Julian Ryker

**Julian Ryker** is a human army general from Ardonia formerly under the authority of Crown Peak, the center of the continent and midpoint between the six kingdoms. However, following the collapse of the kingdoms during the Voltaris Skybase Crisis, he has become the highest military authority in all of Ardonia as no government exists above him anymore. Currently, he is allied with Thalleous Sendaris and the Ardoni clans as part of an effort to solve the crisis.

## Appearance

General Ryker has light grey hair and grey eyes.

## Personality

Ryker is extremely tough and puts on a harsh exterior as an army commander. He takes his job seriously, and is usually a competent general, but he can still make poor decisions at times. He's also not easily trusting of others and doesn't at all consider Thalleous his friend despite their cooperation.

## History

Presumably, Ryker was born and raised in Crown Peak before enlisting in the army and training for years until he rose to the rank of general. Beyond that, nothing is known about his life prior to the Skybase Crisis.

When the Skybase Crisis began and Ryker heard of the fall of Northwind, he immediately realized whoever was behind the attack had access to powers far beyond the comprehension of average Ardonians, as evidenced by their floating base and their ability to turn people into "monsters" (read: Among Us impostors) with certain music and frequencies (read: the Among Drip song bass boosted). Ryker also decided that in order for the people of Ardonia to combat this threat, they would need to figure out more about it.

Ryker recruited three elytra glider troops to fly up to the skybase and investigate what was going on, along with a messenger bird to relay information back to Crown Peak in case they died. These troops managed to approach the base and discovered the Voltaris (specifically the Tygrites) were behind this, only to be killed unceremoniously by Tetrahedron Voltaris. Despite their deaths, the messenger bird was able to escape and relay the information back to Ryker.

Now knowing the Voltaris were behind the skybase, Ryker knew he had to contact the Ardoni clans, but he had other things to do first and foremost. By now, the kingdoms were collapsing at the seams thanks to the countless conflicts Tetrahedron was orchestrating, so Ryker organized his soldiers and some others from the kingdoms into a military order focused on reestablishing order and stability, of which he led. Then, Ryker focused on evacuating civilians off the continent via boats, but this went wrong when the Tygrites showed up and fired missiles from the skybase, sinking one of the boats as Ryker watched on in horror and scaring the people into remaining on the continent.

Shortly afterward, Tetrahedron and Tygren spoke to the Ardonian civilians using loudseakers on the skybase, pretending to be Gods and instructing them to attack Ryker or risk invoking their wrath. Ryker wrongfully assumed the people wouldn't be gullible enough to fall for this, but he was wrong - hundreds of civilians came rushing at him. Ryker's soldiers just barely managed to escort him out of the area safely, suffering many casualties in the process.

Infuriated at both the situation and himself, Ryker finally tried to contact the Ardoni. He met with Thalleous, who revealed to him the LoT's advanced technology and offered an alliance so the two of them could defeat the Tygrites. Ryker accepted, causing his military order to associate with the LoT.

Ryker and his forces were forced to retreat to the underground cavern system along with Thalleous and the LoT after Tetrahedron blew up their bases on the surface and directed his cult of worshipers to invade the Ardoni territories. So far, Ryker has not done anything more.

## Trivia

* Ryker is unrelated to the character of William Riker from Star Trek: The Next Generation