Who is Max?

Max is a simple man of rodent-like origin who lives up upon the Algēre Peaks, in a quiet town called Abiete, located within the valley province of Veromme, where he runs a small street-side cafe called the Mocha Maus. Life's been pretty ridiculous for the little guy, got a long history of playin' hero'n working part time literally everywhere. Just always a little too busy. But all that menial labor and fending off other worldly threats, among many other things, just to keep afloat and protect his friends has definitely done a bit of a number on his mental health, and now he'd much prefer to live away from all the action. The poor guy needs a little alone time, self reflect, recognise what it means to live in peace, know what I mean?

Max's history goes like this. He was born and raised into a demi-human race more commonly known as the beastkin, but his kind specifically call themselves the Teriakin, a civilization that was founded upon a deep-body energy manipulating martial art that only they had nurtured within their little secret society. They live on the moon. Lotsa history behind why that is, but only relevant because after a recent development in Teriakin and earthkin relations, the Teriakin had decided to reconnect with it's earth-grounded brethren and share it's culture with the world once again. Space transit's now a thing between the earth and moon! That's pretty much how Max got down here in the first place. He needed a new perspective on life. And so he found himself in the province of Veromme, mingled with the locals, got taken in by a kind old lady who sold gadgets and trinkets, and tinkered his way to the top, until he could actually afford an education in airship engineering! This'd lead him into starting up a simple business repairing airships locally for a while, bringing success to his guardian and inheriting her tree home deep in the forest! Yep, things were goin' pretty smoothly for Max... until it became less profitable. Seems air traffic is declining across the province for mysterious reasons. Not Max ever planned to get to the bottom of it. Because he needed cash to live.

It didn't help that the friends he'd made recently turned out to be man eating monsters or soul fueled weapons of mass destruction, just ridiculous creatures from all walks of life. So his life got a whole lot busier, fostering friends left and right to live peacefully with or around him, all while while he sought to find work and keep this ship from sinking. What he didn't consider ever doing, was keeping himself from drowning in everyone else's business. Because like a good friend, Max tried to get involved in everyone's problems and help them to the best of his abilities. Like some HOLY PROPHET who didn't know when to quit. Luckily, or un-luckily for him, he found himself ready to quit after their home was attacked by otherworldly astral shadow transit workers who were sent to seize the town and everything around it. It was pretty creepy! Nobody liked it! Everyone fought tooth'n nail to protect what was rightfully theirs! But the damage was done. People disappeared, those who survived lost what livelihood they had.

Max, exhausted physically and mentally, decided he needed yet another change. Another opportunity to start anew. Maybe by himself this time. And so with what knowledge he had attained in all his prior work experience, he set off towards the mountain town of Abiete, where he would start a simple cafe and bakery, in hopes he may find peace, at least for a while.

What kind of person is Max?

Max is considerate, experienced, and down to earth. Or as down to earth as you can get with a life like his. He doesn’t like to dwell too much on the past, refraining from talking much about his life before he landed himself on earth. Whatever happened definitely contributes to some self-esteem, self-image issues. Someone who wishes he could be stronger in more ways than one, he idolizes heroes, real and fiction alike, solving problems, diplomatically or with brute force, it wouldn’t matter, they could do it all! He wishes he had it as easy. Cartoons and comics sure make it look easy, at least. He sounds almost like a dreamer, doesn’t he? All that aside, Max likes to try and treat everyone he meets with respect, that is unless they give a reason not to. Max is generally quite cautious, and it’ll take time for him to warm up to you if you’re especially suspicious, trynna get all buddy-buddy with him while casually guzzling some hapless fool on the side.

What's he look like?

Max is pretty short. Like, four feet, give or take. He comes with the bare minimum requirements for a mouse and human hybrid. Large round ears with pointy, dark chocolate furred with pointed tufts on the edges, giving them a sharper appearance than they actually are, a long, thick to thin pointed tail coated in a thin layer of dark chocolate colored fur, and otherwise, a small, triangular black nose resting in the middle of that sweet mug of his. His eyes are like shiny charcoal colored pebbles, and his skin is a brown tan-ish color, the scar on the bridge of his nose comes off looking darker. Sometimes you’ll notice some odd Z shaped markings donning the space in his upper cheeks, beneath his eyes too, almost reddish in color. Definitely not blush. Physically, Max is pretty toned, and has something of a lightweight boxer body to him, with some impressively thick thighs to compliment the almost hourglass shape his body sports. Of course, he’s pretty small so regardless of his build and thickness, he’s still pretty teeny weeny to anyone else not his size. Huff.

