pugbutter

Blades of Iron Roses: A fantasy Knight RP

• Name: Gütta Grimslocke

  
  
  
  
• Age: Early to mid-forties
• Gender: Male
• Race: Human
• Appearance: His forehead is too large, his brow too low-hanging like an overripe, hairy fruit. His pale eyes, stricken with stormy madness, are submerged in their sockets where dark bruise-like rings surround them. He's a shorter man on average, and only barely stocky enough in his build to hold his own against most trained opponents.
• Personality:
  
  "The only reason a warrior is alive is to fight, and the only reason a warrior fights is to win."
  ~Miyamoto Musashi
  
  Gütta hides his vulgar past and his contempt for worthless idealism behind a steely mask of stoicism. Rarely speaking and smiling even less,—though ample smirking is inevitable—he keeps his head down, his mouth shut, and his feet quick and obedient. That head, of course, is the first thing he protects in signs of danger, caring little for the welfare of allies in the first heat of war. Although he is not known ever to have deserted, no one who knows him well (of whom few Knights can be counted) would say it seems beneath him.
  
  Being a small man in stature has forced Gütta to adapt accordingly in war: he fights dirty. His signature weapon, the poleaxe, keeps larger opponents at a distance, and through the years he has learned to strike the perfect balance between stupid courage and unseemly cowardice. In battle he will hold well enough against enemy lines, but few people if any will mark him as a particularly heroic or intrepid specimen. His eyes gleam brighter at thoughts of gold and good liquor than of honor, valor, and duty to realms and deities.
  
  These adaptations have translated too into his personality; he is observant, listening more than he speaks and watching more than he confronts. He is quick to chart people and their motivations, but quicker still to avoid rivalries and profitless conflicts.
  
  He respects powers which are immediate; punishment which is swift and severe. Mercy to him is for people brave enough to start their battles but too weak to end them. This above all is why he admires, and serves, the young nobleman with the white hair.
• Brief Backstory: He's tried every dishonorable profession at least once; mudlark, cutpurse, burglar, extortionist, coin-clipper, assassin. Such are the symptoms when desperation infects a man. The scars he carries on his body and in his ego are the proof however that he wasn't made of subtle, sneaky stuffs; one too many floggings soured his appetite for that work. Nay, where he excelled was mercenary work, where he clawed his way through the slapdash ranks by being the smartest, the toughest, and sometimes, startlingly, the most articulated of the bunch.
  
  Only he and the lord themselves know how he came to serve that young boy. Why Gütta respects him, fears him, and even likes him becomes evident soon enough, but when asked for his real raison d'être, Gütta simply says, "He saved me." He acts something like the boy's bodyguard and confidant, although he has too little to teach him to act as a proper mentor or father-figure.
• Equipment:

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Skills: Combat (mêlée; armed battle, dueling, and pugilism), drinking, gambling (cards and dice), riding, falconry. He throws knives and practices archery, but only for fun, carrying neither into war. He has a sharp eye for counterfeit coins versus genuine mints. Although he only barely knows how to read, his handwriting is exquisite and he has taken to calligraphy as a hobby. He possesses the skills and tools of a barber, cutting his own hair, shaving his own face, and even performing minor surgeries like lancing boils and excavating shrapnel wounds.
  
  He wants to learn magic, even if only minor spells of convenience (e.g. starting fires more easily) are within his grasp; nevertheless the Arcane eludes him.

Blades of Iron Roses: A fantasy Knight RP

now im scared to make my guy go anywhere to investigate, he's all lonely :(

@cloudystar

Blackmail Bribe Persuade the GM to accept Gutta and Rhydsar and I'm sure we can be drinking buddies soon enough

(Merc says she accepted his idea in PMs but I want it to be official/public before I post.)

Blades of Iron Roses: A fantasy Knight RP

Is 200 years older or younger on average than other orders?

Blades of Iron Roses: A fantasy Knight RP

@pugbutter: Okay, I missed the skills section.

The Iron Roses are the most famous order in the country, however, and have repeatedly been sent out to deal with dangerous threats.

However, aside from that he looks pretty much fine honestly?

Though... I have to say, the other character tied to him... this is not the place to make money or anything like that. And sociopathy won't endear him to the rest of the order at all. ^^;

@VitaVitaAR

"Sociopath" seems a bit much IMO. Selfish, greedy asshole? You bet!

I was going to ask once (if) I'm accepted as to whether I have the option of following Rhydsar around as a non-knighted, non-peerage bodyguard, probably rather like a Norse húskarl. He would call himself the boy's "squire" as a loophole exploitation, if anyone felt suspicious about that. Though money's not an issue to him right now so don't worry about that; for lack of better phrases, you can say he's "indentured" to Rhydsar and therefore supplied sufficiently with food and munitions, unless fealty to the Order strips him of previous oaths. Until they became secularized I imagine the Order demanded that noblemen waive their holdings and titles et cetera, as proof of their devotion to the clergy and the Gods? Asceticism and modesty tend to be consistent trends with churches.

