FEF: DtT: Abelard

Name: Abelard Tarraz
Class: Pirate > Berserker
Special: Sea Walk, Rapid Attack (-15 hit to make a second attack)
Character Skill: Wrath
Affinity: Wind
Personal Fault: Hesitation: -2 Total Damage against Mages and their promotions.
Personal Skill: Under Pressure: While at 50% HP and below, +10 Hit/Eva.
Personal Skill: Fair Fight: +15 Eva when unable to retaliate.

Preferred Stats: SPD, HP
Weapon Skill: Axe (D), Hack (C)

Level: 14
Total Level: 19

Base Stats:
HP: 25 (85%)
STR: 6 (50%)
MAG: 0 (0%)
SKL: 2 (55%) [+2]
CON: 6
AID: 5
LUK: 1 (10%)
DEF: 3 (40%)
RES: 1 (50%)
SPD: 2 (60%) [+2]
MOV: 4

Levels Gained:
Trainee Level 2: +1HP, +1LUK, +1SPD
Trainee Level 3: +1HP, +1STR, +1SKL, +1RES, +1SPD
Trainee Level 4: +1HP, +1DEF, +1SPD
Trainee Level 5: +1HP, +1STR +1SKL
Promotion to Pirate: +4HP, +3STR, +1SKL, +2SPD, +3CON, +3AID, 5 MOV
First Class Level 2: +1HP, +1STR, +1SKL, +1RES, +1SPD
First Class Level 3: +1HP, +1SKL
First Class Level 4: +1HP, +1STR, +1SKL, +1RES
First Class Level 5: +1HP, +1STR, +1SKL, +1DEF
First Class Level 6: +1HP, +1STR, +1DEF, +1RES, +1SPD
First Class Level 7: +1HP, +1SKL, +1SPD
First Class Level 8: +1HP, +1STR, +1LUK, +1SPD
First Class Level 9: +1HP, +1STR, +1SKL, +1DEF, +1RES
First Class Level 10: +1HP, +1SPD
First Class Level 11: +1HP, +1SKL
First Class Level 12: +1HP, +1SKL, +1DEF
First Class Level 13: +1HP, +1DEF, +1SPD
First Class Level 14: +1HP, +1LUK, +1SPD

Current Stats:
HP: 46 (85%)
STR: 17 (50%)
MAG: 0 (0%)
SKL: 15 (55%)
CON: 9
AID: 8
LUK: 4 (10%)
DEF: 9 (40%)
RES: 6 (50%)
SPD: 16 (60%)
MOV: 5

Supports:
Elanee (B): +10 Hit, +10 Eva, +20 Crit

Inventory:
Name        | Type ( ) | Rng | Wt | Mt | Hit | Cr | Ql
Iron Axe    | Hack (E) |  1  | 10 |  8 |  75 |  0 | 31/45
Hand Axe    | Thrw (E) | 1-2 | 10 |  7 |  65 |  0 | 13/30
Iron Shield: While Equipped, +2 DEF and +1 RES, increases equipped weapon WT by 1
Hammer      | Bldg (D) |  1  | 15 | 12 |  65 |  0 | 18/20

Battle Stats:

Iron Axe:
Rng: 1-2
AT: 25
Hit: 107
Crit: 7
AS: 16
Eva: 36
DG: 4

Hand Axe:
Rng: 1-2
AT: 24
Hit: 97
Crit: 7
AS: 16
Eva: 36
DG: 4

Hammer:
Rng: 1
AT: 29 (!53)
Hit: 97
Crit: 7
AS: 11
Eva: 25
DG: 4


Bio: The Luadhán household of Ervalt saw many a world-changing event throughout their existence. A house of land-hoarders and businessmen first and foremost, it expanded massively along with their nation during its heyday and once vied for favor as one of the King's favorites in the royal court, freely spreading their influence with the arrogance and ambition of men and women used to winning. As destiny would have it, the household's fate ultimately mimicked its home kingdom's. From the moment Ervalt lost its status as a superpower, the family would never again see lasting fortune, the red and gold of its arms fated to fade away into obscurity. Centuries ago the Luadhán maintained several mainland holdings only to lose nearly all of them with Sivult's ascension as an independent nation. In order to compensate for their losses, the family eagerly jumped at the news of a newly-discovered continent and invested heavily in its exploration from the year 1465. The move worked... Until one of their members was returned home mutilated as soon as hostilities between the self-proclaimed independent Ersht and Ervalt began. Sinking resources into the Secession War bore no fruit and to add insult to injury the Luadhán lost part of their holdings to more cautious and opportunistic nobles.

