[hider=Brooks Moreland] [u][b]Name/Nicknames:[/b][/u] Brooks Moreland [u][b]Age:[/b][/u] 43 [u][b]Gender:[/b][/u] Male [u][b]Appearance:[/b][/u] Brooks stands at around 5’10 with a stocky figure and a rotund belly. His hair is a darkish brown, but the roots are starting to shine silver with age. His face is lined with age and darkened with a layer of grime and dirt; from behind his dark, bushy brows Brooks’ brown eyes are usually squinted against the harsh sunlight, and a short greying beard does little to hide the habitual scowl on his face. His choice of outfit tends to be a sweat-stained, loose-fitting shirt rolled up at the elbows and a pair of coarse cargo pants, the pockets filled with essentials - bullets, shotgun shells, caps. His belt has been modified with a hard leather harness to hold a small bible at his hip. His guns clatter by his side and he has a couple of satchels slung over his shoulders. Resting on his breastbone is a tarnished silver chain with a small Christian cross dangling from it. At night, he wears a dusty grey trench coat to keep warm. [u][b]Race:[/b][/u] Human [u][b]Strengths:[/b][/u] - Endurance: Years of helping strangers and local towns has granted Brooks the gift of stamina and physical toughness. From plowing seeds to helping maintain make-shift pastures, Brooks is accustomed to working under the scalding sun and cool nights. - Perception: Travelling alone has sculpted Brooks’ senses into a heightened state. Improving his ability to see, hear, and notice things other people would not. - Intelligence: A daily dosage of the worn out and torn bible he carries with him allowed Brooks to become a well read man, the books contents offering him knowledge, wisdom and the ability to think quickly. [u][b]Weaknesses:[/b][/u] - Stubborn: Years of arguing his way out of fights and travelling alone has made it very difficult to get Brooks to change his mind once he’s got a set idea in his head. In his little world, his word is law; you’d need a small miracle to work around whatever goal he’s set off to achieve. - Judgemental: For Brooks, first impressions really are everything. He takes you at face value and if he doesn’t like what he sees, you’ll have a damn hard time trying to work your way out of his assumptions. - Rude: There’s a reason Brooks travels alone. His brutal honesty and tendency to make snide remarks has hardly made him a particularly amicable person, and he shows no shame in speaking his mind. [u][b]Personality:[/b][/u] [hider=Open] Brooks is practical. A realistic attitude has allowed him to be able to expect the worst and avoid nasty surprises; he rarely sees the good in people. His firm, cold demeanour emanates authority, but his respect needs to be earned through actions before he can trust you. He adheres to a loose moral code due to his belief in Christianity whilst understanding that sometimes the only way to survive is to fight dirty. This doesn’t stop him from reading and quoting the bible on a regular basis, however. He’s stubborn, narrow-minded and quick to make assumptions of people based on their appearance. Fortunately, Brooks is also very self-sufficient, and can go for long voyages on his own if need be. Hidden behind his cold and hostile exterior is a bit of a soft side. A family man at heart, Brooks is steadfastly loyal and protective over those who he truly cares about. It would take a long time to be able to reach this level of intimacy with Brooks these days however as his past has made him very guarded and secretive, unwilling to divulge in his personal affairs. [/hider] [u][b]Skills/Attributes:[/b][/u] - Hunter: Hunting wasteland wildlife and feral monsters has blessed Brooks with the knowledge and skill to proficiently wield a rifle against a broad variation of creatures. Repeated exposure to dangerous creatures has allowed Brooks to figure and adapt to their individual weak-points. - Tracking: By examining his environment Brooks can distinguish varying tracks from one another, allowing him to not only be efficient in cking:tracking animals, but also clue him in on people’s location. - Barter: When travelling solo, every cap counts. Brooks is determined to get the best deals out of any situation, so he is exceptionally good at negotiation and deal-making. [b]Back-story:[/b] [hider=Open] Brooks was born in a less than ideal area near Salt Lake City in the state of Utah to a less than ideal dad. With the streets running rampant with crime, his future looked bleak. In a time of need people throughout history tended to turn to a beacon of hope, something that shone with promises of salvation; for Brooks and his mother that beacon was the christian faith. With nothing more than the shirt on his back, the love of his mother, and the bible tucked under his pillow, Brooks endured. Being forced to pitch in to contributing to the family funds at an early age, Brooks set out to help the locals with as many mediocre tasks as possible. One task lead to another, and once he was of age to properly wield and use a weapon, the odd-job tasks turned into clearing out critters or chasing down packs of predators stirring trouble to local pastures and crops. Eventually, after realising how proficient he had become, Brooks expanded his horizon in regards to what he could do. He left town more than occasionally to hunt creatures for trophies and caps, or track wanted outlaws dwelling nearby. The years passed on and Brooks’ mother eventually succumbed to the harsh death of radiation poisoning. After having suffered through turbulent experiences along with her son, the poverty, the abuse, the heartache, it had all become too much for her to bear on top of the painfully slow death she was facing. This would mark one of the lowest points Brooks had to endure during his adult life. Not knowing how to cope and without his mother's presence, he felt the grasp that religion had on him slip. After she died Brooks turned to the one thing his father had taught him, the bottle. The next years in Brooks’ life wasted away as he consumed drink after drink, all until he went through an especially difficult week of binging alcohol, realizing his self destructive path. When it dawned upon him that his home had nothing besides bad memories left for him, Brooks did the best thing he could; he said his farewells, packed his belongings, and began to walk into a direction that would hopefully offer him some purpose. After being alone on the the road for nearly twenty years, some small act of fate caused him to cross paths with a young, malnourished girl. He watched from the entrance of an alley as three thugs came rushing out with the aforementioned girl huddled up defensively in its far corner. Scowling, he confronted the girl, only to be told that her belongings had been stolen by the three goons. Not thinking much about what trouble he might stir up, he chased the three men down to confront them. One harsh remark lead to another, and the situation took a turn for the worse as he shot all three of them in the alley. Brooks returned the items that were reportedly stolen back to the girl, and lent her a helping hand. The small favour was enough to have her trailing after him for weeks; eventually they had travelled too far for the kid to return home, and Brooks reluctantly let her stay. They have been travelling the Wastelands together for several years, living off bounties and mercenary work alongside Brooks’ hunting skills and deal-brokering. [/hider] [/hider]