Name:Mozan of the Nightwood, formerly Zeldryn Zyrathian the 4th
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Physical Description:
Mozan is a tall, lean, and handsome gentleman who stands at 6”2 and weighs one hundred and eighty three pounds. His hair is dirty blonde, but predominantly a light brown; though if one pays close enough attention, they will notice the underlying streaks of blonde complimenting the darker hue. Forementioned hair is usually kept short and utilitarian; short on the sides and back, and a bit longer on the top of his head leading down to short bangs framing the top of his forehead. He’s often clean shaven, and his eyes are a deep and rich emerald with brighter shaded spots of green encircling his pupils. When he walks by, he carries himself with authority with a wisp of a grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye, as if he knows a secret but just won’t tell.
Considering the fact that he is a ranger and rogue by profession, he looks a bit wirey and skinny. However, he is in peak physical condition and is rippling with clearly defined muscle. A plethora of small knicks and scratches have left him with small marks along his forearms and legs, but he has a few scars which are clearly distinguished against his light-colored flesh. One is a two inch diagonal line resting along the right side of his upper abdomen; a result of being stabbed in a drunken brawl in a tavern. Another is in the shape of large claw marks running down the right side of his back; a wound earned while attempting to stalk a group of grey wolves unsuccessfully in his youth. The last is a bumpy and ugly looking circle on the outside of his left forearm, where he was struck by a crossbow bolt.
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Skillset:
Under the close guidance of Brand of the Nightwood, Mozan learned how to blend in with his environment, track his prey, and push his body to it’s maximum. He is a skilled hunter and fisherman, and can use his knowledge and training as a ranger to locate and utilize different species of medicinal plantlife to assist in first-aid in the event of the unforeseen. He is a gifted swordsman, often times preferring the bastard sword or dual wielding shortswords, and he holds particular talent with the kukri and dagger as well. Mozan has always held a natural athletic ability, and was always one of the more agile of his family as Brand raised them. He spent day and night honing his reflexes and reaction time, and as a result of this, his body is as quick as his mind and he can make split-second decisions in order to find the perfect opportunity to strike. In regards to ranged combat, Mozan is competent with the longbow, though he often only uses it to hunt. He holds particular talent with the light crossbow and hand crossbow, and will often find himself using these weapons when he is unable to close the gap.
[indent] Those who know Mozan know that he is never one to avoid conversation. He knows a plethora of history, stories of myth and legend, as well as a bit of scattered information about the nobility in most of the area surrounding the Nightwood. He is more diplomatic than not, and is an extremely skilled information gatherer; especially when his curiosity is motivating him to dig deeper. He is an experienced “dungeon-diver” and has an avid interest in treasure hunting, and as a result he is a particular habit of digging up old books which house valuable information on rare trinkets and the like. Mozan’s most prized of skills, however, are those which he affectionately refers to as his, “tools of the trade”. After training under Brand and Salazar, Mozan has perfected his ability to disguise himself, forge different styles of handwriting, assemble and dismantle traps, has extremely nimble fingers, can pick locks, tie intricate knots, and move extremely silently. His balance is superb, and he is as comfortable falling through the air as he is on the ground. His eyes and ears are sharp, and he is talented in regards to ambush tactics and avoiding detection.
[indent] In summary, Mozan is a gifted swordsman, athletic and acrobatic, is skilled at tracking and stealth, breaking and entering, assembling and dismantling traps, gathering information and acts of diplomacy, as well as first-aid and survival as a result of his mixed training with miscellaneous veterans. He excels in single combat, but faces a challenge in groups. He isn’t much of a ranged combatant, but can surely hold his own if the situation calls for it. All in all, he is what one would expect of a rogue-ranger.
