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VisynMardyn
βπππ£πππ₯ππ£ ππ¦ππππ£πͺ
βπππ: Mardyn
πΈππππ€ππ€: None so far. He'll likely get a worthy name from his tribe once his trial is complete.
πΈππ: 22
ππ‘πππππ€: Goliath
πΎπππππ£: Male
ππππ¦π‘ππ₯ππ π: Sellsword
πΈππππππππ₯: Neutral good
πΈπ‘π‘πππ£ππππ
βπππππ₯: 8'7
πΉπ¦πππ: He's a thick boned pillar of an individual with a lot of refined muscle.
πΌπͺππ€: Light blue and quite ordinary.
βπππ£: His hair is long, almost black and neatly arranged to a pony tail that reaches well past his shoulders.
ππππ ππ ππ: A relatively bright gray.
πππ₯π₯π π π€/ππππ£π€/βπππ£πππππ€: There are some smaller scars along his belly region, but they are not visible most of the time due to his clothes. Otherwise he's littered with finely drawn tattoos and some naturally occurring, much darker patches of skin.
βππ£π€π πππ ππ₯πͺππ: It has to be simple and sturdy. Mardyn has not so much tolerance for tight clothing, but prefers baggy trousers and thick linen shirts instead. He loves fur whenever it's a little more cold in the night and is not hesitant to expose his bare skin if things become hot.
βππ£π€π πππππ₯πͺ:
Proud * Honest * Feroceous * Introvert * Zealot * Intelligent
βππππ₯ππ ππ€πππ‘ ππ₯ππ₯π¦π€: Unmarried
βπ¦ππ€π₯ππ πππππ£π:
What first impression do you make?
Most of the times I can see fear in the eyes of those who encounter me for the first time. They think I'd trample them and break their things if they provoke me or even accidentally. They are rather hesitant to let me enter their houses or even just to shake hands, but take one or two steps backwards instead. Others see my size as an opportunity to mock me, thinking they're fast and I'm slow and just waiting for me to bang my head somewhere. I've to admit that it's not like they'd actually be wrong with that sort of expectations, but still... Those who can both see that I have eyes in my head and come without any kind of either long lived or spontaneous prejudice are relatively rare and it makes me unhappy.
What are you like in a high stress situation?
That depends on the cause of the stress. Is it about life and death ? Then clearly it is my purpose to live up to my tribe's expectations and to prove that I'm worthy both to myself and to anyone around me. Backing off and giving up is an option, but it's clearly the least preferable one and I'd feel undignified unless the odds really were absolutely uneven. I'm not a reckless man enjoying the rush of adrenaline, but it's the way that has been imprinted on me from my very birth high up in the mountains.
If it's not about life and death, like, for example, sitting at a game of cards and being about to lose a lot of coin, I can get quite a bit short tempered. Yes, I sweat and maybe I'm not even good at maintaining a poker face, but I'm still able to think and weigh my options. I've seen others who already started turning violent at that point.
What are your best and worst qualities?
I'd consider myself to be fiercly loyal to those who have proven themselves, yet at the same time this kind of loyality is not a one-way road as everyone proving himself to me once is bound to be sucked into a torrent of expectations. Said person will have to do it again once the opportunity arises. My tether with other people can snap and just like with any rope or chain under high tension there can be considerable backlash. Oh... and there's another thing: I am indeed prone to suffer from rather unusual circumstances in this environment down here. All those things around me are built for people not even reaching to my breast! Good thing that I'm strong and can fix many things quicker than others!
What is something about yourself that you would never admit to anyone?
I'm afraid of failing and I'm afraid of nothing happening. What is life if there aren't any challenges, even if they're just small ones ? Consider it to be an inherited disease if you like. The weird thing is that I suspect many people to already expect this kind of behavior from me, but I'm too hesitant and introvert to just openly address it. Maybe that's a thing even worse to admit ? And, already seeing the next item of your questionnaire, may I just refer to that for another thing I don't want to say in public ?
What are your dreams?
I know it's quite childish, but what if there was a way to slow down or even stop the process of aging ? I don't want to end up crippled by the tooth of time, yet at the same time I don't want to end my life prematurely just in order to prevent that. That is, however, what my tribe might expect from me one way or the other. It's needless to add that such an invention might greatly help all tribes in general.
If you're looking for something more mundane, then maybe that I dream to become my tribe's leader. Who doesn't want to be in control, to rest at the summit of achievement and to be revered by others ?
How do you want to be seen by others?
Believe it or not, but how about 'normal' ? I mean sometimes it really would be a great step forward if the majority of people would not extrapolate from physical extremes to other aspects of one's entire being. Well respected would be a big bonus on top of that for sure though.
