Post by Lepa on May 13, 2019 16:34:28 GMT -8
(Hopefully will replace with own art later)
Name: Helian Valehart
Alias: Morning Glory; Prince Helian Valehart
Gender: Male
Age: 22
Race: Human (Lightvalean/Duskfallean mix; ears are slightly pointed)
Date of birth: Unknown
Quote: "Even the darkest room can be illuminated by the smallest flame of hope!"
Home: Aster City; the Auroran Union
Alliance: Aegis Wing; Auroran Union (varies between Lawful Neutral and Lawful Good)
Family: Solan Noxborne (brother), Soleil Valehart (father), Belladonna Noxborne (mother)
Friends: ?
Rivals: ?
Enemies: Standard criminals; those who endanger Solan or the Auroran Union
Likes: Sunny days, relaxing, napping, acoustic guitar, listening to the rain, sunrises
Dislikes: Winter, harsh summers, horseradish, mannequins
Relationships: The crown prince of the Auroran Union, Helian respects his parents but has felt distant from them due to the pressure put upon him to inherit the throne. Maintaining a facade of perfection has also made him unable to communicate his problems with them. He struggled to remain civil towards his younger brother Solan, who he suspected of foul play, but they've since made amends. He and Solan are now very close; Solan is the only other person he confides in.
Personality:
A strapping young man glowing with confidence, Helian appears to be a noble individual who seeks to do what is right. He was brought up with Lightvale's teachings of honor and justice, and thus desires to use his strength to protect those who cannot defend themselves. In Aster City, this is more blatant under his identity of Morning Glory. Here, his demeanor is cheerful and optimistic, inspiring others with his charisma and sunny disposition. He often quips in battles against his foes, usually in the form of silly puns, though these aren't always successful.
In truth, Helian very reserved, especially when off duty. He has many moments of uncertainty and is often pensive. He's especially worried about his future, doubting his ability to one day lead the Auroran Union. While his Morning Glory hero persona is a means of helping him cope with this, it is also a great source of burden. It's not quite just a persona, either - long before he used it as an alternate identity, Helian actually forced himself to form his own personality around the idealized Lightvalean knight. The very light and justice that he revered was also a main source of his stress for the longest time as he struggled to fit himself into the perfect mold.
Helian's better coped with this more recently after leaving the Auroran Union to find his own footing, finally finding the opportunity to separate his idealized persona from his true self. However, despite living in a more relaxed atmosphere, years of maintaining the persona has stifled his social skills and personal desires, making him something of a social doormat. Combined with his royal upbringing, he has trouble with casual interactions as well as romantically dealing with women. His royal upbringing and beliefs in honor has also lead him to expect the best out of people, making him easily deceived or taken advantage of by shadier types.
Despite this, Helian continues to portray Morning Glory as a means of helping him deal with his insecurities and flaws. It's not a complete facade, either: he does genuinely desire to do good. The crown prince believes that continuing to act as an idealized hero will one day help him become as truly noble as others believe him to be.
Powers:
Strength & Physical Training:
Helian inherited his father's natural strength and athleticism (traits common to many Lightvalers), and combined with his training, he's at least powerful enough to break down a door with one shoulder tackle. He was also physically trained to fight with a blade as well as fight unarmed. He ended up preferring the latter, which affected the development of his custom weapon.
Helian usually uses magic as his offense in conjunction with his Shining Arts as defense, though he normally can only have one active at a time. This means he can't attack with dark magic if he's currently using Shining Arts to maintain a light shield.
Interestingly enough, the color of his dark magic tends to shimmer in ranges of indigo, dark magenta and orange, similar to the sky during a late sunset. His attacks also often manifest in a form similar to shooting stars. Both of these unique traits reflect his natural preference to the light; most forms of Duskfallen dark magic range from deep purple, dark blue and black.
