Mattias Vaulk

[Mattias Vaulk]

Mattias Vaulk   Appearance People observing Mattias would describe as wiry and tall, with broad shoulders and a wide chest with strong muscle definition on his upper body with an relatively average lower body possessing long runners legs, he isn't the prettiest man nor the ugliest, his skin has been lightly bronzed from hours out under the sun while his Roman nose has been broken several times, giving it a slightly crooked appearance. With defined cheekbones, strong square jawline and pronounced chin he has the appearance somewhat of regality though tainted by soft stormy grey almond shaped eyes, an easy boyish smile and oval cheeks. For the most part, his skin is unblemished by any serious offense, such as pocks or freckles, though years of working in the dirt has left his skin rough with small blackheads most noticeable on his face, he possesses some scars as well, three across his chest in slightly wave lines going from his left shoulder to the lower right abdomen and numerous cut marks across his hands, wrist and calves. In essence, what Mattias has is the appearance of a commoner; one who has worked for a good portion of his life and bears roguish attributes and mannerisms. He smiles frequently and easily but has made some habit of glaring from under his brow when dour or being swagger and cocky in a pretentious manner when relaxed. Few who look at him would mistake him for anything but one up to no good, who cares enough about his appearance to wash or dust of his clothes but not enough to comb his ear length dirty blonde hair except very lazily with his hands or actually put his dress through proper laundry.   Personality It is difficult to describe someones personality in detail, the myriad of emotions and goals often too complex for even a human mind to comprehend, which is why we often use labels and qualities to define us, it's easier and much more simpler. For example, most would look at Mattias and describe him to being a greedy, lecherous rogue and gambler with little honour or self worth. They would see him as a thief, prankster, troublemaker, one step below a brigand or criminal, he is a rude person with little respect for others as he boasts and brazenly offends. But that isn't all of it. Surely, this is but his most visible qualities and the most any person might take out of him, but as I said personalities are complex and Mattias is no except, for one he prefers to be called simply 'Matt' and would grin and agree with most of what was previously said - though would deny ever causing trouble - as according to him he doesn't cause it, it just finds him and he's gotta fix it and take the blame. He views himself as no one special, no hero or great adventurer; just a commoner out finding his own way and enjoying being alive since so many wind up dead, and there's nothing wrong with that is there? Nothing wrong with speaking his mind either, if people can't handle the truth then they can go on believing their lies and call him whatever names they want, he'll have a few to send back. But then again, this isn't it at all. Though he'll deny being a hero, his closest friends might say otherwise describing him as being extremely loyal and devoted to his friends and allies. He'll never abandon or desert them, which is more than anyone can say nowadays, and while he may be greedy he is also utilitarian, he likes to have coin in his pocket weighing down his belt but rarely wants to gloat or express his wealth, like any good farmer he doesn't need much; just a pair of good worn boots and a daily meal. Too those who have had his respect, and know him enough to call him friend, he is honourable in his own way, kind in his actions and blunt with his words, he'll sacrifice everything to save a friend but complain every second every step of the way about it too. He is, and always will be Mattias Vaulk. His very own person.   Concept Mattias Vaulk is a character loosely based on another from one of my favorite writers, his core concept is one of a hero who ends up in situations that he ends up having to dig himself - or others - out of, that while he'll do anything for a friend he'll also make up a fuss and try to back out of it at the same time in a wholehearted way. Yes, he'll always be a gambler, rogue and adventurer but he doesn't want to the be third thing he just can't help but walk and walking leads to places, and people, and situations, and those lead to quests so he continues along because it's better to go with it than fight it, he'll just look around for a nice place to stop, drink, gamble and woo girls. Wealth as it pertains to status doesn't matter to Matt, he has a love of gold (And gambling) but