William Lorenz (ArsSanctum alt)
Feb 15, 2018 23:11:19 GMT -6
Post by William on Feb 15, 2018 23:11:19 GMT -6
The Ill-Purposed Blade
Name: William
Class: Myrmidon
Age: 19
Born in: Lycia, Santaruz
Personality: A man who, on the surface, seems to have given in entirely to his own wanderlust. Will is the kind of man who is not afraid to allow his vices to rule him, perhaps due to his youth. He enjoys a good drink after a mission, and an attractive companion to spend a few nights with. Not exactly frugal with his money, he lives job to job and makes do in spite of a total lack of frugality. A ladies man, or at least he attempts to be one, but he doesn't mind a few drinks with some gents either.
Though his name and clothing lead one to think of a Lycia, and he is 100% a Lycian, his swordsmanship seems to draw heavy from Sacaen styles. Still relatively a rookie, William practices for a future dual-wielding style by swinging his blade in his dominant hand and his scabbard in his weaker left. Before and during battle he seems to carry himself with a swagger, and may even make a few boasts regarding himself. Its pure bravado - a facade to help him overcome his own lack of self-confidence.
That said, while he lacks some self-control regarding his indulgences and personal life and confidence in his own abilities, William displays some strength of character in how he combats his self-indulgent laziness through dedication to the sword. He is at his most composed when locked in combat, and takes training and meditation alike quite seriously.
For all his foolish spending on pleasures of the flesh, Will does seem to hoard some small savings. Yet after a visit to the nearest courier those same savings seem to vanish as well. Will isn't the type to talk too much about his life before becoming a sellsword, nor does he seem to enjoy talking about the future. One can't help but note the focus in his eyes when the latter topic arises, though. Or the shame in his gaze during the former.
A man with potential, William simply needs a bit of help in realizing it.
History:Not every man has a story worth telling, and William would surely consider himself one among such men. His childhood was a great deal of travel and work, as he and his family rode from town to town in search of work. If one was lucky they could move themselves up in the world, but more oft than not a farmer would die a farmer, and so to would their children. William spent his life watching his father, a man with more ambition than his birthright ought to allow, tried and failed to acrue greater fortune for their family.
He'd take gambles, attempting to strike big sales with the wealthiest merchants he could find, oft taking William with him. His wife and siblings stayed on the family farm, and every time William would be brought home by his father, he'd be forced to witness how exhausted his family seemed to be. A growing boy and a healthy man would surely lighten the workload, but William's father simply would not give it up. Even after his second child was born that only seemed to spur his drive on.
William hated seeing his family like that – hated having to visit home with nothing to show for absence, while his family worked themselves into exhaustion. Yet at the same time he never turned down his father when he was asked to join him. He had no fire to seek out a higher living, but he didn't want to work all his life the way his family did.
Around William's 13th year, it seemed his father truly had a good lead. He'd managed to save up a decent sum, and the farm had produced some of its highestly quality goods yet. A merchant seemed to take interest in what he had to offer, and suggested that he would peddle out the foods grown at William's Family's farm while sending back royalties.
William and his father rode out from Santaruz to Araphen to meet with this merchant and those under his employ. Wiliam's father had brought all that he'd saved and then some, coin he'd taken from his family just in case, along with some high quality crops and salted meat from the farm. They wound up making their way into an ambush – the merchant, rather than strike a deal, had some hired hands fire arrows from the nearest bushes upon William and his father. The merchant would simply take what they owned and sell it for a quick profit, pocketing the gold they'd brought as well.
As soon as the arrows flew William's father threw his arms out wide, taking several arrows meant for William, and called for his son to run. And William did. Perhaps he wasn't thinking, or perhaps he knew exactly what he was doing – but William did not run back towards central Araphen, nor did he run towards Santaruz.
Instead he headed for the mountains to the North. The archers ceased firing shortly, likely ascertaining William had nothing of value on him. Frightened, William ran himself into a state of exhaustion. When he could no longer run, he walked. The death of his father had set in, and it weighed heavily upon him, but he did what he could to block it out. Even his father, greedy and desperate though he may have been, had put his family first in his mind. If his actions in life hadn't made that clear, then how he died surely did.
Yet even then, deep down, William knew he was not the same. His father had sought a better life, William simply joined him to escape a worse life.
Eventually the young man collapsed, and was lucky enough to be found by a young Sacaen woman. Out of pity and concern she brought him back to her tribe, and they helped nurse him back to health. Her name was Tomoe, and she was daughter to the chieftain of the Ajin Tribe. They heard out his story, though William told them that he'd lost his entire family. Not just his father. He wanted to avoid any questions of returning home...though he hadn't expected them to offer he stay – provided he assimilated to their way of life.
And William did. He had to work, but it was not the same gruesome toiling that his family did back home. Slowly but surely he made friends, and after he'd settled in Tomoe offered to teach him of the sword. She was the best fighter the tribe had, and trained the younger warriors in the tribe to help strengthen them and keep her own skills sharp. William took to the sword well. Tomoe's friend, Yukiko, had tried to teach him magic but deemed him a lost cause early on.
After a few years went by William had developed a desire to journey out. For all the traveling he'd done in his youth he'd only really seen Lycia. Tomoe had little else to teach him, by her own accord, for he had become her star pupil, rivaled only by a spear wielding spitfire named Shao Mulan. Tomoe noted that William had a will to improve. As he was not born to the Ajin, she reminded him that he was free to leave without permission, but he asked the chieftain, Shiro, anyway. Permission as granted, and William set out as a sellsword.
Trivia: