his comrade NLaw. He assumed a leadership role in the smaller circle of Alowcans and began talking with leaders about establishing a New Alowca. Eventually Always returned to Alowca and Cid decided to stay in Soliferum working towards a New Alowca and serving the Republic. He was been granted the honor of the title of Senator and then won the election for Judge. Soon after, however, he served time in a Nighthelm prison and was stripped of this title. This came almost within a day of his release from a Grand Lodge prison where he was held as a prisoner of war. Throughout his life Cid has always tried to deny his heritage in an effort to distance himself from "those barbarians". However he was always known to get quite worked up in some situations, had a tendency to overdrink, and preferred leading his men into the thick of battle as opposed to staying behind like many nobles.
As time passed however he distanced himself even more from his ancestory by taking a mount (An act abhorred by the Vikings of the Clan and the Barony of Makar). The horse served him well during his mission to contact Alowcans living in Taith Aenil (A quest he failed multiple times due to being captured by enemy patrols in lands he had to pass through) and he later purchased the mare and built a stable for her next to his small home in Osaliel, Soliferum.
He spent most of his days when not in battle tending to the affairs of his office (or when not in any official position tending to affairs of his estate), spending time studying his faith, and training. At one point in his life, after purging monsters from Todpitz in a bid to gain the sympathy of the people there, he came under a mysterious illness contracted from the blood of one of the beasts he had slain. Recognizing the evil force that was draining him of life, he immediately fled into the wilderness to begin a ritual of purification. After nearly a week he returned to Osaliel clean, but haunted.
One day when walking around the docks to talk to a merchant whom had sold his scribe palm trees for his home that supposedly came from Irdalni in Alowca he discovered that Alowca was doing fairly well. It had changed from what he knew it as, but it lived still. This, paired with the fact that it seemed that he and Brother NLaw (his Alowcan comrade in Soliferum) were alone in their ambitions to found a New Alowca angered and frustrated him. Immediately he began planning, trying desperately to find a way to fulfill his duties and bring The Trinity to the Far East.
If Alowca was going to change and abandon him, he thought, than surely they weren’t to be trusted. It was then that the thoughts of many sleepless nights fortified themselves in his mind. He cast away the philosophies of Denarial's Way and embraced fully what he considered 'The Complete Trinity." Cid decided that if one did not embrace fully all of the deities of the Trinity than they skirted too close to heresy.
In his quest to found a temple dedicated to his Order of the Complete Trinity, Cid was granted the title of Count of Cutnipaniel, and moved his offices into the region. As one of his first acts he contacted the local masons and asked for an estimate on the construction of a temple. He was stunned by the incredible cost and knew that it would take time to gather as much gold as was required. It would take time, yes, but it was something that had to be done.
After a great deal of time saving the gold needed for the construction of the temple Cid finally received words from the Bank of Osaliel that he had achieved the needed sum. Eager to begin he immediately sent word to the builders in Cutnipaniel and made his way back home. Once he arrived he oversaw the final details of the construction and the Temple of the Trinity was complete. Packing away his spear (but keeping his gladius handy in case it was ever needed) he prepared to begin a life dedicated to spreading and preserving his fate. Tel, his loyal scribe and friend that was with him through it all, joined him in the temple hoping to continue his duties.
While he spent a great deal of him time in the Cutnipaniel temple when not traveling, he still maintained his home in Osaliel which was built in an Alowcan style and was decorated with tropical plants imported from the region of Irdalni. Over the years it would become a sort of hideaway where he could go to study or meditate away from the world.
While taking a very straightforward method of preaching and unafraid of the violence against him, Cid found himself wounded many times when confronted by followers of the Lunarian faith. Refusing to back down he would preach until beaten unconscious or would even pull his blade on them and fight the 'heretics' while screaming words of faith. Needless to say, so many visits to the healer's tent left him with many wounds, the worst being a semi-twisted right leg that left him with a permanent limp and would force him to use a cane in his later years.
Fresh out of prison he began a period of meditation after receiving a vision in the Lunarian dungeons. During this meditation he felt a compelling urge, from the Trinity he believed, to follow another path to lend Soliferum a hand. Leaving the priesthood he was elected Prime Minister of Soliferum.
Nearing the end of his term he made the controversial decision to announce a cease fire between Soliferum and the Grand Lodge of Lunaria. Convinced of the best intentions of Pontifex Ziode he was quickly informed otherwise when leaks of the Pontifex's treachery was revealed to him from the Pontifex's own letters and letters from an unidentified source within the Lodge. The nobles of Soliferum were outraged at his decision he received little support in the next election. Cid wrote in his journal reflecting on the experience, "...twas a vile and treacherous maze. Around every corner I found only uglier and uglier faces as the lies piled up before me. I was exhausted and knew then the strength that better men must have to do this work. By the Trinity, I do not know if I could handle it again."
