MIChAEL MIthose
The MITHOSE Family
Owen Mithose was a scholar and inventor from Istoria that would come to have three children each from separate women. Owen’s first wife would bear him a son named Michael. Owen loved her very much but she unfortunately passed away when Michael was still a boy. Distraught by the loss, Owen sends Michael to live with his grandparents where he would remain for several years.
Owen’s second wife was the daughter of an aristocrat. The aristocratic father was not fond of Owen and as such would make the marriage difficult. Owen tried to love her but the strain on their marriage made her become cold to Owen. He ended up leaving Istoria for Veiland before he knew that his wife was pregnant with his second child. After several years, Owen would make his way toward Veiland. On his travels, he fell in love with a young tavern woman who he would come to be infatuated with. She would soon become pregnant as well, unbeknownst to Owen.
When Owen reached Veiland, he set up a small repair shop in Ophelia. Michael was sent for and soon accompanied him in the shop before finding work as a blacksmith assistant, something that Owen deeply discouraged. Michael displayed strength far beyond his age and would often seek out physical work after his father would not let him train to be in the Crescent Shield army. Owen insisted that he use his mind to become something more than a soldier for Veiland. Despite this, Michael continued to be trained as a blacksmith behind his father’s back.
owen mithose
Eventually, over the years, a young girl named Susanna came to Ophelia searching for Owen, and claimed to be his daughter from his second marriage in Istoria. Owen took Susanna in but was skeptical of her heritage and as such seemed to only tolerate her. Susanna, however grew very close to Michael who was overjoyed to learn of his sister.
Soon after, King Marcus came to Ophelia, searching for more people that he termed Champions. When he and Father Basildes learned of Michael’s unnatural strength, they found in him the perfect candidate for the newly christened High Champion, a figurehead of justice and strength that would inspire others. Michael himself wanted something more than remaining in Ophelia and accepted the King’s offer. At 20 years old Michael Mithose became the first High Champions, the Lunar Guardian.
Because of his decision, there grew a rift between him and his father, Owen. Owen wanted Michael to follow in his own footsteps and scarcely spoke to his son after this. Owen would guilt his daughter Susana from going with Michael to Selene, something she wanted to do but decided to stay with her father, instead. Susana however, would remain in touch with her brother and after several years she informed him that they had another sister named Morgana. Michael desired greatly to meet his new sister, unfortunately that never came to pass.
The Lunar Guardian
Michael Mithose is the oldest child and only son of Owen Mithose.
History of Champions
The Princess of Veiland developed a power when she was 8 that began to make others lethargic when touching her. By the time she was 10, it grew to the point where she would put people to sleep completely if they came in contact with her. During this time, it was becoming more apparent that more and more people exhibited strange powers. With this shift, came persecution. The King had always loved the princess like his own and feared that she would be persecuted, especially after The Shimmering Knight caused so much destruction. It had been nearly 10 years since the Empress used The Shimmering Knight as a weapon of fear. Because of this, people with powers were considered dangerous and untrustworthy despite their rarity.
A young Priest named Basildes recognized the growing distrust toward these people. When he was brought in by the King to possibly help Aletheia, he was able to convince the King that Aletheia did not need to be healed. The King realized his own ignorance and agreed that Aletheia did not need to be cured. He did not want her to be feared by others though, so he often kept her hands and her skin covered.
The King and Basildes then decided to change the public perception of people with these powers. Basildes had secretly been friends with the Shimmering Knight who was not the monster everyone believed. He knew that the people with powers were just people. He believed they could make another man like the Shimmering Knight that inspired people.
King Marcus and Basildes work through their ideas for months at the Monos Cathedral. Their attempt to give a name to supernatural people varied from calling them, Angels to Paragons to Apotheoun. The terms for their abilities ranged from Blessing to Powers to Virtues. Basildes recognized though that it was important to stress that these people were still human, just gifted humans. They decide upon calling these gifted people Champions. Basildes begins use his influence in the church to create reverence for Champions. He often mentions these Champions during congregation and tells people that they are to be cared for like any other.
Two years pass and Aletheia is turning 12 years old. The King and Basildes continue their work to uplift Champions. They locate a young blacksmith in Ophelia who was rumored to have supernatural strength. The lad’s name is Michael Mithose and the pair decide that he could be a grand figurehead to further elevate Champions. Michael is given the persona of The Lunar Guardian and he is christened the High Champion of Selene. He is to protect the people of Selene from darkness. Immediately after this, the Lunar Guardian quickly becomes a Champion of the people to the commonfolk.
High Champions
People with supernatural abilities were becoming more prevalent, with various kingdoms adopting Veiland's example and employing those with the moniker of High Champion. This in turn ended much of the warring and infighting as many countries began to use High Champions as displays of their nation's power. By the time Aletheia was around 15, most of the public began to revere the High Champions as their protectors and anyone with powers were referred to as Champions.
There began to be more research on powers as well, as scholars began taking more of an interest now that powers were less rumor and myth. One such scholar, Samuel Ward, was tasked to learn about the supernatural powers of Champions in order to help Aletheia control her own power. He was a Champion as well and his interest in powers had stemmed from the study of a book called the Shakti Manuscript. The manuscript was found by his mentor Heron Daima after the collapse of the Empire. When Heron Daima was killed in an alchemical accident, the manuscript came to Sam. The Shakti Manuscript was written by Arka Mitra, unknowingly an alias for Simon Perish.
Sam's study of powers demonstrated that many of them had debilitating drawbacks to the body or minds of those that possessed them. Every power gave a Champion a weakness in some way. Aletheia's power would put commonfolk to sleep upon touch but it was especially serious to other Champions. It would affect Champions by augmenting the weakness of their own power. Sam discovered this as contact with Aletheia made his nose bleed and he became ill. As it happens this was the same effect he had when overusing his power. Aletheia also learned that she would have seizures if she used her power successively.
Aletheia’s power became known as the Seal power in an effort to keep it from having a negative connotation. She was unable to come into contact with others but despite this, Aletheia would adopt a very positive and sensitive outlook on life, most likely because of her friendship with Sam and the Lunar Guardian, Michael Mithose. She longs to be near others and instead of fearing being close to them she often forgets her power if she is excited or delighted by something.
The Lunar Guardian
Michael himself grew very close to Aletheia and Sam as the Lunar Guardian. Sam would help Michael with his abilities which began to wear on his joints. Although he could still display amazing feats of strength, it came to the point where he had difficulty doing so without pain. Furthermore, his strength was found to be at it’s peak only when under extreme stress or when his adrenaline was up.