Age: 21
Race: Human
Height: 72 in.
Weight: 82 kgs. (181 lbs.)
Physical Description:
Tal wears keeps his hair average in length. It comes down past his eyes and the sides of his hair, almost reaching his shoulders. Coming from a cold environment, long hair was a necessity, but at the same time, if it grew too long, it would only get in his way. His hair is naturally a jet black, but on the right side of his head, near the top, in a thick stripe, he has snow white hair. It's a birth defect as a child, genetically sent to him from his platinum white haired father. His eyes are a grey-blue, mostly grey, and stand out against his pale skin tone, and jet black hair, making them all the more intimidating, especially mixed with his attitude.
Tal has always been an athletic person, but his metabolism keeps him from getting significantly large in size. While he has a well cut, toned, and defined muscular design, he remains to have a lean and slim body type. His skin color, white in nature, is still a pale tan due to the nature of his work, but often times he will find himself hiking for miles in the sun now-a-days. The only exceptions to his plain skin color is the black ink work that he's had done on his back. Two angel wings extend across his shoulder blades, the feathers fanned out as if it was trying to intimidate someone or something.
Tal normally wears warm clothing due to the environment he has come from. His attire is made up of wool, fur, and leather. He was never a huge fan for thick plated armor, chainmail being the heaviest of armor that he'd wear, usually involving thick battles that required much needed protection. Sticking to common nature colors, Tal's undergarments are a black cotton pair of pants and long sleeved shirt, topped over by a black leather tunic that he keeps tied together up until the belt, where it splits off and parts naturally to the left and right. Around his hands are black gloves, fingerless if in warm weather. Tal mostly wears boots that are almost knee high, the leather folding down at the top, dropping back down halfway, and the laces of his boots underneath. The final layer of clothing is his thin, collarless, leather trench coat. The coat drops down to the center of his shins, just where the fold on his boots end. The sleeves when fully extended come up to just where his thumbs break from his hands, and the coat can be tied in the middle of his chest by several various leather strings. On long adventures, Tal has been known to wear a hooded cloak for added warmth in cold weather, or as a protection against rain and wind when traveling.
Possessions:
- Katana (Folded Steel)
- 8" Steel Knife (Folded Steel)
- Tal's Clothing
- Wineskin (Water)
- Tied Bed Roll (slung on his back by a single string)
- Thinned Paper
- Small Hip-Belt Bag
Contains a handful of Shredded Tobacco Leaves. - Small Hip-Belt Bag
Contains the coins carried on Tal at all times. - Small Hip-Belt Bag
Contains a small amount of throwing knives, five to be exact; six if he packs well.
Ignite -
Exactly what how it sounds in the title. This is a nifty trick using a small amount of magic to create a flame at the end of your finger tips. Nothing fancy, and nothing capable of doing devastating amounts of damage. Here merely learned it from a traveler as a trick to light rolling tobacco without having to have a fire previously built.
Swordsmanship -
Tal has always been fond of swords, and since he began wandering, it has been his go to trade skill to get him out of tricky situations. Trained by his father from a young age, he is by no means a master of the art of swordplay, but he shouldn't be underestimated.
Throwing Artist -
A long with time spent using the sword, he's still perfecting the art of throwing knives. Throughout his travel's, he occasionally spend time practicing. Where as he's not an expert, his throwing ability should not be underestimated if given time to aim and concentrate.
Strong Willed -
You'd think losing your family would put its toll on someone, but Tal's managed to survive. Sad, lonely, depressed, and miserable, but he's still kicking.
Independant -
Living a life on his own, and not knowing what to do with it, he's been motivated to find work. Find some sort of purpose to why he still walks the planet. This aspect motivates him to get things done, complete jobs, work hard. Out of everything he's learned from all thats happened to him, is that life is unfair, and you have to work for everything.
Weaknesses and Flaws:
Recklessness -
Another flaw to his personality, is he's been known to get reckless in dire situations where further thought could've been more appreciated, but none-the-less, he's come out on top, barely.