Weapon: Divine Aegis
Helian's signature weapon initially began as a Dull Grip - a bladeless hilt exclusively manufactured by Lightvale. As one trains with Shining Arts, they are expected to use that celestial light to channel and manifest their weapon from the Dull Grip. The prince initially began with a standard blade common to all beginning knights, but over time, his desire to protect and serve his people gradually transformed his weapon into a shield. Calling it the Divine Aegis, it is meant to defensively counter threats while minimizing physical harm to both bystanders and the threat.
As an enhanced shield, the Aegis can take all manner of direct attacks, ranging from physical blows to magical spells to man made firearms. However, since its form is a manifestation of Helian's Shining Arts (and thus his mental fortitude), enough abuse to it will eventually cause it to "break" and revert into a small, Dull Buckler. Helian can prevent this by channeling his light power into the shield, which can then allow the blue gem in the center to absorb the attack. He can then choose to dispel the attack (at the cost of slightly tiring his mind) or redirect the attack to somewhere safer. He must consciously channel his Shining Arts to do this each time, meaning he won't be able to do this if caught off guard.
Helian can also use his Shining Arts with the Aegis to physically hold someone in a sphere of light. If they are willing, unaware, unconscious or weak willed, Helian can do this to protect or move civilians from a short distance, calling forth a beam of golden light from the shield's gem and placing a bubble around the individual or small group. If attempting to hold a villain or distressed target however, their will would be too strong for the Aegis to tether from a distance, so Helian must get up close within their physical range and attempt to sphere them from there. Attempting to hold a villain or someone similar requires far much more mental discipline from Helian, so he'll need a moment to recover if they break free or if he loses his hold on them.
History:
Helian is the first born to King Soleil and Queen Belladonna. Raised alongside his younger brother Solan, the two got along rather well in their childhood. However, during his adolescence when Helian learned he would one day inherit the throne, he grew painfully aware of the enormous pressure placed upon him and inadvertently grew distant from his brother. Intimidated by the weight of his future, Helian devoted much of his time studying the idealized Lightvalen knight, hoping to shape himself into a model prince and ruler.
While successful in doing so, this unfortunately took a heavy mental toll on Helian. This is why he ended up favoring Shining Arts in combat: If he spent all of his focus on channeling the light, then there would be no room to think of his insecurities and fear. This lead him to overzealously studying and perfecting his skills with Shining Arts, making him one of the most apt, if not the best practicer in the Auroran union.
Unfortunately, this caused Solan to view his older brother as an arrogant show off who faked his kindness in a shallow bid to prove himself worthy of kingship. Although Solan wasn't as blatant about it, Helian could detect the shift in his brother's feelings towards him. Though it added further stress to him, Helian did his best to remain civil and respectful in return - even when things went wrong and he had no doubt that it was Solan's doing.
When Helian caught Solan in the middle of executing a scheme to make him look foolish, a series of mishaps quite literally dropped the brothers in an old series of abandoned chambers. Helian actually suffered an injury breaking Solan's fall, irritating the latter, believing how sad Helian must have been to protect someone he should have hated to maintain his facade of pure goodness. The two actually ended up spending a night and day together trapped deep below the castle. Helian tried to make light of the situation, attempting to offer solutions to escape. Solan eventually snapped at him, finally confessing all of his hatred and bitterness of Helian to his face. What he hated most was Helian's fakeness.
Solan hadn't expected his brother to agree with him.
For the first time in a long while, Helian was honest to both his brother and himself. He admitted the pressure of the throne weighed down on him everyday and always doubted his ability to live up to it. He admitted the truth about taking up a more heroic persona in hopes to become worthy of it, though he always held the nagging feeling that he didn't deserve it. He admitted that Solan was likely better off as the Union's ruler, possessing potent dark magic, the cunning needed for politics, and a calm, collectedness needed for making difficult decisions. He even admitted that protecting Solan from their fall perhaps wasn't entirely for the most noble of reasons. It wasn't that he didn't care about Solan, but rather... in the brief moment it happened, Helian thought there was a chance he could selfishly escape the pressure and leave the world as a hero instead of a cowardly prince who killed himself by his own hand.