Feris and Deon Luadhán where born at a time when their family languished in (relative) poverty, outmaneuvered in politics and fated to scrape by thanks to old, binding contracts with the ports closest to their estate. Brother and sister grew up reading and listening to stories about the good old days, when Ervalt was unmatched and their noble line was the one of the greatest to have ever lived. The birth of upstart kingdoms and the rise of noble bloodlines who used subterfuge and underhanded tactics to carry royal favor was the sole cause of their fall from grace, they were told. They should blame no one but the hand of misfortune for what had afflicted them and their beloved country. Feris was the firstborn and the heiress to the line's dilapidated fortunes and while Deon was the second child and being prepared for a career in the military, they found time to share together. The brother and sister pair was close, and they had the same dream: make their family great once more.

Despite their young age Feris and Deon were shrewd and quickly noticed something upon close examination of logs and finances: the members of the house had grown complacent. Though there was a some refusal to admit any fault of their ancestors in the family's downfall, it became clear that though constant misfortune kept throwing the Luadhán into the mud, it had been complacency and maybe disillusionment that seemed to prevent it from rising from the ashes. Many profitable contracts had been lost, part of their merchant ships had been sold and their fief was in disarray. Despite the despairing situation, the siblings didn't lose heart. Maybe inspired in part by one too many heroic novels, they noticed a pattern that could benefit them. Many of the family's standing contracts were military in nature, dealing with the arms, armor and logistics, and their holdings included a mine full of high-quality iron ore. They had a plan.

They grew older, and when Feris took control of the Luadhán Deon was summoned back. It was a scandal when they revealed they planned to make a mercenary group out of the noble house. Many objected on the simple grounds that nobility was supposed to raise levies and ride only for glory while the peasantry got crushed. They were reminded that each year the family's situation got worse and that the high number of members of the household without a right to inheritance receiving military training meant they had a good edge on any competitors, an edge made even sharper by all of the logistics structure they had in place thanks to a mercantile past. Still there was grumbling and a schism, and while those who wanted no part in the new plan searched for swift marriages into any available noble families—no matter how minor—Feris and Deon started to work on a name for themselves. All non-essential contracts were dropped and the Luadhán family crest—golden filigree over red background—was reborn as the banner for the Crimson Arms, the golden strands now twisted into a fanged maw.

The plan seemed to work up to a point. Like it'd been planned, the contracts and structure they had in place were enough to fund the Crimson Arms, to the point it slowly started to become something more akin to a private professional army than a highborn mercenary band. Unfortunately, problems were just around the corner once more. While Feris and Deon agreed in many points, they had a vicious dispute about their visions of the group. Deon wanted a highly-professional force made of what he dubbed perfect soldiers, strictly disciplined and taught to relish combat over anything else. The clan-like arrangement of the Crimson Arms would make it easy to indoctrinate the offspring of the current members into the deadliest fighting force the world had ever seen, he argued. Meanwhile, Feris thought her brother's plan risked going overboard and beating individuality out of the soldiers, which was a far cry from what she'd imagined for the Arms. She wanted to build a daring force full of personality with a reputation for competency mixed in with bravado, true heroes for hire capable of making any tavern livelier and spreading tales of their exploits far and wide.

In the end the siblings' differences brought an end to the Crimson Arms as they existed. The noble house turned mercenary family was cut in half, with its parts ending up less than half as effective as the group was thanks to splitting valuable logistics resources. Conflict over who'd keep the name ended with an agreement that no one would; Feris created the Crimson Blades to follow her ideal of daring adventurers and heroes for hire while Deon took the name of Crimson Soldiers for his lot and established a rigid structure within its ranks. Whilst Feris kept most of the sea-faring resources and properties in the mainland, Deon was left with nearly all of the holdings in Ervalt and only a few in the mainland. Despite the separation the groups did well on their own, though far from how successful they could've been had they been working together. It'd be decades before the siblings saw each other face to face.

