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[b]Name:[/b] Arastoph Xylem
[b]Gender:[/b] Male, AMAB
[b]Race:[/b] Human (supposedly)
[b]Age:[/b] 25
[b]Class:[/b] Merchant (trades, invests, entrepreneurs; also sort of cross-trained as a rogue)

[b]Appearance:[/b] Arastoph is a tall, lanky man who stands at 6'3” and weighs at 143 lbs. His body isn't particularly toned or muscled, and he doesn't possess much fat. You would expect a little more fitness from him by the way he carries himself with his upright posture and proper poise. With this posture, he also holds his head high and chin up, as though taking a glance at anyone was beneath him, or that his status was something too great to behold amongst the like of commoners. His skin is pale and lacks much of a hue to it. There isn't a whole lot of visible scarring on his body, although you would see it upon close inspection of his hands, knees, and feet from his childhood days. He walks patiently as though he were pacing and taking his time, mulling over whatever thoughts he has in quiet contemplation.

His gaunt face reflects his body's long and thin demeanor. Along with it, there is a various number of sharp features. His cheekbones are high and pronounced, and the cheeks themselves somewhat sunken in comparison. A long, sharp nose bridge comes down to form a beak-shaped nose, and beneath that are laugh lines which surrounds his thin-lipped mouth. His chin is sharp and angular, and is rather big all things considered. Above his nose are intense steel-gray eyes (which is little more than a dull blue) constantly following you, and the eyes themselves are sunken with the bottom side of his sockets forming what appears to be bags beneath his eyes, but are actually the outline of the bone in his face. This is bordered by long, thin eyebrows that curve gently over his eyes. On the sides of his head, his ears possess attached ear lobes and are left unpierced.

Arastoph has a pretty big forehead, it would seem, but seems to do more in highlighting his hairline; a sharp widow's peak is formed in the center of his head. Long, black, and silky hair falls down around his shoulder blades and is always kept nice and neat – free of oil and is carefully combed so that it drapes gently over his shoulders. His hair is not often frizzy and manages weather well. Usually during intense activity can you see his hair bunching up and getting out of place and messy. On his chin he has a soul patch, long enough that it barely comes a half-inch off his face. 

His clothes are fancily made and tailored to fit his body. He often wears long-sleeved undershirts, of which there is no particular color that he chooses over the other, but in the case of where we will start the roleplay, it will be defaulted to a plum color – a rich, dark purple. Over this, Arastoph wears a padded black doublet. The chest of which is puffed out, making him appear as though he is a bigger man than he really is, and has buttons crawling from the bottom to the top, just below his chin, and conceals any and all parts of his neck. There is also an insignia embroidered into the doublet, resemblant to a Rub el Hizb, or two overlapping squares with a circle in the middle (۞  ).

With his doublet, there are what's essentially shoulder pads, largely resembling armor pauldrons in a way, and is made with a tough, hardened cloth, but no leather or metal is in the stitching of it. Along it are two grooves and, closer to the neck, it is bordered off by a length of smooth rope; apparently more for the decoration of the clothing article than anything. The doublet ends at his biceps and isn't particularly fancy or decorated, and has simply two gray stripes on opposite sides. Over his waist is a brown leather belt, with a number of buckles and contraptions meant for carrying any number of devices, such as his holster for a dragoon. On the other side is his stiletto sheath. The buckle that it attaches it to his belt is a special little thing that when you press a little button to the side, it unlocks and is able to spin, and locks again when it rotates 180 degrees. This allows the stiletto handle to point either upward or downward, and can be situationally useful, assuming the situation calls for subtlety.

His pants doesn't have the same kind of elaborate setup like the rest of his attire does. They are a pair of unassuming black wool jodhpurs, hand spun and knitted. They have all that he requires: comfort, practicality, fashion, and deep pockets. The bottom cuffs are tucked into knee-high black leather boots where laces and conchos go from the ankles up to the top of his boots. However, much of his appearance is hidden by a hooded  gray cloak. Buttons crawl on either side of the cape to keep it from billowing and revealing his body, and has a number of pockets inside to store a lovely amount of whatever he needs. He also possesses a wooden mask, which he mostly uses when interacting in underworld business or wants to keep his identity secret. It is unimpressive for the most part, if not slightly unnerving, and has two eye holes carved into it and a space for his nose to fit. Black horse hair has been sewn into the top of the mask.

