[hider=Joss Corbyn] [center][color=9966cc][h3][b]Joss Corbyn[/b][/h3][/color][/center][hr] [color=9966cc][u][b]Age:[/b][/u][/color] 24 [color=9966cc][u][b]Gender:[/b][/u][/color] Male [color=9966cc][u][b]Race:[/b][/u][/color] Human [color=9966cc][u][b]Appearance:[/b][/u][/color] [hider=Armored] [IMG]http://i65.tinypic.com/2db9ekj.jpg[/IMG] [/hider] [hider=Casual] [IMG]http://i66.tinypic.com/alhlq8.png[/IMG] [/hider]Joss stands around six feet tall and weighs in at 170 pounds. The young man has a solid build, with the long limbs of a runner. His platinum blond hair is always unruly and spikes every which way. Joss's eyes are deep blue color that reminds him of clear, tropical ocean water. Besides a few scars that mark him as a seasoned warrior, the only other noteworthy aspect of his appearance is the fact that both of his ears have four gold cuffs pierced through them. [color=9966cc][u][b]Personality:[/b][/u][/color] Before the Pits, Joss was a rather carefree, optimistic fellow. He was quick to smile and snapped off witty jokes like he was the king's jester. People considered him to be a charismatic sort of guy, though they thought him to be a little soft and naive. His time in the military and the Pits changed him into an almost unrecognizable version of himself. Those in the Iron Roses only know the [i]new[/i] Joss. The best word to describe him now would be: [i]intense[/i]. He's showed himself to be quite cunning and observant, and seems like he's ready to slip into fight or flight mode the second a potential danger enters his perception. His temper is much shorter and his aggression can go through the roof if provoked. His friend Arthur, who knows some of the Roses warns that Joss left a piece of himself in his past and anger seems to have filled the void left behind. When exposed to actual danger Joss becomes almost feral, and sinks into the mindset he had in the Pits, which is something along the lines of - [i]survive and kill![/i] Outside of combat, Joss has a strong moral code, believing that the sole reason he survived the Pits was to rid the world of as much evil as possible. He's not unapproachable, he's just, intense. He became an all or nothing sort of guy, either he trusts you and is willing to give his life for you (i.e. Arthur) or he despises you and won't give you the time of day. He's a very polarizing guy now, most likely you either find his intensity admirable or annoying, and he doesn't care which one you pick as long as you make a decision for Reon's sake! [hider= (not so) Brief Backstory:] House Corbyn was absolutely ecstatic when Joss was born to Robyn and Terric, the third child of the family but the first son, and the last chance for the family name to continue. At a young age, Joss was groomed to carry on the Corbyn name, no matter the circumstances. His father, Terric, was a rough role-model; as he tended to take the tough-love approach when it came to mentoring or disciplining his son. At times it seemed as though his parents expected nothing but perfection from him, he was the be the outstanding figurehead of House Corbyn and anything less than that was unacceptable. He was tutored extensively by a plethora of high scholars in all general subjects, as well as politics and government. From the outside it seemed as though Joss was an up and coming noble with a bright future, but if one were to look closely they would find that everything was not all sunshine and rainbows for the young lad. As the years progressed, Joss began to harbor resentment towards his parents, who controlled every aspect of his young life. The only breaks he received from the constant scrutiny and correcting was when he got to be with his two older sisters. At the time, they were the only people in Joss's life that didn't place any expectations on him. Things reached a boiling point when Joss becane old enough to marry. His parents had decided that he would marry the daughter of another noble family that House Corbyn had been negotiating with for some time. Apparently, the marriage was supposed to be a sign of good faith between the two houses and signal the close of the long business deal that had been in the works for close to a year. The only problem was, the daughter of the other noble family, Alesia, was unbearable. And no, Joss was not the shallow type to judge someone based solely on their looks, though she was quite beautiful. It was her heart that soured her for him, never in his life had he met someone so cold. She seemed to take delight in watching him squirm or apologize over trivialities. No matter how he treated her he was met with a cold shoulder or outright disgust. Just knowing that he would have to lay with and confide in this girl for the rest of his life was enough to make Joss cringe. It was then that he realized that the future of House Corbyn was not what he wanted [i]his[/i] future to be like. In retrospect, Joss was glad he went through what he did because it led him on the path to where he is today, but at the time, he was scared shitless. Because you see, running away from a noble family is no easy task. Joss planned his escape for weeks, and put it to action right before his engagement. He managed to steal enough coin and gather enough supplies to last him the journey, along with his favorite horse from the stables. He managed to evade those sent to look for him by dying his hair black and changing his upper class clothing for those of a lower class citizen. Having no other place to go and lacking a purpose in life, Joss pledged himself to the blade. Having found anonymity in the military, Joss planned to fight his way back to being a Corbyn, but until he became prestigious warrior, his surname would have to disappear along with his past. The friends he made during this time would always ask how and why he fought so vehemently in battle, he would always answer it was because of his family. They all assumed he fought because he wanted to survive and see his family, but realistically, he fought so that he could come back to his family with honor as a payment from leaving them. Of course, once he had settled into his life as a soldier and was beginning to gain a little reputations for himself, Joss's life was flipped upside down during a rather low- profile mission. It was supposed to be simple, guard a noble through one of the more sketchy trading routes and return to base. At this point, Joss had done this type of mission so many times he was basically on auto-pilot the whole time. Though apparently he had gotten too comfortable in his routine because their company was ambushed by a gang of slavers. Having captured Joss's regiment as well as the noble they were supposed to protect, the slavers were quick to sell the men to anyone with enough coin. Joss and the noble, Arthur, were sold to a man who called himself The Ringer. The Ringer brought the two men somewhere far away, a place where scum were kings and to reach the top of the food chain you had