Olik Family/Athys II
Athys II
Athys II is the only son of Athys of the House of Olik. Bold but inexperienced, the young noble set out from his home at an early age and eventually boarded a ship (the Gaskit) bound for Beluaterra. However, the ship was pushed by storms off-course, and one night it ran into coastal rocks and sank. Many of the crew survived to swim ashore to the county of Wellaf, as did Athys; he found himself taking command of those crewmembers who would listen, and took 23 of them with him north-west in search of civilization on strange shores.
Equipment
Athys II was equipped and fights as an armored infantryman, even when commanding archers. He had less mobility and somewhat less range than standard infantry (which use spears and pole-arms), but well-protected. At 22 however, he became a more permanent cavalry commander and was equipped accordingly.
- a standard one-handed cavalry sword
- a large kite shield
- several cavalry lances
- a thin, double-edged dagger
- a steel breastplate, over a sleeved, long mail shirt
- a visored helmet
- a pair of steel gauntlets
- padded leather under-armor
- hardened leather greaves
- a simple general-purpose knife
He still possesses older equipment which he does not use, including a standard-issue Ikalakian two-handed steel sword and a poor quality iron shortsword he salvaged from the Gaskit.
Ikalak
His career officially began in Ikalak on the South-East Island at the age of 17.
He found another 18 men willing to follow him in Ikalak, and with the reinforced unit he moved to join the war effort against Sandalak. Unfortunately, for reasons not entirely clear, he found himself in the Battle of Ibyp, in which a handful of Ikalak forces were attacked by a much larger enemy force. Most of his troops, including the crewmen from the Gaskit, were killed or wounded. He himself was also wounded; once, a scarring but not serious cut to his forehead, and twice, from a soldier's voulge which easily cut through his leather armor and left a deep, long vertical gash which left him seriously wounded.
He gained leadership experience in keeping his new soldiers, 40 archers, in high spirits along the march to and from Sandalak. However at that time he entirely missed, by a matter of hours, one of the epic assaults made against that city.
Gathering a half dozen additional troops, he left the city with the main army, and participated in the epic Battle of Sandalak in which the heroes Vengeance of Ikalak, Massimo and Karim of Sandalak were slain. He proved his leadership skill as he guided his bowmen through the battle, careful to move as close as to get a good shot (scoring 1,346 hits) while withdrawing at times to avoid the melee. Thanks to the allied infantry, only two of his soldiers were wounded, and those by initial Sandalak archer fire.
Soon after turning 18, he took part in more skirmishes in Sandalak, and the capture of Adrelhia and a 2 hour battle of Dwamon against Taselak and Sandalak.
Riombara
Not long after that, Athys II boarded a ship and emigrated to Beluaterra, where he found himself in the sun-drenched islands of Riombara. He was impressed with this new civilization he'd never seen before; and the impressive Capitaloinas Temple of The Church of Qyrvagg in particular caught his eye. He joined the Church after a hard fight. He then quickly became involved in the war against Luz de Bia when, after a battle, he was captured and imprisoned for a few days.
He then became involved in Riombaran politics when, in Ardmore, he "found" old documents which gave his family rightful inheritence to the County Seat of that region. He was admonished by the Council for bypassing a popular election, and after Ardmore was lost to Luz de Bia he became utterly jaded when a new "temporary" Duke was installed, as he saw it, by the whim of the Council - and who then won a hasty election to become "permanent." He complained and protested about the unfairness and hypocrisy he saw in Riombara government, but to no real avail.
He turned 19 and shortly afterwards, was wounded by an assassin while stationed in Ruefillo.
He fought in a few more battles, including two in the region of Glongin against an undead horde of 206 walking corpses. He then partook in an assault on Luz de Bia's capital, Grehk, (43 attacking nobles with 1178 Inf, 347 Arch, 260 Cav, 88 SF against 16 defenders and 788 Inf, 91 Arch, 236 Cav), and was subsequently captured by Enweil and imprisoned for nearly a week.
By the time he was twenty he had recruited another unit, and found an experienced captain by name of Gismar. At 22, after numerous battles in the campaign agaisnt Luz de Bia, he became a cavalier.
Abington
He often had found that he needed extra gold to help sustain his expensive cavalry forces, but soon got the letter from Gauihu Olik, stating that no such family gold would any longer be available to him. Shortly after this, he emigrated to the kingdom of Abington with a vague ambition to confront his cousin and continue his search for glory and honour. His confrontations were unsuccessful, however, and as Gauihu took the throne it was clear he would not be moved. Athys found solace on the battlefield, as Abington provided many battles and foes to fight.
One day as he passed through Tarkhog, he discovered in an abandoned estate papers that tenuously but arguably connected the Olik family with the County of Tarkhog. Acting quickly, and knowing that the realm wanted a Lord of that land, he assumed the title himself and began asserting a new authority over the local peasantry. One of his first acts was to sack and close the ruined temple of Evgenism, which he knew had been banned in Abington.
He didn't last long as lord of Tarkhog, though, as Carelia retook the province with multi-national support. He remained a cavalier knight of variously Suville and Stoneville, moving with the army under the command of Xuanye.