[b]Personality:[/b] Cunning, intelligent, conniving, deceiving, charming; there is a number of ways to describe the merchant, and it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what is truth and what is a guise. At Arastoph's core, he is unscrupulous and not necessarily bound by any moral constraints. He doesn't take up issue doing what he can to get what he wants and to survive, but has the foresight and wisdom to not do anything rash if it is too risky. Neither does he break the laws of the land for the sake of breaking them. He prefers to work within the legalities, but if the legalities come to be too restricting to obtain a particular necessity, he would bend or break it without hesitating. It almost seems as if he has come to believe as if the rules do not apply to him; given the potential he possess to become powerful, that may very well be the case.

His money isn't the most powerful virtue he possesses, though; cunning and wit supplies him the know-how to properly utilized his tools to his greatest advantage. In a world of people going off adventuring, farmers, miners, peasants; a number of people living their lives without formal education, Arastoph stands out in the crowd by having taken the bull by the horns and taking his education for himself. A formal, top-of-the-line education without noble blood. So he knows a great deal about the general maths and sciences, history, literacy, politics, some religion, and of course mercantilism. He possesses a brain made for thinking things through and thinking outside the box. He can quickly process what goes on around him, but prefers to take it slowly. So his cunning and witty demeanor is derived from this, allowing him to formulate plots and machinations that'd be out of the realm of a typical peasant.

Arastoph is a very ambitious and self-driven man. However, his motivation isn't benevolent or malicious, if just uninspiring. Half of it is just the curiosity of how far can he get, if the mountain is endless or eventually plateaus off. The other half is to convince himself and the world of his worth. He has his own personal secret that he attempts to hide, even from himself. He sees it as a crutch that holds him back, and is the aspect of himself that he hates – and self-loathing is a very painful experience for a man as selfish and self-absorbed as he – but at the same time, attempts to embrace. He tries to take it and use it as his reason for his superiority and his success. After a period of time, he has come to succeed in convincing himself of this. As a result, he has come to view most – if not all – other people with inferiority, treating the rest of mankind with contempt and revulsion.

You wouldn't know it by looking upon him, though. Arastoph is still a trader, and a sly one at that. He can put on a front that can leave you wondering which man is the real man. His front his charming, polite, and hospitable, which betrays the sense of danger and unease most people receive from him. This sophistication augments his skills of persuasion and negotiation, sensitively picking the right words to change your mind on a dime, or perhaps using his articulate nature for more insidious means such as intimidation; selectively applying the right words to get crawling under your skin and playing off of your fears. If there is one thing we have to hand to him, however, is that he is efficient. While not all of his contracts are necessarily “fair” he doesn't cheat. At least, not if the other party doesn't have it coming to them. He feels that, if you're good at what you do, it is easier to be honest than to cheat. While not an emotional guy, he does form bonds with what is “his”. If you threaten his business, or his associates, or whatever he considers “his”, he takes it as a threat and wouldn't waste a second in removing you. It is because of this trait of his that many traders and workers and smugglers seek his protection.

[b]Main-Hand Weapon:[/b] A dragoon, or blunderbuss pistol decorated with brass. The butt has a brass cap designed so that it appears to be a man with curly hair and a beard, and resembles Greek artwork.
[b]Off-hand Weapon:[/b] A stiletto.
[b]Secondary Weapon:[/b] A wide array of poisons and drugs hidden amongst his person. Some of them are probably illegal.
[b]Armor:[/b] Cloth, albeit his clothes are padded and thick, and provides some additional protection - negligible though it is.
[b]Powers:[/b] The power of money, my friend!

[b]Skills:[/b]
[u]Persuade:[/u] A skilled trader knows how persuade, or even manipulate all but the toughest of customers! Howe'er, dare not deceive thyself by thinking this falls solely within trade negotiation; oh no, his skills of persuasion falls under even typical social environments! He has the silver tongue of a snake.

[u]Diplomacy:[/u] More appropriately: “negotiation”, or at least that is how traders put it. Regardless, the differences are void, and Arastoph can negotiate the terms of a trade agreement swimmingly or play ambassador for politicians. Having learned charming and tactful behavior back in his years of education has lent to him to turn deals for his own favor.

[u]Strategy:[/u] Any good trader knows to look into the future to determine when the proper time to make their move is. A cunning trader of Arastoph's caliber can plan the movements of his whole cartel while determining the movements of his competition. This carries over even in tactical circumstances in the midst of a battle – though his specialty clearly lies in psychological warfare.

[u]Appraisal:[/u] General merchants have to learn a few tricks to keep themselves from receiving a raw trade or bad deal. They don't specialize in any one product, and instead, take it upon themselves to learn and recognize the value of all sorts of items. Upon inspection, Arastoph can determine the worth of an item.

[b]Weaknesses:[/b]
[u]Non-combat:[/u] Some martial training from a lord, but neither of them are really suited for fighting battles. The most he can do is to utilize some effective tools to do all the work and get the job done, but his actual prowess is laughable.

