Naru
Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 11:33 am
Character Name: Naru (no last name)
Age: 36 or 37 (he’s not sure)
Race: Canid shapeshifter
Height: 5’8’’
Weight: 200 lbs
Physical Description: Naru (pronounced NAH-roo) is a square-jawed, thin-lipped, wide-mouthed man with light hazel almond-shaped eyes. His skin is ruddy and his hair and beard are dark brown with a tinge of red. His muscular forearms, legs, chest and back are covered with thick hair, he always has four or five days’ stubble, and he has a gruff, rumbling voice. Despite this brutish appearance, he is surefooted and can move gracefully through crowds, woods or over uneven ground.
Posessions: Naru has little that he can call his own. He owns the clothes he wears (a workman’s outfit of study trousers and a homespun cotton shirt), an extra shirt or two, the boots on his feet, a woolen cloak to keep him warm in winter (when he’s in human form), a handaxe, and a little bit of money (about enough to buy a round of beers at the local pub), all of which he carries in a well-worn, stained canvas knapsack.
Present occupation: Unemployed, looking for work as a dishwasher or bouncer in a pub
Powers or Strengths: Naru can shape-shift at will. He can take one of three forms—human, wolf, or that of a bipedal wolf-man. As a wolf, he takes the form of a timber wolf with yellow eyes and a very dark, almost black, coat with brown tipped-fur. His hearing (especially high and low frequencies—his ability to hear middle frequencies like that of human speech is below-average) and sense of smell are very acute. He is agile and quite strong, and has a fairly high tolerance for pain. Naru has cultivated the unusual skill of axe-throwing. He can throw an axe twenty-odd feet, end over end, and nine times out of ten, he’ll bury the bit deep in his target—be it man or beast, wood or earth.
Weaknesses: He is a little dull and might be described as low-average intelligence. He is not much of a talker, and he is not particularly articulate. He has a good sense of intuition and he’s fairly clever sometimes, but in general he is not intellectual and struggles to figure out complex problems, especially those that are verbally-intensive (he would not be very good at crossword puzzles or SAT-style logic problems). Other than his shapeshifting ability and the natural affinity it gives him to other canids, he probably isn’t bright enough to control magic of any kind.
Personality: Naru is a little suspicous of new people but is very friendly and outgoing to those he knows. He is not much of a conversationalist, but he enjoys the company of others and is pleasant to be around. He is intensely loyal to his friends, family and companions (sometimes coming across as downright protective). He is the kind of person that others describe as “willing to take a bullet for you.” As noted above, he’s not particularly bright, being of average or slightly below average intellect, but he has strong and surprisingly reliable “gut instincts” and he’s bright enough to know his intellectual limitations. He will usually defer to those he deems his intellectual superior—if they seem trustworthy. Naru has a simple sense of humor, rather like his canid kin.
History: Naru grew up in the mountainous pine and fir forest country a few hundred miles west of Marn. (Analogous to the Black Forest area of southern Germany.) He lived in a clan of about a dozen other canid shapeshifters, including his parents and two brothers. When his father died when Naru was nineteen, his older brothers battled for the “alpha” position in the clan. Naru sided with Rano, the older of his two brothers, and when Rano was bested by Marko, the other brother, Naru was driven from the clan’s lands. He wandered the wilderness for five years before stumbling upon another clan of canid shapeshifters like himself. He lived with them for ten years in the forests three days’ walk west of Marn, but left when he felt a curious restlessness overcome him. He made his way to Marn, where he hopes to make a living washing dishes or serving as a “bouncer” at the local pub (in exchange for all the ale he can drink and shepherd’s pie he can eat). He has also been known to hunt or trap small game for extra cash. Aware of the strict prohibition against magic in Marn, he has told no one in town of his background, and he stays in human shape at all times except for a couple of days a week when he wanders off into the forest for a few hours to lope around in lupine form.
Quote: “I'm not here to make no trouble. Hey, I’d just as soon everybody think I’m some dumb hairy guy.”
