So I have now completed Shamus's history. I have given the basics of his life and the rest should come out IC. Just need the nod and I will move him to the character pages. [hider=Shamus] [center][img]http://orig11.deviantart.net/d37a/f/2009/364/5/2/blacksmith_by_archvermin.jpg[/img] [h3][b]Shamus O'Conner[/b][/h3][/center] [b]Gender:[/b]Male [b]Age:[/b] 29 [b]Race:[/b] Human [b]Equipment[/b][list] [*] [b]15lb Sledgehammer[/b] - This works as both Shamus's primary tool and personal defense option. There is nothing special or glamourous about this item, it is just 15lbs of pig iron attached to a slightly curved oak handle. As a tool he can use it at a forge, in the fields or working in construction; there are many jobs that can only be fulfilled with a strong lad wielding a big hammer. As a weapon, well, 15lbs of metal, well swung will kill even the most heavily armored foe. [*] [b]Traveler's Cloak[/b] - A simple cloak spun from heavy wool and treated with goose fat. This cloak is waterproof, weatherproof and serves as a makeshift tent when the need requires. It comes with a hood and stretches to the ground. The cloak has several hidden pockets that are useful for keeping things such as tinder, flint, coin and anything else that the wearer wants to keep hidden. [*] [b]Woodsman Hatchet[/b] - A small curved hatchet that can be used in multiple roles. The hatchet can be used as a tool or a secondary weapon, if required. The hatchet was made for Shamus at the first smithy he worked at after leaving home, so it holds a certain amount of sentimental value to him. [*] [b]Travelers Pack[/b] - A pack that contains all of the necessary items for traveling across country. Shamus always tries to keep the pack stocked with a water skin, three days of trail rations, bed roll, basic maps and small items collected through his travels. [/list] [b]Abilities[/b][list] (List Lapi, ETs, or Mutations here) [*] [b]Mutation - Stoneskin[/b] - Due to exposure to Earth Lapi he has a mutation that is common within his community. Shamus has skin that is as hard as stone. To the touch his skin feels normal if a little rough but it can turn a slashing attack and does operate in a similar way to normal armor. Due to his condition Shamus is resistant to heat but he is not fireproof. Once activated the Stoneskin also dulls Shamus's movements, he moves with a ponderous motion and his senses become dulled. The mutation itself is slowly hardening Shamus's nerve endings, in time it will harden his heart muscles and kill him. [*] [b]Earth Lapi - Earth Reform[/b] - A farming type magic that allows the user to control the density of earth and soil. It can turn the hardest packed earth into quicksand or the softest peat into a concrete block. The magic is not offensive in its nature but used correctly it can trap and ensnare a foe or give a much needed advantage in a dual. [/list] [b]Talents[/b][list] [*] [b]Jack of all trades[/b] - Shamus has spent a number of years turning his hand to a large number of physical jobs. He has learned that he is a quick study when it comes to working with his hands. Several masters wanted him to continue on with them, feeling that he could become something great. However Shamus's restless spirit and underlying mission never keep him in one place long enough. [*] [b]Man of the Land[/b] - Growing up in a rural community and as a farmer's son Shamus has a great deal of knowledge relating to animals and plants. More than once Shamus's knowledge of edible plants and roots has saved him when his rations ran out on the road. Shamus's knowledge stretches to almost all lowland and forest creatures, although he might not know them all he can apply his knowledge to make an informed guess. [/list] [b]Personality:[/b] Shamus is a restless spirit, he has never been able to find peace staying in one place to long. As a child Shamus would wander far and wide across the lands that surrounded his home. This wandering nature gives rise to the belief that Shamus is a lone wolf and shuns companionship, this could not be further from the truth. Shamus enjoys spending time with new people and learning about different cultures and traditions, however, he gets bored easily and feels the need to make new friends. Shamus has strong political views and is strongly opposed to the feudal system that roles over most of the land. It is his belief that the land should belong to the people that work it and not the 'Noble Lords'. His experiences traveling the country have not changed his beliefs, infact they have been further reinforced. As such he has a dislike of anyone of 'high birth'. He finds his great passion is for music. As he has no natural musical talent of his own he is fascinated by the way that it can control peoples emotions, raising them high or laying them low on a changing cord. [b]Biography:[/b] Born into a large farming family Shamus never really knew solitude. He had 14 Brothers and Sister, Shamus fit somewhere in the middle of the litter. As well as his siblings he had no less than 25 cousins within a league of the farm. His father would often joke that you could walk for a day in any direction from the farm and still find an O'Conner, probably in a bar. The family was poor, as is the lot for a tenant farmer but his Father would say that they had enough. They rarely knew hunger, they had clothes and roof over their head. The land they worked was no more or else fertile than any other, it was subject to the same bounty and famines that affected all rural communities. The lord of the land was, actually a Baron, Charles De Monthorpe the 6th. Baron De Monthorpe was not a bad man but he had the same casual disregard for his people that most of his stature had. The thing that fascinated the Baron the most was Lapi and there ability to increase production and farming yields. The Baron spent a small fortune on Lapi to give to the tenant farms and in return they would provide him with information regarding there use and outcome. What no one knew was the affect that the Lapi was having on the unborn children of the next generation. For a decade child after child was born with the same mutation, something the locals coined Stoneskin but the Baron ostentatiously called De Monthorpe Syndrome. For all there lack of formal education it didn't take the people long to realize what was happening and then came the rebellion, the famine and finally the mercenaries. Shamus doesn't really remember much about this time other than the hatred for the upper classes. As with all such things the seasons changed, the flames of emotion died down and the lands needed to tended too. The old Baron died and his son took up his Title and lands. The new Baron was keen to mend the wounds caused to his people, he built a school and decreased rents and was generally thought of better than his father. Shamus never forgot the hatred. When he was 16 he left the village that he had known his whole life and headed out into the world. It was hard but he had many adventures and made many friends and enemies along the way. Shamus was determined to find a cure for the condition that he knew would eventually kill him and a great many of his own family, it would not let their generation be the last for the O'Conner's. [b]Other:[/b] - Shamus hates shellfish, he calls them the insects of the sea, oddly he quite likes eating insects. [/hider]