Name: Captain-General William Barrows
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Appearance:
Personality: Will, at first glance, appears to be a cold and unfeeling young man, often watching things from a distance with almost cat-like eyes and never commenting, a habit that often leads to other members of his band being mistaken for the Captain-General, as few believe it could be this quiet pretty-boy waiting in the wings of a group. This is not helped by his fairly modest (for a mercenary general anyway) weaponry and armor. There are very few of the ornate carvings and trimmings that are so popular with other generals (and even some of his own men), making him look rather drab. This is out of an near obsession with practicality over appearance, something that has not endeared him much to the people he works for, but they overlook it due to the results he gets.
His cold exterior can be replaced with a form of dark charisma, which is often what he uses to persuade men to join him, as well as get contracts. He takes pride in never breaking contracts, although he has seriously considered it on several occasions. He does show a softer side among his captains, but this is still somewhat rare. He rarely shows any attraction to anyone, preferring to hide beneath his work.
Equipment:
A thin serrated bastard sword, forged to allow him to fight in his somewhat acrobatic combat style.
Plate armor, with some removed to allow for mobility. Chainmail underneath it.
A red cloak. He only wears this outside of battle, as it will almost certainly trip over if he tries to wear it in a fight. It does have the upside of making him look somewhat presentable in noble company.
Strengths:
Blade master- Will is an extremely dangerous swordsman, capable of taking on several opponents at once. He has developed his own fighting style revolving around spinning based attacks and always moving.
Tactician- You don't control a mercenary company for six years without a good brain, and Will is no exception, he is capable of thinking of battle plans on the fly, and can make even the most stupid plan work spectacularly.
Charisma- As you can imagine, Will isn't above persuading people to do what he wants, if he needs to. Charm and manipulation are as easy as breathing to him, especially when talking to nobility.
Armorer- Will was an armorers apprentice for several years and still remembers a fair bit of his time there. Although he still hasn't learned everything, he can maintain his own weaponry and armor just fine.
Weaknesses:
Strength- Although Will is incredibly fast, he isn't particularly strong. His fighting style is designed to alleviate this, somewhat.
Company Politics- Will didn't stay at the top of the company without a great deal of intelligence and guile, and he does not intend for this to change. If he believes someone is trying to usurp his position, he will do whatever is necessary to stop them.
Emotional- He acts cold, but there are a few things that can REALLY piss him off. If these occur, he gets angry to the point that he can make mistakes.
Likes: Meat- Hes always had a fondness for eating animals of any kind.
Power- Hes long had a desire for it, ever since he felt the helplessness of being conscripted several years ago. He considers the sensation of seeing a opponent submit to be the sweetest sensation a human can have.
Combat- Cutting through opponents on the battlefield is another hobby of his. He isn't stupid enough to constantly put himself on the frontlines, though.
Dislikes:Cowardice- He looks down on anyone who would abandon their allies. Any members of the company who do this are given the lash.
Needless violence- He only hurts people when he needs to. He has a zero tolerance policy for anyone doing otherwise, in the company or without.
Wasting food- This is just a habit. Probably from all the times he went hungry as a child.
Disorganization-
History: Born in the capital as the second-youngest of six children to a mother and father he doesn't even care to remember, Will did not have a happy life to begin with. His family was poor as dirt, and by the time he was six, three of his siblings were dead. He was often forced to steal to survive, narrowly avoiding punishment on several occasions. Throughout this time, he often looked at the nobility he would sometimes see passing through his district, in their fancy clothing, on purebred horses, flanked by guards who looked almost as grandiose as the people they worked for. In his rare moments of spare time, he would daydream about what it would be like.
When he was nine, he managed to get himself apprenticed to a local armorer. Although it was definitely a step up from his life before, he still found it...unsatisfactory. He managed to stick it out for five years, to the point he almost began to get used to it and come to terms that this is what he was meant to do, to make armor and live a honest life. Of course, this turned out to be a bit off.
With the death of the royal family, several other successors had crowned themselves the new ruler. One of the king's most senior advisers had become the most powerful man in the capital, and he immediately ordered a rite of conscription on as many strong men and boys as possible, in order to meet the armies heading towards the capital. Will was one of these boys, but unlike most of them, he figured out that it was a death sentence. All the professional soldiers were out of the capital, and many of them were joining the usurpers.
Deciding to take his chances, he stole some money, a sword and some chainmail, then proceeded to desert, heading out of the capital to a town he hoped would be untouched by the fighting. It was at this point he met a former lady in waiting for a noble in the capital, whom had a similar idea to him and left before the other armies could get there (not before stealing everything that wasn't nailed down). They decided to work together, pooling the various stuff they had stolen.
However, not before long, they ran into a large group of deserters from the battle, where, unsurprisingly, the adviser's army had been wiped out. They were allowed to hang around, but in doing so, Will saw an opportunity. He began to plant ideas in the minds of the deserters around him, pointing out the war around them, and how soldiers like them might be able to profit. Not before long, many of them saw this slightly odd youth as something akin to a leader, which pissed their actual leader off to no end.
There was an altercation between Will and the former leader, which ended in Will managing to poke him with a spear a few times before ramming it through his skull. (although witnesses wonder why Will's opponent seemed to slow down after the first poke). Will, with Clarissa's help, then turned the ragtag group into an effective fighting force, hardening his soldiers against bandits, before beginning to gain renown among the various groups fighting for the throne.
After four years, the Ragged Blades won their first big battle, managing to trap a enemy company in a gorge and then completely destroying them in a hour of slaughter. Although this earned them all a great deal of money, glory and other things, some of the longer serving members of the company have begun to wonder what is going on in the head of the formerly pleasant armorers apprentice. It has been two years since then, with plenty of battles since. Will still commands as efficiently as he ever has, but some are wondering how ruthless he is going to become.