to be the most vile kind of human. Joss and Arthur were forced to fight in the Pits. They functioned much like gladiator pits, except they worked like this: two men would be released into the pit and either two unfed animals would be released to fight them or two other men would be thrown in. All fights would continue until one party was dead. By some miracle, Joss was partnered with Arthur, and the former Corbyn vowed to do everything in his power to keep Arthur alive. The two men gave up a part of themselves in order to live, whatever semblance of humanity they held in their hearts had to be smothered in order to survive. The things Joss and Arthur did to keep themselves breathing were unspeakable, and it wasn't uncommon to hear the two men cry themselves to sleep only to wake up screaming in the middle of the night, ready to fight nothing but the air around them. Ever since the Pits, Joss rarely sleeps through a full night. Joss knew he and Arthur were going to die in the Pits eventually, and it was obvious no one was coming for them, so they planned to escape at the first opportunity. Arthur came up with a plan that was the least likely to get them killed, and considering they could die every time they entered the Pits, they decided to roll with it. The pair waited until the guards got lazy, anyone who lived longer than a week in the Pits were considered veterans, Joss and Arthur survived nearly a month before they escaped. All it took was a rusty knife given to one of the contestants in the Pits. Joss and Arthur were locked in combat with a vicous pair of fighters when Joss found an opportunity. Joss was fighting with a spear, Arthur chose a sword, one of their foes wielded an axe and the other was using two rusty daggers. The fight was short and brutal, Joss had been disarmed at the end and had grappled with the man with the two knives and ended up strangling him to death. As he crouched over the lifeless body, he slipped one of the knives under his belt loop, quickly concealing it. When the guards came to take them back to their cells, they skipped the routine post-fight body search, having done it to the pair so many times it seemed trivial in the moment. Joss waited until they were almost to their cells to attack. He spring on the two guards like a starved animal when it sees an unaware prey. They went down hard, knowing there would be guards looping back around to their area that were on patrol, Joss and Arthur acted quickly, unlocking as many cells as possible. Chaos ensued, and the pair managed to grab some horses in the midst of the anarchy and high tail it out of there. After asking a few rare, sympathetic locals, the pair managed to find their way back to civilized society. Arthur took Joss to his estate and got them both cleaned up and pampered after the Hell they endured, though Arthur's family could see the hollowness in both of their eyes. Arthur's family was willing to give Joss any sort of compensation for keeping Arthur alive, though Joss claimed they both had saved each other's lives countless times during their time in the Pits. He had planned to return to the army, having completed his mission, even though it had taken him [i]quite[/i] some time. Arthur stopped him from leaving, claiming he had a better idea. Arthur knew some people in the Iron Roses, and called in a favor, asking that Joss be recruited into their ranks. Having heard his story, the Iron Roses accepted the Corbyn into their ranks, and Joss pledged his life to them, hoping to rid the world of evils like the kind he had witnessed in the Pits. Having been knighted by the Roses, Joss decided to take his family name back, and became a Corbyn again. He sent a letter to his sisters, letting them know what had happened since he had fled House Corbyn all those years ago. They informed him that their House was in shambles, despite marrying both of his daughters off to wealthier families, Terric had made a series of tactless negotiations that left him with a hefty amount of debt. Having found a new appreciation for family, Joss decided to send a portion of his wages made with the Iron Roses to his sisters who used the money to either help themselves or their parents, depending on the situation. Joss refuses to talk to Robyn and Terric, but he continues to keep in contact with his sisters. [/hider] [color=9966cc][u][b]Equipment:[/b][/u][/color][hider=Enchanted Spear] [IMG]http://i65.tinypic.com/2yz0lqo.png[/IMG] Joss's weapon of choice is his enchanted, doubled bladed spear. The weapon is lightweight, highly durable, being made of Dwarven alloys. The spear can be seperated into two halves if Joss wishes to get in close to his foe to increase his aggression and momentum, the dual blades are also good for handling more than one opponent. The ends are hooked slightly to increase the damage done when piercing people, the hooks also help when attempting to disarm targets. The spear has runic enchantments that prevent the weapon from taking damage or simply snapping when clashing with a heavier or sharper weapon. When activated, the runes on the two blades glow red and the blades themselves become hot to the touch. The blades become hot enough to cauterize wounds as they inflict them, and normal weapons are going to take a beating from them while they're enchanted. The runic effects only last a short period of time, and Joss uses them as a sort of secret weapon in dire situations. [/hider][hider=Rusty Dagger] [IMG]http://i64.tinypic.com/qpfqli.jpg[/IMG] The knife Joss used to kill the guards and escape the Pits, he's kept it with him this whole time, sharpening it but never cleaning it. He reserves using this knife for only the worst of the worst that he encounters. [/hider] In combat, Joss wears full plate armor, made of Dwarven alloys, enchanted to increase mobility uncharacteristic of full plate armor. Though he's covered head to toe in plate, Joss moves as though he's wearing leather armor. He normally keeps a canteen and spare rations on his person. He carries a boot knife for every day use, seeing as his Rusty knife isn't the most sanitary piece of equipment. Joss also owns a black horse that's recognized by a white stripe on its nose. [color=9966cc][u][b]Skills:[/b][/u][/color] Joss has the formal training of the military as well as the guerrilla type fighting he was forced to use in the Pits. Joss will use anything and anything as a weapon and won't stop attacking until his last breath is ripped from his lungs. Despite having used a variety of weapons, he prefers to fight with a spear, enjoying its range and piercing ability. Joss is observant to a fault now, and will use all of his senses to gain as much knowledge of his opponents as possible. Though he's less interested in it now than he was when he was younger, Joss has a head for politics and government, and is actually quite the negotiator. Had he stayed the heir to House Corbyn his parents probably would have never ended up in debt. [/hider]