Name: Gerald Vhym
Gender: Male
Age: 37
Physical Description: A man nearing the end of his prime enough to know it-with shaggy, dark blonde hair and a well kempt beard. The finer features of his face are often lost in the shadows of his hair style, but he can be said to be rough in bearing, with dark green eyes, and a large nose. His bearing has grown steadily darker over the years-the hardships of his life, have slowed his temper and darkened his mood. He was once far happier and quicker to laugh, in his prime.
"I've got a few years under my belt, but I'm not under the ground yet, kid."Backstory: As a younger man, Gerald wasn't much of a hunter like his father-he was considered 'easy of wit' and laggard of hand, and in many ways that was true-but, he loved working outdoors, especially with animals. In those days, a Black Forester's (so called because they resided deep in the untamed wildlands of the Black Forest) job was a lot less dangerous-though, not entirely so, since no wild place is ever completely without risk. Worse thing you could run into was the occasional misguided kid who wanted to play bandit and could be scared off with a shout, or maybe a bear or wolf-and those also scared off easy enough, if you were smart enough not to get between them and food or young. Things made sense, and for many years they continued to. Gerald became a Beastmaster in time, tending to the Hounds and Packanimals of the village. Some regarded his choice as odd, but he was content with his peaceful, simple life. He grew into a fine, strong young man-and took a pretty young woman for his wife, and so the custom goes. But, here the cycle breaks down...the forests began to grow darker...more dangerous. People began to disappear. Even his beloved animals, ordinarily well taken care of and even tempered, began to act in ways he couldn't understand. It seemed the whole world was going mad...legends say the men (and women) of the Black Forest have skin of stone, though, and hearts of iron-that they breath gunpowder, and snort hellfire. Legends aside-Gerald, like many of his kindred, stood against the darkness as long as they could, until they were left with no choice, but to stage a bitter fighting retreat into the cities of men, the soft living they had long disparaged. Flames flared bright red against the corrupt growths that had eaten their fields, fouled their waters, and made a festering Hell of the places they had spent their childhoods, and where brief hopes had been to pass them on to their own children in time-they burned the lands as they left, knowing it was not a cleansing, but a momentary scouring of an evil with far deeper roots then their torches could ever reach.
Gerald was lucky enough that his wife, Madeline, had not been taken by the shadows. They've made their own way these last few years, adapting as people do. Gerald was stubborn, however. He wouldn't abandon his beasts (though he had to give many a merciful death on his departure, and this haunts him at night) and the he wouldn't abandon the land...even if it seemed to have turned against him. He stayed on the frontier, helping people as best he could. When children (or adults) became lost, he was always the first to volunteer and go find them-even if he wasn't the greatest at hunting, he used his beasts, and his knowledge of the old ways. He helped try to keep the fields clean of pestilence, tried to save as many as he could. Even a stubborn man recognizes a lost cause, however...he was close to losing hope when he saw the poster with his name on it. What caught his eye was the characteristic rootlike spiral of the letter "V" in his family name, as close to his family emblem as ever such he could have, and a sure sign to a man who can't read, that someone wanted his attention.
Skills:
Blunt Weapons-Gerald was never a very good shot with a bow by his own admission, preferring a good staff, club, or hammer in his hand, to a blade or spear. Such weapons tend to be useful in sheparding and training animals as well. A lifelong distaste for violence-within reason-has led him to be wary of shedding blood, so he had always preferred to use weapons that can merely instill a good beating instead.
Animal Training-He knows beasts, and how to raise them with love and discipline in equal measures. He knows how to instill caution in a fighting animal, obedience in a herd animal, and respect in a hunting animal. He has learned the necessary cruelty required to train a beast knowing that one day, they'll have to die for him. It never gets any easier. His current Hound-Machi-is a bit on the old and scruff side, but as his wife would say, look who's talking.
Storyteller-Considered something of a fine storyteller among his peers, he knows the old legends and tales long forgotten by city folks, passed down from father to son over many generations. He's always had trouble telling the difference between mushrooms, say, but he knows the old story of Madjack, who climbed the Mighty Mushroom stalk, and fought the Cloud Dragon for a barrel of muffins (Madjack wasn't the sanest of the ancient heroes)-and, that of the three muffins, only the green one with white spots was safe to eat. He could even show you the bones of the Dragon where they fell, though his Wife will warn you it might be an adventure getting back home afterwards. Almost as good as knowing a story is being able to tell it to a crowd, and Gerald can spin a tale as fine as any you've ever heard. It makes him easy to like, and easy to know, a friendly face you can rely on to reliably spin even your most dull daily happening, into an epic and long winded tale of struggle and hardship later at dinner. It's partially that, which endears him so well to others.
Toughness-The Black Forest has always had it's cruelties and hardships, even before the darkness came. Men and women were born tough, became tough-or they died, or moved on to easier living. People in those parts are tough to kill, it's said. They never stop-nothing stops them, if it's in the way of something they need. Wind, rain, cold, heat-even wounds which might cripple another man can barely phase them. Gerald is old enough to know he bleeds like any other man, and the cold bites him as it would any other...but, there's a bone-deep stubbornness there, an ironclad will to keep going, to not stop-that he won't ever entirely be expunged, no matter how dark it gets.
Attributes:
Strength-12
Constitution-14
Dexterity-8
Charisma-12
Intelligence-8
Wisdom-12
Derived Stats:
Health=14
Speed=8
Fortitude=12
Mental Stability=12
Resistance=8
Author
Topic: The Bearers of Flame-Sign-ups OOC (Read 2245 times)