Thorberg Flintlock

[Thorberg]

Name: Thorberg Flintlock

Age: 60

Race: Dwarven

Height: 4' 6"

Weight: 250lbs

Physical Description: Thorberg stands with the typical stocky gait of a dwarf, with his head reaching the height of just below the level of an average human's shoulders. His build does nothing to detract from the stereotypical image of his race; his waist is adorned by a large belly earned from the debauchery that comes with the love for ale and other alcoholic beverages. His thick arms come from repeatedly swinging a hammer down onto a forge. The fact that his left arm seems just slightly more muscled than his right might tell an astute observer that he favors that hand when wielding a hammer at the forge.

Greasy black hair falls uncut to just at his shoulders. It doesn't seem to want to grow past that point on its own. By a stark contrast to that shaggy and unkempt mane, Thorberg's beard is kept constantly combed and braided. Its length reaches to his waist. The ends are typically tucked into his belt to keep it restrained and out of the way as he goes about his daily business. Underneath all of that that is a craggy, pitted careworn face that is just as effective at appearing jovial and friendly as it can portray a condescending scowl. Brown eyes stare out from bushy black eyebrows.

Typically Thorberg keeps his attire simple and practical. Due to his profession and the physical exertion it takes, he just simply sees no point in ruining fancy clothes with sweat or the heat and sparks from a forge. Thorberg is often seen wearing plain but thick leather breeches and a sleeveless vest made of a similar material. The color of this clothing usually varies between either black or plain leather brown, he carries more than one pair and due to the nature of his work they are always constantly getting torn or pitted with burns and eventually replaced. His only idea of what constitutes 'fine wear' comes from the only thing he takes pride in; his work. During his travels from location to location in order to ply his wares, Thorberg usually wears his armor over his typical attire.

Possessions: Thorberg keeps things rather simple and modest. About the nicest things he own are his axe, and his armor.

Though not too terribly skilled with the axe, it was passed down from his father, who had passed it down from his father and so on. As an heirloom, Thorberg was rather obligated to accept it and it has seen its use. He typically wears it only during his travels for protection. Mostly it remains stored safely and lovingly away wherever Thorberg takes up residence. A large two-handed weapon, the blade is double-sided and the ends curve slightly, giving it a corkscrew sort of look. The shaft is made of the same steel as the blade, and then wrapped in leather.

Thorberg's armor is a simple affair, but some of his best work. It has its share of dents and scrapes, as traveling abroad comes with its share of troubles on the road. But being a blacksmith as his trade, it's taken care of and maintained well enough. Made of a similar steel as his axe, it was crafted to cover mainly his chest. His arms are left bare for mobility, and plate-style gloves are worn over his hands with their ends extending up to his forearm that fasten to that with a leather strap and buckle. Over his legs are pieces of plate. They have their gaps where they seperate at the joints, but again as one who travels frequently this was done to preserve mobility and comfort for his ease of travel. This setup is comprised of four pieces per leg; a piece to cover the upper front and a piece that covers the upper back of his legs. The front upper pieces extend to cover his knees, while the back leave that area slightly exposed so that he can keep his mobility. The bottom pieces similarly cover the front and back of his shins. Steel-shod boots are worn in place of his typical leather boots. All of the armor pieces are decorated with some celtic-style runes around the trim. Thorberg almost exclusively only wears this during his travels, as it is rather inconvenient to work a forge in such a stifling and cumbersome attire.

The only other item of importance Thorberg keeps is his blacksmith's hammer. This is almost always worn on a belt around his hips and he typically carries it wherever he goes. As he uses this to ply his trade and make his money, he is very attached to this particular item. Since he almost always carries it, if one starts any trouble with Thorberg this is likely the first thing he would reach for to brandish against them.

Personality: Thorberg Flintlock is a prideful dwarf. The honor of his family and clan name are meaningful to him, and he is confident of himself and means to represent the Flintlock name as best he can. Thorberg avoids being arrogant, but he can be stubborn and his pride leaves little tolerance for insults. He is quick to fly off the handle at any slight against him, perceived or otherwise. His basic attitude is to offer respect when he is shown it, and return disrespect with plenty of disrespect of his own.