History:
Twenty years ago, there once stood a town to the southeast of the Nightwood known as Silverstar. It was a small town with a population consisting mostly of dwarves and humans which was founded on the western bank of the river Thyst; a small body of water which empties into a lake after a day’s march to the southwest. Silverstar was initially settled as a result of the rich content of silver ore which was mined by the local clan of dwarves, and evolved from a small mining outpost into a sprawling village within a matter of weeks. Eventually, the silver ran dry and most of the dwarves packed their belongings and left, though some stayed behind and began to live a quiet life amongst the groups of humans which had begun to settle in Silverstar. The house Zyrathian was the preeminent family among the humans which chose to reside there, and Zeldryn Zyrathian the first went on to form a pact with the dwarves and organize a formal charter for Silverstar to be recognized as a part of Bosfyrd.
Silverstar was a quiet town. The nobility was well respected and ruled with dignity and an even hand, and the denizens of the village were happy. Two generations of the Zyrathian family were born and died peacefully within it’s borders. This peace and tranquility came to a decisive and bloody conclusion five years after Zeldryn Zyrathian the fourth was born. His father, Zeldryn the third chose to take part in the revolt against Herald by mobilizing Silverstar’s militia and leading tactical guerilla strikes against Herald’s troops. Most of those strikes were strategic victories which brought shame to Herald, and pride to the house Zyrathian. As a result, Herald eventually chose to march on the seat of Zeldryn’s power and burn it to the ground. The militia fought valiantly, but it was a hopeless effort. Before the final battle was fought, Zeldryn Zyrathian the third called upon his old friend Brand of the Nightwood for one last favor. Brand infiltrated the battlefield, retrieved the heir to house Zyrathian alongside it’s most prized possession, and quietly escaped into the Nightwood with Zeldryn the fourth in toe. Shortly after their escape, the Silverstar militia was surrounded, executed, and the peaceful little town was burned to the ground.
Zeldryn the fourth was by no means an ignorant child. Being the eldest child of house Zyrathian, he was being groomed for leadership from the very moment he could walk, talk, and be educated. The first five years of his life were spent playing with the other children, learning about his lineage, and being given a general, but extensive nobleman’s education. It was not much as a result of his age, but he was a bright child with a passion for the written word. On the evening of Silverstar’s demise, his mother introduced him to Brand, and instructed him to flee the keep alongside him. Brand was a kindly and gentle man whom comforted Zeldryn’s panic almost immediately, and the seasoned ranger protected him closely throughout their voyage. Zeldryn the fourth spent several weeks alongside Brand, and the man kept a close eye on him alongside his other children. Eventually, word reached Brand of Silverstar’s demise, and in time, he broke the news to the young Zeldryn. The child took the news horribly, as any child would. But he eventually came to realize that his home was with Brand, as well as the other children. On the dawn of his sixth birthday, Brand of the Nightwood dubbed Zeldryn Zyrathian the fourth “Mozan of the Nightwood”and began to train him as a ranger.
Mozan always took his training very seriously. Brand was a skilled educator, but that is not to say he was easy on his children by any means. Mozan’s mornings were early and his training was intense; he worked with the sword day and night, and when the sword wasn’t in his hands the bow was. Brand taught him to track and to hunt and fish, as well as the subtle art of stealth. Mozan was exceptionally gifted in this regard; Brand liked to compare his speed and dexterity to Zeldryn the third, and this always drove Mozan even harder to succeed. . When he wasn’t sparring with his siblings, he was jumping from tree to tree and swinging around on branches, or balancing on a thin branch and attempting to walk to the very edge without breaking it. He developed a strong appreciation for the beauty of nature during this portion of his life, and became exceedingly curious about the world around him. By the time his sixteenth birthday had arrived, Brand gave him his final lesson in swordsmanship before presenting him with the crown jewel of house Zyrathian; the bejewelld bastard sword known as The Vindicator. In awe of his new treasure, Mozan hastily began to admire the blade’s craftsmanship before Brand gave him a last piece of advice.
“Do not besmirch the honor of which this sword will restore.” With that said, Mozan said his goodbyes and began his journey.
