Hokies
Loyal Servant of Altera
1) What is your MINECRAFT username?
wlhokies
2) How old are you?
27
3) Where are you?
Alaska
4) Have you read our guides yet?
I have, and the work put into them is not only nice to see, but refreshing from other servers I've tried out. It's a great way to make a good first impression on prospective players.
5) Introduce yourself!
I'm 27, like I stated above, and have been a relatively avid gamer for most of my life, with one of my oldest gaming memories being when I won a copy of Super Mario Brothers 3 from a package of 'Chips-Ahoy!'. I'm a veteran of the US military, where I served for five years doing human intelligence work overseas. I used to own and run Romecraft, the official server based off of StugAce's lovely Romecraft texturepack. He was the original owner for about a year, then he handed it off to me, then I handed it off when I had to deploy to Afghanistan.
For the first few years of participating in Minecraft RP I limited myself to servers with a historical setting, specifically ancient Rome, which is somewhat of a passion of mine. I've somewhat lost interest in that setting and I'm excited to branch out into different settings. Building on Minecraft is a passion of mine, and I enjoy making realistic, pre-modern structures. Role playing definitely rivals my love of building, but I think the process of building a world other players have the opportunity to RP in gives me a little bit more pleasure.
6) Got any examples of your work?
I was part of a small build team, Origines, who did two projects, both using custom texture packs developed by members of the build team (I made the texture pack for the western build which you'll see momentarily). The first was the ancient Greek city of Amphipolis, which you can find here: http://www.planetminecraft.com/project/the-greek-city-of-amphipolis/, (pictures of build are below).
The other build was a 'weird west' town set in the Pen and Paper RPG called Deadlands, which can be found here: http://www.planetminecraft.com/project/the-weird-west-town-of-gomorra/ (pictures below)
Lastly (Jeez won't this guy shut-up about himself?) I enjoy, although I'm not very talented at, making skins to fit the various servers I've taken part of. The majority (AKA all) of my skins are for ancient Roman and Pict servers or settings. The skins and be viewed Here.
Okay, okay, I'm done talking about myself. You asked!
About your character
Name:
Ulixes Cautopates
Age:
30s
Race:
Human
Appearance:
Ulixes wears an unassuming-looking brown habit with the hood down.
Though when travelling, specifically in areas unfamiliar to him, or in areas where he doesn't want to be recognized, he has been known to dawn the hood:
(Alternate)
---
The test
For my test I'll be developing my characters backstory:
Ulixes Cautopates, born in the mercantile-centric city of Riddleport, was one of four sons of manumissiond slave turned successful loan banker Henry Cautopates. Ulixes was squarely-built and blessed with a long, lean, 180cm tall frame, though he was never particularly athletic. Ulixes spent his formative years watching his father’s employees and freedmen perform many small business tasks, such as signing receipts as witnesses and collecting payments from clients. Ulixes developed his sense of adventure accompanying his father on his occasional trips to various settlements to assists wealthy men in the reselling of various goods and men in auctions. The stories and wisdom passed down to Ulixes from his father during their travels was something he truly enjoyed, and the slow, wagon-saddled gait of their horses gave him plenty of time to enjoy them.
When Ulixes was 19 years old his father passed unexpectedly: He was murdered by a Greyling trying to collect overdue debts. Now, no one could accuse Henry of not being a loving father, after all, Ulixes was one of four boys, and Henry was too sentimental to bear parting with any of them. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a rather selfish decision. It meant Henry’s property would split between Ulixes and his three brothers.
For the next year or so Ulixes struggled to manage his father’s banking business with his dwindled assets. The problems arose from Ulixes not having enough money to middleman the auctions of his father’s wealthier clients, and his brother Fermin’s request that he not to do business with the poorer classes, due to his political ambitions. He loved his brother, and didn’t wish to hurt him, though he knew something he feared his brother did not: Only money makes a high political career possible. Ulixes saw the disgusting traits brought out in people by even minor sums of money, and decided he wanted to do something better with his life, something his father would be proud of. If his brother could not learn from his father's mistakes, then Ulixes would.
At the age of 23 he aspired to learn of things other than identifying the amount of Rads in a satchel by merely feeling its weight... something of spiritual sustenance. So he made the journey to the Library of Port Silver to study theology. At the age of 27, after a few years of travel and study, Ulixes made friends with a group of like-minded men from the nearby town of Thiil. The men grew to call themselves, jokingly at first, the College of Knowledge de Altera, mainly because "College of Knowledge" was just flat out fun to say. In an attempt to further their knowledge, the men decided the best way to learn was to divide the Gods amongst themselves, with Ulixes's focus being The Grey Lady and Rahas, in an attempt to become subject matter experts, and then use their expertise to teach one another. They developed this format because they felt it would provide them the opportunity to practice their sermons and teachings while continuing to learn about the Gods.
