Gheiss

Gheiss was born in a family of the middle nobility of the kingdom (the name is left intentionally blank for RP plots purposes), however, it was quite clear that he was not the kind of man who would spend his life at banquets with a wife he didn't choose to marry. After a very direct threat against his father, he was forced to join the military, quickly showing what a prodigy he was in the art of warfare. Feeling as a danger from the nobility, he was assigned to command the campaign against the barbarians tribe of the mountains, where he showed, again, incredible successes. Betrayed by his own kingdom and almost killed by assassins, he was able to escape the coup thanks to the mountain who decided to send an avalanche, letting only him and the dangerous animals he previously defeated alive. Wounded and tired, he had to find shelter inside a cave where he found a curious tiny animal, who guided him to a tree with rife blue-ice fruits. Alongside the giant animals, who suddenly treated him as their alpha after the defeat of their matriarch, he followed the tiny creature with baskets full of fruits, suddenly reaching one of the main camps of the barbarian tribe. However, once they saw him alongside the giant snow boars and the basket full of fruits they fall down on their knees, calling him "The White King" as they believed the mountain chose him as their champion.

After a quick stitching and a couple of explanations, Gheiss returned to his soldier, showing them proof of the betrayal of the kingdom towards them and their captain, offering them a chance to start a new life... as members of the tribe. Many accepted the deal, while a few minorities asked to return to the kingdom, which Gheiss allowed without hard feelings, the kinship they forged in past battles sturdier than the steel of his sword. These men and women returned to the kingdom with words and tales of him, some of them, even so, exaggerated they made him look like a divine entity or something. But one thing was certain: the kingdom lost a capable general, and in exchange, they gifted the mountain of his new champion. This was a disastrous consequence for the king and his court since now the barbarians were reunited under one leadership, becoming incredibly organized and efficient in their ways of keeping the outsiders away from the mountain.

The story of Gheiss starts with the most cliche, the boring plot you could ever face in character like these: a son of count, or a duke, or a baron, the hell if I remember, who was tasked with one, great challenge: restore the name of the family well enough to make the court invite them for their daughter's birthday... once, at least.
And guess what?
From the start, Gheiss was quite a hothead, a young kid who couldn't tolerate longer the eternal sessions to learn etiquette, economics, politics, and those bloody, painful moment when he had to constantly move his toes following the rhythm of the music and the stick of a very nasty teacher. Oh no, that was just what he was forced to do until he had a chance to escape outside, to spend his time with the "filthy peasants": the soldiers, the smiths, the fishermen, the guardian of the pigs, all of them had much more to offer than boring teachers, minor nobles and courtesans. Harsh words, screams and even corporal punishments with the whip solved nothing: instead, one day, all of this abuse came back to the family once Gheiss, at the time a full-fledged teen, punched with overwhelming strength his father, breaking three teeth from the impact of his fist alone. The image of the main man of the house... forever broken.

Since nothing could have been done to the boy (rules of the nobles about not assassinating your own kin or stuff like that, again not my cup of tea), his father forcefully sent him to war hoping that, despite his role as a young commander, he would fall under the cold steel of the enemy of the kingdom, his body to rot thousands of miles distant from the house he so much despised.

And oh boy, how much he sucked at tacking bets against fate...

And here he was, Gheiss the newfound commander of the XI Legio, a mere group of soldiers who got forcefully drafted inside the royal army, their lives worth nothing as their destiny was to act as a meat shield against the wealthy of the empire, the blue blood of the kingdom. A group of men and women who got nothing from life, and that was expect nothing but death and incompetence from another "minor" noble who went into war, thinking it was just a story scene from his fable books of the hero, ready to save the kingdom with his brilliant strategy, his incredible luck, his immense strength and will and his shiny armour, all rigorously well behind the enemy lines.