Thorberg's best skill is his blacksmithing. He plies his trade well. He can negotiate and haggle prices with the best of them, but has also learned through experience that often if you want to make a profit then you have to compromise. He often uses this insight when dealing with others outside of business, but he can't help being the stubborn bastard that he is and he wouldn't openly admit his compromises to anyone but himself. In this regard he is dwarven through and through; outwardly he refuses to back down and even when he does back off he tries to make it out to seem like he's the one who's coming out ahead. Similarly, he keeps his wounded or sensitive feelings largely to himself and presents a surly, gruff and strong presence to others. While he's clearly convinced this works out in his favor, it can obviously work against him at times as well.

Thorberg isn't so much a fighter as he is a brawler. He focuses his skill on blacksmithing and because that's what he loves doing he obviously isn't spending his time training in the art of combat. That's not to say that he can't hold his own; the nature of his work has given him a strong arm and he is constantly getting burns and other injuries. This has given him a pretty decent resilience to pain and he can take a pretty good beating. His stubborn nature has led to his share of fights in bars or taverns, and he's been through his troubles out on the road. But if Thorberg were to go up against a seasoned veteran of combat who does so for a living, even though he wouldn't admit it or back down he's not likely to win that fight.

Strengths:

• Blacksmithing
• Good pain tolerance derived from his tradeskill
• Good negotiating/haggling skills
• High regard for family and community ideals and honor
• Attempts to avoid arrogance
• Willful; refuses to back down

Weaknesses:

• Alcoholism
• Stubborn
• Pride can also get in the way, leading to negative responses towards insults perceived or otherwise
• Impatient
• Willful; refuses to back down
• Not a trained veteran of combat; brawls like a bull in a china shop

History: The dwarves of clan Flintlock settled in a mountain stronghold far to the north above the Sooqui Plains. Their community is roughly the size of a small village and isn't large or even renowned enough to show up on most maps. Despite this, a small handful of regular traders who know of their location have been known to stop through to trade. Clan Flintlock has their own traders who also strike out to other surrounding communities to ply their wares.

Their clan is led by a Thane who is chosen by the inhabitants when the former one either dies or grows too old to handle the responsibility. The new Thane typically ends up being a son or other close relative of the old Thane, although that result isn't entirely intentional as it is circumstantial. The next commonly chosen Thane is just usually someone close to the former Thane who knew him, had been around him, and had helped him the most in his duties to govern the folks of Clan Flintlock. Thus while this is commonly a close relative, it can just as easily be a former close friend of the Thane. Ultimately it boils down to who the inhabitants choose is best suited to the task in a meeting they call a Thanesmoot.

Although not every denizen is related by blood, they all take on the surname of Flintlock. This is done as they widely believe that this brings the community closer together, and causes most to have fierce pride in the clan as a whole and to represent it well. As a result, almost all of the dwarves of Clan Flintlock can recite their own personal family lineage for several generations past and that is how they can differentiate their own individual families from each other. It is common when formally introducing themselves to others that they name themselves and follow up with "son of" or "daughter of", and name off a generation or two. Thorberg might formally introduce himself by saying "I am Thorberg Flintlock, son of Dolof, and Balund before him." Most leave it at that, unless further inquiry is made.

Obviously those of the clan Flintlock have their various professions. A community needs hunters and gatherers, seamstresses and clothes makers, and anything else essential for a small community to survive. But by and large, the bulk of Clan Flintlock ekes out their living by either mining their mountain of ore and minerals, or they take up the trade of blacksmithing to form that ore into weapons, armor, or other useful items which are then brought out of their mountain by merchants in order to try to sell to other communities.

Such it was that Thorberg's own family were primarily blacksmiths. Thorberg's father, Dolof, was a blacksmith. His father Balund was a blacksmith before him. Although not always the case, a son typically begins helping his father in his work as soon as he is a responsible enough age to be expected to help support his family and such it was with Thorberg. By the time he was 10 years old, Thorberg was assisting his father at their forge. His tutelage at such a young age obviously started off small, the bulk of it involving fetching tools for his father and suffering through lectures about the various processes of the tasks his father carried out and why they were important to the craft. Eventually as Thorberg reached the age of twelve he was allowed to take part in crafting smaller things like nails, horseshoes, and other necessary tools until he was finally crafting weapons and shields alongside his father.

Thorberg eventually took over entirely by the time he turned twenty years of age. His father had died at an age of two-hundred and fifty, a woefully early age for such a long-lived race as theirs. A rather gruesome ordeal, it had happened when Dolof and Thorberg were helping his uncle Eldgrimur load up a wagon of their forged goods. Eldgrimur was one of Clan Flintlock's tradesmen, and Thorberg had occasionally accompanied him during his travels and had watched his uncle Eldgrimur trade and haggle. Thorberg had intended to accompany Eldgrimur on this particular trip, but as they were loading up his uncle's wagon the horse had spooked.