Over the next few years something inside Ulixes changed. For many years he tried to fight it, but he was slowly developing a deep-seeded feeling of contempt for his fellow compatriots of the College. It had been more than a decade, and the other men didn't seem to be in a hurry to get out into Altera and get their hands dirty. He was tired of the incessant ego-stroking that their sessions had devolved into, and was frustrated at the other members dismissal of his desires for them to take the route of mendicantal friars. Ulixes felt a path of mendicancy was the only true way to serve the Gods, and was the main reason he was starting to resent his colleagues and the practices of the Church itself. To further this, his strenuous focus on Rahas and The Grey Lady had almost radicalized him to their ways, taking their mottos of 'None escape final judgment' and 'Kneel not before self proclaimed greatness' very seriously. Perhaps it was their association with his colleagues, but he began to feel resentment towards the other Gods as well, feeling as though Rahas and The Grey Lady were more important than the others of the Altera pantheon. Finally, during his studies, Ulixes ran across a quote from an alleged Church heretic that struck him deeply, spoken right before the man's execution, many years before Ulixes's birth:
This quote reverberated through Ulixes's head the night he learned it, preventing him for a restful night's sleep. He began to see the evil in men who pretended to be doing the work of the Gods, all the while amassing wealth when suffering from poverty wasn't unknown to many men, women, and children. Ulixes decided waiting for the other men of the College was an excuse he was giving himself, and by not leaving the College to do his duties, he could blame his colleagues no more than he could blame himself. So, after donating some of his belongings to the first family he felt could use them, he gathered only what he felt were essentials, and prepared for what he thought was his life's calling. Ulixes was determined to open the eyes of the men and women of the various planes, show them the Church was also capable of evil, and show them the true glory of Rahas and The Grey Lady.
Finally on a carrack traveling to the various settlements of Altera, with nothing but the robes on his back, Ulixes felt free, and less like those wagon-saddled horses from his childhood.
(Neutral - Chaotic - Neutral)
wlhokies
2) How old are you?
27
3) Where are you?
Alaska
4) Have you read our guides yet?
I have, and the work put into them is not only nice to see, but refreshing from other servers I've tried out. It's a great way to make a good first impression on prospective players.
5) Introduce yourself!
I'm 27, like I stated above, and have been a relatively avid gamer for most of my life, with one of my oldest gaming memories being when I won a copy of Super Mario Brothers 3 from a package of 'Chips-Ahoy!'. I'm a veteran of the US military, where I served for five years doing human intelligence work overseas. I used to own and run Romecraft, the official server based off of StugAce's lovely Romecraft texturepack. He was the original owner for about a year, then he handed it off to me, then I handed it off when I had to deploy to Afghanistan.
For the first few years of participating in Minecraft RP I limited myself to servers with a historical setting, specifically ancient Rome, which is somewhat of a passion of mine. I've somewhat lost interest in that setting and I'm excited to branch out into different settings. Building on Minecraft is a passion of mine, and I enjoy making realistic, pre-modern structures. Role playing definitely rivals my love of building, but I think the process of building a world other players have the opportunity to RP in gives me a little bit more pleasure.
6) Got any examples of your work?
I was part of a small build team, Origines, who did two projects, both using custom texture packs developed by members of the build team (I made the texture pack for the western build which you'll see momentarily). The first was the ancient Greek city of Amphipolis, which you can find here: http://www.planetminecraft.com/project/the-greek-city-of-amphipolis/, (pictures of build are below).
The other build was a 'weird west' town set in the Pen and Paper RPG called Deadlands, which can be found here: http://www.planetminecraft.com/project/the-weird-west-town-of-gomorra/ (pictures below)
Lastly (Jeez won't this guy shut-up about himself?) I enjoy, although I'm not very talented at, making skins to fit the various servers I've taken part of. The majority (AKA all) of my skins are for ancient Roman and Pict servers or settings. The skins and be viewed Here.
Okay, okay, I'm done talking about myself. You asked!
About your character
Name:
Ulixes Cautopates
Age:
30s
Race:
Human
Appearance:
Ulixes wears an unassuming-looking brown habit with the hood down.
