Benthic

Retired Captain Benthic of Twisting Lights, Citizen of Rivereth

Clan Location: Twisting Lights but often makes trips to the Sea of a Thousand Currents


Though originally born on the Plateau, Benthic is a dark warrior from deep within the Leviathan Trench. A mysterious tragedy involving a great white (nearly albino) Ridgeback and the death of his mother resulted in the newly hatched Guardian being taken back to the land of his MIA father, Riptide. In the Sea of a Thousand Currents, Benthic was trained in the ancient battle arts of the Tidelord. As an advanced senior officer of the water god's army guard, he was sent into the Leviathan Trench to uncover the secrets of an ancient underwater battleground rumored to be near the seabed. This mission could not be undertaken lightly. Most who entered the Trench never returned. Showing no fear to his onlookers, Benthic entered the depths.
He did not return from the Trench until a year and day later. They found him unconscious, covered in battle scars; old and new, on the brink of death at the edge of the Fishspine Reef. He's never told anyone about what he found down there or what he experienced. Some believe he knows nothing but others wonder at the mysteries he harbors from the world.
He has since temporarily left the guard and is traveling for reasons unknown.

Personality:
Deeply loyal to those who earn his trust and to the Tidelord. He's exceptionally strong and built. He's quiet and secretive around most dragons but is quite blunt when someone directly asks/accuses him about his intentions. He doesn't care about what anyone thinks and has a surprising inner strength. On first impression, its obvious to most that Benthic has a dark past and a dark side to his personality that might lead some to believe him cold, cruel and callous. But his true nature however can only be guessed at.

Quirks: He's blind in full sunlight or in any other bright lights due to the length of time he spent in the darkness of the sea. It appears that his eyes permanently adapted to the darkness and are now incredibly sensitive to light. Being a warrior, this handicap has been a devastating blow to Benthic but he doesn't often express his bitterness to others. He can still see very well in the dim light of the deep ocean or in the darkness of the Tangled Wood but the colorful lights of his underwater homeland force him to wear dark blindfolds while in the cities.
Sometime after The First Age, when the gods encased themselves in The Pillar of the World but before the coming of the Arcanist, there is believed to have been an ancient race of creatures that lived on the bottom of the sea. Ancient predecessors of the fierce and vengeful Maren, many old water scholars believe. With the Tidelord slumbering in the Pillar, these creatures ruled over the ocean depths. The race was supposedly split into two great factions led by two distrustful brothers. Each believed the other wanted to conquer the other's kingdom.

Many wars were fought between them and many lives lost. So many lives in fact, that the brothers were getting desperate to keep what remained of their kingdoms from the other's grasp. Each in turn crafted a spiral shaped shell-like object from discarded nautilus shells and imbued them with strange ancient magic. Then they each rushed onto the battlefield and met each other at the center of the writhing clash. They fought and the two identical shells were smashed into each other and fused into one shell.

Supposedly there was a great azure flash at the moment of their fusion that startled all of the fighters into silence for several seconds. Then ocean currents started twisting in bizarre ways as if the sea itself had suddenly awoken in great anger. Chaos ensued and both armies were buried beneath the dark sand in a churning whirlpool. An entire race, destroyed in a matter of seconds.