Alpha
From Hyrule
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- Name: Alpha
- Gender: Male
- Affiliation: Only his own...no matter how much it may appear otherwise...
- Race: Sheikah
- Debut: [NPC] A Strange Man
- Weapon/favored spell: Electrified Staff, Rohtric Dwors
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Contents |
Alpha's Story
Keyru Varaudo, better known as Alpha, is a mysterious Sheikah, one who knows few people and trusts an even smaller number. Regardless of this fact, he appears to have friends in very, very high places...though the same could be said of his enemies.
Before HA2
Knowing Alpha's past is key to understanding him and the problems he faces completely; of course, the problem with this little piece of information is that the Sheikah's past is in continuous revelation. It is a mystery to many, though bits and pieces are constantly falling into place for those who pay attention and manage to grasp all the clues left both by the Sheikah and those associated with him.
This section will detail a vast majority of what has been revealed so far (please keep in mind that most of this is actually not known by characters, only by RPers OOC).
Early Years
Alpha began life under the name of Keyru Varaudo, a child in the mostly Sheikah village of Sereta, a settlement located deep within the Ruto Mountain Range, even deeper than New Peaktop. His life was relatively normal (as normal as that of a Sheikah can be, of course) for his first seven years. He played with his the many kids of the village, especially his best friend Shada, and led a peaceful life during this time.
When Keyru was seven, Zaris, the Golden Sheikah, came to Sereta Village intending to take Keyru as his apprentice. However, a dangerous Sheikah tribe of assassins, known as the Hakiems Tribe, invaded the town during his stay, intending only to kill Zaris. But when some of their numbers were killed in the process, the radically vengeful Hakiems destroyed the entire town. Zaris escaped with Keyru, and the boy spent the next ten years fleeing the Hakiems with his new master and learning the skills of battle.
Traveling with Zaris
Ten years were spent traveling with Master Zaris, and during this time Keyru not only gained his new name of Alpha but a great deal of skill in battle. The two were constantly on the run from the Hakiems Tribe, often eluding them only after slaying a few more of their members, which in turn infuriated the Hakiems even more and caused them to pursue the pair even more ferociously. This spiral of hatred and death escalated during the entirety of Alpha's time with Zaris and even after that time had come to an end. Trained in the Rohtra Hiran style, Alpha slowly began to realize his affinity for the element of Lightning and the power that Rohtric, deity of Storms and Thunder, allowed him to possess.
But as one might expect after reading portions of that last paragraph, Alpha's time with Zaris eventually came to an end. During one of the duo's many battles with the Hakiems, Alpha was exposed to a terrible fact by Karunik, the leader of the Hakiems: Zaris had known that the Hakiems were chasing him during the time when he'd come to Sereta, and had gone into Alpha’s town with the complete knowledge that they would most likely attack. After the fight was over, Alpha confronted his master, and Zaris confirmed that Karunik's words were true. Enraged by the sense of betrayal that this knowledge spawned, Alpha left Master Zaris that night to pursue his own path.
However, in keeping with the rules of the Rohtra Hiran style of fighting, Alpha refused to refer to himself by his birth-given name of Keyru Varaudo (according to this style, one loses their original name at the beginning of their training, and may only retrieve it when their master acknowledges that they have become a master of the Rohtra Hiran style of fighting).
The Dark Years
As one might infer from the title, these years were filled with fear and darkness for the young Sheikah, as he struggled after departing from his master and tried to find his own way through the world. As might also be inferred, the name is a parody of "the Dark Ages", which these seven years do have one striking similarity to: nobody knows for sure what has happened during this time. The events have not been fully revealed concerning this phase of Alpha's life, but it is known that during this time he took on the job of an assassin, under the employ of criminal mastermind Gorodo, a human whose size belied the cold and calculating mind he held. The Sheikah's skill quickly proved invaluable to members of the criminal underground, and he soon earned for himself the title of Wraith.
As Wraith, Alpha took part in and won a competition known as the Demon Tournament. In the process he was required to defeat another assassin, Alik, an event which would come back to haunt the young mage multiple times. As events unfolded, the Sheikah eventually became aware of a being referred to thus far only as The Master or Him, who was overlooking the endeavors of all the criminal overlords, Gorodo included. At one point, this Master became the one who gave Alpha his cursed scar.