It was a new mare, Eldgrimur had been forced to obtain it after his former horse had grown lame on the way back from his last journey. Eldgrimur had had no choice in the matter, but it was generally preferred to keep horses that were raised and trained within the noisy confines of Flintlock's mountain stronghold because those animals were used to all the loud noises and dank smells coming from the numerous forges within. Eldgrimur had been advised by those close to him to rid himself of the horse, but like the rest of Thorberg's family he was stubborn. He'd paid well for the horse, and he was still upset that he'd been forced to put down his old one. "I'll not be wastin' good bishani on a bloody Gods-be-damned single trip beast!" he declared, and that was that.

It was a declaration that Eldgrimur came to regret, and one that Thorberg had a hard-time forgiving him for. The horse had spooked and reared up, jarring the wagon as Eldgrimur and Dolof had been loading up a crate of forged steel weapons. The crate had fallen and burst open, and a sword had stabbed right through the chest of Thorberg's father. The weight of the crate subsequently falling on them had ensured the sword stabbed clean through. Mercifully, Dolof's death was instant. So was Thorberg's grief and anger. With the same sword that had felled his father, Thorberg unceremoniously tore it from Dolof's chest and stormed towards the spooked horse. Stunned onlookers watched as with a mighty swing that surprised even himself, Thorberg embedded the blade halfway through the horse's neck. A few more blows severed it completely before he dropped the sword and left it there in the dirt and blood of his grisly deed. Those who enjoy juicy gossip will swear Thorberg cleaved the horse's head off in one clean blow, although the strength required to do such an act is ridiculously silly. During Dolof's funeral pyre Eldgrimur had tried to apologize to Thorberg for his reluctance to replace the horse with a good Flintlock one, but that had turned into a fierce brawl. To this day Thorberg remains estranged from the uncle he had once been very fond of.

After the pyre, Dolof's remains were buried in his family's tomb in the lower depths of Flintlock's mountain stronghold where they laid their dead to rest. Dolof's blacksmithing hammer was put with his remains at Thorberg's insistence. He knew his father would have wanted him to keep it and use it at their forge. Dolof insisted the hammer had a magical quality to it, that it vastly improved the quality of his work. It had been passed down and used for generations in the family. Thorberg wrote that off as nonsense. His father's work was good, far surpassing that of Thorberg's. But that was simply because Dolof was much better than Thorberg as far as he was concerned. Still it was a boast that Dolof always liked to make, crediting his quality to his hammer more than his own skills and claiming that if only he knew more about it that hammer would make him some powerful items. Thorberg had no use for magic. Sure, it was plain that it existed and had its uses. But dwarves had little use for magic. Thorberg had more regard for his own two hands and what he could plainly see in front of him.

That didn't stop the gossip mongers from talking about Dolof's hammer long after his death. The topic always came up when Dolof's death was discussed, and most always tried to convince Thorberg to open his father's tomb and have someone skilled in identifying such things to have a look at that hammer. The thought only served to enrage Thorberg. "I'll not be disturbin' my father's rest for such nonsense, ye bloody dolt! Now off with it!"

Indeed, any topic at all regarding his father's death typically brought out a bitter and angry response from Thorberg. The young blacksmith was very fond of his trade, and since his father had been the one to teach him Thorberg had been the closest to him. Out of their whole community, and even within his family, Thorberg had seemed to take the hardest blow from Dolof's death. His mother, Aslief, had been especially concerned for him. She had lost her husband; essentially her other half. Yet Thorberg was the one who seemed to be taking his grief the hardest of all. For a time he would sit morose, not wanting to face entering the seemingly empty forge as it only served to drive home his father's absence from it. It finally fell to Aslief and Thorberg's sister, Eyfinna to drive him out of the house and send him back to work. They had to point out that with Dolof gone, it would be up to Thorberg now to take over Dolof's work and support them. Eldgrimur had also made attempts to reason with Thorberg, but had eventually given up because Thorberg still blamed his uncle for Dolof's death and refused to let that go. Any talks Eldgrimur tried to have with his nephew only degrated into arguements and physical assaults.

