Tinin

[Svirneblin]

Name: Tinin

Species: Lizard-man

Gender: Male

Alliance: Evil

Age: 52

Human Age Equivalency: 52

Mature Adult at Age: 20

Appearance: Tinin stands nearly seven feet tall, covered in thick, dark-green and black scales. Standing straight up, he has a humanoid stance. Clawed, three-digit hands and feet tip his appendages. Short, sharp teeth and milky-white eyes highlight his reptilian descent. Tinin wears nothing but a thick, leather loincloth and various strips of colored cloth tied around his tail. A savage looking creature, no doubt. Dark blue and scarlet symbols are permanently etched into his thick, scaled skin.

Aside from his claws, Tinin carries a long-handled glaive, the single-edged blade on the end sharpened and honed with precision, though the rest of the weapon is notched heavily from years of use.

Personality: Tinin is quiet, calculating. The savage, warrior culture of his home has taught him when to fight or flee, reckless abandon leads to death. Tinin is simplistic in the way he communicates, speaking is a secondary skill to him. He is slow to trust, and will kill without remorse if the situation requires it.

Abilities: Aside from the strength and speed brought on by his physical build, Tinin has a few other traits. He can see in the dark and hold his breath for extreme amounts of time. Tinin is skilled with both his glaive and with his claws, and will fight savagely in order to overwhelm an opponent. Tinin possesses no magical or otherworldly abilities, but does have a small resistance to some elemental magic.

Disadvantages: Tinin is subject to extreme temperature, and must pace himself in any climate which is not moderate. His lack of magical abilities is a distinct disadvantage against most opponents. Tinin's lack of communication skills creates a barrier among other creatures and may lead to hostility.

Family: Tinin was born to a family of dozens, and was never well acquainted with any of them.

History: Tinin was born in a distant, nameless jungle to a primitive warrior culture. Early childhood and adolescence was spent fighting with rival clans both within his race and without. His clan was small and low on the "foodchain" of his homeland, subject to frequent raids and killings by others. Thus, Tinin and his family were quick to learn the ways of fighting and hiding when necessary.

Somewhere in the middle of his life, slavers came from outside of the jungle and overtook his clan with superior numbers and technology. Those who resisted were killed quickly, his clan nearly eradicated from the face of the planet. Those taken were sold off to places around the world as bodyguards, killers-for-hire, or gladiators. Tinin was sold to a wealthy family as a guard for their estate. After four years of servitude, Tinin found his escape.

He slaughtered the family in the middle of the night and set fire to their home, leaving their slaves and workers locked in the basement. Not looking back, he fled the land in search of a new home.

Anything Else We Need to Know?: Nope!

IC (In Character) Entrance:
Finally, the wastelands melted into a welcoming sight. Forests, trees, green! Tinin hissed quietly to himself, satisfied. The thirst within him was deep, the pangs of hunger squeezed at his insides. He couldn't remember the last time he had ate or drank anything. The trees ahead of him were massive, thick and old. They were oddly similar to the jungle of his homeland, yet more hearty. The dead grass crunched beneath his feet, the long-handled glaive slung over his shoulder sank, slipped from his grasp, and fell to the ground.

Tinin stooped to one knee and bowed his head, panting. Just a moment to rest before proceeding further. Who knows what dangers lay within. He had been traveling for weeks, slowly and methodically. The travel had been arduous, but monotonous. He did not fear that anyone had been following him. An escaped slave meant nothing when there was no family left to seek retribution, and the twisted law cared nothing for justice. The forests ahead of him loomed ominously, but a sense of hope filled the lizardman.

Possibilities. He was not a good soul in the least, but perhaps this place would allow him peace. Tinin hefted the glaive in both hands and stood, taking the first tentative steps into a potentially new life.

[Windra]

OoC
Hey!
Just giving you a heads up that I might not be able to reply again tonight. I need to leave shortly ...
So if I don'tget back to you again today, I'll hit this up tomorrow ~

--


It'd really been some time since she stretched her legs, eh?

