Name: Roark Juan Swallows
Earned name: Dart Frog
Age (16+): 27
Born Omega/Turned from Runner: Converted after being expelled forcibly from Sundown.
Nationality: Spanish (Catalonia)
Description of appearance: Roark stands at roughly six feet, two inches, and despite being quite thin for his height, his body is noticeably toned, most notably his arms.
His hair is a jet black, and falls to his shoulders: When on a mission, he keeps it tied back in a singular ponytail, but outside of combat (or on particularly hot days) he’ll shed his bobble, and it’ll fall in a series of loose rings and curls.
His facial features are quite sharp, with defined cheekbones, a strong chin, and a well-tailored black goatee.
His skin is as anybody would expect from a Spaniard: Darkly tanned, but not quite to the tone of “coffee coloured.”
His eyes are a complimentary shade of light brown.
He wears a crimson leather cuirass (which he stole from a Museum somewhere on the city floor) and, a quiver of arrows on his back, and on occasion his bow (if it isn’t in his grip.)
His wrists are protected by leather light-brown braces, and his lower half is made up of baggy brown trousers, a pair of brown-leather, shin-high boots, and a pair of knee-guards made from the same material as his braces.
Following the events of Cromwell’s “punishments”, Roark’s left hand is wrapped in a tight and constricting red bandage.
A brief biography: Born in Barcelona, Catalonia in the mid-sixties, Roark was the first offspring of Santana and Vincente Swallows, two of the most prominent members of Sector Ñ, Spain’s most prolific melee-orientated Runner squadron.
Followed shortly by his sister, Henrietta, Roark was- it was thought- destined to become the leader of Sector Ñ after his father’s passing, but beforehand, he needed extensive training in the combat that had made them so successful.
So, from the age of five until he was thirteen, Roark was trained to be a boxer, like his father and grandfather before him.
Rigorous exercise and a heavily monitored Spanish diet moulded his body into a durable, but nonetheless highly mobile shape: Harsh morning runs in the glaring Spanish sun, and long sparring matches with Vincente put those attributes to the test.
And truly, Roark seemed a natural: He was fast, he was sharp and yet- perhaps most importantly- he was merciful. He truly respected the combat style, and his father for teaching it to him…
But he wasn’t happy.
Because, despite his origins, Roark had never truly wanted to be a boxer.
Roark had been born into the Spanish Runner capital, built betwixt the cloud-piercing spires of the newly refurbished Sagrada Família Church: This was significant, because not only was this the home-base of Sector Ñ, but to Sector Á as well.
Few Runner nations permitted the use of long ranged weapons… and Spain was one of them.
Sector Á were a troupe of expertly trained archers, capable of silencing a spectre at a good hundred feet, and all without the noise and maintenance required of a firearm.
They were brave, they were respectable, and every aspirational teenager from Murcia to Ferrol wanted to be one, young Roark included.
When he confided this in his father, Vincente was understandably upset by the news: But nonetheless spoke with Sector Á’s commander, Elías Cobo, about arranging for Roark to be moved to their ranks.
He was denied: But out of any spite, but simply because Sector Á needed to be aware of an archers potential before extensive training began, and Roark had so far exhibited none.
This broke the young Spaniard’s heart, but both he and Vincente understood, and said no more of it.
When Roark was fourteen, however, a disaster occurred: Spanish State Spectres had been dispatched from Madrid to begin the search for their base, known colloquially as Cielo Desván, and it didn’t take them too much time before two of them located it.
When they did so, however, Sectors Ñ and Á were elsewhere, leaving only the civilians to protect their territory.
Most of them, however, fled: Save for Roark’s sister, Henrietta, who- purely through a lack of knowledge on the nature of Spectres, and a general naivety- attempted to greet the invaders, and was promptly captured and taken for the purposes of deportation to work as a Spectre in the Operari capital of Britain.
Outraged, Roark- who’d taken shelter in a nearby bell tower- awaited the Spectres to leave (having found nobody else) and pursued them quietly from the rooftops in order to attempt to save her.
However, the Spectres in question were carrying firearms, and the Spaniard knew he wouldn’t be able to get close enough to rescue her with his fists.
So instead, he settled for the most simple of alternatives: He threw large stones at them, and used his dexterous shape and boxer mentality to weave around their sporadic gunfire.
