[h2]Faraldir, Sword-in-the-Snow[/h2]
[b]Description:[/b] Faraldir is a Nord of fair skin, sharp blue eyes, and shoulder length, dirty blonde hair, the last of which he keeps swept back out of his eyes. He is not as tall as most, standing short of six feet in height, but he has the well built stature of a veteran warrior and the easy, dangerous poise of his homeland's sabre cats. His body bears the scars of old wounds received in battle, but these have not slowed him, nor made him any less of a threat in the field. 

His possessions are limited to the leathers upon his body, the sheathed sword at his hip, the shield on his arm, and the contents of a weathered but functional pack. His armor is sturdy leather, insulated with bear's fur for warmth, and his sword is a nocked piece of long iron, worn but tested and true. His shield is of oak, and iron trimmed, and he wields it as easily as if it were his own arm. The pack, a thing of old leather, holds provisions, personal items, and traveling gear of small importance.

[b]Biography:[/b] Faraldir is a veteran of the civil war in Skyrim which saw the defeat of Ulfric Stormcloak and his army of separatists. In the wake of the peace, having found himself without a war to fight or an army to fight alongside, he has taken to the road. The distinction between soldier and bandit is largely a thing of timing.

Before the war, Faraldir was a promising student of the College of Winterhold. His education there was brief, but served him well. His ability to use the School of Destruction served him well on the battlefield, and he wields frost and fire still. He speaks little of his past otherwise, and details of his life, such as his youth and pursuits outside of the college before the war, are known only to him. 

What he will tell is that he fought his fellow Nords in the war in Skyrim and took to banditry and vagrancy at its end. He traveled the many roads of Skyrim, during which time he came upon and rescued the Imperial scholar Gaius Tarso from the clutches of the Falmer. Together as a partnership, the two made their way to Cyrodiil, and then on to Anvil. 

And so we lay our scene.

[h3]Brother Gaius Tarso[/h3]
[b]Description:[/b] Gaius Tarso is a slight Imperial, standing at some five and a half feet in height. He is young, in his early twenties, and has the build of a man who has spent the better part of his life reading crumbling texts by candlelight. He keeps his patchy beard shaved, and his hair is messily cropped. His robes have seen a great deal of wear on the road, and have been cut to allow him better mobility. While a priest and pacifist, a pragmatic appreciation for self-defense has accustomed him to the use of a blade. He keeps an iron axe slung from his belt.

[b]Biography:[/b] Gaius Tarso was born and raised in Cheydinhal, and began studying with the priests of Arkay at the city's chapel early in life. He rose to become a priest himself, and was dispatched to Skyrim in the aftermath of the civil war in an effort to spread the word of Arkay and the Eight Divines while contributing to the reconstruction of the province. He arrived in Helgen to aid in the rebuilding of the city, which had been devastated by Alduin when the dragon first made his presence on Mundus known. While there, a Falmer raid against Helgen saw many of the inhabitants slain and captured. Gaius was among those taken in fetters for enslavement in the subterranean reaches that serve as the Falmer's dominion, but a stroke of good fortune saved him. A passing warrior named Faraldir slew his captors and rescued him. The two could do little for the Falmer's other victims, and so fled south into Cyrodiil. 

While the two traveled, Faraldir trained Gaius in self-defense, teaching him in the use of an axe. This skill complements Gaius's vast knowledge of history and Cyrodiil, and while it is Faraldir's initiative and courage that drives the expedition, it is Gaius's wisdom and knowledge that guides it.