Kallias | Acolyte | SA

APPEARANCE

• Slender and dry build – more sinewy than muscular, and not terribly athletic. Has no real muscle strength
• Shimmering scales on back, forelegs and head in the colors of a faint sunrise – pale yellows, pinks and a touch of deeper red
• Wears his tail and mane long. Tail is kept tied into bundles which partially hides the kirin tail (but not the long tailbone)
• White markings on face and all four legs.

PERSONALITY

Nervous but inherently sweet with a gentle heart. Clingy and self-sacrificing; puts those he loves before himself. Was once a believer, but now filled with self-doubt and pangs of guilt. Retains a certain feralinstinct of survival above all. Lost with a nagging moral compass. Learned and intelligent but lacking in conviction.

Kallias is someone obviously damaged by their past. There are hints of a past glory – an articulate way of speech, the hungry glint in the face of knowledge, and a great capacity for love – but they are overshadowed by the deeply troubled conscience he carries.
Not all kirins found the return of their memories a blessing.

At his core, Kallias is a gentle, caring person. He has a sweet, forgiving temper, and generally avoids conflict, preferring to back down rather than fight. He is self-sacrificing to an unhealthy degree if need be, as long as it is for someone he loves. Kallias defines himself through his relationship, especially the relationship between him and his husband Wido. He draws great strength and resilience from their love but is also utterly lost without it – without Wido, Kallias feels less than whole. This makes him supremely devoted, but also desperately clingy and somewhat needy. Kallias has always enjoyed the company of those stronger and more capable than him and lacked the fortitude and bravery to strike out on his own. As such, he is easily trapped in situations he finds uncomfortable.

Once upon a time, what defined Kallias, in addition to his loving devotion to his husband, was his equal devotion towards his god. Once, Kallias held an unshakeable belief in Ignacio and his plan – now, he is filled with doubt. His faith once offered him direction, but now, there is little left. His memories, terrible as they are, make Kallias question both Ignacio and his King – fearing both. He is ashamed of the atrocities committed a hundred lifetimes ago and feels completely disconnected from the person he was back then.
His guilt at his past actions, and his newly gained sensation of the wrongnessthey did does not mean he is not laden with the xenophobia of his species. Kallias fears many things, and reacts with feral, senseless terror when confronted by non-kirins.

His lack of direction and loss of faith make him a nervous, meek individual, easily overshadowed by the big personalities of the kirins around him. No matter how he tries, he can not match their fervor; not in devotion to Ignacio, nor in their hatred of the new Aodh.
Nor does he really want to.

HISTORY
CW: Participation in a genocidal war (mentioned)

Kallias was born to two fathers in the ancient kingdom of Aodh, in the heart of the city of beauty that was Valore. His childhood was comfortable, but altogether unremarkable, with two doting parents and all the comforts their mighty kingdom could offer. From a young age, Kallias was somewhat weak – not of mind, but of body, and was no match for the other foals when it came to feats of physical ability. It was natural for him to pursue the path of a scholar rather than that of a warrior, and so he was guided onto the path of a Herald from a fairly young age. He began his studies and visits to Ignacio’s temple as a preteen and became an acolyte at his Sanctum at fifteen.
It was at this stage in his life that he asked his god to change him, to better fit how he imagined himself, and his loving god, of course, obliged.

Kallias spent some more years in service to Ignacio at his Sanctum, until he turned nineteen, and officially achieved the status of a fully trained Herald. It was then that he was sent away from the Sanctum, to Mount Oriel, where he was to live with the Dragon Hoplites as a religious teacher and a priest, someone to remind them of the glory of their god and offer them comfort and advice.
He felt somewhat out of place among them at first but grew into his role eventually.  For someone who had always been weak, being surrounded by the mightiest warriors of their nation brought a certain comfort.

It was there that he also met the love of his life and his only true devotion besides his God: Widald. They fell in love, hard and bright, and were soon married. Widald’s true love seemed to be his work as a Hoplite, and then Commander, but Kallias did not care. He cherished their moments together and loved his husband with his whole heart.
It was a love that even the blaze of war could not temper. Amidst smoke and flame, death and fire, he only saw Widald. Even as the poisoned bond took them to greater and greater extremes of violence, even as his own coat came to be soaked in the blood of those they had killed, he followed Widald, his love as vibrant and real as it had ever been.
They walked Sirith side by side, an army at their heel and brought waste to it as they went. They set the outskirts of Sedo ablaze, their scales a pair like sunrise.
Onward to Onea. Kallias had never been a fighter, but for his God, for his love, for their purpose, he killed, mercilessly and without a question.

He went with the force all the way, from their defeat at Mt Skeldr to their last stand in Valore. Ten heartbeats of pure glory for his kind – he spent them looking at Widald.
And then he was no more.


A millennium later, Kallias woke, torn into existence. Somewhere in the sands of Sedo, his hooves found purchase, and when he opened his eyes, he was amid confused pegasi.
Kallias did the only thing he could.
He ran.

His memories, torn apart and in disarray, offered little explanation. All he remembered was Widald – his face, his voice, his name, and the love they shared. His own name, who he had been, were mysteries to him.
Kallias wandered Hireath for months. He was too terrified to settle down, yet too helpless to survive on his own. On the outskirts of Vagabond bands and the occasional towns, he scraped by in a sad existence, hoping beyond hope that the next road would lead him back to Widald – for Widald had to be alive.
But as months passed, his hope wore thin.

Eventually, the call came, and with it, his memories. A terrible flood of violence and shame, but also a renewed hope for finding the one person who mattered to him – Widald.
He followed the call without hesitation. Not for Soleil, for Kallias had lost his appetite for violence, and could hardly recognize the kirin in his memories – but for Widald.
The journey home, as it was, was long and difficult, but he made it. And there, as he had suspected, was Widald, as glorious as he had once been, but more troubled, somehow.

Kallias knew Widald, or as he was now known, Wido, would not abandon Soleil’s cause, and so he too, stayed. He had to, for who was he without Wido?
So even if he doesn’t wish to fight, he stays.
Even if he feels that this world is not theirs to burn, he stays.
And yes, even if looking at Soleil fills him with only dread…
He stays.

OTHER

• Despite having regained his memories, feels that a lot of his past is disjointed and doesn’t make any sense.
• Fears Soleil and doesn’t truly support her plans.
• After his resurrection, his relationship with Ignacio has become increasingly distant, and he no longer feels the close connection with his god he once did
• Teke color is pale pink
• Voice actor is Chris Colfer (Glee – Kurt Hummel)

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