Post/Author/DateTime	Post
tompulsar 02-27-06, 08:26 AM	Hi all I was just looking for a little feedback on this character background I was making for a FR game I was soon to be joining (and any good ideas i could include to make the character a little cooler). Also I was interested in seeing what alignment you would asign to this guy. Casteele d’Tuthual, Son of Amn “The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials." ~ Chinese Proverb Born to the Merchant Lord Matteo d’Tuthual in 1347 D.R. (The Year of the Bright Blade) young Casteel has spent his entire life in the shadows of his other male kin. His father was one of the first Merchant Lords to invest in the voyages to the continent of Maztica and as a result nearly doubled his family fortune and holdings. He had high hopes for his sons and in all but the case of Casteele they did not disappoint. Casteele’s older brother Anton became a powerful merchant in his own right and soon gained a reputation for savvy business decisions that outstripped even his father’s making him his father’s favorite son and the forgone conclusion in the line of becoming family patriarch. Casteele’s younger brother Hector was named commodore in his father’s fleet of gold and trade ships that sailed around the known the world and his family’s watchful eyes in the terms of future business prospects. Casteele however had no such ambitions and his father found him to be somewhat of a disappointment. He grew up a strong and well rounded son of affluence but when he saw the great disparity between the heavily taxed common folk of Amn and the wealthy elite who prized gold above all else he grew very dissatisfied with his lot in life (comfortable as it was). He decided that the wealthy of Amn should feel more obligated to less wealthy in a more meaningful way instead of making a grand show of donating their table scraps to charitable causes. He thought that the nobles of a land should keep the future of every citizen in mind when making decisions and not just their own vaults. When he tried to express these thought to his father and older brother they told him “It’s a very lovely dream son, but this world spins on wheels of gold. He who has the gold decided which way it spins.” They laughed in his face. He left his family for a year after that disgusted with their greedy attitude. He began to journey the countryside, helping other when he could and along the way found that his great physical strength did more than make his clothes fit well, it also had a very practical application, fighting. Not a violent young man by nature it came as a complete surprise to him when he was able to beat back a small pack of kobalds with only a few deft blows. It came as somewhat of a surprise to his father when Casteele returned to his family home (the Grand Villa of Takanderin) and began training in earnest in the art of combat. When he later asked to lead his father’s militia his father was delighted and quickly agreed. Casteele knew decided that he would help the common folk in the best way he could, by protecting them and was more than willing to let his father’s notions that he was just watching out for the family interests go unchallenged until it had to. It was a hard road gaining the respect of the militiamen after he had been put in place of a very popular captain but after he successfully led them to victory fending off the frequently increasing goblin raids he finally won their trust. It was during this time that he grew to love the thrill of honorable combat and the camaraderie of his fellow warriors. As a reward for his valor in defending the family holdings, his father granted him use of their family’s heirloom blade, Golden Fang. Casteele was honored by receiving the magical blade and swore to use it to defend all those who would threaten the security of Amn, his oath was soon tested. When the ogre mages, Sythillis and Cyrvisnea made their bid to conquer southern Amn, Casteele’s family urged him to stay behind and let the militia go and fight the invading monster horde under a different captain, but his oath and his sense of obligation to the poor and weak bade him forward regardless of the danger. Fully expecting to die to protect his homeland he and his loyal troop of militiamen (by now his good friends as well) marched to the warfront. The campaign lasted only a short time for the ogre mages has planned their attacks with expert precision. He and his men fought in many battles but the outcome was always the same. They would loose both the battle and the lives of their comrades. Still they fought on, his men spurred on by his iron determination to drive back the enemy but alas this history does not have a happy ending or even an ending at all. The last battle Casteel d’Tuthual led his men in was a massacre. The enemy had a huge group of surprise reinforcements teleported in and laid waste to the Amnian soldiers with sword and spell. Casteel saw all his friends die one by one and knew his end at last had come. He tried to fight his way to the wizards responsible for the destruction but was waylaid by a fearsome bugbear warrior who engaged the young noble. Pushing himself to the edge of his limits he struck down the bugbear with a vicious blow that pierced the creature’s heart and as Casteele began to draw the almost hilt-deep blade from the bugbear he prayed for more time, just a few more precious seconds to stop the slaughter. He prayed for allies to come and help him in his cause. He prayed for Amn and her people. All he needed was more time. He saw a blinding flash of light and… ...Now two years later in an unnamed wooded battlefield that has long been picked clean there is a statue of a young noble savagely wounded from multiple sword and axe cuts, with a look of grim determination on his face, and a beautiful sword buried hilt deep in a statue of a dying bugbear. Vines grow around their legs and animals never go near the two. They are frozen in time in what should have been the last moments of their lives. Personality and Characteristics: Of average height for an Amnian but with a very powerful build, this young man exudes the confidence of the noble born. He has short dark hair, piercing ice-blue eyes, and a regal angular profile. He wears either a noble’s finery and cloak or a suit of battle-worn but well maintained plate armor. Always on his side is a beautiful dwarf-made longsword. Casteele is very much like your typical Amnian is most respects but a few key differences set him appart: He is suspicious of users of arcane magic but this is mostly because he was taught from birth to be that way. All Amnian children are raised on the spine chilling tales of dark sorcerers and evil wizards. He has a great appreciation for the finer things and is very good at appraising the monetary worth of an item. He rarely notices this fact and since he comes from a family of merchants it seems to be almost a reflex for him to size up something based on its value in gold pieces. That said, he has little interest in vastly increasing his own fortunes without purpose, he considers wealth a tool not a goal. He has a tendency to brood over problems when he thinks no-one is looking and feels burdened with a self inflicted drive to try to solve the world’s ailments. When around other people he usually has a calm and charming demeanor. When angered he turns cold and frightening. Only rarely does he let true passion take hold of him and then only until he can regain control. Casteele holds himself to a high (some would say unreasonable) ethical standard, he prefers to be honest in all his dealings and usually tries to find the peaceful resolution to a problem or at least the one with minimal bloodshed. His ethics are pretty much summed up as follows: • Be honest in your dealings whenever possible for lies breed distrust. Without trust, friendship and leadership are meaningless. • Those who have the ability to aid the poor and weak are obliged to do so. • Warfare should be the last option if one can help it. Fight to the end if you decide that path is the only option, but never stop looking for other options • It is a leader’s responsibility to safeguard not only the people they rule while alive but the future of those people and his land. anyhoo thanks in advance :)
Fithero 03-01-06, 08:38 AM	That is a damn good background... this guy seems like he would make a great paladin, is there any reason he isnt one? (apart from the fact that you didnt want to play one) I like the fact that he is the young noble who turns his back on his family ways, but despite that, he ends up working with them anyway. I gotta ask, how does this character come back into play? Who reversed the flesh to stone spell on him? Truly an awsome character, i wouldnt mind seeing some stats for him. Later