Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Order Characters

Over its long history, the Grey Steel Order has seen the rise and fall of many prominent individuals within its ranks. Many died in battle, while others simply found themselves too old or too badly injured to contribute. By its very nature, the Order is perhaps the most diverse major power on Gaiaterra - Order operatives have come from every walk of life and every nation imaginable, united first and foremost by the drive to eradicate the Herald. Beyond this, it's hard to generalize the Orders leaders today. Former Guardians officers rub shoulders with Destroyer refugees, Coalition defectors, and even a renegade Conglomerate soldier or two. Some are wild-eyed fanatics, others are kind and soft-spoken idealists, and more than a few are filled with righteous fervor. It is ironic, then, that the larger world would deem them all misguided zealots... If the larger world had any inkling of just how far the Order reaches.

Aperta Scriptum
"..."

-...

To the Order, he is their patron. He is the man, almost a saint, who gifted them with the weapons they needed to gain a great edge of the forces of the Herald. To the Herald, he is a monster. He sought to prevent the return of the Messiah, and gave the Enemy the machines to do so.

To himself, he was merely a creator.

Aperta Scriptum, as he is known, is a mystery even among the higher-ups in the order. Only a few know of his true origins, and only the triumvirate knows what his true name was (or even if he had one).

In the 1820s V.C., the Herald burned down a small village in Zemuria, killing all of its inhabitants before the Order could do anything. All of its inhabitants, that is, except one: a baby boy.

The knights who sifted through the wreckage of the village found him, almost dead from the cold and smoke, but still clinging to life. They took him in, and he was raised as in the Talon, knights, and monks his only family

He grew to be a curious youth. His lungs, ravaged by smoke as an infant, prevented him from becoming a knight or engaging in physical activity. While others played and trained, he constantly created sketches of mechanical contraptions in his spare time. One Order engineer said that his creativity was that of "God on the week of Creation". Desperate to protect their leading engineer, the Triumvirate ordered their best rogues to destroy any records of his origins. Aperta Scriptum became his only name, creation his stock and trade. Whether he chafed at this or was simply too focused on his creations no one knows because by then the Triumvirate had so heavily isolated their creator that by his passing, the lower ranked of the Order knew him as a near-mythical figure.

Aperta Scriptum lived until 1917, and by then a very old man. He had long ago lost the ability to walk without special clockwork mechanisms he had designed himself, and the cough that had plagued him all his life became nearly unbearable. On the day when the Michael, the first Master Crawler, was finished, it is said that he laid his hand on the side, said only "At last, it is complete", and died.

Not only did Aperta Scriptum create the crawler, he devised the massive walls of defenses surrounding Jerusalem. He created the concept of the Crawler cell. He revolutionized the Order with his designs for the walkers that now make the backbone of the Crusaders and their order. A single stained glass window remains in the Aperta Scriptum forges of their patron, shining the light of inspiration down upon the laborers who feverishly work to supply the Talon.

Unfortunately, due to a clerical error, many of his blueprints had fallen into the hands of the Zemurian government. Who used it to make most of the ADI's advance war machines years later.

Arianna Martella
"Standing aside and hoping for a better world will do nothing. The world will not change until you force it to."

-Arianna Martella

Arianna was born of an impoverished girl in the streets of (Mexico) City, and was abandoned a few years afterwards, not even having the dignity of a last name. Surviving on what she could steal or scavenge and dodging bullies and criminals, the only real friend she had was a Sigmarite priest who, unknown to her, was an Order sympathizer and caretaker of the local armory for Order personnel. Unfortunately, the Heralds knew this too and killed the old man when Arianna was eight. Though sad, she was a survivor and took the priest's keys to scavenge what she could out of his church. She was quite shocked by the auto-crossbows and tabards in the hidden room in the back but drawn to an old-looking steel blade connected to a rusted hulk that once must have been an electrical generator. Curious now, she stole a car battery and hooked it up to the blade. The blade turned white hot, yet didn't burn Arianna when she picked it up.

