Name: Irenaeus (No known surname, sometimes "of The Five Roads" is included)

Age: 135 years

Race: Iath

Gender: Male

Affiliation:Five Roads Adventuring Company (Founding Member, Disbanded), County of Twin Streams (Retainer, Former), Grand University of Vaald (Lecturer, Former), Five Roads Inn (Proprietor, Former)

Appearance:
Irenaeus' most immediately noticeable features are of course that of his race: His golden eyes, feline ears, and tail. These, however, are not usually readily apparently. His dead, blind eyes are usually hidden behind a pair of smoked glasses, and his traveling garb tends to keep his tail hidden and ears out of sight (When the hood is raised, at least). He insists this is more by coincidence than design, but he's had more than one "discussion" with baffled members of his proud race over it. Truthfully, he considers his fame a nuisance and if he can hide both his race and his disability then he wouldn't complain.

Aside from this, a lifetime of traveling and fighting has given him an impressive physique even amongst his own kind. A hundred years of walking and swordsmanship have given him a relatively thin frame, but every inch of it is well used muscle. He stands at least head and shoulder taller than most Humans, already one of the taller races on the continent. As such, even once someone knows he is blind they tend to leave him alone, say nothing of the swords kept at his side.

Personality: Gregarious would be Irenaeus summed up in a word. Part of his love for traveling is his love of meeting new people, and a melting pot of races like Delad means that there is always someone interesting to meet in the next village. Still, his love of people doesn't always translate to how he treats them. Aloofness, sarcasm, and bitter criticism are equally mixed with generosity, laughter, and praise. He'll buy you a drink, compliment your singing and tell you that he's never met a more horrible dancer all in one breath. He can be, as such, hard to get a read on at times. Still, he likes to talk, and behind that criticism is a desire to give advice. He sees his long life as a chance to spread wisdom, especially so that others don't have to go through what he has to obtain it.

Moreover he tries to steer the conversation away from himself whenever possible. He won't deny who he is to someone that has guessed his identity, but also doesn't hesitate to give a false name or lie about his past to avoid an uncomfortable conversation. Even a hundred years later people who know about him seem to be fascinated only with the two most painful decades of his life, and he has grown tired of it.

Class: Iath Wanderer: Certainly a diverse class, as the name would indicate. What these few individuals possess is not a particular set of skills or talent, but a wealth of experience that their longer lifespan grants them, combined with their largely Human-like lust for life. Naturally when age is one of the main factors going for you, it means that this class grows more powerful, or more diverse, as the characters grows older. It also tends to mean a growing list of both contacts and knowledge across the continent.

Equipment: Irenaeus changes his fashion on a whim, sometimes to ludicrous extremes due to his lack of sight, but this only applies when he plans to stay in one place for an extended period. Usually he is garbed in a simple traveler's cloak over a suit of cuir bouilli armor, with a pair of smoked glasses in front of his dead eyes. With his hood up and tail still, he can easily be mistaken as a Human this way, although a blind man carrying a sword is just as conspicuous as a wandering Iath. As such, hiding his race is more of a coincidence than an intent.

Always on his person is a long blade resembling a Kriegsmesser, although with the hilt and pommel of a longsword. On one side of the hilt the name "Arielle" is carved, clearly of Ewori origin. On the other side the similarly Ewori "Liora" is etched. Attached to the pommel is a short chain with a silver band (Inscribed with "I'm still with you" in Ewori) at the end of it, that when slipped onto Irenaeus' finger imparts the swordsmanship and abilities of the sword's previous owner to him. Whether this applies to all owners of the blade, or merely the last one is not a theory that he has ever tested.

Usually a second sword rests below the first, and is an unremarkable longsword aside from being old and well worn. It has no special properties, but is clearly Irenaeus' blade of choice in an every day fight. The only other thing of note on his person is a purse of silver, and if that has any magical properties they're unknown to him.

Abilities:

Blindfighting (Personal): Not so much a strength as making up for a weakness, Irenaeus is able to use his Iath-enhanced hearing to make up for the loss of his eyes in a fight. This would give him an edge fighting in low-light conditions, but otherwise can't be considered an improvement over a fighter that can see.

Two Styles, One Master (Class, Equipment): When wielding his magical blade, Iath effectively becomes a master of two entirely different styles of swordsmanship, able to switch between and combine them with ease. In a contest of pure skill, this alone is usually enough to overcome most opponents. It's previous owner was a renowned adventurer and swordmaster, after all, and Irenaeus has had a hundred years of traveling to perfect his own style.

Iath Physique (Race): Not so much an ability as just naturally a benefit of his race, Irenaeus' physique is naturally a cut above many opponents he faces. Of particular note though is a lifetime of dependency has increased his hearing even beyond his race's usual advantage.

