James Ryder (Harkaz)

"I loved her. And she loved me. She's the only one that I've ever met who truly understood me. Accepted me. Embraced me."

''"Which part of you?" asked Nylva, tearing up as she said it. Harkaz paused for a moment. Then he answered with a somber, conflicted "both".''

-James Ryder to Nylva, 60 B.C.

Early Life (1994-2013)
James Ryder was born to Carl Ryder and Fiona Ryder in 1994. He was the firstborn out of five children and therefore the true heir to the royal Ryder dynasty.

He was born and raised in Atlantis City. While Carl and Fiona always displayed a kind exterior, they severely mistreated James through both mental and physical abuse, leading James to move out at the age of 16. As a child James always showed kind traits, humor and intense empathy. He was also incredibly sensitive and later dealt with it through alcohol abuse. He grew up in a deeply religious household but always neglected it, focusing instead on facts and what he could see himself.

James never got along with his family; but for his siblings Kira, John and Kirk. The reasoning behind it was that his parents believed him to be the 'evil messiah', the son of Lucifer. That all led him to move out in 2010, living on his own until he met Sara Clarkson whose family took him in. James lived there until he finally got his own home in 2012. He and Sara began a romantic relationship shortly thereafter.

The First Summoning (2077-2065 B.C)
James was summoned through time into an avatar body in 2013, as a result of the First Awakening of Avatars performed by the demigodess Zikyna.

He spent the first few years on an island right in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle later known as Golova D'Yavola. It wasn't long until he met Sara, his former girlfriend having been groomed into a cannibalistic society. The reunion along with shared friends on both sides of the tribal war soon caused them to unite their forces and end the tribal war with their new clan standing victorious.

Life was good until one day in 2073 B.C when Sara attempted to stab James in the back. James later found out that Sara was in allegience with the dragonkin and had assumed the mantle of Tzunary. Her goal was to kill every single avatar. James went into hiding for a while, later finding that he had no choice but to end her life. Sara came back to life briefly during her dying moments, later being revived through the awakening in 2012. James was horrified with what he'd done and left the tribe behind in order to move on.

The Death of James Ryder
In 2071 B.C, James met a traveling angel known as Gond'el. From him James learned a great deal of spiritual wisdom, making him come to the conclusion that his own self had to die - rather than his body. The two ventured to Tibet where they found a heavily guarded Kundalini Gem, the last one in existence. The two worked together to use the gem to create a mirror soul to James, with no natural empathy or kind nature of any sort. The being was known as Harkaz, "the Warden" in ancient neco. Little did James know that taking on this soul would bind him to Earth, making him the commander of its Odin Vault and the first Warden of Earth.

James Ryder was pushed back within his consciousness, being largely replaced by Harkaz. The two worked together to create a superior being, with James being largely ineffective.

The Reunion
Harkaz left the island in 2067 B.C, having had enough with living this primitive life on his own. He was to seek out the Odin Vault, to finally assume his destiny. The journey lead him across africa and southern europe, finally bringing him to Norway where he met someone completely unexpected - his younger brother John.

It turned out that their stories had ended pretty much the same; their old selves had perished. John had now become Barthedez, a Shaxi Fighter.

Harkaz promised to turn over his warden responsibilities to Barthedez. But in so doing, part of his soul was transported into Barthedez' damaged one. Harkaz cancelled the transfer, now realizing that it was a trap. He then got escorted away by Zikyna, the demigodess. The two traversed to Tibet and used the Odin Vault to transport them to another planet - Melnyr.

The First Lunari War (2065-2051 B.C)
On Melnyr, the two came across a struggling half-elf half-human child known as Tulonei Stormborn. She displayed some promise in magic, so both she and Harkaz began training under Zikyna's tutelage. The two would become the first Lunari Knights. Tulonei told of an orb of power that her family had used for generations to channel quantum magic, enhancing their physical abilities and making them essentially immortal. They had began using it to eradicate any non-magic users. Harkaz agreed that if they were to make this their home, the Stormborn Family couldn't be around. The two started organizing an army to take to the northern capital.

The Northern Entry
The army marched across the sea towards the heavily guarded beach. Harkaz used his newfound powers to obliterate them using a quantum gravity well. It was then that he realized how truly grim his soul had become after the encounter with Barthedez. Harkaz agreed to use some of James, pulling him slightly further into their shared consciousness.

The Battle for Lunehaven
They finally reached Lunehaven, entering a one year siege of the city. They finally got inside the gates in late 2051 B.C. Harkaz and Tulonei easily dismantled her family, when suddenly every single person within a one mile radius started attacking each other and themselves in a mad frenzy. Harkaz did what he felt ha had to do: by sucking all of the air outside of the temple in a circular radius into a separate dimension, killing everyone in mere moments. Tulonei then killed her father, stopping the frenzy. The Lunar Orb was now theirs to control. Zikyna used magic to purify it. The Lunari Order was now born. Harkaz went through Zikyna's trials and achieved immortality and enhanced humanoid properties using the orb. He became the first Lunari Knight, but swore not to take any leading ranks.

Promethean Secrets (2000 B.C) [PLACEHOLDER]
Melnyr's Odin Vault was eventually unlocked by Zikyna, making her the first complete Warden in the galaxy.

