[@TaliPaendrag] Hello, I would like to audition for the role of group Dwarf.

[hider=Brandon Argyle]
[center][img]https://img00.deviantart.net/0cd5/i/2015/205/e/e/dwarf_by_enterry-d92l5df.jpg[/img][/center]
[center][h2][b]Brandon Argyle[/b][/h2][/center]
[center][i][b]”Magic demands responisibility…so put some thought into it, you lackadaisical layabout!”[/b][/i][/center]
[hr] 

[b][u]Nicknames:[/u][/b] Lordling
[b][u]Race:[/u][/b] Dwarf
[b][u]Gender:[/u][/b] Male
[b][u]Age:[/u][/b] 20
[b][u]Appearance:[/u][/b] Blonde of hair and brown of eye, and standing at a height of 4’9, Brandon is often characterized by his austere gaze and upright posture. He is bulky and muscular like many of his Dwarven brethren. He is almost always exceptionally well kempt, making a point of grooming even at the worst of times. His wardrobe is mostly made up of finery befitting a patrician, although Brandon is practical enough to know some situations call for equally practical outfits.

[b][u]Personality:[/u][/b] A stern and formal young man, Brandon has often been described as acting well beyond his age. Mostly out of instruction, Brandon acts the role of a Dwarven gentleman, polite and dignified in manner and dedicated to the rules and traditions of society. He can come across a touch snobbish, if only because he has been taught not to indulge in activities that are beneath him or anything that would bring his family into disrepute. He personally considers reputation highly important. He would not choose to associate with those that have made a poor name for themselves, and he considers anyone of high regard to be worth a chance if nothing else.

For all his aristocratic tendencies, Brandon is hardly incapable of getting past his upbringing. Brandon is fond of humour, and has been known to laugh so loud his bellowing shakes the room. He is not easily amused, preferring to hear jokes of sufficient wit rather than tasteless jests, and will turn his nose up at anything that doesn’t suit him. He is also quick to anger, and will make his opinion heard if overtly offended. The steely gaze he adopts when angered has been known to make grown men back away and drive young serving girls to tears. A blistering tirade awaits anyone that commits one of any of the acts he considers to be the highest of sins, and entailed in those tirades is a selection of some of the most colourful curses he has conjured up to date. Backing out of or being abjectly derelict in one’s duty is perhaps that which he hates the most, and woe befall anyone that fails to support a team he is a part of.

[b][u]Biography:[/u][/b] Anyone taking a cursory glance at the Argyle family would likely assume they were some form of nobility. While they may act the part, the Argyles have no hereditary privileges in their society, and are simply a type of gentry in their home republic. Their claim to fame is having had multiple members of the family serve as Councillors at various points of history, and even having held the position of First Councillor once. As something of a political dynasty, members of the Argyle family are often obsessed with maintaining their prestige and pursuing their own political careers.

Brandon was raised to this role by his father, who was groomed for it by his father before him and so forth. He was often called a “lordling” by common folk due to the way him and his family play at being high lords and ladies as found in other societies. As a young boy, Brandon didn’t question any of it. Certainly their society was one where every adult voted and Councillors only served at the pleasure of their voters, but as father always said, they were of a higher pedigree than most, and so it was only fitting they lead the way for the commons. 

He would go on with an unquestioning subservience to his plotted course in life until he met a lady named Amelia Lannon while attending “Luca Blanc’s Academy of Higher Learning”. She too was a “lordling”, but she did not act the part a lick. She was considered a shrewish and deviant girl by her peers, constantly questioning their norms and being an enormous social gadfly. She nettled Brandon much as she did others, questioning is unwavering devotion to his family and his stuck up demeanour in general. She received a great many hostile rebukes from Brandon, but the more she pestered him, the more he wondered about the truth in her words. It was true that he had simply carried on without thinking very hard about what he was doing with his life, choosing to put faith in the wisdom of his father and forefathers. The more he thought about it, the more he questioned the wisdom of all this petty politicking personally. 

Making up his mind to at least try getting beyond his entrenched lifestyle, Brandon brought up the idea of joining the Mage Guild of Alsijan. His father immediately balked at the idea. The plan had been for him to learn from prestigious Dwarven tutors. It was uncommon for a Dwarf, let alone an Argyle, to sully himself by learning from one of those alien schools of uncertain merit. He wouldn’t hear a word of it at first, but Brandon dug his heels in and insisted, claiming that broadening his horizons would help him serve Dwarven society better, perhaps by virtue of being better able to protect it against pervasive foreign influence. He didn’t have any intention of going there to help entrench xenophobia in the republics, of course, but his father enjoyed the rhetoric, and was eventually won over to the idea. Now Brandon considers himself free to learn from the Guild and decide for himself where he will be heading in life. 

[b][u]Affinities:[/u][/b] Abjuration and Evocation
[b][u]Craft:[/u][/b] Artifice
[b][u]Magic:[/u][/b] Brandon has already received a degree of tutelage in the school of Abjuration. It is of course a well respected school of magic among Dwarves, and the Argyles could never resist the idea of being associated with something respectable. Brandon has a talent for barriers, having demonstrated himself to be something of an iron wall when standing tall against hostile spells. 

His dabbling in Evocation is a more recent phenomenon after opening his mind, and as such is decidedly amateurish. Putting together what he could from clandestine meetings with private tutors and what books he could find, Brandon has shown some affinity for manipulating the element of Earth. Until he receives some in depth formal instruction, Brandon’s skill with Evocation will remain little more than the ability to toss around a few rocks.

[b][u]Skills:[/u][/b] Trained to be a powerful melee combatant, Brandon is well versed in the art of cleaving through his enemies using a greatsword that would give trouble even to the larger races of the world.  He has also proven a crack shot with a crossbow, although he deeply prefers to get up close and personal. As a member of the upper crust of his republic, Brandon has literate and has consumed a great deal of literary work on topics ranging from magical theory to Dwarven lore and history.
[/hider]