Basic information[]
Character Name: Rathiarte Taliar (Commonly called 'Rath')
Character Age: 24
Character Gender: Male
Class/Subclass: Melee/Spears
Archetype: Miner
Race: Arborius
Character Personality: Rath is a friendly man. He talks to anyone and everyone, and doesn't judge until he's known someone for a while. He gives everyone an equal chance, and is quite willing to team up with anyone, provided they can help him in some way. He alwayspays his debts and is generally a great person to have around. Until he starts mining.
When he begins mining, Rath becomes as cold and silent as the stone he digs. He care very little about anyone else who travels with him, and only focuses on keeping himself alive. Anyone who hires him should be prepared to bring plenty of platforms,a grappling hook, or some other form of transportation, as Rath won't leave any more platforms than is necessary, and if he can, he'll bypass them altogether.
Despite this, he is not truly unaware. Those finding themselves being attacked by creatures, or getting lost will be helped by Rath as quickly as possible. He won't leave his employers to die, even if keeping up with him is a chore.
Background Information:[]
Rath is considered an oddity among his kind. He loves traveling, and loves digging. The others of his race aren't quite comfortable around him, but he makes liking him easy, so they accept him, if rather awkwardly. He doesn't notice, and is as friendly to one as he is to the next. This makes the others feel more comfortable around him, not that it'd matter to him. To any casual observer, Rath is the picture of hospitality, and friendship.
Beneath this joyous exterior, however, is a scarred and battered soul, surviving to manhood by sheer dumb luck. Rath didn't have an easy childhood. His father was killed during an outing, and although his mother pleaded for help, the other Arborians didn't deign her request worthy to follow.
Rath's mother, ever a determined woman, took her eight-year old son by the hand, renouncing Sylvalia as her home, and choosing to strike out across the wilderness. Ill-prepared, it wasn't long before she was attacked by the same vicious creatures that had struck down her husband. With her last ounce of strength, she threw herself on top of young Rath, shielding him from harm.
Through some twist of fate, Rath was pushed down into a small cave system, long deserted by all sentient creatures. Scared, helpless and homeless, Rath cowered in the cave for three days, until hunger finally drove him to act. A small water spring lay in the cave, so he was never thirsty, but Rath needed to eat if he was going to survive. Because a the only current source of food lay on the surface, Rath constructed several weapons to help him fend off the creatures above. A crude sword and spear, both his only chance of survival.
As he climbed to the surface, Rath realized he was completely lost, with no idea on how to get back to his home. He had grown up surviving on tough conditions, but he had never been in such trouble before. His sword was so fragile it snapped in the wind, and so he was forced to rely on his spear to protect him while he gathered enough edible mushrooms from the nearby area to sate his hunger.
The spear held up far better than expected, and Rath slowly became more confident with moving above-ground. He eventually found a battered and decaying copper pickaxe, which he used to expand his underground base to a more comfortable size. Shortly after, the pickaxe disintegrated.
Eventually, after about three years Rath decided to strike out for his home city. He had scrounged a real spear from a decaying corpse he had found while digging, and had a good supply of food and water. He was ready, and so he set out to find his home. By some stroke of luck, he started searching in the right direction, and stumbled upon Sylvalia during his first week. It took a while to convince the guards that he was truly the same scared little boy who had left the village some three years previously. It didn't help that he still had the vocabulary and grammar of an eight-year old, either.
Eventually, the guards let him through, and he reunited with some of his long-lost friends. He was officially re-inducted into the city, and began to reconstruct his shattered life. Gradually, his grammar and vocabulary improved, along with the rest of his knowledge. His life began to fall into a routine.
And yet, he was never able to shake his fascination of mining. During those three years, he had become a very skilled digger, and had learned to love it, as well. He eventually gave in to his wishes, bought a very powerful pickaxe from a traveling merchant, and began to dig once more. The others saw his talents and saw a man that could help them all. He could obtain ore for he craftsmen. He could find treasures, help make Sylvalia richer than ever. And for a while, he has.
Now though, he's decided that helping his city is only one of life's many opportunities. He's gearing up to set out across the land, and offer his services to any who can pay. A Mercenary Miner. Rath.