| Taluk Minthian; Balanced Bodyguard | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 24 2017, 10:34 PM (61 Views) | |
| Penna | Nov 24 2017, 10:34 PM Post #1 |
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Taluk Minthian: The Balanced Bodyguard “No matter what; danger, sickness - count on me.” Alignment: Neutral Good Age: 25 (Alive) Race: Human Class: Fighter When Taluk was a boy, he knew that the fact alone he was born was a detriment to his mother. In a small village named Brissel, he grew up watching his father take care of his frail wife. She was wracked with fevers, aches, and weakness, which made Taluk’s birth a miracle, and he would have spent much of his adolescence at his mother’s bedside if it weren’t for his father demanding he go play in the woods - or, help his maternal grandmother at the local shrine - all to shield from the hardships. Rhudda was a saintly old woman who Taluk came to for consolation, and taught him everything about being a virtuous figure. That included patience, as the three of the healthier souls dedicated all the medicinal expertise they could into keeping the mother well enough. Taluk remembers the incredible, infrequent days when his mother could walk on her own - a wispy, slow and ghostly gait, but beautiful and resilient. The pale-green color of her hair she had passed onto him was the fitting symbol of an ever-lingering sickness. At the age of eight, his father decided he had to go with his wife and search for a better doctor outside of their hamlet, and left Taluk in the care of Rhudda for the weeks the trip was expected to take. They never returned, not in time for the harsh winter that buried Taluk’s hopes. Perhaps, his mother didn’t make it, and his father was too ashamed to return. Or, they were ambushed, and his father being nothing of a fighter was simply overcome. Taluk was then Rhudda’s dependable second-hand at the shrine. In studying religious texts together, in managing the incenses, in every humble ritual down to just simply chopping wood - what the old woman instructed, he duly followed. By his late teens her health began to ebb and it was his turn to repay the kindnesses he was given, staying vigilant at Rhudda’s bed until the priestess gracefully passed. While the townspeople expected Taluk to replace her and begin a long career as a priest, one morrow shortly after the burial, the woodcutter’s axe was gone and the teenager had disappeared. In his wanderings, he sought motion. A cure to stagnation and sitting in one place. The world was no doubt dangerous; his first kill wasn’t a bandit, but a wolf, and he simply shook off the fear or the guilt that a novice journeyman would first feel and concluded it as only one existence that had fought harder for survival over another. He did a few months within a mercenary group, a large and formidable one with the righteous motive of tidying up bandit bands, but he personally didn’t enjoy the hierarchy; being treated as a subordinate was morally against him, and he decided that if he were to continue living on the road, it would have to be alone. Taluk took the small amount of coin he gained and detached himself from the mercenaries. On an autumn day he came across a cabin in the middle of the woods. Being unusually nosy that day he peeked into the windows, and to his horror spotted a young woman shackled by the ankle to a bedpost, pacing; when her amber eyes locked onto his through the pane, Taluk needed no hesitation. He bulled down the front door and encountered a thief and an archer sitting down for a meal, two scrappy young men with probably the same amount of combat experience as him. Though, Taluk made quick work of them in close-quarters, decisive and just with his swings, and he had the woman freed in no time. She introduced herself as Margaret, and promptly tried to bid farewell. He followed. At that moment he instilled a new philosophy into his life: for every major duty he performed for someone, he expected to be repaid at some point or another. Taluk didn’t insist and Margaret chose not to protest, and he kept voicing his concerns that she was seemingly wandering the lands defenseless. He took coins from his own pocket to get a sword for her. He didn’t request financial compensation in return, but rather a bit of respect as a leader. Traveling with Margaret was his first time exhibiting guidance over someone, and even so, he found he could only lightly control the reins. Through months of roving they quietly grew accustomed that their companionship was strictly platonic. Seldom they’d visit taverns together for a proper meal, and if anyone asked about their relationship, Taluk would be the one to deny it. If any conflict were about to arise from an attempt to advance on her, the pair would depart without another word. He was impressed that she looked after him too, always regarding him with a smug smile that he might be underestimating her, but truthfully, he never did from the beginning. From his childhood at the shrine, Taluk has an unspoken respect for the gods and a quiet resignation to fate, wherever it may lead and however soon it might end. He has heard of the class of war monks and has thought about taking up that path, but considering the physical and mental toils, the dedication, and the need to be admitted into a communion of fellow priests, Taluk is aware that having Margaret around means those plans are on hold. If he is also to someday fall in love with his traveling partner, loath as he is to think about it yet, it would certainly conflict with the commitment to celibacy. Taluk is all too wary of how typical axe fighters end up in the bards’ tales: bald, forgoing upper clothing, and built from head to toe with muscle and sinew, screaming before they throw themselves head-first into battle. He’s done much to try to prevent this from happening to his appearance lest he be confused for some grisly warrior, starting with keeping his tunic in good repair and his facial hair as clean-shaven as it could be. He is sensitive to being mocked for his build. In the odd times that Taluk gets his hands on a small knife, he spends leisurely moments carving patterns into fallen branches, trying to make art from underneath the bark. Margaret finds them pretty, but not necessary to take along, and so he resolves to leave them stuck in the ground wherever the pair passes by, guideposts of their aimless wayfaring should their journeys ever double-back the way they came. He also enjoys fishing to relax, when he isn’t looking over his shoulder after Margaret. His birthday is April 9th. Weapons: [Axes: Rank C] Steel Axe, Hand Axe Personal Skill: Bonds Aflame (+6 Attack, -3 Defense when Margaret’s HP ≤ 1/2) Asset: Non-confrontational - Taluk is quiet and knows his inexperience and his rather peaceful demeanor. When a situation doesn’t have an inevitable bad outcome, he’ll do everything to steer it in a positive direction. Flaw: Leashed - Roughing it on his own as he was starting out was one of Taluk’s only independent decisions; otherwise he is as guideless as a stray dog. He seeks commitments to be responsible for something, and treats the act of care as a duty. He wouldn’t be someone asking to terminate a social contract. Supports: Margaret Yuthril - Support A Edited by Penna, Jan 12 2018, 03:26 AM.
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12:13 AM Jul 11