[hider=Mutt][b]Name: [/b]Mutt [b]Race: [/b]Jackal-Wildling [hider=Jackal-Wildlings]Just as canine beastkin are one of the more thriving tribes wandering the wastes, Canine-Wildlings are often scattered around Nagath in various homesteads or campsites. They are largely considered the ‘tamer’ of the Wildling breeds and do not shy away from their masters. They only become aggressive when provoked. Most retain some vocal function but their vocal range varies on a case-by-case basis, meaning that some are capable of full sentences, others can just about manage a few words and a few can only make guttural noises. Most are easily identifiable by the patches of fur on their joints and a short, almost hairless tail protruding from their lower back.[/hider] [b]Nationality/Nation description:[/b] Better known as ‘The mongrels of the human race’, Wildling is a blanket term for the children of human and beastkin parents. Their physiology varies largely depending on the tribe; some bear-wildlings are often mistaken for orcs or trolls based on their hulking size and masses of body hair, whereas the rabbit-wildlings are known for their pale skin and powerful legs. Typically, the surviving wildlings that do not suffer from debilitating genetic defects have a mostly human body with animalistic appearances such as patches of fur, large crooked teeth, flattened noses and in some cases, scales or horns. Most wildlings have tails. They are one of the most common slave-races in Nagath. The Beastkin scorn the Wildling’s inferior humanoid physique and their human counterparts are repulsed by their bestial appearance, but both races keep them around as manpower can be scarce in the ashen wastelands and keeping servants or slaves allows their pureblood kin to perform more important tasks instead of sweeping floors or carrying letters. Humanity are less prone to keep wildlings around but there are rumours of a couple of Wildling servants that work in the stables of some of the warlords in The Marches, out of sight and out of mind. Due to their reception within society, most Wildlings are illiterate and a fair portion of them find it difficult or impossible to speak. This lack of communication makes it all the easier to guiltlessly subjugate them. [b]Occupation:[/b] It’s pretty hard to tell what Mutt does to gain the handful of coins she has on her person, but it’s most likely from a bunch of odd-jobs and petty thefts. As such, Mutt is an unemployed wanderer. [b]Religion:[/b] N/A [b]Appearance:[/b] A pale, freckled, gangly, middle-aged woman with a tangled mane of reddish-brown hair, thick eyebrows and incredibly dark eyes. She stands at almost 6’2” and wears no armour, just a collection of leather and furs stitched together to form basic garments. Her skin is covered in scars and burns as pieces of shrapnel and debris from the slagworks shift and bulge just under the rough flesh that has healed over the pieces Mutt couldn’t claw out without causing damage. A huge metal collar dangles around her neck like a mockery of a necklace; judging by the scrapes, scratches and dents covering every square inch of its surface, it is clear that Mutt cannot remove it on her own and nobody has been kind enough to take it off for her. Armed with a shortbow, several handmade arrows and a sword clearly too ornate for her kind, this Jackal-Wildling is visibly armed due to the fact she is also easily identifiable.The patches of similarly reddish-brown fur sprouting from her covered shoulders, elbows and knees aren’t often seen yet her mouth is full of canine teeth, her fingernails are tough and black and her nose is a pale greyish colour and covered with the scales of a dog’s nose. Every so often, a long tongue will slip over it to keep it moist. She never wears any shoes. [b]Personality:[/b] Mutt’s personality is a discordant cocktail of doggish habits and human mannerisms she’s clearly learned secondhand, all held together by the mute and stubborn part of her that she developped in the slagworks. It’s clear she hasn’t been around people long enough to make an identity of her own, so she switches from one to another awkwardly. When in company, Mutt does her best to make a good impression and seems excited to talk to people. She has an inquisitive and quietly optimistic nature that draws her back into doing the same task over and over until she succeeds or gets too injured to want to try again. She naturally avoids eye contact and thinks carefully over each word she utters; most likely because she isn’t able to utter a lot of them in rapid succession without falling into incoherency. Her attitude can change from perky and excited to sluggish and sulky depending on her mood but this sort of behaviour is typically