[maikafanawen]

Hello! I got Orual's PM and decided to come check it out. It looks like a good RPG. Here's my vignette for consideration.

(I had hoped to get away with playing a woman, but if you prefer, Orual, I will most certainly alter it).

*****
Name: Daran Confelder

Age: 29

Appearance: Daran is tall and broad-shouldered, lean and fit. She has thick, knee-length, dark blonde hair that is worn braided down her back. Her eyes are a penetrating blue and her skin is moon-pale. She is very plain looking, and her small bust allows her to pass as a man whenever is necessary.

Personality: Daran is tough but not overbearing. Quick to earn people's respect, she treats others with a good deal of courtesy and esteem. She expects people to put forth their best effort and display good manners at all time. Daran has a good sense of humor but knows when to be serious. Impatience is among her faults but she keeps it hushed out of civility. She is a great asset in battle with her strong arms, unwavering courage, and impressive skill with a sword. And though Daran is very loyal to her homelands, she has an open mind and often questions things that she has been taught to accept or take for granted. She can read a little bit, and she is somewhat nearsighted.

History: Daran grew up with her two older brothers as the daughter of a widower soldier named Gurian Confelder. Gurian's sister looked after his children until she died during Daran's fourteenth winter. By this time, Daran's brothers (Realge-16 and Anton-19) were old enough to join the army. Gurian didn't know what to do with Daran until he saw her teaching Realge how to throw a knife with his opposite hand. He decided to pass her off as a boy and enter her in the army as well. It worked, not because the officials were fooled, but because her strength and skill were greatly valued in a Gondorian militiaman. So she has served for fifteen solid years and swears that she'll go on serving for as long as she is needed.


FIRST POST


Daran sat cross-legged atop a hill that over looked the Poros River and the village that was taking a solid shape under Captain Anhelm's hand. A warm breeze moved across the plains making waves in the tall grass that banked the river. The woman dressed in a pale green tunic, secured with a simple rope belt, and brown breeches narrowed her eyes and tried to determine how many meters stretched out from the first battlement to the second and then to the center of the village. She counted eighty and then blocked off the section of houses and pictured the finished fort where the captain's tent was. It would be a fine settlement with the ability to defend the area around the narrowest part of the Poros River.

After a while she pulled her sword out of its scabbard and set to sharpening it. She'd begun to wear it again since she was moved to the Poros so she liked to keep it looking nice. It was a plain sword really: a wooden grip dipped in metal wrapped in black leather with a metal crossguard that's nicked and has none of its original shine. The blade is thirty-six inches long and forty-seven overall. She wields it two-handed but doesn't loose any of the agility or swiftness she'd have with a one-handed grip.

As she looked at it, she almost wished the old weapon had some sort of special quality to it. It was no heirloom, and she didn't have it specially made for her, she'd simply claimed it from the weapons rack fifteen years ago and it's been on her hip ever since, put through all the blood and gore of raids and battles she's seen. There was no crest, no design, nothing that marked it as hers. She finished sharpening it and wiped it down before sliding it back into its sheath.

Daran rubbed her eyes and stretched out her long legs, flexing her toes inside the sturdy black leather boots. The row of three buckles on either shoe glinted in the sun and she tightened each strap so it was snug against her calf. Then she stood and draped her black cloak over her back, tying it under the left armpit and walked down the hill towards the village. She had to see what the Captain needed done today.
*****

Hmm, kind of short. I can make it longer, I just wasn't exactly sure what I should do. I could develop her relationship with the others more I guess. But I was wondering if Daran could have a sort of rank. I looked up to see what was underneath Captain in the military today and the only really significant one was Lieutenant. Do you have any knowledge on Middle Earth, or, Gondorian ranking?

Thanks!
-Maikafanawen