[quote=@InfamousGuy101] Name: James E. Carter Gender: Male Age: 36 Nationality: Commonwealth of Ardell Appearance: [hider=My Hider] [img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/674323883872223245/1304327828057358336/file-D7SLs1IaAp6HL1XITyeSFzUG.webp?ex=6732f1f3&is=6731a073&hm=244a8e522751a96215e48c25ea0e1ba7992db3fd09568e40d7a3fbd53e8a8dbf&[/img] [/hider] Personal Effects: - Silver pocket watch - Personal journal booklet - Clothing he has on - Model II shotgun (basically an M1898 shotgun) - Harlan Arms Model 45. Pistol (ye old 1911) - Pack of Loro Cigarettes he's never opened Background: What is your job: Merchant Airship Captain/Pilot Backstory: James hails from the Commonwealth of Ardell, a nation across the Evig of sprawling plains, winding rivers, large forests and industrious cities. Raised on his family’s sprawling farm in the dust-laden plains of the West Fork he grew up knowing only hard work, clear skies, and endless fields. His life changed forever the day he saw the glide of airships over his small town of West Fork, the airships were ornate back then but the sight of them were a promise of a future far from the soil. From that moment, he knew his fate lay not in the dirt but in the boundless sky. Once he came of age Carter eagerly joined the Ardellian Defense Corps during one of its many wars with the Iktani Confederacy. The war saw the widespread use of airships by the Commonwealth mainly for reconnaissance, all the while rhe rest of the war was brutal battles across the fields and forests of the Confederacy as the Commonwealth attempted its efforts to expand across the continent to coast. Serving as a scout and later a reconnaissance airship pilot, Carter flew missions over charred battlefields and shattered towns. Losing countless of friends to trench combat and skirmishes forced Carter to face the reality that war was not a noble or glorious ordeal but a gritty and ugly tragedy, survival was not a matter of powerful but luck and sheer will. The war came to an end after the bombardment of Tihacoma, the capital city of Confederacy. Carter war part of the crew that manned the Screaming Eagle, the Commonwealths first large airship meant for bombardments. The mission was relatively successful as it forced the Confederacy to the bargaining table. Carter felt a sense of grief at the thought of having taken part in such a task as he felt that with every bomb dropped more innocent lives were lost in a pointless war. Once the Screaming Eagle began making way back home across the Gulf it was caught in bad weather it had not been designed to fly through, the ship caught fire and fell into the Gulf, Carter and only a few lucky ones survived the burning wreck as it sank into the seas. They were eventually picked up by a Nordisle Patrol boat and brought back to Ardell just in time for the celebrations of the Treaty of Hulanak, which saw the end of the war snf the Confederacy conceding mineral rights snd various other humiliating demands by the Commonwealth, unbeknownst to them that the Commonwealth's trump card was no more. Carter and the other survivors were hailed as heroes but he felt anything but that and upon requesting discharge he went off to join The Evig Traders' Guild, a rapidly emerging Ardellian flight company known for shipping all sorts of commodities across the continents, his skills were highly sought, the pay good and it allowed him to stay far away from Ardell as he could. Carter spent years with the Traders' Guild, shipping goods across the continents. His journeys took him from the rugged (rumored to be haunted) mountains of Bayn Alain to the icy reaches of the northern seas of Brendahl, where the airships had to navigate treacherous winds and frigid salt spray. He has traversed jungles, deserts, and even the mysterious islands of the Southern Archipelagos where he witnessed skybeasts and all kind of otherwise fantastical creatures most couldn't even fathom. Yet, despite the thrill and freedom that the open skies brought him, he found little peace. The memories of the war, the fallen friends, the burning wreck of the Screaming Eagle, and the lives lost from his own actions followed him wherever he went, a weight on his conscience that no distance could lift. Through it all, he led his small crew with a steady hand, navigating his ship through occasional ambushes, violent storms, and encounters with beasts that haunted the southern seas. Despite the money and respect he had earned the sense of unease gnawed at him, a reminder of the past he couldn’t fully leave behind. Carter and his ship now find themselves in Inbur, a city under siege. Originally, he’d come here on a rare but necessary assignment for The Evig Traders' Guild: transporting high-value artifacts and essential supplies from the embattled Inburian forces as they braced against the Calarian advance, the only reason why he accepted this task was the company offering to pay him double the bonus, triple if he brought everything unscathed. Inbur’s Imperial Palace held a trove of relics and important documents, treasures deemed too valuable to risk falling into enemy hands. The mission was simple enough; arrive, load the goods, and leave before the Calarian forces could fully encircle the city. But the situation has spiraled faster than anticipated. Enemy forces have pushed through the defenses faster than anyone had expected, cutting off traditional supply routes. The Inburian command is in disarray and scrambling to evacuate its highest officials and essential personnel. As the city’s defenses crumbled, the military base near the palace was abandoned in the rush to withdraw. In the chaos, Carter's airship was targeted by Calarian artillery, now with his airship burning and his crew missing Carter must make his way back to the homeland he's avoided for years, how he will do that only fate may tell, for now though the large unattended airship in the imperial palace seems to be his only hope for escape. [/quote] Generally a pretty good app, there are one or two little details I would like you to change in the backstory though. 1. Around the war you've written with the Iktani. I've written there has been no frontier movement in the last 50 years, so since before Carter was born. I don't mind having a war, but perhaps write it as something like this. The Commonwealth send a force of a few thousand troops to make a beachhead on the far side of the river but are spotted by an Iktani observation balloon. The Iktani then surround the beachhead and assault it, with heavy casualties on both sides but without dislodging the attackers. Carter's airship is sent to bomb an Iktani city where they believe the Iktani are massing troops to send to the front. From the height it's impossible to figure out where the bombs are landing but he's pretty sure it's not on the rail yard... ... Keep the crash in if you want, but switch the Iktani response from surrender to 'they are really, really, really pissed off' (this is generally the effect that terror bombing of civilian targets has - think the Zeppelin raids on London and the Blitz). Commonwealth troops try to fight their way off the beachhead and fail. Iktani are arriving in large numbers. Commonwealth withdraws troops and sues for peace. This is a bit of a change but elevates the Iktani threat level to about where I want them to be - they are intended to be a major power in the RP. 2. Small change to the Screaming Eagle... call it something like the 'CAS17' (Confederate Airship 17 it's boring, but vaguely based on how the Germans named there's, which incidentally gives a good incentive for the crew to give it a better name), which he and his crew nicknamed the Screaming Eagle.