[Elora]

And introducing.... Barrold Ferney, all round nasty guy.


NAME: Barrold Ferney

AGE: 35

RACE: Man

GENDER: Male

WEAPONS: Barrold usually carries weapons that can be easily concealed, such as daggers, or his own fists. He has a sword but is not overly fond of using it, as a surprise blitz attack is his preferable form of fighting. He owns a crossbow, which he uses to hunt with, of dubious origin. Such weapons are usually favored by the Southrons, which are not held in high esteem in Bree or anywhere else.

{B]APPEARANCE[/B]:

Barrold is a swarthy Man. He has dark, wavy hair which he sweeps on one side to keep out of his face. It brushes his collar. He has an arrogant swagger and habitually suspicious cast to his face. Some describe him as ill-favored. His eyes are dark and his stature average. Barrold’s clothing is often shabby and his appearance unkempt. He wears rough brown breeches stuffed into his scuffed brown boots. His tunic is dark blue, over which he wears a brown leather jerkin.

PERSONALITY:

Barrold believes himself unfairly treated and persecuted in a cruel and uncaring world. From that, he believes the world at large owes him something. Obviously southron in heritage, there are few in Bree who will willingly deal with him. This justifies, in his opinion, his inclination to sell anything and anyone for the right price. He is little troubled by the finer moral niceties that plague others. His primary motive is to protect his own hide, followed closely by his obsession with wealth and social status. It is rare for Barrold to risk his life to acquire wealth, but if the prize is rich enough he will do so.

Barrold is devious and tenacious. He holds himself wronged and believes the world owes him recompense. Everything and everyone has a price. Barrold is ambitious and pragmatic. He does not waste his time on such things as loyalty, honor, trust or friendship. A loner, Barrold would sell himself if the gold was enough. Barrold has a sharp temper that flares on a short fuse. He can be violent, particularly when drunk or frightened.

STRENGTHS:
Barrold is a calculating individual. He anticipates the same sort of treachery from others that he himself would deal out. This means few can take Barrold by surprise. Unfettered by human attachments, Barrold can be merciless in his search for wealth. He is ideally suited to the dangerous world of treachery due to his own paranoid inclinations. Barrold believes everyone is out to get him.

He craves recognition and status and will openly and sycophantically attach himself to whomever he thinks can provide it to him. Once he has all he can take from the relationship, he’ll sell it out and look for another. Capricious, Barrold’s demeanor can shift and swing violently. He is unpredictable and untrustworthy. In his field, these are two qualities that have kept him alive.

Barrold is a master of dirty, sneaky fighting tactics. He does not fight fair or nice, which usually undoes an opponent with a higher mind or moral calibre.

WEAKNESSES:

Barrold finds it hard to make friends and form attachments. He does not understand family or love. He is frequently isolated and alienated even from his own temporary allies. He is insecure and convinced the world is coming to get him. Barrold does not like himself very much but is too unaware to realize it. He’s desperately unhappy with his life, but blames everyone else for the state it is in. Barrold has a weakness for ale, and once drunk is violent. He would be a rich man were it not for this vice. Women in particular are his downfall. They view him with contempt, and he hates them implacably, yet he cannot do without them. Barrold is secretly troubled and unsure of women and he dislikes them for the insecurity they inspire within him.
Barrold has a habit of over estimating his intelligence, status and influence, arising from his arrogance. He is racked with self-loathing and insecurity which he hides behind an ugly and proud façade. At heart, Barrold is a coward and a bully.

HISTORY:

Barrold is the cousin of Bill Ferney. Born in Bree, Barrold led a misspent youth much to the chagrin of the townsfolk and was known to be a troublemaker by the time he hit young manhood, much like his cousin. He was born into a poor family, on the outskirts of Bree. Just one of a gaggle of 10 children, his childhood was one of neglect, petty crime and general delinquency. What happened to his parents and siblings is unrecorded. At least one younger brother met with an untimely death which was attributed by rumor to either Bill, Barrold or Barrold’s father. Barrold lived in poverty, his family subsistence farmers when not engaged in other less salubrious activities.

