User:Vanguard

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- - You find a giant hulking turtle with a massive jade-holster strapped on it's boney shell... and make it run like a Kenyan.

Indestructible Determination that is incorruptible From the other side A terror to behold Annihilation will be unavoidable Every broken enemy will know That their opponent had to be invincible Take a last look around while you're alive I'm an indestructible  Master of war

Vanguard: The Term
Avaunt: Middle English, forward, from Old French avant, from Latin abante. American Heritage Dictionary.

Vanguard: NOUN: 1. The foremost position in an army or fleet advancing into battle. 2a. The foremost or leading position in a trend or movement. b. Those occupying a foremost position. ETYMOLOGY: Middle English vandgard, from avaunt garde, from Old French : avaunt, before (from Latin abante; see advance) + garde, guard (from garder, to guard; see guard). American Heritage Dictionary.

A vanguard is the forward element of an advancing military Tactical formation. Wikipedia.

Avant Garde: Avant-garde (pronounced /ɑvɑ̃ gɑʁd/) in French means "front guard", "advance guard", or "vanguard". The term is commonly used in French, English, and German to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics. Wikipedia.

That, however is not the Vanguard we will be talking about.

Who They Are
The Vanguard is an organization of a powerful, but unused legion of Anti Demon/Undead/Criminal fanatics bent on the destruction of said enemies. Most of the things they do is morally questionable, but they get the job done and make living a lot easier for the innocents. The Vanguard has one of the highest survival rates of any army in history, losing only about ten troops a year, rarely more. The Vanguard recruits anyone and everyone, even exiles of their enemies.

Research on the subject of the Vanguard reveal two things.

''The first, the widely known Ebon Vanguard who is bent on the destruction of the Charr. Researching them is easy.

The second Vanguard, with no prefix, simply known as the "Vanguard", is more difficult to find. Many reasons for this, since most questions of the Vanguard are directed towards the Ebon Vanguard in the Far Shiverpeaks. Anyone who seems to know that's not what they're looking for will quickly get frustrated with their interview and find someone else who's knowledge goes far beyond the common intelligence of Tyrian humans.

No. The Ebon Vanguard is not what you are currently researching. What you want is the fanatical anti-demon/undead/crime organization. They are not well known in Tyria, as their arrival was recent. And yet for some unknown reason there can still be files on them. Most are tattered notes with horrific drawings, representations of things that the Vanguard either fights... or even stranger, that they may even recruit. Whispers in the dark can reveal that the Vanguard recruits it's own enemies if they are devoted to correcting their ways. 'The Vanguard may sound like a legit organization at first glance, but further research may reveal their motives are unclear, their tactics... a bit morally flawed. Not only do they recruit demons into their service, but their raids never end well. The Vanguard do not underestimate their enemies, and they send entirely too much into battle which leads to their high victory and survival rate. The Vanguard are very dangerous, bloody, violent and dark in their ways. While Ebon Vanguard are simply a resistance to the charr insurgents, The Vanguard has resistances going against them.  The Vanguard resemble a heightened empire at it's peak. With billions of soldiers and counting every day due to powerful summoners and monster creators. Their Symbol is merged with the triangle of the Eu'Sou (Which is a research topic all their own) and Resembles an ornate "V".

And the rest, as they say, is history.''

What They Do
The Vanguard have One Primary Enemy and Two secondary enemies. And in this exact order or importance and threat, they go like this: Demons Undead (Vampires and Ghosts mostly) Criminals

In the past years, Demons as a threat have lessened but Vampires have become, as M puts it, "increasingly annoying". Because of this, the Vanguard have currently diverted their full attention on the undead. It didn't hurt that M came into the Vanguard stating his severe hatred for their kind. He calls them leeches of the living and thinks they should find a realm all to themselves, or die. Since they never retreat, M figures they voted for the "Kill Us Please" option. (He has an odd sense of humor).

Criminals weren't always on the list of enemies. M added it when he came into power. He figured they were the same as Vampires, but instead of being leeches for blood, criminals were the cause of degredation to the human condition and calls them "leeches of society", among other things.

How They Do It
The Vanguard have nearly unlimited resources and just about as many soldiers, armies, and allies. M himself came into the Vanguard with a pile of technology and allies. Included were his own created subrace, Eu'Sou, whom he mended with the Vanguard itself, making two armies into one.

M does not assault his enemies on one front. He has infused one of his abilities (The power to hop between different realms and planes of existance) into dark gates that are able to traverse into different realms.<BR> They work from a Main Hub, which is, what one could call the Vanguard Source, their own personal realm. It is where Vanguard soldiers and technology are made, trained, and sent out. It is a dark, central metropolic that includes a series of cities that each have a seperate function.<BR> The Main gate however, is used to transport between each of these realms. It's nothing more than an airport-like stream of paths that lead around to realms and even many different locations within those realms.



(( This is how I am able to roleplay the Vanguard and certain characters on different games. ))

Not only do they have human soldiers, but they also have longterm summoners who are able to bring about controlled demons and creatures, which nearly doubles the already massive amount of soldiers the Vanguard currently has.

Why They Do It
M has a different outlook on how his military should run. From the human volunteers to the summoned creatures, each have the permission to have their own personality. If they encounter something they do not like, they can quit. Or they can further serve the Vanguard.

Each member of the Vanguard are unique and are given free reign with their personality. The only condition is, in M's words, "Do not bring your drama on the battlefield." That is all he asks. M believes that personalities and emotions save lives more than end them. And the Vanguard's very low death-rate confirms that philosphy.

Every soldier has something different to offer to the Vanguard. Because of this, M has inspired loyalty within his armies instead of fear, regardless of his intimidation of appearance. They are even allowed to explore romance within the ranks. (As long as the one rule is respected, M does not care.)

