[hider=Joachim Metleburg][center][B]Joachim Metleburg[/B] [i]'Sine labore nihil'[/i][/center] [indent][b]Full name:[/b] Joachim Markus Metleburg [b]Titles:[/b] 'Blue' [b]Rank:[/b] Boar. [b]Age:[/b] 23. [b]Gender:[/b] Male. [b]Appearance:[/b] [img]http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/190/b/5/kings_of_the_realm_by_grafit_art-d7pwk16.jpg[/img] [b]Personality:[/b] Joachim is one of those people that just sits quietly, drinks his ale and has a nice conversation with his mates. The 'throw a chair at a guy and start a barfight' mentality is one that he does not posses, strangely enough for the Iron Company is home to many many of these people. His relative calmth is explained through his history as a squire, but that's not to say that he was always this calm. Rather, he has become more agressive, just not as much as the rest. He fits in rather well with the royalties due to his history amongst their ranks, yet his lack of blueblood is enough to keep the normal folks from pestering him too much. --- [b]History:[/b] Joachim is what one might call a blue-blooded bastard, except he isn't blue of blood. His family used to be serfs on a royal lords estate, within Arlon, and served the lord many years. When Joachims' father heard the news of his wife being with child, he asked the lord that ruled over them to take the child in if it were a boy, and to teach him the ways of a nobleman. Normally these kind of requests were insane, but their lord was a kind lord who was without child -- his wife had birthed him only daughters and these had been married off long ago, save one of them. The lords wife was indeed with child again, and a seer had told her it'd be a girl. Normally these prophecies came true, though the reasonings behind the prophecies remain 'secret' and are largely based on luck. Many seers have lost their heads for giving untrue prophecies, in that regard. The lords' daughter was barely a month old when Joachim came to earth, blessed be He himself who touched the child upon birth saving him from the death that fell upon his mother. The lord had promised to come back upon his promise to the father in 16 years, when both Joachims' father and the lord had grown old and feeble. Still, the lord had had no male children and sent a messenger for Joachim. After a dinner with the lord himself, he decided that Joachim was fit to be a part of their family. He married the girl, whom was very pretty and a fair wife to Joachim. The marriage was good, but dull. Yet one day the lord called upon Joachim to take to the sword, as one of the lords within the kingdom had seen fit to declare their castle as theirs, based on ancient treaties that were obviously not real. They marched against one another, warband against warband. Joachim fought as part of the lords personal guard, the best of the best, on horseback. Though he fought well, his steed fell in battle due to a stray spear being aimed his way, and he fell to the ground amidst the battle. Once he got up he was to defend himself against a multitude of opponents, the only allies in sight being a few militiamen who rushed to Joachim's aid because of his friendly attitude towards the commoners. Together they drove back the enemy, which consisted of mainly hired sellswords. They had won the day but not the war, and soon after a second company of mercenaries faced off against the warband. They fought well but were ultimately bested by the enemies numbers, forced to retreat to the castle and hole out until further notice. But they laid siege for six months, and for six months they suffered of famine and disease. The enemy was about to launch an attack after receiving reinforcements and torching the outlying village, including Joachim's fathers homestead. Right before the attack was to begin the lord raised a white flag from his keep and the soldiers were ordered to stand down and surrender. Due to this, the lord managed to spare their lives. But not his own. He was beheaded in the courtyard of the castle, his daughter and Joachim's wife following after that and ultimately the lords wife had to suffer the same fate. And though his wife was dead, Joachim did not mourn for he never loved her and she never loved him, it was merely a deal between two parents. And he was thankful to the lord for making that deal, but ultimately 20 year old Joachim had to decide for himself what to do. He wandered the lands of Arlon, offering his services as a hedge knight and attending jousting and swordfighting tournaments, and making a name for himself. Where ever he went he was met with considerable hospitality, as he did not only offer entertainment for noblemen and royalties, but also offered some information that he'd gathered from other places he had visited beforehand. Never asking a price for the information, the information was always info that one could get without his help as well. Simple things, like a certain road being plagued by bandits. A few years later, 23 year old Joachim had joined up with the Iron Company, no longer being a hedge knight but a sellsword. However these words are meaningless, and covet two sides of the same swords. Whilst he wasn't present during the famous battle in which the Bear died, he remembers the battle well as he was told of it the day after by a weary traveller, causing him to seek out these mercenaries and join their ranks in order to earn some fame and coin to his name. --- [b]Skills:[/b] Joachim is a skilled swordsman, not one of the best but he can definetely hold his own. The combination of a shield and sword lie him exceptionally well and his position in the spearhead of the mercenary band benefits this even more so. He is at his best when he is supported by a spearman from behind, to poke at whatever hole Joachim opens in the enemies defense. Besides his swordsmanship he can handle a mace or flail just as well, dependant on the circumstances or his mood. He is quite able to take prisoners without killing them or bashing a face in, so this is pretty useful for when they need to earn some coin by collecting slaves. Besides this he is an able rider, though he lacks a horse at this moment. He rides like a nobleman, straight up in his saddle rather than hunched over like some commoner would. Seated in a steed he looks exceptionally good, too, one might say. [b]Dreams and fears:[/b] Be known in the kingdom of Arlon as an honorable knight, gain a name and an estate for himself too. He wishes to gain political status within Arlon, and through that wishes to further the knighthood, to reinstate values such as being noble, virtuous and other such things. His fears are seeing Arlon fall to whatever kingdom surrounds them, his love for the country being quite great. He doesn't seem to care who is at the head of Arlon, but believes that Arlon is such a good country that they should be sovereign. [b]Favored equipment:[/b] He wears a rather large shoulder pauldron on his left shoulder, being made of steel. To ensure that he doesn't get pains from the steel plate pauldrons he has padded leather underneath with some straps running across it so he can tighten it or loosen it. Under that is chainmail for some more protection. His lower arm guards are steel plate as well, but they don't cover his hands. He wears a tabbard over his chainmail body piece, with the Iron Tree emblazoned on it. Many belts and buckles run over this tabard, some being home to straps for him to attach a knife or another weapon to. His chainmail body piece reaches to his middle, with padded leather extending to just above his knees. He wears burgundy linnen pants underneath his set of armor, with high leather boots extending up until the half of his shins. [Refer to his appearance for his look -- it's exactly that.] As mentioned before, Joachim prefers a sword, flail or mace, being quite good with these three weapons but favoring none above the other. His choice is purely circumstancial and he isn't the best at these weapons by a long shot. Though he primarily goes for the sword, which is a larger type of bastard sword that he uses with one hand, a knightly shield in the other hand. This shield has an iron rim around it, holding it together. The front of the shield has both the Queens insignia and heraldics on it, as well as an iron tree below those heraldics. [/indent][/hider]