Dalsarad is a young man of average height and build, featuring the toned muscle pertinent of a man who has worked in nearly every trade Edessa has to offer. He takes after his father with his dirty blonde hair and blue eyes, and is starting to grow in a short and rough beard like most of the men in his family had around his age. He uses a combination of blade oil and grip wax to style his hair, and doing so has become such a part of his morning routine that even now he upholds the hobby with an almost ritualistic integrity; odd considering he's not one to seem worried about his appearance.
Name: Dalsarad Erborum, though some just call him 'Dal' (Pronounced like 'Doll')
Age: 19, fast approaching 20
Having grown up first in a woodcutting village, then a fishing village, and then a farm, Dalsarad has a very "get it done" mentality, something his father hadn't so much as taught him as he did
exemplify for him. He looked up to his father quite a bit growing up, regardless of his tough attitude towards his son, and Dal doesn't find it unsettling in the slightest that he considers himself to have grown up in his shadow.
One of the more easily defined traits that Dalsarad carries is
passion. Whatever the young man sets his mind to doing he does it to his fullest ability until he deems it complete. Stemming from that comes a sort of tunnel-vision, however, and many have observed that there are times where Dalsarad seemingly can't move on with his life over trivial things that he saw as "incomplete". It's also been noted that he has a deep-seeded fear of both ridicule and failure; all of this comes from his father's harsh treatment, but Dalsarad does his best to remain positive about them, saying they're more like "motivators" than "fears".
Because of that, Dalsarad struggles to not take
himself too seriously, but to let his actions speak for him, thus eliminating any chance of ridicule or (ideally) failure. This comes off as an almost relaxed or carefree demeanor to others featuring a down-to-earth sarcastic humor. As Dalsarad himself puts it: "I don't care until I do." All in all he could be seen as an ideal person for tedious gruntwork, like running a farm, as he doesn't mind doing it, applies himself at doing his best, and relishes results more than anything.
Backstory: Dalsarad is admittedly well traveled, though not by choice. He was born in a small woodcutter's village named Rowanwood in southern Edessa, and it was here that a small towheaded boy would spend the first seven years of his life. His mother was a housewife while his father was a woodcutter, like most able bodies of the village. As soon as Dalsarad was able to hold an ax his father had him working, hacking at smaller trees or having him climb up to cut off bothersome branches on bigger ones. He would establish small quotas for the boy to uphold weekly, and should he not fulfill him, his son would meet his heavy, calloused, workman's hands. Dalsarad's mother would often protest this, saying it would lead to problems in the future, but the boy swore that he loved his father, no matter what.
After those first seven years the Erborum family moved farther north to central Edessa to live Dalsarad's uncle in a laketown creatively named Blue Lake. To this day Dal can't remember exactly
why they moved, but he vaguely remembers his mother acting strange a few months prior. It was in Blue Lake that Dalsarad and his father began work as fishermen under his uncle, who owned a small barge made for lake fishing. More importantly, it was during the weekends where he wasn't on the barge that Dalsarad discovered his love of athletics. He and a few other boys from the town would regularly get together for a few rounds of "boxing" on the beach when the water from other barges soaked the shore. The damp sands- not too soft but not too hard- made for a great arena. Dalsarad feels he practically grew up on that beach. Occasionally the boys wouldn't "box", but would rather play a game they called "Cribbich", wherein stones were thrown at a target with three different sized holes in it for varying values of points. Dalsarad had good aim, and an even better arm. He remembers that when he was in danger of losing, he'd often take the other boys' stones, throw them into the lake, and say it was a draw.
When the barge overturned and Dalsarad's uncle was nearly killed, his family relocated once more, even though they had spent nearly seven years at Blue Lake. They traveled towards the capital and his father used the money he had saved working for his brother to purchase a plot of land to farm. It is here that Dalsarad has lived ever since, not only tilling the fields, but helping his mother with her garden, as well. The young man found he enjoyed the life of a farmer. However, his relations with his father were being challenged. He had recently taken up his son to teach him how to
really fight, having been a marshal earlier in his life and claiming proud membership to the local militia. He taught Dalsarad how to correctly wear and use armor, as well as a sword and shield, and even on weeks where the training was
particularly intense Dalsarad was still expected to fill his quota, no matter how badly his arms were bruised.
In the winter months, when their farm could reap no harvest, Dal's mother taught him how to read and write, having only recently learned, herself. The young man also frequented the taverns on the outskirts of town, where the boxing rinks were to give the angry drunks something to swing at. With those men and women being most of his opposition, Dal managed to become a somewhat accomplished boxer, renowned to at least the frequent patrons of those inns.
