[center][b]Joric Ironfist[/b][/center] 

[b]Race:[/b] Shield Dwarf

[b]Gender:[/b] Male

[b]Age:[/b] 103

[b]Class:[/b] Fighter

[b]Stats[/b]:

Strength: 18
Dexterity: 13
Constitution: 20
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 9
Charisma: 5

[b]Physical Description:[/b] Joric stands at approximately 4' 9", with a light skin tone. He has an unruly head of dark hair, which sets him apart from most dwarves that prefer to go bald. Like most dwarves, he does have a beard. It is eight inches long, but neatly groomed unlike his hair - he usually wears a helmet anyways. His eyes are dark blue, and his nose is slightly misshapen from when it was broken long ago, and never healed quite right. He often has a cheesy grin on his face that reveals a missing front tooth. Some people may think he is not the most attractive individual, but some people do not understand true beauty.

Moving down to the rest of his body, Joric's muscles have been built up over years of training, traveling, and fighting. He has numerous scars that he earned fighting anything from common brigands to vicious beasts.

[b]Armor/Attire:[/b] Joric wears a steel helmet with a sharp two inch-long spike on top, mostly to prevent taller beings from condescendingly patting him on the head, as many humans seem to do when faced with shorter beings. The helmet does not protect the lower half of his face, allowing his beard to flow out, and the eyeslits are larger than most - he likes visibility. The rest of his armor is standard heavy steel plate, although it is worth noting that the gauntlets and boots have short-yet-sharp spikes on the knuckles and toes. Around his waste is a black leather belt, and he has a simple traveler's pack on his back.

[b]Equipment[/b] 
[list]
[*] One-handed single-bladed steel battleaxe, fashioned from Dwarven steel with a hilt wrapped in leather. Joric frequently ensures that is sharpened, giving him an [i]edge[/i] in combat. He keeps it on his belt at his right hip.
[*] A steel longsword, or at least a longsword by Dwarven standards. Though he prefers his axe, there are times when a sword may be more useful. It never hurts to have a back-up, either. You could say Joric has proven this [i]point[/i] on multiple occasions.
[*] A round steel shield, glowing softly with a magic-resistant enchantment. Fire and ice will neither heat nor cool it, the shield itself is less likely to break under magical force, and Joric himself is less likely to be knocked off his feet. The shield itself is painted with the image of a red axe crossing a blue sword.
[*] A flask of strong dwarven brew at his belt.
[*] Basic traveling supplies in his pack: a canteen of water, some food, some rope, a bedroll, a knife.
[/list]

[b]Mental Description/Personality:[/b] Joric is rather optimistic, I guess. And by optimistic, I mean inappropriately so. He likes to yell out puns and one-liners, especially in combat. Some of these are cheesy or poorly thought out, while others can actually be rather clever. He can also be regarded as reckless, having a tendency to charge straight in or announce his presence before discussing battle tactics. Rarely will he back down from a challenge. All that said, he has a strong sense of honor and loyalty. There are a few other things I could say about his personality, but I'd rather leave that for others to piece together as the story progresses.

[b]Goals:[/b] Joric doesn't have much of a purpose, to be completely honest. He simply seeks to wander the surface, slaying monsters and exploring new locations. If he happens to save some lives or earn some coin in the process, then all the better.

[b]Background/History:[/b] Joric was born in an underground mining settlement somewhere in the Silver Marches. His parents were blacksmiths, and he was expected to follow in their footsteps, although he always harbored a curiosity as to what was on the surface. And while he did have an interest in weapons, it was more to do with how they were used than how they were made. He would take flawed weapons that his parents had discarded, and practice with them in secret. And being the son of a blacksmith allowed him to pick up quite a bit of information on what qualities to look for in a weapon, and how to do minor repairs on basic objects.

The work and training his parents continued to pile onto him prevented him from having an opportunity to explore the surface, even for a visit. And on the odd occasion that he did get free time, he was unable to work up the courage to actually go and explore.

As the years went on, his naive and idealistic desire to become a wandering hero started to fade, but his fascination with weaponry and combat didn't stop. He instead decided that he would rather be a guard. So when he came of age, he signed on with the town militia. After only a few weeks of actual training, he proved to be a skilled fighter from his earlier years of practice. Both his trainers and his comrades knew he had potential.

And then came the cave-in.

To this day, no one knows how it started. One day the ceiling of the cave just collapsed, burying the mines as well as half the town and killing most of its population. Joric had been in the middle of a training session at the time, but his parents had been in the other half.

His parents dead, the population devastated, and the town's main source of income destroyed, Joric was distraught. He and the other survivors dug away at the rubble for days, hoping to find survivors or recover valuable possessions. When the tool provided to him broke, he used his hands, clawing away at dirt and stone and until his fingers were raw and bleeding. As the days wore on, any hope of finding the survivors was lost.

Joric soon realized he had no reason to stay. He couldn't bear it. Picking up his weapon, he left for the surface without a word. He was set upon by a pair of bandits only a few days later, which he promptly slew. He remembered how much he enjoyed training with the militia. He thought of the thrill he had just felt, battling and overpowering two men. He looked up at the open sky above him, taking in the smell of the fresh air and the surrounding wildlife. He recalled his childhood dream to wander the surface as a monster-slaying hero.

Well, it wasn't like he had anything better to do.

His fifty years of adventuring took him all across the Realms, doing mercenary work and even earning a modest reputation as a hero in some areas. He fought various beasts and rescued innocents, just as he had set out to do, although he quickly found it was not as glamorous as he imagined, but it was a life that he loved nonetheless. Eventually his travels took him to the Moonsea, and from there he found his way to Hulburg, where he answered a call for aid.