[hider= Hugh Caphazath] [hr][hr][center][h1][b][i][color=6ecff6]Hugh Caphazath (Cough-a-zoth)[/color][/i][/b][/h1][/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/tsXuVHi.png[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/4a0uP44.png[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/dfosUQp.png[/img][/center] [center][b][color=6ecff6][h3]Half-Elf, Monk (Way of Shadow), Level 3[/h3][/color][/b][/center][center]━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━[/center] [center][color=6ecff6][b]STR:[/b][/color] 08 (-1) [color=6ecff6][b]DEX:[/b][/color] 18 (+4) [color=6ecff6][b]CON:[/b][/color] 14 (+2) [color=6ecff6][b]INT:[/b][/color] 10 (+0) [color=6ecff6][b]WIS:[/b][/color] 16 (+3) [color=6ecff6][b]CHA:[/b][/color] 16 (+3)[/center] [center][color=6ecff6][b]HP MAX:[/b][/color] 24 [color=6ecff6][b]Armor Class:[/b][/color] 17 [color=6ecff6][b]Movement:[/b][/color] 40 ft [color=6ecff6][b]Spell DC:[/b][/color] 13 [/center] [center][color=6ecff6][b]Alignment:[/b][/color] TN [color=6ecff6][b]Defenses:[/b][/color] (A) Charmed, (I) Sleep [/center][hr][hr] [center][url=https://ddb.ac/characters/60850859/QV8ZAQ][b]Full Character Sheet[/b][/url][/center] [hider=Description] [center][color=a0410d]“They would tell you that your ally is the darkness, and so you must be dressed to match. I am here to relieve you of such delusions.”[/color][/center] A fairly scruffy young man seemingly in his mid-twenties with lightly sun-tanned skin, he stands at a height of 5'4", around the shorter end of human average, which leaves him notably standing face to face with womenfolk more often than not. At a first glance, he presents an almost boring and unremarkable air with his lightly stubbled jaw-line and barely-brushed mud-brown hair. At a much closer glance, his stubble seems slightly uneven in places, like he does his own shaving but lacks the tools to get a perfect close cut. With his lean, sprinter build (which is normally concealed by baggy clothes), this does tend to give him a sort of rugged "guy next door" look, which can be useful when wanting to come across less conspicuously. He wears a faded black tunic, reminiscent of what one might expect to see at a distant monastery, with a grey, long sleeved undershirt. Brown trousers are tucked into tall brown boots that are wrapped with strips of cloth. A backpack’s bulk clearly bulges from beneath his brown knee-length traveler’s cloak, the hood more often than not lying limply bunched behind his head. Beneath his backpack, strapped horizontally to the small of his back, it is possible to catch glimpses of a shortbow and bulging quiver of arrows, and several pouches hang from a sash around his waist that secures his tunic. Aside from this, he appears to possess no other obvious weaponry beyond a sturdy auburn staff that he either uses as a walking stick or slings over his shoulders to casually rest his arms atop. Though his expression is almost perpetually placid and closed off, he generally appears congenial and unhostile. Upon getting a closer look at him in motion, the occasional glimpse of ever so slightly pointed ears can be caught through his shaggy hair. In addition, he notably seems the quiet sort, both in demeanor and action, often moving near silently even when there is no good reason to. Indeed, his footfalls seem light as air, and his unremarkable appearance is clearly at odds with the easy grace he almost subconsciously moves with. [/hider] [hider=Personality] [center][color=a0410d]“Strike first. Strike once. Strike last.”[/color][/center] [center][color=a0410d]“If at any point you falter, retreat and reassess.”[/color][/center] [center][color=a0410d]“The only thing that matters is total, unconditional success.”[/color][/center] [center][color=a0410d]“This is what it means to walk the Way of Shadow.”[/color][/center] Almost obsessively goal-oriented, Hugh will typically give any and every excuse to avoid unnecessary distractions; and if out of excuses, he may simply refuse outright. Despite his skill with words and knack for reading a room, he seems the sort to be most comfortable alone with a good book and a crackling fire, content to merely watch festivities from a distance and absorb the energy from them at his leisure. Beyond his few hobbies, he seems to have little interest in anything but the current work and the job to follow it, forgoing most friendships and romance beyond forging several firm friendly acquaintanceships. In nearabouts every situation, he most closely exemplifies the traits of an introverted realist, with a distinct lean towards paranoia, and he is always the first to exasperatedly pinch the bridge of his nose at the latest absurdity. He is a firm adherent to the age-old adage of “it’s better to have and not need, than need and not have”, and he takes great pains to prepare for as many possible eventualities as he can, both mentally and physically. Hugh does his best to act as a voice of moderation in the face of recklessness and often plays devil’s advocate for more “efficient” and less moral options. He’s not the sort to insist on -or even necessarily propose- them, however, unless the alternative would invite unreasonable danger. Of course, “unreasonable” is a rather subjective term. At the end of the day, “a job is a job”. He’ll do what it takes to complete the task before him, regardless of most conventional moral concerns. This is not to say that he possesses no standards. Certainly, though he will complete a contract by any means necessary, he prefers not to involve innocents, especially children. He will refuse most jobs that may compromise the health and well being of everyday people, and he will extract righteous vengeance or compensation from any employer that deliberately deceives him of the true nature of a task. He places incomparable worth upon the sanctity of his state of mind, to the point that he will only drink or consume even something as tame as alcoholic beverages or foods as a last resort, where the other option is starvation. In the case that his mind is infringed upon in any manner, he will stop at nothing to deliver retribution upon the offender. In conclusion, though he sometimes comes across as amoral or uncaring, his conscience tends to shove him in the right direction at the end of the day. He is not the easiest person to please and can be quite prickly early on in any new relationship, but comrades that actually manage to slide past his guard and into his favor will be pleasantly surprised to find that there are few more loyal than he. To him, true friendship is a contract of utmost importance, one he will never abandon. [/hider] [hider=Backstory] -Warning: A dreadfully redacted backstory lurks here and may misrepresent the full context of Hugh's actions and feelings. :) [center][color=6ecff6]"I learned a valuable lesson that day, one I continue to learn each day that follows. Perhaps when my teachings are complete, I will finally obtain solace.”