[b][u]Appearance:[/u][/b] [hider=Appearance] [img] http://orig06.deviantart.net/83f3/f/2011/227/2/c/ray_stevenson_by_eskarine-d46o7hi.png [/img] Lem is a grizzled and older man, with a tanned, scarred face and prominent crow’s feet. His head and beard shaved to rough iron grey stubble. His eyes and mouth look hard set, but not without a hint of humour in them occasionally. His nose has been broken at least once and should he smile he is missing at least one of his front molars. In his right ear there is thick hoop of dull yellow gold. Lem stands above average height, maybe a touch below six feet, and his solidly built. His arms not covered by his armour or habitual leather jerkin are corded with ropey muscle and marked by tattoos, like the barbarians of the east wear. Travelling further down his arms to Lem’s hands the astute will notice that one of tips of his callused fingers is missing and he wears a wide band of silver and brass on one of his ring fingers. When they walk they noticeably limp with their right leg. [/hider] [b][u]Name:[/u][/b] Lem Arronson [b][u]Age:[/u][/b] 47 or 48 [b][u]Personality:[/u][/b] Lem Arronson is hard man, he’s lived a hard life and a long one at that considering his profession. He’s tough and reliable, diligent, someone that you can depend upon but will equally require you to work hard and do your fair share – he gives no free rides. He speaks little and sleeps less, he’s patient and quiet, this leads him to be a cautious (yet highly skilled) fighter on the battlefield. After all, there is some truth in the saying that there are old mercenaries, and there bold mercenaries, but there are no old bold mercenaries. Despite his gruffness and unyielding nature, Lem ultimately has a good heart. If one has the patience to listen to him then he imparts advice freely, and pretty much always speaks honestly. He has even served a sort of mentor in the past to younger men following similar paths to the one he has travelled. He has dry sense of humour, although it tends towards the more grim and macabre end of the spectrum – another side effect of spending a life killing people for money. [b][u]Backstory:[/u][/b] Lem’s story is a common one. He is not an orphan, his young life was not filled with hardship or tragedy or formative suffering. He was the son of peasants, and he lived in a small village in the north of Edessa where his father herded flocks of sheep for the local feudal lord and his mother worked all day in their vegetable garden. The eldest of four children that made it past infancy, he worked in the fields and pastures from a young age. Lem did not live a miserable or particularly hard life, sometimes the winters and springs were lean, and sometimes they were not. Ultimately they scraped a decent living for folks such as themselves and his family were content. Lem however, was not. He was adventurous boy, always dreaming beyond the valleys of his childhood to the world that was outside. He wanted to see it, he wanted to be more than just another peasant, more than his father; he wanted to live. His father was not a bad man, but they clashed a lot, and sometimes he beat Lem, and sometimes Lem deserved it. One day after feeling particular discontent, his arm particularly sore from a slap of his father’s crook, Lem decided to leave his family and the life he faced ahead of him as another peasant farmer- for good. He ran away south before is fourteenth name day, taking little with him except the clothes on his back. He had little idea of where he was going, stealing and working as a day labourer to get by. For a couple of months he lived like vagabond until one night, while sleeping in a haystack he was seized by a group of recruiters for the King’s Army, had the shilling forced upon him and was pressed ganged into the service of the crown. Now while this might seem as a set back from most people, it was really the best thing that could have happened to Lem. He was fed and clothed, given tasks to set his mind and energy to, and most of all he was given a life beyond working a plough or crook or scythe. He saw Edessa, fought in a fair number of skirmishes, he became a fair fighter and then a good one. After his ten years were up and he was given the choice between going back to the life of a civilian or continuing as a solider, Lem chose the latter. Although this time, he was not in service to the King, instead he joined one of the free companies of Edessa – mercenaries who do not fight for crown or glory, but for gold. Mercenary life suited Lem even better than an enlisted man, he earned more and saw even more of the world. For six years he warred his way through the eastern lands, fighting alongside the nomads