Imagine the surprise of those scrawny nothing when they first met him: a giant man, with enormous muscles and a rusty sword on his back, a smell of piss, sweat and blood so strong that not even years of smearing manures could protect you from it... this was their commander, a man who was at first campaign but had the appearance of someone who was shitted directly from the womb of mother war. A general who was not so "up" in the hierarchy to not spend his time in his men planting tents, chopping woods or excavating the new shit hole, and that wasn't so pent up to not share a pint and a roasted sausage at the campfire at night. But, most importantly, he was a man who would never avoid battles on the frontline, he was always dancing with his soldiers with a song of steel and blood, raising his shield up to defend himself from the rain of the enemies arrows, and his sword was already ready to gut whoever tried to endanger the soldiers on his side.

This unusual (and risky) approach was quite seen as wrong and stupid, but the results of the XI Legio quickly put those voices to silence: their soldiers, despite lacking proper training by being just simple conscripts, soon enough become deadly veterans, motivated not by gold or glory but from a sense of camaraderie and a strong loyalty towards their commander, who's name would quickly fill the gossip of both the peasants and noble houses.

Someone, however, was not pleased by this, and he was quick to act to neutralize those voices... but again, as I already said, taking bets against Fate is never a smart idea, isn't it?

You see, there is a problem when you are a "nobody" general and, suddenly, people at the higher up level of the "social" scale discover that you are actually quite liked from your soldiers and the people who know about your deeds... those said "higher-ups" will start to look at you as a competitor at best, as a threat to the foundation of their power at worst. And no, the usual, old argument of "He's not interested in politics and power" simply doesn't fly. What? Do you really think a hero would not at least consider the idea to take arms to kick the asses of the abusive nobles, scourge and nightmares of the common people? Please.
Of course, that could not stand, and quick was the answer of the king: a "promotion" as Grand General of three divisions, with a new, important task: defeat the barbarians tribe who lived on the mountain, choking one of the most important road of the kingdom with their presence.

Now, anyone who ever dipped his nose in politics even a little bit knew that was no promotion at all. The mountains, while important for the kingdom's economy, were an impenetrable fortress for centuries. The environment was merciless, the barbarians were smart and used the mountain to its full potential against the invaders, and there were even rumours that the entire place was cursed, protected by some sort of divine entity. Being assigned to that kind of station meant two things: either a gruesome, cold death or a retreat back to the kingdom in shame. The king and the nobles knew this, and that was their most clean, unsuspectedly way to take care of an uncomfortable political adversary. Who cares if that took away the lives of a thousand honest soldiers, right?

But, once again, Gheiss proved them dead wrong by actually doing the unexpected: he was winning the war against the barbarians. Being someone who grew in the filth of the common peoples, he learned plenty of useful skills that a noble could never have, and those were the ones who shaped his military decisions: he knew how to hide his camp from the barbarian's eyes, he knew how to scavenge for what little food was around, he knew how to see signs from an enemy warrior patrol waiting to ambush them, and so on. But it was also clear that all his skills were... "amped" by something else: someone could call it "premonitions", some could call them "hidden signs", some others would simply say it was "dumb luck", but whatever was the name someone could choose, no one could simply not think that some sort of higher up entity blessed Gheiss. And folks do love stories about a successful general blessed by the god.
It was time to do something more drastic.

One night, after the usual routine of the general, was done, a group of officers invited Gheiss to a secluded spot to discuss private military affairs, something regarding a potential mole in their commanding ranks that was actually working for the enigmatic group called "The Ice Shards", priestesses of the barbarian tribes. He quickly agreed, following the men in a spot inside the woods, outside of any potential eavesdroppers.

And then he felt it...

The sharp cold of metal and the poison of betrayal hit him on his back, as one of the men pushed a dagger deep inside his flesh, making him grunt in pain, his knee falling to the ground. The men quickly surround him, their knives shining in the moonlight as they start to reveal their intentions before the execution would begin. They reveal that they were inside his army as a safe switch from the nobility of the kingdom, who didn't take Gheiss's success very well, his name becoming quickly a nuisance for them as the peasants became to think that Gheiss should become the new king instead of the old, fat one they had right now, and that couldn't simply be allowed to continue, since the mountain proved to be ineffective in stopping his career; where the cold snow failed, though, the steel of betrayal would have not.

