Roald Cooper

[Roald]

Physical Information Name Roald Cooper Race Human Age 42, 91 Summer 469 Gender Male Spoken Languages Common - Fluent Physical description Roald is a tall and burly man, standing at a full 6 foot despite his slightly hunched posture. He wears common attire over his tanned working man's complexion. His face appears rough and weathered, though his expressions are often warm and friendly. That said, he does have a crooked nose and a few wooden teeth, implying that he's taken many a fist to the face. His body is heavily built and muscular from his ancestry of manual labourers, which contradicts his soft touch when handling objects in day to day life. Roald has bright blue eyes and brown hair which is speckled with grey. He tends to keep his hair very short in order to keep lice at bay and grows a full, bristly beard which is also neatly trimmed. He can seem a rather imposing figure, certainly an unwelcome opponent in a brawl, but posesses an overtly gentle nature that others may find comforting. Character Concept Personality: Kind and hospitable, Roald enjoys meeting new people and taking good care of them. He can come off as brusque and gruff at times, but he means well and rarely wishes harm upon anyone. Roald is also level headed, and often serves as a voice of logic and reason for people who confide in him. He takes trust seriously, and refrains from divulging secrets. If however he is told a good story, he very much enjoys retelling it (With maybe one or two embellishments to make it more interesting. While he is friendly and gentle in nature, he does love a good scrap if someone gives him a good enough reason to smack them about. Ethics: Roald has a very strong moral compass, but that doesn't mean he will unconditionally follow the law. If under some circumstance he had to break the law to do what he felt was right, he wouldn't hesitate. This fact has on frequent occassions gotten him into trouble by him punching the wrong off-duty Knight over a rude slur to a barmaid. He is a strongly religious man who primarily worships Tyveth and Viratas. He prays and makes offerings to many Gods depending on the days events and limited by his common knowledge of the Gods and their domains. He feels great respect or fear towards all the divines, having heard many stories of both boons and curses granted by the Gods. He tends to feel uncomfortable when anybody curses or dismisses the Divines in his presence, fearing their retribution. When it comes to magic, it would be most accurate to say that Roald tolerates mages. He wouldn't trust a mage as far as he could throw them. As far as Roald is concerned, magic is dangerous in the hands of mortals. Such things should be left exclusively to the Gods in his opinion. Roald values friends and family highly, so much so that he would be willing to do almost anything for them. A friend of Roald who gets into trouble can rest assured that he will do everything in his power to help them, whether that means putting them up in lodgings for free or taking on a group of armed thugs to rescue them. Likes: Ale, Brewing, Telling Stories, Priests, Brawls Dislikes: Blasphemy, Lies, Laziness, Being accused of poor hospitality Life goals: Primary - Open and run an inn - Brew excellent and renowned beer Secondary - Find new love - Make sure Bryony finds a good husband Training and Skills Skills Exp Total Proficiency Brawling 25 SP 25 Novice Brewing 15 SP 15 Novice Leadership 15 RB 15 Novice Observation 5 SP 5 Novice Storytelling 5 SP 5 Novice Lore Running a small-scale brewery Religion: Viratas Family Daughter Name: Bryony Cooper Age: 18, 67 Spring 494 Cooking 20 Sewing 15 Singing 15 Son Name: Oscar Cooper Age: 15, 46 Winter 491 Busking 15 Musical Instrument: Recorder 15 Running 10 Storytelling 10 Posessions Starting 1 Set of Clothing 1 Waterskin 1 Backpack which contains: - 1 Set of Toiletries (comb, brush, razor, soap) - Food for a week - 1 Eating Knife - Flint & Steel Clothing 3 Linen Shirts (1 SP) 3 Cotton Pants (1 SP) 2 Low Boots (1 SP) 1 Cotton Cloak (SP) 1 Leather Jacket 1 Cotton Cap 1 Leather Belt 1 Plain Buckle 1 Wool Scarf Weaponry Club (Large table leg) Property Common appartment in Stormhold Citadel. Contains a hearth, a bunk, 2 sleeping mats for his children, a chest, a chair, and small table. Other The Viratassa (Heirloom) Ledger Transaction Cost Balance Starter Package +100gm 100gm Clothes Shopping2 linen shirts, 2 cotton pants, 1 leather Jacket, 1 cotton cap, 1 Low Boots, 1 Leather Belt, 1 Plain Buckle, 1 Wool scarf -2gm 2sm 5cm 97gm 8sm 5cm Thread List Title Status A Quiet Drink In Progress

[Roald]

