Age: 28
Race: Quadroon (1/4 elven, 3/4 human)
Occupation: Bard
Background: (tl;dr version) Adelmar is the illegitimate son of a Nilfgaardian noble and a half-elven serving woman, and, consequently, his early life was uncomfortable, to say the least, especially considering his father refused to offer him and his mother any support, nor did he even so much as grace either of them with his presence after Adelmar was born. He spent most of his childhood in relative poverty, although, despite his low economic status, he was a very bright child with a knack for memorization and telling believable stories, and, eventually, he got to the age where he was able to teach himself how to write, and he spent a great deal of his early to mid adolescence honing his oration skills. By this time, he began to offer his services as a bard to any who required one, and, although business started out very slowly for him, he began to build a reputation by the time he reached his early twenties. However, his reputation was quite a mixed one, as, while he is a very approachable and friendly person, historically, he has been the kind of orator who is very opinionated in their speeches, and will not put aside their beliefs to spare the feelings or ideals of a highly ranking official, which has made him just as many enemies as it has good friends. (His main disagreements with most human royalty come from their treatment of non-humans and half-humans, which can result in some very ugly and undiplomatic responses from those who disagree with him.) It is partly because of this and partly because of an innate wanderlust of his that he travels so often.
Skills:
Martial preference: He only ever resorts to fighting when it’s imperative for him to act in self defense, but is best at ranged combat.
Flaws:
Martial flaws:
Race: Quadroon (1/4 elven, 3/4 human)
Occupation: Bard
- Physique: Adelmar has the typical build of an ectomorph, as he is relatively tall and lanky in stature, not to mention he’s not exactly a very muscular fellow. Despite his general lack of muscle, however, Adelmar is still quite fit, and he is also very flexible and light on his feet. His constitution is relatively average, though, in a fight, it doesn’t take very many direct hits to take him down, though his pain tolerance and threshold are higher than the average individual’s. Because of his stature, he is incapable of wielding heavy weaponry effectively, and heavier armor sets are of little benefit to him, but what he lacks in strength he makes up for in his agility. It is also worth noting that he is a bit more long-legged than the average individual, although this is a barely noticeable trait of his appearance. His facial features show a bit of his elven heritage, as he has relatively smooth skin, higher than average cheekbones, and a slightly pointed chin. His face shape could overall be defined as 'heart' shaped, as, not only do his other aforementioned facial features more or less fit this subtype, he also has a slight widow's peak.
- Height: 5’10”
- Hair: Adelmar’s hair is a warm reddish-golden color, and it is slightly curly and very fine in texture, and its fineness makes it somewhat soft to the touch. It’s very short in terms of length, and was cut and styled in a typical way, but it’s been allowed to grow out a bit as he’s been traveling. He typically keeps it very clean and orderly looking, although it’s too short for him to do much of anything else with. In terms of facial hair, Adelmar has a relatively small goatee, which he trims regularly to keep it in its style.
- Eyes: His irises are a clear, deep blue color, and are only about a shade lighter than navy. They usually have a fiery but relatively friendly look to them, although their expression varies quite a bit, as Adelmar's quite an expressive person by nature, and, even when he tries to keep himself from showing any emotion, it's easy to tell how he's feeling from the look in his eyes.
- Skin: Adelmar’s skin is relatively pale, and it’s somewhat on the peachy side in terms of coloration. His skin freckles very easily, and he has a light spray of freckles visible across his face and on his forearms. And, as logic would dictate, he also sunburns relatively easily.
- Scars/Markings/Etc.: He has a relatively average collection of scars for someone who travels through dangerous areas, though few are worthy of any particular note. However, one of his more noticeable ones is located on the upper right area of his back, near his shoulder blade. This particular scar is roughly two inches long, thin, curved, and, despite the fact he acquired it a few years before present day, it stands out against his skin quite noticeably, as it is not only a few shades lighter than his regular skin, but it is also of a hypertrophic nature. He acquired this particular scar in a scuffle with an assassin who'd been set after him after he expressed a particular opinion that happened to offend the wrong people, though he (clearly) came out of said fight as the victor. He also has several identical puncture wound scars around his left ankle, which are the embarrassing reminder left behind from a blind blunder into a hunter’s snare when he’d first begun his travels as a younger man.
- Clothing Description: Adelmar tends to vary his typical clothing depending on whether he’s in a city or town, or when he’s out in the wilderness, traveling. When he’s on the road, he typically dresses very practically, yet he still retains a bit of his signature ‘style’. He frequently layers a simple, unadorned linen shirt underneath a navy-blue dyed light leather cuirass, and, with it, he also wears a pair of dark brown and slightly form-fitting leather trousers. In terms of footwear, he has a pair of steel-toed leather boots, and they’re the only piece of clothing he owns that looks even remotely worn-out and lived in. In colder weather, he also wears a hooded, two colored scarlet and black wool cloak, with the black wool lining the inside of the garment. Concerning his style of dress when he’s among civilization, however, Adelmar dresses far more opulently, opting to wear brightly colored clothing made from rich, comfortable fabrics, almost to the point of looking ridiculous - though it’s rare that he isn’t able to pull off whatever he decides to wear. He has a preference for wearing loose fitting, embroidered tunics made from silks and other such material, though it’s not unusual for him to wear a more form fitting (but just as ornate) vest over said shirt, and, as one might expect, he regularly wears form fitting but relatively unadorned trousers along with such outfits. In terms of accessories, Adelmar regularly accents his day-to-day clothing with various styles of belts, and has been known to wear a wide variety of hats, the styles of them depending on the occasion.