One year after becoming an assassin, Alpha chose to retire from this job for some unknown reason, leaving behind all articles of this lifestyle, including the Staff Brenyuu, which had become one of his prized possessions. During this year he had managed to reach an impressive kill rate: over 5000 deaths in a single year, and all of them targets picked out specifically by the Sheikah rather than simply assigned or offered him. His departure was a grave loss for the criminal underground, but few were stupid enough to consider questioning his choice...and those that were so foolhardy as to do so quickly lost what little brainmatter they had.
The six years from this point to the time he returned to Hyrule remain unknown to anyone and everyone.
Return to Hyrule
After running for years from some unknown forces (as apparently the Hakiems had either lost track of or interest in him), Alpha managed to hear a rumor that led him to believe Master Zaris was in Hyrule once again. For some reason Alpha felt compelled to track him down; presumably the main reason dealt with his cursed scar. And so, knowing full well that he would likely once again become a target of the Hakiems should he follow the same rumor that the assassin tribe had undoubtedly heard as well, Alpha secured passage back to Hyrule. In a week he had returned to Hyrule and made it to North Castle, where he began his search.
The Current Battles
Yet the Sheikah's life was not about to take a turn for the better, for as he had suspected would happen, the Hakiems quickly learned that he had arrived in Hyrule, likely searching for their quarry as well. They made sure to watch him at all hours, never touching him in the hopes that Master Zaris would make contact with him...and this is indeed what happened, though the manner in which this contact was made was such that neither Alpha nor the Hakiems realized it until Zaris had long since departed from the area.
A multitude of events have taken place since that time, with many battles with the Hakiems and the revelation of the mighty Goldforce around which all of these events revolve occurring throughout the adventures depicted in Master Search and Force of Gold.
Master Search
The tales from the time Alpha first made contact with Master Zaris to the point where he and a group of adventurers defeated a large force of Hakiems and brought Zaris out of hiding.
Sign of Zaris--While walking near the Deku Woods one day, about two months after his return to Hyrule, an old man rushed out, asking for directions to the Great Deku Tree. Alpha explained it all to him, showing him a map of the entire area. After he was gone, Alpha found that the man had somehow drawn a symbol on the back of the map without him realizing it. The mark was that of his old master, Zaris.
Message--On a dark night nearly two weeks later, Alpha was confronted in an alley by a band of Sheikah, who he soon realized belonged to the Hakiems tribe. The leader of the group told him to meet him one week from them on the southwest shore of the lake surrounding the North Castle. There he would get the chance to meet the leader of the Hakiems tribe, a Zora whom Alpha knew all too well. Later Alpha was found lying unconscious in the alley by Julian, who pledged to help Alpha fight the Hakiems. But Alpha did not tell him about the meeting.
Dark Rendezvous--The next week, Alpha went to the meeting place at night. There he met with the leader of the Sheikah that had delivered the message, Karunik. Moments later the leader of the Hakiems tribe appeared - the Zora Zaboorak. Alpha was told that in one month he must go to Ruto Town and deliver the information of Master Zaris' hideout to the Hakiems tribe. Upon attempting to attack Zaboorak, he was polymorphed into a Cucco. Once the Hakiems tribe left, a woman appeared from beneath the water. She returned Alpha to normal, and told him that her name was 'the sound of the feminine shadow'. She then left, allowing Alpha to ponder the mystery of her name with Azador, Grenada, Darilan, Raven, and Victor.
Shada--Once Alpha realized the answer to the riddle, he went out into the North Forest to meet with her. She was an old friend of his, Shada, whom he had not seen since he was a child and had believed to be dead as a result of the Hakiems' attack on Sereta. Fortunately in the weeks after Alpha left Zaris, the elderly Sheikah had found her and trained her ever since. Together with many of the other warriors of Hyrule, they began to plot on how to take down the Hakiems tribe. At this point, Denning, Red Fury, Malciore, Arco, and Sesso came out to aid Alpha's quest.
