[center][b]Name[/b]
Leithe Abaelard

[b]Age[/b]
15

[b]Gender[/b]
Male

[b]Race[/b]
Ravenfellan Breton raised as a Wesirinfellan Breton

[b]Weapons[/b]
Dagger and a belt knife
Sling (his cloth belt doubles as a sling)
Hidden blades on his person (as in throwing knives in his sleeves and at his waist at the back and a knife at his back with its hilt near the back of his neck, one at his waist towards his back, and in his boots)

[b]Equipment[/b]
He wears a sturdy finely woven wool tunic with a leather jerkin over it, breeches loosely fitted to his legs, sturdy boots, and a woolen cloak.

[b]Inventory[/b]
His coin purse hangs around his neck beneath his tunic. Within the confines of the city, only guards, knights, and nobility were allowed to carry a sword. However, swords are expensive things, so Leithe leaves his safely at home. In general, he travels lightly, so he carries with him no more than a few coins (which should be enough to see him through the day), his dagger and belt knife (and those hidden blades of his), and a small wineskin which he filled with fresh clean water.

[b]Appearance[/b]
His long wavy brown hair is swept out of his face and tied back with a strip of patterned leather. He is tall and broad shouldered. His muscles have been built well for fighting and his hands have sword calluses. His skin is tanned from exposure to the outdoors and his mother’s vivid blue eyes gaze out from his angular face. He is not ugly, nor is he plain. He is not jaw-droppingly beautiful nor is he stunningly handsome. He is merely quietly handsome. He has no scars or freckles. To be honest, his defining trait is his more sturdy frame and his eyes.

[b]Background[/b]
Leithe’s grandfather Cinead’s closest friend was a Wesirinfellan Noble of the Argyle family, and so Leithe’s father, Adair a Ravenfellan Breton, was fostered with the Argyle. That was where he met his lady wife, Leithe’s mother. As such, when he brought her back to his family, he was willing to raise his children as Wesirinfellan Bretons. Every last one of his sons have been fostered out to Wesirinfellan families for a time to “broaden their perspectives.” As such, Leithe and all his siblings have handled, tamed, and trained horses. 

The Abaelard’s land has always been good for raising wandering livestock. They had an estate in the plains near Prais. Prais is a wealthy hub and crossroads of trade. The soil was rich and dark, and the fields were open and wide. The lands were carefully checked to make sure no plants dangerous to the animals raised on it were allowed to flourish. They were always careful to make sure their horses wander about their land so that they did not graze too long in one location. Leithe’s father had strong connections with the Argyle family and regularly traded horses with them to keep their herds from becoming too inbred. Their trade in horses had made the Abaelard quite wealthy. 

Leithe’s mother had the makings of a very fine trade in wool and cloth. She had skills as a seamstress, her woolspun thread was fine and even, and she had no little skills in weaving. She made an investment in a special breed of sheep that possessed a very fine soft fleece. The creatures were well known to be very delicate and prone to getting diseases, and so they were not in often raised. However, the softness and fineness of their wool made the wool worth a great deal of money. A shawl of fine lace made with the wool was fine enough to be drawn through a wedding band. Beside this herd, there was another, larger herd she kept of well-bred but more common sheep. As such, their wool was of good quality, but incomparable to the small herd of the other sheep. They were easier to care for, as they were sturdy little beasties.

Leithe was the sixth true-born son of his noble father. As far as he knew, he had no half-siblings, for his father had been faithful to his mother. His eldest brother was the heir, his second eldest brother was in the military, his third brother was a mage and a scholar, his fourth brother was a priest and a scholar, and his fifth oldest brother was a patron of the arts and had been proven to have talent in both music and visual arts (Bard). That left Leithe, the sixth son, with no particular position to fill, beside courtier. His younger sister, the only girl, is following after her mother’s footsteps in spinning and weaving wool.

Court politics were not exactly his favorite thing to spend his time on. Unlike the other courtiers, he was introduced to the court only recently (one season at court), and as such, was far behind his peers in knowledge and skill in the intricacies of court. His peers, after all, had been toddling about the court since they were old enough to make an appearance. His clothing, though of well-made, finely tailored cloth, was several fashions behind, and plain as well. As such, he was referred to as the country bumpkin.

To some he had protection in his family name, wealth, and his own skills. In his own ways, he was ahead of the others. His family taught him self-sufficiency, and to do what was right and honorable. If he wished to have a pet, he must train it and tame it as well. If he wished to have a horse, he must care for it first before tending to himself. After all, the horse bore most of the burden, so the least he could do is to care for it well in return for its service. 

In Weaponswork, his Weaponsmaster was well-skilled and a good teacher. Hard work was praised and rewarded, and so Leithe had fully dedicated himself to his classes. After he knocked his first few challengers flat on their backs in bouts with practice blades, most of the other courtiers never bothered to openly challenge him to swordwork again. 