Astonished, Solan said nothing as he processed the confession. The two continued to find their way out in silence, eventually stopping to rest for the night. When Helian awoke the next day, Solan had been waiting for him, finally formulating a response. After much thinking the day before, Solan apologized to his brother for what he did, vowing to support him and help shoulder the burden of the future. Comforted by this, Helian promised to be more honest with Solan in return. Shortly after reconciling, the pair managed to find their way out.
Since then, the two have been close and work well together once more. Although Helian continued to keep up his idealized persona, having Solan to talk to has helped lift his stress considerably. The pair even continued to revisit the hidden underground chambers, using it as their getaway from palace life. This respite would later prove to be not be enough, as Helian gradually began to mentally slip from piling up responsibilities once more.
It all changed the day Helian heard some uncharacteristic commotion outside of his chambers. Peeking outside, he saw Solan fast approaching. Caught up in his brother's urgency, Helian swiftly followed him, believing there was a crisis or emergency. The two ended up taking flight from the castle and into the nearby woods. When they had a moment to catch their breath, Helian was shocked to learn that Solan intended for them to run away - or rather, "adventure" on their own. Helian worried what this would mean for the state of the Aurorian Union, but Solan reassured him that he needed a break; he needed a chance to go somewhere new and be judged for who he was, not what his lineage. This way, Helian could truly understand what sort of person he was.
While apprehensive, Helian put his trust into his brother, and the two eventually discovered a hidden magical portal deep within the forest. Recalling rumors of the Moonbay Clan leaving through a similar portal many years ago, Solan decided it was the best chance for them to take. Surely a clan of mages would choose a safe place for their new home, right? (Assuming the portal was actually their creation...) Even after skimming it with his own magic, Solan could detect no threat. Helian remained uncertain, but with the guards approaching in the distance, the two finally made their decision and plunged through the portal.
The brothers then found themselves in the forest outside of Aster City. Upon arrival, Helian discovered his new found freedom came at the cost of working his way from the ground up. The prince eventually found temporary lodging with Aegis Wing, assisting them in taking down criminals for both a living and the greater good. Now free from the soul crushing pressure that haunted him for most of his life - at least for the time being - Helian found a proper outlet for his idealized knight persona, giving life to it in the form of his new hero identity, Morning Glory. This allowed him to finally separate the facade from himself. Now with room to breathe, Helian hopes the change in lifestyle will allow him to discover his true self.
By this point, he and Solan have lived in Aster City for about a year.
Anything else:
- His name specifically comes from Helianthus, the genus name of sunflowers. It was chosen by his parents to represent the celestial light sacred to Lightvale, and the flower/plant naming theme present in Duskfall's rulers.
Name: Helian Valehart
Alias: Morning Glory; Prince Helian Valehart
Gender: Male
Age: 22
Race: Human (Lightvalean/Duskfallean mix; ears are slightly pointed)
Date of birth: Unknown
Quote: "Even the darkest room can be illuminated by the smallest flame of hope!"
Home: Aster City; the Auroran Union
Alliance: Aegis Wing; Auroran Union (varies between Lawful Neutral and Lawful Good)
Family: Solan Noxborne (brother), Soleil Valehart (father), Belladonna Noxborne (mother)
Friends: ?
Rivals: ?
Enemies: Standard criminals; those who endanger Solan or the Auroran Union
Likes: Sunny days, relaxing, napping, acoustic guitar, listening to the rain, sunrises
Dislikes: Winter, harsh summers, horseradish, mannequins
Relationships: The crown prince of the Auroran Union, Helian respects his parents but has felt distant from them due to the pressure put upon him to inherit the throne. Maintaining a facade of perfection has also made him unable to communicate his problems with them. He struggled to remain civil towards his younger brother Solan, who he suspected of foul play, but they've since made amends. He and Solan are now very close; Solan is the only other person he confides in.