Towards the end of the war with Nighthelm Cid returned to Cutnipaniel to find the temple he had built utterly destroyed. He surveyed the ruins for hours finding a few bodies of the faithful, burned texts and artifacts, and his own spear named 'Alluran's Reach' broken. In despair he sought the destroyer of the temple and discovered it to be the Nighthelm Marshal Senoske. The disgust he already had for Senoske turned into bitter hatred and he vowed to see him dead. He made his first step on the road to vengeance when he defeated Senoske in a duel to surrender after a great battle. As the war dragged on he kept to himself, speaking when needed, and praying for peace. For it would only be in peace that he could amass the gold needed to rebuild the temples and return to the Priesthood.
After a great deal of time he finally managed to earn the gold needed to return to the Priesthood and expand the temple in Osaliel to replace the lost one in Cutnipaniel. He returned to the life he loved and spent his days preaching, though adversity was not far behind. After a particularly nasty brawl with enraged Twilight followers he was scarred and battered. He face would forever bear a ragged line crossing down one of his cheeks to his chin and his poor leg was permanently disfigured. He would walk with a cane for the rest of his life.
"I have placed my life in the open arms of Denarial, blinded myself so that I may see what Alluran will show me, and I have let my hands go slack so that Khagister may create with them." - Cid on his faith in the Trinity.
'Cid's Birds'
Many years ago, when Cid still resided in the Colonies, he was captured by barbarians and thrown into a prison with a solid door and only a small hole in the wall to look out upon the fields. Eager to get a message back to Alowca he used what little food he was granted to attract a small bird. He took the bird in when it arrived and attached a small message to its leg. Then, he set it free and prayed it would find its way.
A day later he awoke to the sound of chirping in his cell. When he opened his eyes the bird had returned and had a small piece of parchment tied to his leg. Upon removal he discovered that it was a response! For the duration of his stay the small bird stayed with him and kept him company. Small enough to fit inside both his hands and with feathers of black (save for a line of yellow leading down from its head to the back), it was released with him.
Over the years before his move to the Far East he collected more of the strange species of bird. Their intelligence and reliability shocked Cid and he figured they had to be of the divine. When he finally moved to the Far East he took the birds with him. Now, whenever he travels about at least one bird stays with him while the others remain behind at his home. Quicker than a human messenger they are his method of choice for sending brief communications.
'Cid's Vision'
When imprisoned by the Lunarians for being in the region of Todpitz during a time of war Cid dedicated his time to meditating and prayer. While in the dark cell he had the following vision. It is written word for word by his scribe as he described it to High Cleric NLaw. It is believed to pertain the the current war between Soliferum and the Grand Lodge and the problems it could cause.
"When it happened, I do not know. Day, night, there was neither down in the prison. As I prayed I suddenly felt a gust of wind overcome me from behind. I opened my eyes and stood finding myself standing in a field of dark green grass. Above me was a black starless sky where a full moon and a blazing sun sat opposite one another.
"The cool wind blew again and I saw a pinprick of light descending from the darkness. As it grew closer I noticed that it was a golden chariot, being pulled by white horses. It landed beside me and the driver was a headless man wearing great golden armor. Moments later I found myself standing before three thrones. Each was greater than any palace; than any mountain in the world, and those that sat upon them were clad in such light that to look upon that would blind me. "Yet, though I could not look upon their majesty directly, I knew who they were. Khagister, Alluran, Denarial. The forms lifted themselves from their thrones and became one. I felt their embrace and I was carried into the heavens where the sun and the moon sat opposite one another on a grand scale with thousands of stars in sitting in between.
"The Trinity held my head in their hands and guided my head to watch as flames shot from the sun and burned the moon. It struck again and again, the force so great that the heavens themselves were rocking back and forth. And then, the moon cracked in two and bled, its piercing screams killing stars and giving birth to new ones all at once. Then I watched as the flames of the sun retreated back to its globe, but as it did it carried with it a piece of the moon. All that remained.
"As it did I felt a great sense of dread and I wanted to cry out, but The Trinity placed a hand over my mouth. The flames retreated into the globe and the piece of the moon went with it. The sun then burned brighter than it ever did before but suddenly it too cried out. Black spots began to appear all over its surface and spread with great speed until finally the sun exploded into dust and...a great beast that was truly terrible to behold emerged. The Trinity then took me away as the beast ravaged the heavens, making its way towards me at a fast pace. I found myself once more in the dungeons and the figures separated and left until only Denarial remained. And she took her hand and held it aloft allowing a small flame to grow in her palm. As it did I saw in the darkness terrible creatures, horned and fanged. Demons on all sides. Then she left and there was only darkness once again and I pray harder than I have before in my life."