[u]Reliant:[/u] Even though he grew up with a rough childhood, he was hardly in tune with his survival instincts. He has lived most his life relying on his resources and wealth to provide for him. Without protection and his resources, he doesn't possess the necessary skills that allows him to survive on his own for a long time.

[b]History:[/b] To be upfront about an excluded detail, Arastoph was born half-tiefling. Regular tieflings are rumored to be half-demon, which would mean that the merchant's blood is 25% demonic. Naturally, this would call for a rough, bumpy upbringing. Arastoph was the product of a violent raping of a women in a small village inflicted by a runaway criminal tiefling who had followingly fled the scene and retreated off into the wilderness, never to be seen again. A broken woman was left feeling violated and powerless behind her own shack of a home. Unexpectedly, she had become pregnant – an ill omen for her, who detested the idea of one of those [i]things[/i] growing inside her womb, but too afraid of pain to take her own life or to abort the fetus.

Arastoph was born seemingly human despite the blood that ran through him, although his health as a baby was shaky. The mother, despite looking upon the child with shame at every glance, could not bring herself to kill him or abandon him. The baby had looked too human, not enough like his bastard father, for her to hate him like she did the tiefling. This did not, however, mean her shame and disappointment waned over the years as she took care of the child of dirtied blood. He was granted a name that'd mark him as an outsider, something so radically different from typical people, “Arastoph”, and he bore the surname of the tiefling, “Xylem”.

Living in a small village, not much remains secret for very long. Even as a young'n, Arastoph was subjugated to the torment of the villagers. Even mothers, who had set an example for their children, who had soon followed suit. Even at home couldn't he find refuge, for he was a shameful creation in his mother's eyes. During these years, a seed of contempt and disregard for mankind had been planted in the boy, even weak as he was.

The village's main source of income came from fishing, as they were situated next to an inlet. Along the coast docks were fisheries and warehouses. It was in one of these warehouses did a 13 year old Arastoph eavesdrop on some sailors who were smuggling goods in and out. One night, he found the illegal drug that they had been whispering about, and hurried off back home.

There, the following night, he poisoned his mother with a paralytic and hallucinatory drug by spiking the dinner bowl. Unable to move or scream for help, she again helplessly watched her son take whatever little heirlooms she had and what little savings she had and took a step out the front door. Arastoph looked back for only a cold glance at his mother's eyes and left without a word.

He ran away from the village off the roads in an effort to get to the next town over. It was a long and hard trip, especially for a boy his age and size. In the end, though, he managed. He crawled around before finding a lord – nobility. Arastoph begged the lord for education and for a home, and offered him all that he had taken from his mother. Of course, the value of the items was negligible and the amount of money offered was paltry. However, the lord took pity on the pathetic child, and praised the runaway for his foresight, and praised his understanding that things didn't come to people for free. The lord agreed to take Arastoph under his wing. 

He was taught that the most valuable thing in the world was wealth. The greatest power, money. With money, any power can be bought for you. A far easier and better turn-out profit than becoming a sorcerer or warrior – those people can be hired to work under your name. Arastoph received the education that would be received by nobles and pages; reading and writing, maths, the sciences, history, politics – and most importantly, mercantilism. Although the lord was not much of a martial combatant himself, most lords did receive some kind of martial training, and fencing and dueling was his. Arastoph sought out this education every single day, driven by his urge to become something worth more than the blood in his veins.

With help of the lord's debt investment, Arastoph started his own stall at age 17. It was the first of its kind in the town he was in: a general store. Where everyone else had a trade specialty,  Arastoph's own specialty was trade itself. Because he wasn't spending time hunting, farming, or making weapons and whatnot, he had more time to focus on trade itself. He bought a variety of items from other sources, and sold them all at one stall at a higher price than when he bought them. It was a risky idea at first, but it payed off when people realized that the new kid on the block – while the prices were a little higher, likely had what they needed. With local reputation, even adventurers who went treasure hunting came into town and heard that the best and easiest way to sell their loot was to the general stall. He could convince the treasure hunter to sell it for a few increments lower than the item's actual value (of which the adventurers likely did not know about). It was only a matter of time before he was able to accumulate enough money to upgrade into a full-blown shop and become a bona-fide merchant.

