Jack Skivar

Jack Skivar (known out-of-character as StarNeverDoes, regnal name King Jack I) was the first King of the Kingdom of Orbitalia since the Summer of 20 VE. Less notably, he was an avid journalist and the first Cosmowalker of the Cosmoist Church. He resided in the city of Distaria, Orbitalia until his disappearance.
Jack was born in an unknown place said to be far southwest of Rathnir's general area, and as such, not much is known about his early life. After forming Orbitalia-Coolantis, he founded House Skivar, thus earning a surname for his family. He has one known brother named Lio Skivar. Jack once ruled the Diarchy of Orbitalia-Coolantis alongside him; before that, he was a resident of the Kingdom of Aurora in Rathnir.
Jack's personality is fickle and eccentric, but overall moral and ambitious. He is also an ardent believer of his faith, and a generally religious man. People often question his age, and how it is possible he still seems ripe and young even after evidently living over two hundred years. When he's asked about it, he just shrugs, and says it 'must be the will of Cosmo'.
Currently, Jack's whereabouts are unknown. He has been missing for years.
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== Appearance ==
For his facial features, Jack has short brown hair, 'sapphire' blue eyes, and generally, a confident smirk. A young man, Jack has very little facial hair, except for a bit of stubble above his lips. Jack prefers to dress quite casually, usually donning an iconic green-white striped collared shirt with a gray and red badge holding a "J" letter on it. Jack wears ordinary jeans with small, shiny steel boots. His long hours serving his nation in the mines have earned him calloused hands.
== Biography ==
=== Rathnir ===
==== Early life (<163 T.E.) ====
Jack Skivar was born in terra incognitum in a place speculated to be somewhere northeast of Rathnir. Little is known about his especially early life except the fact that he was a deeply religious man and could've possibly resided in an ancient version of Orbitalia. At about the age of 13, Jack claimed to hear "...voices from the stars, piercing [his] ears and breaking into [his] soul." These voices, to him, were the deities of Cosmoism, a religion attributed to him but one he never claims he founded.
These supposed deities would talk in length to Jack about the "truth of the universe and its ties to the Final Frontier", and they would push Jack to become as moral as possible in order to be accepted into the Nebuland, the heaven of Cosmoism, when he dies. The deities would also tell Jack to preserve the conversations they had with him in a book titled the Cosmiary in order to set ideals for himself and any confidants. Furthermore, they would call on him to spread morality wherever he went (not inherently spread Cosmoism) and generally make the world a better place so that the people of the world can avoid the repentance required for souls of sin to enter the Nebuland after death.
One calling, though, stood out among the rest; the deities told of a holy land somewhere in Rathnir. By finding it and securing it under a nation loyal to Cosmoism, only then could the morals of the Cosmos spread easily under the magnanimous reign of a Cosmoist adherent.
==== Search for the holy land in Rathnir (163-262 T.E.) ====
Jack has one known brother named Lio Skivar. It is possible he has a second brother under the alias of "9", but this is not proved nor will Jack speak on the topic. At one point, Jack told Lio of his calling, but Lio wasn't on the same page. Jack decided to leave alone for the holy land and he scoured Rathnir looking for clues. Jack would not see Lio until Iristor's meteor hit. During this period, Jack would live in Hearthstone Yuldai, using the small town of Neu Misahr as a temporary base to explore Rathnir in. Briefly during this time, he believed Neu Misahr was, in fact, the holy land, and he would plan for a 'peaceful revolution' of the town in order to secure it under an organization he dubbed 'the Orbital Order', a council comprised of a few of his friends. He even told a noble of Seaside of these plans, but he forgot the name of who he gave the information to. Regardless, due to a lack of supporters for Jack's nation as well as the general might of the Hearthstone Yuldai at the time, Jack gave up this idea and instead focused on exploring the world, convinced that Neu Misahr was, in fact, not the holy land he had been looking for. 
He would be on this expedition for the better part of Rathnir's existence to absolutely no avail, and by the time he had returned, he found the town completely different than what he had seen when he first arrived. There was an obvious attempt at industrialization of the city, and thusly Jack checked for any news on the city's government. It turned out that the town had come under the allegiance of an entirely different nation, and whatever the nation, Jack now had taxes to pay. He then subsequently lost any respect for the Hearthstone Yuldai as he believed "...it couldn't even protect its own citizens, much less my cash! What chicanery! This is a sick joke!" ...as documented in Jack's Rathnir Journal.