How do you see yourself?
I'd say my life has not been very out of the ordinary so far. I consider myself to be rather average for my kind. I'm strong, loyal and capable overall, but saying I'm the pinnacle of a skilled warrior would be very daring indeed. Time and experience will have to make their judgement about that. Sociability ? Not my forte, but I'm convinced it more often that not doesn't work out because of them and not because of me.
Do you tend to make snap judgements, or stop and think about things?
It's always good to have some sort of plan in advance, but you also need to know when the overall circumstances no longer match your plan's assumptions and predictions. When a plan reaches that kind of situation, then abandon it! I can follow both paper and intuition. Whether it's always right what I'm doing when under a certain regime is an entirely different matter though I'd say.
What haunts you?
What if I come back to my tribe and have nothing to say ? Or what if they don't believe me ? Or what if they simply deem my performance unworthy ? The many gold coins are a good thing to have, but they are no guarantee I'll also get the one thing that has been the main reason for me to embark on this whole endeavour in the first place.
What is your philosophy on life?
No matter what you think about any concepts of the afterlife, any gods or anything around them: According to everyone's very own perception you only got one life and you only live in the present. So make the best out of it, do not purposefully try to prevent others from doing the same, but also do not allow yourself to be hampered by all those many, more pesky individuals.
βππππ₯π€:
- Mardyn is used to being stared at, so sometimes he just stares back at people until they give up.
- Sometimes he keeps chewing on some long blade of grass or even a small piece of soft bark.
βπ πππππ€:
- He has a small collection of minerals. It's not like he'd be carrying it around with him, but in calm moments he might search for unusual rocks and shiny crystals no matter if they're actually very valuable or not.
- Working out. It's not specifically for any kind of fight, but to keep and grow his muscle.
π½πππ£π€:
- Rendering himself ridiculous with some kind of action. There are people who can laugh at such occasions and just shrug it off, but he can't so well.
- Coming back home and realizing that everything was in vain or even worse.
- Growing too old and staying in the state of slow bodily decay for too long.
- Being robbed.
πππππ€:
- Eating and drinking, sometimes in amounts obscene even for his kind.
- Dwarven engineering. They are just the best at it, even if some encounters with it have been rather dangerous.
- Being respected. That by itself probably is quite common among people and thus not really worth mentioning, but in his case it's borderline to being a little overly eager. That is not to be confused with the dishonest kind of a self-promoter however.
- Cold environments, chill air and maybe even some snow on top of it.
- Tattoos. It doesn't have to be fancy warpaint, but decorating one's skin with some harmless colors can just so improve one's appearance!
- Cleverness.
- Music, even though these out-of-tune pianos can degenerate into a lousy background noise at times.
π»ππ€πππππ€:
- Money. No, not the idea of being wealthy, but the idea of exchanging items which by themselves are completely worthless and basing everything on the mere belief that everybody will be willing to give you something of actual value for it. It's an unstable system and whenever there's instability, people with money are either screwed or gain riches they never worked for. Those 15,000 gold coins ? He'll most likely try to spend them on things as soon as possible.
- Cheating in general, not only being cheated.
- Heat. He comes from high in the mountains where there's plenty of sun, but also plenty of cold air and chill winds.
- Hectic individuals.
- Dirty places. It's not like his hut back in his tribe's territory would be a sterile place, but honestly... If you're running a saloon, then please try to dispose of all the vomit on the floor and the dried remains of booze on the tables more than once every other hour. How about... immediately ?
- Being unable to finish his sleep.
ππππ π£πππ₯ππ π:
πΎππππ£ππ ππππππ€:
- Strength - Even without all his training he'd be enormous, but the way he actually is Mardyn can lift with one hand what others couldn't even with both their legs easily. It does clearly come at the cost of some overall speed though.
- Survivalist - Crops don't grow all too well at altitudes where even trees have ceased to be around, so it has been beneficial for him to know what kind of plant or fungus can be eaten more than once in a lifetime. Disemboweling animals and making fresh food out of them has been an activity for him since his early youth.
- Intimidation - Using one's sheer appearance is good, but adding some war cries and howls to it is even better! Actively demoralizing enemies does work, at least sometimes. Those who have him on their side however might even feel a bit more confident than before.
- Acrobatics - He excels at jumping, climbing and activities closely related to these two. What else to expect from a mountain folk guy ?
- Axe throwing - Hurling small metal pieces propelled by chemical compounds is good, but what happens once you've run out of ammunition or there's the need not to cause such an awful noise ? The old ways aren't entirely outdated for a thrown axe can be picked up again in most cases. Mardyn can throw with precision and power and usually keeps a few of those handy weapons around just in case.