At least in a fun way. Most of Naira's tasks for the last few days had been work, work, work ... Putting together the inn, scavenging for supplies and hunting for food to stock for the coming days. Not to mention the cleaning and cutting of various hides to make into blankets. The Reaver had many abilities cultivated from years of surviving on her own as a child. As a young adult these skills made life in the woods easy. She knew what to expect. For the most part.

After all, Deep Forest wasn't exactly a run-of-the-mill mountain woodland like those back in Maine. Some plants could kill you. Some spiders could speak. This all came with the package. Every day was an adventure, because you really never knew what you would find ...

But right now she savored the chance to break free from a cumbersome workload and climb into the trees. Years ago she fled from danger by hopping from tree branch to tree branch. Now she attempted to hone the ability by racing against her own shadow in the natural canopy of massive oaks and pines. Interweeving between thick jumbles of wood, occasionally grabbing a hunk of branch to swing on and propel herself off of. She was working up a sweat before she knew it. Sheer adrenaline flowing through her veins added to nostalgia.

Skipping between fauna was a task harmless to those above and below. She threatened no lives and frightened only a few birds. But a person or thing on the ground might not realize what was happening above. The rattling of overhanging brush and scattering of leaves might give the sensation that a predator was on the prowl ...

[Svirneblin]

OoC: Not a problem! Thanks for the reply!


Tinin's first tentative steps into the woods brought a profound sense of relief. He sensed no immediate danger and was glad. The weapon in his claws hadn't bit into flesh for a long while, and a part of him missed that. However, a larger part of him wanted simply to eat, drink and rest. Parting the brush with his tail, Tinin stepped into the outskirts of the forest. The general din of the woodland life was again familiar to him. His keen ears registered the things unfamiliar and he tensed.

The brush above him rattled and the glaive came to bear. His teeth flashed in a growl and his whole body tensed. The sunlight filtering through the trees bit his eyes and he squinted, trying to identify the sound. Finding an adequately-sized bush for his almost seven-foot frame, Tinin slowly backed into its embrace and held his breath, peering above him. Every warrior sense within him was poised for a battle, and he felt a sort of weariness before it was quickly chased away by adrenaline.

[Windra]

Amidst all the running and jumping, it was hard to notice that anybody was in the area. Most of Naira's efforts included focusing upon her landing spots. One distraction would send her flying in the wrong direction, with a potentially rough landing awaiting her. In this case, it was a bird. A sparrow was startled out of its nest and took off in a flurry of wingbeats.

Too bad this set it in a collision course with Naira's face, whereupon it freaked out - pecking and screeching and clawing. "Ohdearchrist! The Reaver's hands flew up, batting the petrified avian away. Her eyes were closed to protect them from the assault of talon and beak ...

Yeah, too bad she couldn't see. (All that was needed was a, "Watch out for that tree!")

SMACK!

The horrid sound of body meeting wood was followed by a series of snaps and irritated curses as Naira proceeded to hit every branch on the way down ... landing in a crumpled pile of cuts and bruises on the ground. Pretty sure a leg wasn't supposed to bend that way ...

"This sucks ... Haha ~ ... "

[Svirneblin]

Tinin watched this process with mixed confusion, alarm, and amusement. Perhaps he wasn't being stalked after all, and maybe everything out here didn't want to kill him (old habits died hard, he supposed). His eyes squinted, tongue testing the air as she hit the ground. She didn't look very threatening. But then again, that was how a lot of predators operated.

Tinin eased himself into a standing position, almost to his full seven feet, as he stepped out of the bush. The glaive's tip brushed the grass at his feet in front of him as he rounded a tree to stand roughly twenty feet from her. He didn't say a word, but let out a long, low growl deep in his throat.

[Windra]

After a few moments of laying there, letting the pain ebb away, Naira was sitting upright and staring at her right ankle. Yeah ... the tibia and fibia were both bulging out of the skin, shattered bone tips glistening with fresh blood. And it hurt like hell. The Reaver leaned forth to grab both sides of her foot, now hanging on by connective tissue, blood vessels, and muscle. It took a mighty twist and loads of agony to put it back into place. Shifting bones caused such a crack that it was sickening, but once the foot was righted and the bones were aligned ... it was like a miracle, the skin sealing and the blood crusting over the wound that was no longer there.

