Post by rolan on Apr 25, 2012 20:57:14 GMT -5
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Profession: Ranger
Appearance:
Gender: Male
Profession: Ranger
Appearance:
Rolan is Caucasian and 6’ tall and has an athletic build. Most would say that his strength would lend him more towards the path of a knight than that of a Ranger, but his upbringing in the wilds made the choice between the two easy for him. Most would say the he is also quite handsome, with dark hair that is contrasted by shockingly blue eyes that seem to see everything at once. His typical clothing consists of a Ranger cloak with its camouflage coloring, a dark green hunter shirt with rolled up sleeves, medium brown leggings and much used leather hunting boots. Along with these clothes he also wears a light brown bracer and a light brown belt which holds his weapons and a number of medium sized pouches for gathering wild edibles, and holding things such as herbs and fire making kits. One the many things that separates Rolan from the average Ranger is his choice of weapons. He carries the slandered Ranger longbow, but at a slightly higher draw weight than most of the other Rangers bows. His arrows are also slightly different, unlike most Rangers Roland does not have just one type of arrow in his quiver, but instead he has different arrows for different purposes. Bodkin pointed shafts are for foes in armor, broadheads for hunting or for less armored foes, and even some he made himself that can be used for defense or fishing. He carries the standard leather double sheath and has the regular throwing knife, but instead of the standard seax he carries a long curved fighting knife with a sharpened edge behind the point. He pairs this with a hand axe with an overall length of 19” and a solid oak handle, which is carved with the figure of a howling wolf. If an enemy gets to close for him to use his bow, which is very rare, he uses the hand and long knife in a deadly combination that soon has his foe thinking that they almost preferred facing him at long range...almost.Personality:
Rolan is with quick with both his smile and his wit. Whether he is in town or at a Ranger gathering he can often be seen cracking jokes or treating others to drinks when appropriate. He is often fond of telling others that life is too short to be so serious all the time and that they should laugh a little more. However, when it comes time for planning a reconnaissance mission deep into enemy territory or executing an ambush many of the senior Rangers would number Roland among those that they would most like to have with them, because of his skill in field craft and his ability to make even the most dreary camp just a little lighter. When it comes to the training of apprentice Rangers or matters battle he can be just as serious as the most grave of Rangers.History:
Rolan had an interesting childhood. He was the son of Robert and Audrey Weald. Robert was a woodsman and hunter who sold tanned hides and leather goods at local markets and even some as far as Norgate. It was his skills as a woodsman and hunter that brought him to the attention of the Ranger Audrey, who he helped out against a band of bandits who thought it would be a great idea to try rob a woman alone, she wasn’t wearing her Ranger cloak at the time because she was getting ready to bathe, Robert and Audrey soon had them convinced that that had been a very poor decision. Arrows tend to do that to bandits. This encounter soon lead to many others and then a friendship was formed that eventually lead to Audrey quitting the Rangers and moving in with Robert to raise a family. They both felt most at home in the wilds and that is where they buil there small home and where Roland was born. He grew up learning the ways of the wilds from both parents and the ways of castle life as well, since both of his parents grew up initially in Redmount. From the time he could draw a bow his father and mother set him about the task of mastering it, they even turned it into a family competition with the winner getting a treat of their choice from the nearest town’s bakery. His father taught him the edible plants of the area and how to located animals by their likely bedding areas and taught him how to track and trap game using only a knife and what the wilds provided. His mother, when he was old enough, instructed him in her unique hand axe and long knife fighting style, teaching him how to hook an opponent’s weapon with the hand axe and go in for the kill with the long knife. Through his training and learning his mother told him stories of her time in the Rangers and this fostered a dream early on in the boy to become a Ranger. This dream coupled with his the wanderlust that he inherited through his parents lead him to the life of the Ranger.Additional Information:
Ranger Horse : Rolan's horse is named Gypsy is a dark brown Arabian breed. He is 16 hands high and has amazing endurance and training as do all Ranger mounts. Roland and his mount have shared many adventures and as such share a bond that goes well beyond simply a horse and his master.
RP sample:The rain created a steady pitter pater on Rolan’s cloak as he sat crouched and concealed under the branches and shadow of an pine tree that bordered his latest camp site, which at the moment was being ransacked by some very confused looking bear-like creatures known as wargals. Most would have been a little perturbed at the ransacking of their camp site on such a dreary night, but Rolan allowed himself a small smile and thought, Welcome to my trap said the spider to the fly.
These wargals are clumsy creatures I couldn’t have heard them better if they had been blowing a trumpet,Rolan thought as he watched the six wargals investigating the remains of his camp. These creatures were the remaining creatures of the band of twelve that had been raiding a local farming village killing livestock and villagers at will. This had been the cause of Rolan’s journey to the remote hamlet, where he made quick work of the first six with a cleverly devised trap using the local livestock pens as an ambush site. The wargals came expecting another night of spreading fear among the villages and hamlets of this fief. Instead, they found death by way of Rolan’s swift arrows. He then set out to find the rest of the party, which he knew numbered twelve by the tracks he found where they had raided previously, the tracks led him to their rough camp in the midst of the local forest. He then walked a short distance to a small nearby clearing where he began to make preparations to for the unwelcome guests of this small hamlet. Just then on of the wargals place a foot on a hidden trigger on the edge of that camp this triggered the release of the sampling that impaled the wargal through the stomach and heart with branches that had been sharpened down to points. Seeing this another wargal took a step back from the roaring fire, which is what drew them in to investigate, and triggered another trap with the same result as before. Before these two bodies had given their last death rattle Roland had dispatched two more with arrows to the throats, this caused the final two to discover his hiding place and they decided their best course of action was to charge him. Roland did the one thing that the charging wargals never expected he charged. With a battle cry tearing from his throat Roland tore into the first wargal placing himself so that his current foe was blocking the path of the second. He then trapped the wargals weapon with his hand axe and sank his long knife deep into his foes throat. By the time this was accomplished the other wargal had moved around his comrade who was now lying motionless on the ground as he lifeblood spilled into the dark earth, and began the last swing of his sword that he would ever make. He tried a wild over hand swing thinking that the Ranger was too preoccupied with the killing of his compatriot that he would be unable to sense the attack; he was wrong. The years of training in the woodland with his father had included swinging logs which taught him to keep track of multiple opponents at once, because after all catching a large tree branch to the head wasn’t fun even if they were padded. As a result of this training, Roland easily side stepped the strike and dispatched the last of the wargal band with a hand axe to the skull. Well, I am glad that is over with. These villagers should be able to sleep a little easier now. Now for the clean-up, Rolan sighed as he began to drag the bodies over to the roaring fire. It was going to be a long night.
OOC additional information: Just some additional info on why I chose to make Rolan the way I did. Basically I gave him the odd combination of weapons because I use them a lot in my back country hobbies and as a result I know how to use them a little better than I do a sword or something like that. I also have a knowledge of edible plants so if Roland is eating wild edibles in my RPs that is why. And if I do anything else that you guys find strange or odd while in character just ask and I will tell you why I did it'