Xerdun

Deathly silence returns to the tomb, the light rustle on paw on rock fading as the last of the Kha exit through the waterfall. Inside, the rush of water streaming overhead is barely audible. The final trickle of torchlight glints eerily across the ceiling and walls, reflecting from the ceremonial gold bronze burial armour of Tla' Xerdun. Little now remains of the first Tlatlanni, the whiteness of his bones paling in comparison to the glory of his once radiant fur. The stones left to honour the fallen, rock gently as a gust of wind forces its way into the cave. A deep purring echoes through the cave as the wind dashes through the bronze chain in Tla' Xerdun's armour. It is only the wind. ((I was directed here by an old friend, Benboboy, last night and I must say, reading this really touched me. It was only 2 days ago I was reminicising of the old LotC days, and I had no idea the server was still running, let alone the Kharajyr would still exist. It’s truly remarkable to see what’s happened to the race and rest assured, I’ll be watching from the sidelines. I’ve returned now to show my respect to those that have clearly invested a great deal of time into the race since my departure, and also to give you guys some more information. I saw yesterday that people are still making the old argument of “this race is just Khajiit”, and if I’m being completely honest, they’re at least partially right. I’d say about 50% of my inspiration for the Kharajyr draws from the Khajiit, the most obvious being the naming prefixes and the appearance. The rest of the influence has been drawn from the Aztecs and Incas, real life felines and, to a lesser degree, the Haradrim and Easterlings from LotR. The Khajiit are the only feline race I know of in any fantasy setting (aside from the Kharajyr), so I can understand why people would jump to this conclusion. In my opinion, humanoid, feline beast races should be much more prominent in fantasy and I’d love to see them become more mainstream, alongside the standard Elves, Dwarves and Orcs that I'd struggle to call original. I left LotC due to real life stresses and being unable to manage the responsibilities that came with managing my own race, I bit off more than I could chew. That’s unlikely to change now, since having left university I now run my own business and just can’t find the time. That being said, I still have many, many fond memories of LotC, and would like to contribute to the Kharajyr in what small ways I can, if there’s a demand. I’d be more than happy to design skins, help with lore, events – whatever’s needed to get this race up and running. From what I can see, the race took a bit of a nose dive until a few months ago, and I’d like to ensure the legacy lives on. I’m very aware I’m rambling now, but typing this is making me incredibly nostalgic. Who knows, perhaps I could even be coaxed into firing up Minecraft again for the first time in over 2 years. I'll be watching over you as mother Metzli has. Thanks again.))

(( Personally I like Arianne or either of Talf's designs best. Haven't seen a single one that isn't the kind of thing that I'd have in my head though when I think of Kharajyr ships. I'd say Arianne's was best if it wasn't floating and didn't have the weird wheel-y things at the sides :P Edit: Tiazar's is really awesome too, I just don't like the sail - either its position or shape :P ))

(( Ahahaha now you've pointed it out I see where you're coming from :P. On the night of your wedding, as you seek to consummate the matrimony, I'll be there - watching over you through the window. I might come online, hide in a tree and just spam chat with some star rp :P. I kid ofcourse. As the drudgery of revision gets ever heavier I will probably be around the forums more :). I've come to realise I don't really miss rp, but I do miss you guys. Maybe I'll boot up TS from time to time ^^ ))

Tla' Xerdun's star shall be burning brighter than usual to mark his respect for the new Tlatlanni and to honour his marriage. Long may his rule be and may his marriage be blessed with many beautiful white kittens. Ever will I be watching over the mighty Tla' Tiazar and his family (( I like to drop by now and then and have a nosey at what's been going on. I can't say I've been at all disappointed, you guys seem to be doing an absolutely fantastic job :). I wish you all the best with the wedding and festival! ))