Eventually, his efforts paid off: Two lucky throws had dealt them fatal head-wounds (which was, by Spanish standards, perfectly fine: Spectres were not acknowledged by the “no killing” clause of the Spanish Runners Oath), and he was able to drag Henrietta back to the home-base without too much damage to either of them.
When he arrived, however, he was- surprisingly- heralded as a hero.
Not only had he protected their home-base’s location (indirectly), but he’d also managed to rescue his sister in the absence of either of Cielo Desván’s protective Sectors.
Cobo- hearing of Roark’s true aim when throwing stones, and his bravery- then stepped forwards, and offered him a position amongst his trainees.
Roark asked Vincente for his thoughts: To which his father replied, “it wasn’t boxing that saved your sister,” and gave him his full consent.
For four years, a strict training regimen was implemented into Roark’s daily routine: He’d wake at dawn, and journey to a nearby set of roof tops, on which Sector Á practiced their craft.
Then, he’d shoot until midday, at which point Cobo would instruct him on how a bow should be assembled, maintained, restrung and restocked: A similar lesson about arrows would usually follow.
Between each of these there was usually a series of demanding thorax and arm-based exercises, which- whilst agonising- paid off after the first few years.
When Roark had turned eighteen, he’d surpassed most of his class, and been admitted into Sector Á as a full-time member.
This was short lived, however: Half way through his first year, a group of Runners hailing from the Runner capital of Sundown, New London, arrived, and brought with it Maggie Blair, an American expatriate with whom Roark immediately found himself smitten.
Her somewhat crass mannerisms aside, the two got on very well: They laughed, they boxed and they dealt bruises to one another like a particularly abusive old married couple.
However, Maggie soon admitted that she was expected to return to New London by the time the year was up: and Roark resolved that he would go with her.
Thanking Cobo for his training, and apologising profusely, Roark prepared to make his leave.
The Sector Leader in question held no grudges, as he himself was a man of passion, and Roark’s parents- Santana and Vincente- were fully supportive, and wished him luck in the Runner capital.
Upon promising to write, he and Maggie boarded their boat (which, whilst definitely Runner property, was disguised as an Operari transport vessel) and set sail for New London.
This is when things began going downhill.
Upon being greeted by The Elders briefly after docking in New London, Roark was asked to turn over his bow: Because in England, Runners were forbidden from utilising distanced weapons.
He protested fervently, after trying so hard to earn it: But his complaints were in vain, and the bow was confiscated by Elder Jorrick.
Elder MacReary chastised him for his attitude, but his associate Ríolan- a Spaniard himself- appreciated his fire, and managed to persuade his compatriots to put Swallows into their experimental new Runner squadron: Sector V.
By the time he was nineteen and one half, he was leader of Sector V…
And then Churchill Gunner arrived.
When that helpless little eleven year old arrived in Sundown on some rainy Winter day, he would never have suspected that it might lead to his downfall.
He had great sorrow in his heart for that little creature: He’d stepped in to defend him, and taken him under his wing.
Along with Maggie- who’d become his second in command in Sector V- and her own apprentice, Eva, Sector V totalled four members, and all of them got on very well with one another.
Roark and Maggie had become all the more endeared with one another since his arrival in Sundown, and their apprentices seemed to behave at least amicably with one another, which is all they could’ve hoped for, really.
That is, until it became painfully obvious that Churchill wasn’t prepared for this world yet.
Roark and Maggie, on one of their many strolls around Sundown’s complex, came across a most worrisome scene: Churchill cowering at the feet of some older, stronger Runner, whilst Eva stood before him as a shield.
He was being bullied: Despite having legs of carbon steel, he was still no more than a boy unused to this world.
So Roark trained him, and Maggie, her: Boxing was Roark’s choice, for indeed archery was banned in this place.
And, remarkably, Church took to it: The springs in his legs made him a natural when it came to shifting stance, and the inherent arm strength that came with missing much of your lower body gave him a fairly impressive uppercut, to boot.
By the time two years had passed, Church was happy to call Roark his leader: And Roark was certain that his sector was the most impressive of them all.
As the years went on, though, he longed for more.
He longed for his bow, and for the sunny shores of Spain. And he longed to wed Maggie, although Maggie seemed more keen to consummate the marriage early.