Over a period of two years, Mozan wandered throughout the countryside. He took jobs as a ranger to guide common folk through dangerous terrain, as well as escorting caravans and slaying unfriendly beasts for those who could not do so themselves. He met a plethora of good people, and gained a small reputation as a respectable and noble man among the villages he frequented. Eventually, he found himself guarding a caravan en route to the capital when he met a gruff, middle aged man by the name of Salazar Venterus. He was a grimey, unsavory looking fellow with whom Mozan constantly quarreled with from the very beginning of their journey. Through Mozan’s eyes, he was dishonorable, and fought with a coward’s tactics. Eventually, the man became so enraged that he challenged Mozan to a dual; which in his youthful ignorance was rapidly accepted. The caravan came to a halt, and the duo drew their steel with an eager crowd of merchants placing bets on who would come out victorious. Unfortunately, the odds were not in Mozan’s favor. The battle was quick and humiliating. Before Mozan had time to mount a proper counter attack, Salazar had him cornered, disarmed, and seething with shame. He moved to draw another weapon, but the next thing that became rapidly apparent to the young ranger was that his vision was hazy, a throbbing pain reverberated through his skull, and Salazar was standing above him with an arrogant sneer plastered upon his grizzly visage.
Mozan was humiliated, but he apologized to the rogue Salazar for his brashness and rudeness after overcoming the worst of his shame. In return, the veteran warrior offered his abilities as a master to Mozan, and the duo began to travel together. In comparison to Brand of the Nightwood’s form of education, Salazar’s was a living hell. His days began before the sun lit the sky, and came to an end far after it had set below the horizon. They were filled with rigorous physical exercise to build speed, stamina, and perfect his balance, as well as brutal hand-to-hand combat training and swordsmanship drills with blunted blades. When he wasn’t strengthening his body, he was molding his mind. Salazar assembled and destroyed a large variety of traps before his eager gaze, then tested him in their construction and identifying characteristics. They eventually moved on to training Mozan’s body into moving more silently and smoothely, as well as the finer arts of lockpicking, safecracking, and breaking and entering. After six months of harsh training and lengthy travel around the major metropolitan areas surrounding the Nightwood, Salazar had nothing left for Mozan to learn. Rather than part ways, Mozan began to work alongside his master, taking odd-jobs for those who had the coin to offer. Jobs ranged from stealing the signit ring of a particularly corrupt nobleman to stalking groups of bandits and mapping their travel for local law enforcement. They kept up this pattern over the next two and a half years, counting their coins and doing the best which they could for those without the power to do so themselves. Like most good times, this period in Mozan’s life came to a decisive and bloody conclusion without preamble.
Salazar eventually led Mozan to the high city of Apaxya; a sprawling metropolis located in the mountain range to the Northeast of The Nightwood. The high walls of the snowy city were filled to the brim with Herald’s men, and little did they realize, an intricate web of informants and rogues were planning the heist to end all heists. Mozan came to discover a guild of thieves within the walls of Apaxya, and their goal was to steal the lord’s journal and ledger; two documents which were sure to be filled with incriminating information which could fetch quite the ransom from the right buyer. The plan was immaculate, and after several weeks of surveillance and working informants for the right knowledge, the operation was ready to be implemented. Salazar and Mozan infiltrated the lord’s castle carefully and slowly in order to avoid arousing suspicion, but an unexpected variable rapidly made itself apparent. A raging blizzard began to batter the mountain city with it’s icy fists, and the duo was forced to enter the manor through a potentially unsafe passage. They took the risk, and paid the price. As soon as they entered, they were ambushed by the Lord’s personal militia; a highly skilled group of men and women with deadly skills and brutal efficiency. The rogues didn’t leave without a fight; they bloodied their noses and broke their knees, but in the end the operation was forced to be declared unsuccessful after they fled for their lives. Days later, the Thieves’ Guild was frantically trying to cover their tracks, only to discover that there was a mole among their ranks. Mozan entered one of their safehouses within the city a tenday after the failed heist; only to discover that the officers in which he was supposed to meet were ruthlessly slaughtered, and Salazar was standing over their corpses with a blade sheathed in crimson. He confessed to his apprentice that it was he who was feeding the militia information on the Guild’s efforts, and when confronted about the lack of honor in that decision, he simply responded to Mozan that they were the group which offered him the most coin. Enraged and filled with despair at the revelation and the loss of his comrades, Mozan drew Vindicator with a roar and engaged his master in pitch combat. Both men landed blow after blow, but in the end it was the student who became the master. The last thing the ranger can remember of Apaxya before his expedient departure was the way Salazar wore his grin, even in death.