Thorberg still loved his craft, but it was tainted now with the sadness over the loss of his father and he would return home in a foul temper. It was Eyfinna who suggested Thorberg might want to take up another trade entirely to take his mind off the circumstance of their father's death. "Bloody outrageous!" Thorberg fumed. "I'll not turn me back on Father's memory so!" So it was that she suggested he at least take on something in his spare time to distract him. Dwelling on Dolof's death wasn't healthy. She argued that while their father would be touched that Thorberg felt at such a loss without him, he wouldn't have wanted it to bring his son to ruin. Thorberg, stubborn as ever, wouldn't hear any of it. But stubbornness was an attribute that ran in the entire family. A few days later Thorberg came home to find Eyfinna giving him a smirk as she stood over a small keg in their kitchen.

"What're ye about, Eyfinna? Ye got that schemin' look on yer face." he demanded.

"Dear brother, ye look like ye had such a rough day. Come share a cup o' brew with yer little sister and I'll tell ye all about my schemin' plots."

Thorberg had to admit it was one of the best brews he tasted, and when he asked where she'd gotten it Eyfinna only told him that if he wanted more he'd have to make it himself. She'd taken it upon herself to obtain everything he'd need from Sigfinnur, a dwarf who had been a close friend of the family ever since Eyfinna and him were close childhood friends. The two would likely be wed when they felt the time was right. Sigfinnur's family provided clan Flintlock's few modest bars and taverns with most of the alcohol that wasn't imported in. He'd told Eyfinna that he didn't mind 'a wee bit o' competition' as long as it helped to bring her brother out of the rut he'd dug for himself, and had even provided her with his family's best recipe to show his sincerity.

Oddly enough, Eyfinna's idea worked. Though perhaps not in quite the fashion she'd intended. Thorberg went ahead and set the apparatus up outside behind their home, and Sigfinnur showed him the basics, brewed his first batch with him in order to show him the ropes of the trade, and then left him to it. Thorberg spent the next forty years indulging himself in his newfound hobby, experimenting and coming up with his own clever concoctions. But his new distraction came at a price.

Thorberg still found it difficult to enter his forge and not reminisce on the memories that he and his father had shared. Only when he was tinkering with his brewing and getting completely drunk in the process did he take his mind off of the matter. It wasn't long before he began bringing his concoctions to the forge. He no longer dwelled on his father while he toiled, but a whole new crop of problems arose for him as he developed his habit. As long as he was getting drunk at the forge, the quality of his workmanship dropped considerably. Sober, he was one of the best blacksmiths that clan Flintlock could boast. But nobody was happy with the quality of his work while drunk, and as a result of these inconsistencies many who had come to his family's forge began to look elsewhere. His uncle Eldgrimur tried to explain to him the problems this was causing as he took their family's goods out on the road, but Thorberg wouldn't hear any of it from him. The rift between them only grew even further.

Eyfinna also grew more distant from her brother. She blamed herself for what had become of Thorberg, and as a result she was the hardest on him regarding the matter. They would erupt into arguements in their home, and she would call him a filthy drunk and accuse him of bringing their family to ruin. She would tell him that he was only soiling their father's name when he should be honoring it with his work, which would only further enrage Thorberg and he would storm off to tinker with his brews and only get more drunk in the process. Even Thorberg could see that he wasn't bringing in as much coin to the family as he used to, and after many years of this he resorted to selling some of his concoctions to the local establishments to bring in some bishani on the side. Eyfinna only caustically retorted that at least some good was coming out of this debacle but he'd do better to sober up and step it up at the forge.

It wasn't until the fortieth year following Dolof's death that the matter his father's hammer came back to haunt him and Thorberg gave it more serious consideration. A human visitor showed up inquiring of such a rumor and when Thorberg caught wind of it, he flew into a rage. Hunting the man down, he didn't even bother asking for a name. He angrily informed the man that if he knew what was best for himself he'd let the dead lie in peace and take his business outside of Flintlock stronghold. Thorberg was not about to tolerate some outsider coming in with ideas of desecrating his father's tomb. "My father loved that damned hammer, an' t'was held in his hands every day he toiled! Ye'll be seein' yerself off now, his hands are where that hammer belongs an' thats where it stays!"

To Thorberg's dismay, his father's hammer didn't stay there much longer than that. Dolof's tomb was found disturbed, the hammer missing shortly after that stranger had left. Angry at his community for continuing the gossip of his father's hammer long after his death, he blamed them for the strange man finally arriving to ask about it. He demanded to know what the man's name was, although likely it had been a false one. The man had claimed his name was Bergsveinn, and when he'd been asked why he was interested in the heirloom he'd maintained that he was only willing to discuss that with Thorberg. That was all anyone knew about the visitor. He wouldn't say where he had come from or where he was going. But Thorberg vowed he would find out.

