Montaine
Physical Description Name: Montaine Redsun Race: Human Age: 22 Birthday: 20th of Winter 489 AV Height: 5'7'' Character Concept Montaine appears at first to be a quiet, young man, more than willing to simply get on with plumbing the depths of his chosen field, glass work. Growing up with a well-intentioned yet terribly over-protective father he found himself yearning for the outside world, not through any particular love of the outdoors but simply a desire for freedom. His love of glass came from his admiration of the delicate beauty of the pieces, and his ability to have full control of his actions when working, out of his father's reach. Having inherited his mother's sickly disposition, Montaine frequently fell ill as a child and just as easily in adulthood. Finding himself often unable to partake in hard labour, and coddled by his father, he developed a fierce temperament, the cause of many an argument at home. His resemblance to his mother extended further than simply her sickness and wit, to his features. Often remarked upon at home, he would make similar facial expressions or gestures, though he never truly knew her personally. From his father he received his eyes, a dull blue, and his learning, given his unwillingness in those formative years to let him out of his sight. In the Spring of 512 AV, having become quite competent at his craft, yet hungering for more knowledge of its workings, he set out to learn all he could. Faith, Morality and Sin An ordinarily markedly non-religious sort, Montaine does however hold particular reverence to Lhex, God of Fate, the worship of whom was frequently pressured upon the man by his father during his childhood. Tiffan Redsun was a man of many faiths, a result of his own mother's influence when he grew up on the Sea of Grass in Cyphrus. The most common use of the names of the Mizaharan divinity during Montaine's adulthood rested in the realm of his more creative instances of cursing. His absence of faith, however, has not left him morally lacking, his father again instilling a deep sense of ethics from a young age. He often appears rude, as a reaction to the piteous, overly cautious manner that strangers, and often enough people he has known for years, treat him with. Montaine has six loves in his life: stories, his father, the glass, drinking, gambling and swearing. The young craftsman views his sins as apt recompense for the disadvantages his condition leaves him in life and uses his smart tongue to avoid most of the nastier fights they cause. Often found at his local bar at night, Montaine's ability to consume large amounts of alcohol is quite astonishing, and far outweighs his full capacity for the stuff. |
Character History
A flash of a face, a shadow of features and perhaps a wisp of fair, brown hair is all that memory holds for Montaine of his mother. His father, alive if somewhat distant, raised him in the city of his mother's birth, Zeltiva. From a young age the boy was aware of his father's unhappiness, and guilt, at the passing of his mother yet remained oblivious to the extent of the whole tale until his eighth year. It had happened as such that a young woman of sharp eye, and similarly sharp tongue, though perhaps of slightly diminutive stature, as his father had put it, had appeared one day on the edges of Endrykas, when the tent city had flowed east towards the border. She was woman of fiery temperament but poor constitution, apprenticed to a trader with links to Cyphrus largely as a favour to her own mother. She was treated with disdain and viewed with something approaching pity, as one would have towards a runt, sickly and premature. Yet to the boy's father she was radiant. Struck by a beauty that no one else seemed to recognise and fraught with a conviction of his own unworthiness it was good few days before the young man gathered up enough courage to approach the target of his affections. With a false of confidence, put on to disguise his nervousness after a friend assured him that girls favoured a self-assured man, he requested the pleasure of an evening alone. Alas his attempt at self-assured came off to her as arrogance and his request, though innocent in intention, appeared quite the opposite to the foreign woman and earned him a slap across his cheek and a venomous retort. Shocked into gormlessness by this unexpected response, the young horseman found himself ever more enamoured by her anger. Though it took a further week to convince her of her misunderstanding of his desires, the longer they were together the more she warmed to him. Perhaps it was due to her isolation in such a foreign land, perhaps it was the lack of acknowledgement she received from his peers, but their brief friendship swiftly became a budding romance. Unfortunately, this courtship was not welcomed by the lad’s mother and father, but the fair stranger’s hold over his heart was utterly complete. So enamoured was he with her fierce personality in spite of her frail body that he refused to hear the disgruntled disapprovals of his parents. Over the following year, their love blossomed further and little that his clan could say or do would affect his opinion of her. So blinded was he by his devotion that he failed to recognise her weakening disposition. Though it was unlikely that she would have lived long even in the city of her birth the harsh living of the Cyphrus grasslands only quickened her decline. It was unfortunate then that in the Spring of 489 AV she conceived a child, to be born in the Winter of that same year. The labour was rough and the child as sickly as his mother and though it is impossible to