[hider=Talos Valcoran][B]Username:[/b] Mortarion

[b]Character Name:[/b]Talos Valcoran

[b]Race/Species:[/b]Human

[b]Gender:[/b]Male

[b]Age:[/b]35

[b]Career/Class:[/b]Knight (the Order of the Dusk)

[b]Skills[/b]:
[list]
[*] Expert - Two-handed blade
[*] Expert - Heavy Armor
[*] Journeyman - Athletics
[*] Journeyman - Smithing
[*] Journeyman - Hand to Hand
[*] Adept - Medicine
[*] Adept - Mercantile
[*] Adept - Speech
[*] Adept - Tailoring
[/list]

[b]Weapons:[/b]
[list]
[*] Valdium Two-handed longsword
[*] Hunting Knife
[/list]

[b]Physical Description:[/b] Valcoran’s face could be appropriately described as plain, there are no remarkable features on his face save for two: a slight gauntness on his cheeks -a byproduct of a lack of a proper diet when he was growing up- and two scars on his face, one that goes through his forehead and a second one that goes over his left eye and crisscrosses with the forehead scar. His eyes are of a deep, dark blue, color that seem to be constantly clouded, a wary, alert, look always seemingly set on them. His head is crowned by hair of a dark, ebony, hair that he always keeps cropped short.

Standing a few inches taller than 6 feet, it becomes readily apparent that Talos is well toned -due to both his training and the fact that he had to work from a young age- with a clearly tanned skin from many hours under the sun. With calloused hands and a pair of arms that are clearly muscled, it is readily apparent that Talos is more suited for tasks that require more brute strength than anything else. Across his chest the mark of more than a few blades, and claws, is quite evident as scars crisscross over his chest, another memento of his time serving Daubeny.

On the length of both his forearms the scars of serious burns are quite evident, along with a few slash scars.

When outside his armor, Talos wears a simple linen shirt along with a set of trousers held by a simple, plain, belt. The only jewelry that he permits himself to wear is a pendant with the image of two crossed hammers that are encircled, which Talos simply states is his way of remembering that he was welcomed by the Forged and the times he spent there.

[b]Armor:[/b] Talos wears a set of interwoven metal plates atop chainmail, which is segmented along the torso, arms, and legs so as to provide him with greater dexterity in battle. On top of the torso section of his armor Talos wears a dark indigo tabard which is outlined by a forest green fabric, as is customary of the order of the Dusk. Alongside this, to protect his head, Talos usually wears a visored barbuta helmet.

[b]Equipment/Other:[/b]
[list]
[*] Leather-bound Journal
[*] Whetstone
[*] Travelling sack
[*] Bedroll
[*] Roll of bandages
[*] Small bottle of alcohol
[*] Needle and thread roll 
[/list]

[b]Mental Description/Personality:[/b] Once a cheerful, open, person, Talos’s life has shaped him into a dour, serious, and withdrawn man to whom his mission is everything. The single-mindedness of purpose that characterised him in his youth and during his time as a squire in the order of the Forge knights has turned into zealotry towards two goals: riding the world of Fey Witches and avenging his fallen comrades. This last objective is born from Talos’s sense of loyalty, a sense which was inculcated in him by his late parents but which rooted itself further into the knight’s psyche during his training under the Forged. Indeed, were one to gain his loyalty Talos will prove himself a staunch ally who will go to any lengths to aid those he feels loyalty towards, be it either by avenging them were they to die or laying down his life for them if possible.  

However, the loss of his comrades at the hands of a Fey Witch so many years ago has turned Talos into a reclusive man who is slow to warm up to people and open up to them, however to those that he opens up to some of his old personality rises up to the surface. Another consequence of that dreadful encounter with the Fey Witch has instilled in his mind a deep suspicion -if not a mild racism- of the elven races, believing them to be either just as bad as the Fey Witches he now zealously hunts or just one step away from turning into that same kind of monster.

Finally, this fixation on his dual missions has resulted in a tendency to neglect himself meaning that while he might not be actively suicidal, indeed Talos would find it dishonourably in the extreme to die before completing his mission, he is prone to overextending himself -or negating wounds that he might consider ‘minor’- and end up in situations that might be life threatening.

[b]Goals:[/b] Destroy as many Fey Witches as possible and learning the identity of the Fey Witch that murdered his fellow Forged squires.

[b]Background/History:[/b] Born to a loving, albeit somewhat poor, couple of parents, Talos was forced from a young age to start working so as to help support his family's meager income. Despite a life that was often harsh, and that left little -if any- room for luxuries, Talos and his parents were happy with their place in the world. However, everything must eventually come to an end and, tragically, for Talos the life of his parents came to an early end when an outbreak of disease claimed both of their lives. Forced to sell what meager earthly possessions the Valcoran family had, Talos soon found himself living on the streets begging and performing backbreaking jobs to stay alive.

