Boanerges's character sheet 1/3 (Fantasy Friday #6)

Boanerges, “The Unseen Heart of the Flame”
Cismale CN/CG ifrit vigilante (splintersoul, zealot of Awi) 3

History: The origins of the roving army known as the Sulxonmo (“The Fifty”, in the Dzena-drif language) stretch back a century and more. The Bonfire Queen of the ifrit theocratic kingdom Rashab at the time, Alfonyath of Astwera, claimed her newborn son was the rightful heir of the Presterjho nation of Cusulu. Naturally enough, perhaps, Sehjic (the Bykeg of Cusulu) disputed this claim. A cold war developed; Alfonyath hinted at invading Cusulu to make it a protectorate of Rashab, but delayed while sending a series of adventurers to search for the Great Erolamadu, a magical ivory scimitar and symbol of her office.

Nothing turned up before Bonfire Queen Alsonyath died and was succeeded by her niece Oramir of Astwera. Hoping to establish dominance and end the decades of hostility, Bykeg Sehjic demanded Oramir re-establish an ancient tradition of sending 50 common and 50 noble ifrit virgins to Cusulu in tribute, a tradition Alfonyath had defied from very early on in her reign. As Oramir seemed to consider giving into these demands, Alfonyath’s son Matamor of Astwera grew angrier and angrier, incensed that what he considered his rightful birthright would be frittered away by his peace-loving cousin. He began to gather a horde of disaffected ifrit and form them into an army of preening, vain, daring warriors. Their tactics were founded upon the intimidatory potential of excessive (and loud) shows of skill and confidence; in short, they were swashbucklers with whacking sticks. He named them the Sulxonmo in mockery of the tribute demanded by Cusulu and allowed his rage to pull him into leading them in more and more despicable ways. Such as the forced recruiting (as in, kidnapping) of children to serve as soldiers.

A few years into his agitations, Matamor had a revelation of a dream in which a child rode a white horse under a banner made of a fishing net, wielding the Great Erolamadu. Born to a wealthy fisherman and his dancer wife, Boanerges was a child of but 35 years at the time. In fact, on his 35th birthday, he went fishing with his own cousin, an ifrit by the name of Logadé, in the Negdal Fields of northern Rashab. After being pulled into the water by a large fish, Logadé found an ivory scimitar, beautifully carved. When they returned, Boanerges watched as his cousin played with the other children of the village, miraculously not wounding them when he struck them with the blade. Everyone he struck, however, began to act like the legends of the zombies people talked about existing in far countries.

Several months later, Boanerges was captured by the Fifty in a raid led by Matamor himself, who recognized the child from his dream. A quick and threatening interview later revealed the location of the Great Erolamadu and its bearer Logadé. Once the Sulxonmo tracked down and kidnapped the boy, Matamor told Boanerges that he had to kill his own, beloved cousin in order to be initiated into the horde. When Boanerges refused, he was told that the alternative was death. When he still refused, Matamor sighed a heavy sigh and hit him with the Erolamadu. The domination effect brought the intended effect, and Boanerges became a member of the Sulxonmo covered in the blood of his own kin.