His uncle Eldgrimur offered to look for the man, as the dwarf constantly was out and about in his travels to sell Flintlock forged goods. But Thorberg's grudges and stubbornness hold fast and long, and he refused Eldgrimur's help declaring he would look himself. His mother begged him not to leave. Aslief argued that she'd already lost a husband, and as a result their family was falling apart. This would only rend their family further. She didn't want to lose her son to this madness. She told Thorberg to drop the matter, it wouldn't change the fact the Dolof was still dead. Eyfinna had a completely different opinion. She fumed that maybe Thorburg should go, that if it would take him from his brews for a while maybe he'd come back with his act together and do better at their forge. She further infuriated him by suggesting that Eldgrimur could help support them until he came back. That was almost enough to convince Thorberg not to go, but in the end the rage over the desecration over his father's grave won out. Surprisingly enough, so did a suggestion from Eldgrimur himself. Eldgrimur still carried regret over the part he played in Dolof's death, and also blamed himself for how it had come to consume his nephew. He planted the seed in Thorberg's head that perhaps it would fall to Eldgrimur to help support Thorberg's family during his absence to help make amends for Dolof's death. Thorberg grudgingly admitted that Eldgrimur owed that debt, though deep down Eldgrimur's true motivations for the offer were because his opinions mirrored Eyfinna's. Eldgrimur hoped Thorin would return with his act cleaned up, hammer or not. Thorberg declared that as Dolof's son, the responsibility of supporting his family ultimately boiled down to himself. He would return with his father's hammer, and he would be redeemed. His family would have to admit that he wasn't a drunken screw up, his community would have more respect for him, and things would finally be set straight.

And so it was that Thorberg set out, looking at every village, town, or location he stopped to stay at for word of any visitors matching the description of the one who took his father's hammer. He would stay for a short time, working a local forge to earn just enough money to move on to the next lead. His search finally brought him to the city of Marn. He had heard talk of the renowned city, but hearing and seeing are two completely different things. Thorberg was simply breath-taken. His home of Flintlock stronghold was just a speck of dust compared to the sheer size and population of Marn. And that was to say nothing of the technological advances to be seen as well. The clan of Flintlock were modest people. They used torches and candle light, not electricity. Anything that required massive strength to move was done by beasts of burden, not complicated machinery. But beyond all that wanderlust Thorberg was also apprehensive. He would be showing up to a city that held little trust for magic, and he would be inquiring frequently about an alleged magical item. Never mind whether he believed it was magical or not, to him it was a heirloom that belonged to his father and family honor demanded he see it returned. But he would have to tread carefully if he found the hammer here.

[Thorberg]

A few comments here I didn't want to add to the profile its self. I couldn't really drudge up a place where plenty of dwarves come from, so figured I'd give him the Flintlock community to hail from. If it's too presumptuous of me to add a new locale to the world, I'll change that and apologies in advance. I tried to make it a modest, fairly unimportant and unheard of place even though they do rely on a little bit of trade.

Also this hammer he's looking for. Not entirely sure I've decided exactly where I'm going with the plot, guess that'll develop as I write. Right now its only purpose is to give Thorin a goal, so if he ever finds this thing it's going to be a long time coming. But I figure you guys might be curious enough to bring that up. I'm undecided if he gets his hands on it and it turns out to be just a normal, regular hammer as he thought all along, or whether it really will have some magic to it that enhances his blacksmithing or allows for the creation of something powerful. If it comes to that, then clearly that route is going to have some incredible limitations to it haha. I figure if it ever gets to that point, I'll probably bring that up beforehand and clear some ideas with you all first.

[Frug]

Hello,

Before anyone takes a look at this, you will need to lose the wow screenshot as your avatar and in the profile. We don't take movies or famous people as avatars, this goes for video games as well.

[Thorberg]

Alright, that's not a big deal. Just a hasty screenshot out of convenience lol. I think even though the beard doesn't quite fit the bill, I like this image with him taking to the forge.