The Orcish War (1744-1742 B.C) [PLACEHOLDER]
The Orcs of Sovut were a spiritual, prideful people.

The Melnyr Alliance (1720 B.C) [PLACEHOLDER]
After years of conflict within the Melnyrian solar system,

A Thousand-Year War (1255-221 B.C)
The thousand year war began with the Melnyrian Alliance coming across a half-demonic people known as the Ghin. Harkaz refused to fight initially, living a peaceful existence on Dome-2 as a simple farmer. It wasn't until 299 B.C that the Ghin reached Dome, taking it siege. Harkaz went on to break the siege by sneaking unto the fleet's commanding ship and using it to demobilize all of the ships. He returned to Melnyr shortly thereafter to join the fight, having lost many of his near friends in the attack. There, he bounced right back to his long-time love Tulonei.

The war took a wild turn in 276 when Tulonei was suddenly captured. Her location was unknown, allowing the Ghin to hold leverage over the Alliance. They found the location in 221, sending Harkaz into a blinding rage - killing millions of Ghin in the process of saving Tulonei from captivity. The war ended shortly thereafter with Harkaz ordering the total destruction of the Ghin home world.

Words of Storms (219-212 B.C) [PLACEHOLDER]
The crisis of 219-212 B.C took place shortly after the war with the Ghin.

The Toriel Project (90-0 B.C)
Harkaz was one of the first individuals to be called into the Toriel Project - a necessary stand against the Demonic Legion to ensure the birth of christ. Harkaz was born in year 1 along with most other torielan avatars and was one of the few to have glimpses of thoughts from their real lives - being an avatar himself. Harkaz was born into Skyla, the Northern Nation in the first year of the fourth era.

Early Project (90-68 B.C)
Harkaz soon befriended Xorto and Lana, his friends from schooling. While Lana trained to become an advanced wizard, Xorto and Harkaz trained in the arts of martial combat and mastery of weapons. He invited Eudazi into the fold in the year 16. They left their home village in the year 20 and met Lord Torg Stone shortly thereafter. The group fought with him for the throne of Skyla, dethroning the extremist society known simply as the Faith. The event lead to a 10 year long civil war in which Harkaz participated on many occasions.

The Civil War (68-61 B.C)
He married Lana in 22 and together they had two children. Harkaz would always go on to claim that Lana was his soulmate and that she alone managed to understand both sides - James Ryder and Harkaz, equally. Lana was killed by Sten the Lightbringer in the year 29 which ended in the real Harkaz coming to Toriel to bring down the faith once and for all, while simultaneously sending Sten into the hell dimension and wounding/killing several Lunari in the process.

Dragonstone United (61-5 B.C)
The Dragonstone Society was created many years before the arrival of avatars on Toriel for the sake of preparation. Dragonstone would be where the avatars spent some of their time training to become able to defend themselves. Harkaz spent many summers there with Lana, Xorto and Eudazi in his childhood. They were later cast out in the year 70 because of their allegiance to Torg Stone. The exile ended in 68 with Harkaz challenging and killing Tulonei, leader of Dragonstone. It was later revealed that some of its members had gone mad under the influence of an ancient within Toriel itself. Dragonstone was reformed into a secret medium-sized kingdom that mainly took in orphans to train and feed. The society worked under the Lunari's influence to serve justice and bring security to Toriel, with Skyla in particular - still in turmoil after a hundred years of conflict.

It was at some time during these years that the feud between Harkaz and Sarthal took place, ending with Harkaz throwing him into hell.

The Battle for Toriel (5 B.C)
The battle for Toriel took place in 5 B.C after many years of conflict between Dragonstone, the Nephilim and the Vampires of Skyla. Harkaz led the war against the vampires with guidance from the Nephilim, leading to a massive battle at the south pole. The Dragonstone Forces were nearly defeated when Barthedez suddenly impaled Nylva, killing her instantly. The event triggered something within Harkaz, waking his real body and throwing him into a rampage which ended with the death of Barthedez' avatar - finishing the battle. Most of the Vampires fled with help from the Demonic Legion who declared war upon the Lunari. The Hell Moon soon appeared over Toriel, ready to destroy the planet. The Lunari retaliated quickly by attacking the legion head-on. The fight ended swiftly with the dragonkin stepping in, pointing out the Legion's grave crime and putting them back in their place. And thus ended the Cold War between Toriel and the Demonic Legion.

Harkaz was the only avatar to ever have his real self appear on Toriel during this project - on three occasions, in fact. The first to deal with the Faith, the second to deal with Blademaster Sarthal and the third to kill Barthedez. The Toriel Project would go on to redefine Harkaz and the equation in his head.

The First Rampage (202)
Harkaz went on to serve within the Melnyr Alliance Military, in order to distract himself from the death of Lana. Tension between him and the men serving under him had begun to brew in the year 202. It all lead to a conflict in 202 which caused a Quantum Outbreak within Harkaz, as caused by his exploding emotions.

The Quantum Outbreak caused him to lose his mind, tapping into dark forces and becoming the very thing he sought to destroy. The Lunari Order attempted to track him down. The outbreak ended months later in a joint effort between Eudazi and Nylva, defeating him and healing his mind.