Character Avatar: Kunal Kapoor
Character Name: Pakhi
Age: 32
Rank/Title: Citizen
Race: Bhodistani
Country/Province: Has a house and some land in Eisande, currently in the City of Eula
Townhome Request: Oak District > Cottage of Stars > A small quaint cottage surrounded by Narcissus flowers.
Country Home Request: Eisande > Star of Astraea Estates. A small estate that is the home of Nikolett Dimitriou and her confidant Pakhi. The plot was an old military forte that had been abandoned for better holdings elsewhere. The old buildings have been repaired. The gates and guard houses still stand, but the lands are now used to produced a high quality line of spices branded Astraea Spices.
Player: Desdemona
Appearance: Pakhi is a tall man at a height of 6'2". He has honey brown skin and rich brown eyes. His hair is very dark and wavey, and is usually worn just above shoulder length. He also keeps a healthy beard, but he cuts it short and neat so it fits a little more into, "high," society. When he is at home in Eisande he grows it out a little more. He is physically very fit and his strength shows through any clothing.
Personality: Pakhi is a warm and fun loving person. He cares very deeply for the woman who's life he guards, but he is her big brother and protector, not her lover. He is a protector first and foremost, as dedicated as any Cassiline. He does not hold their strict rules regarding abstinence and he will relax and enjoy himself if he knows his mistress is 100% safe. He does not, however, drink any alcohol due to a past negative experience.
History: Pahki was born in one of the poorer districts of Bohdistan. His first name was Aditi. His parents made and sold lye soap. They sold mostly unscented soaps that were bought by those with a little money, but not the rich. They were a loving couple that had a new baby every couple of years. Their business gave them enough money to feed their children. They could also afford a small decent building that doubled as their business and home. When businesses was slow Aditi's father would double as a guide to the tourists and other travelers to their city.
Aditi spent his early childhood as most young poor children. He was either roped into helping his parents or roaming the streets. It was noticed early on that the young boy had a quick pair of legs on him. As soon as he was old enough his parents used him to make small deliveries. They made sure he didn't carry many values on him. Aditi was fast enough to escape and bullies that would find it worth their time to steal a few small coins from a low level sale.
When Aditi was 10 he started traveling with his dad when he would guide visitors and dignitaries through the streets. One day he and his dad was asked to help transport luggage for a man who ran the guard for a very powerful Bohdistan politician. The man was impressed by the boy's strength and ability to keep up with his men. On the way to the estate he quizzed the boy's father about him and learned of his ability to run errands and evade would be robbers in the street.
When they reached their drop off point the man put Aditi through some drills. It was obvious that the child had a natural dexterity that was better developed than most boys his age. After some negotiation and a promise of a well fed child, Aditi's father agreed to let him live with the politician's guard and learn the ways of a skilled fighter. He was allowed to keep in contact with Aditi, though the family was limited to letters only. They didn't want their kind mucking up the place.
On day Aditi was told about kalaripayattu. This is a very ancient fighting style, the oldest known style in India. A style that started in the South and found it's way North. A style that was created to fight off tigers by an ingenious traveler. An avatar of Vishnu saw this style and modified it. He added weapons and it became a masterful way of dispatching the one enemy that is more dangerous than tigers, other humans.
Aditi was given seven days to prove himself. He had his new master convinced by day three. His training started and his name became Simha, a name referring to the Lion stance in kalari payattu, a strong and fast animal. All of the students were named for one of the 8 stances in their first level of training. As they advanced and their skills improved their names were changed to indicate their stage and their greatest skill. Simha moved through the levels with speed and by the time he was 18 he was known as Val se Simha, the Lion with a longsword.
Val se Simha worked for a powerful Amir, a man who made a lot of money trading in various goods and had influence on the ruler. Val se Simha was one of 30 kalaripayattu warriors. Though they had a job of patrolling the Amir's lands, they were also performers. Their master made sure they were taught the more stylistic fighting methods once they were advanced enough, to include the use of the urumi, a flexible sword that could be worn as a belt. The urumi was used more for show than actual fighting, for that they each used the tool they were best in. For Val se Simha, this was the longsword.
LIfe as a warrior was not a bad one. They had a morning routine, patrols, and they sometimes escorted the Amir. When they were not performing these tasks or showing off for his friends, they were free to do as they pleased. Attracting pretty Bhodistani women was not difficult. With little else to spend their money on, alcohol flowed freely and occasionally opium. They only had to make sure they were able to perform the next day if they were not on duty.
After many years of this life Val se Simha had grown very comfortable in his position. The Amir was very powerful and not someone that was often threatened. The kalaripayattu were showmen more than anything else and as they got older they often enjoyed women and booze on a regular basis, letting the younger students take on the hard jobs. One night, when Val se Simha was suppose to be on watch. Instead he had assigned his job to a young student as an attractive Bhodistani woman offered him wine and sex. Attractive women wondering around the Amir's grounds was not uncommon, so he did not question her offer. She offered him wine, but, that is all he can remember. He was soon passed out and unaware of everything.
When Val se Simha awoke he found himself in shackles with three of his kalaripayattu warriors, to include the young warrior he had given his assignment too. He also found out that his Amir was dead and the four of them were to blame. Val se Simha knew he would never kill his benefactor, but that is what was being implied. Though, possibly a death through neglect. The Amir had been poisoned. Maybe they drank a little of the poison to look like victims. No one else had been around to do the deed, only the three kalaripayattu warriors. Since none of them had memories, none of them could say who did it.
They were quickly hauled off to prison with their execution planned in the very near future. Val se Simha thought he was a dead man. However, a stranger stole into their prison at night and set them free. He advised that they find themselves as far away as they could. They would be hunted. The other two ran but Val se Simha did not know where to run. He told the stranger that he would follow him, he had saved his life. Though he had failed his Amir, he thought he could still help to protect this mysterious stranger. Maybe he could make amends. The stranger seemed to hesitate, but he quickly agreed. He too needed to be out of Bhodistan quickly.
As they traveled Val se Simha made his last name change. He was not the little boy running bags of lye and helping rich Bhodistani find their way through the city. He was no longer the Val se Simha either. He had failed that name and he would not use it. There was also a risk of being caught if he used the name. Since he was fleeing and finding a new world of freedom, he choose to call himself simply Pakhi. Pakhi is usually given to girls, but it meant bird and Pakhi didn't think anyone outside of Bhodistani would know it was a female name.
Pahki traveled with his rescuer, a man named Afanasiy Drugunov. Afanasiy was traveling to Hellas and, though he didn't know why, Pahki followed him. In Hellas Pahki meet another associate of Afanasiy and a young adolescence named Nikolett. Afanasiy asked Pahki to use his learned skills to protect Nikolett, she would need it far more than he would. Pahki agreed.
It was in Eisande that he started his third and current life. His first duty was to make sure Nikolett was safe. After that he was her friend and her confidant. There was plenty he didn't know about, especially when it came to teenagers and being more or less locked away in a house, but he tried to give advice if he could. He also helped the servants with the upkeep and helped Nikolett maintain the spice business that was started on her small property. When Afanasiy wanted an update on her safety, Pahki gave it to him. When Nikolett wanted to know why they were not doing anything about the man who murdered her father, he tried to explain that as well.
Pahki wonders about his family at times and hopes they don't think he was guilty of the sin he had been accused of. He also, in his darkest moments, wonders if maybe he really is guilty after all. For the most part, though, he is happy with his current lot in life. He truly cares about Nikolett and feels that he can redeem his failure to the Amir by make sure nothing ever happens to her.
(Video of Kalaripayattu fighting with urumi)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvIAJHgkoMI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvIAJHgkoMI
Updates:
