Endryn Taro [WIP]

[Endryn Taro]

Name: Endryn Taro
Age: 47
Race: Elven

Physical Description:

Endryn Taro is a tall fellow, by human standards. But then again, most of his kind are. So among them he, standing 6'4'' high, would be considered rather average. His frame is neither narrow nor bulky, his muscles having been dried and tightened by constant movement, rather than weight-lifting. It suggests agility, from the initial glance. The man's face is triangular-shaped, with a rather pointy chin and a pointy, beak-like nose, which gives him a bird-like appearance. Facial hair is present in form of two stripes of hair going down both sides of his mouth from the upper lip and, and a peg-shaped beard on the chin. The hair on top of his head is very short, shaved off from both sides of his skull with only a stripe left in the middle. Its color is black. The color of his skin is gray-ish, and dark-brown for the eyes.

Now for the attire. The predominant color tends to be red-brown. Normally, Endryn could be found wearing a traveling cloak, a cuirass made out a strange material known as chitin, pants and leather boots to the knee. The cloak is held on the shoulders by a strap that connects it together on the neck, and there's an additional piece of cloth that is worn across the chest, its loose end fixated to the body of the cloak by a clasp.

The armor is of red-brown color, and is made of many small scales, carved out of carapace of a giant bug, which live in abundance in Tzalxochitl. The scales are held together by leather ropes, and provides protection for the chest, sides and back. There are also small pauldrons made from the same material, only one piece, and worn on shoulders, and gauntlets. The material gives a dim sheen when being lit, and is pleasing to look at. A peculiar trait is that Endryn wears a strange glove on his hand, that looks like made out of small ceramic tiles, and never takes it off.

Endryn wears a sword and a dagger in scabbards on his belt. The belt also has a compartment for money.

Possessions:

Chitin cuirass - a cuirass made out of chitin scales. The material's strength is comparable to steel, but is much lighter, which means it doesn't encumber the wearer as much, while retaining high defensive properties. In addition, it does not rust, which makes caring for and maintaining it much easier. The flaw of the armor however is in that the material, from which it is made, is in very short supply. In case the scales get damaged, they will have to be replaced with ones made of steel.

Ceramic glove - the glove is made out of small, black ceramic tiles, which cover it on the inside and outside. The purpose of the glove is to resist heat and fire magic - fire aiming to burst out of Endryn's hand, should he lose control.

Steel straight sword - a rather unremarkable weapon, a simple sword with a cross guard. It is a good blade, but nothing special really. The only value it holds is historical one, as it is several centuries old, and was passed on from one Taro to another as a heirloom.

Dagger

Powers or Strengths:

- Formal education.

Before becoming a mercenary, Endryn was prepared to properly inherit family fortunes and business. His father had spent no expense on his educaton, and the elf was a good student. To summarize, he is much sharper and knowledgeable about many things, than you'd expect a simple mercenary.

- Polite.

No matter the situation, Endryn never fails to be polite, and keep a calm, even voice. It helps defuse a lot of tense situations, when people expect swords and fists, but instead receive a calm, resolute answer. This habit helped Endryn get out of many sticky situations so far.

- Knows when to quit.

He's not the kind of guy to sacrifice his life for a cause, any cause. When things are getting too hot for him to handle, he's not above bailing out in order to save his skin. Such actions have saved his skin quite a few times. However, Endryn has made a rule to not leg it at first sight of danger, as that would be damaging to his reputation.

- Lawful neutral.

Endryn does his best to work within the laws of the country or city he happens to find himself in. As he often stresses out, he is a mercenary, not a hired thug or an assassin. Which is why he has standards. He respects the authority of the government, as government is often his best client, and often takes on jobs for them.

- Seasoned traveler.