His Weaponsmaster had dismissed gentleman’s sword-fighting as good for nothing but sport. Leithe had shared that sentiment. Moving back and forth in a straight line to attack did little good when fighting bandits, though it likely had some use in narrow passages. And as sure as hell, a bandit, assassin, or soldier wouldn’t wait for the polite salute to attack.

He had been trained to deal with bandits and rough weather. His Weaponsmaster had reasoned that he might as well be taught as if he would need these skills, because there might well come a time when he would have to fight to survive. He’d been chased around the salle at their home multiple times by his second oldest brother, his Weaponsmaster, and his armsmen. Due to this he had more stamina, skill, and experience than most other courtiers who had been in court since their childhood. 

In archery, his aim was decent. In areas of magic, even if he did not possess the skill, he knew of magic. He understood some of the theories behind magic. In areas of scholarship, he had three brothers to rely on to fill his head with knowledge, so in that too, he was ahead. After all, everyone knew that scholars loved to talk about their studies and discoveries, and bards loved to hear themselves talk.

Unfortunately, none of this really prepared him for court life. Books and tales, unfortunately, were no substitute for real experience. His knowledge and his skills were no match for the cunning and wiles of his peers. It did not help that he was foreign to these sorts of machinations, and at times walked straight into them unaware of the danger. As such, he is not popular at court, and has no great friends. Had he wished to use his family name and wealth, perhaps things were different, but he entered court with the foolish notion of slipping in as a member of a lesser family.

In court he is known as Kester Ross. At times he gets nicknamed Kestrel and there are falcon jokes made about him at times. He chose the last name of a lesser family that does not have any connections with Abaelard. However, he’s certain the deception won’t be revealed because of his own relationship with the heir of that family, a Glenn Ross. They met by chance in Prais when Glenn was tavern hopping and brawling in the streets for fun. Since then, it’s been Leithe’s job to haul Glenn out of the trouble he caused. 

Leithe and Glenn have gone to visit each other from time to time in Glenn’s estate and in Prais. As the Ross family isn’t particularly wealthy or famous, it was easy enough to pretend to be a distant poorer cousin to Glenn. Also the persona of Kester Ross was originally created by Glenn when inviting Leithe into his estate. Originally, it was just for fun, and to prevent his flustered family from trying to throw a feast and cozy up to Leithe. It took some convincing in secret to get the rest of Glenn’s family to accept Leithe as if he was part of the family.

Leithe isn’t exactly sure how Glenn managed it. He didn’t believe it was possible, but somehow that’s what happened. Glen has not yet explained how he convinced his family to pretend Leithe was a cousin so quickly. Even the servants don’t know that Leithe wasn’t truly a cousin, and servants always seem to know every little bit of gossip. Leithe has a few strong suspicions though. He’d given Glenn a few skeins of fine thread made from the soft wool of the delicate sheep. Last he’d seen of them, the girls were happily making shawls of the dyed thread.

The happenings and rumors around court disturbed him. As tax after tax was passed, he found himself filled with a growing indignation and anger. Did that fool of a “king” truly think such burdensome taxes would cause no problems? Alone in the court as he was, he simply had no choice to sit there and stew in his anger. Even he was not foolish enough to voice his discontent.

[b]Personality[/b]
Leithe is untried. He has never felt any great emotions. Not great anger, not great sorrow, not great love. He has never truly tasted betrayal or loss as he finds the petty squabbles of court ridiculous and had been warned enough that he had not truly trusted in those who approached him. As such, their “betrayal” had been partially expected.

As a person, he is naïve and idealistic. His head is full of bard’s tales and foolish ideas of adventure and glory. He is kind-hearted, convinced of his immortality (as all young things are), and impetuous. He has no great skill at court politics, nor has he been armored against the claws of the more… subtle, nobles he keeps company with.

[b]Job[/b]
Courtier

[b]Skills[/b]
Archery
Dagger
Herbalism
Knife Throwing
Stealth
Sword and Shield
Weapon Proficiency

[b]Traits[/b]
N/A

[b]Magic[/b]
He has no great skill with magic. His magic skills, at best, are small. His knowledge is much deeper than a common layman. At best, if he dedicated himself to magic, he likely would never get further than journeyman mage.

[b]Talent[/b]
N/A

[b]Strengths[/b]
Knowledge, Weapon skills, Willingness to work hard and learn, Relatively well-rounded, and young enough to continue to grow.

[b]Weaknesses[/b]
Naivety, Belief in his immortality, impetuousness, recklessness, No knack at court politics, not the best at diplomacy by a longshot.

[b]Theme[/b]
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gMj2XbsEb4]Within Temptation (ft. Tarja Turunen) - Paradise (What About Us?)[/url][/center]