Player: Keith Jones
Character Name: Salus
Alias/Nickname: Auril
Race: Huvel
Age/Date of Birth: 35/Frostdown 6, 3084
Apparent Age: 16 to 18
Sex: Male
Height: 5' 6"
Weight: 142
Hair Color/Style: Salus's hair runs down to his shoulders and is a lustrous brown in color. His bangs cover his eyes and his hair is styled in a manner to hide a fair amount of his face from prying eyes.
Eyes: Dark Green
Marks/Scars/Tattoos: Salus is covered with a few scars although not too many of them are usually visible. His ears have been cut in a fashion so that they resemble that of a humans, the scar tissue is not too distinguishable from the skin of the ear. Yet it is notably darker where the points once resided, un-naturally so. His body is covered with a few sword wounds as well as scars of gashes, the most notable of which being a long scar running from left shoulder blade to the right side of his hip. Two crossed over scars on his lower right leg, and a scar that starts on the fleshy part of his right shoulder and appears in matching on the other-side, a mark of impalement. Lastly a notable scar runs all the way around his right arm in a circular fashion, looping in on itself, as if someone had tried to take off his whole arm.
Physical Appearance: Salus appears to be a rather healthy individual, his body is of a medium build and it shows that he trains and works his body quite regularly. His hands are those of an artisan, delicate, but worn and hardened at the same time. His wrists follow this description yet appear very nimble and dexterous, an attribute required for his work. Despite approaching the muscular side for a huvel, his body is still encased a bit in youth, softness touches here and there on his frame which is somewhat wiry, but very solid. Back, stomach, hip, and leg muscles are well developed as his arms. Clearly showing that he is no stranger to physical labor in the slightest, looking to be the craftsman that would more oft go to get their own materials and negotiate with land owners rather than buy them off a market. His facial features are soft and endearing albeit worn already to a slight degree, being more relaxed then angular and being more average looking than dashing or overtly attractive.
Occupation/Class: Warrior/Artisan
Magic/Magite: Light/Spirit
Carried Possessions: Salus wears two rings on his pointer fingers, the jewels of which are simple and not overly elaborate, but are indeed made of sapphire. The rings are a bit on the unusual side of craftsmanship, perhaps being made by the artisan himself and a discerning eye would note that they are of very good quality despite their plain appearance. On the outside of the bands lie etched in a calligraphic manner, "Janea" on the left ring and "Edwin" on the right ring. In addition he carries a hip pack filled with his tools of the trade, at least the more delicate ones that can not fit in his knapsack without causing them harm, his ryn, a fair amount from his work and craft stored in a pouch within the pack. In this pack also are two small books covered in leather to protect them from the elements, containing information and techniques of his trades that he has compiled over the years. Last, but not least he holds on his belt a strange knife in which he uses constantly for cutting and eating food, the metal having a strange red tint to it that may be unsettling to some. In fact it is the knife which was used as a tool to give him his curse.
Clothing and Armor: Salus dresses in the same fashion as the weapons in which he carries. A plain dark green snug fitting aketon hugs to his upper and pretty well muscled body, the clothing obviously tailored for him but humble nonetheless as small stitching in the clothing shows that perhaps he or another modified it that way. The aketon is somewhat free flowing and allows for practical motion. Upon his waist he wears a thick leather belt with a plainly constructed, but elegant in its own right belt buckle made to resemble the crescent moon. Tied underneath the belt is a thick pair of cloth pants, treated with a tar like substance on the outside to be water resistant. The armor in which Salus wears is rather plain its construction, but well made and sturdy, the man clad in a mixture of steel and plate in a rather Spartan fashion. The armor is well worn and scratched yet still polished to as much as a sheen as possible as to keep it from rusting or growing weak with poor upkeep. The metal covers his chest and his shoulders, thus not restricting him too much with weight. Hard leather covers his upper arms, as well as his torso and legs. His boots are lightly armored with plates. His more notable armor are his two bracers, magite embedded into each of the steel constructs. The light magite is affixed to the left bracer while the spirit to the right. Salus also carries a light plate helmet and a buckler, but rarely dons these two pieces of equipment.
