Dragon Age - Characters thread (OOC discussion)

General Appearance/Physical Appearance:

Long messy brown hair, tied back in a high pony tail every morning, but loose at the neck by night fall. Amber eyes, dusky skin. Muscular for an elven woman, she is battle hardened, and 5’ tall. She wears the ancient elven set from Origins dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Ancient_Elven_armor_set

She bears the tattoo of Andruil,  elven Goddess of the Hunt. if not for her twin sister, she would have asked for Ghilan'nain's markings, the Mother of the Halla, due to her connection to animals and preference for a gentle life when she was young. She remembers that, on occasion, and smiles- bitterly. 

She keeps a small crossbow at her back, but prefers and does best with her long bow, which keeps in it’s own carrying bag unstrung. A dagger for truly close encounters is at her thigh.

Personality:
If she’s taking her long bow out and stringing it up, she means to kill with focused purpose.
Foolhardy to most- The mindset of a woman who does not fear death- in a mildly unhealthy way.
Inflexible in Opinion, Flexible in battle.
Mostly tight lipped, she has a harsh humor that stays firmly on the sarcastic side.

Skills/Abilities/Weapons/Powers:

Stealth
Lockpicking
Survival Skills
All the skills involved in archery are exceptional.
She can communicate with higher thinking animals, such as the halla, and, likely, Griffons.

History:
Her clan roamed Northern and Western Fereldan. She’s familiar with Amaranthine and the clans that lived there. But it was on the western portion of the Frostback mountains that her clan was destroyed. The Darkspawn assumed she was dead in her unconsciousness, but she was tainted from the encounter. Fevered and confused, she wondered northwest, where the Orlesian Wardens gathered to enter Fereldan. She was too ill to consent, really, but the Wardens were massing for a Blight and would not let a body go to waste, so they took a shot on seeing if she’d survive the joining. They tricked her into drinking the “elixir” by telling her it was medicine. She knew Duncan and Riodan briefly after her conscription into the Orlesian Grey Wardens, before Duncan went to go make final rounds in Fereldan. Riordan then went on a secret mission, and she never saw either of them again. When the Blight suddenly ended, she felt listless, useless and felt no loyalty to the Organization that had tricked her into a weird tainted life. During one of the scrambles to destroy the last remnants of the Archdemon’s army, under combined direction and orders of both the Fereldan and Orelsian Warden Commanders, she slipped away. She is presumed dead during a Darkspawn Skirmish as of 15 years ago, and she avoids encountering Grey Wardens as a rule to maintain that assumption.

More personally, she is a twin who has lost her echo and a devout Dalish who has lost her clan. Tainted, she can’t give birth to a new generation, and so sees herself as no longer like the rest of the Dalish. Something alien and unnatural runs through her blood. Also, she had only agreed to be a hunter in original clan in spite of her vegetarianism due to her sister- to always be with her. Intermittently, she will trade and interact with clans she’s long known, especially to give their Keepers any elven relics she may have chanced upon. They inevitably ask her to rejoin and become part of their clan. Respectfully, she declines, and soon moves on.

RP contacts from the Pirates Clash Thread:

1. smilesja who plays Adelide, an ex circle mage.
   
2. dragontartare who plays Enathaya, a city elf apostate
   
3. linksocarina who plays Janus Quintus Hassilderus, a blood mage
   
4. Reznore who plays Jean-Pierre De La Vallée, an ex Templar Human
   
5. mousestalker who plays Aranka Bemot, a dwarven warrior

NPC Contacts:

Mostly everyone she knew is dead.
- her own clan was wiped out by Darkspawn; including her own twin sister.
- she knew Velanna's clan- they're mostly all dead.
- She knew Duncan and Riodan briefly
- Various Clans in the Free Marches, Fereldan, and south eastern portions of Orlais

Physical and Mental State:
She is fit, healthy, albeit tainted the good ol' Grey Warden way, and 16 years in at that. She doesn’t fear death, and during the Blight, was outright suicidal. After a failed suicide attempt, she figured Fen’Harel must be torturing her. And sought out death through battle. She never got her battle death, for the Blight ended before it’d truly begun, and the active urge for death has waned. She’s simply waiting. One day, there will be something that can kill her. And she can finally rejoin her twin in the Beyond. She wonders if it will actually be the Calling, in the end, and a dark long walk into the Deep Roads that will bring it. Her memories of what the Archdemon felt like is probably the only fear she has, so….she had avoided this method of ending her life.

