Rak Merchison

Name: Rak Merchinson
Nickname: The Phoenix. A mainstay from his gladiatorial days, and the term usually given to him because of his poncho.
Age: 18
Apparent Age: 21
Gender: Male (Caucasian)
Race: Human
Height: 5’ 7” ft.
Weight: 155 lbs. (70 kilograms)
Eye color: Light Green
Hair color/style: Black. It is never combed, usually it looks windblown or unkempt, and comes down slightly past his ears.
Skin color/Complexion: Light tanned skin, darker in areas with scars.
Theme songs: Ihojin No Yaiba, The Wanderer, and My Name is Nobody


History: Rak was born as the only son of a wealthy but disinterested merchant living in a major port. His father left him completely to the care of his mother, often abandoning his family for months and years at a time with no prior notice. His mother took care of him, teaching him things like reading, writing, arithmetic, etiquette, history, and morality. They were all each other had, and grew very close. Rak was extremely eager to learn and obey his mother as a result.

At the age of 7, while his father was gone on another voyage, a gang of thugs broke into his home, killed his mother, and took him to sell as a slave. He was taken far away, across an ocean to the country of Yaevin, before being auctioned off to a gladiatorial arena in Deghrin. There he was given a harsh schooling in the realities of combat, barely surviving his first year. He did not accept his fate at first, living in mental denial that this was really happening to him.

During that year he lost a match to a cruel elf, who instead of mercifully killing him, began to torture him, and cut out his tongue so that he could not cry out for help. He never forgot that experience, and never lost a match afterwards, fully accepting what fate had bestowed. He grew to become the most skilled gladiator in the nation, learning swordplay and martial arts from foes he faced and killed. Eventually he was able free himself from his cruel existence by earning the mercy of the Emperor (and because he slew half of the arena guards trying to escape) at 15.

Rak left the land for the Wildlands, returning to Deghrin two years later with the blessed sword Exxacus. He frequents the taverns, not ever to drink, but where he gets bodyguarding contracts, and this provides him a good living. On occasion he ventures off into the wilderness to seek adventure, for he cannot stand a trivial, mundane life.

During one such excursion, he met a girl named Natasha, and the two set off to hatch a dragon egg with telepathic powers, affectionately named Pyre. Fighting off an assassin group called the Conclave, and braving all sorts of dangers and hardship, the two finally hatched the egg by hurling it into a massive volcano. After these events, Rak received his mark from the grateful dragon, and left both Pyre and Natasha to their destiny.

Appearance: His jaw is strongly built, adding to his head’s square structure. It is marked by unkempt stubble, and covered in scars. His light-green eyes are of average size, and give off a sense of determination and mistrust. His nose is greek-like, but less pronounced and more concave. Rak’s hair comes slightly past his ears, and is uncombed, but straight. His body overall is very lean and muscular, having to fight for his life everyday; his skin is light tan, the hot sun beating down on the arena has made its mark. All over his body are scars varying in size and length, reminders of fights he has survived. A special mark, one given to him by a dragon, is emblazoned on his left hand.

Rak wears brown, knee-high riding boots (akin to Link's); these have shinguards on the inside. Rather baggy, tan pants are tucked into his boots and held up by a brown leather belt. He wears a tan, long-sleeved shirt made of wool. A large, dusty-green poncho sits over it, which bears some black embroidery at the edges and a symbol of a phoenix (also black) in the center. His wrists are guarded by gauntlets, which are made of leather, with blackened metal on the outside; the right one has a built-in stealth blade. Over his hands he wears a pair of black gloves, with metal knuckles, and the ends cut off for tactile sensation.

His sword’s black sheath is attached to his belt on his right side, and is securely fastened. He has considered obtaining a brown cavalier’s hat, but hasn’t gotten one as of yet.

Weapons: The blessed katana, Exxacus. It is a completely black blade, with its name etched into the blade near the hilt. Its crossguard is a simple octaagon. The blade itself is unbreakable, and is sharp enough to cut through any substance (more force must be applied, the harder the substance). It emanates a soft magical aura noticeable by those who can detect such things, and is usable only by its bestowed owner. It is unknown how he actually came into its ownership, though its blessing insinuates it was a divine reward.

Note: Blessed/holy weapons/armor interact with other blessed weapons/armor/objects as if they were normal, i.e. blessed axe can cut through normal shield, but not through a blessed shield, or holy sword can cut through stone, but is blocked and parried by another divinley blessed sword. It still takes an enormous amount of effort to cut through something like rock or metal, however.

Hidden blade: A small, hidden, dagger-like knife that is concealed on the underside of his right gauntlet. It uses a special mechanism that allows it to extend/retract from the wrist at will. Sharp and unexpected, it is primarily a tool for sudden and quick kills. The blade itself is approximately four inches in length.

Armor: The aforementioned gauntlets and shin-guards.

Carried Possessions: In addition to his weapons, Rak has a brown leather satchel; in this he carries a canteen, a day’s worth of rations, and gold coins equaling $50 (USD).

Powers/Magical Skills: Rak possesses absolutely no ability or potential for magic. That does not prevent him from using magical items (like a healing potion or a blessed sword), however, or from having spells used upon him, obviously, but any magical spells or powers that require an affinity or mana to have an effect will not work.

Note: The dragon mark on his left hand is such that any sane dragon (not feral or berserk) will give him aid, or not harm him at the very least. It is not specifically magical in nature, but is a symbol that the marked individual is a friend of dragons.

