Berlan Finran ~ Burning_Ice

Name: Berlan Finran

Class:Fighter/Brawler

Appearance: An old man, his hair and short, trimmed beard are pure gray, however he carries himself like a man much younger. Generally dressed in shabby but comfortable and durable clothing. He has a number of small scars on his hands and is missing the ring finger of his right hand.

Fighting Style: Berlan is a barroom brawler most of the time, though he is also an expert swordsman he refuses to draw his blade except in the defense of another, if he should die because of said refusal, so be it. He tends to use his tankard as an overly large brass knuckles. Though it also makes a good cudgel. He has fought(which is to say an uncontrolled fight to the death) with sword and worn his shield a total of 13 times in his life. Once drawn no fight has lasted longer than 3 minutes. 12 have not lasted longer than 1.

Abilities/Skills:
Battle Wisdom~Berlan has been in countless fights over his long life time and has become adept at reading movement styles, the longer a fight drags on the more easily he dodges blows from his opponent.

Sword Mastery~Berlan has an unrivaled mastery of the gladius and shield.

Healing Arts~while not well versed in magic Berlan knows enough to heal most minor to moderate wounds.

Items
Galant-Berlan's gladius. Long ago he killed a man with it in cold blood. He has since come to regret his actions and subsequent life. He will never draw Galant except in the last extremes of the defense of the life of another.

Logos-Berlan's shield. A small buckler 1 ft in diameter, it is unbreakable.

Tankard-Berlan's Primary weapon, and drinking utensil. It is old and beaten.


History:
In a long and bloody war, the King of Almoth was forced to send out his entire army on a campaign, leaving no loyal force behind. The various nobles of the land sought the throne and together sought to topple the king and place one of their own on the throne. The King in an unprecedented and brilliant piece of political maneuvering chose certain soldiers who had distinguished themselves on the battlefield and raised them to nobility, thus procuring a new set of nobles, loyal to him. The old blood noble's were outraged, not only that their plan had been foiled but that those who were of common blood now shared the privileges of nobility. So they responded in the way they knew best. They threw money at the problem, in the form of assassins. The king was killed and the war ended, the Old blood nobles ruled supreme. Slowly the new nobles began dying from mysterious accidents. Jacob Finran, first of the new nobles had had a son in the meantime, for he lived far from the cities with their courts and politics. The son named Berlan, was raised as a soldiers son and a noble both, though he leaned more strongly towards the former. However eventually the old nobles noticed the first new noble, the first disgrace to their name still lived. The assassins came, and at first failed, for Jacob had not been lax in the years following the ed of the war.
His family under siege young Berlan learned how to defend himself well, however the family could not stay alert all the time, and eventually Jacob fell, then so did his wife, and his daughter(the eldest child). Berlan now feared for his life. Alone he stood no chance so he saw but one option: to cast aside his nobility. However it was not that simple. In Almoth one cannot simply cast aside their title unless there is another, a heir or relative to take it up. There was however one way. He belted on his sword and travelled to the city. There he stood in front of the court, and when a page came to offer him a drink Berlan caused the drink to splash all over him. Feigning rage he drew his sword and slew the page, for all the court to see. While the nobility were not bound by law, and so Berlan could not be arrested for his act, it gave the court exactly the excuse they had hoped for. They convened and declared Berlan unfit to be nobility. They stripped him of his land, titles, house and money then cast him out upon the streets leaving him only his sword, shield, clothes, and the very tankard he had caused to spill upon him.

Berlan was at first pleased with himself, but rumor spread and the children and women of the city feared him. Soon the inns began to deny him shelter, and he became a beggar. There in the cold streets he went unnoticed and thought upon his actions, and was filled with regret. He took to drink, and a drunkard he became, drinking to forget, and fighting to vent anger at himself. He drank, and walked, and drank and talked, and often would wake one morning to find himself in another city, in the mountains, in the forests. Eventually many years later the grieving, for truly that's what it was ended. He was still depressed, he still drank, but no longer was it the only purpose in his life. He decided to travel the world, for he had no ties and no bounds, and he told himself, does not every man claim he would love to see the world, if only the ties of responsibility did not hold him? So he went, for many years he traveled, seeing what there was to be seen and doing whatever he could to aid those in seemingly insolvable plights, for he still regretted his own dubious solution. But always drink would call him back to a city.

Finally many years later it was as if a bell tolled in his head. The fog of grief lifted, though not regret, nonetheless he saw clearly what had to be done. The old nobles were corrupt, and must be ousted. What he had so long blamed himself for was, in truth, his fault, but the circumstances that had caused it, that was the fault of the nobles greed and arrogance.
Now no more than an old man, albeit one with much experience in just about everything, he seeks to first free his homeland from the weight of the aristocracy, then do the same for the world. At the moment he seeks an army or some military force to use, for he sees no way to dislodge the noble's from within.



*Yes I know I know 1 person, 1 character. That said I came up with this guy while eating a truly delicious hamburger and I just liked him too much not to post him. I won't use him so make him an NPC w/e do with him as you will*

So now we ALL get two chars?

I just came up with him, I'm never going to actually use him...

lol whats with all the paragraphs?????