Full name: Joachim Markus Metleburg
Titles: 'Blue'
Rank: Boar.
Age: 23.
Gender: Male.
Appearance:

Personality: Joachim is one of those people that just sits quietly, drinks his ale and has a nice conversation with his mates. The 'throw a chair at a guy and start a barfight' mentality is one that he does not posses, strangely enough for the Iron Company is home to many many of these people. His relative calmth is explained through his history as a squire, but that's not to say that he was always this calm. Rather, he has become more agressive, just not as much as the rest. He fits in rather well with the royalties due to his history amongst their ranks, yet his lack of blueblood is enough to keep the normal folks from pestering him too much.

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History: Joachim is what one might call a blue-blooded bastard, except he isn't blue of blood. His family used to be serfs on a royal lords estate, within Arlon, and served the lord many years. When Joachims' father heard the news of his wife being with child, he asked the lord that ruled over them to take the child in if it were a boy, and to teach him the ways of a nobleman. Normally these kind of requests were insane, but their lord was a kind lord who was without child -- his wife had birthed him only daughters and these had been married off long ago, save one of them. The lords wife was indeed with child again, and a seer had told her it'd be a girl. Normally these prophecies came true, though the reasonings behind the prophecies remain 'secret' and are largely based on luck. Many seers have lost their heads for giving untrue prophecies, in that regard. The lords' daughter was barely a month old when Joachim came to earth, blessed be He himself who touched the child upon birth saving him from the death that fell upon his mother.

The lord had promised to come back upon his promise to the father in 16 years, when both Joachims' father and the lord had grown old and feeble. Still, the lord had had no male children and sent a messenger for Joachim. After a dinner with the lord himself, he decided that Joachim was fit to be a part of their family. He married the girl, whom was very pretty and a fair wife to Joachim. The marriage was good, but dull. Yet one day the lord called upon Joachim to take to the sword, as one of the lords within the kingdom had seen fit to declare their castle as theirs, based on ancient treaties that were obviously not real. They marched against one another, warband against warband. Joachim fought as part of the lords personal guard, the best of the best, on horseback. Though he fought well, his steed fell in battle due to a stray spear being aimed his way, and he fell to the ground amidst the battle. Once he got up he was to defend himself against a multitude of opponents, the only allies in sight being a few militiamen who rushed to Joachim's aid because of his friendly attitude towards the commoners. Together they drove back the enemy, which consisted of mainly hired sellswords. They had won the day but not the war, and soon after a second company of mercenaries faced off against the warband.

They fought well but were ultimately bested by the enemies numbers, forced to retreat to the castle and hole out until further notice. But they laid siege for six months, and for six months they suffered of famine and disease. The enemy was about to launch an attack after receiving reinforcements and torching the outlying village, including Joachim's fathers homestead. Right before the attack was to begin the lord raised a white flag from his keep and the soldiers were ordered to stand down and surrender. Due to this, the lord managed to spare their lives. But not his own. He was beheaded in the courtyard of the castle, his daughter and Joachim's wife following after that and ultimately the lords wife had to suffer the same fate. And though his wife was dead, Joachim did not mourn for he never loved her and she never loved him, it was merely a deal between two parents. And he was thankful to the lord for making that deal, but ultimately 20 year old Joachim had to decide for himself what to do.

He wandered the lands of Arlon, offering his services as a hedge knight and attending jousting and swordfighting tournaments, and making a name for himself. Where ever he went he was met with considerable hospitality, as he did not only offer entertainment for noblemen and royalties, but also offered some information that he'd gathered from other places he had visited beforehand. Never asking a price for the information, the information was always info that one could get without his help as well. Simple things, like a certain road being plagued by bandits. A few years later, 23 year old Joachim had joined up with the Iron Company, no longer being a hedge knight but a sellsword. However these words are meaningless, and covet two sides of the same swords. Whilst he wasn't present during the famous battle in which the Bear died, he remembers the battle well as he was told of it the day after by a weary traveller, causing him to seek out these mercenaries and join their ranks in order to earn some fame and coin to his name.

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Skills: Joachim is a skilled swordsman, not one of the best but he can definetely hold his own. The combination of a shield and sword lie him exceptionally well and his position in the spearhead of the mercenary band benefits this even more so. He is at his best when he is supported by a spearman from behind, to poke at whatever hole Joachim opens in the enemies defense.

Besides his swordsmanship he can handle a mace or flail just as well, dependant on the circumstances or his mood. He is quite able to take prisoners without killing them or bashing a face in, so this is pretty useful for when they need to earn some coin by collecting slaves. Besides this he is an able rider, though he lacks a horse at this moment. He rides like a nobleman, straight up in his saddle rather than hunched over like some commoner would. Seated in a steed he looks exceptionally good, too, one might say.

Dreams and fears: Be known in the kingdom of Arlon as an honorable knight, gain a name and an estate for himself too. He wishes to gain political status within Arlon, and through that wishes to further the knighthood, to reinstate values such as being noble, virtuous and other such things. His fears are seeing Arlon fall to whatever kingdom surrounds them, his love for the country being quite great. He doesn't seem to care who is at the head of Arlon, but believes that Arlon is such a good country that they should be sovereign.
Favored equipment: He wears a rather large shoulder pauldron on his left shoulder, being made of steel. To ensure that he doesn't get pains from the steel plate pauldrons he has padded leather underneath with some straps running across it so he can tighten it or loosen it. Under that is chainmail for some more protection. His lower arm guards are steel plate as well, but they don't cover his hands. He wears a tabbard over his chainmail body piece, with the Iron Tree emblazoned on it. Many belts and buckles run over this tabard, some being home to straps for him to attach a knife or another weapon to. His chainmail body piece reaches to his middle, with padded leather extending to just above his knees. He wears burgundy linnen pants underneath his set of armor, with high leather boots extending up until the half of his shins. [Refer to his appearance for his look -- it's exactly that.]

As mentioned before, Joachim prefers a sword, flail or mace, being quite good with these three weapons but favoring none above the other. His choice is purely circumstancial and he isn't the best at these weapons by a long shot. Though he primarily goes for the sword, which is a larger type of bastard sword that he uses with one hand, a knightly shield in the other hand. This shield has an iron rim around it, holding it together. The front of the shield has both the Queens insignia and heraldics on it, as well as an iron tree below those heraldics.

Full name: Nobody truly knows. Perhaps even Baldric himself has forgotten, though if one would ask, the list would go on for as long as one is willing to listen.
Titles: Protector of the Blackwood, Baron of the Blackwood, Advisor to the King, Advisor to the Queen and many others entirely honorary in function
Rank: None
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Appearance:
Personality: Nobody can really be sure what part of Baldric's multifacetted personality is genuine. His attitude toward people is warm and welcoming, no matter their standing in society, but at the same time his attention is often far too easily diverted to be heartfelt. Baldric himself will be quick to explain this behaviour with being a slightly scatterbrained man. This may be true, though not when it comes to money. Baldric takes great pride in being one of the few nobles who take the finances of their estates into their own hands. That this is in part due to having no sufficiently educated subordinates is something he will gloss over as happily as he will over the fact that the output of his estate has fallen ever since it fell into his hands. The rumors of the great Blackwood Treasure is something he likes to listen to, though always cautious not to feed them unnessecarily. The mixture of jovial socializing and cold greed is something that defines him, though not to the core. At his core he shows great concern for the queen he watched grow up and fall from grace.
History: Baldric was born into minor nobility. The Blackwoods have held their namegiving part of the world for many generations, which they pride themselves on, though the claim of thus being one of the original noble houses of the kingdom is nowadays disregarded due to the interference of younger, more powerful nobles. This further pushed the small house toward ruin. Thus Baldric found himself in a dying household. His childhood years, spent in a dilapidated mansion, were cut short by his father who, after being pushed too far by the mockery at the royal court, decided to get his son the best of education so that he would raise the house to stand with greatest ones in history. The lands of the family shrunk rapidly to finance this education. At the age of 15, Baldric was finally presented to court, where he first saw the queen, though at this time no emotion was brought forth by this encounter, he would later say it changed his life. This first visit would become the first of many, the young Blackwood rapidly becoming popular with his developed fashion sense and etiquette. During this time, a feeling of mutual hatred was created between father and son. The father saw a boy who had betrayed his expectations and was dancing what remained of the family's fortune away, the son saw a man who was incapable of understanding how the world worked, least of all the world of politics. The rift grew with each passing day, though the confrontation never came as Baldric lost his parents at the age of 16.

An unfortunate accident many called it, but nobody truly meant it. The rockslide had freed them of an obsolete, arrogant couple which had been a blight on the court with their unwillingness to understand their position as the lowest of low nobility. Their son took over immediately, disappearing from court to find a way to rescue his slipping power. He found it with relative ease. Veins of ore had been found in the mountains but pride had prevented the preceding generations to let their beloved woods to be torn down to make use of this. Baldric had no such qualms. The blackwood now houses men and women with skin black from dirt and soot. The mines have both revived the barony and enabled the entirety of Arlon. The widespread use of armour among the kingdom's military was made possible by Balric. This allowed him to become a major member of the court with 20 years. During the following years he began to watch the royal children more closely, his favour falling upon the girl to become queen, though he treated the boy that would become usurper and king with the same respect. To this day he blames himself for not being able to foresee the brother's betrayal, paying closer attention to the other members of royalty, no matter how distant, attempting to judge their demeanour. He has swallowed his pride and continues to act the loyal vassal to the new king, even as he extends the resources that he previously withheld from the crown with clever bookkeeping to his queen. He has spent the majority of his life up to this point on gaining power, now, with one foot in both courts and his heart lying with Stags Rest, it is time to make use of that power.
Skills: Baldric may be the best bookkeeper in the entire kingdom, though this is in part due to his active prevention of anyone else gaining such ability.. His ability to move among the elite is welldeveloped, allowing him to make friends among the nobility easily. His fencing skills are as good as they have to be to survive any potential duels that may occur, though his tendency to train with the exotic weapons that nobility use as decoration can make for unpleasant surprises for anyone that has yet to encounter the weapon.
Dreams and fears: He dreams of a country united and free of things such as religion. Gaining more money and power on the side would not be bad either. Horses are something he does not fear, but rather distrust.
Favored equipment: His apparel changes with the fashions of court and so do his weapons, no matter how bizarre and lacking in practicality.
Extra: Baldric has somehow gotten his hands on a coin with the queen's image on it despite her brother's rise preventing these coins from ever going above one digit in number. He plays with it frequently, though naturally only in the presence of loyalists.