[hider=B. Yostofson][b]Name:[/b] Barnam Yostofson [b]Age:[/b] 29 [b]Sex:[/b] Male [b]Kingdom/Place of Origin:[/b] The Freen Nation of Aevland [b]Appearance:[/b] [img]http://i.imgur.com/ZODtWL1.jpg[/img] [b]Skills/Abilities:[/b][indent]- Communicating, Haggling, and Fast-Talking - Sleight of Hand and Coin/Card tricks - Trading, Merchanting - Storytelling and Singing - Climbing, Jumping, Hiding - Disguising and Camouflage - Cooking - Sketching[/indent] [b]Equipment:[/b][indent]- - - - - [/indent] [b]History:[/b][indent]The Free Nation of Aevland is a small nations, run by the Trade Market. Self-stylize trade-lords pull strings behinds the scenes of politics, buying votes, electing politicians, and accumulating ever more wealth and influence. If a child is born into a wealthy trade-lord's family, their instruction immediately begins in the sciences of coin, including accounting, economics, and statistics. They are groomed from birth to inherit the family line, with the expectation that the family's wealth and power will grow ever larger under that child's reign. If a child is [i]not[/i] born into a wealthy Aevish family, they spend their lives scrabbling to eke out an existence in the working class of Aevland. Producing goods, offering services, and growing the food for the wealthy, among other things. Barnam was born into neither category. More accurately, he was born into a combination of both. His family was one of indentured servitude to the noble Ambrett line. Since before his birth, Barnam was promised to serve that most honorable house. This would have generally been a simple arrangement, if not for the fact that Barnam's father was, in fact, the patriarch of the house, Morgon of Ambrett himself. The powerful man hadn't quite been able to control himself when the lovely Mayana arrived in his household. Though Barnam would never be fully accepted by his true father, he did receive certain luxuries that were not expected of his station in the house. He was never given direct instructions by the masters, not like the true heir to the Ambrett family, but he was allowed to sit in on her lessons. Dahlia of Ambrett was taught all of the mathematics her position required. She was taught grace and poise in stressful situations, while Barnam learned to hide the trinkets he took from the masters, and lie about his theft. While Dahlia learned to write and read, Barnam learned to run and swing and climb with the best of them, to escape the enraged servants of the house. Dahlia ate the food that Barnam cooked, whether it was good or bad. Despite their differences, the two grew up close, sharing many secrets and much laughter through their youth. She taught him the lessons that went over his head. He told her stories of fantastic beasts and dangerous dungeons. As the years passed, Dahlia became more and more beautiful, and Barnam became more and more...wild. His mother had passed several years ago, and he had taken the loss poorly. He and his father Yostof were devastated. While Dahlia grew refined, Barnam strayed from the gardens of the Ambrett home, running the streets of the Aevish capital, and seeking his own fortune. Along the way, his voice grew honeyed, averting many dangers and attracting many...interested parties. Though Morgon longed to rope his son in and give him a good, stern talking-to, he held his tongue in fear. Despite Barnam's teenage rebelliousness, he was still good for the household, with his unorthodox insight proving useful to the Ambrett line. His food was excellent, and his wild stories were in high demand. All this came to a catastrophic end when Barnam was discovered in Dahlia's bed one night, their arms and bodies intertwined. Morgon of Ambrett, the only living person who knew the truth, was enraged beyond all compare. The man struck Barnam to the ground, lashing him fiercely with a finely braided whip. Dahlia begged her father to stop, but Morgon was in a horror-induced frenzy. Finally in desperation, Dahlia Ambrett threw herself in front of her father's weapon. The whip struck once, and the cry of pain brought Barnam to his senses. With a cry of rage he hadn't known he'd possessed, the young man leapt at his true father, striking him to the ground. The Lord Ambrett did not rise, for his head had struck the corner of the bedside table. Dahlia screamed, and only then did Barnam know what he'd done. In a panic, he fled the room, forgetting everything in his desperation to escape. He fled the Ambrett family home in the dark, naked and shivering. He has not returned since. --- Barnam left Aevland on a ship bound for Dara. Technically, he hadn't been allowed on board, but he was never discovered, and when the ship pulled into the port of Dara, he slipped away without a soul to have seen him. His unofficial training in the world of trade served him well on the streets. For years he made a name for himself as a fair and impartial fence, in the sense that no one ever discovered how badly he had ripped them off. As the years passed and he grew older, Barnam stopped looking over his shoulder as much. His smile slowly returned, and he allowed himself to laugh more and more. Though it took almost ten years, Barnam's trauma faded from his mind, only troubling him during dark days and rainy nights. --- Most recently, however, after a deal gone horribly awry, Barnam found himself in need of escaping the city as quickly as human possible. The World-Tree expedition was a perfect cover: who wouldn't want a venerable merchant, and all his wares? Never mind that most of the wares weren't his, and their original owners hadn't yet figured out they were missing.[/indent] [b]Personality and Psychological profile:[/b][indent]The past's misfortunes have spurned Barnam's current need for endless coin. He will talk to, and work with, anyone for the right price, and more than several murders within the walls of Dara have occurred due to his machinations. He's no reason to care for their fates, only to amass enough wealth to never be forced from home and comfort again. He is quick to laugh, quick to smile, and quick to let others know about the 'best deal he's ever heard of'. What he usually fails to mention is that the deal is best for him, not them, but few, if any, ever realize it as such. Interestingly enough, Barnam is very particular about loyalty. After being betrayed by his family and his love, he makes a point to never betray those who he works with, while their compact is in effect. He maintains no loyalty to his employers after the terms of their agreement are fulfilled. This means no trading one employer for a better one, or leaving an endangered convoy to its own ends. However, he has taken more than one contract at a time, with one of the contracts being to ruin the other employer after their business concluded. Unless the first employer strictly negotiated a writ of permanent protection from Barnam, he would gladly fulfill the second contract as well. He...lives a complicated moral code, which many ascribe to simply be 'amoral' instead. Long and the short of it: Barnam is a jovial, fast-talking man with a firm loyalty to his employers and an equally firm willingness to stab them in the backs after concluding business with them. Coin is the only thing which buys his loyalty. [/indent] [b]Prior Run-Ins:[/b][indent]N/A for now.[/indent][/hider]