- Weaponry: While he doesn’t have many weapons, the ones that Adelmar does have he takes very good care of - not to mention he knows how to use them quite well. His primary weapon would be a gabriel crossbow made from raw poplar wood with a steel lath and nut/catch, and it’s mounted on a leather gauntlet for ease of use. The metal on the crossbow has a simple geometric design etched into it, but the wood is entirely unadorned, save for a simple protective glaze to keep the wood from being scratched. Adelmar’s secondary weapon would be a pair of unusually ornate steel daggers. Their blades are made from spring steel, their crossguards and pommels are made from a milder steel, and their hilts are inlaid with ivory and precious stones. The pommels have two particularly large, dark red garnets set firmly in the metal. Although these blades were clearly meant more for decoration than protection, Adelmar will result to using them should the need arise, and he always keeps them on his person should he be in need of them.
- Significant Items: It’s worth mentioning that Adaelmar almost always has writing supplies on his person no matter where he is or what he plans to be doing, and he also has a rather large, leather bound volume stuffed with loose leaves of paper that consists of what is currently his entire life’s work. He’s quite proud of some of the things he’s written, while other pieces make him cringe, but, for the most part, he’s attempted to save the final drafts of anything he’s ever written for future publishing purposes.
Background: (tl;dr version) Adelmar is the illegitimate son of a Nilfgaardian noble and a half-elven serving woman, and, consequently, his early life was uncomfortable, to say the least, especially considering his father refused to offer him and his mother any support, nor did he even so much as grace either of them with his presence after Adelmar was born. He spent most of his childhood in relative poverty, although, despite his low economic status, he was a very bright child with a knack for memorization and telling believable stories, and, eventually, he got to the age where he was able to teach himself how to write, and he spent a great deal of his early to mid adolescence honing his oration skills. By this time, he began to offer his services as a bard to any who required one, and, although business started out very slowly for him, he began to build a reputation by the time he reached his early twenties. However, his reputation was quite a mixed one, as, while he is a very approachable and friendly person, historically, he has been the kind of orator who is very opinionated in their speeches, and will not put aside their beliefs to spare the feelings or ideals of a highly ranking official, which has made him just as many enemies as it has good friends. (His main disagreements with most human royalty come from their treatment of non-humans and half-humans, which can result in some very ugly and undiplomatic responses from those who disagree with him.) It is partly because of this and partly because of an innate wanderlust of his that he travels so often.
Skills:
+ Public Speaking: One of Adelmar’s greatest strengths is his abilities as a convincing and effective speaker. His experience and his particular style of speaking tends to make people really listen to and consider what he has to say, and, when he’s regaling an audience with a tale, it barely takes a listener any effort at all to envision the heroic feats, horrible tragedies, or other such events he chooses to bring to the audience’s attention. When he’s presenting one of his more ‘controversial’ pieces, however, he has a talent for inspiring people who share his ideas into being more than just bystanders, and is incredibly gifted at making most of his listeners who are undecided on certain matters feel more inclined towards supporting his beliefs.
+ Writing: Adelmar wouldn’t be as effective of an orator if he didn’t have great talent as a writer as well. Both practice and natural aptitude have given him an edge over most other bards in terms of the written word, and he knows how to use this skill to his advantage. Even without personally presenting his pieces, he is an expert in utilizing the writing techniques of ethos (appeal to ethics), pathos (appeal to emotion), and logos (appeal to logic), and has a wry sense of humor that comes across rather pleasantly in his more satirical works. And, although he lacks this talent when speaking, he does know how to use the art of subtlety to his advantage in writing.
+ Charisma: A particularly favorable trait of Adelmar’s is that he is a naturally likable individual to most, as he’s polite, amiable, and, as long as he keeps away from talking about politics, does not easily offend others. If he has a mind to befriend someone, it is seldom that he’s not able to succeed, and he’s also rather skilled at getting what he wants - at least, in terms of minor things. He does not abuse this trait of his, though, but it has helped him find allies in unexpected places, as well as helped him get out of several ‘close calls’ he’s faced in the past.
Martial preference: He only ever resorts to fighting when it’s imperative for him to act in self defense, but is best at ranged combat.
Flaws:
- Headstrong: Adelmar has a somewhat dangerous habit of not knowing when to quit. While determination is usually an admirable trait, he often takes it too far, often putting himself and others in harm’s way just because he’s unwilling to compromise his beliefs or give up on a project or ideal of his own, even temporarily. In this same way, he also is not particularly open minded to other people’s opinions or beliefs about /certain/ subjects (mostly just ones concerning the treatment of other races), and he has a tendency of getting into fights with those who have conflicting beliefs that get so heated that he very rarely parts with his opponent as friends.
- Paranoid: Adelmar has a difficult time ever truly relaxing, as, due to his general lack of verbal tact and his somewhat ‘radical’ opinions, he’s got some rather powerful enemies, and he has several irrational fears concerning those under their employ. Ever since someone made an attempt on taking his life for saying the wrong thing at the right time, he’s been overly cautious and wary of other peoples’ motives, and makes a habit of checking out the places where he’s spending the night, as well as scanning his audience when he speaks to determine whether or not he’s potentially in any danger. And it almost goes without saying that he seldom ever sleeps very well.
- Vain: While this is more of a minor flaw of his, Adelmar’s slight narcissism can range from being a moderately annoying trait to massively inconvenient. He cares far too much about his appearance, even in situations where looks should be the last thing on someone’s mind, and he has a bit too much confidence in his own abilities than is healthy for the average individual. Though he’s not exactly ‘obsessed’ with himself, he has so much faith in himself he’ll often turn down others’ help even when he really needs it, and he would rather offend someone else than make a joke at his own expense.
Martial flaws:
- Adelmar isn’t strong enough to wield most two handed weaponry, and he’s generally less experienced when it comes to close combat fighting.
- He can be distracted very easily, and he's not always as aware of his surroundings as he should be - even when he's engaged in combat.