Clumsy Cripple (Personal): Of course, in spite of this he is still blind, and confident enough in his own abilities that he rarely uses a walking stick when not on the road. As such, tripping, hitting his head, stepping on nails, and all sorts of wonderful accidents are an unfortunately frequent occurrence. He may be able to react to the sound of a sword cutting through air, but his hearing isn't refined to the point where he can avoid slamming into a silent wooden beam in the midst of a battle.

Knowledge of... (Class): A century of traveling has made Irenaeus knowledgeable of a vast number of cultures, races, and local histories across the whole of Delad. While not seemingly applicable to combat at first, he prides himself of being able to place an accent within ten miles of its origin, and knowing where your opponent is from can say a lot about how they might fight. Know your enemy.

Hellish Luck (Personal): Considered staunchly a negative by Irenaeus himself, it's almost undeniable that there is some sort of supernatural force pulling him towards trouble. Many of his "deeds" throughout the years have been accidental encounters he never meant to get into. Indeed, every time he's tried to settle down over the years there has been some occurrence preventing him from doing so. Whether the ability is pure superstition or some sort of inherent curse, he himself would rather be rid of it.

Biography: Irenaeus was born during what could be called an "extended vacation" for his parents visiting Delad. As an infant, fever burned away his eyesight and from a young age sealed off many career paths for his future. One of these, of course, was soldiering. Still, his parents had no shortage of money from their lifetime of trading along the shores of Kyir and when he expressed an interest in learning swordsmanship in spite of his handicap they hired him a tutor from Vaald. While they admired his determination to defy his condition, they also had no expectations whatsoever that it would be anything more than a hobby.

Unfortunately, it became a passion for him. His tutor, a Human, paid no mind to his condition. He learned through merciless beating after merciless beating. Would an opponent ever go easy on him because he was blind? Either he would find a way to fight back, or he should never pick up a sword to begin with. It was a simple, effective philosophy. Unfortunately for the parents that wished him to become a merchant, he found a way to fight back. By the time they decided to return to Kyir they had spent twenty years in Delad, and Irenaeus, now an adult, made the decision to stay behind and return to Vaald with his teacher. To this day he has never stepped foot in his homeland.

Still, being a student didn't exactly earn him a living. The solution appeared, like in so many stories, in a run down tavern. He was occupying himself with a drink, alone, when his ears caught a conversation across the room. A group had picked up a bounty hunting contract and were discussing hiring another blade before leaving the city. Naturally when he offered his services they viewed him with incredulity, but after a quick sparring session with one called Arielle he was welcomed with open arms. They made an amusing group: A blind Iath, a Dwarven Archer, an Ewori Swordmaster, an Orc Doctor, and an Elven Rogue. Five races from five different roads that had all met in Vaald. Upon completion of their first job together, the name they decided on for their group was both poetic and obvious.

For two decades the group traveled together, growing in fame and renown. They took on jobs from the bizarre (Escorting a lifetime's worth of smoked glasses from the kingdom in the northwest to an eccentric merchant in Vaald) to the stereotypical (Rescuing the Count of Twin Stream's daughter from a rival's lands) to the lethal. That last one was due to nothing but overconfidence on the group's part. Thinking that enlisting their party would be cheaper than hiring a guild, a local lord asked them to take care of a growing bandit problem in his demesne. Food had been scarce for years in the region, and taxes had always been harsh on the people there. Many had turned to banditry in that time, and were following a charismatic young man who promised to kill the lord and take back the money that had been taxed.

The five of them were some of the most skilled adventurers in the land. Still, what they faced could almost be called a small army. They succeeded in sneaking into the bandits' camp, and even slitting the charismatic young man's throat, when their aging Doctor tripped on the way out. His crash to the ground raised the alarm across the entire camp. Their aging Orc friend was the first to die, having long lost the edge of his youth. The Elven Rogue was cut down as she tried to sneak around the chaos and create a diversion on the other side of the camp so that her companions could find an opening to escape. The Dwarf was filled with arrows as he used his bow to cover the retreat of the heavily wounded Ewori and Iath. The former succumbed to her wounds, while the latter carried news of their Pyrrhic victory back to their employer.

Thoughts of retiring had lingered in his mind long before that day. Thoughts of settling down with Arielle, raising a daughter or two in the second half of her life. He had always expected to outlive the Ewori, and even their children. However, she had left him decades sooner than they planned, and instead of a daughter to raise after her death all he had was her sword. His wanderlust left him, and he returned to the noble whose daughter he had saved so many years ago and pledged his service to the man. So for awhile, one of the most famous adventurers in the land became a bodyguard for a woman he once saved. The bards had a field day with that one, although those songs were rarely sung now, a hundred years later. He never saw the humor in it, personally. Indeed, in his grief he commissioned "Four Dead Ends and the Crooked Path" which retained much more popularity. It seemed that people loved a tragedy more than a romance.

