Name: Marko Latvanen
Nickname/Alias/Title: None
Sex: Male
Age: 25
Race: Human
Occupation: Thief, Engineer
Past:Marko Latvanen, given name unknown, was born to a mother of unknown birth, who died shortly after the ordeal. His father, rather than fulfill his duty, placed Marko into the care of a local orphanage matron. A woman of cruel heart and little compassion, she was well known to the community for her treatment of the orphans, but few knew the extent of this cruelty.
In her care, Marko was given a only number as a name. With emphatic gusto, the matron would whip the orphans without regard to their health for even the slightest misdeed, refusing to feed them for days on end if their chores had not been completed with military efficiency. The inhumane treatment did not always have reason, and Marko often found himself being burned, tied up, or otherwise physically abused for nothing other than the matron's personal enjoyment. It was in this sadistic environment that Marko learned how to survive. Numbed to pain from years of torture, he could go days without food and survive off the little he would scavenge from the garbage, off the floor, or even insects.
On the eve of his tenth birthday, he escaped from the place he came to consider hell, with several other orphans. With the matron and her servants hot on his tail, he barely managed to stowaway on a caravan going south. His fellow orphans were not as fortunate, and he watched as several were viciously set upon by dogs or shot down in the cold woods, leaving him as the last one to make it out of there alive.
He spent the next several years of his life an urchin on the streets of a minor city several hundred miles to the south of his hometown, where he became an extremely competent thief despite his young age. Stealing what he could, when he could, he managed a decent life for such a young person, with at least one meal a day, and even sometimes a real bed to sleep in. When he was thirteen, his luck had seemingly run out, when he was caught in the dead of the night attempting to make off with jewelry of a local merchant. Instead of having the urchin thrown to the wolves, or into the dungeons, the merchant gave Marko a second chance. A trader in machinations and artifices, he began teaching Marko everything he knew about such technology, as well as the values the merchant himself possessed, becoming a father of sorts, the merchant's wife becoming an adopted mother. For the next four years, he lived in this somewhat higher lifestyle, never wanting for food, clothing, or safety. They even gave him something he had always longed for: A real name. A given name the merchant's wife had chosen, and the merchant's own family name: Marko Latvanen.
This was not to last, however, and when he was 18, the merchant had angered a few local thieves, and in the middle of the night, they came for him. The merchant and his wife were murdered, their home set ablaze. Marko barely escaped the inferno, fighting his way through several of the thieves. He vanished in the alleyways. His life had gone down in flames, with his adopted family inside.
He spent the next seven years of his life returning to his life of crime, but with a new understanding of the world. He used his curiosity as a drug of choice, a final escape from the nightmare his life had become. His skills as a thief were exponentially increased by his new found knowledge, and he had no issues surviving, even thriving, in a harsh world.
Present:Despite the horrors of his past, he continues to remain optimistic, constantly seeking knowledge. He's friendly but distant, finding close relationships with people difficult at best, and often shows a general lack of empathy. In the face of this, he is still very loyal, a trait he learned from his adopted father, and applies business honesty to all aspects of life. A thief with a code, he often struggles reconciling the two lifestyles.
Standing at five feet, eight inches, his sinewy body shows his years of abuse. Burns, scars, and a missing toe all tell tales of his past. He has long, chestnut and brown hair, green eyes, and an expression that rarely finds its way from a sly smile. He rarely wears clothing that shows the skin beneath, opting for greatcoats and dusters due to their equal ability to warm him on cold nights, as well as conceal any weapons or goods he has stolen.
He came to Havenstad as merely a passing through stop, but found the Aleph Null, and opted to sign on as a general sailor, his curiosity for flying getting the better of him. He determined it would be a decent break from his mundane, ground based life.
Future:Marko seeks knowledge above all else, but only for its sake. He possesses very few long term goals, and only seeks food in his belly and a good place to lay his head at the end of the day. A nomad by nature, he envisions himself moving from place to place until the day he dies.
Skills:
A master thief with an intricate knowledge of the systems used to protect valuables, he uses this knowledge to break locks, identify traps and disable them, and has immeasurable patience. He can perform the same action over and over again, and is highly meticulous. He will take apart virtually anything to learn how it works, and with added gusto when it directly involves his criminal ways, as it can directly impact his likelihood to succeed and survive.
Strengths: [Intelligence; Willpower]
He is exceedingly intelligent, and always thirsting for knowledge. Between the life skills he's learned and his random tinkering, he can think very quickly on his feet, and is often attempting to invent tools to make breaking and entering that much easier and efficient.
Due to his early childhood, he also has a very strong sense of discipline and control. He can withstand pain, a tolerance easily up there with the best, and go several days without food. While he understands it makes him weaker, long years on the streets have given him a resistance to the feelings of hunger.
Weaknesses: [Attack; Charisma]
While fairly strong in his defensive capabilities when attacked, he is not nearly as efficient on the attack, a skill he rarely found himself using. As far as he is concerned, a thief can get away, and a murderer gets killed. As such, he always avoided such confrontations, preferring to avoid the situation it might occur than taking the initiative.
He also suffers charismatically, and is by no means a leader. His distance from others, and sometimes abrasive personality leave him sorely lacking in interpersonal skills.
Equipment:A dagger for self defense, a bedroll he uses on the roads and in the cities, and a nifty multitool he fashioned. Along with multiple tools, it also has several lockpicks housed within it. He prefers traveling light, acquiring or fashioning any other necessary tools he might need for a score.
What other characters would know: Little as he would be very new to the crew. He also isn't particularly forthcoming about his past, and prefers not to share his abilities as a thief until such a time arises as it would be necessary.
