Sheridan the Woad

Name: Sheridan

Age: 29

Race: Human

Sex: Male

Hair: A deep, chestnut brown. His hair is long and unruly, reaching his shoulders. He doesn’t comb or fix it, as it is in his nature to let it be wild.

Eyes: A deep penetrating green.

Weight: 204 lbs.

Height: 6’2

Weapon: He wields a great claymore in one hand, displaying his power and striking fear into his enemies. It stands with a 36” blade and has a leather wrapped handle with brass guard and pommel. It has no sheath but a large leather belt is tied around him and used as one, hugging around the guard and resting the sword on his back. The first 3” of the blade away from the guard are also wrapped in leather to make it easier to handle and insure that it doesn’t damage its belt. He also carries large hatchets made of wood and sharpened rock, usually he makes these while he is in the wild. They are usually used as a throwing weapon and are relatively easy for him to make.

Armor: He carries a large wooden tower shield with an inscription of his name in Gaelic around the top rim. The shield is shaped like an oval and protects most of his body; it has iron rims and a circular iron buckle in the centre that has an engraving of a horse as a symbol of Epona. He wields this with extreme skill and may also use it as a weapon. He has no other armor beyond it however and beyond naturally strong constitution, he has no other form of defense.

Strengths: As a child of Epona, Sheridan is a very fast runner and a savage fighter. Although losing his godly abilities, he still has unnaturally great strength, stamina and skill. He is strong, aggressive, graceful, and very thick-headed. Fighting like a wild man, the warrior’s strategy is very unpredictable. He is a survivalist and a hunter, making him an expert of combat in the wilderness. He can build effective traps and is a good shot with anything but a bow. He can hurl rocks, spears, and anything heavy that would hurt to be hit in the head with…..but he can’t shoot a bow! If he is inspired to do something, his conscience will drive him to death for it.

Weakness: He is thick-headed which makes him very stubborn and gives him a one-track mind. He is intelligent enough, but can be outwitted if he doesn’t know his surroundings. He is easily spooked by things he doesn’t understand but is also curious (so say a futuristic character points a gun at him, he might be startled by it then come up and look in the barrel to see what it is.) His unpredictability makes strangers question his motives and he often scares potential allies into seeing him as a threat. A foe that appears much greater then him will terrify him and he may run from them. One who recognizes and follows the Gaelic Celt beliefs will instantly turn against him and may attempt to murder him, due to the disgrace he was to the gods. His lack of armor makes him vulnerable to attacks that make it past his shield.

Skills/Magic: As a child of Epona, Sheridan has extremely close ties with animals, especially horses. He has the ability to speak with horses and can communicate slightly with other animals (he can give them a sense of danger or tell them where a potential threat is) Also he can build traps in the wild out of whatever his surroundings are. This ability can be extremely dangerous while he is in a forested area due to the thick brush and resources available to him.


Appearance: He has a fair colored skin, but is often ravaged with dirt. He wears a kilt of the MacDonald Clan of Scotland. He has a thin beard that reaches around his cheeks and meets at the bottom of his jaw line. It comes up into a mustache over the lip and leaves all but the cheeks and area above his neck covered. He is large and burly, yet still lean and swift. He wears a white, cloth shirt with a MacDonald Clan tartan wrapping around his right shoulder and waist. He has a Celtic pendant of a pentagram that he wears around his neck. He also wears a pair of large leather boots that reach up to the middle of his calf and hug his feet when he runs.

Personality: Again, he is stubborn and wild at heart. This attitude leads him to think whatever he wants and not be open very open to other ideas besides his own. He is headstrong and a little overconfident in his abilities. He is also hearty and kind to those who respect nature and the people who enjoy life for what it is. He is soft and caring, but doesn’t like to show it. He is unpredictable in combat and that often scares his comrades due to the risks he takes when acting. He has a deep love for his horse Equos and treats the horse as an equal if not a hierarch to himself.

Biography: Sheridan was born is a small urban village in northern Scotland; The son of a rich and prosperous chieftain, seen as a leader and hero to the people of the village. His mother was the Gaelic goddess Epona (not to be confused with Link’s horse you Zelda loving hippies!) and given as a gift to the people. He was destined to grow up to be a powerful leader and possibly even a councilman of the Scottish king.

Unfortunately, due to his mother’s wild nature and primal instincts, he never studied politics and never cared much to leading people. He cared more for the idea of letting things work themselves out and never understood the purpose of government. Whenever he was supposed to be studying, he would often be found talking to trees and animals. Often, he would run off into the woods and sleeps on the cold earth, listening to it breathe and the stories it told him: Stories of Scottish heroes, Gaelic monsters, and adventure. Such tales exited the young boy, and inspired him to be an adventurer. These actions lead people to see the child as mad, and even his father grew worried for him when he acted like a horse running around the town. Such activity was far inappropriate for a young nobleman’s son!

As he grew, so did his curiosity and hunger for adventure, often finding himself in trouble due to his behavior and growing as a bother to the people. Eventually, they were all sickened by his actions, sure that he would never suffice as a leader and was a gift that failed to be of any use. Disgraced by the failure of the child, even his mother turned her back on him. Such a mistake surely would harm her reputation among the other gods and lead to questionings among her followers. Taking his immortality and much of his godly power, his mother abandoned her care for him. The damned abomination would die as a mortal and rot in the netherworld for all eternity. By her hands, his life would have no purpose and he would be buried in the sands of time; his place in history forever forgotten. Alone and ashamed, he left from his home with nowhere to go and nothing but a sack of food and the clothes on his back.

No matter where the child went, the people would throw him from their villages and curse his name. The only companions he still had were the animals; none of who cared what role he was meant to play in society and enjoyed his company. He was especially fond of horses and the nymphs of the forests. He began to traveling through the forests and woodlands looking for a place that he might be able to call home. The forests of Edinburgh welcomed the young man and became such a place as he began to weaken from travel.

The nymphs of the forests began to raise him as their own, teaching him to find a balance between good and evil, and to understand the spirit of all things. He devoted himself to the Pagan teachings and was taught to fight and honor nature by the forest spirits. The nymphs recognized his urge to travel however, and knew he longed for more then what they could offer him. When the time came for Sheridan to leave, the nymphs bestowed upon him 3 gifts.

The 1st gift was a chestnut horse, a great Scottish steed that would bring shame to the animal of any nobleman! However, the animal would have no saddle and no name. For if Sheridan gave it such, it would mean he claimed ownership over the horse, which would not be tolerated and the horse would leave him. Instead, Sheridan would simply refer to him as Equos, meaning horse in the old tongue.

The 2nd was a great tower shield of pure wood and steel derived from the forest. It had his name engraved into it and the symbol of his mother. This shield would not only defend him from enemies, but ensure that he remembered who he was and where he came from.

The 3rd was a pendant of a Celtic pentagram; this gift was a symbol of his faith and divinity. To insure that all knew what he was and where he was from: A symbol of the forest that showed and reminded how close he was to nature, no matter how for from it he ventured.

With these gifts, and a great sword he stole from his father years ago when he was banished from his old home, Sheridan set out with Equos to explore the world.

“Maybe I will be given the chance to redeem myself,” he thought as he set out. Little did he know the wonders that awaited him beyond his homelands…

Hmm....this all looks good to me. *stamps with approval*