Thornton Hale
Sir Thornton Hale (a.k.a. Thornwood)
If I were to describe my life to some under dweller who had not already heard the tale as a child, I would most likely tell it as if it were an adventurous Romanic tale. Filled with daring escapes, enchanting lands, mysterious ruins, and foul forces working in the dark places of the world. I would tell them of my many exploits into all four of the continents and the many isles that dot this great world, I would even give them tell of the many other worlds I have seen and visited. Of far-off lands that lie far beyond the veiling mists of the Sunless Nexus, and of the land that stretches far as the eye can see, I would weave them the tale of my decent into the Abyss, and my battles with the creatures that dwell in those dark depths. And I would tell them of my twilight years when all adventures have been undertaken and all possibilities have been exhausted, when I have fully completed all things to do in the great world I will lean back in my chair and gently drift in the fine wine flavored mists of the ethereal sea and take my seat at the table of history’s greatest explorers, heroes, and mages.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
A rhomboid body shape with broad shoulders and flat chest, he is agile and fast, though his strength cannot be forgotten either. He is fighting fit and build to roam, he is thin but not in the sense of frailty or weakness.
Body Features
With olive skin, matted with thin hair upon his arms and legs. His arms show that of a man who has seen much combat and exploration in his time, while his legs are that of a cross country runner and hiker, well defined and toned. Across his body are a number of thin scars and wounds that write their own stories upon his canvas.
Facial Features
His face is thin, with pronounced cheekbones and a rigid jaw line, upon which rests a thin well groomed beard, equipped with a mustache. His hair is a long curly mess of dark brown that wafts down upon his face, just above his focused amber eyes.
Identifying Characteristics
A singular tattoo marks his body, it is a symbol of a W that rests upon his forearm, It is a symbol of belonging as he was once a member of The Wanderers, a famous adventuring party from a time long past.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
I was born in a small farming village within the heart lands of the Toraland Empire, my father was a cattle farmer, just as his father was before him and his father before that. My mother was once a member of a roaming nomadic people called the Windan, in me she gave the desire to never stay still, in my youth I would often explore the borders of our village and wander through the endless woodlands until night fell and I was forced to return home. My father would often reprimand me for my constant motion, saying I should be focused on the here and now, it was these talks that I and my father would have that cemented my desire to leave this place and be like my mother once was, a free spirit. Wandering the lands, sleeping on roadsides beneath the stars, with no one to tell me what to do or how to be. And it was on my 17th name day that I said goodbye to my mother and left for the open road. The going was hard at first, I had never been out of the village before so when I arrived at the Imperial City I was quickly enraptured in the happenings and the lives of the people who lived there. And it was here that I met the man who would change my life forever, we met in a tavern. He was standing amidst a huddle of dozens of patrons and weaving these half-drunk vagabonds a tale that they nor I, could ever have believed. He told them of a far-off land, far to the West, covered in ash and inhabited by the darkest and most brutal of peoples, cannibalistic lizard men, lecherous dark elves, greedy warmongering dwarves and hostile little people who dwell in mountains of snow and ice. After his tale I was enthralled, I begged the man to let me follow him, he then bought me a drink and told me to join his crew. His name was Captain Thorn Wood and he is the greatest man I have ever known.
Gender Identity
I am a man, though some may argue this fact, there are plenty of women and babes across the continents that will tell you the truth.
Sexuality
While I prefer a woman's touch and feel, if I'm in the right mood I may wish to practice some of my college of valor training as well.
Education
In my fourth year in Captain Thorn Wood's crew, I was given leave to go see the world and find my own experiences. I was left behind one day with a small sack of gold and the sun on my back in one of the port cities of Estafoer. During my time with the captain, I learned of his career as a bard and the existence of certain bardic colleges spread across the world. I learned from a merchant at the port that one of these colleges was in Kdosh, the neighboring kingdom. I set out with a small caravan of would-be explorers and scholars all with a similar goal as myself, to find and gain entrance to the Bard College in Kdosh. The College of Valor as they called it was a beautiful place, it was an expansive campus nestled in the heart of the capital city of Kdosh, I spent three months there learning from the bards and professors about the preservation and proliferation of the legends of old and the many heroes that helped shape the world into what it is today. But as more time passed, I realized that this way of life was not for me, while I loved keeping the stories of heroes, I loved making my own even more, and it was here that I found my true calling in life, to explore and catalog all that this world had to offer, be it geography, topography, myth, legend, kingdoms, beasts, or gods I would find and catalog them all. I found a map of all the Bard Colleges in the world in the private study of the headmaster of the College of Valor, I borrowed this along with a few other manuscripts and set off to find my new home, the College of Lore in the capital city of Stelar-Etoile, the elven kingdom in the heart of Ardath. It took almost a month and a half to reach the college but when I did, I was not disappointed, the capital of Elven culture in the world, was the capital city of Stelar-Etoile, its thin marble spires and gothic buildings gave the city a regal air that could be felt even from afar. The college itself is in the western districts of the city, just below the high palace, the campus is massive, akin to that of a small city itself, it is comprised of four buildings, the main lecture hall and faculty house, then the three dorm buildings where the students and visiting bards sleep and live between classes. I lived amongst these bards for nearly three years and achieved the rank of low master within their ranks, upon my graduation I received news that Captain Thornwood was in peril and I rushed once again to the Imperial City of the Toraland Empire. When I reached the city three months later, I could only watch as my friends and mentor were hung for high treason against the Empire, after that I took up the moniker of Thorn Wood and set out on my own to achieve my life goal. I met many spectacular and amazing people along the way, and even traveled with a few adventuring parties in my spare time.
