Name Ruuval Kriest of Olencia

Sex Male

Age 33

Occupation(s) Thief, scammer, and guild master of the Thieves Guild in Olencia (which is actually more of a gang of twenty or so thieves with ages ranging from 8 to early twenties); formerly a seafarer

Status and Rank Peasant


Roots and Origin

Ruuval’s family was of the middle-class, his father having been a young and wealthy merchant from Calendae and his mother an innkeeper’s daughter in Olencia. Although his father Talith had a great uncle who was of the nobility, he can hardly be considered a noble. The part of him that is is so small it could be ignored. His parents met when his father docked his trading ship in Olencia’s port, did business with his mother Mara’s father and stayed for the night. Talith found the eighteen-year-old’s hospitality pleasing. You could say he liked the girl the moment he saw her. Mara’s father, who was then looking for a wealthy son-in-law, immediately noticed this and offered his daughter as a wife. To cut a long story short, they married in only a short time of two months. Although quiet and mild-mannered Mara was hesitant at first and only married to obey her father, she grew to love her gentle husband.

Their first son, Thaniel, was born a year later. Ruuval’s older brother looked more like their father, having fine, silvery hair. Thaniel was four when his mother died. It was the same day she gave birth to Ruuval. Mara had had an illness that caused complications during childbirth. Devastated, Talith focused all his attention on his sons and never let them out of his sight. He brought the boys along on his trips to Calendae and other ports, thus Ruuval’s familiarity with the seas. Thaniel, having grown up with Ruuval, was what any little brother could dream of. They did everything together, and Ruuval was always kept under his big brother’s watch. With him climbing crow’s-nests and ropes, Thaniel had good reason to watch his brother like a hawk.



Appearance

Ruuval, in a word, looks ratty. He is very thin, but this is hidden by the coat he wears. He rarely washes his face or hair—even more rarely than most people. Thus, his curly, black hair has gotten wiry and tangled, looking like many thin braids. There is little to see of his sun-darkened face with all the hair—including his beard. What there is to see isn’t attractive, but not ugly either. With a little cleaning, Ruuval can actually look pleasing. Big, black eyes stand out on his face and give him the aura of a child’s curiosity.

Clothing. A white shirt, worn, black coat and breeches, and knee-high boots that have never touched a shoe brush since they were stolen from a nobleman are what this thief wears. Aside from these are adornments such as rings (one on every finger), earrings, and beads braided into his hair and beard. He also wears a red bandana around his head. Sometimes he wears a wide-rimmed hat.


Strengths

Optimism. He can be thrown into a dingy prison and sentenced to death in an hour and he would still believe there’s hope of escape. Throw all the world’s misfortunes at him and he’d laugh and find a way out.

Being an escape artist. Ruuval has mastered the art of running away, escaping, and disappearing. He’s a thief, remember?

Handling small blades. May it be daggers or kitchen knives, Ruuval can throw or stab with them. He also hides countless blades on his person (sleeves, boots, coat, anywhere you can imagine) and can bring them out swiftly.

Excellent sense of direction and a skill in navigation. Ruuval learned to navigate from his father’s crewmen when he was little. He can direct himself to almost anywhere even with just stars to guide him, much more with a compass and a map. It goes without saying that he can command an entire crew to man a ship.

Charisma. For some reason, the kids he brought up through stealing are loyal to him. Even some of the older ones whom he helped adapt to peasant life are almost as loyal.

Story-telling. His stories are convincing and interesting, most of the time.


Weaknesses

Swordsmanship. He can’t even draw a sword without cutting someone—and without meaning it, either.

Weak body. By simply looking at him, you can say he’d go down easily.

Recklessness. This will be explained in his personality.

Lack of control. He sees a fat purse; he has the impulse to steal it. It’s almost like an illness.

The authorities: guards and nobles. Although the latter are more powerful, guards strike fear into him the moment he sees them.

Too much concern for his “kids”. He feels he is responsible for caring for every single one of the runts he taught, just as his big brother cared for him.

Magic He knows there is such a thing, but he hasn’t even seen it performed, much less performed it himself.


Personality

Ruuval loves his freedom. He does not like settling down—even the idea of a wife and children escapes him—and will do what he wants. He would rather die than be looked up in one place—of course, given that he had exhausted all means of escape. Accompanying this is a very strong curiosity. The question of what lies beyond the ocean has been the driving force of his ventures.