ascertain for sure if the new mother would have survived very much longer regardless of the pregnancy her feeble demeanour in her remaining weeks would suggest that she would have not. Eyes finally opened to his beloved’s condition, Montaine’s father, now very much possessing of that title, decided to take his wife and newborn son to the city of her birth in an attempt to hasten her recovery. Unwilling to wait for the coming of Spring in the face of his beloved’s ever worsening state, the young father spent much of his money and possessions finding passage to Zeltiva, though regrettably only two would make the whole journey. Devastated at the loss, Montaine’s father retreated into a state of despondency, taking little care to watch over his charge. Longing only for the embrace of his family, and his homeland, the young widower began to make arrangements for his return when the infant Montaine became deathly sick. Suddenly very aware of his son’s frailty he cancelled his plans and nursed the child to health, hoping to succeed here where he had failed the boy’s mother. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Just over twelve years later, in the particularly hot Summer of 502 AV, a callow, young man disobeyed his father and ventured out into Zeltiva unescorted. Montaine was fully aware of his weak constitution and knew his father’s worries were well founded yet found himself still wishing for the freedom of the city, away from his over-protective warden. The youth ultimately decided that he would indeed explore, but only as far as the market and only for an hour or so. He would be berated were he only gone a few minutes, he was sure, but any longer than his planned excursion could cause unnecessary panic. It was with this justification that the boy sneaked out of his father’s house and made his way to the bustling market hub. Montaine inhaled deeply, the medley of smells and sounds washing over him. The cacophony of traders advertising their wares, yelling ever louder to be heard as the sweet, spicy fragrance of a nearby vendor flogging a variety of seasonings filled the air. He turned a corner and was hit with the earthy smell of clay work and pottery. A man in foreign dress grabbed him by the shoulder and proffered a dusty, cracked vase, speaking so fast he couldn’t comprehend the words. He shook him off and continued down the path, examining the goods as he went. The heady odours were constantly overlaid with the smell of the sea and Montaine closed his eyes to take it all in. He then arrived at the stall. It was a beautiful stall. A stall so wondrous Montaine simply had to stop take a closer look. He approached the merchandise and squatted down on his heels. ‘Like it? S’a fresh one that, been resting overnight,’ Montaine remained fixated on the object before him, barely registering the man. It was a tiny glass horse, like the ones his father told him about, from Cyphrus. The intricacies of the glass work mesmerised the boy. He reached his hand slowly towards it, frightened so much by its delicacy, when it was slapped away. ‘No touching the pieces! Either buy it or walk on,’ The lad snapped from his reverie and looked up at the stall keeper’s indignant face when a sharp shove from behind by a hurried courier sent him flying forwards into the display. It was fortunate, to a degree, that so little was broken but the keeper's face flushed red and he squeaked in an unusual fashion. ‘What-what have you done?’ Tears welled up in Montaine’s eyes. How would explain this to his father? How would he pay for the damages? How could have broken such beautiful pieces? The vendor saw his distress and seemed to calm somewhat, the pink tint in his cheeks yet remained. He left the stall in the care of an assistant and grabbed the boy by the scruff of his neck and forced him to take him to his father. Unable to recompense the man it was agreed that Montaine would work in his workshop until the debt was repaid. Such an excellent outcome was more than the boy could have hoped for. He would find freedom from his father’s overbearing protection, and could be around those glorious works of art. He eagerly anticipated his apprenticeship. |
Possessions
Housing Montaine's current apartment is located on Chadelia Street, a rather quiet neighbourhood that connects to the Market Road. His building sits opposite from the Zeltivan Glassworks in which he holds his job. His window sits on the north side of the building, facing towards the next house along, however on leaning out it is possible to view the smoky rooves of the workshop to the west and the apartments in the next road along to the east. Montaine shares his building with two other sets of tenants, the Fletchers who possess the rooms next to his and Missus Nolty who lives downstairs. Monty's abode in particular is on the top floor, accessed by a flight of stairs stretching up the north face of the building and overlooked by his shuttered window. The flat itself is small, roughly twenty by twenty, and consists of a single room. In the south east corner sits an old, sooty hearth complete with a dented, old cooking pot where Montaine cooks his paltry meals. Pushed up against the south wall is his splintered table and chair, where Montaine eats his paltry meals. Upon the chair is normally where his satchel is slung when not in use. A creaky old palliasse sits taking up the bulk of the space against the west side of the room, covered in a thin sheet and just to its left squats his chest, containing most of his worldly belongings. The room is sparsely decorated. Ledger
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