Name: Garem Vursk
AppearanceWith a smile and a wink, Garem is nothing if not ruggedly handsome, with a charming, charismatic aura that pervades the smoothness and charm that the man's aura pervades. From his wild, black hair, to his black goatee, Garem's appearance is one of wild charisma.
Indeed, Garem's appearance is all part of the package and appearance that he wishes people to see. Everything has its place, and everything has its purpose, and for him, he would not have it any other way.
His dark eyes are full of light and promise. When one looks into them, they see the promise of adventure and a life they could not possibly imagine. They see a doorway leading into another world, a world that while, perhaps wild and dangerous, is one of excitement and infinite possibilities. His smile steals both hearts and souls, and many a fawning lady would die just to see it for only a few seconds.
His leather jerkin and black tunic looks on the surface like it offers little protection from an incoming blade, yet it is possessed of some strange enchantment that renders it more effective than normal. This, combined with his breeches, simply emphasises the fact that here is a man that lives life on the edge..
PersonalityGarem looks like he lives life on the edge, and his actions fully back that image. He is a wild thrillseeker who looks to live life to its fullest. In doing so, Garem doesn't give a damn who he annoys. All those stuffy, fuddy-daddy boring muppets stand in the way of him and his fun. Rafting down a waterfall on a boat split down the middle? Check. Playing chicken with a hill giant? Check. Jousting with dragons? He's got it covered.
Garem lives life solely for the moment. He tends to not get bogged down in inconsequential matters like possible long-term consequences of his actions. Life is for living and damned if he is not going to enjoy every goddam moment that he possibly can. And if he goes down, fine, but damn if he isn't going to take everyone else down with him and still come out of the other side unscathed.
Garem is a man of many admirable traits, but he is also a man of many vices, an unfortunate gambling addiction being one of them. Carrying around a set of loaded dice with him, Garem simply cannot help but challenge any random passers-by to games of chance. Being a thrillseeker, Garem is not beyond letting the dice decide his next actions for him, introducing a level of randomness and chaos that is his calling card. In addition to this, Garem is fond of taverns, booze, and wenching, but not necessarily in that order.
He is a wild, primordial force of chaos, one that cannot be tamed.
BackgroundGarem was born with the luck of all the gods on his side. Garem was destined for so, so much from an early age. And the young Garem had a fierceness, strength of will and sheer stubbornness to cheat fate and make his life so much better than anything that they could imagine
Garem Vursk was the youngest of two brothers. In the city of Alhaster, his family was a well-known and wealthy one. "Was" being the operative word. The Vursk family, with the exception of Garem, is no more. They had been marked by a dark and powerful family. On one dark night, the Vursk manor ran red with blood and burned with flames brought forth from the power of darkness. Assassins targeted Garem's home, murdering his father and mother in cold blood.
Garem never knew who ordered the attack, he only knew that the assassins were not as thorough in their task as they believed. The last remaining scion of the Mortliasta family, Garem escaped the attack, fleeing into the shadows that consumed his home beneath a tidal wave of destruction.
He fled to Greyhawk, with nary more than the clothes on his back, and a desire for vengeance. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on which way you looked at it, Garem did not walk the streets of Greyhawk alone for long. He drew the attention of certain individuals in the city, in this case a shadowy guild known as "The Sewer Rats". Taken in by this collection of nefarious people, they fell under the watchful eye of the guildmaster, an enigmatic individual known only as the Red Hand. What he saw in the boy was never explained. It was enough that he was, and he spared no expense in training him in the ways of the shadow. He was to stalk the night like a ghostly wraith, targetting the rich and the well-to-do. From those people Garem would steal indiscriminately, relieving them of their riches and valuables. It was in the guild that Garem met his beloved, the beautiful and gracious thief Vanna, and the two fell in love, a whirlwind romance that would end in tragedy.
Perhaps that was what the mysterious Red Hand saw - an extremely talented individual who would serve his cause well. This continued for a number of years, Garem and Vanna working together, until perhaps inevitably, the duo stole off the wrong individual. In this case a man called Zelkyr, a necromancer of not inconsiderable might. As they tailed the man, Garem felt a strange sensation in the pit of his stomach. Fear. It was something he had not felt before. He should have noticed the colour of the robes that the man wore - black robes that, had Garem been paying more attention, would have identified the man..... Stopping his beloved in his tracks, Garem spoke to Vanna, imploring her to give this heist up and leave the prey alone. Vanna was stubborn and impetuous though, and refused to let any target go. Staying back as she walked the night, stalking silently up to her prey, Garem clenched his fist in fear. Vanna reached into Zelkyr's pocket and withdrew a large gem. A circular stone of darkest night. At that precise moment though, something happened. Something that would burn itself in Garem's memory indelibly for all eternity.
The necromancer stopped and turned to face Vanna, sensing her presence. He hissed, shaking a clenched fist.
"You have escaped! And you try to steal that which you have not earned little thief!"Vanna turned to Garem, shouting at him,
"Flee!"Yet she was too late, a dark beam shooting out from the necromancer's outstretched hand, striking Vanna squarely in the back. Her eyes widened in pain as her mouth opened to scream. A scream that never came forth as she turned into a pile of dust, the gem falling and bouncing on the floor.
Garem escaped that night, but his soul was twisted and darkened by what he had witnessed and been through. He left Greyhawk, travelling to the port city of Sasserine, fearful of any repercussions from the necromancer, or the guild he had left without a word. And there he dwelt, nursing thoughts of vengeance. Vengeance against the ones who had destroyed his family, and vengeance in particular against the man who had struck down his beloved Vanna.