Even now one might n otice that all those scratches and bruises that clung to her body a second ago no longer resided. Had they healed already?

She raised a gloved finger to brush away some residual feathers from the sparrow that hit her. Naira's face was still tender where the bird had gotten her, but there was no evidence that damage was done At least none that remained ...

The Reaver sighed, grumbling to herself. "Gotta pay more attention next time ... " Speaking of attention ... were those footsteps? Green and blue eyes spun to stare at the lizard-man rose from his hiding spot. The first words out of her mouth? "Dear lords you're tall." Not a note of fear, despite his growling. Just surprise.

[Svirneblin]

Tinin's face didn't betray the surprise he felt as he observed her. She appeared fully healed, despite the fall from a rather great height. This put a pang of alarm into him. When things didn't happen like they were supposed to, such as someone being crippled for life from a near-fatal fall, that usually meant that someone wasn't normal. Tinin didn't like that one bit. If something wasn't normal, it usually wasn't as easy to kill as he liked it.

"Dear lords you're tall."
Tinin blinked in surprise at this. The being before him spoke his tongue, though it obviously took her quite a bit less effort to do so. The weapon in his hands raised, the blade pointed at her.
"Not hurt. Not die." He rasped, gesturing to her foot with the blade while the tip of his tail pointed up and rapidly fell, simulating the fall from the tree. "How?"

Curiosity, something he was not used to, replaced the fear and twinge of battlelust that he was oh-so-familiar with.

[Windra]

"Ah."

Goodie. This had to be a newcomer. And a potentially spooked one at that, judging by the sword pointing at her. Naira eyed its tip with her good eye, raising a brow. The last blade she had a brush with took away the vision in her right eye, now a pale blue compared to its original emerald hue. She was left feeling uneasy but unafraid. Reptile boy here was not the first person to spook after seeing her recover from a fatal injury.

Naira stood, slowly brushing leaves and debris from her clothes. She was cautious not to move quickly. The half-dragon had a feeling that this being was rather jumpy, and might just attack her if she moved in a sudden manner. Silvery tail swinging gently behind her, Naira raised the foot he was staring at and wriggled alabaster-taloned toes

"I'm an undead," she explained, giving a little reassuring grin. "I don't succumb to wounds like a mortal would, and what injuries I do sustain heal on the spot. And if you think that's weird, wait 'til you get a load of the others that live in these woods." Unicorns, dragons, and holographic ships, oh my! She glanced a look at the sword again "I really hope you aren't planning to use that. It won't do much but waste what little energy you have." A single look at the man was all she needed to support her next statement. "And frankly ... you look tired as hell."

He must have traveled on foot, and the Wasteland was not known to be generous. Naira raised one hand towards the creature, palm out in a 'Hold On' gesture. She dug around in her pockets with the other .... eventually producing a metal canteen roughly the size of a small book. This was a handy little thing. She often found that visitors entering Deep Forest were heavily dehydrated, so carrying the device was almost mandatory in case she stumbled upon such a person

"Are you thirsty?"

[Svirneblin]

Undead. Words churned in his head for an image to fit the word. Shambling, rotted corpses were the only thing that came to mind for him. They were the only undead he had seen, and had no knowledge of any other types. Again, she didn't seem dangerous, and his instincts told him he could relax a bit. Tinin bared his teeth and squinted his eyes, a sign of further curiosity.
"Tired." Tinin echoed. The great weariness he had been fending off seemed to wash over him at that second, as if he had opened the floodgates just by mentioning the word. He let the long-handled glaive fall from his grasp and land with a quiet thud on the ground.

His eyes widened at the canteen, and his tongue flicked out rapidly. The big lizardman took a step forward and grabbed the canteen, pouring its contents into his mouth greedily. The water hit his stomach, and it churned angrily at the sudden intrusion. Tinin winced a bit, savoring the cool, wetness in his throat and even the pangs of his depleted stomach.

