Tylniak

Tylniak was a mercenary from Theajim, and a mage. He was killed by Jylniath during the Jylasikontaska's overtaking of Matisadé.

Early Life
Tylniak was raised at the manor estate of Kyalijat, the youngest of three children born to parents of Vedanian nobility. His family held one of several provincial titles within Vedania-occupied Theajim, and his father was notable enough hold ties with the then-esteemed Lirdat.

During the beginning years of the revolution, his father resisted the demands of Lirdat, trying to avoid being drawn into the conflict. Inspired by another lord leading a defence in the west, he attempted to rouse the locals into supporting him peacefully. His plan failed spectacularly, in part due to him being an uncharismatic and wiry man. His presence was so dismal few in the nearby villages could bring themselves to agree. Some of the more radical Theajin townspeople even going so far as to threaten him in public. Tired and fearful, he became a recluse. He spent most of his days locked within the manor, sending numerous requests to the senior knight Vithiat. Vithiat held command over the nearby twelfth chapter, and each time he asked for a contingent of knights to be sent to secure the household. Each request was ultimately denied, with most of Vithiat's men currently signed to the command of Lirdat in the south.

After seven years at the estate, and eleven years into the war, Tylniak still knew nothing of the revolution. His parents had left him uninformed, hoping he would be able to live out his childhood at the estate in peace. Being a member of the nobility, he had already been taught the basics of fighting with a blade. With some under-the-table persuasion, he managed to convince one of the guardsmen to teach him how to brawl, a skill he would inevitably draw upon many times in his later years. With his father shrinking further into depression and rarely leaving his study, let alone the house, it fell to his mother to hold the family and the fortune together.

Another year on, and the family remained afloat. Tylniak's mother had proved even more adept at the social and political games of the nobility than his father. She shared few of his views, however - and in a radical act secured three-hundred infantrymen for her own use. They were set to work within days, committed to driving out those sympathetic to the revolutionary cause. Her sudden and inexplicable subjugation caused widespread outrage - and word reached the nearest faction of revolutionaries.

In broad daylight, Tylniak's family was dragged from the manor. They were hauled to the middle of their expansive grounds, where dozens of the local townsmen had gathered. Each and every one cheered fervently as his mother and father's throats were slit, and their heads unceremoniously hacked off with broad-bladed knives. Next came his siblings, who were both brutally beaten and stabbed until their screams ceased. When they finally came to Tylniak, he was beaten and battered - his nose broken and his face partially disfigured. Before they could end it, their trial was cut short as another group of revolutionaries cut through the crowd. Equally as radical in their beliefs, they wasted no time clashing with their rivals. Injured but suddenly ignored, Tylniak somehow escaped in the ensuing chaos.

Days later, he was found wandering alone in the town of Misasyta. The locals knew nothing of his family, and he spoke to them only in broken theajish. But his face quickly gave away he was Vedanian, and in the midst of the revolution, the town quietly stowed him away with the local temple, the priests of which aided all orphaned by the war. Even in apparent safety, Tylniak found himself timid. He was frequently beaten by other children for his disfigurment and foreign features, and even the priests didn't care enough to intervene. After years of abuse he finally lashed out, pummelling one of his attackers to the point of incoherence. The priests officially expunged him from their care, forcing the now eleven-year old boy out onto the streets. He moved from a comfortable if miserable life at the temple to the cold and unforgiving life of a theiving street urchin. He continued to survive day to day by taking what he believed was owed, by force or otherwise.

Askiaro Viejet
In his fifteenth year, Tylniak was still living on the streets. With no talents to speak of, he could only rely on taking what he needed, and no craftsmen or farmer dared take him in for fear of losing what little they had. He became stuck in an endless cycle of violence and theft, with no way to escape it. He became further short-tempered and cold, giving little regard for those he hurt or stole from.

Eventually, he chose a fight he couldn't win. He decided to pick on a girl little older than he, with a heavy purse and a face from even further away than his own. Thinking the foreigner an easy target, he tried to shove the woman to the ground from behind. He found himself face-first in the dirt, with the tip of a knife pressed firmly into his back. Rebuking him for even trying, she followed with an unexpected offer; to come to her boss as a new recruit. Skeptical and untrusting, he declined. Saying he had no other option, she pushed the knife tip into his back - and begrudgingly he accepted.

Her boss turned out to be of the unsavoury type, missing as many teeth as morals. The crooked Theajin ran a crude mercenary company, and was suspiciously excited at the prospect of a new recruit. After his first few contracts, Tylniak learned to keep a close eye when taking his pay.

He and the girl - who had eventually warmed up enough to give him her name, Lásietta - were often put to work together. Both proved adept at their work, and they quickly became close friends out of mutual respect. He frequently plied her with questions about her past. But even with his persistence, she would never told him why she fled the far-off imperium. Even with her secretive nature, Tylniak grew fond of her uncaring and boistrous approach to life. He had previously favored himself an artisan of insults, but she could craft a rebuttal that could cut deeper than her favoured blade. The two continued to grow on eachother, and something a little more than friendship came between them.

After half a dozen years of contracts and hired work, the Askiaro had found themselves employed under yet another faction, this time under one who disclosed himself only as Hordek. Numerous bounties were given to the company - each one denoting a specific Vedanian lordship. The boss, a revolutionary to the core, let slip a crude insult about Tylniak's family. In a fit of rage, Tylniak beat the man to a bloody pulp and slit his throat before anyone could think to restrain him. Lásietta held him at knifepoint, and demanded that he leave - and that if he ever returned, she would return the favour. Unsettled and confused, Tylniak abandoned the town in a daze.

He turned to hiring himself out as a lone sellsword, and used his contracts to fuel his new love of drinking. Whenever he felt down, he let his worries be washed away by a drunken stupor and as many whores as he could afford at the time.

Equipment
Tylniak showed a preference for using a bastard sword, using both two and one-handed techniques. The former became irrelevant after the loss of his right arm.

For armour, Tylniak preferred to use platemail - finding other kinds to be lacking in protection.

Despite being a mage, Tylniak only used magic later in his life. This is most likely due to the stigma of the Vedanian church.

Trivia

 * Tylniak had a surprisingly abrupt hatred of rival mercenaries Ralar and Saetl due to his short temper.