and barbarians in their never ending conflicts. He made a fortune and returned to Edessa, there was a woman for a while, talk of settling down and having a good, respectable life, but something went wrong and within a year Lem had drank his fortune away and returned to a life on the road. He fought wherever there was fighting needed to be done and in the process made a fair reputation and name for himself amongst the circles in which soldiers of fortune tend to move. All of this continued uninterrupted until three years ago, when Lem’s horse was killed beneath him during a skirmish on the Welds border. A novice spearman, their very first battle in fact, stepped out from behind a tree as Lem thundered past and skewered the horse in its chest. The beast fell, and Lem wasn’t quick enough to leap clear of the saddle. It landed on his right leg, crushing his knee into a bloody, broken mess. Lem survived the battle, but he would never be the graceful and truly formidable fighter he had once been. He served on as a mercenary though, he was experienced, he could lead and train men and was still a good enough sword – especially when in the saddle. But when his band was called south again to fight the orcs, he left them and returned to capital. He said that fighting orcs was different to men, and that he was getting too old and would be of no use to them. But everyone knew that was a lie, no one was sure why he went back, but he stayed in the city until the last moment, leaving with the very last caravan on the road north to Ardel. [b][u]Skills and Abilities:[/u] [/b] [list] [*] [b]Accomplished Swordsman[/b] - Lem has been fighting on and off the battlefield for over 30 years now. If you can do something with a sword that he doesn’t know about, it’s probably not worth knowing. His main areas of expertise are when it comes to sword and shield or sword and dagger, less accomplished with two handed swords or other combinations. [*] [b]Professional Rider[/b] – Lem is very comfortable on a horse, having ridden in both combat and non-combat situations. [*] [b]Professional Spearman[/b] – Lem is also skilled in the use of the spear or lance, especially when on horseback. [*] [b]Journeyman Healing[/b] – A practical knowledge of how to stich and dress flesh wounds, set and splint broken bones, and relocate joints develops over the years when you main source of income involves getting hurt a lot. [*] [b]Novice Huntcraft[/b] – Foraging and scavenging food in the field is important, however Lem lacks any real skill with the bow, so they are limited to snaring rabbits and trying (often unsuccessfully) to spear large game. [*] [b]Novice Armourer[/b] – A basic knowledge of how to reshape dented plates and repair rivets on chain mail while on the move. Only quick fixes really until a professional blacksmith can be found.[/list] [b]Equipment:[/b] [list] [*] [b]Armour[/b] - Lem's armour consists of three layers, a basic thin padded and quilted arming jacket and trousers, over which goes a full length mail hauberk with mail leggings and coif. The topmost layer is a coat of plates sewn into leather, steel vambrices, greeves, a mis matched set of pauldrons (one iron, one steel) and a iron open faced helmet with a nose guard. One his feet he wears hobnailed leather boots and his hands are covered with leather gaunlets with a few small plates sewn into them. Much of the armour is used and has beaten and rough look to it, but is servicable. [*] [b]Arming Sword[/b] - A one handed steel Arming sword, a little nicked, but very sharp still. Plain guard and sharkskin grip. [*] [b]Dirk[/b] - A steel dagger for small tasks or to be used in his off hand [*] [b]Shield[/b] - A round oaken shield with an iron rim that can be strapped to the arm. [*] [b]Boar spear[/b] - A short iron spear hafted with ash that can be used as weapon or for hunting [*] [b]Coin purse[/b] - A small purse fat with silver and copper coins, additionally Lem has a few gold coins sewn into the lining of one of his jerkins and a garnet hidden in his left boot. [*] [b]Horse[/b] - A relatively old grey mare called Dutchess, Lem's horse for the last three years. She carries a set of saddlebags that contain: [list] [*] Two sets of small clothes, two leather studded jerkins (one fur lined), two sets of breaches, one ragged woollen cloak [*] Animal gut thread, a neede and some linen strips [*] A small hammer and set of tongs, a small bottle of oil, some rags, a whetstone [*] A bed roll and a tarred sheet of canvas [*] A water skin, a wine skin, a small leather flask of 'fire water' (a strong alcohol from Varyan) [*] A few days worth of dried provisions (bread, cured meat, hard cheese, dried apples etc) [/list][/list]