[center][h2][b]Baldric Durant “Baldy”[/b][/h2] 
[img]https://i.imgur.com/n22Sfum.png[/img]
[sub]Courtesy: Dean S. Jagger[/sub]
[h2][b]Male – 41 – Man-at-Arms (Lance Commander)[/b][/h2][/center]

[color=0076a3][b]Role:[/b][/color] Man-at-Arms, commanding a Lance.

[color=0076a3][b]Appearance:[/b][/color] Baldy stands 6’1-1/2” (186.7cm) tall weighing 235 pounds (106.6kg) with shoulder length oily dark brown hair and a short unkempt brown beard. His piercing brown eyes are focused, cutting through the bullshit when he is presented with its stench. As a veteran soldier, Baldy wears a mail surcoat with a studded leather jerkin lain over the mail and a 2” wide leather belt to cinch it together at the waist. He has taken to wearing a bearskin cloak over this armor and wears high hard black boots. He has a few small leather belt pouches tied to the belt. Upon his hands, he wears a pair of black leather gloves under mail gauntlets with steel bracers.

[color=0076a3][b]Personality:[/b][/color] Baldy is a quiet man with irascible tendencies. He has true respect for those who have proven themselves to him, which means the man survived combat by his side. Young, inexperienced people touting loud boastful comments are annoying to Baldric. He is quick to explode in their faces if they annoy him too much. For the most part, Baldric says nothing. 

He is very pensive, spending much time with his thoughts. He has a high intelligence; maybe in another world, he could have achieved social greatness, but not in this known world. He was born low and there he will remain. His only saving grace was to remain a soldier after his first taste of combat. When thrust into combat, his firm sinews are quick to react. Baldy becomes animated slashing through waves of opponents.

Put a tankard of alcohol into Bladric’s belly and he becomes a happy drunk. He is quite the opposite what you typically see, singing, yelling and making a complete ass of himself. He enjoys fighting while intoxicated. It is such a refreshing experience for Baldric; quite liberating actually. 

[color=0076a3][b]History:[/b][/color] Baldric Durant was born to a mining family in a village two leagues east of Durranheim. His early life was a difficult one, but it served to keep the young man physically fit. He hailed from a hearty stock of mountain folk spending their days mining iron ore from the Ragmark Mountains. When the Ragmark called for their banners, Baldric joined with his father and brothers. His first taste of battle taught him to enjoy the life of the soldier, training regularly in the use of the sword as well as hand to hand combat. Baldric found himself to be a natural born warrior.

When that initial war ended, Baldric sought out free companies who would hire him based on his past experience as a soldier in the Ragmark army. His early armor consisted of a gambeson, conical steel helm and long sword with and without a shield. Being a soldier suited the 6’ 1-1/2” Northerner, learning everything he could about being a soldier. He was 17 when he first mounted a horse learning to ride. He has come to appreciate the shock effect of a heavy cavalry charge upon dismounted infantry; having seen both sides of the collision.

Over the years, the free company he served with went through droughts where they had no work and at other times, work was more than abundant. Occasionally, they worked as sentries or guards rather than actual grunt work. The unit did whatever was necessary to survive.

With the money he earned from the jobs, he was able to afford new armor and weapons to protect himself as well as an ample supply of alcohol. He found he was able to afford equipment previously only noblemen could afford. For the past six years, he has been employed by the [i]Band of Fortune[/i] or as they have become known a [i]Band of Fools[/i].

For the past twenty-five years as a soldier, Baldric has sustained multiple scars throughout his life surviving no fewer than seven arrow strikes. He has been training as a soldier for the entire time. He has trained in horsemanship, hand to hand combat, long sword, sword and shield, short sword, saber, lance, axe, battle axe, great axe and the bow. As well as using the sword or fighting with his hands, riding a horse is a skill that has quickly become second nature. He understands the horse’s limitation and its potential. He takes full advantage of both.
There was a two-year period in his early 30s where Baldric served as a horseman in a Free Company of Lancers. He acquired good skill in the use of this weapon. He would never consider competing at tournament, simply because he not highborn. For one year in his mid-30s, he learned to use the longbow and served with a Company of bowmen. He enjoys the lethality of this ranged weapon, but he honestly prefers to fight up close and personal. He has acquired a fair skill with the bow and can use it effectively if needed, but prefers the sword.