Edit - Also realized it sounds a little silly to picture a 10-year-old dwarf crafting weapons and such. Wasn't quite what I had in mind, mostly just wanted to instill that he had an early upbringing with blacksmithing. But I realized that it might seem that way, so I expanded on that bit in his history because a young child helping his father is going to start out small by being told to fetch this or that, and get mostly lectured before he's trusted to get his hands dirty in the tasks.

[Saruna]

Hello and welcome to Thar! I apologize for the length of time that has gone by without anyone looking at this app.

Alrighty, the strengths and weaknesses section. I agree that often a trait goes both ways, and for the sake of brevity and comprehensive reading it does make more sense to put them together to give it a better flow. However, the reason we keep them separate has more to do with ease of mods picking them apart to ensure a character is properly balanced (because what I might perceive to be a character strength you might perceive as a character weakness. It also makes it easier to see what needs expansion). So, if you could separate them out (which yeah, will mean a bit of repetition) I'd be most grateful.

For the history, the only settlement within Thar Shaddin is the Marn/Shim cities. So Thorin's clan likely lives within another Thar in the Sooqui Plains, though they'd likely be further north than 60 miles as the majority of that middle area is plain/steppe. Minor distinction, really, but important for continuity. Also, given your second post, dwarven settlements can be found in the south of the main Eyropa landmass (Apthoni, which isn't added to the map and is a province in Eyropa covering the Italian peninsula and a bit of france has a mountainous region along its upper western coast extending into the north which could be a good place for dwarves. I think we'd also discussed dwarves living in the central-north area of eyropa -- but they're also more than capable of having clans and mountain strongholds on the northern end of the Sooqui Plains).

I would like to see one or two events during the forty years that helped define who he became in the intervening time. A lot can happen in one year, much less forty.

You have three names from copyrighted content, and fairly famous content at that, I'm going to ask you to change them, including Thorin. Even while the characters are not exactly the same, there's enough similarities that I'd feel better to see the names altered. You can appeal to Frug if you'd like to keep them as is.

The hammer having a potential of magic and power is fine so long as the rp leading up to it makes sense and you show in the time between now and then that you are responsible enough to has powerfulartifact without going around murderspreeing on npcs. When he does get it, we'll have you unlock the app and add it and its abilities into the app, and we'll reapprove from there.

Otherwise I like the app. If you have any questions/comments please leave a comment here; send myself, Stella, Niabi, Frug or Katona a pm; or hop into chat whenever you see someone in there.

[Thorberg]

Alright, no prob haha. Who were the other two names? His father and uncle? I knew I was taking Thorin's first name from a major book/motion picture but the others I was drawing a blank on and pulled up a site that listed good dwarvish-sounding names. Actually, no, scratch that. I think the name Elgrim came to mind from Skyrim, Elgrim's Elixirs in the city of Riften. Though only Thorin's first name was meant to be a reference to anything lol. Either way names are just names, it's no big deal to change em'. And I'll move Flintlock Stronghold to the Sooqui Plains, that sounds pretty good. I was afraid you'd all see a little community I made up and outright say "Oh, hell no!" lol.

Yeah, he couldn't have remained stagnant and the same for 40 years, I was kind of considering that a little earlier. I'm thinking since I mentioned a love of alcohol being responsible for his gut, he becomes an alcoholic. Maybe the other side of the coin on why he finally leaves his community as well is because even though he's a damn good blacksmith when he's hitting the alcohol at the forge the quality of his work suffers and he becomes a bit ostracized for that. I don't know though, blacksmithing is his big strength since he's not much of a fighter... in fact that tidbit was inspired a bit by 300 when Leonidas is getting shit from the other guys that joined up with them and they tell him he didn't bring as many soldiers as he did and he retorts by asking a bunch of them what their profession is. And since all those guys were masons and other tradeskills Leonidas' retort is "See, I brought more soldiers than you after all." That was a pretty good point and I figured well, if Thorin is such a badass blacksmith then he's not going to be all that skilled of a fighter. But then, I suppose he could still be a really good blacksmith. Just not a really good one when he's hitting the bottle so hard. And he can get ostracized by his community because they know he's so good but he's fucking up by letting his booze get in the way of that. Maybe he shows inconsistent work, really good stuff when he's working sober but if he's having a particularly hard day coming to terms with things and hits the bottle at work, he's producing crap and that pisses some people off. Maybe Elgrim (whatever I rename him to lol) tries to make him see that, but since he's got such a grudge against his uncle his stubborn ass doesn't listen to him. In fact, I can expand upon that family rift a little more during that 40 year interim as well.