Magic Disharmony -
Tal has never been one for magic, and thus, he has to rely on his physical and mental abilities as a swordsman and tactician. The magic of this world does not sit kindly with Tal, and where as he knows simple magic tricks, nothing significant at all. He's tried learning before, but to no avail.
Fear of Heights -
Tal is afraid of heights, believe it or not. He likes his feet planted firmly on the ground. The higher he goes, the more uncomfortable he gets, and that scales drastically in small numbers. So don't expect him to be climbing any mountain sides in his own free will. He'd rather face an army of colossal undead.
Cat Attack -
Tal absolutely hates Cats. If he could go the rest of his life without seeing a cat, he'd be happy. Big cats, little cats, alley cats, pompous cats, grey cats, black cats, blue cats; it didn't matter. Considering Tal's allergic to the damn things, having them around only makes his life that much harder.
Selfishness -
Tal has grown rather selfish over the past years. He's not one for going out of his way as a hero and sacrificing his life for the greater good. With all thats happened to him, he's learned several things; one being that life just isn't fair, and you just have to learn to live with it.
Grieving Alone -
Often times his past still haunts him, losing his father, getting ran out of the city. Sometimes he can just drink it away, or even sleep it off. Sometimes, he just gets really angry, might roll into a fist fight with a commoner nearby that he starts talking shit to out of sheer disregard towards his opinions. Tal, on most occasions will find himself alone afterwards, sleeping some place dark, or making it home. He's starting to get fed up with everything, and it hits him hard sometimes.
History:
Tian Xia, Wokou Pirates...
The Wokou Pirates, what can be said about the Wokou Pirates... For starters, this starts the epic journey of Tal's life, and also is the center of his problems. Born in Wakoku from a merchant father, and a local Wokou mother, he grew up mixed in two different cultures. Where the family orientated on the Wokou cultures mostly, his father was not going to give into the ability to help Tal become bilingual from the beginning of his life. Raised learning both the local language, and Eyropan, Tal was fluent in both by the time he was six, impressing those around him. Working with his father in the shop, he met his father's friend Redcloud, a promising chef of the local area. Tal tried his taste as a chef, but it just wasn't working for him. Mixing and matching ingredients and cooking at the perfect temperature for the perfect amount of time just wasn't an art he could master.
What interested him were the Wokou Pirates that raided the northern portion of Tian Xia. The loot was given to the populace of Wakoku, and was looked as more of a patriotic deed than a criminal one. One day, after telling his dad that cooking just wasn't for him, he told him that he was going to apply to join the pirates. His dad was hesitant at first, but he had done some daring adventures himself in his young years, so he wasn't going to stop him. Instead, he pulled what money he had saved up, and took him to purchase a sword for his own use. It was nothing special, just a classic sword style used commonly within the Wokou nation; the katana. At the age of fifteen, Tal took up the sword. Tal's father, Jax, took him to the only place he trusted for swordplay; a dear friend and one of his many contacts he has gained throughout his life of merchantism and travel. It was a man named Kurozo Milogu, an older man who's descendants fought in the Nian War, has kept the style of sword play alive to this day. Where the style has dumbed down from its original ability due to the lack of war and conflict in the area, he has trained who he can, and left the style to the user as they go about their life, and used when applicable. Tal listened thoughtfully, spending the next three years in training under this man as an apprentice. Little did he know, he'd eventually be the only living member of the Kurozo blood line. Training rigorously daily, learning what techniques he could, he eventually felt he had the skill and ability to stay alive within the pirates. His master felt he was not ready, but Tal rushed in anyway. After a hazing recruitment, Tal was eventually accepted into the pirates, his sword work coming in use when raids were issued. For the next year, Tal would partake in organized and unorganized raids with the pirates, while continuing to train with Milogu, perfecting his sword skill as he came along.
