This topic is locked
Age: Twenty-nine.
Gender: Male.
Race: Minotaur.
Weapons: A massive double-bladed battleaxe, three broad knives - strapped to his left calf, right abdomen, and waist (horizontally for a draw with the left hand, for a downward stabbing motion (reverse of Aragorn's knife in the LotR films
)). As well as the gaelstrom - see below. Wears an old, many-patched, large chainmaille shirt and multiple leather components.Class: Brawler. Melee-based, if you didn't get that already, hehe.
Height: Thirteen-and-a-half feet.
Weight: Eight-hundred fifty pounds.
History: Born on the Plains, Rom started life out on a bad foot. His father was a former human slave, and his mother had been captured in a raid upon another Minotaur settlement. As such, they started with nothing and were seen as outcasts by the others of their community. However, Rom was seen as a ray of light in their lives - he was strong and fast even for a male Minotaur from the beginning. But the light was dimmed - he was the younger of twins. This led to two unfortunate occurrences in his first days - the strain of giving birth to a pair of healthy Minotaurs led to the mother dying shortly after childbirth. Their father was a broken soul, and the two grew up with little feminine influence in their lives. The second hurt to Rom's being happened shortly after - at the pair's third birthday they were Judged by the Elder (a thick-horned brute who had only been given the rule by killing his ailing father in a challenge to his authority) to see if they were worth keeping in the tribe. Rom passed the tests - he was tall and strong and war-inclined. However...Remus did not. He was short and lean, and loved the growth of plants above all else. So he was slain - and, rumoured, eaten - in cold blood by the Elder's servant, an enslaved Drow. Appalled, Rom became dark and grim of mood, hating the Elder and his "night-wreathed durg" (dirt (that's his reference to the Drow servant)). In Rom's seventh year in conscious life, his father died in a Hunt with the Elder and his entourage - he was said to have fallen in a sinkhole, though all his life Rom doubted the truth of it. He was brought into the Elder's own Household and raised, as the murderous brute saw him as a powerful asset in coming days. When he turned eight, by rite of Trial, he was required to go on a solitary Hunt to find his purpose in life. After four months of the barest food (a few sick antelope, and a scavenged hintu (runner) beast (horse
)) he collapsed beside a small pool of rainwater under the clouds. He slept for two days, and when he awakened Rom had a vision - a young ram was wrestling was wrestling with an old bull. Suddenly, the bull fell on a rock and broke his head - but he hadn't fallen by the ram's hand. He was strung up on an upturned spur of rock and eviscerated, then slain and broken on the rocks below. Shaken, Rom stood up and made to flee - when he found an ancient, grizzled "shiskabrahm" (snake-head) (elephant) gazing back at him with wise, intelligent eyes. They stood there like for a moment, standing eye-to-eye. Then the old visitor fell down and perished. Taking the offering, Rom ate his full, preserved the rest of the meat, and then, out of an unbidden instinct, buried the remains. He then spent a week heading home on a straight course, the sun and the stars his guide. He came back in a time of festival - the Elder had reached his fortieth year and spared no expense in celebrating it. Rom walked to the head of the Elder's table and challenged him to unarmed combat - a rite of Trial for leadership of the tribe. Forced to accept, the two went outside into the chilling wind and entered a circle of rocks. The other Minotaurs followed. After a momentary pause, they attacked. Using his greater size to his advantage, Rom grappled with the experienced fighter and threw him down with ease. But the Elder survived, and submitted to Rom's rule. Calling to his Drow servant, two things happened at once - Rom, in a spurt of kindness, bent to lift the former Elder to his feet. At the same time the Drow servant came near and, taking his chance, sprang forward and thrust a large cutting knife into his Master's throat. But this was not seen by any present save Rom - whom the others of the tribe, spurred on by the Elder's power-hungry entourage, accused of treachery and exiled him into the Wilds. But he did not leave unmarked. Leaping forward in rage, he made to break the Drow in pieces - though he swerved aside from Rom's claws, the Minotaur's right horn scarred the Drow's face horribly. The little creature screeched and ran, never to be seen in those parts again - Rom fled the other way as his former friends and family made to slay him for his treason and breaking of the Oath. Days later he was found by another tribe, whose Elder took him in, seeing him as an asset in battle. Which he did, glad for the chance to learn the ways of warfare. He was thirteen when he received the gaelstrom (thunder-paws), then a seasoned fighter. This was a sign of being a proven warrior of the Minotaurs - each knuckle would be surgically removed and replaced with a steel knob, where various attachments and metal heads could be screwed into place. This made the fist a weapon of war, able to pummel an enemy and bludgeon and/or slash them into submission (stolen from Eldest, don't care ). Combined with the Minotaur's natural strength, this was a very formidable weapon. Seven years later, Rom's twentieth, his newfound home was ambushed while the warriors were away on a Hunt by Drow slavers. Finding the ruins, Rom led the hunting party after them (the previous Elder having died that winter from old age), acting as the de facto leader. They caught up with the slavers, but their quarry caught wind of them and encircled them in a valley. Slaying many of the warriors, Rom and two others managed to flee the slaughter and retreat. But a rearguard of six Drow followed them into the night and captured them. Then Rom beheld the face of the leader - it was broken by a long trailing scar. By his voice Rom realized it was the same Drow that had conquered his first home. By sheer rage and force of will, he broke his bonds and slew one of his captors - tearing the screaming Drow's arms out of their sockets, he beat another nearby to death with his improvised clubs. Dismayed, the survivors set a prairie fire and fled, their hintu beasts dragging Rom's companions along with them. Trapped by fire and covered in wounds, Rom turned his back on his past and fled - heading to the ancient highway. There he found a large Human city and, performing manual laborer by day and serving as paid brawler at night, he eventually scrounged enough gold to commission his own battleaxe from a friendly Dwarven blacksmith. Having stolen his knives off of drunken spectators at the Arena afterhours, he left this life to forge a new one - starting with his mission to find the Drow that had caused his so much pain and to squeeze the life out of him slowly and painfully.Alignment: Neutral, leaning to Good. Has a strong prejudice/hate towards Drow.
EDIT: Sorry for the lengthy bio, it started out small but ran away
Edited by mike_, 28 November 2008 - 05:00 AM.
