^^ Advanced Urn Rune ^^

^^ Tinker Branch Family Sigil ^^ (Wren)

^^ Tinker Clan Main Family Sigil ^^ (Alba, Len, Randy)

^^ Ira Clan Sigil ^^ (Fallon, Garth)

^^Lu-Kong Sigil^^ (Mei, Tojo, Masa, Moro)

^^Shady Jack's Sigil^^ (clan unknown, no other known inheritors...)

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^^^*** Stone Skin ***^^^

((( Main Character of 'Stone Skin'.

Wren Николас(nikolas) Polisavich- Male Lead Character.

Extremely shrewd, and a businessman at heart. Has an affinity for Air, and a personal Connection with the Sky itself. Sigil allows for further control of the Air. His Urn Runes are as advanced as a full-Grown Tinker Squire, and his control over his Rukh Runes is good when he's not stressed, but shaky when he is under duress. His mother and father were killed by order of a currently unknown Noble, to silence them.

His father taught him everything there was to know about business, even black-market business and a wide variety of other crimes, from White-Collar Crime to standard B&E's, all of which he has an almost Supernatural Talent for.

His mother, an extremely learned woman, taught him the Sciences and Arithmetics he needed for business, but focused mostly on Astronomy, teaching him the name of every star in every constellation, along with their planets and even their tiniest moons.

He hates confinement, but is in control of himself well enough he can stand it for hours at a time while calm. The more agitated he gets, however, the more he needs the open air around him.

He is considered Cold, Calculating, and Emotionless while under duress, evidenced by his forensically analyzing his father moments after being exposed to his corpse, and then attempting to hunt down the attacker, only to realize he'd left his mother and aunt alone with the killer. He then broke the man's spine and clawed out his eyes with no regrets.

However, he is a kind person to those he views as Allies. He has very few friends, and is very loyal to them, inspiring loyalty to himself from others. He is extremely morally sound, even as odd as that sounds, speaking of a retiring career criminal, but his morals are truly and completely Iron-Clad.

1: Never Steal from the Truly Poor.
2: Never. Harm. Children.
3: Always Pay your Debts.
4: Always keep your Word.

He has never broken any of these tenets of his own free will.

)))

Current Side Character Cast:

(((Family:

Rebecca Reynolds- Captain of the Council Island Police Department, Fifth Precinct. Raised Wren from when he was 6 to when he was 8, when he ran away. Very kind woman, though stern. She is a Cop, after all, and he is a Legacy Career Criminal. Wrens Blood Aunt, Elder Sister of his mother.

Robin Adamja Polisavich- Wren's Father. Died 12 years before the main Storyline. Was a candidate on Tinker Island for Grand Knight, but (allegedly) made a bet with a currently unnamed Knight, and 'lost' the Duel. He was then forced to resign the Order, as per his word, and returned to Council Island to live a peaceful life... until he discovered Smuggling, and how good at it he was. He met a beautiful, intelligent woman, married her, and had two children, one of whom, a younger sibling to Wren, is unaccounted for in the storyline so far, and we don't even know what his/her name or gender is. He passed on his Air Sigil to both children.

Gale Reynolds/Polisavich- Wren's Mother, and an extremely gifted Astronomer. Taught at a University in Council Islands Fifth Tier until she met Robin. She married him, moved to the Second Tier, and had two children, though the second is, again, unaccounted for.

)))

(((Others:

Captain Caius Rex of 'The Tyrant'- owed several favors by Wren. Merchant.

Menai- Headmaster of Uruk Academy, servant of Lord Ira. Silver Feathered Silver Knight. Intrigued by Wren, and his seemingly impossible Rune-Armor. Also teaches classes in the Curriculum.

Lord Fallon Ira- Grand Knight of the Uruk Island Order, Master of Menai. Powerful Sigil-User with a Sigil of unknown power, as no one apart from Menai has ever seen him use it. (To their knowledge... hehehe.)

Lord Marcus Gala- a Lord on the Council, representative of the Arielle Archipelago, the French Area of the New World Archipelagos.