Therefore, every Vanguard soldier has a different reason of being there. Some respect the survival rate more than other militaries. Some feel they were wronged in the past and want back at the demons or whatnot. Some had their family members killed by the types of enemies that the vanguard hunts.

It varies with everyone.

Mystics
Pertains to magical powers and other magics. This division runs the Vanguard's mages and summoners. Also persues knowledge on everything magic. This is debateably the lifeforce of the Vanguard, as they include themselves in every aspect to make them extremely powerful. Magic is employed in almost everything, even the technology.

Physics
Pertains to the of the Vanguard's soldiers including bio-engineering and enhancement. This regards to the powerful Eu'Sou gene that all soldiers are given after recruitment. It branches out a little, but that's the simple version. This Division very often overlaps and cooperates with Mystics.

Architecture
Pertains to base expansion and housing for personnel. A rather simple division. This often relates to Vanguard-run towns and cities being built on various realms.

Arms
Very simple division. Pertains to all Vanguard-Tech and weapons. Includes all technology, not just offensive. Sometimes overlaps and cooperates with Mystics.

Culture Preservation
The Vanguard encounters various enemies bent on the destruction of entire civilizations. This newly implimented division (and thus, the smallest and least prioritized) is dedicated to preserving entire cultures that may have been damaged or set back by the Vanguard's enemies.

Who's Telling Them To Do It
On top of the food chain of the Vanguard is Commander Matthias Swan, frequently referred to as "M".



Who He Is
He has many titles, on top of which being Ancient Dragon God of Madness. When acting as a lone agent as he often does, he is generally dubbed as an "Assassin Battlemage", due to his habit of infiltrating organizations, bases, and forts, and tearing it apart from the inside out with massive magical fury.

What He Is
Being a dragon, he still prefers to walk around in a semi-humanoid form because of "conveniency" (his words). He patrols different realms (sometimes involuntarily, but that's a seperate story) with his dark, battle-magi like robes, with his hood always up. A shadowy viel always covers his face and the only thing one can see are his glowing red eyes. In times of his sadistic humor and gazes of intimindation, sometimes sharp red teeth can be seen behind the viel as clear as his eyes, almost as if he has no face to begin with.

In the rare event he feels the need to revert to his true Dragon Form, he is not the traditional type of dragon many might know. He is actually Bipedal, he walks like a normal man does. Because of this, he is able to wield armor and weapons and similar men-shaped equipment. (Special crafting is needed to work around the obvious parts such as tail, wings, and nose). His wings are also set back closer to his spine, so he cannot be "ridden" like traditional dragons. His coloration is that of a dark red. His eyes and teeth look about the same as they did in his battlemage outfit. Red and glowing.

He is found in his battlemage "human" (And I say human loosely because under the robes is very much not human) form 90% of the time. They vary from time to time in decoration but most commonly it's simple, gothic, and outlined in red to match his natural attunement of fire. His appearance is of a normal build, almost frail. But this only misleads his enemies to underestimate his actual power.

In the extremely rare event he removes his robes, he appears to be a mid-twenty year old white male and well built. That's were the human distinction ends. His entire right arm is a shadowy mutation where most of his magic is propelled. His left hand is a similar black-claw, but doesn't go as far up the arm. While the theme on his hands and arms are a purple and black, his eyes and teeth remain a glowing red. Sometimes he is able to look fully human if the situation calls for it... But that is often saved for missions of infiltration, to simply blend in with a certain crowd and then move on.

What He Can Do
First and foremost he was given the ability to Mimic others. It's passive and powerful and not in the normal super-hero sense that he mimics the exact ability, or it's temporary. No. By simply hearing or seeing a persons actions or thoughts, he is able to learn other skills, languages, and styles. And being a dragon, he is able to quickly comprehend the things he learns so he does not become mentally unstable because of it. That's all I can say for now. After forty-five thousand years of life, one can only imagine the amount of abilities he has attained and refined.

With his long life he developed an odd fascination with mechanics and robotics. He delved into the art of mechanical animation, to the point where almost 100% of technology seen on the field being used by the Vanguard are of his own design.

How He Got Leader
Even with M's extensive age, he was not the original leader of the Vanguard. The Vanguard, even though younger than M himself, has had a series of past leaders. They were often long-lived and Vampires were purposesly put under Command for it, even though the Undead are one of the Vanguard's primary enemies.<BR> M is the most recent and possibly final leader of the Vanguard. He overruled yet another Vampiric leader, but by his own will, growing old and tired of being the Commander to the genocide of his own kind.<BR> It was a simple event and did not involve much drama (What a concept, lack of drama...) While M uses the Vanguard for it's true purpose, he often deviates to suit his own needs and destroy personal enemies.

Where He Came From
M was not born a god. He wasn't even born immortal. He earned abilities and power as he muddled throughout his forty-thousand years of life. He was actually created, not even born. He was an experiment, created in a large tube, a controlled Fortification on Xantoa. (Another explanation entirely). Their mission was to create the ultimate warrior.

Their mission statement gave an explanation on how two-sided all stories are. To general society, it is either Good. Or Evil. They theorized about a third side, a third party that should not exist in those stories. One who is evil by nature but fights for Good, no matter the cost. <BR> They Succeeded.<BR> M has slaughterd millions with little innocent casualty but even the innocents he claims to defend, forsake him and his methods.

Yes, this summbitch is overpowered. A bit of Trivia: This character originated back when I was like, six years old. He was built as my defense against Nightmares and evolved into what you just read about. He was not built to be roleplayed, he was built to give the basis and backstory of the Vanguard.