The blade was Arianna's pride and joy and was soon easily disemboweling the men who would do terrible things to her instead of just running. To most people in (Mexico) City, la Niña de la Hoja Ardiente was an urban legend, but it caught the ears of the Order, who recognized the stolen blade and discretely sent their agents to find her. Arianna, however, was enjoying her status as a terror to the underworld of (Mexico) City. After all, she didn't kill people who were good and nice, just bad guys. Though they were just going to take the sword and leave fifteen years old Arianna with nothing but a bruised ego, the fire inside her, as well as the deeds of Lady Maria, inspired the Order to let this girl join the Order. Now, she had a lot to prove--and she did.

In the Order her first place was with the Michael Crawler Cell among male Fanatics, being the only female. For this reason, others laughed at her, but they soon learned she was stronger than most women, not to mention many men. Her fiery personality and fanatical stance to kill any cultist in her way were great contributions, and it didn't take long before she became Domina (female equivalent of Zealot Dominus), the only woman who has achieved this rank to date. After more skirmishes and crusades, in 1992 V.C. Arianna was chosen as the new commander of Michael after the death of the previous commander in a duel with a cultist's leader. Her first action was to slay the cultist leader. As a commander, Arianna searched for her surname and found it a year later in registers in (Mexico) City, and from this point she was known as Arianna Martella.

Albin Canavan
"Every encounter is going to be much more difficult. The enemy adapts and advances with every passing day, and so must we. Brothers, this is about combat!"

-Albin Canavan

While young Albin was born to the Canavan family far away from war and strife in Hawke, it came to him in another way when he was a young man. As an inhabitant of (Belfast), where the (Irish) family moved to when Albin was but a child, he, unfortunately, became caught up in the Troubles that flared up due to a variety of reasons related to the GVAW. Convinced by friends that shooting Fereldan would somehow improve the situation, he joined the (Irish) Republican Army and in due time became one of the more spirited members, whether through assassinations or bombings. Unknown to him or anyone else, the Heralds of Chaos had taken advantage of the violence and had started taking over cells from the IRA. Albin’s cell was one of these and was being manipulated to do a horrific deed.

To Albin’s shock, the IRA cell was given a stockpile of unknown chemicals. Their orders were to detonate a bomb to spread it across all of Victoria Square for reasons the terrorists didn’t know or care about. Albin believed the rhetoric all the way until the truck was parked, but then the police noticed and called out their arrest, prompting a gunfight between the police and Albin’s fellow IRA. After a momentary epiphany, Albin discarded his firearm and crawled through the bullets, going into the back of the truck and disabling the explosion, before fleeing the scene and hiding in an alley. He was found not by police or the IRA, but by an eagle, which had a message attached to its leg.

The message explained how the chemicals were an infernal hallucinogenic, and his actions saved the lives of hundreds and prevented reprisals against Sigmarites in (Ulster) that such an action would have brought. He was challenged to take a path where he could truly fight evil, and was told if he wanted to follow it, he had to take the next plane to Gilneas. A few days later, the Canavans learned of their son’s death in the Victoria Square Shootout, and of a generous donation from many sources, as well as safe conduct out of the new Satellite City Project where they lived. Albin himself soon became a member of the Order, despite being the most difficult student the Purgatorio Monastery ever had due to his escape attempts, disdain for the old ways, and the anti-instructor graffiti he scrawled on the statue of Virgil that stood outside. Despite his coarseness, he was a brilliant commander and valiant fighter, and soon reached the rank of Banneret in his knight order.

Albin’s new fashioned techniques came to the spotlight when Albin illegally took command of the Crawler Gabriel, and instead of using it merely to defend the Kingdom of Jerusalem, took it across the border to destroy the palace and main base of one General Kassad of the MLA, all the way in (Saudi Arabia). The effectiveness of this attack, and the end of Kassads "Terror Strikes" against Order civilians, meant he was not exiled for his crimes and was instead given the Gabriel to command from then on. All is not well for him, though, as he has made more than a few enemies in his rapid rise, as many believe his attempts to reform the Militant Wing will be to the Cult’s advantage.

