[OOC] Blood of the Crown

[Daxam]

The one that I have for my character's backstory is no longer in action, so I think I should be okay lol

[Daxam]

Vincent

Vincent Ryder

Nickname/Titles:

“The Shield”

Rank / Profession:

Knight Commander

Age:

29

Gender:

Male

Appearance:

Given his fighting style, it’s no surprise that Vincent has a well-built, toned physique. His unkempt hair reaches his shoulders, curling slightly at the ends, and he has a single, diagonal scar that cuts through the end of his left eyebrow, barely missing his eye. His arms and torso are covered in a myriad of scars, each one a testament to the battles he had taken part in, a point of pride for him. He keeps things simple when it comes to what he wears in his day-to-day, preferring things that are easy to move in and cheap to replace should he find himself in a fight. In battle, he wears heavy plate armor, complete with a full helm and a pair of heavy, combat-ready gauntlets.

Height: 6’3”
Eye Color: Steel grey
Hair Color: Black

Personality:

Personality Details

Vincent is the type of guy who’s quick to anger, usually the first to start throwing punches, foul-mouthed, and enjoys (more than) his fair share of drink. While he would be the first to admit that he isn’t that bright, he’s surprisingly insightful and his battle intelligence is second-to-none. Above all that, however, he’s loyal. If one were to earn his loyalty and respect, it would be difficult to find a better ally.

Background:

Backstory

Vincent sat in a dimly-lit tavern, a half-drained tankard of ale in his hand. He was dressed in his off-duty clothes, a short-sleeved shirt that bared his scarred forearms, breeches, and boots. Across from him sat a bard, one who had asked Vincent for an interview so he could write a song about him. It didn’t take much convincing on the bard’s part, as Vincent never minded talking about himself.

”I grew up in Greypeak. My dad had long since run off, so my mom raised me on her own,” he said as he sat back in his seat, one arm draped over the back of the booth. ”I’ll be the first to admit that I was a handful as a kid. I had more energy than I knew what to do with, so when I wasn’t getting into or stopping fights, I was out exploring the area around town. There are some pretty dangerous creatures up that way, but for the most part, I was able to handle myself. A good fifth of my scars are from my childhood, come to think of it.”

He took a moment to finish off his tankard and continued, ”Anyway, as it turned out, I not only had a knack for fighting, but I liked it, too. I wasn’t a bully or anything, but I never hesitated to kick the asses of people who deserved it. I even fended off attacks from wild animals and monsters when I was as young as eleven. Before long, I was an honorary member of Greypeak’s peacekeeping force for a time. I think I was about…13, 14 years old when Old Man Lanza, a knight commander before me, came to town.”

He paused as a waitress approached and set a bowl of soup in front of him, as well as another tankard of ale. The bard peered into it and saw chunks of sourdough bread, bacon, sliced sausage, mushrooms, chunks of potatoes, and fried onion strips. Vincent looked at the bard and grinned. ”A specialty from my hometown,” he proudly stated. ”I can make it myself, no problem, but I’ve experimented with the recipe so much that it isn’t the same as what I used to have as a kid. This place does a great job recreating it, though.”

He swallowed a spoonful and continued, ”Anyway, Lanza came through town, right? And he started hearing these stories of this kid who’s been helping keep the peace. So, he asks to meet him and the townspeople tell him that the kid’s down in the mines. Some creatures had taken up residence in an old shaft, so he went down on his own to take care of it. Lanza and his retinue hurried to the mine to help out, only to stop at the entrance. The kid came out, his clothes all torn and tattered, some wounds here and there. He had a broken sword in one hand and, in the other, the head of a cave troll. After that, the rest is history. I squired to Lanza for a few years, became a knight, then knight commander, now I’m here. Unfortunately, the king was already long-since dead by then, so I missed out on my rune, but them’s the breaks.”

The bard hurriedly finished writing his notes, then looked up at Vincent after a moment. “Well, that’s all well and good,” he said, “but I’m afraid I’ll need more details, more feats of heroism to finish your song. Like…How about you tell me about the incident that led to you becoming a knight commander? I’ve heard the stories, but I’d love to hear it from the horse’s mouth, as it were!”

At that, Vincent’s grin faded and he slowly lowered his spoon back into his bowl. He was quiet for a moment before he met the bard’s eyes. ”Not exactly my favorite memory,” he said after a few moments. He sighed and nudged his bowl aside. He crossed his arms on the table and leaned forward.