Jack was now inclined to pay taxes, and he hated that prospect. He hurriedly abandoned all citizenship of Neu Misahr and, believing Seaside to be friendly to him after the talks he had about his brief plans of revolution with one of its governors, traveled to Plagos. Jack then walked upwards of 12,000 blocks from Haven to Plagos only to find the streets completely empty. He would angrily and passionately write about this, too, in his Rathnir journal, before departing back to Haven in order to find any government willing to take him in. During this journey, he would visit many different cities and peoples, most of which he would document either in his journal, or, if he believed the city/person had a spiritual connection with Cosmo, the Cosmiary. However, about three quarters away from the end of his journey, he would pass out due to exhaustion. He would then wake up near the city of Northport, Aurora, a few thousand blocks away from where he had collapsed. Believing it to be a call from the gods, Jack would enter Northport, where he would meet Antonius Drake, the Head of the Citizenship Committee of Aurora at the time. He would become a citizen there around 262 TE.
==== Life in the Kingdom of Aurora and Iristor's meteor (262 TE-1 VE) ====
During his stay in Aurora, Jack learned about the diverse culture and history of the state, particularly the Northport War. He became fond of the government and he applied to become a member of the fisherman's guild, which he was accepted into. Jack would even meet and converse with Foczo and other Stoneworks veterans, the former of whom he found very intriguing. However, Jack felt his life incomplete, for he had never accomplished his dream of finding the Cosmoist holy land. He began to believe he was being 'oppressed under contentment' and set up a holy bench on top of his Auroran house where he could watch the stars, contemplate his existence, write in his journal, and communicate with the gods. Years would go by, with no sign of Cosmo or Rift, but one fateful day in 318 TE, he would hear of a war above all wars; the Comet War. Jack knew little about Paxia or the one he assumed to be the leader, StoneyStoner. All he knew was what Cosmo told him; this would be the end of Ratham, and more importantly, that the holy land is not in Ratham. This angered Jack; if this was true, there was no point to the expedition he had done for all of those years! In a fit of rage, he cursed out Cosmo's name. Then, Cosmo's voice disappeared, and Jack felt guilt on his shoulders. He decided to risk his life for Rathnir to repent, at the very least for Aurora. But before he could make it to the battle, he got lost at sea. By the time he had finally found his way, all he could see was Twerkish executing Stoney in the sky atop a small ice tower with a Paxian weapon.
Frustrated that he could not see the meaning to Cosmo's words that Ratham would soon end, and fearing the worst, Jack decided to return to his old base outside of Rathnir to warn his brother of the end times. After a short conversation, Lio agreed to leave his old base behind. The brothers built a small sailboat made from wood, spruce, and blue wool. They dubbed it the D.S.S. Radian, foreshadowing the city of the same name. Together, they sailed into the continent of Abexilas through its ocean to the far east.
=== Diarchy of Orbitalia-Coolantis ===
==== The Founding of Orbitalia-Coolantis and its Dissolution (1 VE to 20 VE) ====
During the journey, Jack asked Lio what he had been doing all this time, and Lio replied that he was simply relaxing in the old home of the Skivars, waiting for Jack to come back. Believing the answer a lie, Jack pressed Lio. What followed was a brief argument about where Lio had been that escalated into a debate about the ideals of Cosmoism and the preferable build design for a nation following Cosmoism. They then reached an epiphany - perhaps this new world contains the holy land, and their expeditions weren't in vain! Jack and Lio first explored and settled in Tanragh but were rudely kicked out by other settlers. Jack and Lio then followed the various coasts of Abexilas until they reached Halinn. They settled there and proclaimed the town of Radian; furthermore, the nation of Orbitalia-Coolantis, a diarchy built on the separate beliefs of Jack and Lio.
These ideals would come to be known respectively as the culture Orbital, with two branches; Orbitalian, following the ideals of Jack Skivar and Cosmoism, and Coolantian, following the ideals of Lio and his protective, knowledgeable policies.
==== Hostilities with Leyden ====
In the Spring of 4 VE, Jack began to notice various nations popping up around his, the first of which was Sakravir (which appeared on the same day as Radian) and the second of which was Leyden (which appeared three days after Abexilas was opened). Relations with Sakravir stayed neutral while relations with Leyden quickly soured after a series of diplomatic failures and misunderstandings. One incident of this period was when Jack admitted to seeking repentance for Wurmdir, leader of Leyden, in an issue known as "proxy claiming". Relations between Jack and Wurmdir continued to deteriorate after multiple other issues arose, such as the destruction of Radian's southern wall by Larian men on multiple accounts. Jack indulged in many solitary religious ceremonies during this time, but his prayers were seldom answered.
The situation continued to look very bleak for Jack when ultimatums were made against Orbitalia-Coolantis by Wurmdir. Particularly, his "join or leave" ultimatum became infamous to citizens of Orbitalia-Coolantis, and thusly placed a lot of stress upon Jack. These hostilities would last twelve years before they were finally resolved on one fateful day.