To gain and maintain his freedom, however, Ruuval needs to break laws. While he is not wicked or murderous, he has little moral inhibitions to stop him from stealing, lying though his teeth, or deceiving people. Ruuval will do what is needed to survive.

Although he looks and acts like a ragtag thief, Ruuval is generally nice. He is easy to talk to since he’s a good listener. He is very compassionate toward his comrades and a weakness of his seems to be little children. He also likes telling stories of his so-called adventures, although most of them are made up. Ruuval is not tired of playing games and thus he’s a fun guy to have around if he’s not stealing your purse.

Finally, Ruuval acts impulsively. He makes quick decisions that may or not may get him out of trouble, but he really doesn’t care much. He’d just have to think of something else. When time comes to think thoroughly, though, Ruuval will sit down for a while, pondering.


History

Even as a child, Ruuval was a handful. As soon as he could talk, he plagued his father and everyone else with questions about anything and everything—even those that made his father cough in surprise. He also loved to get himself hurt—or at least it seemed so to his brother Thaniel. Ruuval liked to climb into nooks and up ropes or ladders. He even got to the crow’s-nest of his father’s ship when he was eight. When he was little, he got hurt a lot because of this, so Thaniel took the task of bandaging him.

Although their family traveled a lot, Ruuval wanted to see more. He wanted to travel, not only bring products from one port to another. That never-ending curiosity made him choose to become an explorer. His father did not approve, but Ruuval continued to dream. Meanwhile, Thaniel had grown, and at the age of fifteen, he sought admittance to the King’s Guards. Eleven-year-old Ruuval sulked when his brother decided to leave; he loved Thaniel dearly and did not want to be separated from his brother. However, Thaniel was decided. As much as he loved his brother, he wanted to protect more people. Ruuval could not understand that, but stayed with his father and continued to live half his life in the sea.

When he was fourteen, Ruuval started to formally work for his father. Although he had helped when he was little, it was only then that he was given a salary. His father thought it would get the boy started on working and said his pay was for Ruuval to spend on whatever he wanted. The boy knew too well what that was. After six years of carrying crates, helping drop anchors, pulling ropes and climbing the crow’s-nest, he had earned enough for a small ship. Ruuval searched for a crew as soon as he could. After spending almost his entire life on a ship, he was ready to command his own crew. His father, unknown to him, stowed away on that ship when Ruuval set off with his small crew towards the ocean. He had wanted to keep an eye on his son. Talith did not want his son to go on a dangerous journey and believed he could persuade the young man to head back even when he had failed to do so ashore. Ruuval, however, refused to turn back. The father and son’s argument continued until a storm came.

Ruuval’s entire crew was lost to the ocean that night. That included his father. The young man cried out to the waves while he clung to a board of wood for his life, but Talith never surfaced. A fishing vessel’s crew found and rescued him the next day, when the storm had ceased, and dropped him off at Olencia. Although he could always go to his brother for help, he was too ashamed to do so. After all, he had caused their father’s death and had used all his money on a boat that was in the bottom of the ocean. About inheritance…Talith hadn’t left a will. Penniless and homeless, Ruuval became the lowest of peasants in Olencia. Out of desperation, he turned to stealing. It was against what he was taught, but little by little, he got used to it. A few years later, he was one of the sneakiest thieves in Olencia. He never let himself get caught for fear of running into Thaniel again.

Through the years of being a thief, Ruuval made many friends. He had a kind heart, in truth, so he ‘helped’ street rats (which included children and people of the middle-class or nobility who had fallen out of grace) learn his trade. It seemed like they reminded him of his younger self. “Anything to survive,” he told them, “just as I had to survive.” He even took in the smaller ones and cared for them. Soon enough, he had a handful of followers who called themselves the “Thieves Guild” and him their guild master. He discouraged them from doing so, but they continued anyway. Ruuval eventually got tired of telling them off.

Although he is far from the explorer he had dreamed of being, Ruuval hasn’t given up on his childhood dream. Perhaps when he’s stolen enough he can get a bigger ship. Or maybe he can steal a ship himself and get a Slayer in his crew to protect from storms…

It all looks good to me. I would approve it, except for this damn computer won't let me see your avatar. And you need a link to this in your sig. Otherwise, it's all good.

The link's in my sig now. My avatar's a digital painting (I think) of Jack Sparrow. :look

*sigh* Pirate mania....... :/

Approved.