[b][i][u][h1]Ser Nikalus[/h1][/u][/i][/b]
[b][i][h3]"Oh, age has yet to wear down my sword arm, princess. I like to think that there's more steel in my blood than iron."[/h3][/i][/b]

[hider=Appearance][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/GWuiv3P.jpg[/IMG][/hider]
	This old knight is one who can make riding atop horseback a regal affair; it comes with a lot of practice, especially as the Rocheforts' Master of Arms. He wears a thin beard, white whiskers crawling up to his sideburns all along his face. His eyebrows are the thickest part of him, almost always fixated at an angle that implies he's a more furious fellow than he actually is. He has a couple teeth knocked out of his mouth, which he attributes to several hits too many with a mace. He wears a number of decorative honors on his armor, which are tastled to his pauldrons when he rides into battle. Off his horse, he's huge -- both laterally and longitudinally; though, given how even padding underneath his armor is hard to size, it's not like he's lacking in muscle, simply that it's muscle deceptively hidden under a bit of girth and age.

[b][u]Class[/u][/b]
	Paladin

[b][u]Reclass Options[/u][/b]
	Mercenary, Knight

[b][u]Age[/u][/b]
	57

[b][u]Sex[/u][/b]
	Male

[b][u]Personality[/u][/b]
	[i]Alignment[/i]
		Lawful Neutral

Ser Nikalus is a bit of an odd duck. He's an absolute artist when it comes to the art of combat, and horse riding, speaking about such subjects in a tone that would imply he wrote the books on the subject. Unfortunately, [i]The Art of Justice[/i] was published before he was born, so he instead brags that he is a scholar of all things tactics and strategy. He is a jolly man, to say the least, and a good friend of King Ardias Rochefort, such that he considers himself a second father to Catherin (even though Catherin only really calls him "uncle" Nikalus, much to his resignation). He's a worrywart about the entire royal family, King Ardias included, enough that many people call Nikalus "Ser Babysitter" behind his back in court; every time one of the royal children is sick, despite not being Master of Coin or an errand squire, he's the first to find medicine or a doctor for them. When one of them is in danger from a ruffian, he is one of the first to seek them out and protect them from harm.

In his current assignment to protect Catherin de Rochefort, he is much the same way, although he is often put off by her insistence that she doesn't need his assistance 24/7. He's suspicious of most magical things (that doesn't include light magic, strangely enough), even the stuff she's being taught, but he is willing to quell his own superstitions for her sake. He's a pious man like that. He is also a prideful man, not willing to admit easily any moment of weakness he is suffering. He often makes up excuses for such things; the only time he will lie to anyone is to cover his pride.

His favored weapon is lances, as his sword arm is a little weaker due to a recent injury (see Biography).

[b][u]Biography[/u][/b]
Though he is the Rocheforts' Master of Arms, Ser Nikalus had started out with comparatively humble beginnings as the son of a royal huntsman. He became friends with young King Ardias as the result of a fox hunting accident ("The Fox Incident," as they both call it, without divulging many other details, other than it involved Ardias's horse galloping out of control with the then-prince still at the reins; most mentions of it instead elicit knowing chuckles from the two of them). He has served House Rochefort faithfully ever since, essentially as a personal squire and later knight for the prince. When they came of age memories of their first meeting would inspire the newly-crowned King Ardias to name Nikalus as Master of Horse, and later, when Nikalus proved his worth defending the realm from one of its worst monster raids, as Master of Arms.

He never told the king about the injury he sustained from a Bael: a poisoned bite that is slowly killing him. He does his best to put up appearances, but there are occasions where it shows through, occasions he tries not only to hide from the royal family but from his fellow knights and nobles.

He was charged to Catherin de Rochefort shortly after she was apprenticed to Ezeras Ekkenhart, a decision he saw as foolhardy at first, but warmed up to when he saw how happy the princess became with learning magic. He harbors his suspicions of magic due to his experience fighting fiends, but as far as Anima Magic is concerned he is less suspicious.