Personality:
A strapping young man glowing with confidence, Helian appears to be a noble individual who seeks to do what is right. He was brought up with Lightvale's teachings of honor and justice, and thus desires to use his strength to protect those who cannot defend themselves. In Aster City, this is more blatant under his identity of Morning Glory. Here, his demeanor is cheerful and optimistic, inspiring others with his charisma and sunny disposition. He often quips in battles against his foes, usually in the form of silly puns, though these aren't always successful.
In truth, Helian very reserved, especially when off duty. He has many moments of uncertainty and is often pensive. He's especially worried about his future, doubting his ability to one day lead the Auroran Union. While his Morning Glory hero persona is a means of helping him cope with this, it is also a great source of burden. It's not quite just a persona, either - long before he used it as an alternate identity, Helian actually forced himself to form his own personality around the idealized Lightvalean knight. The very light and justice that he revered was also a main source of his stress for the longest time as he struggled to fit himself into the perfect mold.
Helian's better coped with this more recently after leaving the Auroran Union to find his own footing, finally finding the opportunity to separate his idealized persona from his true self. However, despite living in a more relaxed atmosphere, years of maintaining the persona has stifled his social skills and personal desires, making him something of a social doormat. Combined with his royal upbringing, he has trouble with casual interactions as well as romantically dealing with women. His royal upbringing and beliefs in honor has also lead him to expect the best out of people, making him easily deceived or taken advantage of by shadier types.
Despite this, Helian continues to portray Morning Glory as a means of helping him deal with his insecurities and flaws. It's not a complete facade, either: he does genuinely desire to do good. The crown prince believes that continuing to act as an idealized hero will one day help him become as truly noble as others believe him to be.
Powers:
Strength & Physical Training:
Helian inherited his father's natural strength and athleticism (traits common to many Lightvalers), and combined with his training, he's at least powerful enough to break down a door with one shoulder tackle. He was also physically trained to fight with a blade as well as fight unarmed. He ended up preferring the latter, which affected the development of his custom weapon.
Shining Arts:
Helian was trained by the commander of the Lightvalean royal guard to utilize the celestial light revered by the kingdom. As the crown prince, his training was much more extensive than the normal regimen, allowing him to fine tune his abilities to be more powerful than the average guard's - if not the best in the Union. As such, he can utilize it for moderately strong healing or manifesting a sturdy dome of light to protect himself and several others, though these are normally secondary due to mainly using it to enhance the power of his signature weapon, the Divine Aegis. As with any user of Shining Arts, it requires mental discipline, so overuse will fatigue Helian, especially since he heavily relies on it in fights.
Dark Magic:
The best mages of Duskfall tutored Helian in the arcane ways of manipulating darkness and shadow. While not as skilled at using them as his brother, Helian can hold his own in a magical fight. Due to fighting honorably, he avoids using indirect spells like hexes or curses and instead opts for direct attacks, such as firing off a shadow bolt. Extensive study has also allowed him to (sometimes) identify certain curses or afflictions well enough that he can figure out a counter hex or ritual to dispel it, though he'll need some time to sit down and study both the affliction and solution to do so. (The only main exceptions are hexes placed upon him by his brother, which he can more easily identify and easily expel on his own.)
Helian usually uses magic as his offense in conjunction with his Shining Arts as defense, though he normally can only have one active at a time. This means he can't attack with dark magic if he's currently using Shining Arts to maintain a light shield.
Interestingly enough, the color of his dark magic tends to shimmer in ranges of indigo, dark magenta and orange, similar to the sky during a late sunset. His attacks also often manifest in a form similar to shooting stars. Both of these unique traits reflect his natural preference to the light; most forms of Duskfallen dark magic range from deep purple, dark blue and black.