(If we're indeed accepted BTW then your changes will be implemented when the biographies are posted into the Characters tab. I haven't edited them yet just in case someone would think I stealth-edited the Skills lists in there, or something like that.)

Regarding the Order's reputation, though, Merc also said something in his original draft about it being the oldest order, in addition to one of the more popular, which by the very nature of our knowledge of your world is either incorrect or a lucky guess. While I suspect we'd get the hang of the tone of the group dynamic while incorporating ourselves into it, further explanation and exposition are always appreciated when it comes to worldbuilding! We will read anything you post. :)

Blades of Iron Roses: A fantasy Knight RP

Now you're talking about a completely separate person to the one that things this is a perfectly safe place.

@Raineh Daze

Obviously the person who lives in the Order and fights its battles would have a more accurate image of it than a person living in a comfy manor hundreds of miles away, left to speculate on its welfare and whereabouts based on gossip and hearsay. The "completely separate person" POV is totally appropriate to this situation, as there is no contradiction of interests or opinions. Rhydsar may or may not learn in turn that Father was wrong.

Blades of Iron Roses: A fantasy Knight RP

delusional

@Raineh Daze

This is acknowledged earlier in Mercenary5's app: "Perhaps soon this youthful innocence [a body spared of scars and ugliness due to a soft and easy lifestyle] will fall by the wayside."

The word "perhaps" is used because this clause is contingent on situations the GM throws at him. He himself will not decide who attacks him when, neither as an OOC player nor an IC character.

Blades of Iron Roses: A fantasy Knight RP

"The declining Order, the nobleman thought,..." Is a character allowed to believe the Order is declining even if it isn't?

Both apps have skill sets. I quote:

• Skills: Combat (mêlée; armed battle, dueling, and pugilism), drinking, gambling (cards and dice), riding, falconry. He throws knives and practices archery, but only for fun, carrying neither into war. He has a sharp eye for counterfeit coins versus genuine mints. Although he only barely knows how to read, his handwriting is exquisite and he has taken to calligraphy as a hobby. He possesses the skills and tools of a barber, cutting his own hair, shaving his own face, and even performing minor surgeries like lancing boils and excavating shrapnel wounds.
  
  He wants to learn magic, even if only minor spells of convenience (e.g. starting fires more easily) are within his grasp; nevertheless the Arcane eludes him.

@pugbutter

• Skills: Strategical and Tactical Foresight, Horse Riding, Swordsmanship, Etiquette.

@pugbutter

Weapons Roster
Gütta: poleaxe, katzbalger, and misericorde.

Rhydsar: longsword, dagger, horseman's pick, and kite shield.

Blades of Iron Roses: A fantasy Knight RP

no problem fam

Blades of Iron Roses: A fantasy Knight RP

• Name: Rhydsar di Lothe

  
• Age: 17
• Gender: Male
• Race: Human
• Appearance: Rhydsar has an athletic build, but the lanky build of a swimmer or runner, as opposed to the bulky build common to warriors. When it comes to weight or stature ergo, he has nothing on other soldiers. Rhydsar's features could be called boyish or feminine still, too. He hasn't grown a beard; nor has the softness in his face yet faded. He has a sharp pointed jaw and, cascading down his back, long white hair. In a word he is handsome, although this is only because his face has been spared the horrors of scars and his body not been forced to adapt to wrestling orcs. Perhaps soon this youthful innocence will fall by the wayside.
• Personality: Rhydsar in his natural state is quiet and reserved, more prone to curl up inside his quarters and read a book than to lead a party in a toast. However he also goes to great pains to make sure that people do not see him in this state. He tries to be polite when it comes to letting his elders speak, but when his turn arrives to speak he steals the crowd and has no purpose other than to steal away with their attention; and perhaps, their admiration.
• Brief Backstory: As the third son of a Marquis the boy would want for nothing and have few arduous responsibilities. If ever someone was privileged, it was this boy.
  
  In his tutelage he easily overtook his brothers. His spare time was spent adventuring around the demesne and reading heroic sagas. In adolescence boredom gave way to troublemaking. After being caught committing a petty crime, the Marquis, Rhydsar's father, decided the boy's punishment would be to tour with him on the coming campaign. Always eager for battle, and extraordinarily proficient at it, the boy soon found that the men took a liking to him. The Marquis, not only seeing his sons potential, but also wanting to keep him safe, decided to bribe Rhydsar's way through a squireship and into knighthood, before sending the boy to the Order of the Iron Rose. The declining Order, the nobleman thought, clearly wouldn't put him in danger. Meanwhile Rhydsar can continue to kill goblins and fight his little bandit wars without risking the health of the March in the process; for he had taken a great liking to leadership and to the chessboards of the battlefield, and the lord would not see this bloodthirst strip the land of its peaceful prosperity.
  Skills: Strategical and Tactical Foresight, Horse Riding, Swordsmanship, Etiquette.
• Equipment

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Blades of Iron Roses: A fantasy Knight RP

an English major

@chukklehed

ouch

you got me fam