"Mysterion"
"..."

-...

Known among the Order as the "Undying". Mysterion is one of the Orders top Inquisition agents. On duty he is a taciturn man, easily identitfied by the question mark on his suit, striking from the shadows and often taking missions that seemingly kille him, yet he also return the next day as if his death never happened.

And on off-duty, recognizable by the bright orange parka he wears, he is known to be a fun and extremely perverted man, often swearing, laughing, and flirting. Though observant viewers would see that that smile never reaches his eyes.

But outside of that nothing else is known about Mysterion, his past being classified by the Order.

Access data: Kenny McCormick

User rank: Inner Circle

ACCESS GRANTED

Inquisitor Mysterion, or Kenny McCormick, had a rather tragic past.

Born in the haunted south (Colorado) mountain city that was known as South Park, emphasis on was. Kenny was born in one of the poorer classes to two parents and two siblings. And outside of his living conditions, he had a relatively peaceful life. Though his friends, Kyle, Stan, and Eric, were in his own words "giant assholes" getting into extreme hijinks and troubles.

But all that changed on (insert) when one of his friends, Leopold "Butters" Stotch, disappeared into a nearby forest, after a public scolding by his parents. Only to return a day later, holding a hammer that seems impossibly heavy to carry, and announcing that he will enact vengeance for the abuse he suffered, from his parents to his classmates, and in a flash, a swarm of demons came and attacked the defenseless town. And to show his devotion to Chaos Butters sacrificed almost the entire population of his hometown to the gods.

And in reward for this Leopold Stotch died, and was reborn as Victor Chaos, future Warpsmith of the Word Bearers.

By some miracle, Kenny, Kyle, and Eric (Stan and his sister's home were farther away and only their parents came back to South Park for a visit) and their siblings had evaded the Demons, escaped to his home, and hid with his siblings. Unfortunately, his parents weren't as lucky. And his older brother, Kevin, had become catatonic upon witnessing the Chaos Gods.

In the aftermath, with everything gone and his brother mentally broken, Kenny had to scavenge the remains of his home to provide for his now catatonic brother, little sister, and his friends until they had a run-in with Demon stragglers and were saved by a Grey Steel scouting party, assessing the damage of a tragedy they were too late to stop.

Upon seeing the orphans their initial orders were to kill them, as they risked bearing the taint of Chaos, but upon fighting against the hardened Kenny, and witnessing the hatred in his eyes, they deemed them safe and gave him a deal. Join the Order to wipe out Chaos, avenge his home, or have their mind wiped and live a normal life.

Kenny chose to follow the Order on one condition, that his sister Karen wouldn't be part of this order and that she lives a normal life.

And thus Karen and the rest received the heartbreaking news that her beloved brother/friend Kenny had died, and of a generous donation from many sources, as well as safe conduct out of the ruins of their home to a hospital that will help them heal and return to a normal life. And as the years past each of the friends diverged. Kyle and Stan, the former who now lives on the latter's farm, both joined the ADI, while Eric became one of the many businessmen within the Syndicate, ironically he became a better person, and became a (rabbi) and devout (jew) despite his (antisemitism) in his youth and is happily married to a wife named Yentl with three children. While Kenny's spent his childhood becoming a soldier of the crusade. Adopting the name "Mysterion", after the superhero persona he wore as a child.

During his training, the Order also began noticing Kenny's strange ability. In that no matter how many times he died, he would always wake up in the bed of his dorm the next day as if nothing happened, with those witnessing his death also forgetting it.

Eventually, after recording evidence of his death followed by witnessing his revival, the Order examined him and realized that he was a Perpetual. And had had it since childhood, if his record of the many grisly, horrific, deaths when he was eight alone is true.