Youngest scion of House Taloth, rulers of Surrowdar in Cannavin, Faran Taloth is scarcely a man, but he is as self assured and accomplished as many grown men, and more cavalierly rebellious than most dare. Since his father has not named him heir, and he has been left with the run of his family estate for the bulk of his youth, Faran has made sure that his time has been thoroughly misspent.
Description
Faran is a typical Ralstaan, with pale blond hair, equally pale blue eyes and olive skin. He is small and slim, even for one of the folk of the Knives. His jaw is square and youthful, and his beard is thin and still youthful, and high cheeks and brows framing a gazed that is home to an intensity and interrogative intellect that seem to have come from the eyes of a much older man. To those who do not know Faran this is sometimes disconcerting. As a nobleman Faran's speech is formal, polite and well trained, and while he attires himself in simple peasant garb in preference to the finery his fathers wealth would afford him, even his gait sets him apart from the villeins of Surrowdar.
Personality
Unlike many people who love books and hunger for knowledge, Faran also loves people, taking a real interest in their lives and stories, from his loftiest peers to the humblest villein. Many called him a gossip for this, but Faran always replies that the flow of history is to be found not only in the never-ending tales of battles and kings, but in the day-to-day lives of countless people who lived, and are living it. His silver tongue and capricious charm make him near impossible to dislike, and let him get away with saying and doing things that would land any other youth in irons.
History
Faran has spent almost his entire life at his family's keep - a bustling place where the patriarchs of the six local lodges, seeking to conduct diplomacy, mingled with budding trade cabals seeking sponsors, and the agents of the Voeres and the Mavyns, negotiating treaties to maintain the uneasy peace of Cannavin, while jostling for advantage over one another. Growing up, he always preferred to find a nice, secluded place to devour books than spend hours learning the layout of his father's estates; rather sneak into the kitchens and galleries to gossip with the servants than sweat under the tender mercies of the sword-master. Even as a boy, Faran always knew the ideal turn of phrase to melt the kitchen-mistresses heart and earn himself an extra honeycake; was clever enough to talk himself out of any chores or lessons he did not enjoy and run off to play with his numerous friends, both common and noble, down by the pond, and he could ferret out every guard's secret from their friends and families, to make them look the other was when he borrowed a few choice tomes from his father's library.
In his elder years he also used his silvered tongue to wriggle his way into the warm embraces of many of the young ladies of Brooke Taloth Hold. Although his face is fair enough, Faran's real talent lay in knowing exactly the right words, the right snatch of poetry, the perfect stumble-tongued confession of affection, the right gift to make any woman open her arms to him. However in his most recent years, no longer challenged by these youthful pursuits, Faran has turned his mind to darker fare. Acquiring an inconspicuous book of cracked red leather from a less than reputable source, he has delved hungrily, without the guidance or caution that any good master would instil in him, into the ancient lore of potions and elixirs therein. Though he knows that even the alchemist, a distrusted and foul magician, is no path for a nobleman, the lure of the craft's secrets has proven irresistible.
Associations
The only person who seems immune to Faran's charm is his father, Arren; Baron Taloth. Despite Faran's best efforts, he is often forced by his father to put his attentions to the 'proper arts of the nobleman', sword skills, state craft and bellowing orders to the 'riffraff'. Faran learned just enough of these things to keep his father, or rather his father's stern Reeve Fearghas, from beating him, but always managed to sneak off to be with his books or friends. He only avoided the paige service his elder sister Branwen was required to take as the Taloth heir, because his father feared that Faran would bring shame on the Taloth name with his performance. His swordmaster is the aged soldier Gallagher and his statecraft teacher is the Senechal Duncan. Faran's closest friends are a tight knit group who have been together since childhood. The servants son Aden, the blacksmith's apprentice Lane, and his cousin Bartel Taloth have all grown up together, united by Faran's mischief.
Statistics
| Race | sex race | Skills | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | category (n) | Skill Points: spent/total | |||||||
| Profession | profession (n) | skill | value | speciality | value | ||||
| Faith | faith (n) | ||||||||
| Class | description (n/n) | ||||||||
| Statistics | Inventory | ||||||||
| Agility | n | weapon | attack | damage | reach | ||||
| Beauty | n | ||||||||
| Constitution | n | ||||||||
| Dexterity | n | ||||||||
| Endurance | n | armour | protection | hardness | durability | ||||
| Initiative | n | ||||||||
| Strength | n | tools | skill | modifier | |||||
| Intelligence | n | attire/misc | notes | ||||||
| Knowledge | n | ||||||||
| Perception | n | ||||||||
| Will | n | ||||||||
| Wisdom | n | ||||||||
| Bravery | n | ||||||||
| Charm | n | ||||||||
| Leadership | n | ||||||||
| Negotiation | n | ||||||||
| Luck | n | ||||||||
| Traits | |||||||||
| Plan | Bipedal | ||||||||
| Cycle | Diurnal | ||||||||
| Diet | Omnivore | ||||||||
| Inferior ESP | 2 | ||||||||
Character Traits
Chimera's Song (2)
There is something inexplicably alluring about the elemental secrets of the world to Faran. Otherwise idle and without direction, he has found his appetite for the lore of the alchemist insatiable. And the fact that it is forbidden, and somehow corrupt, only serves to make his delving all the more appealing.
Noble Brat (1)
Faran is of noble birth, and this gives him the right to do what he wants, when he wants. The problem is that this is not tempered with a nobleman's duty, because it is Faran's sister, and not he, that is destined to rule in her father's stead. This has given Faran a sense of entitlement, but also an astounding bravado.
Son of Taloth (2)
Faran is a son of the ruling Taloth line, second in line to his father's throne, and even though he is little committed to his noble heritage, except its comforts and privelages, he still enjoys all the benefits and suffers all the disadvantages of his fated birth. The subjects of Taloth are his subjects, its allies are his allies, and its foes are his foes.