Armor:
Helian wears a white, gold trimmed chest piece of plate armor bearing an image of an intertwined, stylized sun and moon - the crest of the Auroran Union. He also wears gauntlets and plated boots to help channel his Shining Arts. He otherwise wears a somewhat thin, skin tight suit underneath (sometimes chainmail) that helps reduce the damage from magical attacks.
Weapon: Divine Aegis
Helian's signature weapon initially began as a Dull Grip - a bladeless hilt exclusively manufactured by Lightvale. As one trains with Shining Arts, they are expected to use that celestial light to channel and manifest their weapon from the Dull Grip. The prince initially began with a standard blade common to all beginning knights, but over time, his desire to protect and serve his people gradually transformed his weapon into a shield. Calling it the Divine Aegis, it is meant to defensively counter threats while minimizing physical harm to both bystanders and the threat.
As an enhanced shield, the Aegis can take all manner of direct attacks, ranging from physical blows to magical spells to man made firearms. However, since its form is a manifestation of Helian's Shining Arts (and thus his mental fortitude), enough abuse to it will eventually cause it to "break" and revert into a small, Dull Buckler. Helian can prevent this by channeling his light power into the shield, which can then allow the blue gem in the center to absorb the attack. He can then choose to dispel the attack (at the cost of slightly tiring his mind) or redirect the attack to somewhere safer. He must consciously channel his Shining Arts to do this each time, meaning he won't be able to do this if caught off guard.
Helian can also use his Shining Arts with the Aegis to physically hold someone in a sphere of light. If they are willing, unaware, unconscious or weak willed, Helian can do this to protect or move civilians from a short distance, calling forth a beam of golden light from the shield's gem and placing a bubble around the individual or small group. If attempting to hold a villain or distressed target however, their will would be too strong for the Aegis to tether from a distance, so Helian must get up close within their physical range and attempt to sphere them from there. Attempting to hold a villain or someone similar requires far much more mental discipline from Helian, so he'll need a moment to recover if they break free or if he loses his hold on them.
Weaknesses:
Both dark magic and Shining Arts take a mental toll on their users. Helian is especially susceptible to fatigue via the latter due to his personal Shining Arts weapon made to constantly take damage. He also has to combine managing his mental fortitude alongside his stamina due to using his physical strength in battle. He also tries to fight honorably, refusing to use dirty methods in combat. Thus, he adheres to his own moral code, such as (usually) not attacking foes while they are down or offering a criminal a second chance. This can cause him to hesitate as well, struggling between choosing a more practical choice or an honorable one, sometimes resulting in no action being made.
History:
Helian is the first born to King Soleil and Queen Belladonna. Raised alongside his younger brother Solan, the two got along rather well in their childhood. However, during his adolescence when Helian learned he would one day inherit the throne, he grew painfully aware of the enormous pressure placed upon him and inadvertently grew distant from his brother. Intimidated by the weight of his future, Helian devoted much of his time studying the idealized Lightvalen knight, hoping to shape himself into a model prince and ruler.
While successful in doing so, this unfortunately took a heavy mental toll on Helian. This is why he ended up favoring Shining Arts in combat: If he spent all of his focus on channeling the light, then there would be no room to think of his insecurities and fear. This lead him to overzealously studying and perfecting his skills with Shining Arts, making him one of the most apt, if not the best practicer in the Auroran union.
Unfortunately, this caused Solan to view his older brother as an arrogant show off who faked his kindness in a shallow bid to prove himself worthy of kingship. Although Solan wasn't as blatant about it, Helian could detect the shift in his brother's feelings towards him. Though it added further stress to him, Helian did his best to remain civil and respectful in return - even when things went wrong and he had no doubt that it was Solan's doing.
When Helian caught Solan in the middle of executing a scheme to make him look foolish, a series of mishaps quite literally dropped the brothers in an old series of abandoned chambers. Helian actually suffered an injury breaking Solan's fall, irritating the latter, believing how sad Helian must have been to protect someone he should have hated to maintain his facade of pure goodness. The two actually ended up spending a night and day together trapped deep below the castle. Helian tried to make light of the situation, attempting to offer solutions to escape. Solan eventually snapped at him, finally confessing all of his hatred and bitterness of Helian to his face. What he hated most was Helian's fakeness.
Solan hadn't expected his brother to agree with him.
For the first time in a long while, Helian was honest to both his brother and himself. He admitted the pressure of the throne weighed down on him everyday and always doubted his ability to live up to it. He admitted the truth about taking up a more heroic persona in hopes to become worthy of it, though he always held the nagging feeling that he didn't deserve it. He admitted that Solan was likely better off as the Union's ruler, possessing potent dark magic, the cunning needed for politics, and a calm, collectedness needed for making difficult decisions. He even admitted that protecting Solan from their fall perhaps wasn't entirely for the most noble of reasons. It wasn't that he didn't care about Solan, but rather... in the brief moment it happened, Helian thought there was a chance he could selfishly escape the pressure and leave the world as a hero instead of a cowardly prince who killed himself by his own hand.
Astonished, Solan said nothing as he processed the confession. The two continued to find their way out in silence, eventually stopping to rest for the night. When Helian awoke the next day, Solan had been waiting for him, finally formulating a response. After much thinking the day before, Solan apologized to his brother for what he did, vowing to support him and help shoulder the burden of the future. Comforted by this, Helian promised to be more honest with Solan in return. Shortly after reconciling, the pair managed to find their way out.
Since then, the two have been close and work well together once more. Although Helian continued to keep up his idealized persona, having Solan to talk to has helped lift his stress considerably. The pair even continued to revisit the hidden underground chambers, using it as their getaway from palace life. This respite would later prove to be not be enough, as Helian gradually began to mentally slip from piling up responsibilities once more.
It all changed the day Helian heard some uncharacteristic commotion outside of his chambers. Peeking outside, he saw Solan fast approaching. Caught up in his brother's urgency, Helian swiftly followed him, believing there was a crisis or emergency. The two ended up taking flight from the castle and into the nearby woods. When they had a moment to catch their breath, Helian was shocked to learn that Solan intended for them to run away - or rather, "adventure" on their own. Helian worried what this would mean for the state of the Aurorian Union, but Solan reassured him that he needed a break; he needed a chance to go somewhere new and be judged for who he was, not what his lineage. This way, Helian could truly understand what sort of person he was.
While apprehensive, Helian put his trust into his brother, and the two eventually discovered a hidden magical portal deep within the forest. Recalling rumors of the Moonbay Clan leaving through a similar portal many years ago, Solan decided it was the best chance for them to take. Surely a clan of mages would choose a safe place for their new home, right? (Assuming the portal was actually their creation...) Even after skimming it with his own magic, Solan could detect no threat. Helian remained uncertain, but with the guards approaching in the distance, the two finally made their decision and plunged through the portal.
The brothers then found themselves in the forest outside of Aster City. Upon arrival, Helian discovered his new found freedom came at the cost of working his way from the ground up. The prince eventually found temporary lodging with Aegis Wing, assisting them in taking down criminals for both a living and the greater good. Now free from the soul crushing pressure that haunted him for most of his life - at least for the time being - Helian found a proper outlet for his idealized knight persona, giving life to it in the form of his new hero identity, Morning Glory. This allowed him to finally separate the facade from himself. Now with room to breathe, Helian hopes the change in lifestyle will allow him to discover his true self.
By this point, he and Solan have lived in Aster City for about a year.
Anything else:
- His name specifically comes from Helianthus, the genus name of sunflowers. It was chosen by his parents to represent the celestial light sacred to Lightvale, and the flower/plant naming theme present in Duskfall's rulers.
