Orion Black

[Anonymous]

Heard you needed a city guard.

Name: Orion Black
Age: 24
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 180 lbs
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Hair/Eye Colours: Blond/Dark Brown

Physical Apperance:

Orion's appearance is best described from the ideals which are invoked when one observes closely the shapes and sizes of his body. His even, circular head is covered by locks of dirty blond hair usually swept back to reach just at the nape of his neck. His eyes are reserved but fierce, with a neat set of dark eyebrows set just above them in a slight curve, permanently disdaining the world that has begotten him. A finely formed nose and a thin lipped smile complete the face, which is set above a well-built upper body. His legs are not particularly long but strong and proportionate, made for balance and exhuding the kind of power like that of stone pillars. His arms are slightly longer than fitting his body, though it is a subtle feature of his stature that belies grace sitting above those brutally powerful legs. A balance of extremeties in other words: of power and grace, passion and control, hatred and nonchalance, all present within his appearance, twisted by paradox but heartbreakingly beautiful for the same reason; this sums up Orion's appearnce.

Equipment:

As a fierce and proven member of the Thar Shaddin City Guard, Orion has had ample opportunity to be properly equipped. He owns a set of armor, crudely shaped yet finely crafted, sturdy and practical with a brutal artistry about it. The armor set is a darker shade of grey and covers most of Orion's body except his forearms, the pieces of which have been replaced by a pair of thick leather guards that reach to his elbow, allowing an acceptable amount of protection while giving a small increase in speed and flexibility for his arms. During times of patrol duty he wears a standard uniform of the City Guards, which provides a decent but not an outstanding amount of protection.

He employs different kinds of weapons as needed but always favors the gnomish arquebus, a modified and customized weapon with an outdated origin. Along with the arquebus is the second part of his favorite set of weapons, a long, slightly curved sabre that appraoches 1.1meter in length.

The arquebus is a muzzleloader, which means that Orion must reload from the muzzle in. It is much shorter than the average smoothebore musket, being just about as long as the full length of his arm. It shoots round lead balls, can only be loaded with one round at a time and even with prepared cartidges (pre-packaged essentials to firing the gun, a primitive version of the modern bullet) takes a good five seconds to reload every shot at the shortest (still much faster than conventional muskets). The gnomish technology is inherent in the ignition mechanism, and Orion really has no idea what it does except that it allows for him to simply squeeze the trigger instead of lighting a short candle or going through a number of proceduers normally required to fire such unrefined technology. Another facet of the gnomish craft in the arquebus presents specially designed cartridges which only need be inserted into the gun. A built-in mechanism running along the side of the arquebus allows Orion to quickly push the inserted cartridge into the back of the gun, replacing the ramrod and further decreasing the load time. Following the length of the arquebus is a blade attached cutting-edge up. Though largely ineffective against armor or a real sword it is a handy tool for finishing off the wounded or for last-minute defense. Already quite an inaccurate gun (being marginally accurate only up to 50 meters), the addition of the blade adds to its weight and makes the gun slightly more awkward to handle. All these heavy modifications are quite ahead of its time and while it allows for the gun to fire at an impressive rate of once every five or six seconds, it quite dramatically reduces its performance. Its accurate range is cut almost in half from other guns of its kind.

The sabre is a long, single-edged affair, well designed and heavy, with an ornate guard reminiscent of a rapier. Much like Orion's arms the blade is deceptive in its length, fitted with a slightly longer blade than even that of the longest of sabres while maintaining all the hallmarks of such weapon. Often times Orion had won a swordfight solely on the merit of his deceptive reach.

Besides these Orion carries an offhand weapon, a dagger used primarily for defence.

Powers:

Orion's body seemed to be built for physical combat; strong upper torso set upon a solid foundation of powerfully toned lower body allow for strong, balanced movement. His long arms give him a slight edge in range that often goes unnoticed until it is too late. With legs built for power and arms built for grace Orion has always found himself unparelled in melee combat; he has had experience with many bladed weapons, and has adopted a variety of two-weapon configurations. He favors jumping into the thick of battle with his sabre in one hand and a dagger on the other.

The arquebus is a more recent addition to his arsenal, but Orion has fast grown to appreciate the little piece of machinery. He employs it frequently in battles both small and large and sometimes even carries it in his person off-duty.

His tactical insticts combined with his prowess in combat makes Orion a formidable foe, and his authority as a city guard in Thar adds another edge.

Weakness:

Bold and reckless, Orion is known to act in battle as a man with a deathwish; though many of his tactics may be genius they are at the same time suicidal. He has little regard for the skills of others--to gain Orion's respect often involves having survived him in combat, something not many could boast. His comrades of the city guard often observe that Orion is a man with little regard for life, whether of his enemies or his own.

And though endowed with a knack for battle and training from numerous incidents, Orion is young and he is far from being unparelleled in combat, a fact which while he acknowledges, is largely ignored in his actions. It is perhaps only the hands of fate or fortune that he has survived the encounters in which he faced superior foes--and Orion often tempts the same hand to finish the deed.

Though not quite a weakness Orion's gun uses special cartridges designed by gnomish craftsmen and once he runs out he must make a rather lengthy trip in order to procure more, or suffer through a painfully longer loading process using normal cartridges.

History:

What circumstances breed such a man as Orion Black?

His mother a quiet presence, loving but naive and physically weak, and his father a broken man who had but once tasted power. Having lost that power to disasterous deeds which was out of his control, by the time Orion was born it was a lifetime of spartan discipline and adesperate push for glory which awaited him. His father hoped to regain his family's standing through his son and was relentless in his 'grooming' efforts. Yet the apparent poverty of his family and the half-hearted successes of his own ventures gnawed at Orion's father and temper was a lightly kept thing in Orion's household. It would not be fair to say his father did not love him, for surely he had--however a man is only a man and already broken the father could not but bestow on Orion a broken sort of love.

But Orion resented his father's lessons in nobility, his constant push and 'advise' on moving up to a greater station in life. Certainly he had the ability--the physical prowess and the mental sharpness required by the nobility to constantly turn and grow his stature; yet to push is to face resistance. Orion resented his father; he had stamped out all signs of weakness from an early age, yet his father was a constant failure. No business of his flourished, no idea had substance. Once of a certain age Orion spurned his father's teachings wholeheartedly, instead getting in fights, which in the beginning were mostly fisticuffs.

The basics of swordfighting was taught to Orion from early childhood, paid to by his father who often said it was an art fitting nobility. Orion had found that he had real talent in the field and more importantly he had found enjoyment in it as well. In his native town he fought often, calling out many a passing mercenary, soldier or a brash youth to a duel. He was both feared and admired by the youth of his town. However one night he ended up killing a quite helpless man in a drunken argument, and fled the town in fear of retaliation. He wandered and sometimes worked as a hired hand for a local merchant's caravan, one of which led him to Thar, approximately two years ago. Orion was immediately drawn to the City Guards and within the highly disciplined and militaristic organization he further studied the many facets of war and battle; here he truly began to explore the depths of his potential as a fighter. Present day Orion leads a restless existance, constantly in search of conflict, wandering the city without purpose and without aim.