Horst Haestad

[Horst Haestad]

(Help Desk approval pending) Horst Haestad Real Name: Horst Haestad Race: Human Birthday: 10th of Winter 483 AV. Age: 27 Height: 7' Physical Description: The first impression given by his looks is normally one of intimidation and hostility. Everything about him screams of barbarism and rudeness, he is likely to stand out reasonably in a city of refined civilians. Horst has an equally barbaric build, and stands seven feet tall, giving him a very menacing and intimidating appearance to most. His hardened skin is fair from bearing the coldness of the north, and his strong jaw carries a fair goatee that is elaborately knotted in a barbaric fashion, which only complements his uncivilized manners. His head is most usually clean shaven, as he rarely allows his hair to reach even a medium length. His blue eyes have faded in color, rarely smiling or showing joy or compassion, most usually bearing, at least superficially, the impression of hatred or at times neutrality. He dresses poorly, wearing old slightly torn pants and a jacket facing similar condition. The old leather boots and gloves are barely comfortable. The only rich piece of clothing that he wears is a fur cloak which he got from his father, but in contrast to the rest of his clothes as well as his appearance, it only adds to his barbaric looks, giving the observer the idea that he is a beast who just escaped the wilds carrying a dead animal's pelt on the back. It did help him survive the harsh coldness of the north throughout his journeys, however. Character Concept: Horst can be harsh and rude, but not always intentionally. It is just how he learned to deal with people throughout his life. That behavior is normally expected of him by others as well, given his appearance, and people tend to treat him accordingly, so it would be hard for him to change his manners even if he truly wanted to. He is comfortable being cold to everyone, as it makes him feel safe about himself, even though it brings him a lot of problems with other people. On the other hand, it shields him from building any actual relationships with anyone else, as his manners make it seem that he does not need anyone. In truth, he feels quite lonely, as he currently doesn't have anyone to rely on, but it is something that he would never admit, not even to himself. Behind the cold facade he is a man like any other. He feels pain and has feelings like any man. But he hides his true self as much as possible, and has serious troubles trusting other people with what is inside. He is used to betrayal and deceit, so it is not really surprising to him when it happens, and hence he protects himself with a cold persona not to get emotionally hurt, or perhaps to give no chance to those who don't truly want to befriend him. He does not realize that this behavior is exaggerated, and he ends up losing any opportunities of meeting other people through such means. He is very pessimistic of the world. He believes that cities are not too different from the wild. In his mind, it would only take a small disaster to transform civilization into barbarism, with people fighting each other for survival. He is overly protective of his belongings, and perhaps too paranoid about people trying to take advantage of him as a whole. He grew up in a harsh environment of injustice, robbery and plunder, even if he was not the victim in most of those situations, he still feels that everyone is exactly the same in the core. It is a lifestyle that he learned to hate, but changing is hard for someone like him. Character History: Horst was born in Karjin. His memories of his mother are few and limited, for he did not spend too much time with her after growing up. He does know that they both settled in the city of Ravok, whilst his father was never home. His mother was warm and kind, taking good care of him. She had little gold, much of which was brought home by his father occasionally. Horst knows that she did her best on raising him, or at least it is what he would like to believe in. When he was ten years old, his father returned to Ravok and forced him to come to the life of banditry, as he was already old enough to learn to help his father with the clandestine endeavors. From then his life was forever changed, and he began living with bandits and outlaws in the outskirts of cities, rarely seeing his mother. They normally attacked unprotected small merchant caravans throughout the Northern Reaches and Northern Sylira, looting all that they could, which they would sell in Novallas, Karjin or Ravok. Normally they tried not to leave any witnesses left in the attacks, killing as many as possible. It was a bloody job, but as they were many, there usually was little that the small caravans could do to protect themselves. In that way Horst learned to cherish on the death of others. The pack of bandits would normally spend all of the gold on drinking in taverns, and sometimes, when they were passing by Ravok, Horst would visit his mother. It did not take too long until he was participating on the bloody endeavors himself. It was not uncommon for treason to happen among the bandits, and sometimes one would kill another over a small dispute. That way, Horst grew up in a menacing environment, frequently having to deal with the dangers of the wild, the caravan guards, and even the risk of being killed in the silence of the night. When he was 23, a large dispute arose in the group, and it was separated into two branches. Many murder attempts for the leadership of the group occurred then, including a successful one against his own father. The new branch did poorly, and its attacks ended up sometimes being unsuccessful. His life got much worse from this point on, and he could no longer find his mother in Ravok, when they happened to go there. Perhaps she had been captured by slavers, or murdered by the Ravokians who hated foreigners so much. In the end he ended up blaming the Black Sun for it, projecting all of his hatred on the organization. It was one of the saddest moments of his life. He never truly figured out what had happened to her, but he still believes one day he will get to know the truth. Years later, in one of his travels, a few days away from Ravok, the group went through some inner conflicts after they spent a few days in the wildlands. Horst was accused of secretly stealing the gold away from his comrades, and sentenced by the bandits to pay with his life for the supposed dishonesty. In the end, he had to flee, but not after murdering few of his former allies. In that night he went through drastic changes in his life, trying to find new ways to survive. Years later he chose to return to Ravok, as despite of not being a legitimate citizen, it was the closest thing that he's ever had to a home. Skills, Lore and Languages   Skills Skill Name Competency Source Weapon: Widowmaker 25 SP Unarmed Combat 15 SP Wilderness Survival* 15 RB Body Building 10 SP *Forest   Lore Finding Merchant Caravans in the Wild Surviving in the Cold Weather   Languages Language Name Fluency Common Fluent None - None -   Gnosis Equipment and Possessions Item Name Description Source Clothing Leather pants, wool vest, leather boots and belt. SP Backpack Contains a set of toiletries (comb, brush, razor, soap), an eating knife, flint & steel and food for a week. SP Waterskin SP Fur Cloak A garment of his deceased father. (Heirloom) SP Leather Gloves SP* Javelin (x3) SP* Widowmaker SP* Ledger Transaction Description Source +100 GM +500 (housing cashed in) Starting coin. SP -35 GM Widowmaker SP* -3 GM Javelin (x3) SP* -5 SM Leather Gloves SP* Total: 561 GM, 5 SM. - Threads None