Romance Availability:
She's single, with limited sexual experience, but it'd be difficult.

In Character Goals:

Wandering to find the battle that will finally release her from her tainted life.
Find artifacts for the brethren she feels she no longer belongs to.

Out of Character Goals:
I want her to find a reason to feel alive again. I see her rejoining the Wardens she turned her back on, eventually, and be part of the efforts to bring Griffons back to full strength. Since she can speak to animals, this is something she could do that only she could do.

Name: Ehrhard Florian Baasch, Known in mercenary circles as 'Pursuer'

Age: Thought to be in his late 30s (Specifically 38)

Class: Warrior

Race: Human(Ander)

Affiliation: Kingdom of the Anderfels-Formerly
Several noteworthy and note so noteworthy Mercenary Bands across Thedas-Formerly
Himself/ His clients

Physical Appearance: Standing at a rough two meters Ehrhard cuts an imposing figure either in the tavern or across the battlefield. With a thick and bushy head of dark almost carbon like black hair that obviously has not seen much upkeep other then to keep it fit for a helm. Light blue eyes and a nose and mouth that has seen the obvious end of a shield several times over. While he is not a beautiful man, his profession does not care for that and thus he does not either. After decades of warring initially for his Kingdom and then for profit he has built himself a firm and strong figure. With forearms and shoulders as large as the average man's legs the physical power he boasts is quite easily discernible even through his armor. While in battle he most often wears either heavy chain or plate of no discernible craftsmen or note worthy maker. His armor like the man himself is rugged and boasts of the number of battles it has seen him through in the numerous scratches, scars and pits that dot it.

Yet for all the abuse the man and his gear has suffered both show no ill effects, obvious the effects of intense training and maintenance upon both. Save for the two blades that he bears for in use either with a shield or by themselves upon his person he only has a single dirk at his belt for close quarters defense. Upon his back rests a truly massive great blade that he has dubbed personally 'Shattered' in his native Ander. Extending nearly 180 centimeters Shattered is originally thought to be of Dwarven make given its Verdium casting and metal smithing is far beyond what most humans are thought to be capable of. At his side is a standard grey iron long sword, a leftover trinket from his days as a Anders soldier.

Personal Equipment: 'Shattered' his great sword, one grey iron long sword, one steel kite shield, a full set of red steel plate armor, one dagger

Personality: Ehrhard comes across as either callous or cold to most he is skilled in killing and is not ashamed of it. He is comfortable in war and has been for as long as he can remember. Even he does not know with absolute certainty if this indicates that he has simply experienced the worst humanity has offer and grew accustomed to it both witnessing and in some cases participating in some of the most horrific acts that one man can do to another over the long years that followed his initial conscription or simply fell into it because he has a natural affinity to it.

Yet despite that all or in spite it of he remains firmly devout in his belief in both the Maker and Chantry finding the premise of a warm and comforting Father awaiting them all after death to bring some soothing influence to him. Yet this perspective also colors his belief in things that fall outside the purview of the Chantry and its teachings. Namely in his dealings with the Qunari he does not trust them, nor does he extend to them the same respect he'd give to other non-human races such as Dwarves which he holds in somewhat high esteem due to the expert weapon crafting and armor smithing that the surfacer Dwarves have provided to him over the years. Elves however retain a cautionary place within his mind due to having served with several and having fought against several.

Having witnessed the prowess of Elven marksmen he is well aware of their abilities and gives them proper respect yet due to these experiences he is often wary around them. This extends especially to 'Wild Elves' or Dalish. While his dealings with the various Clans of the Dalish have been few and far between after an encounter with a Dalish Clan in southern Orlais resulted in half the mercenary company he was currently serving with death's he has held the heathens as a danger to be observed with caution. While he holds not overt hatred for them, his scorn and contempt for them often bleeds over into anger.