Determined to endure and survive, Talos threw himself at every endeavor that came to him in life with a single-mindedness of purpose. After half a decade of living on the streets, his luck turned around when he was singled by one of the Forged to join their order as a prospective knight apprentice. Immensely grateful towards the knight that had brought him into the orders fold, the orphan boy focused wholeheartedly into his training as one of the squires of the Forged. The years passed by as Talos focused on his training as a knight, absorbing the knowledge imparted on him by his mentors on forging and, above all, fighting techniques.

Time passed by and by the next decade, when the squire was a young adult of 25 years, came the long awaited moment where Talos was sent away so that he might test his skills in the real world and become a true knight. By that time Talos had come to consider the Forged as a sort of surrogate family and had no intention of leaving the knightly order that had welcomed him where he had nowhere else to go. However, things once again would take a turn for the worse. 

Like many of the Forged, Talos, alongside a group of fellow squires which had been selected as prospective candidates at the same time as him and with which he had forged a knit-tight bond, had been selected by a Lord, who went by the name of Daubeny, from a nearby village that bordered the northern marshes. Apparently the area which that particular noble claimed owed fealty to him had become increasingly dangerous to travel and the noble lord wanted Talos and his fellow squires to help pacify the area. At first things were going well as Talos and the other Forged only ran into bandits and other such threats that they could easily dispatch, however as time went on the bandits were replaced by fierce beasts and myriads of other magical threats.

Losses in battle started climbing up, yet the squires persevered. After a few months Talos and his fellow would-be-knights, now only 5 of the original 15 that had set out, finally came by the source of the troubles in the region they had been patrolling: a Fey Witch. Bound by their oaths to the lord of the land, Talos and his fellow squires tried to slay the Fey Witch that had been terrorizing the lands but, alas, they were no match for their foe, Talos’s companions were slain and he himself only managed to drive the witch away from the lands and not slay her as they had originally set out to do. Limping his way back to the keep from which lord Daubeny governed, Talos finally reached the keep both delirious from his wounds and on the brink of death. Given time to rest, and the help of a healer, Talos related what had happened to the nobleman once he could stand on his own. Incensed by the squires failure at slaying the Fey Witch the lord refused to knight him and banished Talos from his lands and told him to never return, lest he be executed for his failure at slaying the witch.

Too exhausted to protest at the unjust treatment he received Talos made his way back to the chapter house from which he and his fellow squires had set off from. When he returned Talos was welcomed back, albeit questions buzzed as to what had happened. Had Talos come back, newly knighted, to help train the next generation of Forged? And if so, what had happened to his fellow knights? Had they decided to stay in the service of the lord who had knighted them, or had they scattered to the winds and joined other knightly orders?

After a few weeks Talos finally managed to gather the courage and tell the older knights what had happened. He told them of the troubles they had encountered and, more importantly, of the Fey Witch that they had faced and whom had taken the lives of his fellow squires, furthermore he told the older knights of how his failure at slaying the witch meant he hadn’t been knighted by Daubeny. When Talos finished relating his tale he was told to wait outside, hours transpired and he could hear murmurs coming from the room in which the elder knights discussed. Eventually Talos was ushered back into the room, where the old knights had a simple question for him: what did he intend to do now?

With a heavy heart Talos answered the elder knight’s query. He would leave the Forge knights, in the mind of the young man he could no longer be part of the order for two reasons. On one hand, he had failed his trials and hadn’t been knighted; on the other hand, he personally felt like he couldn’t stay within the order -even if it would welcome him back- as he felt unworthy of joining the order, furthermore he felt that he was honor-bound to avenge his fallen comrades and, as such, he couldn’t stay with the Forged. Excusing himself Talos left before the elder knights could say anything more, soon enough he gathered what meager possessions he had and, after saying goodbye to his acquaintances in the chapter house, left the building. 

Seeking vengeance for his fallen comrades Talos joined the Templars of Dusk, of whom he had heard during his stay in the lands plagued by the Fey Witch, wanting to learn everything he could from the order dedicated to fighting the Fey. 10 years passed by as Talos learned at the feet of the masters of the order of Dusk but by the time he emerged once more he was now a member of the Order of the Dusk. With one clear objective in mind the newly knighted Templar made his way towards the Northern Marches, his sole objective wiping as many Fey Witches as he could and maybe, just maybe, finding the witch that had murdered his comrades and enacting vengeance for them.[/hider]