The flame had all but burned out. The fiery blue passion that ever roared in Tla' Xerdun's eyes was now doused in the tears that poured down his face, matting his white fur. He had been sat in his chambers alone, thinking endlessly for days. Tla' Xerdun, prophesised to be the greatest Tlatlanni Khalenwyr had ever known, had failed. His people were leaving the shores of the Empire in hordes and there was nothing he could do to stop them. His dreams were haunted with visages of destruction and of death. That night Metztli appeared to Xerdun in a dream. He felt at peace as the beautiful blue furred Kha's figure held him in her arms upon his bed, stroking his fur comfortingly. Metztli whispered into his ears of peace, that having restored Va' Khajra and reignited the Kharajyr's faith in their deity, he had done all he could for his people and that now was his time to join her. Slowly awaking from his dream, Xerdun quietly made his way into Metztli's chamber. He placed both his paws onto the pulsating blue stone and bowed his head, whispering "Xerdun is ready - do with him as you will". An eruption of light cast itself from the stone and all turned to black. Xerdun did not know how long had passed, but now he found himself atop the rear of the Temple. Metztli was high in the sky above him and the air around him was unnaturally cold. The jungle was silent and empty. "I will catch you, my child"; the whisper cool and quiet as if carried by the breeze. As Xerdun stood, looking down over the edge of the Temple he could hear his tears echoing off of the cold stone below him. Turning his back on the drop the Emperor raised his hands into the air, his paws turned upwards. Closing his eyes and tilting his face to the sky he took a final, long inward breath, savouring the sensation. "Sa'vi". There was nothing but air; the rushing of air past his ears as his hind paws pushed outwards with all of their might. The dense blackness of the jungle was pierced for several moments by a light, brighter than Metztli herself. Many say that this light originated from where Xerdun's body had been found. The light rose slowly and steadily from the ground, pouring into even the densest regions of the jungle. The glow faded as the ball of light rose higher and higher into the sky, allowing the foliage to be shrouded in darkness once more. The ball rose until halting by Metztli's side in the heavens. Tla' Xerdun's spirit was given a place of honour in Metztli's entourage, illuminating a portion of the skies above the Khalenwyr Empire each night. Tla' Xerdun's star is said to be amongst the brightest in the night sky and serves as a reminder to the Kharajyr people of his sacrifice, both in living and in death, to the Empire. The Tlatlanni's body was found at the rear base of the Temple, utterly unscathed and untouched. He lay facing the sky. His eyes were closed. His arms outstretched. His face lay entirely dormant, brightened only by the calm smile that lay across his lips. (( I didn't feel that just dying would be dramatic enough and so I decided that upon my death (like all Kharajyr) I should go and join Metztli in the heavens and for the deeds I'd performed was granted a place of honour, just below Metztli, as one of the brightest stars, destined to trail behind her throughout the sky for rest of eternity. Know that I am ever watching over you all. Perhaps a good idea for a roleplaying event would be my funeral - I would say it should be held at the peak of the Temple. Custom dictates the body should be burned so that it may join the spirit in the heavens. Goodbye my friends, it has been a pleasure, and I hope you enjoyed this final piece of lore. I shall return to you over the summer period and look forward to once again roleplaying with you all. Sa'vi my children :) ))