==== Reaching an Understanding ====
In the Summer of 20 VE, while smelting cobblestone in order to improve the northern wall of Radian, Jack was approached by two Leydenian men. Lord Sornious Lynden of Steinbirge, accompanied by a cohort, was taking a stroll through Radian when the two inferred enemies bumped into eachother. Jack initiated a conversation by apologizing about a transgression he believed he did to Sornious during the "proxy claim" issue, and then the conversation continued positively, albeit awkwardly. It ended with Sornious inviting Jack to a conference with the Regency Council of Leyden, which was the government in power at the time. Jack happily obliged, and the two parties, after twelve years, had finally returned to positive diplomacy. Talks of integration and vassalization soon commenced, which ended in these terms:
# Radian is dismantled, allowing Steinbirge and Laria to take up the space that it inhabited.
# The Diarchy of Orbitalia-Coolantis is dissolved.
# Jack Skivar becomes a noble of Leyden under the vassal state "Duchy of Orbitalia". He is allowed to keep his customs and religion as long as they do not intercede with Leyden's. Furthermore, the Duchy is allowed high autonomy in exchange for pledging its full allegiance to Leyden.
# Jack Skivar resettles into a different claim, which shall be the capital of the new Duchy of Orbitalia.
The terms took a while to be fully put into action, and during this time Jack was directed to a mountainous meadow with plentiful resources just northwest of Leyden to found the first city under Orbitalia, now known as Distaria.
=== Duchy of Orbitalia under Leyden ===
==== A Duke is Crowned ====
The history of the Duchy of Orbitalia started out genuinely slow. Jack often went on long periods of leave and seemed to lack any passion or ability to grow Distaria. He even proclaimed a period of maintenance for the claim which lasted only a few days. However, as Jack did so little in the background, tensions between the two nations of Leyden and Scaliga, which just so happened to be brought on almost directly by Jack's actions, were beginning to brew. Scaliga wanted territories once held by a vassal of theirs; indeed, the very lands Jack and another vassal of Leyden's had settled on. Jack was oblivious to this.
In the year of 39 VE, tensions between Leyden and Scaliga seemed to dwindle. This was good news for Jack, since he believed his state was no longer threatened. However, a delegate soon arrived from Leyden proclaiming the Duchy of Orbitalia independent under the decree of Wurmdir Lynden II. This obviously came as a surprise for Jack. He confirmed the letter, but only a few days later, another delegate from Scaliga arrived and demanded the full integration of Orbitalia into Scaliga. Naturally, Jack was confused, and demanded transparency. The delegate responded at length about the history of Scaliga's claims there, and Jack found himself at a logical disadvantage. So, he agreed to the integration, but on the terms that he continue his existence as a vassal state. The delegate left and informed the Scaligan government of Jack's decision.
Jack felt betrayed that the Kingdom of Leyden had simply dropped their protection of Orbitalia. He felt like his duchy was forsaken, and that the only reason Leyden did so was to avoid their own troubles with Scaliga. Luckily for him, however, an experienced diplomat was sent to his settlement and vassalization under Scaliga was what ended up happening to Jack's nation.
=== Duchy of Orbitalia under Scaliga ===
Orbitalia's entering into the Scaligan fold was a very brief portion of history that did not affect Jack's nation much. In only about sixteen days, Scaliga was to see its armies viciously destroyed on the battlefield by their own doing, and they would lose a giant portion of their land to the advancing Solianans and their faction. Jack rejoiced, as it meant the oppressive tyrants that so suddenly gripped his country had fallen before they could even do anything, but of course it also meant that he had to maintain independence for the future ahead.
=== The Kingdom is Proclaimed Once More ===
The Kingdom of Orbitalia was proclaimed once Jack declared his nation independent. He thought it fit, what with Lio leaving him and him believing the ancients were with him. Those who had not yet been humbled for their arrogance still attempted to persuade Jack into giving up his nation, but he did not move more than an inch. His resolve was stronger from the crises he endured; such crises that he had no entertainment when getting into. He yearned for days where he could be proud to be Orbitalian, to not have so little to lose when fighting for his passion. So Jack carried on, and attempted to make the Kingdom of Orbitalia a great one.
=== Dissolution and Disappearance ===
But Jack did not carry on forever. Apparently during a terrible conversation with his god, Cosmo, his idols were denounced, his living style was denounced, and his hope was completely and irreparably destroyed. He had been able to gain a few citizens from just him, but none were that loyal to him. Jack had been struggling with his sense of self-worth and ability to keep up Orbitalia since centuries ago. He was broken by this conversation with the god he put all his faith into, and one day entered one of the Distaria Cobservatory private worshipping rooms. The room was investigated after three days of him not returning, and it was found empty. The citizen investigating, whose name is lost to time, discovered a letter from him. This letter read, "Cosmo has left us. Orbitalia shall have no successors. My citizens, a million words could not speak of your kind indulgence in me. I must ask you to leave all of this behind; I don't think it will hurt you much, anyway. Regards, Jack Skivar".
Jack is still missing to this day.
Category:Traveler's Era