Remembrance--The time arrived when Alpha was to meet with the Hakiems and lead them to Zaris. With their plans still not finalized, Alpha traveled to Ruto Town and met with the messenger. In order to gain the boy's trust, Alpha told him the story of his past, painting Zaris as his enemy and the cause of all the suffering Alpha had experienced.
Golden Battle--Leading the boy, Coby, towards the Ruto Mountains, Alpha and Shada were confronted by Karunik. Immediately they were surrounded by tens of thousands of Hakiems, and were forced to battle for their lives against overwhelming odds. Those who came to aid them were Arco, Grenada, Raven, and Victor. In time, a fairy named Sheera came forth and attacked Zaboorak with the mystical energies of the Goldforce. Zaboorak, however, also had several Goldforce Powers, and succeeded in killing Sheera and taking her Power. Master Zaris also finally joined the battle, and Zaboorak took on a much more monstrous form, fully releasing the Goldforce Powers' energy. Zaris still managed to put up a fight, killing almost all Hakiems present and bringing Zaboorak to his knees. As the battle progressed, Zaboorak struck at both Victor and Alpha, enraging Zaris to the point of using his own Sheikah Goldforce to defeat the dark Zora. Unfortunately this drained him of almost all his energy, and Karunik used the opportunity to escape with Zaboorak.
A Peace That Shall Never Last--Finally, the fight was over, and all welcomed the peace that came with it - temporary though they knew it would likely be. Zaris and Shada took Alpha back to where the two had been staying for the past year, and Alpha once again started training under the tutelage of Master Zaris. But a dark storm brewed on the horizon. Zaboorak, moved by Karunik's words, began to seek out the other Golden Ones and the Goldforce Powers they possessed, as he came ever closer to his goal of surpassing his former master, Ganon...
Force of Gold
Many months after the search for Master Zaris had been completed, Alpha is delivered a message by General Richarn Noval, which begins the next adventure...
The Puzzling Prelude--On the one year anniversary of his return to Hyrule, Alpha was given a cryptic note by General Noval of the Hylian Knights. The description that Noval gave of the one who delivered the note matched with one of the criminal overlords that Alpha had known during his time as Wraith, a Goron named Shodak. Shodak had disappeared years ago, but Alpha feared that the Goron would expose him if he found the price to be right. The note had a riddle that would supposedly lead them to another riddle, and then to another, until finally it led them to the author himself. Determined to stop the Goron from talking, Alpha and friends tracked down the different notes that had been left for them, easily solving each clue and proceeding to the next location. However, the tenth and final riddle called Alpha 'the one named for Morrid', a reference to the ancient Sheikah Alpha Morrid. Realizing that not even Shodak could have held that information, Alpha concluded that the Goron was not behind it at all. And so he ran off, with his clueless friends right behind him, to go speak with the true author of the riddles. Those who came to help Alpha in this mental challenge were Arco, Victor, Grenada, Dogura, Link909, Cloud, Kasei, Azador, and Blank.
Flight From Death--Alpha finally arrived at his destination. As Alpha Morrid had been the first of the Golden Sheikah, only Alpha and Zaris had the information that the final riddle had contained. However, Zaris was nowhere to be found. A note left on the table explained that Zaris had received a vision from Horohn, the Golden Rito, saying that the Hakiems had returned. While they had not gotten the Rito Goldforce, Horohn had died, and now Zaris felt it best that he leave. The final two lines of the poem seemed to indicate where that hiding place was, but it was more challenging than any of the riddles they had found before. Alpha despaired at the thought of the peace he had come to cherish vanishing, but his friends soon managed to return his determination to him, and they decided to meet in a few days to discuss what should be done and ponder the note Zaris had left them.
A Glimpse at the Enemy--The meeting was called together, and before it had even officially begun the group came across several good and sensible interpretations for the last riddle Master Zaris had left them. For a long, moonlit night, they talked about the Hakiems, the Golden Ones, and themselves, growing the bond that each one held with the others. Those that came to this meeting were Link909, Kasei, Arco, Grenada, Blank, Rose, Victor, Cloud, Raven, Denning, Tayro, Azador, Dogura, Alex, and Nogare. They would need a strengthened bond soon enough...