I got some ideas kickin' around. I'll make the necessary edits and PM you when I get it posted up lol.

Edit: Actually looking over this profile in regard to strengths and weaknesses, might be easier leave what I posted as is but put the heading of that under a label of "personality" and then below it truncate those details into bullet points listed as either a strength or weakness, respectively. Gonna have to edit in his alcoholism in there though lol.

[Saruna]

We want players to fill the setting with their own creations so long as it's not something that doesn't fit, like a silver wristwatch wearing, shotgun toting werewolf. Troll encampments are a good fit and breathe more life into the area.

Elgrim and Balimund are the two other names. To change your account name to whatever you pick for Thorin pm Niabi or Frug and they'll get you squared away.

I can agree with your second paragraph. One thing though -- just because a person has a passion that they sink most of their time into doesn't mean that they don't have other skills that they picked up along the way. He doesn't need to be a fighter if that doesn't interest him (though I do recall watching a documentary about this white guy who became the student of a japanese sword-blacksmith master who learned martial arts on the side as a means to help him stay pure of mind and spirit). Perhaps he cuts gems on the side to relax, maybe even while he's drinking. Maybe he creates abstract art, or sculpts or carves stone. Maybe he likes to brew alcohol and winds up consuming his hobby. Or, maybe he gets into some dangerous/magical drugs. Maybe he makes heavy metal jewelry, or experiments with metal. Maybe he likes falconing! Maybe he breeds goats or makes cheese.

He doesn't have to be particularly skilled in a hobby, but it would help to round out his character, maybe part of his routine as he gets dragged under by the 'I'm just having one drink to relax' so common to alcoholics that turns into two, then three, then the whole bottle.

Ahh, and yeah, personality + bullet points works well too. Thanks.

[Thorberg]

Hmmm. That's actually a really good idea. He'll drink to deal with his father's death, and to deal with the rift that caused between him and Elgrim, whatever I rename him to lol. But yeah, brewing that on the side would be a nice effect. I was almost leaning towards the stone or gemcutting since dwarves are typically reknowned for that as well in fantasy genres, but figured he's already a brew drinking, blacksmithing, surly kind of dwarf so he's got enough of the racial stereotypes. I'll keep him from being a good fighter though, kind of helps give him a good weakness to work with. I guess that's not to say he can't fight, he'll have seen plenty of tavern brawls. But, it's not going to be a strong point with him. He'll be more like a bull in a china shop if he gets involved in fights, blindly swinging and cursing and probably leaving him wide open to be taken advantage of by reasonable, calculated attacks.

I think where I want to go with him is he's going to learn a lesson during his main objective story. He's going to come to regret being so bullheaded stubborn as he grows in character, and wish he had the chance to forgive his uncle before he set out. He's going to come to realize that if family is so important, he should have just stayed put and let his father's hammer go. Which is why I'm undecided as to what the hammer will really turn out to be. Just a regular old hammer might be infuriating after spending all this time and trouble and might even make an amusing end to something that seems like it's building up to be more than what it is.

But at the same time, I'm getting somewhat inspired by that blacksmith in the Dragonlance stories who forges the lances they use to fend off the dragons. So I'm trying to decide if it's also in his fate to have to build something useful for an upcoming conflict or goal that I'm undecided on. I do know that not being such a fighter, whatever he crafts he won't be the one to wield it. But I just haven't decided on what that could possibly be he'll have to craft something for. I guess I'll deal with that if I ever let him find the hammer, just to give him further purpose to write with. I really honestly have no idea at the moment where I'm going with that lol. All I know is that I'm using that hammer as a tool right now, something for him to work for. What was that term Pulp Fiction used for that briefcase, and how you never do find out what was inside? God it's bugging me that I can't remember the term for that kind of prop. But that's basically all the hammer is to me at this point. Maybe it'll just be a regular old hammer and he'll have gone through all that trouble and realize it's as he thought, and he could have spent his time better by reconnecting with the family and community he left behind to chase it in the first place. Although since he has no real use or regard for magic, it'd be kind of fun to write him dealing with having such a thing on his hands and coming to terms with the fact that a lot of his father's skill was derived through some residual effect of this hammer and not because he was as good at his craft as Thorin holds him in such high regard. Hard to decide right now.

