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Les Misérables
06-01-08, 11:23 PM
Name: Phyr Sa'resh (Feer Sah-resh)
Age: 99 (considerably older, though he will not admit it)
Race: Drow
Hair Color: Grey
Eye Color: Blue
Skin Color: Azure
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 153 lbs.
Occupation: Informant/Beggar

Personality

Once an energetic youth with a lightning wit and silver tongue, Phyr's mind is as sharp as ever but his body lags behind. Althanas has taken its toll on the drow, and it shows through the omnipresent bitterness in his eyes and voice. Despite this, he is stubbornly, often aggravatingly polite at all times. This is mostly due to his sarcastic, cynical outlook on life, but also benefits him. For on Corone Phyr has found the best way to get what he wants is to find those who have power and follow them. Although he is still remarkably intelligent, Phyr is an irredeemable alcoholic, and years upon years of too much liquor may have skewed his grasp of reality. At times the lines between feigned fanatic devotion and true belief in the icons he follows seem to blur.

Appearance

Two things set Phyr aside from the main population in Corone: the dark azure color of his skin, and the fact that his right arm ends at the biceps. His shirts and jackets are normally knotted at the elbow or else missing the arm completely. He wears various rags in drab colors, his garments and skin smeared with dirt often as not. Tangled grey hair hangs to the bottom of his ears, framing a gaunt face. True to the token of his race Phyr is naturally slim, but sickeningly so due to malnourishment. Perhaps the only noteworthy thing about his appearance is his shocking blue eyes, which seem to have seen as much as the sky itself.

Phyr also has a tattoo on each side of his neck, angry red letters that say “prisoner” in Aleraran and Salvic. These are the only physical reminders he bears to his long years in jail cells in the respective countries. Although his garb is random and ratty at best, he nearly always makes sure to keep the tattoos covered up.

Skills

Light blades: Once an expert with lightweight swords and daggers, the loss of his dominant arm crippled Phyr's fencing skills. Although his grizzled head still houses a great knowledge of the art, his overall ability is average.

Aleraran Firearms: Phyr was an expert marksman with short and long guns during his time as a soldier. The loss of his right arm and the long years have reduced his skill level considerably.

Practical Hand-to-hand combat: Although many Alerarans forsake the art for their technology and magic, Phyr received advanced unarmed combat training at a young age. In spite of the absence of his dominant arm he employs enough dirty tricks and unexpected attacks to make him dangerous at close range.

Military Experience: Having started out as a grunt and worked his way up to junior officer in the Aleraran Military, Phyr has all the basic skills one would expect from a trained soldier. Things such as survival, information assimilation, and camouflage are second nature to him.

Animal affinity: Having undergone the rudimentary Dragoon training in Ettermire, Phyr is capable of working with most mounts so long as they are properly trained to accept a rider.

Engineer: As a young adult Phyr apprenticed under a clockwork mechanic, and later studied the designs and concepts for Alerar's most advanced technology such as steam engines and airships. Though he could certainly not build these great devices, the training gives him unique insight to the way things work.

Gunsmith: Having started as a weapon smith during his military career, Phyr knows how to design, make, and maintain basic firearms such flintlocks, muskets, blunderbuss, and other single-shot weapons. However, due to the fact that he's missing an arm, Phyr would need at the very least a highly competent assistant to make anything that would work.

Master Tactician: A champion of strategy games since childhood, Phyr's rise through the ranks of Alerar's military was nigh unprecedented, and the powers that be had him earmarked as a potential general until his untimely arrest. Although he was never promoted past junior officer the drow has years of experience planning and executing military and covert operations.

Silver Tongue: Phyr's vast experience dealing with beings of every kind and the fact that much of his life has depended on having the right allies has made him a very persuasive individual.

Languages spoken: Aleraran and Common, as well as some Salvic, Tradespeak, and Orcish picked up in various prisons.

Abilities

Superior Vision: Phyr can see approximately twice as well as an average human, even in the dark.

Elven ears: Phyr's hearing is twice as accurate as the average human.

High Pressure Tinkerer: Owing to his experience with Aleraran technology, Phyr is able to build, disable or repair mechanical devices with surprising consistency and alacrity. The fact that he only has one arm limits this ability to small, basic devices unless he has considerable assistance.

