Murkwing

Murkwing
Biographical information
Real Name	Areunos
Pronouns	He/him
Physical information
Species	Platonic Emanation
Gender	Male
Height	1.71m
Hair colour	Black fading into brown
Eye colour	White
Skin colour	Light with black patterns
Genealogical information
Praetorian counterpart	Auripher
Technical information
Player	colovianhastur
Server	Everlasting

Areunos (Αρέύνός, 𐤀𐤓𐤍𐤔, 𒀀𒈛𒌋𒌋; roughly meaning "one who stirs"), also known as Murkwing, is a male "rogue" native to Primal Earth. His Praetorian counterpart is Auripher.

Lore

In-game biography

"Bright-eyed in both the literal and figurative sense, Areunos is an emanation of a Platonic Ideal who first manifested in Primal Earth during the Neolithic period. Although he has roamed Primal Earth for millennia, Murkwing has yet to fully develop an identity and sense of self separate from the Ideal which spawned him, and despite trying to "blend in", his nature often puts him at odds with both heroes and villains as he tends to "test their mettle", often leading to civil mayhem or thwarted plans. More recently, he adopted a translation of one of his ancient epithets - Adartemos, meaning "murk-winged" - as his primary name."

Biography

Areunos was "born" as an emanation of a Platonic Ideal. Though his earliest memory involves the rise of city-states between two great rivers somewhere on Earth, Areunos remained abstract and formless for centuries, and he only began to take a more concrete form during the Bronze Age Collapse, whereupon mortals began to take notice of his existence. The antics of this "proto-Areunos" earned him a great number of epithets and legends, though by the time of Alexander the Great, he had been mostly forgotten.

By the early 21st century, Areunos had begun to manifest once more, although less of an abstract entity and more concrete, yet without a proper sense of identity. Awakened into a world in conflict, Areunos attempted to find a place in the modern age. It wasn't long before he found himself in the middle of a skirmish between a hero team and their villainous opponents. From that encounter came a small list of casualties, a long list of wounded, a few destroyed buildings, the destruction of what might have been a doomsday weapon, and Areunos's inclusion into FSBA and Arachnos's "person of interest" lists.

Names and epithets

The mythological and historical actions of Murkwing as well as local conceptions of his figure have led to the accumulation of various epithets which would be used to better describe him within various contexts. These can be split into two categories - descriptive (in that they relate to Areunos's features) and aspectual (in that they relate to his roles and acts).

Descriptive

• Adartemos ("Black-Winged" or "Murk-Winged"): epithet earned due to the colour of his wings, and which he later used as the basis for his "cape name".
• Adarktis: compound meaning either "winged serpent" or "dragon", earned by both Areunos's fondness for dragons, and his subsequent adoption of draconic elements for his physical form.
• Lukanakis ("of the bright eyes"): a descriptive epithet earned due to Areunos's characteristic shining eyes.

Aspectual

• Atanervero ("Father of Wild Men"): as the source of an ancient variant of the curse of therianthropy, Areunos was recognised by his ancient worshippers as the "father" of man-beasts.
• Inviétor ("Hunter" or "Challenger"): one of the more infamous myths, Areunos tested a group of mortal by abducting them and pitting them against each other in war games. In one variant of these myths, Areunos personally hunted down his abductees, earning him the appellation of "Inviétor". Those who survived the night were then released and granted great blessings.
• Marmaros ("Whisperer"): name given to Areunos due to his alleged tendency to cause strife by manipulating individuals.
• Olodehmós ("Abolisher of Nations"): according to a myth, two city-states earned the wrath of Areunos, leading to their destruction at his hands.

Physical appearance

Physically, Murkwing resembles a male human on his late teens or early twenties but with various draconic-like characteristics, such as the scales on his body, wings, horns (or spikes) on his head, and the tail. Beyond these traits, the most noticeable physical feature of Murkwing are his eyes, or lack thereof. Instead of eyes, white light shines from inside his eye sockets. His mouth and jaw are covered by an outer mandible-like structure which opens at the middle to reveal a human-like mouth.

As for clothes, whenever he is "blending in", Murkwing makes use of a black leather jacket without sleeves, blue jeans, and boots for casual situations. Alternatively, he uses a suit.

Personality

Despite his epithets and seemingly aloof appearance, Murkwing possesses a somewhat sanguine and buoyant demeanour, joined by a peculiar degree of naivety when it comes to mortals and their lives. Even if not contributing to an ongoing conversation, he enjoys being in the company of others, and particularly dislikes prologued periods of solitude. Perhaps related to the Platonic Ideal which spawned him, Murkwing is naturally curious and eager to experience new things. Despite being generally friendly, certain acts can invoke his ire or displeasure, such as displays of cowardice and hubris.

Due to his divine nature, Areunos is unable to connect emotionally with mortal concepts of morality. For him, embracing the struggles and hardships as a natural part of life and working to surpass them in order to better oneself is the closest thing resembling a "moral good" in Areunos's mentality. Conversely, a life characterised by indolence, stagnation, and a lack of self-improvement is the closest thing resembling a "moral evil" in Areunos's mentality. However, as someone who has utterly no experience when it comes to many aspects of mortal life and culture, Areunos tends to be very naive and gullible when it comes to things that do not relate to his domain.

For some reason, Murkwing adores dragons and dragon-like beings, hence why his physical form has some draconic traits.

RP Notes and Hooks

General

• Body is often covered in some sort of black chitin-like armour.
• Can be sensed as a divine presence
• Mind can be read, but thought patterns are very abstract
• Looking into his eyes can cause a temporary tinitus-like sound
• Can be very naive and gullible
• Likes heights

Literary

Fragmentary text on the "White Star"
[What follows is a severely fragmented religious text belonging to an Anatolian city-state who venerated ancient Areunos, and who identified their gods with specific stars in the night sky. It has already been translated, and the following paragraph stands out to you.] ... last moon of the fifth month ... proper propitiation to the White Star, the youngest ... who in splendour divests the world of stagnation ... born at the first breath of eternity ... whose will shall birth strength from ... ever mirrored by the eldest, the Golden Star who guides mortals towards ... together weaving the tapestry of ... as determined by the limitless ...

Fragment of "Lukanakis and the Dragon"
[What follows is a fragmented mythological text belonging to an Anatolian city-state who venerated ancient Areunos, and in which he is identified by the epithet of Lukanakis. It has already been translated, and the following paragraph stands out to you.] ... and hearing of great winged ... dwelling on the rivers of the underworld, Lukanakis trespassed into the kingdom of ... driven by fascination and curiosity, the god approached the great beast and attempted to ... a branch of burning basil, and the pleasing fragrance drew the attention of the dragon, who left its abode and [chased? hunted?] after the scent and into the tunnel where Lukanakis ... and as light shone ... the god was entranced by the majestic and terrible beauty ...

Trivia

• Murkwing's name and epithets are derived from reconstructed words of the Proto-Indo-European language and its descendant languages, which were either left intact or slightly altered for aesthetic purposes.