The days went quickly, and he was slowly gaining a larger amount of money. He learned a few tricks to help him pass the time, one being the use of magic to ignite a small flame upon his finger tips. What he soon learned that magic wasn't his style, but his smoking habits were making things difficult while no fire was available. After several weeks of practice, he was eventually able to get a steady flame, and that was all he needed. A few seconds of a flame to get the embers rolling. He eventually improved his sword as well, on earnings that he had saved, picking up an additional dagger and a set of throwing knives. Too many times he's been caught at a long range disadvantage, some events including those hand held, black powder, cannons that rocketed lead balls faster than his eye could keep track. Those were rare occurrences at the least, but enough to not want to be shafted with close and personal swordplay. He wasn't the best at throwing knives, and he was still practicing when opportunities arose, but he was far from perfect. Given the option to concentrate and aim, he'd be fairly effective, but any quick draw and shoots were scattered shotgun effects. He realized he'd have to stick with his sword in life or death situations if able.
While he was doing operations with the pirates, his mother grew very ill with a fever, and though he attempted to find medicine for her, it was something that neither her or the apothecaries could cure. On a lonely spring day, Tal came back home to his mother's death awaiting him. His father was distraught, but none-the-less, life carried on. A piece of Tal died that day; one of many.
One fateful day, starting just like the rest, he was nineteen, almost twenty. The pirates were conducting a raid, simple operation, stealth and assault, nothing special about it. He'd done one of these a thousand times, but what what he wasn't expecting was the ambush laying in wait. They were getting smarter, and as their name became more renown, the preparations and defenses increased. Almost everyone was killed; those who survived, barely did. They took to the coast, there ship escaping on the sheer fact that it was faster, their pursuers cursing at them in the background as they ran, cutting their losses. Once back on the shift, and in a safe vicinity away from the ambushing ship, the terms of the event came to pass. Tal was the least wounded of the group, a cut on his forehead, and a lead bullet grazing his skin on his left arm. He found it luck over skill that those weapons are hardly accurate at long distances. The entirety of the crew turned towards Tal. They were in a blind rage, their close friends of years lost forever. Tal being the newest of recruits left alive, immediate blame came to the new members. Kaz Hall was the first to go, taking a bullet in the head from a crazed captain as they neared the port. "Why should you have survived and Jude did not!" he shouted as he did so. Tal knew his time was done for. He's never seen what death and craze had done to a man, and Darek, his captain, had finally reached his breaking point. Soon the rest of the wounded remaining crew turned on Tal out of sheer fear of they're own untimely fate similar to Kaz's. They too had lost friends as well, so being swayed to Tal's murder wasn't much of a problem for them. Tal did what he could to survive, they were right beside the port, he could take a landing craft. There wasn't much they could do at that point other than try to shoot him with one of the hand cannons, or an arrow possibly. Taking his chances with the craft, he grabbed a pair of barrel lids and ran towards the first one he could find. By the time they managed to get to him, he was already in the water, unhooking the small boat. They ran back for their ranged weapons, the captain withdrawing his pistol and aiming. Tal grabbed a barrel lid and raised it to help shield his body. The round fired, and he felt splinters spray the side of his head as the lead ball slammed through the wood inches from his face. It'd take a second to reload his weapon, that's saying he had gun powder left and not exhausted it all from the last raid. A second boat was loaded immediately, but the time it took to load and lower into the water, Tal was already at a head-start towards the land. They arrived with bows, arrows, a few guns but it was too late, he was beyond their reach, and there was no time to turn the ship around in his direction. Tal was already most of the way to the island of Wakoku, his only problem now was the approaching boat. He'd have enough time to run, and if he stayed and fought, he'd surely be killed. Five on one wasn't exactly his idea of a fair fight. The moment his boat scraped across the sand of the shore, he jumped out, leaving the barrel lids and taking off towards the city. The chase would surely end there. He made it home, safely to his home. Little did he know, rumors of the event and lies were beginning to spread throughout the city. Darek's father was the governor of the town, per se, and essentially ruled over everyone that lived in the confines of its walls. Upon hearing what his son had to say about Tal, Darek's father was able to round up quite the crowd in retaliation.
