Thar Shaddin

Player Name: Maggie
Name: Skellig Dubh
Age: 17
Race: Human
Height: Five foot eleven
Weight: 170 pounds (I apologise if this seems inaccurate, my knowledge of weights and such is based entirely off BMI calculators.)
Physical Description:
The most prominent feature that Skellig has would be a broad grin that is persistently evident upon his face. However, there are times when this happy expression is replaced by one of intense concentration, during which his brows will furrow, his lips will purse, and he will resemble a four year old child attempting to understand the innate workings of the universe. Aside from this, he can often be seen with a look of blank bewilderment, a state which is not difficult to reach, given his rather low level of intelligence.

Regardless as to what his facial expression is, his hair undoubtedly remains in the same toussled mess as it always is. Sandy blonde and unkempt locks hang to just above his shoulders, and if you manage to catch him without dirt of some kind rubbed in, you have found him on a very good day. If you are having trouble visualising this, simply imagine either being pulled backwards through a rose bush, or permanent bed-hair.

Skellig's mischevious grin is completed by a set of inquisitive eyes, boyish good looks, and square jaw. Aforementioned eyes have chocolate brown depths ever-searching for a new source of fun. For, if there is one thing the young blonde is keen for, it is a good game. Given his childish nature, games of any kind are something that cause great delight. It is not unusual to see him explaining the more complex workings of a game of tag to a troop of children, or chasing butterflies to see how many he can catch.

Skellig's build does not lend itself very well to elegance. He isn't overly well-built, but nor is he slender, either. With a lean, well-toned figure, garnered from a life of climbing (and falling out of) trees, travelling, and running from trouble, you would think that Skell would have some sense of proportions. Unfortunately, this isn't the case, and it is a wonder he gets himself dressed in the morning. Skellig's skin tone is a light tan, gained from outdoor activities as opposed to blood.

In terms of clothing, Skellig dresses simply; a light, unbelted tunic, coupled with loose trousers stuffed into laced boots. The only accessory he wears is a silver ring (although it is far too small to ever fit even his pinky finger), well past being merely tarnished. Skellig has several scars (the whereabouts of which and details pertaining their origins to be discussed in history), but he has no problem with others seeing them.



Possessions: Apart from aforementioned silver ring, Skellig does not have anything of very much worth. The rambunctious youth has a habit of losing things, so anything he picks up on his travels isn't likely to last long.
A small amount of money, obtained through odd jobs here and there.
A rucksack containing whatever necessities he thinks he may need, including a compass that points east rather than north (a fact which took him three years to figure out), a bag of bird seed, a spare tunic, a rock, roughly the size of his fist, and a collection of feathers, animal teeth, shells and other things of little worth.



Powers or Strengths: Skellig Dubh is perhaps the most inept fighter that has ever lived. Having once broken his hand due to punching a wall instead of his intended target, it is safe to say his accuracy could do with some work. While he would have the strength to be somewhat formidable, he is simply too happy-go-lucky to ever take the time to train seriously.
Skellig did attempt to learn magic once, but upon gesturing wildly with his hands and knocking several candles over, his would-be-teacher refused him entry into his home ever again.
Perhaps something that could be described as a strength is Skellig's unending optimism. Couple this with a childish outlook on the world, and you have a very charming, likable young man. Not that being likable has much place in this world.
Another of Skellig's strengths would be his remarkable luck, although this is not caused by any magic of any kind. He's simply that lucky kind of guy. (Except in poker. Either that or he's too dumb for card games.)

Weaknesses: If sheer stupidity counts as a weakness, Skellig has it. While he loves to learn, he doesn't seem to ever learn any common sense, or retain anything else he hears. Walking into things is his forte, as is tripping over air. One could say that Skell is ever-so-slightly clumsy. Another of his character flaws is how quickly he bonds and trusts. Everyone- regardless of appearance, gender or age- is regarded as a potential friend.



History: Skellig was born and reared in a small town, where he lived up until the age of twelve. It was at this age that his mother died, not through any particularly tragic means, simply disease. Having very little in the way of a bond with his father- a reputed drunk and fairly violent character -and not desiring to bear the brunt of the man's grieving, Skellig chose to leave. The ring necklace that still has pride of place around his neck was taken from his mother's bedside, as well as a note that she left to her son in the hopes that one day he would have the intelligence to understand it. This note has long since met a watery end, but he will happily recite its contents from memory for any who ask it.

The only other items he took was the rucksack his father was supposed to use while hunting, but never did, and a loaf of bread. With these supplies in tow he bid goodbye to his birth place and set out into the world.

He wandered for a long time with little to no particular direction, doing light farm work or assisting in whatever tasks he could. He rarely asked for more than a bed for the night and directions to the nearest village, which would invariably leave his hosts scratching their heads when he walked in what was evidently not the right direction.

It was several months after his departure before he found his compass, as well as some other supplies which have long since been lost, scattered on the side of the road. The evidence pointed to an accident involving a cart and horse, for there were also splinters of wood nearby, but Skellig, failing to put two and two together, spent the night there. Skellig viewed his lucky find as a gift from his departed mother, and set himself down to thank her for it. While he doubted she could hear him, he felt it should be done. Meanwhile, the man whose cart had tipped happened to find him, and he was not amused. Clearly this youth was some kind of a thief.

Rather than questioning the boy as to the whereabouts of his things, the man drew his bow and arrow and fired clear, with the intent of embedding the shafts of two arrows into Skellig's skin. The first, which went cleanly through his shoulder, has left a very prominent, pale scar, while the second did little more than graze his arm. It was more than enough to get the boy moving.

While Skellig has had several more run-ins after this, he apparently doesn't scar very easily. The scars he does have are, however, quite prominent.