Employment
I worked, lived and sailed with captain Thorn Wood and his crew, for four years until I struck off on my own to see the world for myself and acheive my own goals which I could not do while aboard his ship.
Accomplishments & Achievements
One of my greatest accomplishments was when I was with an adventuring party called The Wanderer's, it was at the climax of our final adventure together. We had spent years together chasing after an elusive cult leader who was attempting to ascend to lichhood through a pact with a powerful demon lord, we tracked her down to a desolate tower in the darkest reaches of the Salamander Bogs, we had to fight our way through hordes of enthralled lizard folk to reach her sanctum. When we arrived at the threshold, she had already completed the summoning ritual and called forth the avatar of the demon lord, luckily, we were able to dispatch her before the deal could be completed and she ascended into lichdom, but the demon lord revealed himself to be the true threat, he was using her to enter the material plane permanently. After a long battle it was I who spoke the sealing words and bound the demon in chains of ebony magic and flung him back to the deepest pits of the Abyss.
Failures & Embarrassments
There was once a young girl, a dragonborn girl with a strange and rare disease. She was taken from her home by persons unknown and put on a ship to be given to a cruel man who would have done gods know what to her. I took it upon myself to find this girl and return her to her family, wherever they were, I traveled with her for four years in which I saw her quickly grow from this wobbling toddler to an independent and charismatic young girl. Her name she told me was Akri, her skin was an emerald green and her eyes glowed with a lighter lime, despite all her flare and youthful fire she would tire at times, and when she tired, she would grow pale and begin to cough, the coughing eventually would worsen for a long moment until it relented, and life returned to her once more. It was on the western shores of Sorrowel, in the kingdom of Grand Jardin, in the early morning, we had just reached land fall after a long and strenuous voyage, I moored the boat and we disembarked into the wood line. We traveled in those woods for gods knows how long, until one cold afternoon, Akri fell and began to cough violently, her skin went the palest shade of green I have ever seen of the color, and her eyes lost their glow. As the coughing ceased, color did not return to her form, I held her there as the sun sank low on the horizon, her voice now horse and able to make no more than a whisper told me "Thank you.", and she died.
Years past and I learned that Akri was a young princess of the Jade Dragon Empire, she was afflicted by the Curse of Shade, a disease well known to chromatic dragonborn, it has no cure and the only thing to do with someone with this ailment is to show them as much of life as possible in their short, borrowed time. And to my dying day I do not think I shall ever forget the kindhearted, lively spirit that was Akri of The Green.
Mental Trauma
It took me almost three months to reach the city and with my newfound prestige I was easily able to talk my way into the House of Justice where my captain was being held prisoner. When I reached his cell a sight ripped from my darkest nightmares assailed my eyes, my captain was shackled and chained to a dark moldering stone wall, his face was beaten in and caked with hardening blood which still vaguely glistened in the dim torch light of the dungeon we were in, his body was once a well-toned temple, an example of what that life could give you, what it was now was a frail sunken parody of the former. He spoke in a hushed gurgled voice as nearly all his teeth had been removed and his tongue swollen from what could only be the ingestion of a scolding substance. I asked him why he was here and why he appeared to have been beaten half to death and tortured, he answered me in short strained bursts, he said that in the years I was gone he and his crew had been contracted by a high noble of Toraland to collect and deliver and special and secret package from a kingdom in Sorrowel, they were half way back with the shipment when the box began to erupt with an inner banging, worried they opened the crate to reveal a small dragonborn child, worrying for the child's safety we left it in the care of some trusted friends on one of the islands in the Devil's Chain. We came back to get answers but when he made port in the city our ship was immediately boarded and searched by crown guards. Once they found the crate empty, they rounded up the crew and signaled for the noble to come aboard. They accused us of high treason against the Toraland Empire, then they beat me half to death and chained the entire crew. The trial was a week later, where we were all found guilty and sentenced to be hung one after another with me having the last spot on the list, so far, they have hung nine out the twelve of the crew. It will not be long until I am up. What the captain predicted came to pass, despite my best efforts for a retrial, I watched day after day as each one of my friends and former companions were hung, and before the week's end I watched the life leave the captains eyes as he hung limp from the hangmen's rope.
Intellectual Characteristics
logical, tactful, precarious, and courageous, is how I best like to describe myself
Morality & Philosophy
The world is what we make of it, it is not the job of one man or woman to make it a better place, it is up to us all.
Wealth & Financial state
In my life I have amassed a great sum of knowledge and wealth, both from book sales, royalties, gifts, and adventuring plunder. Of course all of this wealth will be bequeathed to my many children across the world and also donated to the many organizations and kingdoms that have helped me in my journey.
Alignment
Chaotic Good
Species
Ethnicity
Honorary & Occupational Titles
High Master of Lore, Honorary Thane of the Isle, High Scholar of The Draconic Archives,
Age
57
Date of Birth
17th of Redfall
Children
Gender
male
Eyes
amber, measured
Hair
long, curly, dark brown
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
tanned, spotless
Height
6'
Weight
163
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