As far as outfits go, Max likes to dress purely for the sake of comfort, though that varies depending on his mood, and self confidence. He could be sporting spats, sneakers, and a snug hoodie. Maybe he’s showing off, he’s got plenty to be proud of, right? Other times you’ll see him buried in baggy clothes, hiding his overall physique, and otherwise making him appear more stout than he generally appears. He’s not too picky as long as it all comes in his favorite colors. Expect a lot of black, white, red, pinks, and blues.

Where's he from?

As mentioned before, Max hales from the province of Veromme, a vast, densely forested valley, a remnant of a long gone culture... that has recently reconnected with the world from the moon. Funny that. it's very edges decorated with small towns that've learned to live off the land. Veromme is the kind of place that really makes you feel like you belong to it. It makes you feel small... but fret not, for mother nature is here to nurture you as long as you take good care of her in return.

There are three known towns on three of the edges of the province:

Abiete, New Animo, and Port Paroway. North, west, and south respectively. Abiete is up in the mountains, where a lot of history regarding the Teriakin people can be discovered deep within the catacomb like cave systems spread across its entirety. There's also a resort up there! Hot springs, snowboarding, all that kinda stuff.

Then there's New Animo, parading around and pretending it's the literal gateway into the province. Even though it's kind of hovering over the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. No one can enter the province from there you silly people! It's known to be the most business heavy of the 3 town, foreigners set up market here and the commercial districts are always bustling.

And then there's Port Paroway down in the south. It's a much smaller town, more recently born as a result of slavery through rude investors from a more ambitious country who thought they could try and rule Veromme. Of course, they failed due to some rather unusual circumstances involving a meteor shower that specifically targeted all their valuable facilities and left them unable to make a profit. Nowadays Port Paroway is a simple little seaside town priding itself in its independance and history. It tends to be a tad xenophobic towards the rest of Veromme though, they don't always appreciate new faces.

Also mentioned before was the fact that Max came from the moon initially. Atereal is a grandois civilization having made its home upon the moon eons ago, due to some bad history and crazy magic. This civilization is the very birthplace of the Vitae'n martial arts technique that allows its users to pull from a self replenishing energy reserve that exists within all walks of life. The Teriakin simply learned how to actually utilize it. Whether this is what it was intended for or not is up for debate, but no one's havin' any of that!

Atereal is relatively medieval even today, having remained entirely out of touch with the rest of the world for so long, and sticking to their typical fanatic views of their history does that. But hopefully a little mingling between the earth'n moon'll change that.

And speaking of Atereal, Veromme is actually the very crater left over from Atereal's ascension into the heavens and onto the moon! Funny that. This is why you can find bits and pieces of the old culture littering this land. And one of the most important parts of the old culture left over here is the deep forest. The very core of Veromme is home to the spirit of passing; A feral spirit who was raised by the Teriakin to allow them passage into the after life. Whether it turned out to be real or not is up for debate, the spirit itself is definitely not going to tell you. In any case, it's not a very friendly fellow, it was not only banished by the Teriakin, but then shortly abandoned by them too. And when I say banished, I mean it was buried deep beneath Atereal due to superstitions casted out into the public by those with higher authority. So yeah, it's got a bit of a grudge now that it's free. With it's control over those who've passed, it's made itself quite a reputation utilizing the souls of the damned to haunt the forest every so often. Ghosts, Yokai, zombies, you name it, they're here!

LORE GALORE

Have you ever been to the moon? I have. In fact, I've lived on it. Because little do you know, an entire nation hides within it's supernal glow: Atereal, the Teriakin nation built upon the Vitae'n practice.

Vitae? What the heck is that??

Vitae is a resume of one's ancestry, but more importantly, a record of inner power, built upon generation after generation of survival against the elements, and in doing so, earning the elements. In other words, Vitae is a well of elemental power the Teriakin can figuratively reach into and channel, and otherwise manipulate. In other words, Vitae is the manipulation of the elements. But what element a Teriakin can manipulate is dependent entirely upon their ancestry. In Max's case, this is fire. For his forefathers and their forefathers had to endure the flames of the inferno in order to prosper and earn it's might. It is thanks to them that the Teriakin of Atereal are inherently capable of wielding such power. But mastering it is a journey unto itself. So how about we just skip over the boring stuff for now and move on?

So who are the Teriakin, then?

The Teriakin are men of bestial blood, known for their more intimate relationship with nature, which can be seen through their appearance, resembling all manners of wild life known on Gaia. Very little is known about their history before the founding of Atereal, but one of many ancient chronicles claim that their hardships are what brought about the calm from the chaos that was creation. Regardless, the Teriakin were considered guardians of nature by association. But their numbers had dwindled drastically since the rapture of their home land.

Rapture?! Oh right, they resemble the wild life of Gaia, so surely this is where they originated, which means they weren't always on the moon, huh?