Trade between the embittered Ervalt and Ersht had barely started taking its first wobbling steps and it was already threatened by piracy. The Crimson Soldiers were hired to provide security for a merchant ship heading towards one of Ersht's ports with highly valuable cargo and the vessel was attacked... By the Crimson Blades, led by Feris herself, who was baffled upon noticing her brother aboard the ship they were attacked. After the initial confusion, the groups' leaders had a chat. The Blades had turned to opportunistic piracy not out of need, but to punish noble families who'd sided with Ersht during the Secession War. Deon could sympathize with the thought, but they had a job to fulfill... To the crew's surprise, the Blades didn't press the attack, and escorted the ship to port to make sure Deon's contract would be fulfilled. It was an even bigger surprise when both groups reunited. The siblings had mellowed out with the passing of time, become wiser and less proud, and they saw what they could accomplish by working together.

The Crimson Arms was reborn, though now with a clear division of tasks: the Crimson Soldiers took care of land-based logistics and favored operations deep inland while the Blades kept their sea-faring resources and worked in tight cooperation with the Soldiers while favoring jobs in coastal areas. The leader of the Soldiers was the Lance, the leader of the Blades the Axe (and at least twice in their story, the Sword). More often than not the groups still fought side by side, covering for each other's weaknesses to allow their strengths to shine through. That arrangement worked for more than a century. Military might and a growing wealth meant that other minor noble families were swallowed by the group, drawn to the prospect of glory and wealth through violence. The historical enemies of the old Luadhán family stopped interfering lest they be crushed, and all seemed well.

The Crimson Arms spread, and when the Kalgarian War started they had ironically relocated many of their resources over to Ersht due to the opportunities found there. The mercenaries fought tooth and fail during the Kalgarian Wars since its start and even during the subsequent War of Annihilation on Ersht's side. During the course of the war some of Crimson Arms' leadership perished, including most of the Crimson Soldiers' line of succession. The stage for trouble was once again set.

Abelard was born in an Ersht port to a couple of Crimson Blades officers, their cherished firstborn. Like any sea-faring kid worth his salt, he quickly learned how to swim, scrub the deck and work on a ship's rigging. His pastimes were walking around a port city's cobblestone streets to see the colorful bunch that always congregated in such locations and also collecting bandanas, an habit which started when he received one from his parents and one from his crush during his 12th birthday. He also had a lot of fun play-fighting with other kids, which was how he eventually met Harkon during one of the many meetings between the Soldiers and the Blades. They became quick friends and met with increasing regularity as the joint operations between their families' divisions became more common. A true disciple of Feris, Abelard graduated from the crude wooden weapons he used when playing with other children to actual axes when he reached teenagehood.

Now with a real weapon, the teen trained and fought alongside Harkon, training and fighting in an effort to make a name apart from his parents. Abelard was far more talkative, daring and sometimes outright reckless when compared to his friend, who had been trained to be a serious soldier and fight following their own strict code. Thanks in great part to their differences, they managed to complement each other well, and the axe-wielding trainee always appreciated Harkon keeping swordsmen off him so he could chop through the opposition more effectively.

Unfortunately for both Abelard and Harkon, they were to witness yet another dark moment for a group with a story rife with misfortunes. The oldest heir to the title of Lance of the Crimson Soldiers died in a border incident involving Govitz mercenaries, which prompted the leader of the Blades to try and shunt control of the other branch to their own heir in order to unify both titles under their fist. Strong—and sometimes violent—opposition both from the Crimson Soldiers and many of the Crimson Blades who thought tradition should be preserved sparked an internal conflict, and once more the Crimson Arms was split along a fault line. This time both sides were also paralyzed as, differently from its origins with Feris and Deon, the officers couldn't agree how the contracts and resources of the Arms should be divided. Tensions were high to the point of being unbearable, and though the mercenary group's coffers were full, even the common soldiery was getting antsy. Abelard was far too fond of the camaraderie Arms and despaired at the situation, seeing it as the beginning of the end to an organization he'd been proud to be a part of.

Without giving his parents any warning, Abelard departed and dragged Harkon along. Wanting to stay as far away as possible from his family, he joined Ersht's forces, hoping his and Harkon's experience would be put to good use. In the end his wish was granted and his potential for growth, growing fame for efficiency and skill with seafaring drew Jack Smith's attention.