Name: Rufus
Age: 24
Species: Alsatian (Canine)
Height: 6’1
Player: Ucro

Combat Stats:
Hp: 21
Fp: 5/6
Att: 7
Def: 5
Vit: 7

Non Combat Stats:
Agility: 5
Body: 7
Charisma: 9
IQ: 3
Perception: 6

Special Moves
Disable *Cheap Shot*
Rufus, while ashamed of his criminal past, has acknowledged that in battle, anything goes. If the opportunity presents itself for a low blow or a dirty move, odds are Rufus will take it.

Parting strike *Last Stand*
When severely injured, Rufus will summon as much of his remaining strength as he can into a devastating blow, aiming to take his foe down with him.

Leading the Charge *Rallying Charge*
Rufus lets out a rallying battlecry before rushing his opponent head on, aiming to run them through with his sword.

Quirks:
Close Combatant
Rufus has only ever used his sword and has become very proficient with it, but as a result, lacks any training with ranged weaponry.

Critical Strike
Rufus is a very skilled swordsman, able to severely damage opponent's when the opprtunity arises. However his over-confident nature and flamboyant, self-taught style, occasionally cause him to make severe errors in judgement, often with disastrous results.

Rage
When Injured, Rufus becomes enraged, his strikes becoming much faster and more powerful. However, in this state he becomes reckless and much less focused on defence.

Quick Info:

HP:21 A:7 D:5 V:7
A:5 B:7 C:9 I:3 P:6

Rufus, a 6'1, Handsome solid black Alsatian with deep brown eyes. He has a toned physique with a few scars. He wields a longsword typically resting on his back; and wears mostly black clothing with steel armor hidden underneath, with a long-coat on-top.


Description:
Rufus was born far up north, in a hamlet that doesn’t appear on most maps, partially due to its small size and also due to the frequent number of snowstorms in the area. The people there were suffering from a terrible plague, mortality rates were high, and the already small population was falling fast. Bodies lay in the street, preserved only by the fierce cold.

A desperate cry of pain, punctuated the desolate village. Inside one of the small houses a woman struggled both against the plague, and the agony of child birth. While she succeeded in giving birth, not long after holding her baby for the first time, she passed away. The father, stricken with grief, named the child Rufus as they agreed and after burying his wife in a small, marked grave, immediately set off from the hamlet, the child wrapped up in as many blankets as he could manage. He was determined to take the child as far away from his plague stricken home as he possibly could.

Whilst his haste was a heroic gesture, it was also an irrational one, the child remained reasonably warm in his sea of blankets but the snowstorms ravaged the unfortunate father’s body. Forced on by sheer determination, he walked for what felt like days before eventually collapsing in the snow. He was found by a band of mercenaries who were travelling the road. The father was too far-gone to be saved and begged the leader to look after his child. After the Mercenary leader agreed the father had enough strength to give the boys first name before passing on.

The Mercenary leader, lacking a son, raised Rufus as his own, but didn’t give the child his family name, as a gesture of honouring the father who brought Rufus to him. His band only participated in relatively honest work, mainly involving protection and rescue. By the age of five Rufus received a sword of his own. The sword was for a full sized adult and was near impossible for Rufus to wield. Displaying the same foolhardy determination as his real father, Rufus practiced everyday with the sword, by 10 he was training with the other mercenaries, by the age of 21 he had become one of his adopted fathers most prized fighters.

Unfortunately whilst travelling along one of Caignwell’s highroads, The Mercenary band was ambushed by assassins hired by a rival mercenary band, whilst the assassin’s were driven off, they had succeeded in their mission. Rufus’s adopted father was killed.

Filled with Murderous rage and a desire for vengeance Rufus abandoned his Mercenary brothers, aiming to track down the assassin’s who murdered his Father, his only clue being the small crest engraved on the dagger that was embedded in his fathers back. After travelling for some time, questioning just about every person he met about the crest, Rufus learned that the assassin’s main base of operations was somewhere in FairRiver. He set out immediately.

After arriving Rufus quickly delved into the criminal underworld of FairRiver, aiming to build bridges and gather information about the assassin’s. However, by the age of 24, after three years of shady work, assassinations, interrogation and theft, Rufus’s rage cooled and his conscience returned. This was not how his father would have wanted to be avenged, and by doing it this way, he was no better than the men he was hunting down.

Rufus, still small-time in the criminal underworld and a relative unknown to law enforcement, cut ties with everyone except his most trusted contacts who agreed to continue chasing leads on the assassins. Hungry for more honest work, Rufus made for the FairRiver Adventurer’s guild. His vengeance would come, but until then, he was willing to wait.

Additional Info:
With few battle-scars barring a few small ones on his arms, legs and chest (which aren't visible when he's fully clothed), well maintained gear, and the strong, well toned body of a professional swordsman, Rufus is relatively pleasant to look at, if a little scruffy at times. He wears a tight fitting steel chainmail vest, covered by a steel chestplate, which is further covered by a black leather, knee length trench coat. He wears black, form fitting trousers, a black leather belt with a small satchel attachment and black leather boots.

He is lover of fine ale and has taken to smoking a pipe, both pastimes of his adopted father; he often scents the tobacco with spices or oils in order to give the smoke a more pleasant aroma. He speaks with a deep tone, polite yet masculine, accompanied by a thick British accent.

Rufus is relatively friendly in conversation, years of practice communicating with, and learning from extremely dangerous people has made him very convincing in the arts of persuasion and deception. However being a mercenary most of his life and a criminal the rest, he lacks any type of formal education beyond basic reading, writing and arithmetic.

Rufus’s adopted father, being a Staffordshire Bull, was clearly of no relation to Rufus and made no attempt to lie to his son on this matter. Rufus was told of his true fathers suffering, and he is sure his true parents loved him, but it was his adopted father that raised him, and that is the father he acknowledges. As long as he survives as his true father demanded, he knows that his true parents are satisfied.

Rufus is plagued with guilt over many things, his failure to protect his adopted father, the abandonment of his mercenary comrades, and his dark dealings with the criminal underworld. He only shares this kind of information with his most trusted friends and will often become very reserved and evasive if his past is brought into question by anyone else, especially if in public. Sometimes he will resort to lying or even aggression if pressured on the subject. He still carries the dagger that killed his father in his satchel, as a permanent reminder of of his goal.

Deep down, Rufus is a good soul, more out for redemption than revenge (even though he doesn’t realise this). His desire for an honest life clouded by a hunger for vengeance. More than anything he desires a child of his own with a woman he loves, he is growing tired of the cheap flings and one night stands he enjoyed as a mercenary and a criminal.