Gauihu's "madness" came as no surprise to him. He participated in the failed rebellion after Magnus seceded Wayburg, though his membership was not public - and like most of the other members, withdrew support when the young rebellion's leader expressed desire to install a Democratic government. Gauihu evidently felt he could trust Athys with the Duchy of Riverholm - at least, more than the paranoid despot trusted other candidates. But the title didn't buy Athys's loyalty, and he joined the popular rebellion led by Xuanye.
After the departure of Gauihu, Athys dedicated himself to Riverholm. He repaired its damaged fortifications, helped rebuild, and slowly gained the loyalty of the population. As an enthusiastic member of the Way of the Hammer, he built a temple to that religion, and took as one of his knights Rigel III, a Priest. He invested the family wealth (which he now controlled) into the city and founded an Army of Riverholm. He was careful to say that while his mad cousin had titled him as a way to buy his loyalty, it had failed, and he took his oath to protect the city seriously.
But the peace was not to last. Athys found himself surrounded by cutthroat politics, and his arrogant-but-honourable, honest-but-tactless style left himself at a disadvantage. Along with the other Dukes of Abington, he was considering his options, thinking mainly to avoid the fate of bloody war waged on Riverholm, since the city's population was still just half the pre-war level.
According to him, he had the choices of remaining with Abington, seceding and forming a new realm (like Narville and Suville were), joining the Ash Sea Islands, or joining Caergoth. He was most fond of the latter, but was considering ASI during the last weeks of the reign of King Malice. Caergoth was home to his former liege lord, Magnus the Mighty, as well as home to a Way of the Hammer religious sphere - these were the most compelling reasons he had to join, and eventually he decided that he would do so, after a tournament ended.
But confusions were thrown at him - first letters from Proximus and later, Mia, showing that ASI would attack Riverholm if it belonged to Caergoth (or any other realm but Abington and ASI). He appealed to both the prime minister and King Magnus for help, and then it was confirmed from the prime minister that ASI would now expand the conditions they accepted Riverholm to include as part of Caergoth. Then a last-minute letter from Magnus seemed to deny all this, stating that Caergoth planned to "give" Riverholm to ASI, who would then secede it to form a new realm. Athys was understandably angry, having decided to join Caergoth to join Caergoth, not to be "traded around" (as he saw it) without his consent. Magnus then repeated more threatening words to the effect of, "One way or another, Riverholm will belong to ASI." Athys was outraged and broke his long relationship with the Duke of Wayburg.
Shortly after, an Ash Sea Islands army crossed into Wynford. Mia, Prime Minister, lowered relations to "neutral," but the ASI army "snuck" into Riverholm in the night. Doc's Revenge, the new king of ASI, made declarations that Abington agreed that Riverholm was to be conquered by ASI, and implied that it was lead by "anarchists" if the militia did not disband and the lord did not step down. Athys refused, and in the bloody fighting he was overwhelmed by a throng of soldiers and wounded and imprisoned.
Suville
He escaped prison early, but the fighting was over - on the battlefield. Desperate, and apparently betrayed by Abington's Republic, he joined the new monarchy in Suville.
Suville, however, had already agreed that Riverholm would go to ASI and its queen, Callisto, informed him that the duchy would be "given" to them. He opposed this, but of course there was little he could do, and his disagreement soon brought him into conflict with the Queen of Suville, who exiled him for her troubles, declaring that he was like Gauihu.
Athys tried desperately to combat this, but again he lacked the persuasiveness or power to do so. The next day, Callisto granted the city to the Ash Sea Islands.
Ash Sea Islands
It wasn't long before he received a "request" from Doc's Revenge to step down. But as always, he refused, citing his honour. He was dignified at first, asserting that making him a criminal for refusing to commit a dishonourable act said more about the judge than himself.
This had no effect and he was threatened with banishment. This didn't work to cow him, and he began launching into a series of diatribes about the honorless, power-hungry, corrupt ruler(s) who all, he said, shared much more in common with Gauihu than he ever would.
Winning no friends and no support, he began writing what he knew would be "last letters" to Magnus the Mighty, Callisto, and Doc's Revenge - and to the realm of ASI at large. In these he didn't even attempt diplomacy, and said all that he had to say - which was quite a lot, none of it good.
He challenged the realm's leader to a duel - this would be his second challenge, the first when the ASI army had managed to sneak into the city walls - but as before, Doc's Revenge declined the challenge, claiming to be too superior to "dirty" his blade. Athys pointed out that this was almost exactly the same excuse Gauihu always gave and stirred up no small amount of resentment. Eventually he found takes for his challenges - the third, Davis, delivered him a fatal blow. By now Athys had been banished and was considered a rogue, but upon his death at age 28, many friends, admirers and even enemies attended the funeral, and it was said that he had become a legend.
Timeline
- Began his career in Ikalak 2006-08-23
- Immigrated to Riombara, Beluaterra 2006-09-26
- "Appointed" Count of Ardmore 2006-10-11
- Immigrated to Abington, Atamara 2007-04-09
- "Discovered to be" Count of Tarkhog 2007-07-28
- Appointed Duke of Riverholm 2007-08-30
- Switched allegiance to Suville 2007-09/10
- Had his allegiance switched to Ash Sea Islands 2007-12-01
- Killed in a duel against Davis 2007-12-08