Shinzo Mei-Fan- Heir of a long-time Clan of Lu-Kong Ninjas, Knights who focus on silent movements, and swift actions. She is a Plant Sigil Bearer, and very skilled at creating both medicines and poisons. Shy, and kind, though strict. Her spiritual Affinity is Earth, the opposite of Wren, though they get along very well. She is also Trans, born male, but fully transitioned, and takes Estrogen Supplements to allow her body to change further, and fill out.

Shady Jack- a very, very accurate name for a very, Very shady person. Shady Jack is a person of unknown age or origin, who changes his appearance at will with his Sigil. He prefers a Male Form, but has been known to take a Female Form every now and again. The only way to tell him from anyone else is by his Sigil, which is on his Cheek, in the shape of a Twisted Harlequin Mask. He is an Information Broker, mostly, and a Spy. Owes his life to Wren, as well as several other Debts. He, like Wren, believes in paying his Debts, but understands he will never be able to repay Wren for the lives of his parents, who Jack's careless words sentenced to Death.

Riley- the man who killed Gale and Robin. Is alive, but paralyzed from the ribs down, and blind. Imprisoned on Council Island in a Maximum Security Hospital.

Alba Marie Polintavich- Wren's cousin, a Noble Squire of the Tinker Clan. Her name is coming from 'Albatross', in the Tinker Clan Style of naming.

)))

(((World Facts:

Around 2200 AD, the world Broke. The entire planet shattered, the mantle flew to the edge of the atmosphere, solidified, and encased the entire planet in a sphere of solid, heavily magnetized Nickel and Iron. The oceans, attracted by the Polar metal and also gravity, (as the Mantle makes up 84% of earths mass,), clung to it, replacing the sky.

The shattered Crust of the Planet formed large Islands under the mantle, floating on the Magnetized Atmospheric Fields from the Core, mixed with the magnetization of the entire ocean and Mantle. Gravity was reversed, as the majority of the planet's weight is now pointed upwards. (... or down!)

The major light source to replace the Sun was the Core itself, which also superheats the entire planet. Of course, almost all Islands are protected by the Rails, which were put in place as soon as humanity realized it had to now survive in this new world.

The Rails are slim, long strips of metal, soaked in pure energy, that create almost a Force-Field when directed. They create a literal Rail, first for safety, (no one wants to fall off into the ocean) but secondly because it filters the air, and shields off the Core Flares, the modern equivalent of a hurricane/earthquake. The magnetic fields shake during a Flare, which, in turn, makes the Islands shake. Most Ships and Vessels have a lower-quality version, which only stops the fire and stabilizes the magnetic fields, which is one of the reasons all sailors have a trademark dark tan.

To combat the new natural Order, Humans and almost all animal and plant life has evolved significantly. Humans have developed impeccable low-light vision. Seeing as how the Core doesn't glow very much, (it is just yellow metal... so not much light comes off it,) they've evolved to see as if it's as bright as day. Also, to combat lower populations, they grew to have average life expectancies of close to 150 years, with Royals and other nobles almost double-triple, at around 300-500 years. Powerful Ankh Runes further extend this time-frame.

From deep in the earth, ancient monsters, long sealed and thought extinct, were released on certain islands, the rest dying in the Core Flares that decimated the Earth Population by 80%, irradiated 1%, and burnt the rest not too badly.

The Irradiated 1% gained a scientifically based abilities to manipulate energy, which was quickly molded into Runes, to control it better, and shaped even further into the ultra-modern idea of Magic.

The 'Nobles' quickly used this power to take over their individual Islands, and the population of the world recovered a little, to about 100,000,000 people, on the entire planet, and close to a million Rune Users, and 5 million magic users in general, not Sigil Holders or Rune Users. The rest are simply the Governed.

A monarchy oversees a Council, which Rules the remaining world, with each Archipelago sending one official to office each decade. Some archipelagos hold elections, some simply send the Grand Knight. The world is now ruled by the current Royal Family, and the Council is the only one in direct contact with them, carrying out their orders.