Gheiss grunted in pain, the large wound on his side painting the snow with a crimson shade... but even in such a state, he was able to find strength in his body, as he quickly jumped in front of one of the men, his gigantic figure supported by the element of surprise quickly overwhelming him. With an obnoxious *snap* the four remaining men shivered in terror, as they saw their former captain squashing the head of their companion like a rotten fruit, his fingers dripping blood, bones and brain matter in equal measure. He slowly turned around, his eyes burning with such hatred that the entire mountain could melt from the heath, his arms stretched as he was ready to pounce against the other four, his gigantic sword gripped strongly in his hand...
But that moment never came... as a powerful bellow shook the mountain, forcing everyone to look behind them...
Just to be met by the sight of a gigantic figure, white fur and horns strong as iron pointing at them, beastly eyes that were just communicating one, simple message.

"You should have not trespassed our land"

A series of heavy stomps broke the silence of the night, figures covered by the shadows making a slow appearance behind the five men, their horns shimmering at the moonlight the only thing that would betray their presence to the sight. The mellow shook the snow once again, as the creatures finally appeared in front of him.

[img]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E5dw18mX0AUTCJy?format=jpg&name=large[/img]

With all its might, a pack of giant snow-covered boars presented themselves in front of them, their breath heavy as their eyes were staring at the men with a burning hatred. One in particular, with a white fur and standing at least one meter over the tallest of the others, was in front of them all, its snout full of scars, proof of its tenacity of surviving so many winters in the mountain. But what most strikes Gheiss about that creatures was its sight: it was not of hatred or ire against them, but something more similar to... sorrow? Pity? No, it was... disgust? That animal was looking at all of them like little bugs to squash?
The answer never came, as the creature charged against the man, every intention of committing a massacre irradiating from her body... but the animal was suddenly pushed back by a powerful hit, something hardened clashing brutally against its horns. The creature scoffed confused at the blow, looking at its attacker... which was Gheiss, his long sword pointing at the animal. Despite his open wound, his teeth were clenched, his grip on his weapon steady and strong, his eyes burning with determination, with a single, simple message to the creature...

"These lives are mine to take, animal. Back off!"

The gigantic boar roared in anger, clearly not happy having its own authority challenged by such a small creature, charging furiously at the man. Gheiss, from his side, took advantage of the animal feral attacks, dodging them with a quick work of footing, striking light but precise wounds with cutting edge of his weapons. This went on and on for various minutes, both his attackers and the other animals watching in silence, but it was clear that the fight was one-sided: the giant boar was simply too much sturdy to fall for such light scratches, while Gheiss was getting slower and slower with every slash, the wound on his back straining his body even more. At this point, it was just a matter of time before the animal would strike a hit and dispose of him like a broken toy.
But that wasn't in the plans of it.
Suddenly, after another charge, a big pile of snowfall down from a tree, the amount of white matter blocking its vision for a couple of seconds... which were enough for Gheiss to duck on his left, dodging the furious animal by just a few centimetres, his snout smashing painfully against a pine tree; with a furious roar the man crashed his weapon against the wood, this last blow making the roots of the plant snap as the weight of the snow was grasped by the claw of gravity, making it fall directly onto the boar with a loud *thump*, trapping it in the snow. The creature squealed and roared, its body moving and contorting as it tried to get away from that wooden cage... but quickly enough, the shiny tip of the sword that was in front of its eyes stopped all of that theatrics, Gheiss ready to strike the final blow in one of the boar's eye sockets.
Except he didn't.
There was no need for that, and he knew it. He defeated his opponent, fair and square, and he knew, by observing the others keeping their ground, that those beats would not dare disrespect the sacred rules of a duel.