📍 Residence: Contested Lands, Xalúm
🎂 Age: 28
📏 Height: 175 cm / 5’9″
⚖️ Weight: 78 kg / 172 lbs
🩸 Blood Type: O
⭐ Star Sign: Wind
🌄 Abilities: Spiritual connection
🖤 Loves: Izel
In the boundaries between the kingdoms and realms of Xalúm, Tepeu stands as the Guardian of Twilight, entrusted with the delicate balance between realms. His abilities, a fusion of earth manipulation and spiritual connection, enable him to weave the threads of twilight, guarding the mystical Contested Lands where the energies of the world converge.
Tepeu was once accompanied in his solitary vigil by Izel, a man entrusted with the same role from a different time – a love and affection that bloomed during the fleeting hours of twilight when their worlds merged. However, many years have gone by since Izel last stepped foot into Xalúm, and the rising threat of Mulac from the south has disrupted the already-tenuous boundaries between the realms.
As he communes with the spirits, the Guardian of Twilight moves through the realms, not only as a protector but as a seeker, yearning for the return of Izel’s presence to illuminate the sacred lands once more.
In the hallowed space between worlds, Tepeu’s gaze stretches into the horizon, where the past merges with the future. The Contested Lands echo with the whispers of a love that defies temporal boundaries, a melancholic melody that reverberates through the twilight, etching an indelible imprint on the Guardian’s soul.
All text and images © 2023 by NAM Almeida. All rights reserved.
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Tepeu felt a subtle disturbance ripple through the Contested Lands. Shadows twisted, and ancient energies stirred. Gripping his staff, a conduit to the sacred threads of twilight, he sought to understand the intrusions that threatened the equilibrium he held dear.
Light and shadow flashed before his eyes as he searched through the twilight, looking for the cause of the disturbance.
The boundaries wavered as Tepeu channeled his spiritual connection, delving into the unseen to fathom the source of the disturbance. His heart raced – could it be Izel returned after so many years? The thought of the other man’s warm lips and soft eyes brought a smile to Tepeu’s face, and he longed, craved with all his heart that it be Izel walking between the worlds. But no, the energy was wrong – it was too dark, too sinister. He clutched his staff more tightly.
Just then, Tepeu noticed something – a dark spot of sorts. He honed in and furrowed his brow, confused and concerned. This thing, whatever it was, was in his own place and his own time.
Releasing the staff, he settled back into the Contested Lands of Xalúm, approaching the thing with wariness. It was a stone: smooth, dark, and shaped almost like an egg. Tepeu studied it. It was a seeing stone, the way that guardians communicated with one another across boundaries and worlds. Could one of us really be the source of this vileness? Tepeu’s stomach turned at the thought.
As his fingers danced over the smooth surface, the stone began to emanate a soft glow. A vision unfolded before Tepeu, projecting images that transcended the boundaries of time. Kingdoms rose and fell, and people were born, lived, and died, all in a moment before him. Tears rose to his eyes at seeing the brevity, fragility, and cruelty of human life.
As the threads wove their tale, the images began to coalesce into a figure – a figure who began in the background but whose open mouth began to swallow the scenes that had been playing out before Tepeu’s eyes. Dread gripped Tepeu’s heart as the figure came closer and closer. He didn’t know who this man was, but his message was clear: the twilight realms were under attack, and once they fell and the boundaries that protected the separate realms were erased, the ensuing chaos would be unthinkable.
With determination etched on his face, Tepeu let go of the now-dimmed stone and grasped his staff once more, infused with newfound purpose. He knew what he had to do. He had to find Izel.
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