When it comes to that point, it's going to be a long time from now and I'll run some ideas past you guys before I just jump right into it. It's definitely going to have severe limitations. I'm thinking it crafts one really badass thing and then it's spent, done. Even that residual effect goes away. All I know right now is that if that thing turns out to be magical, one residual effect of its power is that whoever crafts something normal with it is going to notice a slightly better quality to the item than they would otherwise produce. Not oh wow, this sword is indestructible so much as "wow, that thing was crafted smooth and straight and really well, that's some fine work!" And I'll have to decide what the hammer was meant to really forge, and why that item it's used to craft is necessary to forge and what goal that crafted item achieves. But like I said, if I decide to go that route I'll be asking about it first lol.

I got this weekend off, so I'll be working on what we talked about with the changes right now to Thorin then, probably after I get home tonight. I've got another job lined up in addition to my mcjob, also gonna be working mornings to afternoons at Home Depot, I finally got in there after years of applying and applying so long as my piss test clears (don't see why it wouldn't) it'll be official after the weekend. So I won't be crazy lurker active like I figured if I'm working 2 jobs, but I miss writing so I'll still be in this lol.

[Saruna]

Remember that striving for perfection is a very human (and by our tendencies, something extended to most intelligent fictional life) trait, both in fiction and in real life. You'll find stories of men and women obsessed with creating that one impossible thing, to the detriment of their life. All of these stereotypes originate somewhere! Dwarves tend to have a lot to do with rocks because that's what they live around, that's what they've learned to use to their advantage. Same reason why if you go to a village settled near a lake filled with plants and sealife chances are most of those people will have trades and hobbies related to the lake. Thorin could be a goat-tender on his off days, but more likely than not his hobbies will be something he can acquire cheaply within his natural habitat. The reverse could be a detrimental obsession with something expensive/rare to his area, perhaps as a means to distract himself from his father's hammer that eventually drives him out of the area. Heck, maybe he likes to experiment with mineral dyes!

The sky is the limit and I often find that looking at the broad picture (what would he be likely to do as the person you're building him as? What would be fun to play that leaves additional 'discoveries' about the character open? What will make the character feel more real?) will result in a character that will continue to be interesting for years and who has lots of room for development.

So please do take as much time and thought as you need.

[Thorberg]

Yeah, that's actually a really good point. I think I'm still leaning towards the alcoholism though. Seems to me that most who write base their characters off an aspect of their life. For all intents and purposes characters are, to a slight degree, based off of something about the writer. I suppose that's not always the case, but I'm thinking in particular of a pretty lengthy foreword I read once in a book where the author explained that even though his characters were all varied and completely different, he was so attached to his characters because they all either represented a certain side of himself, or they represented someone with whom the author was close with. I'm no alcoholic myself, but I've dealt with that enough within my own family to have a keen insight on the subject and it would certainly make me feel a lot more in touch with Thorin, as though that character were more a direct piece of me. Which is silly if you think about it because of course all our characters are a piece of us, because to effectively write with them we have to place ourselves in the shoes we craft for them and decide how they'd respond and deal with it, and how they'd internalize all that they experience lol. But regardless, there it is haha. I think with Thorberg having that as his hobby is a great way to get him started down that road. That was an excellent idea. Originally I'd only hinted at that quality about him in the section with his likes and then never even addressed it in any part of his history. This is a great way to shove the spotlight on that.

[Saruna]

Every writer has a different perspective and take, though experimentation until you find the style that best suits you is one good benefit of rp. Keep in mind though that because you have based a character off of a certain trait that does not mean it should be the only trait the character has. My family as well has extensive history of alcoholism, and in my experience most people are in some way functioning alcoholics. If the alcohol is dominating Thorberg's life so completely as to shut everything else out, he will have a very hard time functioning with any sort of normalcy, and that would drastically change his history and current strengths/weaknesses.

I'd also question calling alcoholism a hobby, unless you mean the crafting of alcohol. Even then though, I'd be cautious; building a character solely focused around one thing can get you started an easy road leading to one dimensional characterization.

[Saruna]

I like what you've done with it, and feel that the character has been rounded out. The application will be reopened in the event that the hammer is found with possibly magical qualities.

Approved.

We encourage players in Thar to reach out to other players in order to secure a thread; not doing so will often result in new players sitting inactive for a long time, or never fully getting into play. If you see characters you feel your character would jive with, send the player a pm. If you see a thread you feel your character would do well in, post in the plot thread with your ideas.

Plot Threads

Characters Available for Plots thread

If you have difficulty finding a thread, please do not hesitate to ask the moderators for help. We will be on the lookout for potential threads.