Weapons: Practicality lies within Salus's weapons, seeming to prefer function over looking glamorous. He is armed with a mace strapped to his belt on the opposite side of his more sensitive belongings. To his back is strapped a war hammer, the shafts of both weapons being metal in their construction. No markings adorn his weapons save for wear of use. Technically his knife could be a weapon, but the object which bound his curse to him combined with his profession makes it impossible for him to wield it as so. The knife is not magical in nature despite its odd appearance.
Likes: Animals, art, cooking, craftsmanship, strange objects, grapes, reading, counting stars and tracing shapes in them.
Dislikes: Most of those who belong to the elitist or separate classes, be it adventurers like paladins, and valkrie, to social like nobles and so forth, red meat, bad examples of art and craft, people who lack passion or commitment for no reason, forceful people, his random bad luck.
Merits: Strong, very artistically talented, patient, independent, devoted.
Flaws: Cold at times, blunt, callous, cursed, practical, solemn, slow to trust those he dislikes and occasionally prone to being eccentric.
Worst Fear: Swords, Salus is cursed so that he can never use a blade, needless to say he is not particularly fond of holding or wielding such weapons. Just holding such a weapon on his person can cause him to be unsettled enough to not sleep and regain mana, the stress great enough to eat at his mind. Other than this logical fear induced by his curse he fears getting too close to others, not very well practiced in being close to many people.
Personality: Cold, remorseless, heartless, and distant these are a few of the things in which one may think when they first lie their eyes on Salus when he is not settled anywhere. His appearance in the way he carries himself befits that of one of a dubious nature and his quiet disposition does nothing to help this in any fashion. This usually leads to confusion as his facial features are gentle and inviting in contrast. Straight and to the point, Salus thinks both like a person seasoned in life combined with a strange childlike view on the world that makes him a bit eccentric, a common trait for most artists. The latter part of his personality coming from his fascination with the art found in even the most mundane objects of the world around him. It would take a keen eye to notice that despite his silent and somewhat cruel attitude towards others, that he is surprisingly noble and kind. The love and coddling in which others may give replaced with a love much akin to a lion tossing ones young over a cliff, he is the type to make people confront their fears, to get in their face about it, and make them reconcile and become stronger. His personality easily identifies him as ones who's life has been some sort of hell. Furthermore, his eyes having an unusual steady quality to them despite his race and the problems they generally have with society.
However, when not actively adventuring and campaigning, Salus is strangely different when involved in his craft. While still remaining somewhat cold towards those older than himself, or to those who carry themselves in an elitist fashion, his quiet air about him can be almost conceived as one of unusual serenity and tranquility more akin to an elsyven. Somewhat saint like, his unusual patience shows as he will listen and try to help, albeit clumsily and not in the most graceful manner those around him, still being somewhat practical and not giving people padded advice. While his words are not the most elegant, his eyes definitely take on a calmness and peacefulness well beyond his years making it easy for people to associate with him. This is also how he acts regardless of where he is in the company of those he knows well. He occasionally, like many devoted artisans, will wrap himself in his work from time to time much akin to a wizard pouring over a new spell book or magical theory, growing just as studious.
History: Salus was born into a rather simple yet moderately rich lifestyle at first glance. However upon further study it could be seen that he was not born into a typical family, but rather one that stressed above all else martial prowess and admittance into the more fancy martial professions in which the world had to offer. While his siblings indeed did become things great in the world, primarily Paladins, Wizards, and one on his way to be a bishop, Salus lacked the drive to excel in a martial or spiritual art. In his early childhood his heart was too soft to even hit one with a stick, and as he grew a bit older his heart was not in it to hurt others. Seeing this his parents tried to teach him magic, yet he failed where his older sister succeeded rather brilliantly, mastering at least the basic use of magite for four different elements by the time she was well into adulthood, one of which being light while Salus struggled and while he showed signs he could use magite after ten years of rather brutal study, he could do "Nothing more than minor elemental weapon spells." his mother would say. From childhood, Salus's mind seemed to be devoted wholly to something else, and that something else was the craftsmanship of objects, in which he would usually do at its peak while he was supposed to be repairing his armor. His desire to become a paladin was secondary at best despite his families wishes for him to follow in one of his older brothers footsteps that he bore a striking resemblance to save the age difference. He formed a somewhat symbolic relationship with the family blacksmith and weapon smith and grew in the arts of making small objects like rings and such from an adept at an early age. Then eventually became a true craftsman by the age of fifteen...his works taking on a unique spin on the contemporary by the age of sixteen. He was somewhat modest about his creations and hiding them from his family, but deep down happy that he had success in something since his growth in both magic and physical arts moved at a snails pace compared to his siblings. By this point it was clear that the boy could not become a paladin, or anything else great in the eyes of the family. The gods seemed to see fit to not give the boy the talent to use holy magite for the former case or the refined skill for other cases. Therefore his parents decided to at least try to make a skilled swordsman out of the boy after seeing the caliber of blade that he produced with the family smith. To them it was one glint of promise after sixteen years of being let down.