[/color][/center] A bounty hunter of some minor renown, rumor has it that Hugh Caphazath’s particular set of skills find their roots in assassination. Nevertheless, to the public and the law, he has remained a relatively well-behaved individual, considering the temperament of the average adventurer. He made himself a reputation for being incredibly goal-oriented and the sort to be, quite frankly, somewhat anal about achieving perfect success. That ideal in mind, he was normally loth to work with other adventurers if he had any say in the matter, as the unpredictability of their presences tended to grate at his sensibilities on the job. This mindset was more recently unfortunately reinforced by a nearly fatal co-op job. Two weeks before the Sheriff’s declared meeting time, Hugh was finishing up recovering from a particularly disastrous job that left him with a broken arm. Having severely depleted his funds to hire a healer from the local temple, he sought out straight-forward bounty work through one of his contacts, a dwarven barkeep named Greta. Unfortunately, during the course of deciding a job amongst the available bounties, his choice was hijacked by an excitable Fighter named Kite Simmons. Unable to deny the practicality of having aid while he may still be recovering, Hugh begrudgingly agreed to work with the frustrating individual. He quickly came to regret it. While the mission itself was beyond simple: the killing or capturing of a band of bandits numbering some 2 dozen strong, Hugh’s plan to wait for nightfall and carefully dispose of them in their sleep was rudely ruined by Kite charging directly into the camp “heroically”. The element of surprise long lost, Hugh was forced to engage. With his speed and agility, he was able to evade the bandits and slowly but surely pick them off from a distance with arrows and darts. Kite fared much more poorly, and by the time Hugh was able to safely approach the campsite once more -the remaining bandits dead or fled, Kite was bleeding out. In his last moments, the knight handed the rather disgruntled Hugh a bloodied letter and told him to answer the call for heroes in his place. At the time, Hugh dismissed the idea completely as utter stupidity and went about tracking down and finishing off the rest of the bandits. However, as the day wore on and he received his reward from a rather decidedly disappointed Greta, he realized that a kernel of guilt had knotted up in his stomach. Incensed by the realization that he somehow felt guilty for failing to stop an idiot from charging to his certain doom, Hugh slept on the matter and eventually settled on accepting the foolish knight’s last request. Replenishing his gear and double-checking his savings, Hugh sallied forth to meet the Sheriff of Darenby, hoping against hope that the unlisted compensation would make this entire debacle worth his time and guilt trip. [/hider] [hider=Bestiary] [center][color=6ecff6]“Why do I like them? Perhaps it’s the… surety of it all, the patterns. Life and death; the beauty of a natural system of rebirth is without compare. To know with certainty what is to come is the greatest treasure. Nature is merely the grandest and most predictable cycle of them all. One merely needs to learn to understand it.”[/color][/center] Hugh is rather fond of simply sitting quietly and observing the fauna of various shapes and sizes. Watching nature at work is a simple, yet satisfying, hobby of his. [/hider] [hider=Extras] [center][color=a0410d]“Know your worth, and ensure your clients know it just as well. It is your prerogative what tasks you may undertake, but do not hasten to abandon humility. Your contract is your bond. Know your limits, and undertake only a task you shall complete or die trying.”[/color][/center] [color=007236]Likes:[/color] Napping beside a warm crackling fire. A flawless mission. Getting paid. Fruity drinks. Spring season. A good shave. Beef. [center][color=a0410d]“A sound soul dwells within a sound mind and sound body.”[/color][/center] [color=9e0b0f]Dislikes:[/color] Cold weather. Extroverts. Alcoholic beverages and foods. Reckless individuals. “Winging it.” Beards. Anything that would manipulate his mind or body. [color=9e005d]Hobbies:[/color] Cooking. Reading. Nature watching. Notable Quotes: [color=6ecff6]“My body is my temple, honed by rigorous trials and the cultivation of Ki. Alcohol is a vile, addictive poison to that temple, for it dulls the mind and flays the sensibilities as well. Such swill is fit only for disinfectant; nothing more, nothing less.”[/color] [color=6ecff6]“The social contract known as 'friendship' is a fascinating one, and not to be entered lightly. It possesses many layers, most of which tend to be subjective in importance. I have only ever entered one such contract... for very good reason. Indeed, such contracts are quite personal and are best entered only once one has a full understanding of their co-signer.”[/color] [/hider] In an adventuring party, he tends towards [color=6ecff6]support dps and utility[/color], especially when stealth is involved. In an emergency, he is also capable of social intrigue, but situations that require deft diplomacy do not favor him. [hider= Changelog ] Nothing here yet! [/hider] [/hider]