/toggletells was the single greatest addition to the coding for the server that I've had to use. Anyhow, that aside on to business... Ben is right, and I fear that, it now being monday night I have come to my decision. Before stating it though I once more want to thank everyone, especially for your kind comments (not even going to lie - I was tearful) and support. Your understanding, whilst not making my decision simple has helped to ease my mind and conscience. I'd also like to thank Gaius, its good to know that you still drop by now and then my friend. So - my decision is that I am stepping down as Tlatlanni. I will write a final piece of lore and then I shall be departing from LOTC for the foreseeable future (eg till after exams). After this time I'd like to return and over summer roleplay some kind of miner, warrior or something of the sorts, I don't know, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Its truly been an honour bringing this race to life and I'm sure that, under new and enthused leadership it will flourish more than it ever could under me. I pass the flag of OOC leadership to Benboboy and Lykos jointly - to do with the race what they will. I feel I wanted to give them both this responsibility because A. they are both ideal for the job and eliminating one would be too difficult and B. because the burden (as I discovered) should not be bourne alone. This essentially gives them both utter control over the Kharajyr. I'd still like to assume (when I return after my exams) that I can rejoin this OOC team of sorts once more, should it be necessary, but that's another story for another time. If Ben and Lykos want to overrule the entire Kharajyr concept and make them fly around in wooden spaceships that shoot chocolate flavoured lasers - so be it, I'm resigning from being able to stop them (although I can imagine the admin team may have a thing or two to say.....) This brings about the need for an IC ruler - the new Tlatlanni. I give Lykos and Ben the power to decide between them who should gain the position. This does not prevent either of them from taking the position but they should both agree on the new chosen. How the change to Tlatlanni occurs could be in one of 2 ways - After the death of... well me... Metztli bestows her loving gift upon a new individual who's coat begins to turn white over a number of days. Alternatively, the moment I die, a sole white kitten is born to normal Kharajyr parents. The Aelkos would then rule until the kitten was of age to rule. Or if Ben and Lykos have other ideas then that's fantastic too :). If either Ben or Lykos do not want to assume this position of authority - so be it, but they should find someone else suitable to carry OOC control of the Kharajyr in their stead. I wish the both of them, and indeed everyone else in the Kharajyr the very best of luck in the future. Whilst this is most certainly not the end of the Kharajyr, and not the end of my time with them, I bid you all the very fondest of farewells. I shall return after my exams when things have become less hectic and I once again have the time to devote to this truly remarkable server. You have all given me such incredible memories and I could never let that go - I will be back in a few months. Sa'vi my tailed (and equally important non-tailed) brethren, I shall miss you all until my return

I'm still going to leave my final judgement until Monday night, but here's what I think is most likely going to happen. I'm probably going to resign and be relatively inactive until after my exams (which aren't actually that far away). Then, once summer hits I'll most likely return again. Obviously I wouldn't expect to be made Emperor again but I'd like to be able to play a Kharajyr of sorts. Your kind words honestly mean so much to me and that's why I don't think I'd want to leave the server permanently ever

I wanted to make this post as I don't feel its fair to keep everyone in the dark any longer and wanted to give everyone an accurate idea from my own mouth fingers. I want to begin by saying that I love you guys - each and every one of you who has supported, helped, contributed to or become a Kharajyr. Every one of you. It gives me such an immense feeling of pride that I've had the privilege of working alongside all of you people and you have all contributed to me having an immense amount of fun on this server. Its truly been an honour. But this is where the issues begin to arise. As many have noted the Kharajyr have been struggling. I don't want to point the finger but I think this is due to a lot of problems, many of them perhaps of my own creation. Stress has played a massive part in my life since this race came to fruition and alongside the immense stress of university I've been experiencing recently, what with exams and deadlines creeping in, I've just not had the time I would have liked to commit to the race. The story doesn't end there though, unfortunately and for reasons that I will go on to explain, my enthusiasm has died. The failing nature of the race alongside my general boredom with minecraft has led to a feeling of forced-ness when logging on to the server. Its not something that I feel I want to do anymore, it feel likes a chore I'm doing for everyone else. This normally wouldn't be a massive issue, but since I hold a position of responsibility I feel I'm being fairly selfish. Which is further nulling my enthusiasm. This, coupled with everyone's love for teamspeak. Usually I give in and go onto teamspeak and I'll admit, I've had a lot of fun on there. But at the same time, its also contributed massively to my stress levels, what with people constantly asking me questions and the admins ever persistence that the race is falling apart and the only way to save it is by culling the playerbase. So this is me, not resigning yet from my position, but giving it some very serious thought. There's no way I'd be able to be active over this weekend anyway, but I'm going to be giving resigning some very serious thought. I'm so sorry that my enthusiasm is gone but I don't feel its fair to anyone to continue playing half-arsedly when someone with genuine enthusiasm could take over the role and inject some much needed life into the race. I want to stress that this is no one's fault (except my own really) but nothing lasts forever and I fear this could the end of my time on the server. Thank you to everyone who has given me so, so many fond memories of this server which I'm sure I'll hold with me for many years. I shall give my official decision on Monday night. Please, feel free to leave your honest opinions of what I should do below. Thank you for taking the time