In Sundown, he’d become a household name: Everybody knew Roark Swallows, the boxer, the leader, the defender. But none of them knew him like Maggie did: None of them knew how much he missed.
One night, five years after Church’s arrival, and six after his own, Roark resolved that things had to change: Even if he couldn’t fire his bow, he desired to possess it, purely for the sentimentality it held. The only thing he’d taken from his homeland.
He confided in Maggie, and swore that- once he’d reclaimed his bow- he’d propose to her. Then, without heeding her protests, he left in search of his weapon.
His bow, and indeed all banned weaponry, was being kept in the Elders chambers, the highest and best defended tower in Sundown.
Fortunately, as a Sector Leader, he had the keys, and it took very little time for him to creep his way upstairs, and find his things amongst the vast array of confiscated equipment they’d possessed.
He’d done it: He’d reunited with his bow, his passion, and in the morn he’d ask the girl he’d left Spain for to marry him.
Well, that was the plan, anyway.
What happened instead is that Elder Jorrick- a particularly light sleeper- had heard him coming, and in a sleepy daze, mistaken him for an attacker.
Elder Jorrick had always been temperate and soft-voiced, and his German accent brought a great charm to him: But he was also an Elder for a reason, and that reason was that he had a great pitching arm.
Elders- the only Runners permitted to kill, and only in the event of a true emergency- were all dangerous in some way or another, and Jorrick’s particular skill was knife throwing.
Before Roark could explain, blades were flying, and in a panic, Roark seized a chipped brick, and launched it back in retaliation.
His luck- or misfortune- had struck him again, just as it had when he was young: That chunk of brick had flown true, before striking Jorrick in the head, and killing him upon impact.
Shocked, Roark hurriedly began retrieving his arrows from a nearby compartment, when the fifth Elder- now the forth- Bennet Jones stirred from his sleep, and upon seeing Jorrick’s body, flew into a frenzy.
He leapt straight for Roark without giving him even a moments time for an explanation, and in the process woke the rest of the Elders, too.
However, through further bad fortune, Roark had been in the process of grabbing an arrow, and- as soon as Bennet had made contact with him- that same arrow had pierced his chest, and been driven through his heart.
It was at this point that Church arrived, and- upon seeing Roark surrounded by the corpses of two elders, and with blood very clearly on his hands- charged into action, pushing his mentor out through a window after a lengthy hand-to-hand skirmish, and sending him toppling to the streets of New London.
How he survived, he still doesn’t know: “Perhaps there is a God”, he’s mused at times, “Perhaps he hates me.”
When Roark awoke, he was in a part of the city he didn’t recognise- not that he recognised much of it- and under the care of The Omega.
His bow had been damaged, and for whatever reason, this pack of travelling marauders had chosen to save him from certain death.
It soon became clear why: They were killers, and they loved a good long-distance assault-force.
Roark had that down to a T.
For the next three years, he trained: He acquired a new, modern bow, and his skills developed even further without restriction.
He found himself at the head of another sector- or squadron, as they were called here- ”León Squadron” (or ‘Lion Squadron’).
Made up of Omega desperate to strike directly at Sundown in vengeance, they set out to conquer Sector Ns lair. And did… for a while.
The following section takes place after Sector V’s first mission.
Upon returning to The Complex, where the Omegas had made their home, Roark was chastised by the Omega leader “Elder Cromwell” for his failure, and forced to take punishment on behalf of his entire squadron.
Resident torturer Tabitha had been assigned to the duty: But being part of Roark’s squadron, she refused, which lead to Cromwell snapping the fingers of Roark’s left hand, and then crushing it with a hammer.
In time, the wound will repair: But the thirst for vengeance won’t.
Roark is now in the process of organising a coup against Cromwell’s administration, as well as the other four elders who support him.
In time, he may even control of the Omega: And if that happens…
He knows just what he’ll do.
Runner rival: Churchill Gunner
Specialty: Marksmanship, Fletching and CQC.
Melee weapon: His own fists (Boxing)
Long range weapon: A modern, carbon-steel recurve hunting bow.
Brutality: Not great, he tries to make kills quick, and if forced to fight with his fists he’ll more often than not end the fight at unconsciousness, as opposed to death.
Goal as an Omega: To kill Churchill Gunner, and usurp Cromwell.
