Out of Character:
Name: Jacob (Jake) Narmolanya
Age: 19
Race: Half-elf
Alignment: Neutral
Gender: Male
Height: 5’8”
Weight: 146 lbs.
Eyes: sea green
Hair: dirty blond
Occupation: thief/demon hunter
Appearance
Since beginning his adventures on Althanas with the Bandit Brotherhood, Jake’s appearance has changed considerably. There are two purely white scar marks on his well-tanned neck. The marks are small circles, about half the size of a dime, and getting them nearly cost Jake his life. They came from an encounter with a vampire, in which Jake was bitten. Fortunately, he slew the vampire before it could drink his blood. These marks are on the left side of his neck, and he has two matching ones on the palm of his right hand, where he clenched the teeth tightly in a fist.
Besides his scars, Jake has changed a good deal. He has grown two inches to accompany his 19th Birthday, and gained about ten pounds. The gain in weight is mostly muscle mass, but he is still quite slender. The youth’s entire growth happened in his legs, which have stretched out the two inches. His hands and feet have also grown slightly. The freckles on Jake’s cheeks are fading, but are still there. He looks as slim as ever, but his fair skin has now become nicely tanned, and stays that way due to the long hours he spends outdoors.
Jake has come to grips with the fact that he is a half-elf, and it is beginning to show. His ears are slightly pointed, if less than an elf’s ears are, and he is beginning to develop some of the elven beauty (or handsomeness, as he prefers to call it) which runs in his veins.
Generally Jake can be found seated upon his horse, Gunner. Gunner is a small horse, with sturdy legs. He is dappled grey, with an odd white pattern on his nose and ankles. Jake’s clothing varies, from wool and linen to silk and sifan cloth, depending on his mood. One trait which he is rarely without is his cloth cap, which generally contains his unruly dirty blond hair. Unless he has taken it into his mind to wash himself, Jake’s face is normally somewhat dirty, mimicking his hands and fingers.
Personality
Jake has a certain “air of innocence” about him. His freckly cheeks and brilliant green eyes help this especially. Jake’s natural innocence has gotten him out of tight situations more times than he can count. He is seldom seen sad, and will often seek solitude if depressed, but it takes only a small thing to fascinate Jake, or improve his sentiment. Whether in a group of friends, one on one, or meeting a stranger, Jake is always friendly and easygoing. Perhaps too mature in some respects and not mature enough in others, he is known to fall in love at the drop of a hat. Any pretty girl who smiles at him can win his heart instantly, and he will at once commence his attempts at “courting” said maiden. Although his more recent years have habituated him to the ways of women, he is no closer to comprehending them and as such continues giving them all he's got. He enjoys telling stories and playing pranks and long sojourns in the woods.
Instinct of a Thief- Jake has always loved stealing things. One might almost call him a kleptomaniac, except for the fact that he does need what he steals. Normally. But even when he was a child and living with a rich family, Jake could never resist snatching the fat purse hanging off of someone’s belt.
Inventory
*1 liviol tonfa, taken from a slain demon.
*1- nihon redwood re-curve bow
*10- oak (tier 1) arrows, goose feather fletching, standard broadpoint iron (tier 1) arrowheads
*11- oak (tier 1) arrows, goose feather fletching, armor piercing steel (tier 2) arrowheads
*5- oak (tier 1) arrows, goose feather fletching, flaming arrowhead (rags soaked in lamp oil)
*5- oak (tier 1) arrows, goose feather fletching, blunt steel (tier 2) arrowhead
*24 Titanium and Cyper arrows, standard broadpoint, purchased at the Bazaar.
*12 Titanium and Cyper arrows, specially designed to pierce armor, purchased at the Bazaar.
*1- oak (tier 1)/tanned leather bracer for left arm
*2- extra bowstrings
*1- lump of beeswax
*1- yew (tier 2) collapsible fishing pole
*2- extra fishing line and hooks
*1- tanned leather/canvas backpack
*1- cloth cap
*1- coil of rope (20M)
*1- fine wool cloak w/silk interior, “Narmolanya” embroidered between shoulders
*1- iron (tier 1) three-pronged grappling hook
*1- horse (“Gunner”), saddle, bridle etc.
*1 Iron dagger, with a five point star engraved in the hilt. A gift from “The Sheriff”.
*1Paperback novel on Demon Hunting, written by a man named Tawn.
*Items purchased at RH Outpost: Thick wool blanket, bag of tinder, novel on Wilderness Survival (How not to die out of doors.)
*Eagle Feather- A fine quill made from a golden eagle’s feather with a diamond tip, this is one of Jake’s most prized possessions. The quill has several magical properties (See abilities.)
*Various garments made from wool, linen, silk, sifan cloth
Skills
Archery- Jake knows how to use different kinds of bows. He knows how to take care of them, how to find the right size for himself, and how to make/repair bows and arrows. Jake has learned to fire arrows from the outside of the bow, meaning it takes him less time to knock an arrow. This enables him to fire approximately three arrows in the time it would take an average archer to fire one.