Water dripping from his jaws, he held the canteen back out toward her.
"Thank you. Undead... not eat flesh? Not vampire? Not know other kind of undead." Tinin inquired, making a lazy slashing motion with one claw.

[Windra]

Man was he thirsty. When Naira was handed back the canteen, she was actually able to turn it upside-down without a single drop falling out. That was alright though. Hell, that was the main reason she brought the thing with her … just in case she bumped into one that needed it. As the Reaver tucked the empty flask away, the lizard made some motions with his hand and inquired again. Judging from his broken English, that was not his primary language. That, or he was just never taught to properly use it.

”Gods no. Vampires are a bit on the paler side. And they sizzle in the sun. I’m not restricted to drinking blood either.” Her thoughts fell on the fresh venison at home. Just imagining the smell of it cooking made her stomach grumble. ”I’m what you’d call a Soul Reaver. Kind of a recycling bin for spirits. We filter out the impurities and send them back into the lifestream to be reborn.”

Naira then raised her hands into the air. She made a waving motion to the woodlands around her.

”This is Deep Forest. It’s a strange little pocket out here in the middle of nowhere, surrounded and nurtured by magick. A lot of odd beings find their way here in long, lost travels … so I’m not the first weirdo you’ll see.” She peered closely at the newcomer, cocking her head on an angle. ”You aren’t the first reptilian I’ve seen walking on two legs … What’re your name?” She put a hand to her chest. ”I’m Naira.”

[Svirneblin]

"Soul Reaver." He grunted. Tinin had seen shaman who could manipulate the spirit world and do things his mind couldn't comprehend. He could comprehend slitting their throats in a battle, and that was as far as his relationship usually went with magick. He regarded her cautiously, clutching his chest for a moment as if to say, Not MY soul.

"Tinin." He stated, picking up his glave and slapping the blade to his chest. "Much magick here. Do not trust it. Magick... dangerous." The lizardman growled. A sheer second later, his stomach growled in reply. A forlorn look came across his usually neutral face, and he slapped a clawed hand to his stomach.

"Food. Many animals live here?" Tinin inquired, hefting the blade and gazing about. He could sure go for a nice, juicy deer about now.

[Windra]

Just saying the word 'magick' struck a response in the lizard man. Tinin obviously didn't like it. His reasons were his own, and Naira was not about to question it given his current state. She did add a little bit to her earlier comment, hoping to quell rising suspicions and irritations.

"A lot of creatures utilize magick here, but its not something that everybody has. What does exist is used to protect these lands." Even if Tinin was new to the Forest, surely he could see the reason it needed to be guarded. With the harshness out there and dangers afoot all across the globe, you never knew when something was going to go wrong ..

His declaration of wanting food stirred her own hunger. Naira waved to the woods. Hunting grounds aplenty.

"You'll find a lot of deer here. Rabbits too. The occasional bear, but I prefer not to challenge those." She looked at him with a raised brow. He still looked exhausted, and the thought of him setting off to hunt, kill, and clean his own meal brought a pang of sympathy Sure, anybody could do it. But Tinin appeared like he deserved a good rest. "If you want ... I've set up camp not far from here. Caught a couple of fish earlier. I can cook them up for an easy meal?"

Or give them to him raw. She wasn't sure if this guy was one to cook his food before devouring it.

[Svirneblin]

"Do not trust magick." Tinin grunted. "Protect land with claw and sword."
Tinin's culture revolved around physical prowess. Magick was a foreign and very hostile concept to them, as they had only seen it used to destroy. Even the shaman's use of spiritual energy was offputting.

The drain on his body was very minute now that he was not trekking through the Wasteland, but it was still there. His limbs felt a bit heavier than normal, even his tail lay on the grass, in a seemingly defeated manner. Rabbits, deer, bears! His mouth watered at the thought of a fresh kill. Even a creature his size didn't tousle with a full-grown bear head-on, but a well-placed blade could dispatch one pretty quickly. However, the mention of fish (and with no effort on his part) seemed far more appealing at this point.

"Cook fish? Better raw. More strength from eat raw." Tinin stated, nodding as if he were a sage sharing some valuable piece of ancient lore. "I come with you. I... thank you." He mumbled, bowing his head slightly. Generosity was a fairly foreign concept to him, especially from complete strangers.

