Username: Lady Celeste
Name: Ardeth Bay
Physical Description:
Ardeth stands at about six feet tall, and is fairly well-built for his height. He has shoulder-length black hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin, and wears the signature hieroglyphic tattoos of the Medjai on his face. As far as clothing goes, Ardeth typically wears the traditional black robes of his people, usually alternating between the all-black robes, turban, and bandoliers more commonly worn in the desert, and a set of black-and-silver robes that he typically wears when traveling in a city.
Native World:
The Archaic Lands
(Based on Stephen Sommers' "The Mummy" series)
Modern society in the Archaic Lands is still in a relatively early stage; technological advances like cars, airplanes, and guns are not uncommon, but don't expect to find a laptop computer or MP3 player in this world anytime soon. On the other hand, this world is abundant with untapped magical energies from the distant past, if one knows where to look for them. More often than not, however, misuse of these ancient magical forces can trigger hidden dangers that may endanger the entire world as one knows it, so extreme caution is advised when dealing with these forces.
Keyblade Wielder?:
Yes
Keyblade Description:
Named for the iconic golden symbol on the tip of its blade, the Eye of Horus keyblade bears a noticeable resemblance to an Egyptian straight sword, with the hilt's guard in the shape of a wing motif. Attached to the base of the hilt is a keychain with a winged scarab token.
Non-Keyblade Weapons:
Medjai Sword
Thompson Submachine Gun
Powers:
N/A
Other Skills:
What Ardeth lacks in superhuman powers and high-tech superweapons, he makes up for in leadership, tenacity, and sheer strength of will. Specific skills that he has been shown to possess include falconry, espionage, and military leadership, and he is perfectly capable of surviving and operating in harsh (especially desert) climates due to having lived and operated in the scorching Sahara desert for most of his life. In addition, Ardeth's relative inexperience with modern technology, though certainly not helpful when dealing with high-tech machinery, has also made him entirely non-reliant on modern conveniences that most others might take for granted, making him particularly well-adjusted in low-tech worlds or when going completely off the grid.
Backstory:
Like all Medjai warriors, Ardeth Bay was trained in combat from an early age and sworn at manhood to do any and all in his power to prevent the treacherous High Priest Imhotep from ever being resurrected; over 3,000 years ago, the High Priest's crimes were so horrible that he was punished with the dreaded Hom-Dai curse, which would make him a virtually unstoppable plague upon mankind if he were ever to arise.
To this end, Ardeth and his fellow Medjai kept a constant watch over the ancient ruins of Hamunaptra, where Imhotep was buried, and spent their days driving off or killing anyone who found the city or knew of its location. This mission, however, often forced the Medjai to kill innocent people to prevent the far greater threat of Imhotep being resurrected. Strained by this constant need to succumb to darkness for the perceived greater good, Ardeth's heart was not strong enough for the Eye of Horus Keyblade to accept him as its wielder when he first discovered it in the ruins.
Ultimately, despite the Medjai's best efforts, two teams of treasure hunters found their way to Hamunaptra and accidentally revived Imhotep, after which his curse quickly began to wreak havoc upon the world. As the situation grew more desperate, Ardeth soon found himself having to work with the very people he'd previously fought against to stop Imhotep and his curse, during which time Ardeth felt more and more conflicted with himself, wondering if the deaths of so many innocents in the past was really necessary.
Eventually, after being separated from the group while trying to hold off an attacking horde of mummies and strange black creatures, Ardeth fully realized that the very people he might have been forced to kill earlier were now the world's best and only hope to defeat Imhotep, and resolved from that point on to never again shed innocent blood. In that exact moment, the Eye of Horus keyblade appeared in his hand; having overcome the last remaining barriers in his heart, Ardeth was now ready to wield the Keyblade, and used it to strike down the mummies and the attacking black creatures with a surprising ease.
Meanwhile, sure enough, the treasure hunters had succeeded in defeating Imhotep, confirming in Ardeth's mind that he had made the right choice. After thanking the treasure hunters and bidding them farewell, Ardeth returned to his people with the Keyblade, but not before hearing a voice briefly warning him that "the darkness" still had to be stopped. Unsure what this could mean, especially after Imhotep had already been defeated, Ardeth could only keep watch and prepare himself until this "darkness" makes itself known.
Eventually it DID make itself known in the form of an invasion of the yellow-eyed shadows. Ardeth had fallen unconscious during the battle, awakening in a place called Traverse Town, where a number of others wielding similar key-shaped swords had begun to gather, including many whose arrival in Traverse Town was not unlike Ardeth's. As the group slowly started to come together, they were attacked by a man named Xehanort and his army of the yellow-eyed shadows, which Ardeth now knows are called "Heartless". A critical misunderstanding led to one of the supposed heroes, Alinara Duskblade, turning on the rest of the group and siding with Xehanort, all the while ranting about the alleged atrocities committed by the Light against the Darkness. This was bad enough in Ardeth's eyes, but worst of all, when Riku realized the confusion and tried to reason with Alinara, pleading for her help to save Sora, Alinara was not moved in the slightest and responded with one last scathing speech before leaving with Xehanort. Ardeth has not fully expressed his disgust with Alinara, but as far as he is concerned, her treachery and outright disrespect - especially toward one already suffering from the loss of a friend - has no place in their group and deserves no sympathy. Needless to say, his next encounter with Alinara is unlikely to be a pleasant one.
Greater still was the shock that not one of the new wielders' worlds is likely to have survived the invasions of the Darkness. Riku told them that any surviving remnants of their worlds would most likely have been scattered to any number of the surviving worlds, but with no way of knowing to what degree Ardeth's people or anyone else from his world would have survived, Ardeth was hit particularly hard by this revelation, and that coupled with his inability to truly mourn his people given their past bloodshed has started to take its toll on him mentally. The only one among his newfound allies in whom he has been able to confide to any degree since then was Wilhelmina Rosewood, whose emotional support has been invaluable during this time.