Howe'er, there was the... minor issue of the lord, under whom Arastoph had trained. Even with the years under his tutelage, the lord seemed to have little issue with bleeding his pupil's shop of a substantial sum of money with his investment. Arastoph payed it off immediately, and asserted that he no longer needed his support, much to the chagrin of his teacher. The merchant was hounded and harassed, insisted to that his business would crumble without the lord's protection. Instead of arguing, Arastoph cut the prices of the produce in his shop. The lord's claim to fortune was his farm, and with Arastoph undercutting him to ridiculous degrees to the point where he was actually losing money with each sale, the tactic eventually managed to forcibly drive the lord and old teacher out of the region in search of a new market, albeit with a grudge. This also meant that with some competition out of the way (and a headache, for that matter), he was able to set his produce at a higher price than he used to (benefiting both him and his suppliers) and was free of the debt that had been bleeding him.

It taught him one lesson, for sure: that it was a pretty easy way for a person to make money off income investments. Having earned enough money, he was able to hire his own employee and walk around without having to work and still make a profit. However, not in his nature to be lazy, he started doing the same thing that had made him tired of his teacher, and offered investments to small or starting shops so to support them and give them an opportunity make business. Not only did this stimulate the town's economy, it also provided to Arastoph a small percentage of their shares, and was able to make money off of other shops. If the shop in which he put the investment in failed or wasn't terribly active, Arastoph was capable of bleeding them dry or buying out their shop entirely and making it his own. As a talented merchant, he was able to redesign the fundamentals of the shops and turn them back around to be more successful, and then put in charge the previous owner of the shop and allow them to manage it and behave as though nothing ever happened. For all intents and purposes, nothing has changed, except that the business is actually under Arastoph's name.

This little slice of heaven off in some corner of the land came to be known as the Xylem Cartel. Even with the youth that Arastoph had, his cunning and the opportunities he took advantage of allowed his career to evolve alarmingly quickly. It has happened more than once, for that matter. Arastoph wrested control a fair portion of the town's small businesses and stalls. His shady practices did grab the attention from some connections from the underworld economy, inquiring the prospect of business opportunity. Naturally, Arastoph obliged.

Now, Arastoph travels the continent with payed protection in search of spreading his influence and gaining connections all over the land as to gain a foothold in the underworld. Whether it be putting people unto his service through debt or buying out small companies, or entering trade agreements, he does seek to turn his new cartel into something deserving of awe and respect, and to monopolize various markets. He brings with him a fungus from the swamp next to his adoptive hometown. It was a highly controversial piece of contraband that instilled euphoria and hallucinations in those who ingested them. With it, he intends to introduce its value to potential connections and see if he can get them on his side with this new product, to farm and harvest it, and then sell it under Arastoph's name.

However, there are some roadblocks; rumor has it that Arastoph's old teacher – the lord – is back and is looking for some revenge. Word also has it that the dilapidated old dog has his own set of connections. If the rumors are true, then it might just mean there's the smell of war on the wind. In addition, on Arastoph's excursion to establish his connections, the village which he had met one of his contacts was overcome with goblins and ettins, and a group of foolish adventurers handled it sloppily. His contact was killed beneath a toppled ettin. Arastoph intends to make them either pay or be indebted to him for the damages they committed that resulted in his losses.
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[hider=Relationships]
Alula: 1/10 (Her divination perturbed him, so he generally doesn't want much to do with the oracle. However, she was quick to act on a whim and give him all of her money and stuff to get something back. She seems harmless enough.)

Carver: 2/10 (They initially went off on the wrong foot, but Arastoph has a certain liking for Carver despite that. While they do not get along, he appreciates what he perceives as Carver's child-like naivety and sees opportunity in playing the paladin's rigid moral code against him. An excellent tool to utilize.)

Des: 0/10 (Annoying and too dumb for his own good, Arastoph feels, and the only thing stopping him from selling the child into slavery is... well, nothing. Maybe if the paladin doesn't notice?)

Furnace: N/A (Lack of sufficient interaction.)

Katya: N/A (Lack of sufficient interaction.)

Kelvin: 3/10 (The engineer is far wiser than he appears, and is apparently at least more silver-tongued than his comrades. Arastoph doesn't take this as a threat, but he sees much opportunity in having this man as an ally.)

Separ: 0/10 (Arastoph wouldn't care if Separ's carriage fell down the mountainside. He doesn't deem the brawler worthy of his notice, and can't find it in himself to respect someone that he considers a fool that doesn't think of what he says and in the context that he says it.)

Suki: N/A (Lack of sufficient interaction.)

Vis: 0/10 (He thinks the half-elf is stupid. He's still juggling around the idea if he should keep this monkey alive as a source of entertainment of if he should just find a way to get rid of him. Whilst outside the radar of the others, of course.)

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[u]Moosic:[/u]
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLWYuJe7LdA[/url]
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFNeSWNjPyQ[/url]