When the Varyan Empire invaded, Dalsarad's mother moved into the city while he and his father stayed at the farm to continue their work, as well as defend it from any sappers or spies looking to damage Edessa's infrastructure. Some months later, Dal's uncle showed up at their door- the one who had nearly drowned back at Blue Lake. He brought with him a large crate which the horse seemed too quick to get rid of. His uncle explained that men and women of the Welds were moving north, masquerading as refugees and that he didn't trust them; he'd been moving north and planned to enter the capital but wanted to drop off an old "marshal's cache" to his brother, Dal's father, thinking his yester-years entitled him to do something about the refugees, namely keep them off his brother's land. Contained within this cache were useless badges, rotten sundries, well expired writs and warrants, and an old set of armor.
When things quickly got more intense, Dal's father forcefully moved him into the city with his mother. They lost contact with each other. With the presence of the Varyans, though, Dal wasn't expecting much, and was making plans to lie about his age and join the military when his mother forced him to join the caravan headed into Ardel. It took a great deal of convincing and consoling, but eventually, Dalsarad accepted and was on board.
Skills and Abilities: Novice Woodcutter- It was the early part of his life, so Dalsarad had only taken to the profession for a few years before he and his family moved to Blue Lake.
Journeyman Fisherman- Dalsarad was old enough to be taught how to fish from the get-go, so his father had him fishing out on the barge with him four or five days a week. He was never very fond of it, but he still remembers most of what he was taught.
Adept Farmer/Gardener- The life Dalsarad enjoyed most was that of a farming family. Having also been his most recent profession, Dal is good at crowing crops and has some knowledge of flora from helping tend to his mother's garden.
Trained in Armor Use- Dalsarad is trained in the proper use of armor, thanks to his father, who had served as a marshal for a small southern town before Dal was born.
Trained in Shield Use- Anyone can pick up a shield, but it takes training to know
when to throw that punch block or how to plant one's self to take a heavy blow.
Novice Swordsman- A facet of his father's training, Dalsarad has been taught some sword techniques, though he hasn't yet had the opportunity to use any of them.
Journeyman Brawler- A hobby that Dalsarad has kept to this day has been boxing. It had kept him occupied during the winter months, and with clever bets, earned him a little coin.
Journeyman Thrower- Coming from his time spent playing one of his favorite pastimes, Cribbich, Dalsarad has found he is naturally good at throwing things hard and accurately. To compliment this, he sometimes practiced with small sharpened branches he improvised as javelins when his father was training him.
Equipment: Small Shield, Ironwood w/ iron boss- It had been his fathers, but Dalsarad had trained with it so he relinquished it to his son. It's not large enough that one could "turtle" behind it, but not so small that it's useless.
Saber, Steel- A step up from the wooden weapons his father trained him with. It's your regular run-of-the-mill saber, featuring a knuckle guard and a curved blade intended for slashing. When Dal and his family first moved towards the capital, on their new farm, he met up with one of his old friends from Blue Lake, who was in a similar situation. However, his friend being of a
very wealthy family meant they were moving
into the capital. Nevertheless, the two often went for rounds of Cribbich when they could (It took less time than boxing), and often would place friendly bets with one another. Dal's friend's father was a retired knight and cavalry instructor, and Dal won his old saber after his friend had bet it on Cribbich. He could probably afford ten more, anyway.
A padded jack- Featuring metal reinforcement at the elbows. The accompanying gauntlets are a tad big for Dalsarad's hands, as this armor had once belonged to his uncle, who had been nicknamed "Bearhands". It was this uncle whom had been moving steadily north following the influx of Weld refugees he had grown paranoid of; this paranoia lead to him delivering a cache of old marshal supplies to his brother, Dal's father. Included among the useless old writs and warrants was this set of armor- probably the only useful thing in the box. Being too big for him, Dalsarad was the one to receive it, allowing the boy to put his armor training to a practical use.
Bag of small javelins- Dalsarad purchased these himself. Weighing 700 grams, the wielder can throw these hard without sacrificing too much accuracy.
Leather pack, containing your average travel supplies as well as the following:
- Carrot,tomato, potato, squash, rhubarb, rosemary, thyme seeds. Brought at the behest of his mother.
- Small fishing spear. Unscrews into two "halves" for better portability. It's not as good as the actual thing, and it could never be used to harm anyone, but it catches fish better than empty hands.
- Small gardening tools, with which Dal could plant the seeds he brought.
- Several pairs of leather boots, in which Dalsarad could plant some seeds. Not all of them, certainly, but some of the smaller ones.
- Blade oil and grip wax, which Dalsarad likes to put in his hair.
