#lhur

[metagrif]

Misc art

[metagrif]

[niuttuc]

Lhur?

Lhur has been doing well, consolidating his position in his home country to be able to enact change.

One thing that prompted him to make this move is that he finally found and killed his father, who managed to survive their last confrontation and flee, which Lhur let the country assume signified his father's death.

Lhur killed his father in a very anticlimactic and undignified way, not giving him the pleasure of an Epic Confrontation or letting him try to manipulate Lhur. He used a weapon from another plane to kill Tolema without him even knowing Lhur was around, and quickly. It was... Surprisingly uneventful.

He burned the body and kept his father's prosthetic arm, that he brought back and revealed to the councils after they accepted his rule to show them he could get things done, and didn't want to just be like the tyrant before him. Whether that sent the right message remains to be seen.

[niuttuc]

How has Lhur's country been doing lately?

Since the defeat of Lhur's father a year or two ago, the country has been trying to figure out what it wanted to be, and even if it wanted to be, since it didn't exist before Tolema conquered the city-states that composed it. Lhur had only been giving suggestions, trying to keep the military under control and to limit them, and do a bit of work in the background.

Very recently though, Lhur made a more decisive move, demanding of the three councils from the city a decision on whether they wanted to stay a federation of some kind or split apart, and if they wanted to stay together either confirm him as leadership or find a better, less fragmented alternative with someone better than him.

They still need to write down laws and set up a better separation of powers, but it seems to have worked so far, with Lhur now confirmed as ruler in more than name... And in time for him to also prepare the military in the background in case of an extraplanar attack like he's heard rumblings about while planeswalking.

[niuttuc]

it is getting rather crisp in my part of the hemisphere so I wanted to ask how do Dancing-Hands, Anedia, Lhur and Ivegaurd get cozy?

Let’s start with the easy one...

Ivegard doesn’t really care about the temperature. Her own temperature is several hundred degrees (centigrade) above ambient temperatures, so a difference of a few dozens doesn’t really change a ton. She can feel it and she eats a bit more, and “colors” change a bit, but overall not much. She’s pretty great to cozy up with though, fireside comfort that can travel with you.

Alright, now, to the rest.

Dancing-Hands: After a few years up on the Ojutai mountains and his fur, he can handle some pretty cold temperatures, but he’s also great to cozy up with as his desert-born partners have learned. Those tails of his can be very warm. If he’s by himself, he’d probably be reading cuddled into his own tails not too far nor too close from a fire.

When things get cold, Anedia gets to pull out the thicker coats, and she likes those! She doesn’t really cozy up much, but sometimes she spends a bit longer in bed in the morning than she needs to, warm and comfy.

Lhur usually gets to be warm and safe in heated buildings with large fires, but he’s had to made do in the wild before, with a cloak, his magic and barely a shelter. He’s big enough that he has a lot of heat stored up (which has come in handy with other people), but if he gets cold it’ll take quite a while for him to warm back up.

[niuttuc]

Lhur’s Sheet

Name: Lhur (Tolema the Third, don’t call him that)

Pronouns: He/Him

Species: Giant

Age: 19

Plane of Origin: Fiora

First Planeswalk: Ocaelum (underwater fan-plane)

Colors: Black, a splash of white secondary

Appearance: As a giant, Lhur stands a bit over twice as tall as most humans (Garruks notwithstanding), but otherwise looks like you'd expect of a young noble, maybe a little sharper a gaze and a little rarer a smile. Black hair, blue eyes, quite a few scars hidden by his clothes. While most people think of him as being richly dressed or in his ornamental armor, while on other planes or outside of ceremonies he's generally more comfortably and discretly draped.

Backstory: Lhur grew up under the harsh rule of his father, Tolema II, a conquering warlord who knew when to stop his expansion, and established his own small kingdom years before Lhur's birth. His father's rule was as tyrannical and violent as was necessary to keep control of the previously democratic cities he conquered, and Tolema used his magic over shadows to make sure his hold stayed strong on all three of those.

He was no kinder on his son and heir, having great plans for him and being as demanding and rough on him as his own father, the first Tolema, had with him. If not more. Aside from the early lessons in everything a ruler might need, from fighting to managing taxes, and a few demonstrations of “how a king should act and react”, Tolema obtained the help of a demon to teach his son the most powerful magic the young giant could handle. This is around the time of Lhur’s mother’s death, when he was not even in his teens.

As one would expect, Lhur grew resenting his father and most of what he preached. He saw how Tolema ruled, and how the rest of the population feared or hated the conquering king. When a teenage Lhur started looking for ways to sabotage his genitor’s reign, it was for nothing more than getting back at him. That teenage rebellion slowly morphed into more as he got more and more effective, enough to get the attention of the existing resistance to Tolema. Of course, once they figured out who exactly Lhur was, they were more than wary, but through words and actions, he managed to slowly get the trust of a cell and another.

A few years later, and Lhur was one of the major figures of the Resistance under an alias, a poorly guarded secret, and a “hero of the people”. Some in the Resistance were still cautious, but none could debate that his actions and plans had cost more to Tolema than any other individual. At least, ones that lived to keep fighting.

The Resistance effort culminated into a legend-worthy attack against Tolema in his own palace, Lhur channeling the desire of the entire capital in a singular battle against his father in the ruins of his throne room. After a harrowing fight, he managed to kill his father and free the country of his reign, handing over the reigns of the country back to its people.

Or so the official story goes. While Lhur did defeat his father, he isn’t so sure about the killing part. The grievly wounded Tolema revealed to his son that he was very aware of his “resistance” and that this was just what he had planned for Lhur, for him to take over in opposition, as a loved hero and ruler instead of the despised one that Tolema had himself been. The shift from pride, hate and righteousness from Lhur to doubt and consternation was stark enough to make him spark, taking him to the most beautiful place he’d ever seen... Until he figured out how to go back.