Luck was never really on the boy's side as he continued to grow, while he did become quite disciplined in the eyes of his peers, his rate of growth was below the families standards, who excelled. This led to being thrown out from the family at the age of nineteen with nothing more than the clothes on his back and the sword in which his family issued to him. They had recognized the young huvel as an adult as far as maturity went, but a failure as a family member. Allowing him to keep his sword as a sign of pity and that one day he might at least become competent enough to be called a warrior to the standards of a common man, even if he was a failure of one in the eyes of the family. At the age of twenty, Salus had found work as a artisan however his life took a rather sharp turn. A wizard, who was somewhat down on his luck assaulted Salus based solely on the fact that he was not human and happened to be the first that he saw, surprising him in a dark alleyway an getting the upper hand on the youth with the use of his magite. The battle was rather short and almost cost Salus his life yet the wizard came out on top. He then cut the tips of his ears with a knife that almost looked as if it were perpetually covered in blood, the blade red and menacing in its own right but not as menacing as the curse in which he inflicted on the huvel child after he recognized the family he belonged to due to his swords crest. The wizard was satisfied with this, telling the youth that if he was going to try to flaunt and look mostly human...he might as well alter the parts of his body to at least look acceptable in a human society ,dropping his knife and disappearing into the night. From that night on Salus was stripped of his ability to use the sword, or any other blade who`s purpose it was to take another`s life. Even though he had trained in blunt weapons it was a crushing blow to him as the sword was more sentimental than anything, having painstakingly went through years of hardship and modification to make it into a modest, but very fine weapon. His sword was symbolic to him as a sign of adulthood as it was in his family, being stripped of his ability to use it undermined the martial values that he grew up with. Even if he did not like to hurt others, he still understood that it was a possible means to protect those he was close to. If he had lost it fighting to protect his values or family it would have been one thing, but losing his ability to use it to a curse to the youth was unforgivable as it was something he poured his whole being into to preserve what he thought was right. Salus could still use sharp tools for the purpose of his craft, but his mind would be assaulted with pain the moment he held a sword with the intent to use it in just about any fashion, even with the idle thought of wielding it. Just about all he could do was place a blade from one place to another. In accordance to his family's rules despite being cast out, he returned the sword respectfully as he was now unfit to use it, the action shifting the families attitude even further to pity and a degree of disgust toward him. Although a few scattered people at least held him in a somewhat more honorable regard as a person with the action.
The only small spark of luck in which Salus had was the fact that he was picked up by the local church as an orphan. Despite an increase in Salus's already bad luck which happened after the curse was laid on him, the huvel managed to find work. He made various knick knacks for the church of a strange degree of middle to high quality... making small symbols of prayer out of metals, stones, and woods both non precious and precious. In this time he was trained to be a warrior in a more formal capacity since he was not able to serve as cleric. With his training as a child this was an easier transition. He would occasionally serve as a hand or a guard for pilgrims traveling here and there as part of a group of clerics, occasionally a bishop or a paladin who also helped to serve guard the commoners. In this time Salus learned to be truly self sufficient, and despite having made two friends in which he lost in recent years do to death and disease, grew somewhat colder and distant in his somewhat hectic and irregular lifestyle. While he was still kind at heart, his very soul had grown a bit more weathered and jaded. His artistic abilities continued to improve and his random crafts started to be known by those of considerable wealth and an artistic sense although not overly so. His church pressured to coerce Salus into making such items, the huvel bid those in which had helped to raise him since his curse was laid upon him farewell and head off on his own. He left officially at a point at the end of a pilgrimage and into the wilds beyond at the age of thirty one. Since then the young huvel has been working as an escort and missionary, stopping to practice his craft for a few weeks in various places, expanding his knowledge in the fields of crafting jewelry to make his work more unique. In the world of such things, the huvel is simply known as Auril, the signature he has used for some of his works.