The next three years were mostly spent wandering amongst the lands, sampling different alcohols, exchanging stories with strangers, and tracking down different pieces of literature which Mozan wished to research. He ventured from the mountains in the north down into the deserts of the south and everywhere in between. It was in this period of time when Mozan became extremely interested in hunting for treasure, and began to explore long-abandoned ruins in search of clues pointing him toward a new discovery. He never found anything that was extremely noteworthy; a few dated dwarven tools here, an antique chest or piece of furniture there, but he always enjoyed himself and expanded his knowledge from that which it was before his journey began. It was on a journey from the south toward the remains of Silverstar where the news of Brand’s death reached Mozan. He quickly abandoned all plans of exploring his home, and made haste back toward the Nightwood to discover what became of his step-father. Upon learning the cause of his death, Mozan swore that Herald’s reign of terror was to come to an end. By his own hands.
Psychological Profile:
(I had a bit of trouble with this part. Though I feel his personality can be interpreted from this, as well as the explanations I’ve given throughout the CS.)
On first impression, Mozan appears as though he’s an arrogant and condescending man with no patience for foolishness. Though as one gets to know him better, it becomes readily apparent that it is simply difficult to tell when he is being serious in comparison to when he is being sarcastic. He has a strong appreciation for history and literature, and as a result he tends to speak with a more elevated vocabulary in a more lofty way. He is what one would wish to have in a travelling companion; he’s talkative, always has an interesting story to tell, and generally very jovial and friendly. He’s intelligent, rather modest, and usually playful with those he calls friend. As a result of his upbringing under Brand of the Nightwood, Mozan has always been a gentle and kind soul. He will not hesitate to help those who are in need, and his motivation and drive tend to inspire those who walk alongside him. That being said, Mozan has a darker side as well. His birthright, his home, his nobility.. All were ripped away from him without warning for what Mozan perceives as an unjust reason. His soul burns with the fire of the vengeance he wishes to inflict upon his enemies, and he will stop at nothing to accomplish his goals. No man, woman, or child can stop him, be them friend, foe, or family. He’s a thief, but he has honor; he only steals from those who will not miss what is taken, and can provide for themselves. Furthermore, he does not steal for selfish reasons, such as wealth or an edge over his competitors.
All in all, Mozan is a kind, philanthropic noble who holds his friends close to his heart, and will not hesitate to slaughter his enemies and achieve his goals.
Equipment
-Vindicator: The bejeweled Bastard Sword of the Zyrathian family. It’s of masterwork quality, made of dwarven steel and encrusted with a variety of jewells, as well as an elegant engraving.
-Two steel Shortswords, well maintained and well used
-Salazar’s Kukri, dubbed “Ivy” as a result of the vine-like engraving upon the blade.
-A light crossbow made of mahogany, accompanied by 15 bolts
-A dagger strapped to each boot, because you never know what to expect
-Lightly used Studded Leather armor, well maintained and ready for combat in an instant
-Clothing/Cloak, four different outfits neatly rolled up and arranged by quality and color
-Handmade leather adventuring bag, made with the assistance of Brand in his childhood
-50 ft. roll of hempen rope
-Flint and steal
-masterwork thieve’s tools, plus scattered picking equipment hidden in miscellaneous pouches in his leathers for emergencies.
-pouches and belts for additional storage
-A ring inscribed with the crest of House Zyrathian
-A small roll of different colors of make-up for disguise purposes
-A handheld mirror
-A bundle of maps, fastened together with a piece of leather
-Waterskin
-coil of 50 ft. of thin wire used for creating traps.
-Leather Garrote