Name: Danath, known as "The Small", "The Pygmy" or "The Mouse" to some.
Race/Faction: Halfling/Officially, he works for the crown, but his loyalties are questionable.
Age: 23
Description: Danath is rather short, about 3'6" (may be changed) in height, and thin as a stick. Years of surviving on the barest of essentials have left him with a small appetite matching his malnourished physique. He is clean shaven with neatly kept hair and a single pierced ear. Of Course he changes his clothing styles regularly so as to always be on the cutting edge of courtly fashion, though he never wears heavy armour or too much jewellery. Though he keeps up with courtly fashion, it's not uncommon for him to dress plainly, especially when outside of the palace or when interacting with people of low rank.
***Credit to primordialsquid on tumblr for this image, I did not draw it myself***
"Class": Rogue, through and through. Specifically a spymaster.
Motivation: Danath comes from extraordinary poverty, and fought tooth-and-nail for every scrap of an opportunity that life handed to him. He has little respect for slothful folk, and is cursed with an unquenchable ambition. Beyond that, he does all he can to help the poorest and most down-trodden of society, while trying to balance the ever-complicated task of keeping nobles happy.
History: Danath was born in a slum. Which slum? He has no idea, because while he was just a child of 3, his mother died from a fever and his grief-stricken father sent Danath to live with an aunt far, far away, before taking his own life. Danath never made it to this aunt's home, though. He doesn't remember much from that time in his life, but something terrible must have happened because he wound up on the streets as an urchin by the time he was 5. Picking pockets, hunting rats and competing with other urchins to find discarded food were all that the child could do keep himself alive for the next 3 years, until finally he found an opportunity. A local Chapel took pity on him, and offered him food and board to clean and assist the priests with their duties. Work which he was more than happy to do, for a time. While he was with the clergymen, he learned to read and write, and was taught some of the finer points of etiquette on the occasions where someone important would stop by. One such "important" person, was the wealthy carnival owner and merchant Kollan Indirovich, who (in an act of betrayal which Danath still has not forgiven) purchased Danath from the priests who were raising him in exchange for a moderate donation to the faith. More specifically, a donation directly into the pockets of the priests that Danath considered his adopted family. The next several years were a humiliating parade, where he would be taken to various towns and villages along with other "freaks", and forced to perform for them. He would walk on tightropes, balance on a large red ball, even be chased around by clowns or trained beasts, whatever Indirovich thought would please crowds. In some places, he would just sit in a cage and be introduced as "The Pygmy of Mallakanarka", complete with a fictional backstory of the ringmaster's own creation, featuring people and places which frankly do not exist. Eventually, though, he became more and more adept at manipulating the crowd, as well as Mr Indirovich. He would tell jokes, wild anecdotes about his fictional island home and even some flattery directed the ringmaster's way, when it was needed. Even still, life in the circus was hard, and Danath knew he would have to escape sometime. But he wasn't about to go back to hunting rats in the gutter, so he bided his time and waited until opportunity struck. A rival merchant sent a spy to learn some of Mr Indirovich's secrets, in the hopes of finding something that could be used to set the city's guards on him. Danath squeezed through the bars of his cage (something he had learned to do with relative ease when the ringmaster was asleep) and sought out this merchant. He would reveal all of the ringmaster's numerous crimes, in exchange for the right amount of gold. Danath used this small bounty of gold to purchase a simple home for himself, and to keep himself fed and clothed, but he knew that the money wouldn't last forever, so he did what he had found his talent for, and made a regular living off of finding secrets and selling them to the highest bidder. He would shadow people, making use of his ability to go unnoticed by big folk. He would break into homes and steal letters, or pay beggars to listen in on conversations taking place on the streets. He would hold lunch with assassins, thieves, guardsmen and nobles, trading coin for favours and favours for coin with each. By the time he was 20, he managed to garner enough of a reputation to be hired by His Majesty's Royal Spymaster himself, and within a year proved himself to be a more than capable successor when the man died from entirely natural causes. Now, he works as a spymaster for the royal court, handling various aspects of skullduggery which the more "official" members of his Royal Highness's court need handled, while subtly influencing things in his own favour from time to time.
Strengths: Danath is a master of intrigue, he understands what makes powerful people tick, and how to exploit it. More than once he's gotten his way simply by convincing a noble that it was their idea all along. He's light on his feet, stealthy and able to hide in very small spaces with ease, which makes him an excellent assassin, thief or spy. While not strong enough to effectively wield a longbow or fight with a longsword, he's never without a poison-tipped dagger in his scabbard. He's witty and charming when he needs to be, and has managed to secure the loyalties of several beggars and peasants who act as his eyes and ears in the slums and the city streets in exchange for food and coin from the palace. He firmly believes that he was destined for this job, and will do anything to avoid ending up like the last spymaster who "peacefully passed away in his sleep" like an amateur.
Weakness: Well, the obvious one to start out with. Danath is physically weak and not by any means a capable warrior. On the few occasions where he does need to confront someone physically, his preferred method is to simply run away or bring a friend to fight for him. He'd definitely rather kill someone in their sleep than fight fairly, though neither is an option he particularly enjoys. Aside from his physical stature, his greatest weakness is probably his low birth. It's difficult to gain the respect of many nobles if you don't even have a surname, let alone noble blood in your veins. He's also incapable of holding his liquor, which is why he never drinks, (also because he's somewhat paranoid about poison). He knows that not everyone in court likes him, though he does his best to remain on good terms with anyone who isn't too upset about the idea of associating with a freak, a peasant or a man with no honour (though Danath finds that last notion perhaps the strangest accusation, the court being what it is). And even those who do despise him for his many...quirks, he ensures that they have no choice but to be cooperative through bribes, blackmail, reverse psychology and sometimes even blatant coercion if the situation is appropriate. (of course none of these approaches will work against certain members of the royal family, so it's best to keep them on his good side)
What is the most important thing to know about your character?Danath may not love nobility, he may not have great respect for noble traditions or bloodlines, but he is willing to work WITH those who have it easy in order to change things for those who do not. First and foremost, though, he is loyal to himself.
What is your character's greatest flaw?It's the same thing that allowed him to survive all that he has. That unquenchable thirst for more. Some would call it greed, but it's not simply about having more coin in his pocket, Danath wants,
needs, to grow in power and influence, because if he cannot exert control over his world he knows it will drag him back down into the gutter where he came from.
Why should your character be in a position to influence an entire country?Patience, tact, an ambition which cannot be contained, and an honest to god desire to leave this world better than when he entered it.
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