Name/Sex/AgeRhys (born Remy)/ Female*/ 24
*Rhys is transgendered, and identifies as a man.*
AppearanceRhys has dark straight hair with greenish eyes. His complexion is a bit pale, largely unmarred with freckles or scars. Rhys is very lean, with a toned build. In a larger city, he would have been a good messenger, running packages and notes to those willing to pay for the expedited service. He has no facial hair-- it isn’t likely that it will miraculously begin to grow anytime soon-- and as a result looks to still be in his teens. He doesn’t bind his chest beneath his shirt, nor does he need to. He has no tattoos or piercings.
PersonalityRhys is friendly outright, but assumes that people don’t like him. He is slow to trust people, and doesn’t think anyone will ever be able to compare to his twin brother, who left home to explore. He was a role model, and Rhys often adopts his traits when he is conflicted about what to do, putting on a façade when he is able to get over his own skittish nature.
Rhys might seem like a walking contradiction at times, because he is still trying to figure out his place in the world. Sometimes, he is sure that he can play music to soothe the soul, and other times he is convinced that music is a waste of time and energy, and he should be devoting it all to improving the traps he builds, and more ‘useful’ hobbies.
BackgroundLocated along the eastern shore in the middle of the Hundred Realms, the King’s castle was in the hearty center of the near peninsula, and was well-protected by the water on three sides. There were a few larger cities, that cropped up near the western ports. The journey by sea wasn’t far, and it was easier than traveling north to where the land met, but both were riddled with their own perils. The King didn’t like people leaving his home, and it had been said that the ships along the shore were all his own, and people trying to buy themselves passage only bought themselves into slavery instead.
The journey to the northern land was not easy either, as it was common knowledge that the ruler to the North was far more savage and cruel than their own lord. Perhaps the rumors were spread by her own king, to keep her people from protesting, but the rumors became the bedtime stories that kept children from sneaking out from their homes. It was said that in the Northern kingdom, the King’s men snatched children from their sleep and dragged them away from their homes, forcing them to mine. It was said that the women were raped and the men who fought them beaten and starved. It was said that the savagery of the North was more terrifying than the slavery to the West.
Born as Remy, she was the second child born of a set of triplets. The third died in childbirth. That left Remy and Rhys, born only a few minutes before her. Rhys was a good elder brother, and their father was as kind as he was fixated upon his work. Remy and Rhys were always attached, with Remy following in her brother’s footsteps.
As she grew older, Remy identified with her brother far more than she identified with other girls in the village. She would often dress up as the men they heard about in stories, the ones who fought beasts and defended those who could not defend themselves. She had no interest in the things they liked, and embraced the hobbies that her brother preferred, instead. He was a hunter, and she was the trapper. They were a perfect team, and nobody understood or accepted her like her brother. But Remy wasn’t the only one who didn’t feel like she fit in. Her brother left home when they reached adulthood. He wanted to learn what else there was out there, to explore, and go to the west. He invited her to come too, but Remy was too frightened and refused. What was there to the West that they did not have in their home? What could be found there that was neat heartache and despair? She thought that by refusing, he would come to his senses and stay, or return the very next day.
He did not return.
After her brother left, she was heartbroken. She couldn’t cope with him being gone. No one else understood her, no one else accepted her, and so she cut away her fears by chopping off her long, feminine hair. She put on her brother’s clothing that was left behind, embracing the person she always wanted to be, but was too scared to become.
Remy always knew she didn’t feel like a woman, and so adopting her brother’s name felt as natural as any other. But those in her home couldn’t cope with that, and so she left as well. She might have been a few months too late, but she went to follow in his footsteps, to find him and help him explore the wilderness to the west. After all, they were always the perfect team.
Rhys set off with a large backpack, going along the road to the North, the same way
his brother had before.
MotivationThough he knows that it is far-fetched, Rhys is on a search for answers. He wants to know what happened to his brother, and doesn’t want to believe that he could be dead. Even if he is, Rhys wants to have the adventure that his brother always dreamed of in his stead.
EquipmentRhys wears simple clothing, acquired from his brother and various vendors in the beginning of his journey. He wears a green tunic, brown pants, and brown boots. He has a light-weight cloak with a hood, to stop the wind and rain as well, though it has been patched in a few places. Rhys has a small bundle of colorings for skin and hair, something he purchased when he came across his first larger city, to help decide if he wanted to have certain features in this new identity. He keeps lock-picking tools, a set that his brother had left behind when he left home. (He also has supplies for his monthlies.) He has a knife in his boot, as well as another on his waist, which is more often used for cutting rope and sticks for traps than it is for self-defense.
TraitsSkittish
Sprinter
Hardy
Woodsman
Burglar
Trapper
Basic Weapons
Theatric (proficient with disguises)