Though when travelling, specifically in areas unfamiliar to him, or in areas where he doesn't want to be recognized, he has been known to dawn the hood:
---
The test
For my test I'll be developing my characters backstory:
Ulixes Cautopates, born in the mercantile-centric city of Riddleport, was one of four sons of manumissiond slave turned successful loan banker Henry Cautopates. Ulixes was squarely-built and blessed with a long, lean, 180cm tall frame, though he was never particularly athletic. Ulixes spent his formative years watching his father’s employees and freedmen perform many small business tasks, such as signing receipts as witnesses and collecting payments from clients. Ulixes developed his sense of adventure accompanying his father on his occasional trips to various settlements to assists wealthy men in the reselling of various goods and men in auctions. The stories and wisdom passed down to Ulixes from his father during their travels was something he truly enjoyed, and the slow, wagon-saddled gait of their horses gave him plenty of time to enjoy them.
When Ulixes was 19 years old his father passed unexpectedly: He was murdered by a Greyling trying to collect overdue debts. Now, no one could accuse Henry of not being a loving father, after all, Ulixes was one of four boys, and Henry was too sentimental to bear parting with any of them. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a rather selfish decision. It meant Henry’s property would split between Ulixes and his three brothers.
For the next year or so Ulixes struggled to manage his father’s banking business with his dwindled assets. The problems arose from Ulixes not having enough money to middleman the auctions of his father’s wealthier clients, and his brother Fermin’s request that he not to do business with the poorer classes, due to his political ambitions. He loved his brother, and didn’t wish to hurt him, though he knew something he feared his brother did not: Only money makes a high political career possible. Ulixes saw the disgusting traits brought out in people by even minor sums of money, and decided he wanted to do something better with his life, something his father would be proud of. If his brother could not learn from his father's mistakes, then Ulixes would.
At the age of 23 he aspired to learn of things other than identifying the amount of Rads in a satchel by merely feeling its weight... something of spiritual sustenance. So he made the journey to the Library of Port Silver to study theology. At the age of 27, after a few years of travel and study, Ulixes made friends with a group of like-minded men from the nearby town of Thiil. The men grew to call themselves, jokingly at first, the College of Knowledge de Altera, mainly because "College of Knowledge" was just flat out fun to say. In an attempt to further their knowledge, the men decided the best way to learn was to divide the Gods amongst themselves, with Ulixes's focus being The Grey Lady and Rahas, in an attempt to become subject matter experts, and then use their expertise to teach one another. They developed this format because they felt it would provide them the opportunity to practice their sermons and teachings while continuing to learn about the Gods.
Over the next few years something inside Ulixes changed. For many years he tried to fight it, but he was slowly developing a deep-seeded feeling of contempt for his fellow compatriots of the College. It had been more than a decade, and the other men didn't seem to be in a hurry to get out into Altera and get their hands dirty. He was tired of the incessant ego-stroking that their sessions had devolved into, and was frustrated at the other members dismissal of his desires for them to take the route of mendicantal friars. Ulixes felt a path of mendicancy was the only true way to serve the Gods, and was the main reason he was starting to resent his colleagues and the practices of the Church itself. To further this, his strenuous focus on Rahas and The Grey Lady had almost radicalized him to their ways, taking their mottos of 'None escape final judgment' and 'Kneel not before self proclaimed greatness' very seriously. Perhaps it was their association with his colleagues, but he began to feel resentment towards the other Gods as well, feeling as though Rahas and The Grey Lady were more important than the others of the Altera pantheon. Finally, during his studies, Ulixes ran across a quote from an alleged Church heretic that struck him deeply, spoken right before the man's execution, many years before Ulixes's birth:
"The greatest evil is not done in those sordid dens of grief that the Church of Altera love to paint pictures of. It is conceived and moved, seconded and carried in clean, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted castles and temples, by quiet men with fresh wine and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices."
~ Ilde Hauss
(full disclosure - this is a modified C.S Lewis quote)
(full disclosure - this is a modified C.S Lewis quote)
This quote reverberated through Ulixes's head the night he learned it, preventing him for a restful night's sleep. He began to see the evil in men who pretended to be doing the work of the Gods, all the while amassing wealth when suffering from poverty wasn't unknown to many men, women, and children. Ulixes decided waiting for the other men of the College was an excuse he was giving himself, and by not leaving the College to do his duties, he could blame his colleagues no more than he could blame himself. So, after donating some of his belongings to the first family he felt could use them, he gathered only what he felt were essentials, and prepared for what he thought was his life's calling. Ulixes was determined to open the eyes of the men and women of the various planes, show them the Church was also capable of evil, and show them the true glory of Rahas and The Grey Lady.
Finally on a carrack traveling to the various settlements of Altera, with nothing but the robes on his back, Ulixes felt free, and less like those wagon-saddled horses from his childhood.
(Neutral - Chaotic - Neutral)
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