Appearance

Physical Description

A once muscular body now partially faded in paunch of post-career ennui

Body Features

Tanned skin, large feet

Facial Features

Hardened jaw, hooked nose, collar-length beard. Brown eyes. Shoulder-length brown hair pulled back into a bun.

Identifying Characteristics

Winning smile.

Physical quirks

Is right handed but favors the left when wielding a sword or other weapons.

Apparel & Accessories

Standard tunic, old sandchasing uniform, sandals, boots, etc.

Specialized Equipment

Glaive, armor

Mentality

Personal history

Any Nioan worth their salt in the spirit of this land knows its greatest sport. From the Marrow Desert to the tip of Iskendra, sandchasing is the soul of the nations that make it up. For centuries the bravest among us have carried that soul, harnessing the strength of desert and riding into its pall of death, winning glory and stirring the most hardened of hearts.
 
Though it’s golden era has since passed, it’s greatest champion still lives. Berosh Irehmet, they called him, Shaker of the Shanindar, the Red Racer, the Breakneck Beard. The first to successfully land a Twin-Serpent Feint and only Dwarf to lead the Reds on the eve of Emperor Orestes Emmanuel Dardanos III's birthday, Berosh Irehmet was the hero of Iskendra, his beard painted on every wall in the Sandchase Arena, his name known to more than all save the Emperor’s. And to all who know of his triumphs, they too know of his fall. A freak accident during a race on the Day of Fortunes cut his legendary career short, as injury led to replacement and a reluctant retirement.
 
Who knows of Berosh Irehmet and his goings since, his image inexplicably scrubbed from the halls of the Sandchase Arena, his name unrighteously forgotten? Only I know, though likely I would not were I not he.
 
Born in the Shanindar to a dead mother and a drunken soak of a father, I was sent away to a servant house on the other end of Nioa, to work as a yardboy for the patrician Avner Mehemence. A nobleman of regard among the Young Reds party, Avner financed the wages of their sandchasing team, and maintained the upkeep of their quicksand track, which I was tasked to rake and keep clear of debris. I grew up watching the Reds practice, the greatest sandchasing team to ever skim the desert, though I was not allowed to attend their races. Every once and awhile, one of the chasers, Jerhema, would let me stand on the sand board with her as she guided the seals along the track. Eventually she let me steer myself, and though her lead seal Deviltooth was bonded with her, he let me guide him with her encouragement. And so I practiced, bit by bit until I could race Deviltooth nearly as fast as Jerhema, and Avner, learning where I slipped off to after my duties, came to watch me and suggested I start as an alternate as a way of paying my keep under him. Race by race I worked my way up, earning a freedom I had never known and a reputation as well. I outclassed prospects and veterans alike. My political endorsements were notable, my name sold trick potions of vigor, my face flew on banners. Then, well, the accident happened. In a moment of hesitation, my lead seal, Ballista, wavered on a tight turn during the final laps of a qualifying race. The momentum of my board and the side seals drove us into the quicksand and flipped end over end. I remember the suspense of weightless air underneath me as the wall raced towards me, and then nothing. I woke up in a recovery bed. Ballista, I was told, was killed by the accident. The injury disqualified the Reds and me from the race. I spent months nursing a tear in my shoulder and few broken ribs. By the time I recovered, they had a new Dwarf, Hemek Djorian. I retired quietly and I vanished from the game.
 
So where am I now? On the last of my coin, I’ve travelled around Nioa, tavern to tavern, occasionally booked for birthday parties or large feasts, but there’s less and less of that now. Everywhere I go it seems folks aren’t looking for heroes, just simple sellswords, so I’ve started practicing with a few polearms and drafted up some prices. I hear that that other Dwarf Hemek has taken to a new profession as well. Invested his earnings in the military (generic enough?) well after retiring and came out richer and more influential than nearly any Dwarf in Iskendra, the rumors tell. Blood money if you ask me.

Education

Basic, home-schooled.

Employment

Sell sword, former sandchaser

Accomplishments & Achievements

First to successfully land a Twin-Serpent Feint and only Dwarf to lead the Reds on the eve of Emperor Orestes Emmanuel Dardanos III's birthday

Failures & Embarrassments

A freak accident during a race on the Day of Fortunes cut my legendary career short, as injury led to replacement and a reluctant retirement.

Mental Trauma

Fear of public failure, obscurity.

Intellectual Characteristics

Knowledge of sandchasing trivia, rituals and technique.

Morality & Philosophy

I value heroism and fame, both earned righteously. The opportunity for adventure, and for the dream that tales will one day be told of them is greater than any amount of coin could mean to me, though adventures with gold are often great ones told.

Taboos

Extremely superstitious, especially about offending Qingu and Zwakhasis.

Known Languages

Common, Dwarf

Personality

Motivation

I hope to restore my good name in the annals of history and long to feel the spirit of adventure I once did as a sandchaser. I’d also like to give my ex-manager a piece of my mind.

Savvies & Ineptitudes

Great at sandchasing, not so great at subtlety.

Likes & Dislikes

Loves cheese cake and gelato. Hates coffee.

Virtues & Personality perks

Confidence, courage.

Vices & Personality flaws

Insecure.

Hygiene

Well groomed beard

Social

Birthplace

Shanindar

Current Residence

The Mashiq

Wealth & Financial state

Lower-middle class.

Family Ties

Estranged from father.

Religious Views

Believer in the Heavenly Council and favors Qingu and Zwakhasis.

Social Aptitude

Performer, show-off, noble knight.