Though his family was seen as lazy bad apples, Barrold was an industrious and energetic lad. He garnered himself an infamous record with the Sheriffs. Barrold gravitated to a group of local thugs, bored and looking for mischief. Bree was a small place, and Barrold felt himself destined for greater things. He always knew he was special. In his childhood group, Barrold was unpopular. He was quick to carry tales and when the group found themselves cornered, Barrold was one of the first to break. Barrold received little schooling. He was a bully and his parents saw little worth in such things as education for Barrold was already proving himself quite the entrepreneur.

He tagged along on Bill Ferney’s coat tails for as long as he could, taking service with Sauruman when he was merely 20 in the year 3018 of the Third Age. A henchman of Isengard, Barrold did reasonably well in his employ. However, once the power of Sauruman was broken, Barrold lacked the strength to stand any longer against the people of Bree. He soon relented when things started to look grim in 3019 and then openly abandoned his employer. Bill Ferney had already disappeared by that time, and his ends are shrouded in mystery. It is not widely known that his cousin, Barrold, did him in when Bill threatened to sell Barrold to the Rangers over a quarrel regarding the divvying of the gold being exacted from the local Bree farmers and business folk. Bill was unceremoniously dumped in a shallow grave after Barrold knocked the back of his head in whilst Bill dozed in drunken stupor one evening. Thus, Barrold managed to survive in Bree, not betrayed by his cousin as one of Saruman’s spies, once the War of the Ring ended.

Barrold slipped back into petty crime. He was destitute and homeless, and appropriated an abandoned derelict farm house on the southern outskirts of Bree. When goods went missing, the farm house was routinely searched and the goods returned. Few were willing to employ Barrold, being and unreliable and untrustworthy sort. The only way Barrold could get enough coin to pay for his vices was to continue in his underworld profession. Barrold was quick to see the commercial profit to be gained by acting as a conduit for outlaws.

Realizing that they were lower down the food chain than even him, Barrold was quick to exploit his skills. The farmhouse sometimes held characters more dubious than Bill or Barrold Ferney had ever been. Usually, these were lower end escapees of the widening net for agitants and agents of Mordor and Isengard. In return for accommodation, supplies, information and equipment, Barrold charged a hefty price that was extortionate even amongst his peers. His reputation spread amongst those who were in need of his safe house. Barrold was not averse to selling his clients out if the bounty was more than what they’d pay, or if he was scared.

The bolt hole was empty on the night Barrold first encountered Naiore Dannan. He knew of her only by reputation and even that was vague. Few voluntarily spoke of the Ravennor even amongst the circles of Mordor and Isengard. Barrold had heard of her towards the end of the Third Age, when it was said that Sauron had put Naiore onto Saruman and his allies for Saruman’s failure and treachery. Drunk and weaving his way home late one night, the Elf woman was waiting for him. Once the initial terror had passed, for Barrold had thought a most terrible death had come, he managed to sober up enough to strike a deal with the Ravennor of Mordor. She was vastly wealthy and was in need of his services. Aware of the bounty on her head, Barrold. More so, Barrold was aware of what would happen if he did not agree.

Barrold is both fascinated with Naiore Dannan and hates her. It is a reaction that amuses the Elf. She taunts him with it and uses his hatred as yet another bind around his will. If he is caught aiding her, he is likely to meet the noose himself. Yet, Naiore has need of some interesting assistance. Poisons, for example, maps and information on interesting personages. Whilst ever the danger is less than his profit, Barrold. It raises his status immeasurably to have such a patron of her rank. However, should the danger become intolerable, Barrold is as foolhardy as to think he could successfully outmaneuver the Ravennor in order to claim the bounty. Barrold’s only ally is treachery. It has occurred to Barrold that should he master the Ravennor, he could rise to be even more influential than perhaps Bill or any of the other Ruffians had been.

So, we have a near psychopath, of limited intelligence but vast cunning, with a troubled childhood and stoat's survival instinct.

Is Barrold nasty enough?