[Windra]

No argument there. Magick was a fun thing to fiddle with, and it certainly came in handy in dire times. But one with great power could easily let it go to their head. The only certain things were strength and will. Even if Naira was in possession of wind abilities, she preferred her own brute strength to the uncertainty of spellcasting.

Right, Naira was dead-on when it came to predicting Tinin's preference for rare meat. She couldn't blame him. Some part of Windra's draconic habits made her mouth water at the sight and smell of raw flesh. Scarlet's added violent nature only made that crave worse. But the Reaver herself had only been desperate enough to tear through uncooked meat once, and the horrible sickness that overcame her soon afterwards was a good enough reason to keep her from doing so again. Dragons had immunities from certain bacteria. Naira had no such luxury, having originally been a human.

Tinin thanked her. Naira shook her head. "I used to be in similar boat as you," she told him, gesturing to the blade tied to her left hip - a curved scimitar, black and gray in hue. Well, she probably didn't share the same past as the reptile, but she definitely knew what it was like to struggle through life, refusing to accept help from anybody out of general distrust. Deep Forest kicked that habit out of her relatively quickly "Come."

The walk to camp was short. On days when she wandered from the inn, Naira tended to stay out the whole day, choosing to sleep under the stars. The set-up she made here was sturdy enough to last the night. A tent made entirely of leaves and twigs ... a roughly tossed together campfire site with stone surrounding the dried sticks inside ... And then there were the fish, strung up by their tails on a branch held up by other branches. Catching salmon during their mating season was a cinch. Hold a net out and they practically jump right in.

She picked out the largest of the batch - easily as long as an arm - and handed it to Tinin. "There's plenty more if you're still hungry."

[Svirneblin]

Tinin nodded his appreciation to her as he took the fish. He tossed his weapon to the ground and sat up against a tree with a low sigh. The lizardman regarded the fish for a moment before devouring it in two large, ravenous bites. A look of contentment washed over his face and his tail swished lazily.
"No more. Stomach angry. Not had food in while." Tinin said, resting a clawed hand on his stomach for a moment and wincing.

Strength could be felt slowly returning to his limbs from just the one bit of food. The lizardman was used to feeling that savage, boundless energy course through his veins. He didn't like feeling weak. It reminded him too much of his... indentured time with the family that had purchased him. Chained nightly to his cell and under watch during the day. He bared his teeth angrily at the thought of that part of his past and shook his head to clear it of the memory for a moment.

"You live in forest?"
His milky eyes regarded her curiously, the angry thoughts passing and being replaced with more questions. It wasn't quite as hot or humid here as he enjoyed it, but it was peaceful for sure.

[Windra]

Naira would have imagined Tinin to jump at the opportunity to seize more fish. His reaction to devouring just one indicated pain in his gut. She wondered of his condition prior to encountering Deep Forest. Starvation would shrink the stomach. Neglect, perhaps? After all, he was highly defensive. This could mean that he came from a harsh background. Then again there wasn't exactly a plentiful food source out in the Wastelands. Who knew how long he'd been wandering without nourishment.

At his question, the Reaver nodded. She unfastened the scrimitar and sat beside it. "About six years, I think." Really, there was no way of telling. Time ran a different course here than it did on Earth. "Greenery all around and plenty to hunt. There's a village just south of here ... and beyond that, a river that adds to the marshy swamplands near the southern border. You'll find a lot of other inhabitants that speak the same language as we do, and most of them are friendly."

She gestured to the east. The peaks of a mountain range were just visible above the treetops. Distant though it was, its appearance was still pretty ominous.

"And if you're feeling adventurous ... Boundary Mountains haven't been thriving with activity in a while. Some time ago it was known as a stalking ground for darker creatures, and a home for dragons. Now its mostly empty caves."

[Svirneblin]

Tinin turned his head to regard the mountains. Her description of what it once was was intriguing to him. Dark creatures were a hearty challenge sometimes, just the type of fight he enjoyed. The warrior culture of his home helped his people develop an acute sense of fighting honor. Though they were a mostly evil bunch, his clan had an odd sense of order and justice regarding battle.

