Post by Rockpaw Steeleye on Feb 5, 2009 12:14:48 GMT -5
Name: Rockpaw Steeleye
Age (we use years): 40
Gender: Male
Species: Sea Otter
Appearance: Rockpaw is as tough as they come as far as otters go; a fine example of his species’ physique, and then some. He’s lived a life of hard, strenuous labor and battle, and it shows. His muscles are not so much lithe and agile like a younger and smaller creature’s would be. His are large and buff, imposing and giving the impression that he’s an immovable brick wall. A punch to the gut looks like it will do nothing more than make him flinch, if that much. Rockpaw’s name is entirely appropriate. His paws are large and sturdy, made for work, for battle, for crafting. The numerous scars on his body attest to a lifetime of battle and conflict, some even bad enough to look painful even so many seasons after they were acquired (scars are injuries after all, not just show pieces!) Tall, burly, and a missing eye to boot, this otter is not the kind of beast you want to make angry. His single blue eye will blaze away with his aptly named steely gaze and perhaps rot your self-esteem from the inside out. Or at least make you want to apologize like a kit. Overall, this otter is simply not a beast to be messed with.
Personality: Despite Rockpaw’s gruff and terrible outer appearance, he is not some kind of juggernaut that wants to smash everything that gets in his way. In his tough and battle-scarred chest lies the heart of a caring father and a champion for the weak. Rockpaw is a just beast above everything else, sometimes to the point of mercilessness, but he is also sensible. He has children and a wife, possessions that have mellowed him out significantly from the harsh and brittle beast he might have become without them. He seeks ever to find a fair (if not happy) solution to a problem, and is absolutely implacable when he’s made a decision, especially where it concerns his family. Around little ones and others not quite his equal, he is gentle and soft-spoken as he can be (which is not saying much, but he tries), and tries to help them grow and better themselves. Of course he knows how to have fun (at least it is reported that he does), but a coddler he is not. He would rather push a beast to their limit so they can become better. Because of this, he is often seen as something of a taskmaster to whoever is below him and a rather annoyingly outspoken critic and advisor to whoever may be in authority over him (and he is not exactly used to authority).
Rockpaw above all else desires to make the world a safer place for his children to grow up in.
History: Rockpaw was born the only son of a sea otter who had served faithfully the Badger Lords of the Fire Mountain. He grew up in a military environment, and spent a prodigious amount of time on the sea, killing vermin in between tying lines and hauling anchors. He does not like to talk about those days, for they were harsh ones indeed. His father pushed him harder than any child should have been, crafting a successor to his own position rather than a caring son. Rockpaw’s emotional education came from the friends he made of the hares and their own families, who often expressed their own surprise at how hard the senior Steeleye pushed his son. Rockpaw to this day suspects that his father was hiding something about the circumstances of his birth, but it is so far removed from his mind by now, those days are just a vague memory, a blur of flaming corsair ships and the first kills he made in combat. He remembers, strangely, not regretting them very much after he saw what the pirates could do to their galley slaves.
Fortunately, Rockpaw’s father was well known, and the young male did not always have to suffer under his stern tutelage. The next phase of his life was when Rockpaw was referred to Castle Floret of all places. At eighteen, he was shipped off to be given a formal education and perhaps even start working his way up to a command with the otter guard there, making a name for himself. “Make yourself useful,” was the advice Rockpaw’s father gave him, and he decided to live up to it. Determined that eventually somebeast would have to congratulate his hard work, he was more immersed in the martial arts than ever, even as he caught whiffs of political intrigue and grand strategies around the castle. It was in the Army of Southsward that Rockpaw first met the eventual love of his life, Brooke Briar, outside an apple orchard while he was out for a walk and she was planting seeds.
That was of course after he lost his eye in a “minor skirmish” as he calls it. In fact, it was one of the few military failures of his time; his band had been ambushed and he narrowly escaped with his life. He and Brooke shared a strange and wonderful time together in Southsward for several seasons, and their budding relationship did not seem to be halted by his military career. He had hoped to go back to Salamandastron and show his father all that he had done before crowning it with a marriage, but his father had died from sickness before he even got the chance. Rockpaw did not and will not reveal what he actually thought of this, if he thought anything at all of it. “He didn’t die like he might have wanted,” he’d say. “And I’m sorry for that.” That is the extent of Rockpaw’s apparent feelings on the matter.
After the Army was formally disbanded following the simple lack of things to go and army against, Rockpaw decided to just up and marry Brooke without wasting more time. Shortly thereafter he and Brooke found and re-opened Fort Emerald Bay, creating a southern haven for all goodbeasts needing shelter. It was there Rockpaw sired his children and found his dream raising a family and commanding a small, but formidable and well known bastion of his own.
Skills and weaponry: Rockpaw has seen all kinds of wars in his life. He is a master of navigating the sea, a tried and true tactician, and a master drill sergeant. He has skill in repairing weapons and even crafting machines of war like catapults and other engineering works (he could not personally construct them being only one beast, but he does understand the principles behind such things). He knows how to read ground to give an advantage, knows when to charge, and even when to retreat when necessary. He is a military beast above all else, and can whip a barracks into shape in the time between a commander getting up and the morning inspection of said barracks.
Rockpaw is also a formidable fighter when the need arises. His great strength combines with seasons of experience with weapons to create a formidable warrior. He knows how to use polearms, sword, shield, axes, all manner of pointy things ready to kill. He’s not as fast as some, but his strength and skill, along with his frightening endurance, make up for that. Almost anything can become a deadly weapon in his paws. Even his own body. But overall, his greatest strength is in training up the next generation, and applying a general’s mind to a battlefield situation.
Outside of warfare, Rockpaw knows how to shift and organize paperwork to a degree most can only dream about, can blacksmith adequately, and can read the sea like no other (or so he likes to think).
Age (we use years): 40
Gender: Male
Species: Sea Otter
Appearance: Rockpaw is as tough as they come as far as otters go; a fine example of his species’ physique, and then some. He’s lived a life of hard, strenuous labor and battle, and it shows. His muscles are not so much lithe and agile like a younger and smaller creature’s would be. His are large and buff, imposing and giving the impression that he’s an immovable brick wall. A punch to the gut looks like it will do nothing more than make him flinch, if that much. Rockpaw’s name is entirely appropriate. His paws are large and sturdy, made for work, for battle, for crafting. The numerous scars on his body attest to a lifetime of battle and conflict, some even bad enough to look painful even so many seasons after they were acquired (scars are injuries after all, not just show pieces!) Tall, burly, and a missing eye to boot, this otter is not the kind of beast you want to make angry. His single blue eye will blaze away with his aptly named steely gaze and perhaps rot your self-esteem from the inside out. Or at least make you want to apologize like a kit. Overall, this otter is simply not a beast to be messed with.
Personality: Despite Rockpaw’s gruff and terrible outer appearance, he is not some kind of juggernaut that wants to smash everything that gets in his way. In his tough and battle-scarred chest lies the heart of a caring father and a champion for the weak. Rockpaw is a just beast above everything else, sometimes to the point of mercilessness, but he is also sensible. He has children and a wife, possessions that have mellowed him out significantly from the harsh and brittle beast he might have become without them. He seeks ever to find a fair (if not happy) solution to a problem, and is absolutely implacable when he’s made a decision, especially where it concerns his family. Around little ones and others not quite his equal, he is gentle and soft-spoken as he can be (which is not saying much, but he tries), and tries to help them grow and better themselves. Of course he knows how to have fun (at least it is reported that he does), but a coddler he is not. He would rather push a beast to their limit so they can become better. Because of this, he is often seen as something of a taskmaster to whoever is below him and a rather annoyingly outspoken critic and advisor to whoever may be in authority over him (and he is not exactly used to authority).
Rockpaw above all else desires to make the world a safer place for his children to grow up in.
History: Rockpaw was born the only son of a sea otter who had served faithfully the Badger Lords of the Fire Mountain. He grew up in a military environment, and spent a prodigious amount of time on the sea, killing vermin in between tying lines and hauling anchors. He does not like to talk about those days, for they were harsh ones indeed. His father pushed him harder than any child should have been, crafting a successor to his own position rather than a caring son. Rockpaw’s emotional education came from the friends he made of the hares and their own families, who often expressed their own surprise at how hard the senior Steeleye pushed his son. Rockpaw to this day suspects that his father was hiding something about the circumstances of his birth, but it is so far removed from his mind by now, those days are just a vague memory, a blur of flaming corsair ships and the first kills he made in combat. He remembers, strangely, not regretting them very much after he saw what the pirates could do to their galley slaves.
Fortunately, Rockpaw’s father was well known, and the young male did not always have to suffer under his stern tutelage. The next phase of his life was when Rockpaw was referred to Castle Floret of all places. At eighteen, he was shipped off to be given a formal education and perhaps even start working his way up to a command with the otter guard there, making a name for himself. “Make yourself useful,” was the advice Rockpaw’s father gave him, and he decided to live up to it. Determined that eventually somebeast would have to congratulate his hard work, he was more immersed in the martial arts than ever, even as he caught whiffs of political intrigue and grand strategies around the castle. It was in the Army of Southsward that Rockpaw first met the eventual love of his life, Brooke Briar, outside an apple orchard while he was out for a walk and she was planting seeds.
That was of course after he lost his eye in a “minor skirmish” as he calls it. In fact, it was one of the few military failures of his time; his band had been ambushed and he narrowly escaped with his life. He and Brooke shared a strange and wonderful time together in Southsward for several seasons, and their budding relationship did not seem to be halted by his military career. He had hoped to go back to Salamandastron and show his father all that he had done before crowning it with a marriage, but his father had died from sickness before he even got the chance. Rockpaw did not and will not reveal what he actually thought of this, if he thought anything at all of it. “He didn’t die like he might have wanted,” he’d say. “And I’m sorry for that.” That is the extent of Rockpaw’s apparent feelings on the matter.
After the Army was formally disbanded following the simple lack of things to go and army against, Rockpaw decided to just up and marry Brooke without wasting more time. Shortly thereafter he and Brooke found and re-opened Fort Emerald Bay, creating a southern haven for all goodbeasts needing shelter. It was there Rockpaw sired his children and found his dream raising a family and commanding a small, but formidable and well known bastion of his own.
Skills and weaponry: Rockpaw has seen all kinds of wars in his life. He is a master of navigating the sea, a tried and true tactician, and a master drill sergeant. He has skill in repairing weapons and even crafting machines of war like catapults and other engineering works (he could not personally construct them being only one beast, but he does understand the principles behind such things). He knows how to read ground to give an advantage, knows when to charge, and even when to retreat when necessary. He is a military beast above all else, and can whip a barracks into shape in the time between a commander getting up and the morning inspection of said barracks.
Rockpaw is also a formidable fighter when the need arises. His great strength combines with seasons of experience with weapons to create a formidable warrior. He knows how to use polearms, sword, shield, axes, all manner of pointy things ready to kill. He’s not as fast as some, but his strength and skill, along with his frightening endurance, make up for that. Almost anything can become a deadly weapon in his paws. Even his own body. But overall, his greatest strength is in training up the next generation, and applying a general’s mind to a battlefield situation.
Outside of warfare, Rockpaw knows how to shift and organize paperwork to a degree most can only dream about, can blacksmith adequately, and can read the sea like no other (or so he likes to think).