Remis Sefirah
Profile
Basic Information
Name:
Nickname(s):
Age:
Birth Date:
Height:
Gender:
Race:
Class:
Occupation:
Guild(s):
Enhancement(s):
Remis Sefirah
294
9th Frost, 8001
6'1"
Non-binary (accepts they or she)
Dark Elf
Cleric
High Commander
Koben Imperial Guard
Dark Blossoming
Likes
Whiskey and dark beers, cigars, long baths, rambly philosophical talks, kids, detective novels (for the relatability)
Dislikes
Trouble and excitement, meaningless impatience, loud parties, greasy foods, birds, detective novels (for the inaccuracies)
Personality
Soft-spoken | Emotionally reserved | Stable | Patient | Lenient | Dreary | Parently
Remis is an old soul. They come across as calm, sober and quite boring - which they honestly don't mind at all; in fact nowadays they rather value a boring life. Their idea of a good time is sitting for hours by the fire in bathrobe and slippers, with a fat book in one hand and strong whiskey in the other. Though they still have a lot of sympathy for the passions of young people, they want no part of it themself; the quickest way to make them nope out is to threaten them with 'fun', or worse, 'hijinks'.
Whenever they have to do something, they aim to skate by with the minimum amount of trouble - but for them that means being tidy, efficient and prepared enough to avoid trouble altogether. A problem saved is a problem that doesn't need dealing with. As a result they are best at nipping situations before they get out of hand, a skill honed over a long and danger-filled life. They have good stamina despite overall low energy, especially for things that require care and patience. Unfortunately, with age and accumulating tiredness they are gradually losing their 'edge' - a process that is forcing them to reconsider their choices and position.
Ultimately what they want in life is permanence - or perhaps more accurately, a sense of found home and family. They easily let go of anything they consider fleeting - which is a lot - but hold on hard to things they expect and want to stay the same. Although they are curt in manner and seem disinterested or dreary much of the time, they are tender, patient and almost parently with those they have some attachment to. And though they prefer to avoid action themself, they easily fall into a mentor or caretaker role. As an introspective sort they have many thoughts about life and its lessons, but don't believe in imposing their worldview on others - both as a matter of principle and because arguments are a chore; instead they're an attentive listener and gentle, if wishy-washy, with advice. They like to think themself above emotion, and a lot of the time they are good at stepping back, but they're not nearly as objective as they'd like to believe - their feelings, while not obvious even to themself, are deep. They have never managed to shake a tendency to be too lenient to people they like, despite great regrets about it.
History
Remis was born as Firtha Sheach, the fourth child of proud Relan knights with a spartan view of 'correct' living. Both parents and all three older siblings were royal knights and it was decreed that they'd become a knight too. They, however, hated the cruelty meted out on them in the name of 'getting stronger' and felt none of their family's romanticism towards the queen. They started hanging around a group of delinquents who would commit minor crimes out of rebellion and boredom; if they were barred from the knighthood in dishonour because of it, then all the better.
When the friend group was in their early 30s, they started talking about running off to Tusa. Rumours of swashbuckling rebels in Tusa had caught their fancy, and one of their cousins had made a similar dash in youth. After some months of probing, the friend in question managed to get all of them recruited into his cousin's smuggling ring. An escort snuck into town for them a few months later and they left without a word to their families. Life in Tusa was amazing to them - far freer and more exciting than their suffocating town in Reluir, though several lost their way in the temptations of a completely unfettered life. Firtha, now under the invented name Remis Sefirah, picked up healing for money and ended up attached to a local mafia family as one of their doctors. They became smitten with the don's daughter Dilara and followed her to Linhythe when she moved there to expand 'business'.
The pair stayed in Linhythe for decades - Dilara coming into her own and Remis playing right hand. Not only did they act as chief medic for their group, they dabbled quite successfully in infiltration and sometimes assassination. Eventually Dilara's ambitions crossed those of a competing crime syndicate. Negotations broke down, largely due to Dilara's pride, and a protracted war between them started. Life became an endless string of narrow escapes and revenge operations. The other group had deeper roots in Linhythe though, and in the end this was the undoing of Dilara's group. When the only viable option seemed to be running back to Tusa, Dilara decided instead to launch an all-or-nothing revenge crusade. Remis could only see this ending poorly but enabled her out of love. The result was just as they expected - only they escaped with their life, to forever carry the regret of not insisting that Dilara leave.
Remis fled to Koben to hide and do some soul-searching as one civilian healer among many. Despite their intention to live quietly with their regrets, they ended up involved with criminals again as one of the few healers who would accept shady clients. For many years they at least managed to stay outside of underground politics - but the tightrope walk of staying visibly neutral could only last so long. They slipped up and showed favour to one side at a tense time, and ended up a target themself.
This time they fled to Bratkowice. They entered the service of a Mashal Vikomt with a powerful personal military for the safety. To their relief, they found it differed little from their time with mafia - just with a socially acceptable master. They made sure to be useful enough to stay employed, but unremarkable enough to stay unknown. A few years later, a rival noble house their lord had been antagonising launched an assassination. Already experienced with such situations, Remis saved the heir. The grateful lord dubbed them a hero and wanted to parade them around with the full confetti, trumpets, etc. - at which point they had to reveal their history and begged him to let them continue laying low. Their lord was disappointed, but agreed on the condition that they join his guard detail. Several more years passed, and the lord started lending them out to the Koben royals in order to curry favour. It became a pattern that trips with Remis were 'lucky' in spite of sometimes dangerous climates - until on one occasion, a plot by dissidents got too close to one of the royals and they had to step in themself to handle it. It came out that Remis had been quietly pre-empting would-be crises in the interests of not getting involved in trouble. Unfortunately for Remis, the reigning Empress Sigilinde was impressed and brokered a deal with their lord to have them transferred to the Imperial Guard. The story of their past was aired during the negotation, but Sigilinde insisted that it didn't matter; she wanted them anyway. Remis was exasperated at having been revealed and traded without their input but obeyed - the last people they wanted to offend were the Empire's rulers.
Remis was assigned to protect the royals and their extended family, with more and more stints in espionage as their skills became apparent. Despite initial reservations, they found they got along well with Sigilinde - who in some ways reminded them of Dilara - and grew to appreciate the stability of their new position. Indeed it became the longest period of stability they'd had in their life, and arguably the safest since they were now with the most powerful family on this side of the continent. As the years passed they slowly grew attached to the family - and slowly they realised that they were willing to consider it 'theirs'. They got along better with some heirs than others, but regardless the trust they developed over successive generations led them naturally into the post of High Commander of the Guard.
Current Story
After the 'end' of the Roenach line, they have decided to retire to a quiet life - as far as that's possible. They are staying on as the High Commander only in name, so that they can help train a successor as their last duty.
Additional Info
Practices body-painting to channel magic.
Peripheral Fighter class; capable of holding their own in short bouts, particularly if they can leverage the element of surprise. They could have become a Paladin if they didn't consider hand-to-hand combat a huge pain in the ass.
Deeply unfashionable. Their closet is full of identical white shirts; anything else in there is either a gift or a hand-me-down. The only reason their High Commander uniform is so fancy is that they told the royal tailor 'I don't care, just do what you want'. It was a very good day for the tailor.
Invests a solid portion of their income into an orphanage they bought. They use it to give a home to kids who got caught in the middle of crime ring busts, having developed a habit of watching over kids across human generations. They hire an old, trusted friend retired from the criminal life to run it. As a result, many kids come out with disturbingly good knowledge of defense against criminals.
Relations
Edan Rose
They are friends with his family from their time in Tusa. Sponsored his studies in Koben for a few years. They keep each other up-to-date on the situations in their respective nations, and Remis tries to help him with his pursuits in a personal capacity.
Sheachs
Their blood family. They rarely think about them now, but when they do they're not sure whether they resent them, miss them or just don't feel enough about them any more for it to matter. Sometimes they think about how they ended up ditching one set of royals only to end up with another, and smirkingly wonder how mad their family would be if they knew. The truth is they miss having a family to grow old with, but don't miss the Sheachs specifically.