New to Giralda, I see. Well, it takes all sorts around here. Take that shifty-eyed weasel by the fire.
Oh, he acts looks like a simple merchant, peddling meager wares, but watch what you say around him. The Empire’s got ears everywhere...
See those two there? They seem all chummy now, but that’s only because Var is trying to convince Jarek to desert the navy in Thisbē and join
those lawless bastards who sail from the Spice Isles. I’m sure that one will kill the other before the week is out, once they’ve got what they want from each other.
Then there’s always the usual mercs; bastards who’d happily kill their own mothers for a coin. Oh, they say those twins from Brelan aren’t so bad,
but a merc is a merc, and money is all they see.
At least there're no damned elves here tonight. One got uppity last month when I insisted the
bastard slept in the stables. A damn generous offer for a half-breed, if you ask me!
Mind yourself if you head into the Wilds. It’s full of things that
would happily eat you and shit you out without a second thought. Even the people who hunt those things are more beast than civil.
Anyway stranger,
what'll it be: a room, or a drink?
SKYE
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FIZZ
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CURRENT MONTH: AUREL, 762
This month marks the transition from the scorching sun of summer to the cooling of autumn. The night skies become more magnificent as shooting stars are more frequent, and auroras dance across the horizon. Aurel is a time of harvest when the farmers gather the crops that cannot withstand the upcoming heavy rains of Nandir.
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December 2021 Soft hiatus - have a safe, warm, and minimally dysfunctional holiday season!
Eyes: brown [break] Hair color: brown [break] Height: 6’0" [break] Weight: 179lbs [break][break] Birthmarks: none [break] Scars: Random scars from training and battle and some from abuse he endured as a child/teenager, large scar on his back at his right shoulder blade from an arrow, self-inflicted scars up his arms. [break] Distinguishing Features: strong jawline, intense gaze and facial expressions; tall and muscular. [break] Tattoos: none [break][break] Attire: mostly dresses as any other soldier does, but cleans up nicely when he needs to.
[attr="class","about_1"]PERSONALITY
[attr="class","skinny_content"] Nathaniel is confident and may come across as cocky at times, but he means well. He is good natured, charming and kind. He appears quiet and standoff-ish at times, but mostly because he is a very serious man and is quiet until he needs to speak or is among friends or family. He is also extremely sarcastic. Has bouts of anger. [break][break] Likes: Swords, fighting, horses, sweets and baked goods, pears, the colors blue and red, ale, books and reading. [break][break] Dislikes: Intimacy, abuse, people who are fake, people who think they are better than everyone else, small dogs
[attr="class","about_1"]INVENTORY
[attr="class","skinny_content"]
Animals: his black horse, Obsidion. [break][break] Weapons: sword, various daggers and knives [break][break] Misc: lots of books, sword and knife collection.
[attr="class","about_1"]FAMILY TIES
[attr="class","skinny_content"]
Parents: Matthew & Abigail Shaw [break] SIBLINGS: 2 younger sisters: Cassandra (24), Amelie (19) [break] RELATIVES: Benjamin Shaw (uncle)
[attr="class","about_1"]SKILLS
[attr="class","skinny_content"]
Magic: None. [break][break] Power(s): None. [break][break] Combat: He has extensive training in combat and began at the age of five. He joined the military at just eleven years old. He is a very strong and excellent fighter that often surprises others. [break][break] Passive: Fast, quiet (sneaking) and tracking. [break][break] Misc: Educated and trained quite extensively, loves to read, and is very knowledgeable, he is an excellent knife thrower and rarely misses his aim. [break][break]
[attr="class","about_1"]FREEFORM HISTORY
[attr="class","skinny_content"]
[Disclaimer: There are some things in Nathaniel’s back story that might be sensitive/trigger warnings for some. Please read at your own risk. TW: Child abuse, sexual assault, self harm.]
