Alignment: Chaotic Neutral (Leaning into Chaotic Good)
Appearance:
Athletic in appearance, Jorian possesses a lean muscled frame and a dusky skin tone. His long black hair is either worn hanging loose to his shoulders or pulled into a high ponytail. Dark, striking features are outlined with a trimmed goatee and moustache. His eyes dark and piercing, there is an initial air of intensity about the man. A former desert ranger, Jorian’s garb borrows from his home region of Valenar as well as his current home in the Lhazaar Principalities. Open shirts with loose short sleeves, harem pants adorned with a blood red sash and a pair of hoop earrings are standard, as well as a tendency to dress in darker colors (typically black). Jorian travels light, but his arsenal is apparent. A sleek, well maintained Elven curve blade with a hilt and scabbard of black and gold rests at his left hip. Secured to his back is a small shield, as well as a long bow and quiver. Small throwing knives can be seen in a bandoleer secured to his black, studded leather armor.
Personality:
Always calm and collected, Jorian moves with a controlled confidence. His dark calculating eyes accentuate the air of mystery that surrounds him, and his intense gaze can be mistaken for intimidation at first glance. A hint of arrogance is often pacified with a generally polite and straight-forward demeanor. While not overt, Jorian’s charm can be potent when he chooses to evoke it. His voice deep, the tone and delivery of Jorian’s speech can be described as well enunciated, with a slightly muted emotional range. With a distate for authority, Jorian tends to feel more at home amongst the rabble of society. A man of solitude, Jorian keeps his circle of acquaintances small, and often wondering when he will emerge again.
Background:
How do you view The Valenar Elves? :
A wandering sellsword, Jorian’s vast exposure to the world allows him the luxury of an open mind when it comes to his views on other cultures and races. Whether metal, flesh, scale or fur, Jorian judges one’s character not by race, but by their skill with a blade and their stomach for good drink. Open as his mind may be, it will snap shut, swiftly and violently like a steel beast trap at the very mentioning of the Valaes Tairn. To Jorian, the term oppression is synonymous with Valenar. It was the Valaes Tairn who drove his family to ruin and left their sun-bleached bones to serve as a stark warning to those who could not fill the demanding quotas of the ruling class. It was the Valaes Tairn who left him to raise his sister alone, until she too was taken from him and sold to a merchant beyond The Dragon Reach. While his calm demeanor and discipline are enough to keep his blade from their throats at first sight, Jorian holds zero trust for the elves of Valenar, and begs for a reason to severe the heads and limbs of his former oppressors. Despite his disgust, Jorian’s garb and combat style are reminiscent of the Valaes Tairn . Jorian’s skill in the saddle and with a scimitar are signs that underneath his hatred lies an unspoken respect for their prowess in battle.
Did anything happen between your family (or yourself) and the elves?:
Farmers by trade, Jorian’s family held a strong reputation for their superior crop production. A blessing by most standards, their production only meant more was expected. During an unusually scarce season, Elven tithe collectors were displeased, despite Farik’s farms still producing more than most in their region. A child at the time, Jorian recalls his father’s pride and rebellious spirit, both attributes he himself had inherited. Jorian also recalls the brutality of the Elves as they cut his father down in front of him for possessing that pride and spirit. With little time to mourn, a young Jorian stepped up to head his household, while the embers of hate remained dormant within him.
Now fifteen years old, the Farik’s farms had maintained their reputation thanks to Jorian’s determination. Despite his youth, Jorian had learned and applied everything his father had taught him but soon, another scarce season would catch Valenar’s attention. Elven tithe collectors harassed Jorian and his family, but like his father before him, Jorian stood his ground. Scoffing at the disrespect emanating from such a young boy, an Elven rider called Jorian’s mother forward where she was ordered stripped down and flogged before him. Tears welled up in young Jorian’s eyes as his mother’s screams stoked the embers of that hatred planted years before when his father was slain. In a burst of rage, Jorian lunged forward, tackling one of the Elven harassers to the ground. Tensions mounted and soon farm hands rose up and a small, one-sided battle was waged. During the melee, Jorian located and grabbed his younger sister, Cintra by the hand. Searching for their mother, the two siblings finally found her lifeless form. Their farms burned around them, as friends, cousins, aunts and uncles were cut down by Valenar brutality. No match for the enemy’s blinding speed and furiously, Jorian led his sister to the stables where they secured a steed and rode off into the relative safety of The Blade Desert.
Forged into a warrior by The Sand Striders, a group of outcast desert rangers who rescued him and his sister from the perils of The Blade, Jorian would spend the next chapter of his life learning the art survival. Honing his skills with blade, bow and bridle, Jorian found a new purpose in quenching his thirst for vengeance. Jorian and Cintra, alongside the Sand Striders, waged a personal war on the Valaes Tairn, raiding convoys and patrols under the blackness of the desert night.
What did you do in Valenar that led to your departure to Lhazaar?:
Despite a successful career with the Sand Striders, a routine caravan raid gone awry was all it took for Jorian to realize the gods had not yet grown tired of tormenting him or his sister. Regaining consciousness, Jorian rose to his feet, surrounded by the corpses of his fellow Sand Striders as well as sabre-eared enemy dead. His hair caked in blood and sand, Jorian searched for Cintra to no avail. A lone surviving Sand Strider called for Jorian. With his last breath, the desert ranger muttered the word “Norinath”.
A small city in Eastern Valenar with a predominantly human population, Norinath was as good a place then any for Jorian to nurse his wounds and search for the whereabouts of his sister. Months had passed with Jorian earning his keep as a mercenary and scout, taking jobs in between Valenar and the jungles of Q’Barra. In a surprising turn of events, Jorian’s investigation revealed a woman matching Cintra’s description had been sold to a pirate lord beyond the Dragonreach.
A nation with freedom at its core sounds quite attractive to a man like yourself, so what did you do to make a name for yourself in the Lhazaar Principalities? What Prince are you under, and what rank are you?:
Jorian’s career as a sell sword boomed as his reputation spread across the Lhazaar Principalities. In his early twenties now, Jorian earned coin and renown amongst the various merchants and pirate lords, even catching the attention of a few of Lhazaar’s princes. Skilled in tracking and infiltration, the sell sword earned the nickname “The Jackal”. Women, riches and a rising reputation began to cloud Jorian’s primary goal of finding his sister. Now the captain of his own ship, The Severed Fang, Jorian pledged his services to Prince Sabella Vorne. Putting his skills to use Infiltrating enemy strongholds as well as Sabella’s bed, The Jackal had finally found his place.
In an ironic turn of events that only Olladra could orchestrate, Jorian was sent by Sabella to infiltrate the estate of an up-and-coming pirate lord by the name of Red Sin, to steal a jewel of magical origin. The job was quick, with only a few guards dispatched in the process. Reaching his destination on the top story of Red Sin’s villa, Jorian secured his prize and moved to exit through a window when he came face to face with Red Sin herself…
Jorian and Cintra “Red Cin” locked eyes in disbelief. Both now in their mid-twenties, Jorian moved to embrace his sister, but was only met with a dagger to his abdomen. With a few choice words for one another, the Farik siblings would part ways, and a new rivalry would form between the two. Jorian returned to Sabella, nursing the metaphoric knife to his back and the literal knife wound to his stomach, but he did not return empty handed.
Aberrant Dragonmark:
Location: Top of left hand
Flaw: You have horrific nightmares after you use your mark.