Overall Ehrhard is a perhaps best defined by his stubborn will and tenacity, he is willing to fight until his death in service for his clients and considers every contract to be a pledge between himself, the client and the Maker. This mercenary outlook is what defines him, his command of martial skill has earned him his living for countless years and he as he views it rightfully takes pride in his abilities. This sometimes translates into being easily offended if he views himself being mocked or construed as 'weaker'. He does not balk at killing and has on occasion even taken on work that bleeds more into the realm of the 'Crows of Antiva' then perhaps a common sell-sword.

Skill Set:

Veteran Endurance: Ehrhard is a long time campaigner and duelist and while his stamina is limited by his aging body and humanity it has been extended to its utmost. He does not tire easily nor quickly save perhaps during the most strenuous battles of attrition. This translates well into him wearing most types of heavy armor as he will not be overly encumbered by it and will retain most fluidity and ease of movement.

Expert Swordsmen: While given relatively little formal training during his stay within the Royal Army of his homeland he was given the basis upon which to expand his craft and during the decades that have followed he has built a utilitarian and precise form of combat all his own. While not quite as flashy as what rogues are capable of it is well suited to his profession and ensuring his own survival and ability to continue to fight. Also worth noting due to his immense strength he is capable of blows that would flatten or otherwise remove the limbs of most unarmored men with but a few swings of his great sword.

Survivalist: Having been raised in a land that would soon as see you dead as the Darkspawn and other corrupted beasts that roam its bounds he has built a formidable set of skills of surviving extended periods in wild and uncivilized areas. This has assisted immensely during his career as a mercenary as he is as capable of surviving a monster infested bog or haunted marsh as he is within any capital city of Thedas.

Shield Expert: While he is most fond of engaging foes with his two handed great blade upon occasion he will retrieve his shield from his back and use it along with his long sword. Like all other tools in his arsenal this is one he has studied intimately and fought with for years, which translates well into knowing the various stances and positions to employ the  shield in to protect himself from anything to a stray bolt, arrow or blade.

Personal History: Ehrhard was raised as is Ander tradition to be a warrior. Dangers abound in his homeland, safety is never certain and this results in the people of the land being hard, accustomed to war and the assorted miseries of the world. One season upon his seventeenth year he was conscripted into the local garrison to purge a nest of bandits that had been plaguing the road to the capital from the outlying farms and during his expedition he proved himself despite the rather rudimentary equipment and training he was issued. In the aftermath he served for a number of years as a levy soldier for the Kingdom of the Anderfels, until he had finally acquired enough coin to afford proper equipment and whatever training he could purchase off the traveling mercenaries and what scant few knights and men at arms that would bother to teach a peasant.

However his time with the army would end when upon returning from nearly two full years of campaign against the various threats that plagued their land he found the vary homestead he had left all those years before along with his mother, father, two sisters and younger brother all slain by a pack of Darkspawn that had escaped from a battle with the Wardens less then a league away. With nothing left to him in the wastes of his homeland he forsook it, he would be a citizen of the world, of wherever a blade and a arm to wield it was needed. As long as they could pay naturally.

By the time he was twenty he was already enlisting in the various roaming mercenary bands that passed through the land of the Anders to either wars that raged north or south, during those years he fought everywhere from Orlais in the Grand Game of the Imperial Nobles to the never ending war between the Qunari and Imperium. The world as he put it after a particular bloody battle on the northern shores of Seheron "Is never lacking work for blades." Due to his experiences as a mercenary he has built up something of a reputation of willing to accept even the most foolhardy and even suicidal missions if the pay has proven right.

In his time he has fought Soldiers, Peasants, Darkspawn, Chevaliers, Hedge Mages, Qunari and even once along with a group of Templars an Abomination. Ultimately despite all his successes and even limited wealth he has always pursued the next challenge, the next war, the next opponent. This pursuit of finding equals and interesting opponents upon the battlefield drives him perhaps as much as the lure of gold does.