That's right. Atereal was once a prosperous nation back on Gaia, founded by the Teriakin who had discovered Vitae, inviting more of their kind so they may share their knowledge and spread the gift of their hidden power. But it wasn't long before tales of their fantastic endeavors spread, and warp out of control, and a group of well prepared explorers from a land far off would arrive to investigate what they believed to be a grand power source that would solve all their troubles back home.

Hailing from a civilization with deeply industrialized values, the explorers couldn't afford to return home empty handed.These explorers were given the impression that Atereal was simply a lost city with ancient treasures and a limitless source of power for them to claim. But the city is very clearly alive and well and filled to the brim with life. Life that would greet them with open arms and invite them to their homes for however long they needed before they could set off yet again.

This of course was a problem for the explorers. Again, they couldn't just return home empty handed, the Teriakin people simply had no such power source... but having learned of the Vitae'n techniques, the more devious members of the troupe would devise a heinous plot to overthrow and enslave the Teriakin. By utilizing their incredible technological advancements, the Teriakin wouldn't stand a chance, and the explorers nearly succeeded in their wicked endeavors... That is of course, until only one of them rebelled.

Morderath. A man with an ungracefully lanky stature and an otherwise unimpressive amateur archeologist who had only joined the expedition for the sake of scientific and historic discovery! Simply put, the man is a geek. He had absolutely nothing to offer to the expedition, but the expedition had nothing to lose by letting him join in on their efforts to unearth the "lost city". Some how Morderath is bold enough to face an entire brigade of grunts, grunts whom he believed were there for the same reason he was, for the sake of protecting all the Teriakin of Atereal.

The expeditioners were blown away in one fell swoop, and the entire Atereal nation as we knew it was ripped from it's roots and lifted towards the heavens. As it turns out, Morderath was no ordinary archeologist. But a wizard. And a rather unexpectedly powerful one at that. Uninterested in the petty grabbing for power that other mages partook in, Moderath had long ago sworn off performing ANY magic, until the events in Atereal forced his hand! "The Teriakin showed us nothing but kindness and respect, and this is how we repay them?! Are these the kind of beliefs our home land stands for?" These were the lasts words Morderath had given his once fellow explorers, before ascending towards the moon, with the weight of an entire nation on his shoulders.

Wait but... nobody can live on the moon! How's that even possible?! And why did it take me this long to realize that?!

The moon was of course, quite barren of all manner of life, but Morderath was standing by his decision to isolate the Atereal nation from Gaia. And so our great and powerful sorcerer would make make due, transforming and developing the land with the needs of the Teriakin in mind! And it wouldn't be long before the orbiting moon had been transformed into a perfectly habitable colony, the teriakin celebrating their culture without fear! And it would stay that way, with Morderath was here to stay.

Of course their are downsides to babying an entire society with your larger than life mastery of magic. Years would become decades, decades would become centuries, and Morderath would find himself being worshiped, and like a god no less! Who could blame them though? He had never stopped watching over the Teriakin people, and any problem of his people were his problems too. Of course, tales of his endeavors had been greatly exaggerated, and newer generations of Teriakin would have no trouble believing in them.

It wouldn't be long before Morderath's age and the incredible responsibilities he had overtaken would begin to take a toll on his mental health. How was he supposed to know he would live so long? What if he really is a god?! Questions like these plagued him, until he had realized something rather important: Carrying the load of an entire nation upon his back would not be so much a burden if he had split it among those he trust. And so he did! The Counsel of Morderath would come to be. Consisting of Morderath's closest companions whom would govern the land of Atereal in his place, and with his power in their possession in the form of a ring, Morderath would allow himself to take a well deserved rest in his chambers for an untold amount of time.

More centuries would pass and peace would remain... that is, until those with the strong belief that Morderath was their God, would begin to speak up against the counsel, forming a rather obnoxious cult. Their leader was a man by the name of Iah Marokh, who would proceed to claim that their holy father had his power stripped from him and that he remains imprisoned behind the the counsel's curtains, and that their respectable front was nothing more than a ruse, and if they were to further grow their numbers, they can surely overthrow this evil counsel, and return to Morderath his strength once again. Iah's words rung through the ears of many, many residents of Atereal, and support for their supposed crusade would grow hastily, and it wouldn't be long before the current counsel would find the lives of their loved ones threatened by Iah's reign. And so they would give up the Counsel of Morderath and the ring to Iah and his newly appointed Counselmen, hoping the worst of their fears would not come to light under his leadership.

Y'know I don't remember asking for a history le-

MORE COMING SOON HURR HURR

Yeah I don't think I need this tab. Hrm.

Don't approach me IC unless I know you I guess?? I'm sure I could make a comprehensive list of important things you need to know to approach me. Maybe.