Battle Strengths: Extremely skilled in close combat and bladework, since Rak has spent virtually every day fighting for his life with a blade or his fists. His style of fighting is based on speed of attack and avoiding hits due to the smaller build of his body, and the lessened chance of being injured; when he attacks, it is brutal, practical, and effective, wasting no energy or movement. Rak follows no set school of swordsmanship, taking each move he learns and applying it to suit his own tactics. He has developed lightning reflexes and a finely tuned sense of awareness. Always alert, he sleeps lightly and is nearly impossible to take by surprise or intimidate. Being left-handed, coupled with his unorthodox bladework, sometimes takes enemies by surprise. Skilled with several different weapons, such as a lance and short axe, though by far most proficient with the sword. He is quite intelligent, though not a genius.

Battle Weaknesses: Cannot speak, his tongue being cut out, and has difficulty communicating because of this. Despite being perhaps one of the best swordsmen in the land, he has no experience whatsoever with ranged projectiles. His knowledge is also incomplete, knowing only what he has learned from experience and observation. A highly skilled assassin or trained warrior would most likely be able to discover a weak point in his form and exploit it. Archers and magic users pose a grave danger to him in combat as well.

Personality: Rak is a determined individual, surviving everyone he knew in the arena, and never losing. He is a small bit overconfident in his prowess, for he has excelled to the point where most men do not pose the slightest threat to him. His time as a gladiator has rid him of the fear of death, realizing that his time is fixed, and nothing can draw or stay it. A loner by fate, Rak is not a very trusting person, especially towards males, who he has been cast aside and despised by since his childhood. His mother was the only one who reciprocated love to him: she was killed before his eyes, and afterwards Rak grew ever colder and wary towards relationships. He does have pent-up emotional pain that he has never let go. However, he is not unfeeling, and will give aid to any child or innocent he sees being abused. In addition, he is not rascist, and feels that every sentient being deserves equal treatment: He often fought with and against all sorts of creatures, and realized that they were all equal when it came to the essentials of survival.

On occasion, he has been known to have flashbacks of his gladiatorials, and be overcome with bloodlust. These instances happen either in the thick of combat, or when he becomes very upset and/or angry. When in a state of bloodlust, Rak loses all sense of restraint, desiring to spill as much blood as he can, and enjoy it while he does it. While he is in complete control of his mind, and will in no way harm his allies, his method of fighting morphs in a sadistic way; killing becomes a pleasurable experience, and not just a convenient means to an end: this can result in deaths being prolonged for the mere sight of seeing his enemies writhe in pain. Those who get in his way are also at risk of him callously disposing of them; the lines of differentiation between enemy and bystander blur.

Unsurprisingly, he has absolutely no issue with inflicting pain on another being, or taking their life, unless they are someone he cares about. In fact, he sometimes enjoys it.

It takes a long while and unique circumstances for him to come to care about another individual. Friendship, or even love, are things he has forgotten how to do. He resists attachment, mostly out of fear of it being ripped away from him. When Rak does actually find himself coming to appreciate and grow closer to someone, he runs away from it, though he can't express why. He only feels the hurt caused him so long ago, and knows he doesn't ever want to feel it again.

Likes: He enjoys working, adventuring, and fighting, anything to get his mind off of his past. He has enjoyed music, for the few times he has heard it. He would enjoy companionship, but his inability to communicate and coarse visage prevent that from happening. Surprisingly, he has an undiscovered interest in philosophy and writing. Nothing satisfies him more than the taste of victory, in anything.

Dislikes: Rak’s past has affected much what irks him, mostly having to do with people: low intelligence, abusive or cruel people, slavers, drunkards, or incompetence. He also dislikes those who use ranged projectiles, as he can’t reach them with his sword.

Fears: Rak most fears being having everything he holds dear ripped from him again, as happened to him before; and so holds nothing especially dear. Life has taught him not to be weak and emotional and he is rarely seen making any sort of expression with his face.

Virtues: Rak is a determined and valiant individual. He will never give up, and always keeps his word/honor. Unbeknownst to him, he has the potential to be an extremely loyal and loving friend. A quick study. Silent, therefore perfect for keeping secrets. He has an uncommon maturity about him.

Flaws: Rak has no idea what to make of or how to act around women. Spending his life among the lowest and basest of men, fine points of manners and etiquette have been lost to him. He is a loner, and thinks he is safer and happier that way. Mistrusting/cynical of most adults, especially males. Slightly overconfident in his skill, but understandably so, though not overtly prideful. Kindness is also something he is not accustomed to showing, because even outside the arena, he fought with his fellow slaves for everything he got. Contemptuous of death, probably more than is healthy. Bitter at not being able to communicate, asking Rak questions or attempting a conversation after knowing of his disability will anger him.

Added a picture:



And here is an amazing picture by the incredibly talented HitokiriChibi:




RP Timeline:

Hatchling [Ruki]

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Spare not my feelings, tell me what I need to work on. Unless it gets approved

I shall spare you nothing, mortal.

... Because there's really not much wrong with it. At all. Good description in all aspects, weakness and strength, all there, so... yeah. Nice history and personality, all makes sense, would love to see why he hasn't tried or doesn't carry paper and pen around with him. Says he knows how to write, might help him out, even if he is bitter. Also: Nice picture.

If I could give one piece of advice, it would be to space out your Likes- Flaws section, like you have earlier, because as is it looks just a bit clumped and hard to read. Maybe a bit of spacing / more paragraphs in appearance and history as well. I trust you'll fix that without me having to return and check.

~Approved~

Thanks. I'll do that. This mortal is eternally grateful.