Marksmanship- Jake is an excellent shot with a bow. Shooting is the only kind of fighting he really excelled at before he left home, as he simply enjoys and dedicates himself to his bows and arrows. He can hit a bullseye which is two inches in diameter nine out of then times from up to 75 paces, and his form is quite polished and professional.
Swordfighting- Jake was trained with many different kinds of blades, and flirts with advanced swordplay on a daily basis. His training mostly involved longswords and lighter blades. After many different trainers including a crash-course in the art of the sword from Damon Kaosi, Jake is now quite confident with any edged weapon in his hands.
Stickfighting- A large part of Jake's tutelage under legendary martial artist Joshua Cronen has been in a hybrid fighting system which involves many "soft" grappling and trapping tehcniques as well as precise "hard" strikes using the body or anything that is close to hand (most frequently some kind of stick), as well as throwing ordinary objects effectively enough to cause injury or distraction. Because the basis of this system translates so well into swordfighting, Jake has approached the level of bladesmaster when fighting with any kind of long blade or stick, thought he has yet to defeat anyone noteworthy in a duel.
Horses- Jake is an excellent jockey, and enjoys riding horses. He is an excellent trainer and knows how to take care of horses, necessary skills for his teenage means of living - stealing them.
Persuasive Talker- Whether he is trying to convince someone of something, lying, begging, or just talking, Jake has a definite way with words. He isn’t often caught when stealing horses, but up till this point he has always managed to talk his way out of any sticky situations.
Tactics- Although he has not had any field experience whatsoever, part of Jake’s education included combat tactics. He knows all the basics, as well as many finer points, but will soon discover that real combat is different from that drawn upon maps.
Trickster- Jake has an incredible knack for playing practical jokes or duping people in a manner that actually works. He will often use these methods to snatch purses or wallets from people’s belts while they are distracted.
Hunting/Tracking- Jake relies on small game for many of his regular meals. He is adept at tracking, killing, skinning and cooking animals of all sizes, but he tends to stick to the smaller ones. After all, who can eat a whole deer?
Fishing- For variety, Jake can also fish quite well. When bored, he has been known to throw bait into shallow water and stand waist deep with an arrow on his bow, hoping to shoot a fish. However, when he does not have an entire day to waste, Jake can fish using his pole very well.
Intelligence- Jake is smart. Yup.
General Knowledge- One of those kids who seems to know something about everything.
Demon Knowledge- After reading a lengthy book written by a renowned demon hunter, and pursuing and killing several powerful creatures on his own, Jake has a working knowledge of Haidians and their societal structures.
Abilities
Agility (x2)- Jake’s slim form gives him great agility. He is able to perform feats which would greatly trouble most adults, such as scaling walls and trees, climbing ropes and avoiding obstacles. This ability is also a great asset to Jake in fighting. Because he is not especially strong, his strategy often involves dodging attacks, running away then shooting his foe from a safe distance.
Stamina (x3)- Jake's training with Joshua Cronen has included significant focus on muscular and cardiovascular endurance, ensuring the youth can fight longer and harder than the average soldier.
Speed (x2)- After slaying and absorbing power from a vampire one snowy night in Concordia, Jake's natural quickness has become something more.
Quill Ability: Jake’s magical quill can do the following;
-Function as an ordinary quill
-Point to any demonic presence within 100 yards, after Jake says “Lead me”.
-Take 1 ability from the corpse of a Haidian creature which Jake himself has slain. This must be done within 5 minutes of the demon’s death. After the ability is taken, the Demon’s corpse will fade to nothingness, their twisted soul destroyed. May only be performed once per thread, all abilities gained subject to judge/RoG approval.
-"Doorway" Portal Traveling Ability- Jake stole a rather uncanny traveling ability from the first demon he hunted down alone. This is to create a doorway out of whatever materials are present. If he is in a building Jake can simply replace an existing door with one of his own, or if he were, for example, in the middle of the ocean, he could make a portal out of water. He can also create an unremarkable portal out of thin air. An identical door/portal to the one Jake creates will appear wherever he wishes to go, and upon going through the doorway, Jake travels to this place. At present, even if the "door" does not have a knob Jake must physically touch it in order to open or "activate" it.
--Style 1: A Short Hop (usable 10 times per IC day)
Taking “a short hop” as Jake will one day call it, is to create the second door somewhere within approximately 200 yards. In order to do this Jake must either be familiar with the place he is traveling to, or be able to see it from where he hops. This is useful for traveling short distances quickly, as Jake can create these doors almost as fast as thinking.
--Style 2: Long Stride
With a "long stride" and enough power Jake can potentially travel just about anywhere. In order to travel there accurately, though, he must have either been there before, have had it vividly described to him, be able to see a picture etc. If Jake doesn’t know exactly where he’s going, he can end up getting lost. Also, if someone describes a forest clearing in not quite enough detail, Jake could end up in a similar clearing in the wrong forest. Depending on where he is going and how vivid his mental image, creating one of these doorways can take anywhere from 5 seconds to 1 minute.