Still, his grief faded with time. Nearly five years after assuming his new duties the woman he was charged to protect passed from illness. While he was free to stay in the Count's employ, he chose instead to travel. What he had seen of the world thus far had always been because of his work. Between his struggles to survive and the company of his companions, he had never gotten to appreciate the people and places he encountered on the road. A part of him was looking for a new direction in his life, and another part of him was hoping to fill the void the loss of his friends left within him.

The former, at least, he was able to accomplish.

For nearly eighty years he wandered Delad, hardly resting in most places for more than a week before moving on to the next. In this time he got by on the money he had saved for his retirement from adventuring, favors from people he had assisted over the years, and good old fashioned "Will work for food". Traveling alone could never be called safe, but it was what he considered a peaceful existence. More than that it was, figuratively, an eye opening experience. Tasting a bottle of wine that could only be found in a remote village to the southwest, where a community of half-elves had gathered together and rarely received visitors. Tasting the flesh of a fish from the south that only lived for one day, to breed, lay eggs, then die. More than anything though, he enjoyed simply sitting with a bottle of wine, and listening to the locals tell stories. From local folklore, to trade, to politics. Every region had its own problems and aspirations.

In time, word of his travels spread. Eventually people managed to put two and two together, and realize that the blind Iath adventurer was also the blind Iath wanderer. Traveling to places that did not know of him became more and more rare, and in his frustration he began making more trips to Vaald. Ironically it was easier to find people who didn't know him in the most populated city on the continent. Still though, he was not able to blend in completely. One day he was recognized by a particularly eccentric Iath, in fact the very same one his friends had delivered smoked glasses to nearly a hundred years previous. They drank together, discussing their lives during the intervening years, when the merchant suddenly hit him with another job proposal: In the time since they parted last education had become the man's passion. Supposedly not long after The Five Roads delivered his shipment, he began helping to fund on of the most prestigious schools on the continent: The Grand University of Vaald. The Iath could use his influence to make Irenaeus a lecturer there, and put the knowledge he had gained as a wanderer to good use.

With much hesitation he accepted. The merchant even handed him a pair of those smoked glasses, telling him it'd be easier to hide himself with a pair of them on. Apparently the supply really had lasted a lifetime, at least a Human lifetime. Again, he attempted to settle down. His students were mostly the sons and daughters of merchants, much like himself. Knowing the land was vital to developing a business, especially for those that would be traveling rather than setting up a shop immediately. So he was paid to help others make money, for a time. However, as if by fate, five years was again all the peace he managed to enjoy. Rivalries between schools in the city were intense, it was as much a lucrative business as a gateway to knowledge. Since it's Inception, the Grand University of Vaald had been competing with the even older Vaald University of Science and The Arts. Petty vandalism was common, as were break-ins to steal information and falsify records. The peak of this rivalry came on the day of Irenaeus' 5th anniversary of lecturing for the institution. In broad daylight a gang of hired thugs ransacked the university, and set fire to it. Irenaeus, with only the leg of a chair as his weapon, drove the thugs from the building and helped save what students he could. The building itself though, was lost.

Before the city that was slowly forgetting about him could have time to remember who he was, he left Vaald once more. Still though, he was determined to fight the fate that seemed intent on keeping him on the road. He traveled to that demesne that held so many painful memories for him and purchased some land. Upon it he built a simple establishment: The Five Roads Inn. For the first time in his life he decided to put his past to good use, and at least make as much profit from it as possible. It became more of a tourist spot than a resting place for travelers, attracting people who had heard of the tragedy that befell the group in those woods, and wondered with grim curiosity if the survivor really had returned to run a business.

Perhaps if Irenaeus could have run that Inn for more than five years, he would have considered his earlier experiences nothing but chance. However, five years to the day of it's opening his property was seized by the local lord, grandson of the man that had sent his group to their deaths. Apparently, taxes had been raised the year after he had established the place, and no word of such had ever reached him. They required his lands to pay off the debt, and his savings to look the other way at the crime and not imprison him. While he did have years to spare in his life, ultimately he chose to give up the money.

Since then he has spent the last decade of his life in Vaald exclusively, trying to both keep a low profile and use his talents to pick up work. He spends most of his nights drinking away his coin purse as he wonders where his life will lead next. Thoughts of wandering again have begun to plague him, thoughts of adventure and excitement. Perhaps more than anything though, there's been an itch in his sword hand that hasn't been satisfied in a long time.