The Palace was quiet now - oh so quiet. Xerdun sat alone on the colourful quilts of his bed, his head held in his hands. He did not deliver the blow, but it was he who had ordered it. Krahn had died because of him. In the heat of the moment it was all too easy for him to make the decision but now, he was having doubts. Krahn's behaviour was out of control, he lacked the respect necessary to hold his position. It was thoughts like these that helped him justify his actions. He took out the human tongue from his belt and began rolling it around in his paw, uncaring of the blood still leaking out of it, staining his silk bedcovers. The human's death was entirely different to Krahn's, it had been more like sport, a game. But the death of one of their own. This was even different to Thel's demise. Thel was a madman, changed by his time in the desert. Xerdun had carried out that punishment personally. Thel's insanity was clear for all to see but the fall of Krahn was different - the Emperor had lied in order to bring about his death. Was it truly Metztli's will, did she really wish for Krahn to die? What was Metztli's view of the other races and why had she never revealed their existence to her children before. Rising from his bed, the Tlatlanni made his way through the secret passages, into the chamber of Metztli and sat beside her stone, waiting for some kind of divine influence. The stone pulsed with pure energy as it always had. But no sound emitted from it, no sign. With a heavy heart Xerdun returned to his chambers. His dreams were haunted, he saw war and pain. Suffering. But it wasn't this that bothered him. It was Krahn's face, burned into the back of his mind, calling out to him. But what chilled Xerdun was that Krahn was smiling at him.

Not a bad attempt but please include more detail in the personality, appearance, bio and situational questions. Edit the information in and include an "[updated]" tag to the thread title when you're done. Nothing wrong with what you've already done (except some more punctuation may be good in the bio :P) it just needs filling out. Aim to at least double the length of what you've already done - there's no such thing as too much content. We'll look forward to having you back with us when your app is suitably filled out :)

In light of the ever expanding world around us, it has become clear that the Khalenwyr Empire will need allies. After the greenskins desecrated my palace and their leader humiliated himself publicly, negotiations took place between myself and several trusted advisers, in the company of the only competent greenskin - a shaman who can converse with us in a civilised manner. An agreement was ruled - that should the need come we would aid the uruks, or if the Khalenwyr Empire had need of them, they would aid us. In addition they gave me their word that kidnapping, harming or killing our people will now be a punishable offence. The same respect shall be shown to them. It is a regrettable and uneasy agreement, but one that in the long term will only strengthen us. However, these "uruks" as they wish to be called, are not permitted onto our land without forewarning (and vice versa. They are not permitted in our holiest of places, for example the Temple or Metztli's stone's chamber. In addition - should my throne become soiled by these savages in the future there will be retribution. ((So yeah - we're allied with the orcs. Its a mutual thing, no one is the underdog icly. Nothing whatsoever against the orcs OOCly but ICly remember - we are proud and think (know) we're better than them. We show them just enough respect so as not to upset them and that's it - they're sub - Kha's. The majority of the population will probably be ICly annoyed about this decision - we have no love of outsiders but Xerdun did what he believed to be right for his people - for their safety. We are beginning the process of gathering materials for the construction of defences. Warriors will be trained and arms dished out. No doubt we will be putting them to use in the near future... Have fun! )) ((EDIT: One other thing I'd like to clear up - just because I / other people act harshly towards you in rp, it has no bearing on my OOC relationship with you. There's absolutely no one in the Kharajyr that I dislike OOCly. So never take rp decisions personally! Xerdun is not real life me! Its all in the name of good rp :) ))

I am not willing to make a statement regarding these accusations at this time other than the footage clearly looks shooped, fake and in all probability - gay.