This ability is also more taxing the larger a portal is and the longer Jake keeps it open. Using only his own stamina (not assisted by other magical means) Jake could travel from one continent to another only once a day, and holding a regular-sized door open for a full minute would nearly exhaust him. On the other hand, Jake could maintain a regular sized doorway from Underwood to Radsanth for over an hour before tiring. The short hops do not tire him greatly so long as he does not use them repeatedly.
Elemental Fire Control - Jake can create and manipulate approximately as much magical fire as an average sized campfire as quickly as if pulling it from thin air. He must create it directly adjacent to himself and can then "throw" or "shoot" it at opponents at the same speed he could throw ordinary projectiles. These fire attacks are only able to burn through/ignite low tiered woods, leathers, or clothes, but may heat metal quickly.
--Flameblade: Jake can transform his Quill into a sword forged of fire. The hilt of the sword is made of iron, with a leather wrapped handle, and was once the hilt of a longsword which was broken in combat with demons. The fire blade presently has similar defensive properties to Damascus. The fiery sword provides about as much light as a torch, and has superior cutting/offensive powers to those of an ordinary metal.
History
Jake’s mother was an elf. His father was human. Simply enough, the two got married and purchased a country residence in Concordia. Jake was their first and only child. Just a little after Jake was born, his parents heard that the Mindless were becoming active, and decided that to be safe, they should move to a larger, better defended city. They packed what they could, and prepared to be on their way. As horrible luck would have it, a small party of Mindless decided to attack the city they were moving towards just as they gained entrance. The Mindless broke through the Guard at the city’s walls, and fighting reigned inside of the city. Jake was lost from his parents- an infant of just a year old, wrapped in his father’s cloak with the family name embroidered on it. As the city guard repulsed and defeated the Mindless, one of the guards found Jake laying just inside of a back alley. This guard in particular worked for a middle-classed noble’s house. The husband and wife were now middle aged, but in their young days had adopted and taken care of many children. The soldier decided to present the child to his employers. The wife was delighted, and lit upon the idea of another baby instantly. The husband was somewhat less-than-delighted, but wanted to keep his wife happy. They named the boy “Jacob”, but he kept his own last name, the word embroidered on his cloak- Narmolanya.
As he grew up, Jake lived a fairly normal life for a boy growing up in the household of a Lady and Nobleman. He was almost always restricted to the manor they lived in and the grounds. He never really wanted to leave, anyway. The ground were large, and he could practice archery, ride horses, and run and play to his heart’s content. His “mother” wanted to ensure that he had a proper education, and had him learn many things. His adopted father didn’t want the boy to become a “sissy”, so saw to it that the guards taught him to shoot and fight. Often as not, it would be the adopted father himself who taught Jake how to fight.
When Jake reached fourteen and fifteen years of age, things started to go wrong. His “father” always seemed frustrated and angry. Frustrated that Jake was not confident enough with a sword. Frustrated that Jake, often as not, beat him at archery. Frustrated that Jake was always around. Most of his anger seemed to be centered around Jake. Jake’s adopted mother tried to ensure him that it was not his fault. But he thought it was, and so it entered Jake’s mind that he would run away.
Jake always intended to run away, but there were always so many distractions. He nearly forgot about the backpack of useful items and garments he had stowed away in the manor’s stables. Over time, the idea of running away left his mind. Then abruptly, everything changed.
One night, Jake’s mother and father had a terrible argument. They were in the room directly beneath Jake, and the boy could hear everything they said. His father clearly wanted him gone, wanted nothing to do with him. It seemed all his mother could do was deny letting Jake go, and cry.
It was at this time that Jake remembered the pack he had hidden so carefully in the stables, and his horse, With those, he could get far, far away, where he wouldn’t trouble anyone. Such is the dream of every young boy, and snatching his bow and quiver from their pegs on the wall, he headed for the stables.
Jake met his parents in the hall. He is still not old enough to really realize it, but his father was quite drunk. It seemed that the man was going to attack Jake’s mother, and Jake cried out to stop him. The man turned and seeing Jake, in his drunken stupor, lunged for the boy. Before he could get close, Jake had feathered him in the left leg. He had snatched for a blunt headed arrow, but in his panic had found instead an armor-piercing steel-headed one. The arrow nearly went through his father’s leg, and the pain and liquor combined caused the man to faint.
Horrified at what he had done, and at what his mother would say, Jake ran to the stables and departed, taking with him his horse, his bow and arrows, and his pack of necessities.
For the past month Jake has lived in a small fort he built in Concordia, near several small villages. He now spends most of his time hunting, fishing, stealing, and playing pranks on people.
Jake now lives with the newly-formed Brotherhood, formerly the Bandit Brotherhood. After months alone in the forest Concordia, he is glad to "belong" somewhere, and is looking forward to work with his chosen division, the Shadow.
More recently, Jake has given himself the task of hunting down a series of demons, out to disrupt the balance of Althanas. Between this and the upcoming clan war, Jake is very busy. Most likely, the outcome of the clan war will decide the boy’s near future.
Most recently Jake can be found in and around Underwood, training with sword and bow in the Dansdel, and ridding Concordia of demonspawn such as in the epic quest Baby This Night where he plays a leading role as an NPC.
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