The Royal Family changes Every 50 years or so, as anyone is allowed to challenge the King, and, if they defeat him, (which, as he is currently a Paladin Class Knight, and the last one was a Platinum Grand Knight, is damn-near impossible,) they can take the throne, becoming the monarch, and then, of course, there is an overturn in court. Each new Monarch usually brings in his own selection of Nobles to rule, and banishes the old ones to poverty, or simply executes them.

The main Rune Types are Ankh: Magical healing, Urn: Defense, and Rukh: Offense. The Rukh Runes are further divided by the Element they manipulate, the main elements, and mixes of them. Earth, Air, Fire, Water. Those branch into Flora, (Earth and Water), Lightning, (Fire and Air), Core, (earth and Fire), and Storm, the strongest, (Air, Water, Fire, Earth), among other, more obscure mixes.

Next came Sigils. Sigils are not given, like Runes, but Born into a person gifted with them, the Nobles and their children. It evolves over life, like all other Runes. They are highly specialized, and someone's Affinity and Sigil are all you really need to know to understand their personality.

The base Sigil Born with is the same for everyone in a bloodline, but it's look and abilities are evolved by the individual user. But, if the user evolves their Sigil enough over time, they can change it fundamentally, and effectively start their own Bloodline, and Create a New Clan. They are then obligated to either submit their Clan to another, larger Clan, or attempt to create their own Island, which is possible.

Affinities and Sigils don't always match. Like when you hand down your sigil to your son, but he has a different personality than you. So, his affinity would be different than yours, but Sigils are usually passed down through blood. If bloodlines are mixed, the Sigils mix, and gain more abilities, creating a 'Branch Lineage', unless it's the Main Line that gains the new abilities.

The strongest bloodline is the Uruk, which controls Gravity through manipulation of Space-Time and Air. It's followed closely by the Tinker Bloodline, which controls the Air, to create invisible wings, used as both shields and weapons.

The Tinker are the best defensive fighters in the entire world of Runes. A Tinker Squire usually has the Urn Runes of a Grand Knight of most other Clans, including the Uruk Clan, who are the exact opposite, and hold the strongest attack power of all Clans. The Lu-Kong Ninja Clans are the Fastest of all Clans, due to their creation of a Special Rune that no one else is capable of copying, the Sikh Rune, which pushes magical Lightning into your muscles, and allows incredible increases in speed and strength instantaneously, but with a heavy cost that must be trained to control.

They, the Lu-Kong, Tinker, and Uruk Clans, make up the three most powerful, richest clans in the world, though there are several hundred clans and Archipelago's.

Dragons and Fire Monsters of all kinds live in the now-exposed Core, and in the beginning, they came up to terrorize and destroy a Island Every Now and Again. So, the Knights were Formed, and each Island was required to train a few Lords Children that possessed powerful Sigils, as Knights, to defend against such things. They have been successful ever since.

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Throughout the story, Wren will refer to a character called 'Auld Nick', in moments of solemnity, prayer, stress, or sometimes simply because he wishes to. That name, 'Auld Nick' means 'Old Nick', as in 'Old Saint Nick'... Who you would likely call Santa Claus. This title actually refers to a bishop in 4th century Turkey named 'Saint Nicholas of Myra'. He was, indeed, the inspiration behind 'Santa Claus', but He is, first and Foremost among Catholics and Lutherans (and a few others), the patron saint of Children, Sailors, Thieves, Merchants, and Brewers, among other things.

So, if it was unclear. Yes. He's praying. No. he's not overly religious or anything crazy.

In fact, religion as a whole has lost all traction in the Government level, devolving to a completely recreational belief. The entire digital Archive of the Internet was transferred from Oslo to a Satellite before the Break, and most of the modern technology was recovered from the Island Wreckages when they started building anew, and so they had access to all of history, and the unbiased version, as each country kept its own version. Also, after a thousand years of new history and new technology, most old-world tech is useless. (Like a dell box monitor is to us... brr.)

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