Running from his left shoulder to the middle of his back is what was evidently once a deep gash. This is a scar with origins that date back much earlier than his shoulder's, having been gained from a spat with his father at the age of ten. Two small marks criss-cross over one another on the palm of his hand, obtained from a run-in with a madman who believed he was a vampire and needed blood to survive. Skellig, being Skellig, offered up his blood on the agreement that he wouldn't be bitten. Needless to say he was.

Several bite marks adorn the blonde's lower calf, all from a slight disagreement with a wolf, while another disagreement with what he assumes to have been a different wolf resulted in a bite mark on his arm.
And for those who are wondering, Skellig isn't particularly talented at fighting off wild beasts. He is simply both remarkably lucky and unbelievably unlucky, for, while he gets into trouble a lot more than can be considered normal, he is fairly decent at getting out of it alright- albeit with a few extra scars.

After travelling for quite some time, Skellig has recently found himself in the city of Marn, where he plans to stay for a while.

Hi there and welcome to Thar!

Feel free to change weight to build (or take it out entirely); unless you need a specific weight for your character it really doesn't mean much in the realm of physical appearance. You can have a man with muscle at 170 pounds, and a man with fat at 170 pounds; indeed, in some cases (measuring by BMI), a very muscular man will register as being obese. Or you can leave it as is -- totally up to you.

One thing of note: Christianity never existed on Thar, and given the emergence of the Puradynes the cross wouldn't have the opportunity to arise as a mainstream religious symbol (even given its other symbolic/religious uses pre-Christianity). Feel free to come up with a religious symbol if that is what you intended the cross to represent.

Your strengths section made me giggle. We do have a number of non-fighter characters, and here you can insert other strengths he might have other than combat abilities -- such as his ability to survive alone at a young age, or even that he might have charm -- in that space. We encourage it, as it helps to solidify your character as a person for others reading your character sheet.

As an aside, you mention in his description that he is keen for a good game, without really showing anywhere else where this might apply. What kind of game does he search out? Some kind of manipulation? A petty distraction? With you describing him as stupid I'm not quite sure how it fits in and would love to get a better feel for how it interacts with the rest of his personality.

The same thing can go for weaknesses, though you already have a couple with his stupidity and trusting nature.

It was several months after his departure before he found his compass, as well as some other supplies which have long since been lost, scattered on the side of the road. The evidence pointed to an accident involving a cart and horse, for there were also splinters of wood nearby, but Skellig, failing to put two and two together, spent the night there. It was while sitting in the ever-darkening twilight, speaking words of thanks to some unseen entity- I.e., his mother -that the owner of the compass and other supplies happened upon him.

I'm not exactly sure what this is alluding to -- was the compass previously his?

While the last few sentences had me giggling, again, I have to ask: without any notable fighting ability, how on earth did he manage to escape from a wolf unscathed? Does he have some special ability, just got lucky, or something else?

It's a lovely app and I'm looking forward to seeing it completed. Please leave a reply here or feel free to send me a tell if you have any questions/concerns/comments. Should you make changes and be ready for another look, please leave a reply in this thread to let me know to come back for a second look see!

Thank you for reviewing my application, and for the pleasant welcome! I apologise for the issues, I'm going to blame proof reading when sick for that rather than my own stupidity. (Although I'm pretty damn dumb, haha.)

The cross's purpose wasn't quite intended as a religious emblem, more of a useless one. Given the fact that being tied to a religion wasn't necessary, I changed it to a ring that is too small for him. I apologise for the stupidness, he usually has got a cross on other boards and it simply didn't occur to me to change it.

And that's good, giggling is something Skellig is very good at causing. xD I'm afraid I took 'strengths' a bit too literally, and have altered it now to include the fact that he is quite optimistic / likable at times.

In terms of a good game I had intended it to be simply that, a game, like hop scotch or tag. Childish things, really, as he's a massive child in general.

I apologise for that messy paragraph, I hope I've managed to clean it up somewhat.

In regards to the wolf, Skellig could be regarded as both the luckiest and the unluckiest man alive. While he gets into much more trouble than can be normal, he also has quite a nack for getting out of things- albeit with a few extra scars to add to his collection. (Then again, getting _into_ trouble likely has more to do with stupidity than luck.)

Hopefully I managed to fix everything, I apologise if I have not.

No! You mustn't call yourself stupid! The application and approval process is there because Thar Shaddin is a pretty big setting, and there's a lot of places where missteps might happen. Even I will double check plenty of things with other moderators, because everyone makes mistakes.

One more thing I would like you to add is his sometimes-exceptional luck to strengths, and after that you should be good to go.

Hum, I suppose. I'd only just finished reading about the Puradynes though (I love how detailed this world concept is) so you'd think I'd put two and two together. |D

And added, my apologies for that. I had contemplated whether or not it should be added, and decided against it, but in retrospect I should have gone with my gut and added it. After all, anything that benefits an individual is a strength.

No worries at all!

Approved.

Here at Thar we highly encourage newly approved players to be proactive in seeking out threads and thread partners. Oftentimes people shy away from the thought of asking to join a thread or pming a person to make a new thread, and as a result sometimes new players will never get into a thread. Looking at other approved characters not presently in a thread and ongoing threads is the best bet to get involved!

Here's the thread for characters available for rp.

Here's the active plot discussions.

There aren't a lot of unthreaded characters at present, so I would recommend you to look at ongoing threads and ask around to find one that would suit your character and whose players are willing to accept an additional player. You can post in plot threads or send pms to people for any plots you're interested in.

If you have any questions or need some help, don't hesitate to pm me.

Happy writing!