Age: 36 or 37 (he’s not sure)
Race: Canid shapeshifter
Height: 5’8’’
Weight: 200 lbs
Physical Description: Naru (pronounced NAH-roo) is a square-jawed, thin-lipped, wide-mouthed man with light hazel almond-shaped eyes. His skin is ruddy and his hair and beard are dark brown with a tinge of red. His muscular forearms, legs, chest and back are covered with thick hair, he always has four or five days’ stubble, and he has a gruff, rumbling voice. Despite this brutish appearance, he is surefooted and can move gracefully through crowds, woods or over uneven ground.
Posessions: Naru has little that he can call his own. He owns the clothes he wears (a workman’s outfit of study trousers and a homespun cotton shirt), an extra shirt or two, the boots on his feet, a woolen cloak to keep him warm in winter (when he’s in human form), a handaxe, and a little bit of money (about enough to buy a round of beers at the local pub), all of which he carries in a well-worn, stained canvas knapsack.
Present occupation: Unemployed, looking for work as a dishwasher or bouncer in a pub
Powers or Strengths: Naru can shape-shift at will. He can take one of three forms—human, wolf, or that of a bipedal wolf-man. As a wolf, he takes the form of a timber wolf with yellow eyes and a very dark, almost black, coat with brown tipped-fur. His hearing (especially high and low frequencies—his ability to hear middle frequencies like that of human speech is below-average) and sense of smell are very acute. He is agile and quite strong, and has a fairly high tolerance for pain. Naru has cultivated the unusual skill of axe-throwing. He can throw an axe twenty-odd feet, end over end, and nine times out of ten, he’ll bury the bit deep in his target—be it man or beast, wood or earth.
Weaknesses: He is a little dull and might be described as low-average intelligence. He is not much of a talker, and he is not particularly articulate. He has a good sense of intuition and he’s fairly clever sometimes, but in general he is not intellectual and struggles to figure out complex problems, especially those that are verbally-intensive (he would not be very good at crossword puzzles or SAT-style logic problems). Other than his shapeshifting ability and the natural affinity it gives him to other canids, he probably isn’t bright enough to control magic of any kind.
Personality: Naru is a little suspicous of new people but is very friendly and outgoing to those he knows. He is not much of a conversationalist, but he enjoys the company of others and is pleasant to be around. He is intensely loyal to his friends, family and companions (sometimes coming across as downright protective). He is the kind of person that others describe as “willing to take a bullet for you.” As noted above, he’s not particularly bright, being of average or slightly below average intellect, but he has strong and surprisingly reliable “gut instincts” and he’s bright enough to know his intellectual limitations. He will usually defer to those he deems his intellectual superior—if they seem trustworthy. Naru has a simple sense of humor, rather like his canid kin.
History: Naru grew up in the mountainous pine and fir forest country a few hundred miles west of Marn. (Analogous to the Black Forest area of southern Germany.) He lived in a clan of about a dozen other canid shapeshifters, including his parents and two brothers. When his father died when Naru was nineteen, his older brothers battled for the “alpha” position in the clan. Naru sided with Rano, the older of his two brothers, and when Rano was bested by Marko, the other brother, Naru was driven from the clan’s lands. He wandered the wilderness for five years before stumbling upon another clan of canid shapeshifters like himself. He lived with them for ten years in the forests three days’ walk west of Marn, but left when he felt a curious restlessness overcome him. He made his way to Marn, where he hopes to make a living washing dishes or serving as a “bouncer” at the local pub (in exchange for all the ale he can drink and shepherd’s pie he can eat). He has also been known to hunt or trap small game for extra cash. Aware of the strict prohibition against magic in Marn, he has told no one in town of his background, and he stays in human shape at all times except for a couple of days a week when he wanders off into the forest for a few hours to lope around in lupine form.
Quote: “I'm not here to make no trouble. Hey, I’d just as soon everybody think I’m some dumb hairy guy.”