[quote=@Baklava]
[@Crimson Raven] It's not a bad thing to have contradictory character traits, but in most cases it's "he acts X. on the outside or in A. situations, but is Y. on the inside or in B. situations." Otherwise it seems like he has a mental disorder like being bipolar or something. In this instance I wasn't given quite enough information to draw any sort of conclusion-- that's the only reason why I bring it up. That could just be me, but I would suggest adding a little more to guide me and the other players in the direction you want us going in. 

Obviously we won't REALLY know what kind of person Ark is until the character interactions begin, but this is the part where you want to make sure we as players have a clear view of your character. This makes it easier for us to form the story together and make predictions about each other's characters. For example, let's say I want to have my character accidentally step on someone's foot and I want a very interesting/tense reaction to come out of it. If I, as the player, had the choice of stepping on a nice character's foot and an abrasive character's foot-- I might make my roleplaying decision based on that. 

<Snipped quote>

I might refer to the bandits as slavers from the beginning in that case-- as it still seems a bit confusing why bandits who are also slavers would bring someone back to their home if they saw any potential in keeping him as a slave. If I were an evil bandit slaver I wouldn't want to pay for the kid-- I'd just take him. 

With the geography thing-- definitely not your fault. I haven't mentioned much in the way of Coake's climate. 

[/quote]

I see what you mean, sorry for the vagueness. How to explain it? He is a mercenary. So basically, he sells himself for money(irony alert) on every job and he riskes his life to do so. He may be willing to and enjoy protecting people and the combat, but wouldn't anyone living like that develop a cynical outlook? And if he does fail and people get hurt, he would have to be able to shut away the feeling, hence apathy. That was the idea I was going for anyways.
[s]Stepping on an armored foot wouldn't get much of a reaction.[/s]

Yeah, I plan to make that easier...I like how you think...