Equipment

Heavy iron bayonet
Hardwood walking stick (black eklan) which becomes a short spear w/bayonet
Canvas cap: a floppy, torn brimmed canvas cap
Iron hip flask

History

Phyr grew up a child of Alerar's working class, studying hard in his classes and gazing at the technological wonders behind shuttered windows as he walked home each day. Being one of the few drow who excelled both physically and mentally, little could stand in the way of his dreams of becoming the greatest inventor on Althanas. As a young adult he apprenticed himself to a master mechanic, and learned to build and create all manner of things. When his interest eventually turned to weapon building, the papers and theories he published brought Military officials to his doorstep. Recently married and expecting children, and still seeking greatness, Phyr enlisted. His progression as a gunsmith and soldier paralleled that of some of Alerar's greatest Generals, and as a junior officer Phyr received the specialised training and dangerous covert missions reserved for the most promising among his peers.

Unfortunately, another drow of similar potential and skills found a way to fast-track his career by stealing an invaluable shipment of Adamantine and framing Phyr. This not only cemented the wicked drow's fortune but moved him up the military hierarchy. Unable to prove his innocence or produce the stolen ore, Phyr was arrested on charges of Treason. But the death penalty never quite found him. Instead he was imprisoned, first in the dungeons of the Royal Palace but later transferred to prison across Alerar and the Northlands. At first the torturous treatment seemed like a punishment worse than death, and Phyr clung to his memories of love and glory like a drowning man to driftwood. He soon realised that the intent of his treatment was not to kill him but to break him, to force him into subservience so his talents could still benefit the Crown. This catalysed the adoption of his impetuously polite attitude and the abandonment of his former allegiances. Although he still harbours fantasies about exposing the true traitor, re-uniting with his family and redeeming himself in the eyes of Alerar, they are compartmentalised deep within the cold, logical enigma that is Phyr Sa'resh.

Witchblade
06-01-08, 11:32 PM
Opened for re-approval under 3.0

Duffy
01-21-11, 06:26 PM
Greetings,

Thank you for posting your profile, and welcome to Althanas! I'd just like to ask for further clarification on one or two small matters before you're good to go:


Military Experience: Having started out as a grunt and worked his way up to junior officer in the Aleraran Military, Phyr has all the basic skills one would expect from a trained soldier. Things such as survival, information assimilation, and camouflage are second nature to him.

Is this geographically based, or can he survive in all climates and find camouflage easily in all types of terrain? I ask only because traversing the length and breadth of Althanas as if he'd the time to explore every nook and cranny might detract from judgements in the future, it's best to state explicitly than find yourself caught short later on so to speak.


Gunsmith: Having started as a weapon smith during his military career, Phyr knows how to design, make, and maintain basic firearms such flintlocks, muskets, blunderbuss, and other single-shot weapons. However, due to the fact that he's missing an arm, Phyr would need at the very least a highly competent assistant to make anything that would work.

Standard 'be careful' clause here. Firearms and gunpowder, despite your connection to Alerar are potent and inexplicably powerful weapons to obtain, even through strenuous effort and hard work.


Traits: Phyr's missing arm means he is overall weaker than the average Althanian. Although long years in prison have dulled his senses of taste, smell, and touch, the drow still hears 2x as much as most Coronians, and sees 2x better in the dark.

If you wish to progress either of these traits you may wish to separate them into two sub-abilities, such as 'reflexes' or 'infra vision'.


Silver Tongue: Phyr's vast experience dealing with beings of every kind and the fact that much of his life has depended on having the right allies has made him 2x as persuasive as the average Althanian whether he is being honest or not.

Please stipulate that such an ability is not impervious to resistance, intelligence or other divining abilities that could see through his lies, be it magical or logical in nature.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me in person or reply here; I look forward to seeing you at work, Phyr seems an amiable enough sort of fellow :).

Duffy

Les Misérables
01-26-11, 10:36 AM
"Military Experience" doesn't refer to an ability to find unique camouflage or food in any environment, it means that he generally knows how to hide, for example by picking the spot with the deepest shadows. Likewise with survival he is familiar with his needs food and water wise and is unlikely to let himself pass out from dehydration.

I realised silver tongue shouldn't be classified as an ability so I changed the description and moved it to skills, and replaced it in abilities by separating his racial traits as you suggested.

Duffy
01-26-11, 10:42 AM
With those changes, and the clarification (my apologies for mis-interpreting) you are good to go, and are thus approved!

Welcome (back :p) to Althanas.