By then, there was no body to be found. To stop the fights within the city, Lhur claimed victory and the death of his father, taking control of his father’s soldiers and warriors who knew better than to question the orders of their “new king”.

Which brings us to the situation Lhur is currently in. He agreed with the remaining Resistance and council of leaders from the cities of his country to let them decide of the future of the country, and they aren’t too keen on letting the son of the Tyrant lead and establish an actual dynasty. On the other end, they know him and most of them trust him, which is particularly necessary because Tolema’s troops still obey him and they need him “on the throne” to avoid further issues there. The population, most of it anyway, love him for freeing them from the tyrant, and to keep control over the troops, he was officially declared ruler as well. He has great influence over the council and the affairs of the kingdom while they take decisions, as well as latitude to act by himself, but so far he only suggests and brings information to light. He’s legally the king of the country, and rules it de facto, but in practice he’s not seen as being permanently so by the council, who are the one making the decisions as far as they’re concerned.

With all of this as a background, Lhur tries to navigate his new reality of being a planeswalker, using other planes as ways to get breaks and decompress, staying there a few days at a time as he should be “traveling” between the different cities. He also has to worry about his father, and if he’s still alive, which he assumes but isn’t sure of, or of where he could have gone. He’d have thought he’d have manifested by now if he was still alive, but the last revelation he got from him made him unsure of his guesses as far as his father’s thoughts.

Lhur is loved, and he tries to make it stay that way. He saw the results of hatred of a ruler, and it’s much easier for him to hold onto his position with public support. On the other end, he’s not sure if his father was saying the truth, and if he want to play into his hand so blatantly.

Magic, gear and/or abilities: Lhur’s main magic is a demonic one over wants and wishes. He has the ability to perceive what people want the most, and in a certain measure, to magically realize it. There’s many limits to it and it’s never the most effective. And there may be consequences. But even with those, he’s very powerful. Beyond that, he’s a giant with access to an entire royal arsenal, training to use a good part of it, and able to manifest his own desires, so in the few occasions he has to result to fighting, he is one of the most dangerous opponents one could be tasked to face head-on. He’s charismatic and grew up in a court on Fiora, even if it was much less subtle than Paliano’s, and knowing what people want makes him a very adept politician and negotiator, which is generally the approach he prefers.

[niuttuc]

Now that we know those walkers thoughts on love, how would one go about romancing them?

One would go about romancing them how they wish, everyone's approach is different. They don't have a checklist or anything. It might or might not work out like they wish. With that said...

Dancing-Hands: You'd probably have better luck trying to romance his girlfriends. He still doesn't understand everything about it, but it involved her/them being around, enjoying his company yet being very different, and then them being direct about it (with a bit of a push from the other for one of the two.)

Arnoss: Arnoss is pretty simple. Get to know him, him to know you. Don't be too subtle, and he'll let you know on his end.

Lhur: Between personal issues and political ramifications, you'd probably want to be able to get past or within both of those.

Madaya: Nothing too special about Madaya. Just don't try to romance her via magical means, that might have opposite effect.

Odomi: Insert long and drawn out laugh here. Don't romance Odomi if you value yourself any. He'll probably flirt with you anyway.

[niuttuc]

Friday is around for fanwalkers of all kind, and I believe it’s time I wrote some stuff about those two that were created in the past few weeks. They’re both open to questions for today and the foreseeable future, in case you want to learn any more about them.

Madaya Svetlena Soari is a human from Kaladesh. She was a skilled magician (as in, prestidigitator, not an actual mage) and earned her living at various (mostly aetherborn-funded) parties in Ghirapur. That is, until the whole Revolt affair started, canceled parties for a while, brought Magic with a capital M into the spotlight. By the time she was back onto her feet she couldn’t find any more work, everybody looking for “real” mages that were much more in fashion.

She despises Magic, and grew more and more desperate. When she finally got to the point she tried to steal some food and got caught, she used Magic instinctively to try to get out. In a mix of shock, disgust, anger and hunger, her spark ignited, and stranded her onto another plane.

To this day, she still dislikes Magic, even after seeing planes where it’s everywhere, considering it inferior to her actual trained skills and cheating. Of course, it might be heavily influenced by her first impressions of it. As far as her own Magic, on instinct she’s only created a few illusions. Maybe someday she’ll refine her talents there, but she’d need to get past her disgust first.

Lhur (who has other names but doesn’t like them) is a giant from a far off (and as of yet unvisited) corner of Fiora, beyond the Empire of Kinnesta from the Paliano we’ve seen. His land was under the rule of a cruel tyrant, against which he led the resistance. After a confrontation that slotted right into history books, he managed to defeat that tyrant in singular combat. The old ruler revealed a secret to Lhur before Lhur killed him, one that shook Lhur enough to make him spark. He quickly came back home, though, and was chosen (well, “chosen”, he might have had a hand in it) to lead the country out of the civil war. He rules to this day, most of the time. Some days he’s nowhere to be found.

Lhur is manipulative, intelligent and ambitious, but he has an approach to it that most other black-aligned characters don’t. In his mind, as long as most are content and entertained, as long as people’s best interests are that he stays in power, he has little to fear on that axis and a lot of freedom in how he exercises his power. When most see you in a positive light, they’re more likely to agree with you, or find you excuses, or go your way.

Of course, all of that is greatly helped by his signature magic, centered around wants, desires and ambitions, able to read them as easily as one’s expression. Depending on what they are and with significant effort, he can make those reality, or create manifestations of them. In general, he prefers using more mundane means of giving others what they want, or enough of what they want to keep them happy... And sometimes in his debt, in thought if not in word.