The rookie pirate sabotaged the mission, killing most of the men on board the ship. The captain attempted to kill him, but his wounds were too severe to manage. The crew is desperately trying to find this traitor and end his life for his treason. At least, that's what was being told of him.
Overnight, the city turned into a rioting rage, coming to burn the man to the ground. First was his father's kitchen, the smoke being seen from his house. Next was his own home. The riot was massive, and his father stepped out to try and sway their advances. Tal stood beside him, trying to speak his side of the story in his desperate attempt to survive, but too no avail. His father was deemed a traitor as well, the attacks continuing as local law enforcement gave a blind eye. His father pushed Tal back inside, pointing the back window. Tal shook his head, about to argue with his father and mother, but his father slapped him across the face, telling him to run before it was too late. He assured Tal he would be okay; that they wouldn't harm him. He had too many friends and connections, so prison wouldn't last long either. Tal nodded, reassured by the lie, as he grabbed his katana and ran for the his Master Kurozo's home and dojo. Arriving there, Kurozo laid beaten and battered on the ground, two men laid dead beside him, one decapitated, the other with a hefty hole in his back, blood pouring from the wound onto the floor. Darek, the captain, stood over his body as his boot rested on Milogu's head, the bloody face of the older man unrecognizable. Tal grew furious as he withdrew his sword, taking the standard stance, his sword vertical in front of his body as he ran forward, the blade angled up ready to strike. Darek and his single lackey that was with him didn't stand a chance as he parried Darek's attack, and ducked underneath the lackey's horizontal strike. Lifting the blade up, he was able to get a deep cut into the chest of the lackey as he gripped his chest, trying to keep the blood and organs from falling through his gut. Seconds later the man collapsed over, his body in shock as he died quickly. Darek grew angry, charging in with a reckless attack. Tal used side-stepped, holding the blade vertically in front of him as he pushed the stab to the left of his body, then stepping in for his own thrust to the exposed throat of his attacker. The blade sliced through, the tip pushing through the Darek's airway, then severing the spine as blood spurted from his throat, his hands not even having time to grasp it as his body sent loose and collapsed forward. Tal's heavy breathing from the adrenaline was all you could hear for the next second until as gasp from Milogu's destroyed face came from below him. Tal dropped to his knees beside him, reassuring him that he'd be okay, but to no avail. Milogu's mind and heart stopped from lack of oxygen. Tal couldn't stop the tears from rolling down his face as he pounded the floor with a fist, then shouting at the top of his lungs.Suddenly a large hand grasped Tal's face, and in a reflex Tal went for his sword, but a large, recognizable boot, stepped on it. "Shhh!" Redcloud said as he pulled Tal to his feet, letting him retrieve his Katana. Tal was ecstatic by the sight of an ally, but Redcloud kept his same serious face for the time being as he looked towards the entrance of the home. The riot had followed him there, and it was soon about to meet the same fate as his home. Redcloud led him to the back door before the riot could surround it, and they escaped into the angered city. Upon reaching Redcloud's home, he ran towards his travel cart that he uses to take supplies to the nearby towns for food and water. Throwing Tal inside, he kicked the horses that pulled it, taking off down the street as fast as he could. If it wasn't for Redcloud's preparatory luck, leaving the city would have been ten times as hard.
Tian Xia, His Father's Fate...
They moved into hiding, taking what supplies they could from the cart before continuing on foot, the cart too suspicious seeing as how it was what escaped the crime scene. It wouldn't take long before the whole region heard of the misfortune, but not all towns and travelers would take to the means that the city had. Tal's largest worry was his father's fate. He needed to return to see, but his father assured him that he would be okay. It wouldn't be long now before friends of his break him out of the prison he was in, and he'd soon be on his own journey away from the land, having no where else to go in the first place.