At various times over the past quarter century, Baldric has served in various capacities, leading a lance or even a collection of three or four lances. He is comfortable being a leader of men or simply being one of the soldiers who get the job done. He was however promoted to command a lance about five years ago. In his relatively advanced age, he has grown tired of the young bucks who come along, thinking they are going to make a name for themselves, just to get killed seconds into their first action. His rule is, he won’t ask you your name until after you have survived your first encounter with the enemy. 

[color=0076a3][u][b]Skills and Abilities:[/b][/u][/color] 
[list]-	Sword. Having used the sword more than any other weapon, Baldy possesses his highest skill in this weapon with and without a shield. He is disciplined possessing a fine talent with the weapon; a difficult opponent to defeat.

-	Hand to hand combat. As long as he has served as soldier, Baldric has been fighting with his fists and feet. He is not afraid to kick as well as punch. He has learned several unconventional methods of fighting with the hands and feet.

-	Great Axe. In his late 20s, Baldric found himself experimenting with various axes. He would take an axe on campaign just to see how he would fair and fair he did. His axe skill in general is good, but he prefers the Great Axe for its heft. He considers himself to possess good to decent skill with the Great Axe.[/list]


[color=0076a3][u][b]Weaknesses:[/b][/u][/color] 
[list]-	Abusive. Baldric has seen a lot in his twenty-five years as a soldier. He has witnessed some of the harshest mistreatment of humans by men. In his younger years he could afford to make moral decisions about these actions, but over time he has grown accustomed to it and has found himself on more than a few occasions acting in a similar fashion. He can be very abusive with the enemy, prisoners or anyone who simply stands in his way.

-	Fierce. Baldric is by nature a calm, cool and quiet individual speaking only when spoken to. When stirred to action, he is one of the fiercest warriors on the battlefield or in the pub. When his temper has been elevated, he attacks with reckless abandon striking out at targets of opportunity. Sometimes Baldric is slow to calm; to recover to baseline.

-	Gruff. Baldy is a rough looking man, considered crusty and by a few difficult to get along with. He is comfortable alone; knowing that his companions could be dead after the next encounter anyway. It makes no sense to get overly familiar with them.

-	Irrascible. Saying the wrong thing around Baldric could draw his temper out quickly. As long as you are a respected member of the unit; a veteran, you have nothing to worry about. 

-	Alcoholic. Baldric loves rum. He will drink ale on a daily basis with meals. He may even drink wine if that is all that is available, but loves his rum. It is an addiction with him, forced to consume large quantities of alcohol whenever possible or the opportunity arises. On the plus side, Baldric is a happy drunk. He will sing, dance, laugh, joke and yell when he is drunk. His tendency to be irascible, gruff, fierce, or abusive are mitigated by his alcohol consumption. It is like someone flipped his “I don’t give a fuck” switch and he becomes much easier to get along with.[/list]

[color=0076a3][b]Equipment:[/b][/color] Over a light gambeson top and leather trousers, Baldric wears a mail surcoat extending to mid-thigh. Over this piece of mail, which also includes a mail coif, he wears a studded leather jerkin. Upon his hands he wears leather gloves over which he wears a pair of mail gauntlets fastened with steel bracers. His foot wear is a high hard black leather boot and upon his head a small steel conical helmet. A 2” wide belt cinches the jerkin and surcoat together where the scabbard for his longsword is attached. Baldy owns a great bearskin cloak he has worn over his armor on occasion. This is something he wears when not actively engaged in fighting. He carries more than a few daggers of varying length for different purposes, none of which are to be [i]thrown[/i] away. He has gone through several shields, they come and go. He may have one or two laying around somewhere. A great axe is also in storage someplace. If he needed to get at it, he would. He would strap the great axe on his back, arming the sword initially. He currently does not own a bow or a quiver of arrows, but could employ one properly if needed to. A 17-hands tall Destrier named, [i]Charcoal[/i] has been his mount for the past two years after he lost his last one during a heated engagement near Bordia. Baldric does not wear anything fancy, nor does he pursue delicate or daintily crafted itesm. [i]“A fucking bloody waste of money, if ye ask me!”[/i]