(( That's interesting since I was assured she was being released... clearly the orcs are on to us... time for a war claim... ))

It would appear that in light of the circumstances that Krahn is proving himself to be unfit for service as an Moonblade and Pride Leader. It would seem that his scouting mission has made him soft, a point only reinforced by his failure to win back Miian. The Kharajyr will not bow down to these inferiors, they are sub-Kha's and should be treated as such. They should only be treated with any kind of respect as a front to protect the lives of our people. I am troubled by the mind of Krahn. This greenskinned, furless ape is nothing more than a spy, seeking to undermine our Empire and lead its kin to our lands. The time of innocence is over, we must look to Metztli to guide us in what is coming and begin the construction of defences

(( Dang, thank you for that Braxis, I often overlook the technicalities such as this! We're not actually looking for a fight though, would we still need a war claim for an act of strength? For example if we're just gathering our forces in order to intimidate the opposition? Thank you for your kind words, its much appreciated :) Oh and to those who think we should become friends with everyone, you seem to be forgetting vital parts of our lore. The whole point of our race was to cause a splash in Asulon. What's the point in our existence if we're just another race who wants to be friends with everyone? We are better than all the other races in every single way (in our own heads at least). Let's start acting it. We will not be bending the knee to any of the other races in order to make "friends". We should begin the fortification of our island as quickly as possible, this will mean that once again everyone should concentrate on gathering and smelting as much stone as they can... ))

(( Well then hopefully when approx 20 Kha's turn up and we show them our military might they will do away with the need to be paid and we can have some kind of Alliance on equal terms...?))

(( I'm hoping that our display of strength will create a friendship between our 2 civilisations as that's what Xerdun thinks the orcs respect. Rather than a field battle though I feel we should take a more... dishonourable road and try to infiltrate their HQ or ambush them or something like that? The orcs don't seem keen at all on the "no MC armour for a better experience" thing. I love iron / diamond armour spamfests... ))

((This is the event that will still be occurring on this day at this time. I hope to see as many of you as possible there. This will be an incredibly interesting time after our initial meeting with the orcs... here's a little fill in - Miian was captured by the orcs and stolen away in my own personal barge. A small detachment of Kha's including myself went over to barter for her life. After negotiations boiled down to a fistfight between our best champions, Krahn lay defeated. Although not having the gold on us to pay for Miian's release we were given the choice of friendship with the orcs, should we buy it. As far as they are aware we are intending to do this. I received a letter detailing that Miian is to be released (whether this is true or not remains to be seen, if Deco could clarify?). The orcs expect us to remain true to our "honour" but in order to protect our race's pride and to not appear weak we wish to stage an offensive on the Orcs. The orcs spoke of other races, races which we do not wish to hassled by in the same way the orc have. Saturday will compose of many sacrifices under the Bloodmoon, much sugar eating in order to hype ourselves up and then we will sail back to the orcish lands in full force and, showing them our full strength, seek to frighten them so as not to have to pay for their friendship - perhaps they will see us as equals through a strength of arms (provided enough people show). Failing that we will sneak up on them, exploit the weaknesses of their fortress and defeat them. Will really depend on numbers. Any suggestions are welcome. Oh also after Krahn's defeat he also went off to try and gain allies in the other races... wasn't really sure about this - if he could clarify what his intentions were OOCly that'd be fab. As an aside - I really really struggle to understand orcs :P)) The jungle is awash with activity, the trees rustling under the pounding of wardrums and the air filled with the clatter of weapons and smithies. With the Bloodmoon almost upon us, the Khalenwyr Empire cannot afford to look weak. The night of the Bloodmoon will be one for much celebration, however, it will also be a chance to once again confront the greenskins and show them that the Kharajyr are not a pathetic race that will give up their sense of pride in the face of their enemies...

(( I'm glad you've all been kept busy in my absence and have had lots of fun :D! I can't wait to come back, hopefully tomorrow, and get stuck in. My ship though? Was that really necessary? I mean... it was my boat :P ))