Tal and Redcloud made it to the port city, Tal under disguise of a hood and dirt. He was barely noticeable as it was. Redcloud on the other hand was impossible to mask well, being an islander from the south, he stuck out like a sore thumb, luckily, word doesn't travel that fast, and the port city was unaware of their crimes; but that wouldn't stay that way for long. As they waited, word from the events of Tal's home town would soon arrive, and worse news would come with it. On the pamphlet's that scattered the city, word passed of his treason towards the pirates, all willing to locate his wear-a-bouts were to be awarded a small amount of coin, a total of 200 Bishan for his live capture. It wasn't enough, but it was enough to catch an unfriendly eye if recognized untimely. The rest of the world would continue to move, and only the patriots would really give into making chase or hunting him. Attached to the paper was even worse news, the decapitation of his father for the murder of Darek back in the dojo. The guilt immediately fell onto Tal's shoulders as sadness overtook him. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn't live the life as a criminal, not here. Redcloud thought of a plan, he's always wanted to head west to Thar Shaddin. There was a chance to be a promising cook himself, and now that the shop was burned to the ground, and business would never benefit to the bad reputation. The best plan of action was obvious; move on. Tal was hesitant at first, but going back was not an option. Somehow, he knew his father was dead. He could feel it. Punching the billboard, he walked away towards the port, Redcloud following behind him. "I'm ready when you are," Tal said as he adjusted the bed roll on his back, his katana concealed within.
Northern Trade Route...
Getting a ship wasn't hard. Crew lists were rarely kept track of, and there were new sailors every day. Redcloud taught Tal what he could about operating a ship, seeing as how Redcloud had came from the islands in the first place, it wasn't new to him. Little did Tal know, there were a lot of moving parts, and plenty to learn as he went along, including sea sickness as he spent a lot of his time with his face over the age staring into the water as he spewed his breakfast into the ocean.
Landing in Ji, the large port city of Tian Xia, Redcloud began bartering his way on a caravan through the Northern Trade Route, promising the ability of a good swordsman to defend them as they go along. Tal, being that man, took up a Caravan Guard position as Redcloud cooked regularly during campsites along the way. They soon began popular within the caravan, Tal teaching some of the other guards advice on sword play as they traveled along. The large caravan was rarely attacked due to the large size of guards due to the caravan size. Several attacks did occur as they neared Thar Shaddin, but were defended off, word among the guards spreading of Tal's sword techniques, and his ability to fight off invaders successfully. Multiple times he was offered jobs as bodyguards, but until he arrived at the city, he'd think it over.
Often times while on the caravan, Tal would find himself acting bitter about his life and how it turned out. With a quicker temper than normal, he got hit by the grieving process ten times over. If it wasn't for Redcloud there to reassure him and keep him in line when he grew angry, then he may not have made it to Thar Shaddin at all. He owed it all to Redcloud in the first place.
He'd need work when he arrived, and maybe body-guarding wasn't such a bad idea in the first place. He knew he couldn't cook with Redcloud, and he wasn't about to become his dish lackey, that's for sure. Arriving in Marn with the trading caravan intact, he began taking in the culture that surrounded him. Everything was new to him, and it would take time to learn the rules and culture. Until then, he'd keep his head low, and his katana hidden.
Thar Shaddin, Parting Ways...
Tal was twenty-one when he arrived to Thar Shaddin, the travels from his home taking just over a year and some. At long last he was free, his reputation hopefully not following him there. Surely it couldn't, not with dangers on the Northern Trade Route, it'd take awhile before word spread here, and honestly, Tal didn't think they'd care. What was it to them that the pirates of the Wokou nation had lost a boat. That was Tian Xia business, and the moment he made it off the Wakoku region, his enemies dwindled significantly.
Tal and Redcloud grasped hands, promising to stay in touch as they parted business ways, knowing that had each other to fall back on if things didn't work out...