[break][break]
Nathaniel is the firstborn and only son of Matthew and Abigail Shaw, born in Noria. His father was in the Norian military and expected him to follow in his footsteps. There was no other option for him. His mother stayed home to care for him and his two younger sisters. She enjoyed baking, however, and was constantly selling pies, bread, and cookies to others. [break][break]
Matthew Shaw was extremely strict when it came to Nathaniel. He expected his son to grow up being the best and to be a strong and capable fighter like he was. He was constantly pushing him to do better and work harder. Nathaniel was forced to begin training at the age of five by a personal trainer, Baldric, who was also a friend of Matthew’s. [break][break]
Little did his father know that this personal trainer had an abusive demeanor and both verbally and physically abused Nathaniel. He would purposefully strike at him with his hands or even with swords, shoot arrows at him, to “teach lessons”. Baldric would tell his parents that Nathaniel just needed to work harder at defending himself. [break][break]
At first the abuse was verbal and demeaning, making Nathaniel self-doubt himself, making him feel worthless and wrong for anything and everything. As he got older, the abuse turned physical. He would be shot with arrows, burned with hot iron or coals, struck with swords, stabbed, whatever Baldric felt like doing to “teach his lessons” and make Nathaniel stronger. When Nathaniel was just ten years old, he learned that Baldric favored men and he began to sexually abuse him, telling him he was teaching him how to become a man and showing him how to please women (or men). Nathaniel was constantly threatened by the man and told to never tell his parents or anyone about what went on during their training. He often threatened his mother or sisters if he said anything. He also ordered Nathaniel to never fight back and that he was to endure everything inflicted to him or he would visit his mother and sisters and make them endure what he fought back on. [break][break]
Whenever his parents asked about wounds he’d come home with, he simply told them he lost his fight with Baldric that day and was taught a lesson. [break][break]
Nathaniel endured this for almost a year. [break][break]
One day, his father (who was growing suspicious of these training Baldric was having with his son because Nathaniel came home once with a bloodied face and could barely walk) followed his son to the designated training area and witnessed Baldric about to rape his son. He instantly stopped him and fought him, telling Nathaniel to go home. Matthew later returned covered in blood. He never knew what happened to Baldric--if his father had killed him, or fought him and had him locked up. But Matthew informed Nathan he would not be attending his training any longer and would be sent to live with his uncle in Vanyar and continue his training there. His uncle immediately, at his father's request, sent Nathaniel to become enlisted with the Valarocco Riders. They never spoke about what happened, but Nathaniel could tell his father struggled with guilt about the whole thing. [break][break]
Things got better once Nathaniel was with his uncle and he was part of the ranks. If Baldric did anything good for him, it was to truly give him the strength to withstand and endure things. He struggled at first with fighting back, but all of that pent-up anger and frustration of never being able to fight back quickly came out of him and he proved to be a strong and skilled fighter. He was quick to move up in ranks and gain some confidence in himself again.
With having gotten used to the abuse, once it was missing from his life, he felt that he did not deserve to go a day without some form of torture. He inflicts pain on himself to accomplish this. He lives with the secret of what had happened to him and is embarrassed and ashamed of it, so he never talks about it. He tries to force it back and pretends to be normal when in fact his mind is so messed up from everything that had happened. He represses it through his fighting and keeping himself busy. [break][break]
He tries not to get too serious with women because he is terrified of being intimate. Nathaniel doesn’t allow this fear to show, because he usually makes up excuses to end relationships/push people away before things begin to get serious or intimate. [break][break]
Nathaniel once dated a woman (Audra) who ended up making his life more complicated than it already was. When she tried to force intimacy on him, he allowed his fear to take over him and he pushed her away (both physically and emotionally). She wasn't hurt but it scared her enough to run away. Later on, Nathaniel was being arrested for accusations of raping Audra. She had spread lies about him in order to save her own reputation- an excuse as to why she and Nathaniel were no longer together (no one could know that she had been turned down and risk being seen as undesirable.) He spent time in prison until his friend Elias and his father managed to help clear things up and get him out. But the rumors had done enough damage to ruin a lot he had worked for, and he had to spend over a year trying to clean up the mess her lies had caused.