Due to his work as a mercenary and a passion for traveling, Endryn us very knowledgeable about various places and locations and languages, as well as the opportunities and dangers that they present. Having been at least once to the eastern empire of Tan Xia, traveled across Eyropa, and even ventured once into the dangerous continent of Tzalxochitl, the elf has seen enough things to warrant for more than a dozen interesting stories. He has good survival skills, is good at orienting on the map, and would've made a decent cartographer, should he have chosen such an occupation.

- Skilled fencer.

Practicing fencing skills was one of his favorite past-times with father, who used to be quite a duelist when he was young. When Endryn was forced to earn his money with his sword, the clean and refined fencing style he had became more gruff, dirty and brutal, as battles against bandits and raiders have no rules or chivalry in them. These experiences have molded Endryn's skill into a strange mix between elegance and brute force. Switching between them, depending on the situation.

- Physical aptitude

Due to being an elf, and due to leading a somewhat martial way of life, Endryn is both strong and agile, even by the standards of his own kind. He is able to travel great distances on foot, swims well, runs quick, strikes hard, and can take quite a few hits before going down. In addition, he is in good health, and it is rare for him to get sick.

- Fire magic

Can create fire balls and streams of fire in order to aid himself in combat. From how he rationalized the process to himself, his body generates heat, which he can accumulate and channel through his right hand and release it as a projectile or a continuous stream of flame for several minutes. After being 'depleted', he feels cold. But when not given a 'release' of fire every now and then, it will bottle up and occasionally break out without his mental order, and cause injuries.

Weaknesses and Flaws:

- Doesn't know when to quit for good.

Endryn has an obsession, of sorts. If he puts a goal for himself, he will stop at nothing to achieve it. More often than not, the objects of such obsessions are hard, if not impossible to get, and any attempt to do so could result in death. But that would not stop him. If he fails and gets away with his life, it would simply mean that he's gonna try again. Later. At some point. And with better preparation, but he will try again. That story about him trying to reach a treasure deep inside jungles of dangerous Tzalxochitl, where he lost almost everyone, and brought financial ruin to his family? Yes, he's gonna try again. Someday.

- Magical instability.

While he has no trouble invoking magical powers to aid him in his need, he has trouble controlling them. He is forced to wear a ceramic glove in an effort to control his fire magic, and without frequent release of the power, he can get himself injured by it, and others too.

- Left-handed.

He cannot hold his sword in his right hand, due to the magical troubles he is having. While his hand is certainly good enough to grab things, and hold onto them, when he tries to fight with it, it hurts, due to frequent burns it receives. As such, it disrupts concentration, and forces him to fight with left hand. Which is not his leading hand. While he's still good with the sword, and being left-handed creates opportunities and catches many off-guard, he's not quite the swordsman that he could've been, with it. Not to mention his right hand hurts even when he's not doing anything with it, all the time.

- Obsession with unusual items and trinkets.

Almost to the point of silliness. He can be distracted, bribed, or lured into places by mere rumors of odd and unusual items to be found. He can't pass by a vendor selling amulets, even if all of them are fake, and would spend a lot of money, if he has any, on purchasing exotic weapons and such. Giving him such is a good way to get him on your good side.

- Aloof.

While polite and even friendly, he rarely gets attached to people beyond a healthy working relationship. It makes him unreliable as a friend. Due to nature of his job, moving from place to place, he keeps many acquaintances, but there are only so few who he'd actually call 'friends'.

- Clingy.

Towards those few friends, yes. While his outward manner of acting towards them won't change much, on the inside he feels a lot different, when accompanied by one. When he grows fond of another's company, he's content on following them pretty much anywhere they lead, and gets rather upset when asked to part ways, for whatever reason. Offended, even. That they don't need his services, or his protection, or ... his presence.

- Guilty.

He feels very guilty about how he failed his family by wasting his family fortune on a failed expedition. In his desire to fix things, he is after money. Great sums of it. Even if it is dangerous, he's ready to take jobs others have declined, if there's a big enough sum attached to it.

History:

"Me? You want to know about me? Are you certain? It is quite a long story... Ah, well, if you insist.

As you could already tell, I wasn't born in this ... charming city . No, my homeland lies far away from here. It is called Coreza, a land rich and bountiful. A land of ships, mountains, trade and magic. It is a good place. I was born in the city of Belleza - the main port and trade hub in all of Coreza. My family, the Taro, have an estate there. Or, used to have... The Taro are a family of many traditions, and of a long history of service to the city. Although by the time of my birth the family was not as rich as it used to be, our family honor had cemented our place among the most respected names in the city.

I was raised by my father, mostly. Riel, was his name. My mother, Illiana, I do not remember, much. She died, when I was very little. Father used to tell me that she was very sick, and pregnancy had brought her strength down even more. I can vaguely remember her face - it was very thin, and pale. Still, maybe it was for the best that she died early. I never knew her, and thus, never missed her. And my father had never blamed her death on me, and for that I am grateful.

Riel was a good father, I'll tell you this much. He probably deserved a better son than what I turned out to be. He hired many teachers to educate me in everything a nobleman such as myself, was supposed to know. Everything, from mathematics, to geography, to etiquette, to fencing and horse-riding. My favorite subject, my passion, was geography. For that, I thank my tutor, Giovanni Skalari. He was in his ages, but in the past he was widely known as the most daring adventurer this country had to offer. And that reputation was completely true.

He did not just teach me geography. Oh no. Every lesson was a story about a country he visited, and his adventures there. Clashes with pirates, daring escapes, battles with wild animals, romance with beautiful daughter of a local lord... And every time there was a different story. Heh... Giovanni was a great storyteller. The way he described things, while showing them on the map, made my imagination flourish. I could see everything he had seen with his own eyes. It was truly incredible. Since then, I knew who I wanted to be. An adventurer. Just like him. To go after treasure, brave the dangers of the unknown, and return home with stories of wit, daring effort and glory.

Unfortunately, my father had other plans for me, in mind. It is customary here, in Corezo, for young noblemen to join the navy, in order to prove their worth and mettle in service to the country. You must understand, it is ... quite a bit thing in those parts. The Navy is our might and pride, our sailors and ships are the best in Eyropa! Although I was not thrilled by the prospect, I had to go with my father's wishes. I owed him that much.

My father Riel began preparing me for my career in the military since I was 14. The training regime was quite hard, at first. It took me a while to get used to waking up with the rising sun, and run in the cold, while wearing only my pants. Mountain climbing has earned me more than my share of bruises, and being whacked on the head by a wooden sword I doubt anyone could get used to. Father was merciless in that regard, and made sure any misstep I made during our spars was to be punished swiftly, and painfully. Still, by the time I reached my 18th birthday, I was able to hold my father off without getting thwacked by his sword in the process. Though, to be honest, it was likely more due to my youth, than my skill. Still, I was more than prepared for the career ahead of me. Soon after my birthday, I enlisted into the Navy, where I served for 5 years.

I can't say anything bad about my service in the fleet. It was fun, in ways more than one. I learned how to handle a ship, having gone from a sailor to second mate. Of course, my promotion has been hastened due to my lineage. But I did not mind. We've traveled all across Coreza, been in many ports. It was adventure, but ... not the kind of adventure I had wished for. Coreza, though rich and beautiful, was boring me. I wanted to see foreign lands, 'where strange creatures live and tavern wenches have six arms'. And one day, I was given a chance.

That chance arrived on a cold and wet December day, in a package. I've been waiting for it for a while - there have been no letters from father since August. However, the news this letter brought was most dreadful. The letter was written by Giovanni, my tutor and a friend of my family. It said that on 15th August, my father fell off his horse during his average morning ride, and hit his head on a stone. For 4 months, he was in coma, and had just passed away. It hurt ... a lot. And it felt like being hit in the head with a hammer. I did not cry, in Coreza men are not allowed to cry. But I felt torn apart on the inside. That same day, I took a personal leave, and hurried back home. The letter took so long to reach me. And I wanted to at least attend to my father's funeral.