seen when she is around humankind. When in danger, alone or out in the wilderness, something more primal takes over. It is a quiet yet animalistic side of Mutt that lacks the happy-go-lucky nature of her social counterpart as Nagath is harsh on the naive and stupid. [b]Biography:[/b] Mutt was born in a litter of Wildlings and immediately set to work in the slagworks of the Jackal Beastkin tribe, just south of The Claws. It was Mutt’s job to dive into the enormous heaps of scrap metal and pull out pieces that were too big to melt down fully so other Wildlings in other areas of the slagworks could break them down and toss them back into the heap. Not many can survive this kind of work; if the blood loss from the myriad of cuts didn’t get you, the tetanus usually finished you off. Luckily, Mutt was a hardy sort and managed years upon years of this drudge work. Things started to change as Mutt noticed that she kept frightening people by ‘sneaking up on them’. The punishment beatings began to increase as a result, but with Mutt having nothing stimulating to do aside from agonising manual labour, she started to experiment. It was during a restless night in her cage that she noticed something; try as she might, her feet were physically unable to leave a footprint anymore, even if she scuffed and scraped at the ashy grit with all her strength. Jumping up and down made no imprint, no sound. The crunch of metal pieces under her feet had fallen silent. Mutt began to make a plan. She escaped her masters in the dead of night when she was just nearing adulthood, heavy metal collar still clamped firmly around her neck. It was her first kill with the intent to harm; mercy killing was often considered good manners amongst the slaves of the slagworks, but this guard was fat on direhog meat and wasn’t paying enough attention to his surroundings. Mutt took his shiny sword and scarpered off into the night. The first few months were hellish. Instinct drove her to hunt but her body was too human, too frail from slavery to withstand the elements. She should have perished from fever or starvation before the end of her first year of freedom but the charity of an unknown stranger kept her on the brink of survival. It was Mutt’s first encounter with a human, and it marked her so profoundly that she found her determination to live and repay the kindness. Months turned into years as Mutt scraped by. She learned through observation and since she could walk silently, Mutt was able to spy on craftsmen and traders to get a rudimentary grasp on skills such as tailoring, woodcarving, bartering...the basics needed to survive in a civilised world. It took Mutt nearly a decade to learn how to talk, walk and act as a passable human. Her life is a nomadic one but she often frequents settlements when she can to practice and help out. When things eventually go awry and the villagers either chase her out or try to put her in chains again, Mutt runs away and finds some other camp to lurk around. She always comes back to humanity in the end, out of curiosity and a ceaseless drive to ‘fit in’ enough to experience the life of a human first-hand instead of watching from afar. Her next stop is Ozgad’s Folly. [b]Equipment:[/b] Mutt carries around her weapons in clear view. She has a shortbow, handmade arrows and a sword pilfered from god knows where that clearly does not belong to her. Funnily enough, it is not the sword that contains the mystical power of the Dark Lord. Embedded into the soles of her feet are two jagged shards of metal from Daigon’s greaves that appear to have welded themselves into her skin and cannot be removed without tearing the whole foot clean off. Her footfalls are undetectable, both by eye and by sound. As a result it’s difficult to track her and unfortunate to be ambushed by her. [b]Skills:[/b] Mutt is an experienced survivalist from her years on the run. Her ability to read the body language of both man and beast is her saving grace, learned from hanging around her mute brothers and sisters and used in many tense situations to figure out how to pick her battles wisely. Like most Wildlings, Mutt can effortlessly move around in harsher terrain as well as being able to run a little faster and jump a little higher. [b]Motivation:[/b] Mutt is a slave no longer. She wanders Nagath to seek purpose and be accepted by humanity. It is a long, slow and agonising process; especially for an illiterate mongrel that can barely count over ten.[/hider] Hello, I hope it's not too late to join. I thought I should try something that's a lot different from what I usually RP as, so hopefully this character isn't a complete disaster. The rest of the cast look so diverse and unique so I'm really excited to join in!