User:Keva Stonemane

Leader of the Highdawn Mercenary Knights Core, Sir Keva Stonemane is a man devoted to spreading the teachings of The Three Strengths through his world in an attempt to do away with the evils which plague its people. Though he displays an aura of stalwart moral fortitude, Keva sometimes grapples with his morality and regret for past choices made without the wisdom he prescribes others. Though he faces these weaknesses each time he is called to act on behalf of his people, Keva Stonemane has faith that his goal may someday be realized, and that people like him (He considers himself a cross between a preacher and a warrior) will fall into less vital roles in society as people learn to better handle their issues with their own strength.

Born roughly 25-30 years past, Keva was part of the mighty Stonemane Pride, the newest cub of his father (Roka Stonemane), and his most trusted female (Mesha Stonemane). Finding themselves in a time of famine, the Stonemane pride wandered into a land of darkness in pursuit of sustenance, encountering instead a terrifying creature that came from the dark of night to slaughter their family. Surviving due to the distraction afforded him by his family's sacrifice, still-young Keva found himself without home or food for days, lamenting his loss and cursing his inability to help until he was picked up by his surrogate mother, Lady Amaryliss Catwings. An Amazon by birth, she raised him into his adulthood as a warrior, teaching him in Swordsmanship, Archery, Spearmanship, and some rudimentary basics of tactics. More importantly, however, she taught him Moral Reasoning, and provided the structure for his Righteous ways through her mentoring.

Leaving his home to venture into the world, Keva eventually settled into a small nation north of Heartland known as Thornvane. Ruled by the near-deified Rushad Tun'Berra, the land was often neglected to attend to the Jackal's own desires more efficiently. As such, groups of bandits and vagabonds ran free with little intervention from Rushad's forces, only dispatched when they began to directly ignore Tun'Berra or his personal interests. As such, Keva found a great amount of work in the area, quickly building up a reputation among the citizens as a savior and among the thieves as a pompous pain in the ass. In time, the lion's work attracted some followers, allowing Keva to create a band of Knights known as The Highdawn Mercenary Knights Core. As per Stonemane's orders, the Highdawn fought to preserve order and justice in their land, eventually working with Rushad's forces and Rushad himself to wipe out the bandits of the area in their own strongholds. As a gift, Rushad paid the Highdawn a hefty reward, as well as gave them one of the emptied bandit Strongholds to call their headquarters. Keva immediately spent the money on crafting the stone structure into a sophisticated training center for his growing body of Knights and lower-ranked Pages, helping to sharpen their skills and their vital grasp of the Three Strengths integral to his goal of pacifying the land.

What happened next is subject to historical debate; in either event, Keva packed up the Highdawn and left Thornvane as one of Rushad's bitterest enemies, fleeing eastward toward The Mystic Woods. Some historians claim that this resulted from Rushad's paranoia; deeming the growing force of Knights a threat, Rushad may well have called Keva out, demanding a challenge from the lion that was turned down. Taking all of the money and resources Rushad would have given him, Keva may well have fled in this situation, to avoid tearing Thornvane apart with their hostilities. Another explanation cites a more romantic possibility; sent to escort a new member of Rushad's harem back to his castle, Keva may have fallen in love with the creature, seeking to protect it from Rushad's twisted desires, even at the cost of his position within Thornvane. In this scenario, Keva would have had to steal from Rushad, as well as let love take away all his work as a peacekeeper in the area, making it much less likely than the first.

Whichever the case, Keva and the Highdawn suddenly fled Thornvane, taking everything they owned and heading east to seek refuge with the widely known King Worrin in The Mystic Woods. Eagerly welcomed by their new Monarch, the Knights settled in to resume their work, though with much less volume of duty than in Thornvane's more developed society. However, the Highdawn found work again in time, as warriors in Worrin's army during King Rino's second invasion of the small Kingdom. Defending The Mystic Castle's secondary entrance, Stonemane and the Highdawn managed to narrowly overcome Rushad's troops on the first day, wounding Rushad and causing Thornvane troops to retreat in fear. Convinced, in his delusion, that only a God could harm him, Rushad became convinced that Keva had been sent by the Gods themselves to eliminate him, in their envy "Over my unquestionable dominion over the world they had created". Returning the Second day prepared to fight Rushad to the death, Keva and his Knights were nearly cut to shreds by the fanatic forces of Thornvane, capturing victory only when Keva and his most trusted ally, Kellir, managed to overcome Rushad and defeat him. Proving him a mortal man, Keva and Kellir undercut the morale of his troops, making them a panicked mass as the Highdawn launched a decimating retaliatory strike. With the secondary front lost, King Rino deemed the main front similarly out of reasonable chance of victory, and so retreated to plan his future campaigns against King Worrin.

After that final campaign, Keva left with the remnants of The Highdawn and wandered away from The Mystic Woods, searching for other lands where he could ply his craft as a Warrior, a scholar, a teacher, and a beacon of Righteousness.

Keva Stonemane is the fursona of Jake Pierog, an 18 year old aspiring writer who chronicles the events of the war between Kings Worrin and Rino, among other sagas of 'historical' figures. Hoping someday to join the ranks of famous Furry writers, Jake is also a writer of human-centric work, mainly the War of the Clans series. A fan of travel and meeting other Furries, he is quite open to going on cross country trips to visit fellow furs, if they ask.