ASKER UZNOGLU
Strength and honor! No, there are no Roman centurions in Arcadia Tenebra, but there are some true soldiers.
Meet Asker Uznoglu, probably the most steadfast figure among all Arcadian Playable Characters. This Captain of the Turkish guard is the embodiment of integrity and unswerving loyalty. A day does not pass without him feeling deeply honored at having the privilege of serving Pasha and Sultan Khan. Much before he graduated from Enderun Mektebi, the military college of elite Janissary units, this strong and bright boy was already earmarked for an illustrious military future.
Never missing a salah (prayer) and never parting from his saber, Asker rejected every romantic offer that came his way and therefore never suffered the everyday troubles or missed the everyday happiness of common folk. For Asker, life has always been simply duty and honor. His impeccable record of military victories became cemented by the loyalty he enjoys from his subordinates. No wonder, because Captain Uznoglu is always the first to rush into the chaos of battle, with a terrifying war cry that freezes the blood of enemies and emboldens his troops. Unyielding and hard, emanating leadership and authority, Asker never defies order and expects nothing less from those under his command.
Fate seemingly had a clear road for Asker until, one fine day, he was assigned an undercover mission in Arcadia Tenebra. The mission goal: to assume a covert identity and take part in a murder investigation that threatens to quickly destabilize the already fragile truce in this unstable region of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire bordering the Ottoman Empire.
In preparation, Asker grows a beard and dresses his tall and muscular frame in Westerners’ clothes, well aware it will not be easy to hide the air of danger and fear he emanates. However, as days in Arcadia roll out, another, more insidious realization starts to creep on the virtuous Captain Uznoglu. Once a flawless paragon of a warrior, Asker now feels how this mission is transforming his soul, and not for the better. Nights spent out in the wilderness of Arcadia Tenebra that is swarming with wild beasts and terrible creatures from the other side of reason, days spent mingling with natives in pubs, consuming too much alcohol and other impure substances, all take a toll on the Captain. A poisonous doubt taints Asker’s soul, coloring his dreams and his days. Repenting, he begins spending more time praying in the secrecy of his modest room. Yet, his fits of rage – once justified and rare and appearing only on the battlefield – now become ever more frequent, shattering his self-reliance. This undercover affair rapidly corrodes Asker’s very soul. He now realizes that some part of him, a part close to the core, never wants to return to the life before the sneaky, shadowy, twisted mission in this godforsaken land.
Every night, lying in his bed, his beloved saber his only companion, Asker tosses and turns, desperately repeating his motto: “A hundred years cannot repair a moment’s loss of honor.” Until his tormented eyelids close and his dreams are overtaken by the wilderness of Arcadia, so dark, so seductive, that he never wants to wake up.
