The_Courtier

The story of William Caunter is not a joyous tale, but a good one. As the bastard child of the Norlandish Chief Caylus Caunter, William wandered the streets of the Empire most of his childhood unaware he had any family other than his abusive mother. At the age of twelve the High Keeper of the Red Faith, Aeyn Edvardsson, brought him to the Norlandic capital of Dunharrow after seeing the black haired, blue eyed child wandering the streets of Helena. It was here that he met his father Caylus. Knowing William to be his own by the child's resemblance to himself and after a few questions of William's origins, Caylus claimed William and legitimized him into the Caunter clan. William trained in the art of warfare under Caylus and was taught about the ways of the All-Father by Aeyn. Caylus, discontent with the current Earl of Nordengrad, left the Earldom and lived with the Elves of Aegrothond for the next year of his life, bringing his young son with him. William was quickly drawn to the Prince of Aegrothond, Fëanor Sylvaeri, and saw the prince as a role model and mentor during his time with the elves. When they finally returned home to Nordengrad, William lived a short time in peace, learning and training with his people. However, this peace quickly came to an end with the start of The War of the Two Emperors. Caylus, being raised in Haense and a close friend of King Marius Barbanov, joined the Oren Emperor, and brought William to live in Reza. William and Caylus fought and bled together in the name of Emperor Joseph until Caylus was finally captured and hung by the people of Norland. This brought about a dark time in William's life, but it was also at this time when he met his half brother and the trueborn child of Caylus, Landry. They quickly became close friends, but without the wisdom and guidance of his father, William was lost in life. William tried to fill this void in his heart with the lusts of the world, enjoying drink and women, but nothing could fill the emptiness in his soul the loss of his father and time away from Norland had caused him. His only true joy came from the time he spent with his younger cousin, Amelia Alimar-Barbanov. Her gentle heart and kind soul eased his pain and temporary filled that void, but all good things must come to an end. The strife of the war and obligations to their families pulled the two apart and William was back where he began, hollow and without joy. Searching for a purpose in life, William left Haense with Landry and returned to his true home in Dunharrow. Still searching for a way to fill the void in his life, William would scavenge the countryside and cities, killing every Orc and Kharajyr he could find in the name of the All-Father, even going so far as to capture and decapitate an orcish Hero of Helena. He found joy in the killing of these beasts, hunting them down like the animals he deemed them to be, but after that fateful day when he murdered the orcish Hero, an ally of Norland, he was thrown in a dark cell and left there for days. When he was finally released, William was forced to never kill another Orc, and so his purpose was lost. During the later years of these dark times in his life, William met a woman named Karia Dhoon, the granddaughter of Brog Dhoon. They became close friends and William had a place in his heart for this lovely girl. When Karia came of age to marry, she had grown very fond with both William and his half brother Landry. True to their Highlander ways, she asked for a duel between the brothers to see whom she would wed. The brothers battled for Karia in the fighting pit of Dunharrow and Landry came out victorious. After his failure to win Karia’s hand in marriage, William became increasingly distant from his brother, spending his time solitude, thinking of what lay beyond the world he lived in. When William had returned to Norland after his father's death, he swore to take no side in the conflict. However, he fought any threat to his home and waged war against any who would attack the weak. Eventually, his neutrality became his downfall. On his way to Helena to spread the Faith, William was stopped by four men loyal to Emperor Joseph and was willingly taken to Lueven to be tried for treason against the Oren Empire. William explained that he took no side in the war, which was an unbelievable fact being that he was a citizen and warrior of Norland. The Count of Lueven tried him as guilty of treason and the executioner opened the trap door and William hung. All of his difficulty and strife was finally over, he could rest in the Hall of The All-Father, fighting back the night with Caylus at his side, until the darkness consumes all.

It was a cold evening in the city of Dunharrow as William Caunter gazed into the clear skies, watching the stars. His peace was interrupted when two elven women came rushing into the quiet town with cries for help. They informed William Caunter of how bandits had kidnapped them and taken them back to a fortress where they were threatened and robbed of all their goods. Assuming this was a petty band of brigands, William Caunter called the mighty men of Norland to track down and kill these fiends. The Mali lead the Norlanders to the den of the ‘’holy’’ crusaders of Cannonism, the Owynist. The devout follower of the All-Father was filled with anger when he realized that these ‘’sacred’’ warriors would rob and threaten to kill these these helpless women, a vile deed no honorable warrior would ever think to do. William stepped out from his hiding place, sword drawn and the men of Norland followed. The Owynist quickly hid behind their stone walls and barred the oaken doors yelling for the Norlanders to leave them be. William called out a challenge to one man, Robert Roven II. “You and me, Robert. Your god verses mine. Or are you afraid that the demon you worship won't save you?” Robert would exit his mighty hall and walk forward. The only Owynist who dared show themself. “Ron alon ‘ome, dag” Robert would reply in his uneducated accent. The Norlanders stood their ground, unwavering. Finally, Robert would lose his courage and scamper back inside. A long moment ensued as neither party would attack the other, finally an Owynist archer would fire a single shot at the Fatherist. The Norlanders returned with a volley of arrows, wounding the archer and forcing the only brave Cannonist back behind the walls. Eventually the Norlandic warriors grew tired of waiting on the cravens and wandered off back to their mead halls. When they arrived at Dunnharrow and began to remove their armor and complain of the lack of bloodshed, the Owynist sweep down of the Norlanders. Refusing to meet the Nordish men on the field, the Owynist were able to climb their way into the city, whose defenses were still being constructed. Being sure that their large force never split, the Owynist fought the Norlanders one at a time slowly working their way through the town. In the end the Norlanders were defeated, hunted down one at a time for the Owynist did not dare fight an even battle. (Note: The duel William Caunter challenged Robert Rovin II to was a PK duel)

William would smile and nod, knowing his friend will be a great leader.

William Caunter smirks and leans back in his chair "The only reason Alvar would try to take away our right to the throne is because he is a coward and he fears the Caunters. That's good. He should be afraid."

The new application is very nice for getting rid of non serious players. As for the time it takes, the biggest problem is not in the application, but in understanding the culture your character is from. The wiki is full of useful information that is necessary, but hard to navigate for new players. If there was a page set up that would be specific for new players and would funnel them down to a single page they needed to read. For example: the new player would have the choice to click on on the links Human, Elf, Dwarf, etc. That link would lead the to a page that has the subtypes with a brief description. They click on the subtype they plan to play and that will lead to them the different nations with a small describe. When they choose a nation it will give them a page of information they will need to read before playing that character. This way they don't have to dig through the Wiki looking for the necessary information for their backstory and to be able to rp as though they were from that nation.