...For they were all soon captured in a Hakiems ambush.
Depths of Darkness--Awakening in the Hakiems' hideout alongside Darilan, but without Alpha, the group managed to escape their cells and make their way up to a Hakiems' Trial Area, where they battled the mutated squid Dyquis. Upon its defeat, they were confronted by a mysterious woman, who granted them the Arctic Seeds and the location of the key to Alpha's cell. But when they at last entered the area designated as the Main Prison, they met the guard: an enormous boar, the Kroperg. The group managed to defeat it, but after freeing Alpha they found themselves surrounded by Hakiems, and were forced to flee into a mysterious realm known by Alpha only as "the Void". There, everyone managed to get back to Hyrule safely - except for Alpha and Calla (Horohn's daughter), for the Sheikah suffered from a strange attack before he could pass through. Just before falling unconscious, he opened a new portal and they escaped.
Sand Exile--Alpha awoke in the cave dwelling of a Gerudo, Koura, who had saved both he and Calla from a vicious sandstorm of Parapa Desert. But Calla had obtained a deadly illness, and the Gerudo, an exile of Parapa Village, needed to return to her home town to get medicine for the Rito. Gathering his friends together, he asked some of them to accompany Koura and get the medicine. They managed to get into the village and obtain the medicine with little difficulty, and quickly headed back south.
Growing Aggression--At the same time, the Sheikah sent some of them off to go find Shada, and inform her of the fact that he had made it out alright. Blank and Alex opted for this duty, and found her sitting in Rauru Town. Just as she was told that they had located Alpha, the Deku Yukie, friend of Ukedra - the Golden Deku - came flying around the corner being chased by a few Hakiems. The group was aided by Sovelis and Aria before the mercenaries were defeated. With Yukie joining them, the group returned to the desert to rendezvous with the others. They did indeed meet the others in the desert, but not where expected. An Assassin attacked the medicine group in order to return Koura, who had broken her exileship by returning to Parapa Village, to the leading Gerudo of the town. Every member of the group was forced to work together and unleash their greatest of abilities before the Assassin finally admitted defeat and fled. His last words told the group the name he went by: Wraith.
Ruins of Power--In search of Master Zaris near the lighthouse of Parapa, Koura led the group to the ancient ruins of the Shrine of Spirit that lay near there. However, instead of the Golden Sheikah they were attacked by Xamnial the Beastmaster, who had tracked them with help from Coby. Unleashing several of Zaboorak's many creations and a few of his own abilities, he soon brought the group to its knees before Koura unleashed a power like few had ever seen: the Gerudo Goldforce. Xamnial was defeated, and Coby left with his body. Koura and the rest of the group immediately headed out of the desert and back into Hyrule.
Informant--After a week in North Castle, both Shada and Rose managed to attract the attention of the Royal Elite Remnant, the replacement group for the now-disbanded REF, by asking various people about Wraith. During this time, Pyralin joined the group as well. Taken to see the RER's leader, General Richarn Noval, the group accompanied Noval to see his informant on such matters, none other than Alpha's former boss Gorodo. There it was decided that this Wraith was actually an impostor, masquerading as the true Wraith for unknown reasons. As they departed, a new member of the RER appeared in the shop, dying from wounds inflicted by the Hakiems Tribe - who had just stormed North Castle.
What will happen next remains unknown...
Appearance
To match his mysterious background, Alpha always wears a long, black hooded cape. It reaches from his head all the way down to his feet, and bears the Sheikah symbol on its back. It can easily stretch so as to completely cover his whole body from all sides. Though to many this would probably be a great hindrance, Alpha has worn it for so long that he actually seems to move faster with it on. Its dark color also aids in his ability to disappear by simply stepping into shadows. Beneath this he wears traditional Sheikah garb.
Alpha is very tall and lean, standing at 6'. His eyes are crimson red, and he has short, black hair beneath his hood. Hidden from wandering eyes by the shadows produced by his hood, a large cut lances from across Alpha’s forehead to his right eyebrow and then down his right cheek. It is even said that this scar glows a bright blue when he is near certain people.
