[Aylwen Dreamsong]

Ahh, ya'll got here before me! I see there are many little women here. If it is alright with Ransom, I'll sumbit for consideration two whole characters (yippee, clap clap!).

Name: Rhys
Age: 25
Nationality: Gondorian

Short physical description: Short, thick, curly black hair is cut close to his neck. His eyes are a deep brown color, and he is almost six feet tall. Wears comfortable clothing influenced by the weather. Musclular and lean, Rhys is just the typical Gondorian man.

History/motivation: Rhys and his family moved from a small village north of Minas Tirith shortly after his ninth birthday and his sister's third. The family was well-to-do and had little problems with the move. When Rhys' parents died of a disease that passed mildly through Gondor, Rhys and his sister were left alone to care for themselves. It didn't take long for the jobless children to lose their cozy home, and Rhys was thirteen when he and his sister were left to roam the streats of Minas Tirith. Rhys was determined to stay strong though, for his sister, and did his best to find a job. No one wanted a practically unskilled northerner child for work though, and the siblings were soon down to the level of 'nicking' and stealing.

Rhys decided it was time to do something to get the two out of the hole they had dug for themselves, and found someone willing to take him on as a stablehand when he was fifteen. He was paid little, but it was enough to buy bread for the siblings. One of the other stablehands happened to be a former soldier-in-training, until an unfortunate accident left his right arm useless. Rhys, worried for the well-being of his young sister, brough Jisela to the stables every day to get taught something by the warrior.

One day it happened a man involved in the Order of the Black Rose came to the stables to give his horse a place to stay temporarily. His name was Javon, and he noted the skills and the potential in Rhys and his sister. He recruited Rhys into the Order, and in return Rhys and his sister would have somewhere to sleep and enough to eat. Rhys agreed.

Rhys is, to some degree, the kind of person who cares for someone else more than himself. He is also self-contained, never letting anything on the outside hurt him. His parents could die, he could be sent onto the streets, but Rhys would never change. Nothing would ever effect Rhys in the ways it did others. Rhys had always thought that as long as he didn't let something bother him, it wouldn't.

After joining the Order, Rhys became specially skilled (like many other men) in different types of swords. He had never bothered to try anything with a bow, and preferred the steel of a blade to the wood of a bow.

Posessions: A heavy sword dirty with age, despite Rhys' failed attempts to clean it.


Name: Jisela
Age: 19
Nationality: Gondorian (I seem to be following a trend...)

Short physical description: Long, curly black hair is almost always tied back at the nape of her neck. Her nondescript brown eyes are set on tan skin. Wears comfortable breeches and tunics, and usually goes barefoot unless the weather forces her to wear her brother's old boots. Short and slender, or enough so to fit into nooks and crannies her brother can't.

History/motivation: (Same beginning as Rhys) After her brother Rhys brought her into the stables routinely, Jisela became extremely and mostly interested in hand-to-hand combat. Fist fighting (unless I am allowed to call it boxing) became her thing, and she became quite good at it. The disabled warrior-boy tried to teach her how to swordfight, but Jisela wouldn't have it. She preferred her fists. If Jisela couldn't use her fists, she decided she was also pretty good at using the long bow.

When Javon 'discovered' the siblings, Jisela was glad to be off the streets. She was technically not part of the Order though, at that time, since she was only about ten or eleven. In her spare time (since she had a lot of it, in those times), Jisela often practiced fighting or using a borrowed (as she calls it) bow. When she turned sixteen, she was officially recruited into the Order of the Black Rose, and began her training.

Jisela, not the type to give up, would always sweat it through long, tough practice time. She did learn fair skills with a blade, but many hours were spent sharpening her skills in fist fighting (grr. boxing. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]), as that was where her talents and love lie. Jisela is more determined than most, she's a big show off and easily gets into small fights, though she's been trying not to make people so mad.

Posessions: A (stolen) bow and a few old arrows, with some sort of writing etched in them in a script she can't read. Jisela typically carries around a roll of gauzy, tough wrap for practices in hand-to-hand combat.

First post:

Rhys jogged down the corridor, looking for the room his sister would be practicing in. He needed to tell her something...something important. Rhys stopped when the hallway came to a fork, and then he wandered aimlessly down the left hall. Rhys had no clue which room his sister would be in, and cautiuosly opened random doors, hoping to find a familiar face. When the long left hallway came to an abrupt halt, Rhys ran back up the corridor and then down the right hall after the fork.

The first door he opened brought success. He found his little sister in a makeshift ring, along with some other man Rhys had met once. One punch from the man brought two jabs from Jisela, his sister. Rhys chuckled. It was sink or swim with her, and she always turned out to be a pretty good swimmer.

"You could use an uppercut once in a while, Jis!" someone called to Jisela from the sidelines. Jisela nodded, and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Her opponent was almost a blur to her as her eyes stung with sweat. Light jumps to and fro brought Jisela ever closer to the idle opponent, until it was too late for the man. Jisela sent an uppercut his way, sending his chin and head flying upwards. Satisfied, Jisela waited for her next opening.

Unable to see the man's sly move as he inched towards her, Jisela let out a slight yelp as she came crashing to the ground after her feet had been swept from under her. She stood up, and before she could do aught else, a fist came flying at her face. Jisela was sent flying backward and onto the floor again.

"Ouch. I bet that hurt. Take a break, Ganar," came the voice of Rhys, Jisela's brother. Jisela wiped the trickling blood from her chin as it streamed from a cut in her lip. Jisela was suprised...Rhys almost never came to her practices. He was usually too busy with a mission from the Order. Rhys handed Jisela a square of cloth for her cut, and sat down beside her.

"Something wrong, Rhys?" Jisela asked, wiping the blood onto the once clean cloth.

"No, not really. I've got a message though, for the both of us." Rhys replied, and handed Jisela a piece of parchment. Jisela opened it, and her eyes widened as she finished reading its contents.

Rhys and Jisela,
Report to the great gate of Minas Tirith an hour before dawn tomorrow. An officer of the Citadel Guard named Sir Mindalel will be inside the gate. Speak to him for further instructions. Prepare for a week of riding in the snow as well as combat. Your normal wages will be tripled for the duration of your service. Further rewards will be forthcoming should you perform well. Horses will be provided.
Javon

"You better clean up there, Jis. Bring the old boots, alright? There's snow involved. Might want to bring that bow as well..." Rhys would have continued on chiding his sister, if Jisela had not shot him an annoyed look. Rhys raised his hands in defense, then got up and left his sister. "I'll see you later tonight, and we'll go together tomorrow."

Jisela nodded, and went to get clean and ready. Triple payments for a week would be a lot of money between the siblings, or enough to seem like a lot. Jisela also fully planned on 'performing well', as she tried to do on everything she undertook. Jisela only hoped that Rhys was up to the challenge too.

Aylwen

[ July 29, 2003: Message edited by: Aylwen Dreamsong ]