- Hardened skin - It does not only look a bit like stone, it also behaves a bit like stone.
πππππππ/ππ‘ππππππ₯πͺ ππππππ€:
- Medicine - There's a thin line between snake oil salesmen and people who know about herbs and other applications that really help. Mardyn can proudly count himself to the latter faction, adding some magic to it as well. He can't do miracles such as re-attaching a torn off limb or bringing back people from the dead, but just in case you got bitten by a venomous snake, hit by a poisoned arrow or narcotized by sniffing too much gunpowder in the morning... ask him.
- Spiritual connection - It's not something he has actively been trained for, but sometimes it seems as if Mardyn could almost communicate with animals of different kinds. It's not the kind of information flow to be expected from a real conversation, but it's enough to have different effects such as calming, motivating, turning them aggressive or in the extreme case even taming. He's also able to summon some smaller spirits to haunt and hurt his foes.
- Track reading - A skill necessary for hunting, but also useful if you want to know whether you're crossing the path of someone or something else that might be dangerous. He can distinguish a lot of different tracks and tell some basic characteristics about the creature or individual in question.
πππ§πππ₯π π£πͺ:
- Large traveling bag - Big and sturdy, this leather item is well suited for carrying around a variety of goods.
- Throwing axes - He prefers carrying around a few of those and they can also serve as makeshift melee weapons if needed.
- Small medicinal pouch - When there's death and decay around you it's better to have some herbs, bandages and concoctions readily available instead of having to search for those first. Your companions might greatly appreciate that.
- Dried mead and fruits - Mardyn needs food... a lot of food.
- Water flask - People say that the sand in the desert flows like water if the winds are right, but have you ever tried drinking sand ?
- Ruggedized clothing - There's enough leather, fur and other padding to it that he could sleep on bare rock with at least some comfort if needed.
βππ€π₯π π£πͺ:
ππ¦ππππ£πͺ:
Mardyn was born in a mountain valley called Edestir high up in the Hallard mountains. It's safe to say that Edestir is pretty much the only place of significant size up there that can sustain a major settlement for any longer period of time. The soil is comparably fertile and the winds not as harsh as around the mountain peaks above, also there's some ore to be found there. Unsurprisingly so Mardyn was expected to pull his young weight with doing field work and also some mining, but from the perspective of his people there also was a problem with this valley...
It is a little boring. Some daring, foreign tongues even claim that it is a little too peaceful for a real Goliath tribe such as the Othiosyyia. Chopping away at stone and swinging the scythe is hard labor, but neither entertaining nor a real proof of one's warrior skills. Therefore the tribe follows a tradition that has already lasted many generations: Every newborn must go on some sort of trial once reaching adulthood, usually a journey that leads out of Edestir and into other regions where challenges are present. It is up to the person under trial him- or herself as to what kind of thing to do, but it is their duty to bring back some proof that they indeed have done something worthy of a true member of the tribe. Whether to drag home a bag full of monsters' heads, deliver some kind of artifact or just tell a believeable story preferably backed up by witnesses is up to each individual's decision, but it is also part of the trial to bear the uncertainty whether the chosen method will suffice.
Luckily the time constraints are rather relaxed, so there was at least some time for Mardyn to do some preparative groundwork before searching for the big thing. His tribe, due to the mining activity, has some contact with the dwarves, so this was the first direction to go. What followed were a series of not so glorious mercenary jobs: escort some valuable goods from A to B, guard the marriage of two important people or just investigate what's going on in these dark woods. It did allow Morvayn to gather both some initial experience and coin and to hone his skills further. Also he got to know some interesting people, one of them being the dwarven master blacksmith Hammac. Having done some jobs for the man, Mardyn was to be granted temporary ownership of one of Hammac's newest achievements: a downsized cannon. However Mardyn was as much a guinea pig as being the receiver of a great honor for the thing was a little experimental and not without risk of exploding in its user's hands. Guess where he's got the scars in his belly region from...
At some point the time was right and it appears that a certain someone has caught wind of a Goliath roaming around and searching for a major adventure. A bunch of griffins and a phoenix should be enough to attract the man's attention, right ? Simply because they are also bound to attract the attention of many bad people that need to be fended off, not to mention that these creatures are difficult to handle themselves. Mardyn was not hesitant to accept as he could start looking forward to several potential rewards at the same time: enough challenge for his trial, enough gold to make it more believeable that he has actually done something significant and last but not least getting to know a lot more of the land and other people.
πΌπ©π₯π£ππ€
βπππ£πππ₯ππ£ βπ¦π π₯π: "You may ride on my shoulders, but don't hold me responsible if you should fall."
πΈππͺπ₯ππππ πΌππ€π: -