”Lanza and I went to this little, backwater town. This was some time after I was promoted to knighthood, but Lanza and I often travelled together to watch each other’s backs. He was like the father I never had and he never complained about my company. Anyway, there were reports of this horde of monsters making their way there, so we, along with some other knights under Lanza’s command, were leading evacuation efforts. The monsters were moving faster than we thought, though, because they were on us before we could react. While we were fighting, something snuck up and knocked Lanza to the ground and they all ganged up on him, something that wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for that cheap shot. Everything after that’s a blur, but when I came to, I was standing in the midst of a couple dozen or so monster corpses, covered in their blood and mine. My armor was destroyed, I was pretty badly wounded, but in that blackout rage, I didn’t feel anything. The other knights all said it was because of me we only lost a few people, but that was cold comfort. Because of their testimonies and the ones from the villagers, the vote passed and I became a knight commander just shy of my 24th birthday.”

He was silent for several long moments before he pulled his soup closer and picked his spoon back up. ”Anyway, that’s enough of that” he said, his grin returning, albeit a bit more forced, ”Let me tell you about the time I took down a giant centipede with nothing but a fork.”

Rune Affinity:

Physical Enhancement: When he gains his rune, Vincent will gain the ability to enhance his physical traits: strength, speed, durability, etc. While he’s naturally stronger than most, his rune will push his already impressive abilities to superhuman levels.

Skills & Abilities:

-Hand-to-hand combat and heavy weapons expert: Putting his strength to exceptional use, Vincent is highly capable with all manners of heavy, close-range weapons (greatswords, hammers, axes, etc.), but his preferred style of fighting is hand-to-hand, utilizing a pair of specially-made gauntlets.

-Battle Intelligence: While planning and tactics are by and large one of his weakest areas, Vincent’s is surprisingly skilled in outside-the-box thinking when in the heat of battle.

-Peak physical abilities: Vincent’s physical attributes, primarily his strength and durability, are much higher than average, enabling him to take hits that would put most people down while also letting him deal incredible amounts of damage, making up for his lack in magical aptitude.

Additional Details:
-He’s afraid of ghosts and other intangible creatures. Anything that he can’t hit creeps him out. He’s also afraid of the ocean (more specifically, the things that lurk in the ocean)

-He has a passion for cooking and he’s also a rather skilled dancer, a hobby he had taken up to help improve his footwork in combat.

-He’s a massive dog person

[Lyla]

@BurningCold I'd say a max of ten, so it's quite an elite class. Right now, if everyone made a knight commander, that'd be about 6/10, I think.

Edit: I'll work on the discord tomorrow with some more lore. ^^

[BurningCold]

@BurningCold I'd say a max of ten, so it's quite an elite class. Right now, if everyone made a knight commander, that'd be about 6/10, I think.

Edit: I'll work on the discord tomorrow with some more lore. ^^

@Lyla

Oh damn. So three of them turning on the kingdom and getting slain was probably a pretty big deal then? If that feels too explosive I could change it so that it was just Varn and then two skilled knights?

Although adding an event like that to the kingdom's history does also feel pretty cool

[Lyla]

@BurningCold It's too late. >:) It's already canon - three knight commanders died in that attack, because enough people believed he wasn't fit to guard the throne until the heir was found. Unless you had a specific date, I'm saying that only happed as little as 5 years ago~

[BurningCold]

@BurningCold It's too late. >:) It's already canon - three knight commanders died in that attack, because enough people believed he wasn't fit to guard the throne until the heir was found. Unless you had a specific date, I'm saying that only happed as little as 5 years ago~

@Lyla

I have it that Kalowick became a Knight Commander from that event when he was 20, which would place the attempted coup as having happened 7 years ago

[Lyla]

@BurningCold 7 years ago it is~

[shylarah]

@Lyla Three out of ten, jeez that's a lot. Wow.

I love it. <3

[BurningCold]

Suddenly Leia at only 37 years of age is probably the most experienced with what we have so far

And interesting to think that Kalowick would have been one of the knight commanders voting Vincent in, assuming the sheet looks good to Lyla

[Lyla]

I'm taking a bit of a break to play my game, but I plan on looking over Vincent. ^^

[Daxam]

I'm taking a bit of a break to play my game, but I plan on looking over Vincent. ^^

@Lyla

You're good! Take your time!

[shylarah]

@Lyla Oooh, what game?