Rikhard

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Information

Player: Rikhard

Character Full Name: Rikhard Walt Forbory

Character In-Game Name: Rikhard

Nickname(s): He is often called "Rik", short for Rikhard.

Association(s): The Alliance.

Race: Human

Class: Hunter

Skills and Abilities:

  • Knowledgeable: After several years of survival and learning, be it hunting or fishing, setting camp or traveling, Rikhard learned how to make the best out of what was available to him. Knowledgeable in flora and fauna, as well as survival skills such as trapping, hunting and foraging, Rikhard taught himself that repetition leads to perfection, and that perfection leads to survival. As such, he is proficient in hunting, cooking, skinning and scavenging, and fishing.
  • Scavenger: From years of picking up herbs, roots and plants, Rikhard has developed a sharp eye for what may be useful, and what may be deadly. Intrinsically, he has learned where to strike to get the most meat, or how to cut the fur to attain the best hide. As a result, Rikhard collects more, higher quality resources than usual.
  • Sharpshooter: Coming from a childhood of adaptability and survival, Rikhard is quite skilled in longbows, shortbows and knives. Being aware that a failed draw of the bow could result in death, Rikhard practices every day, developing his reflexes and aim.
  • Fisher: Rikhard is a determined fisherman, and what he doesn't make up in patience, he certainly makes up in tenacity. Proficient in spear-fishing and hand-fishing, as well as angling, he makes the best of what he has got, trying never to exhaust the environment he is in.
  • Cook: Rikhard is learned in cooking, although not as greatly as he likes to believe. From skewered fish to smoked meats, he knows his way around a campfire, and more importantly, into a fellow companion's stomach!

Age: 31 years of age.

Sex: Male.

Hair: Rikhard's hair is of a light brown, with some darker tones blended in.

Eyes: Light brown, moving towards hazelnut.

Weight: He is 188 lbs.

Height: Rikhard highs 6 feet and 1 inch.

Appearance

Usual Garments/Armor: Rikhard is a simple, modest person. As such, his attire is reflected by his personality and his gut feeling; Always taking in consideration the environment he is in, as well as his surroundings, Rikhard tries to blend in, avoiding unwanted attention. Staying hidden, be it under the shade of leaves or on tree tops, and adapting his senses are important things to take in account. As a result, Rikhard's garments consist on two main outfits; One used for hunting, and another for casual wear. His casual attire is used when visiting towns or other places of leisure, and besides the hat that sits on his head, it varies from location to location.

Rikhard's hunting outfit consists on bland, camouflaging colors. Underneath a dirty, cross-stitched shirt, he covers his body with small bandages and patches of cloth, which prevent body odors from revealing his location, as well as prevent wounds from gashing; Once done, he proceeds to equipping his archery gloves and sturdy bracers, both made out of thin leather, which allow for a tight, firm grip of the bow. Afterwards, Rikhard equips his worn, partially lacerated linen trousers from crawling and sneaking. His weapon of choice is a sturdy longbow, which he treasures dearly, and a short knife with which he skins his prey.

Personality

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral.

Rikhard is a determined, modest, but somewhat complex human. Ever since he was a child, Rikhard always admired the solitary, immense feeling of forests. For even longer, he had been trying to find a place he could call home, a haven of sorts, where life was as simple as an arrow reaching its mark. A place where there were no pressures, or politics. However, when Rikhard reached adulthood, he realized that the only place where he could live his days in peace, basking in the sweet embrace of freedom, would be in the wilderness. As such, Rikhard calls the wild forests, the harsh jungles, and the arid wastelands his home; the one true place for his heart.

From a moral standpoint, he does not get himself into needless fights, but If he believes fighting is a necessity, he will always stand firmly to his decisions; Be it an arrogant "monologue" or a struggle for survival, Rikhard always follows his instinct, keen on surviving, on what action to take. Driven by his motivation to stay alive, he feels an obligation to be in control. As such, he has a rather possessive personality, and when In a situation when others are involved, he will often times try to lead, taking inspiration in his instincts.

He is also rather cautious, and If under attack or in situations in which his life is under danger, he chooses to think about what to do, rather than charging ahead, rushing decisions, and making clumsy and risky choices. Rikhard is rather quiet, and often times prefers not to talk. Nevertheless, he does enjoy company, and will get along fine with fellow humans and other races, so long as their company doesn't encroach on his beliefs. That is to say, Rikhard lives by his own values, morals and traditions, learning from his own experiences throughout life. He values experimentation and discovery, be it through trial and error or reading more than theory.

History

Rikhard was born in a small cottage, located in the heart of Elwynn Forest. Son to a hunter and a herbalist, in his heart, Rikhard always looked up to his parents' work, later aspiring to become a hunter like his father. Every day, lumber was chopped for fire, and meat was cooked for food. Life was simple and modest. Nevertheless, darker times arrived when Rikhard was only two years of age. The First War had began, and with it, the arrival of Orcs in the Eastern Kingdoms. The skies turned blood-red, full of ash and cinder, and so Rikhard and his family decided to make the best they could out of the situation. Rikhard's father, with a spirit unbroken by war, decided that it would be imperative to elude any scouts approaching the cottage. A plan was devised, with the purpose of ensuring their safety, no matter the cost. His father knew the house would be spotted in a matter of days, and just like that, after moving all they could to a nearby cave, the house was set on fire. Nothing but a pile of rubble and ashes stood where the logs once laid. Rikhard's father wished to trick the scouts in believing none was around; that everyone of that household had been captured. Or worse. Rikhard and his father returned to the cave hastily, now covered with leaves, branches and shrubs, almost invisible to the naked eye, from afar. Too innocent to understand, too young to comprehend, he would spend hours on end, looking at the skies and counting the shades of red that would blend, as he heard the shouts of rage and panic from far away echoing in the cave. Passed the time, ever so slow, and before he realized, the conflict saw an ending.

Back to where the cottage used to stand, Rikhard eyed the burnt logs of oak. Normality had come once more, and with it, It was time to rebuild; This time, with a basement for emergencies. Months after, Rikhard would often set off to explore and discover the wilds, trying to study all that was around him; the plants that grew on the old tree bark, the birds that sang from the highest branch, the fish that jumped in the sight of company. He was a curious child, with a thirst for understanding and knowledge. However, Rikhard's curiosity would oftentimes startle his parents, as he was as likely to disappear into the forest as the bird were to sing. Tirelessly.

The years passed and Rikhard grew older. His father would take him hunting with him, and at the age of six, Rikhard was taught how to wield and shoot a bow. Alongside his father, he would find the different roots, name the different animals and learn the basic skills of a hunter. One fateful rainy day, in the earliest of mornings, he sneaked into the forest, and got lost. Unsure what to do, he kept on walking, trying to make his way back. In the mist of the morning, all of a sudden, Rikhard was confronted with a wolf. Frightened and fearful, he tried to run, only to be cornered by the beast. As fate would have it, as the animal attacked, Rikhard's eyes clenched hard, only to open to his father's blood before him. His father had found him, following Rikhard's footsteps on the ground, just in time to launch himself at the wolf. The bite mark had set in the flesh of the father, ripping through veins of age and experience, sinking in the heart of the old man. Strong bite as it was, it had been the last, as Rikhard unsheathed the small dagger from his father's belt and struck the wolf's eye with it. Covered in blood of beast and father, Rikhard promised himself he would become a better hunter, and learn from his mistakes. He grieved for his father's death, and he blamed himself, knowing such fate would have been avoiding If he had tracked the beast.

With his father's death, so did his mother come to pass short months after. Suddenly, before he realized it, Rikhard was sitting in an empty house. He was not in company anymore. In his eyes, life was not fair. It was not just. The next months he would live in solitude, hunting as his father had taught him, and improving his skills and senses. He knew every nook and cranny, every twig and sapling of the forest. He learned to call the herbs by their names, and the animals by their shape. The days passed slower and slower, but, by luck or fate, a small caravan, led by a huntsman, traveled by the road near Rikhard's house towards Stormwind. The huntsman, after hours of long conversation with the fragile child, full of crying and slobber, managed to convince the boy to go with him, going from town to town, hunting in between. They both set off to Stormwind. It was a noble city, with walls stretching into the sky, towers piercing through the heavens; But it was not his place - Where was the greens of leaf and shrub, the brown of oak and the gray of stone? This is no place for me.

Done with business in Stormwind, the child and the huntsman carried their journey. Hadgar was his name, and both soon became familiar with one another. Rikhard did not trust the man, but he knew deep down that his survival had already started, and it had started the moment he had accepted to leave with Hadgar. In the years to come, all throughout his adolescence, and into his adulthood, he was taught how to read, how to cook; He was told how to lay traps, and he blossomed patience; Rikhard understood that everything had a symbiotic relation between death and life, and he learned to respect death. Newly learned in the ways of survival, he saw that life was more than just a transient state; it was a game of survival. Before Rikhard realized it, he had become a man of the world, a hunter of the woods, and it was time to set off and explore the world.

Departure is never easy, but it is necessary. Rikhard bid farewell to his friend, his teacher, his "father", who raised him as his own, and decided to head for a fresh start, on his own. He would stay by small settlements, searching for other wanderers and engaging in small chat and gossip to learn about his surroundings. In Rikhard's travels, he would take any requests he could find on boards, or taverns. Money was needed, but not as a necessity. Just as a means to move around. His requests consisted on small tasks, such as gathering certain plants, bringing meats and skins for sales. Stability had been found, and yet... Rikhard was not content. He desired more! He wished to explore the world!

In the present days, Rikhard simply lives his life as true and fair as an arrow, living each moment as his last, and traveling the world in search of knowledge and experience.