He turned back to her and cocked his head a bit, his tongue flicking in and out slowly.
"Why you help me? Not know me. Strangers dangerous most often. Easier to kill strangers, take weapons, valuables." Tinin grunted. At least, that's what he did. Sharing your food and goods with another was most often impractical, especially when they had nothing of value to offer you. The lizardman more often then not found himself killing and looting most wayfarers.

However, the harsh Wasteland seemed to have curbed his appetite for fighting a bit. Tinin hoped this wasn't a permanent change. Who knew when a little bloodlust would come in handy?

[Windra]

The way Tinin spoke about past habits colored him as a raider. No wonder he was edgy - the lizard-man was half-expecting Naira to jump at his throat, wasn't he? Defend her products and food? Kick him out of her territory? She shrugged at his question, looking genuinely curious. His was an interesting take on the situation.

"Deep Forest is a land torn by war. We've had two in the past few years alone." Was it two? There may have been more before she arrived herself. "Though things are calm now, every once in a while there's some reat calamity that has us split down the middle. So ... its easier to forge friends where you can. You never know when you might be fighting side-by-side."

Or depending on one another, as it were. Naira offered aid where it was needed. Although there were times when her interference often put her at odds with those she once considered comrades. She still remembered the time Norad and Entropy sought for her in the midst of the Wastes - lost, weak, and blinded in one eye from a drawn-out battle with Valtiel. Some rifts would never heal right.

"Kindness was extended to me when I first came here. It's a tradition others and myself continue." She rummaged through something in the tent and came out with a second flask. This was downed quickly, followed by a content sigh. "No use fighting over scraps of food when co-operation could bring a bounty, so to speak."

She glanced at Tinin, blind and good eyes looking him over. There was still his background to inquire about. Naira hoped easing him into Deep Forest would allow him to realize he was in good company. Or at least company that wasn't going to up and kill him at a moment's notice.

"What of you? There's no civilization outside of Deep Forest for hundreds of miles ...Where did you come from?"

[Svirneblin]

Tinin sat silently for a moment. The journey passed quickly through his mind, from the moment he left the estate to the moment he stumbled into the edge of the woods.
"Far away. Jungle. Have no name, always been jungle." He hissed quietly, a pang of homesickness seizing his heart for a moment. The hazy, tropical jungle of his home never seemed so distant as it did now. "Raiders come, kill and take us. Sell to slavery."

Tinin fell silent for a moment. Even here, retribution for his crimes seemed possible to him. Simple paranoia, he reasoned. Why not tell this stranger?
"I kill masters. Destroy home of masters." Lips curled back to reveal rows of teeth, he slowly shook his head. "Many die. I run, run far and fast." The weight of his crimes seemed to lighten a bit after his confession of sorts. It was a good feeling. At the time, there had been no remorse in what he did. But the length of his travels allowed much time for introspection, and for unfamiliar feelings of doubt to creep in.

[Windra]

Tinin’s very brief description about home left a lot for the imagination to run with. Bethesda would’ve pegged him for an Argonian. Naira thought he bore a very basic resemblance to Klinge, another inhabitant in these lands. But the mirror-image was limited to tails and scales. Klinge had wings and a humanoid face. Plus his language was a lot more articulate.

But back to the point. A jungle! She had no idea this planet housed anything beyond a few barren ruins in the Wastelands!

Tinin was caught by raiders and sold into slavery. That explained his somewhat emaciated appearance. Some of Naira’s suspicions were right. But she hadn’t counted on him revealing the multiple-homicide he committed. Killing those who held him captive may have been drastic to others, but to Naira, ”Sounds like they got what they deserved.”

There was no indication of judgment. If Tinin’s actions disturbed her, the Reaver sure as hell didn’t show it.

”I’m sorry about your home … The closest thing we have to a jungle here would be the swamps. They get awfully muggy during the spring and summer months. But winter … “ Yeah, those scales weren’t going to keep anything warm. Was he cold-blooded? ”How do you cope in colder weather?’