History Roald was born to a Mister Gerald Cooper and Missus Rosanne Cooper. As the family name suggests, Roald's father made barrels for a living. But even as a young child, Roald failed to find this particularly exciting. As with many children in poor families, he was put to work around his father's workshop, picking up wood shavings and maintaining the tools of the trade. The Coopers would make barrels, then sell them off to the industries that needed them. It struck Roald as a very underappreciated job, working in the background to produce something ordinary people take for granted. People weren't interested in barrels, but cared about what was put inside them. At play, Roald was always rather good at getting other children to listen and follow his lead. He was a natural born leader, able to reason with words and unafraid to fall back on his fists if reason wasn't on the agenda. Roald quickly learned that misleading on purpose was rarely as funny and innocent as it first seemed. He learned about the responsibility of being the leader and the importance of friends and family. These realisations were reinforced by his father's religious teachings. Like most families in Syliras, the Coopers worshipped Tyveth and an assortment of Gods on relevant occassions. But somewhat unusually the Coopers were loyal followers of Viratas, the God of Blood and Connection. Roald was brought up with his family's interpretation of the Viratassa. Loyalty to family and friends, respect to the community and the sanctity of trust. These principles were integral to the development of Roald's ethics. As he grew older, Roald's disinterest in the family business became more and more obvious to his father. Regardless of how many lessons he was given on the proper techniques of notching and bending the wood, or fitting the iron bands while they're still hot, Roald just didn't have the knack. The boy's work was shoddy and unfit for sale, so Gerald put his son to work elsewhere in the establishment. Roald began liasing with buyers instead of actually crafting. By this time Roald was a in his mid-teens, spirited and eager to meet new people. He found talking to buyers about their businesses and their needs far more interesting than his father's work. It was over the course of many months that Roald's interests began focus on something different. One of the Coopers' main clients was a local brewery, owned by a man named Oscar Stillwater. Roald had already built a rapport with the man, and frequently had very long, interesting conversations about the process of brewing ale. Eventually Roald asked Stillwater if he would ever consider taking on an apprentice. Catching the boy's drift, the Brewer agreed to take on Roald as an apprentice providing his father allowed it. Unfortunately for Roald, his father did not. Hoping that Roald would inherit and carry on managing the family business, Gerald Cooper was not pleased to hear that his son was interested in another craft; He forbade Roald to apprentice under Oscar. Needless to say, Roald was deeply disappointed and extremely frustrated with his father. In a fuming storm of teenage rebellion, Roald began spending his free time away from his family and embarked on a quest to express his interest in brewing. On most evenings he could be found in a local tavern, drinking heavily. It was during these times that Roald learned a few things about life. Primarily what alcohol can do to a man. Roald got into tavern brawls regularly and sometimes he started them. This behaviour upset Roald's father, but they were both stubborn over the matter and refused to let the other have their way. Some years passed without Roald's daily life changing much. He worked with as the salesman at his father's shop during the day and went drinking in the evenings, becoming an alcoholic and quite adept and scrapping in and out of taverns. It was Roald's mother who grew tired of the family atmosphere and brought it to the attention of Roald and Gerald that they were dishonouring their sacred family bond by behaving this way to eachother. Roald and his father resolved to make ammends. Roald tried to curtail his bad habits and Gerald allowed his son to pursue his interests. Luckily Oscar Stillwater was still willing to take on Roald as an apprentice despite the bad reputation he had recently built. Forgiving him for his youthful misbehaviour, Oscar joked that Roald had already learned the most important lessons about beer. Over the years that followed, Roald learned all about brewing; From the process of malting barley to the aging of the beer in barrels bought from his father. Though Roald's attitude had improved and his poor reputation faded away, he couldn't quite shake the habit of drinking at least five nights a week. His alcoholism never progressed to drinking to unhealthy excess, but he was certainly addicted to a frequent pint or three. One day, rather abruptly, Oscar Stillwater collapsed in the street and died. It was discovered later that he had died from a heart attack. Unbeknownst to Roald, the attack wasn't entirely unexpected. Oscar had been suffering in silence for some time from his condition. Roald was deeply surprised and touched when he was told Oscar had left him the brewery in his last will and testament. Roald kept Oscar's brewery running just as he had been taught to, brewing all of Oscar's old recipies and experimenting with a few ideas of his own. Business was good and consistant, meaning Roald could live contentedly. At the age of 24, Roald fell in love with a woman named Nelly. She was the daughter of a dairy farmer who frequented the same tavern as Roald. Their love was sweet and true, leading inevitably to a cheerful wedding and soon followed by a noisey baby girl whom they named Bryony. Roald and his new family moved into their own appartment in the city, relatively close to Roald's business. Three years later Nelly had another baby, a son. Roald named his son Oscar, in honour of the man whose sacrifice had allowed them to live with such prosperity. However, Oscar's birth had not been an eas one. In the following weeks Nelly did not recover from the trauma of a difficult birth and in her weakened state, succumbed to Dira's call. So Roald's life carried on, after much mourning over his wife. Roald devoted himself to the upbringing of his family, strengthening the sacred bonds of heritage with his children. His business remained steady enough for the small family to live in simple comfort. In the disaster of Spring 512, Roald's life was turned upside down. Djed storms tore apart the brewery along with many other businesses, leaving him and his family without a leg to stand on. Now a poor man, Roald has to find other work to support his family.