I wouldn't describe as being gluttonous in that manner, rather his love of it comes from the satisfaction of winning and possessing something he never really had before. On the whole, I would describe his alignment (Cause I'm a DnD boy) as being somewhere around Chaotic Good or Neutral Good. But writing in a place like this, in my style of character development allows for a huge degree of flexibility and personalizing, so to some he would be Chaotic Evil, to others Lawful Good, and so on so forth... It is difficult to say what I plan in the future with Matt, though I can hope that'll it'll be dramatic with many adventures, friends and enemies (and hopefully lots of paramours) met along the way.   Stats Age: SixteenA young man, with plenty of life ahead of him. Birthday: Spring 503 A.V, 15th Day. Birthplace: Syliras, Sylira Race: Human Gender: Male Apparent Age: Early TwentiesHe looks older than he is. Eye Colour: Stormy Grey Hair Colour: Dirty Blonde Height: 188cm (6ft 2in) Weight: 76kg (168lbs) Skin Colour: Caucasian, light tan. Languages Known: Common(Fluent), Tukant (Basic), Nader-canoch (Poor)

[Mattias Vaulk]

History   Prologue A story doesn't have a beginning or end, when one person passes their children, friends, even rivals continue it and their legacy. We shape those we encounter and raise families, it is because there is no end that there can be no beginning for who can truly say when it all started? For Matt, he continued his Fathers story. A mundane man in Syliras, who felt joy at the labour he performed in the mines and spent hours devoted to working in the dirt, something others may look down on but he was simple folk and desired little else. Until at least, he met the woman who would become his wife. She was originally the one who tried to get his attention, but being a fool too focused on the earth, its minerals and drinking warm ale afterwards he dismissed her, it was only after she was gone that he felt a longing for her to pester him again, and so he looked for her but could not find her. Until, she was there again. Her name was Nym and the two start a budding romance, he worked out in the lykolav iron mine while she worked primarily as a sculptor and carver, it was a simple and idealistic life and it wasn't long until they bore their first - and only - child.   Early Childhood Matt was born in the springtime, a time of new beginnings when winters chill retreated. It was a hard labour, but both Mother and Child survived miraculously. Matt was loved by his parents, but grew closer to Mother than Father, despite the latter's attempts to interact with him, Matt just wasn't 'that boy" who wanted to work with his Father or go hunting, he preferred to watch his mother carve something or listen to her sing in a strange language. He played out in the streets with other children and returned with scrapped elbows to which she would mend. Everytime Father came home from working, both would hug him and nothing else mattered besides the love the family had for each other. Until, one day when Nym disappeared. Matt remembers this moment vividly despite being only six, she picked up a carving she had been working on for a season, it was a beautiful statue of a woman - herself - hugging her husband and cradling a baby, she had spent some Miza's in order to carve it out of ivory and with a kiss of Matts cheek she left to gift it to Father and bring him some lunch. Only six years old, he felt nothing was wrong until hours passed and Father returned in confusion of his wife's absence, after getting the story from Matt his Father took him and they looked in the streets of the city until it was dark, they checked all the usual places, knocked on doors, finally a Syliran Knight who had guarded the gates told them that she had left the city, he joined them in going over to the gatehouse and questioning if she had returned. But no one saw her. Unwilling to let them leave in the night they forced them to stay in the city until first light, when Father and many others also concerned over her disappearance left the outpost and began to search the roads while Uncle Jaq combed the woods. There was no sign of her, not even the carving she had made which was burned into the young Mattias' memory, so much so that he would remember the carving more vividly than his mothers face, which softened and become more indistinct as time went by and memories faded. Two years after this, Matt who by now was assisting his Father in the mines suddenly felt light headed and fainted, his Father rushed to his side and took him to a Healer who said there was nothing she could do for there was nothing wrong with him, concerned he laid Matt to bed and insisted he avoid any kind of labour for a week, Uncle Jaq during this time would come by a visit sometimes and took Matt out hunting once despite his Fathers concern. As a season went by and harvest came, Father suddenly suffered a leg injury from a runaway cart which hit him square on the knee, shattering it. Recovery was slow, but even then it was never complete. He decided that he and Matt would in and live with Grandma Leva and start finding some other work. Yet, work was sparse for a cripple and more often than not Father would just end up drinking or working on trying to carve. He wasn't violent, or necessarily sad, but the stress was visible on his face as he spoke with his son and tried to impart some knowledge - reading and writing mostly, but also rudimentary math using farming for terminology and examples. He also taught Matt a few songs, and was surprised when Matt shared some songs his Mother sang to him, stating that it was the Ancient Tongue, though he couldn't say what the words meant.   Childhood It was in the city that Matt first met Arkis, a young Akalak who was at first a bully, he was an orphan and disgruntled, his own Father having died while serving as a Syliran Knight. He considered Matt too be a soft boy, which Matt was familiar with, but after several beatings and his Father not helping too much, it was his Grandmother who eventually told him to stand up for himself, she gave him a stick and began teaching him how to use it, to move in fluid and use both ends one after the other. You didn't need to know anything fancy with a quarterstaff, just a few steps. The distraction, the blow, the trip and the finisher. Armed with this knowledge he felt prepared to confront his bully and when he did he was initially nervous - He didn't want to fight, and he brandished his stick in a weak threat to which Arkis laughed, he reached out and grabbed it but Matt kept his grip and jabbed forward with it, the distraction. Arkis recoiled before being struck by the other end on his ribs, then tripped and finally jabbed in the chest. Surprised, the Akalak boy ran away after catching his breath and Matt ran after him, he caught up and apologized to which Arkis was incredulous about the two began to talk a bit and Arkis never bullied Matt again, the two would meet every now and again but would take a while to eventually become close friends. Running through Syliras laughing, nabbing fruits and vegetables from markets and the occasional copper Miza, Arkis expressed his desire to become a great warrior like his Father was, and didn't give Matt much choice in being his sparring partner. At ten, Matt divided his time from lessons from his Father, to lessons from his Grandmother to running around and getting into trouble with Arkis, or wrestling with him. There wasn't much to say of his life at this point, he was quickly becoming a urchin and pickpocket, everyone sure he was going to become nothing but a criminal, from the occasional visits from his 'Uncle' he learned how to gamble and introduced it to Arkis as well, but he always lost gambling and disliked it so he stopped wanting to play.   Adolescence As a adolescent, Matt was old enough to start training in a profession though to his Fathers and Grandmothers dismay he preferred to spend time with Arkis or Uncle Jaq whenever he was in the city. He began to avoid both his Father and Grandmother and would occasionally even sleep out in the city rather than go home. He would get into fights with other boys, often alongside Arkis and began escalating in his thievery, often using pranks to mask the act with Arkis most often being the distraction while Matt grabbed whatever could fit in his hand, sometimes a item off the shelf, sometimes a coin purse, they got chased by Knights keeping the piece and angry shopkeepers, but young and nimble quickly disappeared from their pursuers, then they would laugh spending the coin on sweets, though Matt saved more than he spent which led to Arkis teasing him for being a tight purse and would exaggerate how much he bought. At twelve, Matt caught a glimpse of a woman with golden hair, she turned and looked at him and he was immediately shocked - It was his mother! Arkis followed as Matt chased after to where he saw her calling out "Mama!" as he pushed people out of the way and sprinted with a fervor, his heart pounding. Arkis eventually stopped him when it was obvious the woman wasn't there and calmed him down, telling him it was impossible that it was his Mother and Matt grudgingly agree'd, that day he turned in early and stayed in bed longer the following morning, afterwards though it was as if this moment had never happened; his Mother was surely dead and he was just seeing things, what happened was never brought up again and everyone aside from Arkis was ignorant of it.   Teens Growing into a young man, Matt spent more time with Uncle Jaq and less with Arkis as he 'Uncle' was spending more time in the city. Arkis came along sometimes but didn't really like Jaq for being a boozer. It was at thirteen that Jaq offered to take Matt hunting, to which he agree'd. Starting the early morning, Jaq took him out the gates and into the nearby woods, he checked his trap lines and showed how they worked, one of them had a rabbit in it and he proudly presented to Matt the catch. He showed Matt how to spot rabbit trails and some other animal tracks, it became apparent to Matt that his 'Uncle' wasn't a very good hunter, but he none the less found the experience enjoyable and enlightening, the two spent one night camped outside, eating some rabbit stew and resetting the traps before practicing some archery on a tree and then returning back to the city the following morning. While it would be accurate to say that Matt was distant from his Father it wasn't wholly true, the two loved each other but Matt had his own path and preferred to follow it opposed to whatever his Father chose, and despite misgivings the two were always close with the occasional scolding for thievery, in a way Matt felt bad for how he was behaving, or more accurately how it affected his Papa but at the same time couldn't imagine himself doing anything else, he was content and imagined his life like this and no other way. At least until both he and Arkis were finally caught for stealing at 14. Perhaps it was arrogance that led to becoming complacent, or perhaps just a really quick and clever soldier. Whatever the case, they both got fined no small amount, enough to cover the cost of the item - around 50 Gold Mizas, plus twenty more for the crime itself. It wasn't easy, neither him nor Arkis were independent yet and so relied upon the contributions of Matts Father and Grandfather who were enraged, previously it had always been suspicion rather than evidence, but now that they were caught red-handed there was little else to feel but disappointment at the confirmation of Matt being a thief, even Jaq expressed his discontent over Matts actions. When the fine was paid it was as though his whole life changed, he helped his Grandmother more and more with her herbs or else helped Jaq with hunting and Arkis became a page with the Syliran knights, seemingly changed overnight. His days of being reckless and care-free were over, now he was dealing with his ailing and dying Grandmother, with his 'Uncle' giving brief respite in the form of hunting trips, which was mostly camping out in the woods and drinking, talking, singing and relaxing. When his Grandmother passed, he mourned for a while before continuing his life as it was; taking it everyday, gambling when he could, hunting with Jaq or spending time with Arkis when his duties as a page were completed for the day. He still didn't have much direction and would stay up at night trying to imagine what he would do, but for some reason his head was filled with thoughts of leaving but he crushed those down, after all he was no adventurer or glory-headed fool.   Present In the winter of 518, Matts Father fell ill. His breathing became shallow and he felt weak, it was just a cold he told Matt and would take long rests to feel better, except he didn't and one day he wouldn't wake up. Matt spent hours at his bedside, holding his Father, he didn't cry though he felt like it instead he just knelt there holding his Father, remembering him, the time they had spent back when life was good at the Mithryn outpost and they were all together, and happy. He sat there regretting never spending more time with his Father and wondering what happened to his Mother. When they buried his Father, Matt made a decision, without telling anybody he began to plan to leave. He bought provisions, had a quarterstaff carved for him, and went to the Iron Works over getting some steel, daggers and a curved sword made from Cold Iron. Yet he couldn't hide all is intentions, his 'Uncle' guessed him out and rather than stop him, he encouraged him, giving him the Mizas to purchase his own bow as you 'need' one to survive. Equipped, Matt set out after visiting his Father one last time, catching up with a Caravan and joining them for a fee all the way down to Nyka before taking a ship to Zeltiva, he spent a season down there and heard stories of Sunberth the city of Anarchy and seeing no reason to stay in Zeltiva he left before the first snows of winter came. Relationships   Family Leva Vaulk - Grandmother(Dead) Rickon Vaulk - Father(Dead) Nym - Mother(Missing, Presumed Dead)   Friends Uncle Jaq - Family Friend(Alive) Arkis - Friend (Alive)   Allies   Enemies   Rivals   Acquaintances   Lovers   Companions

[Mattias Vaulk]

Possesions   Clothing One Brown Medium Wool Shirt(SP) One Green Linen Trousers(SP) One Brown Felt Cape with hood(SP) One Leather Ankle-High Boots(SP) One Set of Undergarments(SP) One Blue Wool Scarf One Green Wool Jacket One High Leather Boots One Wool Un-dyed Brown trousers Two Linen Tunics One Blue Wool Cloak One Leather Archers Bracer One Linen Stockings One Fur-Lined Leather Gloves   Weapons Five Steel Throwing Knives Five Steel Daggers One Ribbon Dagger One Quarterstaff One Steel Tulwar One Composite Shortbow   Property Matt is currently staying in a tent, in tent city of Sunberth.   Misc Ten Leather Scabbards for Daggers. One Splitting Axe. One Map of Sylira One Loaded Dice Set(Ivory) One Dice Set(Ivory) One Survival Toolkit One Rucksack One Brick Press Four Travellers Stocks One Common Lamp One Table Set One Iron Cook Pot Ten Pieces of Tinder Two Vials of Water Additives Two 4oz Toothpaste vials One Toothbrush One Coil of Hemp Rope (50ft) One Winter Blanket One Bedroll One Quiver, Leather and Wood 15lbs of mixed Rations (Dried Apples, Chestnuts, Dried Raisins and Dried Mushrooms) Ten Strong Rations   Stored N/A   Ledger +100 Gold Rimmed Mizas Starting package 100GM +500 Gold Rimmed Mizas House Cash In 600GM -100 Gold Rimmed Mizas, +1000 Silver Rimmed Mizas Conversion 500GM, 1000SM -10 Silver Rimmed Mizas Boots, High (Leather) 500GM, 990SM -450 Silver Rimmed Mizas Fine Wool Cloak, Dyed Blue, Fur-lined (Unusual) 500GM, 540SM -15 Silver Rimmed Mizas Leather Gloves, Fur-Trim 500GM, 525SM -10 Silver Rimmed Mizas 2 Linen Tunics, un-dyed 500GM, 515SM -18 Silver Rimmed Mizas Medium wool trousers, un-dyed brown, fur trim 500GM, 497 -8 Silver Rimmed Mizas Winter Felt Stockings, Un-dyed 500GM, 489SM -5 Silver Rimmed Mizas Fine Wool Scarf, dyed blue, fur-trim 500GM, 484SM -20 Silver Rimmed Mizas Medium Wool Jacket, dyed green, fur-trim 500GM, 464SM -5 Gold Rimmed Mizas Five Steel Knives (Wrist) 495GM, 464SM -1 Gold Rimmed Mizas One Ribbon Dagger 494GM , 464SM -75 Gold Rimmed Mizas Shortbow, Composite 419GM, 464SM -5 Gold Rimmed Mizas Five Steel Throwing Daggers 414GM, 464SM -2 Gold Rimmed Mizas Forty Shortbow Arrows, Steel tip 412GM, 464SM -66 Gold Rimmed Mizas Cold Steel Tulwar 346GM, 464SM -1 Gold Rimmed Mizas Quarterstaff 345GM, 464SM -1 Gold Rimmed Mizas Archers Arm Guard 344GM, 464SM -20 Gold Rimmed Mizas Ten Leather Dagger Scabbards 324GM, 464SM -10 Gold Rimmed Mizas Cards 314GM, 464SM -6 Gold Rimmed Mizas Tulwar Scabbard 308GM, 464SM -5 Silver Rimmed Mizas Axe, Splitting 308GM, 459SM -10 Gold Rimmed Mizas Map of Sylira 298GM, 459SM -5 Silver Rimmed Mizas Dice Set, Loaded 298GM, 454SM -8 Silver RImmed Mizas Dice Set, Ivory 298GM, 446SM -25 Gold Rimmed Mizas Toolkit, Survival 273GM, 446SM -1 Gold Rimmed Mizas Rucksack 272GM, 446SM -10 Gold Rimmed Mizas Brick Press 262GM, 446SM -12 Gold Rimmed Mizas Four Travellers Stocks 250GM, 446SM -1 Silver Rimmed Mizas Lamp, Common 250GM, 445SM -1 Gold Rimmed Mizas Table Set 249GM, 445SM -4 Silver Rimmed Mizas Iron Cooking Pot 249GM, 444SM -4 Gold Rimmed Mizas Two 4oz Toothpaste 245GM, 444SM -3 Gold Rimmed Mizas One Toothbrush 242GM, 444SM -1 Gold Rimmed Mizas One coil of 50ft Hemp Rope 241GM, 444SM -5 Silver Rimmed Mizas One Winter Blanket 241GM, 439SM -1 Silver Rimmed Mizas One Bedroll 241GM, 438SM -6 Gold Rimmed Mizas Two vials of water additives 235GM, 438SM -1 Silver Rimmed Mizas Ten pieces of Tinder 235GM, 438SM -20 Gold Rimmed Mizas Wooden and Leather Quiver 215GM, 438SM -15 Gold Rimmed Mizas 15lbs of mixed Rations (Dried Apples, Chestnuts, Dried Raisins and Dried Mushrooms) 200GM, 438SM -70 Gold Rimmed Mizas Ten Strong Rations 130GM, 438SM +43 Gold Rimmed Mizas, -430 Silver Rimmed Mizas Conversion 204GM, 8SM Skills and Lores   Skills Acrobatics 5/100 +5SP Brawling 5/100 +5SP Gambling 5/100 +5SP Larceny 15/100 +15RB Quarterstaff 5/100 +5SP Stealth 10/100 +10SP Throwing Knives 5/100 +5SP Unarmed 10/100 +10SP Wilderness Survival(Temperate Forest) 5/100 +5SP   Magic N/A   Lores Known Lore of Syliras Layout : Having grown up in Syliras, Matt knows the layout of the city fairly well, as well as the surrounding area. Gambling Games of Syliras : Matt knows some of the most common gambling games in Syliras, their rules and how to exploit or play them for profit

[Mattias Vaulk]

Threadlist   Flashbacks Placeholder   Winter 519 AV Placeholder   Spring 520 AV Placeholder   Summer 520 AV Placeholder   Autumn 520 AV Placeholder   Winter 520 AV Placeholder   Spring 521 AV Placeholder   Other Placeholder Enjoy some music