View Single Post
Old 01-20-2004, 04:46 PM   #68
The Squatter of Amon Rûdh
Spectre of Decay
 
The Squatter of Amon Rûdh's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Bar-en-Danwedh
Posts: 2,206
The Squatter of Amon Rûdh is a guest at the Prancing Pony.The Squatter of Amon Rûdh is a guest at the Prancing Pony.
Send a message via AIM to The Squatter of Amon Rûdh
Pipe

I've been asked if I could fill the place vacated by Kuruharan, and since the character in question was an assassin I could hardly refuse. Since I've been informed that I can rewrite the character I've done so, but I stress that the profile is by no means set in stone; so feel free to suggest changes if it will help.

Name: Hazad, to most who know of him simply Moradan or the Man of Shadows, although he never uses these himself.

Race: Human (Haradrim)

Gender: Male

Age: Somewhere in his late thirties or early forties. He does not know it himself.

Profession: Assassin

Height: Five foot nine

Appearance: Like all men of Harad, Hazad is brown-skinned and brown-eyed with long black hair, which he wears braided and usually thrust beneath his clothes. To deny his enemies purchase, he goes clean-shaven and when denied the use of a razor wears his beard short. By the standards of his people he is unremarkable, although he seems outlandish to those of more northerly lands. His main distinguishing features are his eyes, which seem unnaturally soft, almost gentle, and his completely impassive demeanour. Few have been able to detect even the faintest flicker of emotion in him, which has served him well in business negotiations.

His dress is usually dictated by circumstances. In the deep desert he adopts clothing similar to that of the Bedouin: loose and light both in colour and weight, with a burnoose over his head; when plying his trade, usually deep black silks and satins, chosen for silence and invisibility. His chosen garb on the rare occasions when he is given the opportunity to wear it, is mainly reds, with loose pantaloons and a long tunic; his taste for gold jewellery is cultural rather than a sign of ostentation. He never wears this when working.

Weapons: Hazad chooses his tools for the job in hand. He is most proficient with bow and knife, but he will use poison, either on darts or placed in food, if it suits his purposes. He is rarely called upon to fight with a sword, but can use one in a pinch with passable skill. He rarely carries one, however, since they are normally too unwieldy for use in his work.

Personality: Hazad is a cynical and bitter man, cold and ruthless. He feels no pity for his victims and regards them as a means to an end: that of earning a living. No job is beneath him if the price is right, and he takes no account of age, sex or race when he accepts a contract. If he is particularly ill-disposed towards the King and his subjects this is only understandable, given his past; but he would still gladly kill one of the King's enemies if he were paid to do so. He restricts his conversation with clients to business matters and has no obvious friends or associates, spending most of his time alone and seeking the company of none. He will actively discourage any attempt to talk to him unless it concerns a contract.

History: Hazad was the son of a farmer in Near Harad, but was called from his father's land to serve in the War of the Ring. Although he played no part in the major battles of the time, he fought with distinction in a number of skirmishes, mainly around the southern border of Gondor. When he returned home, he discovered that fleeing and panicked Orcs had raided his home and killed his parents; later he discovered that his brother had been killed in Ithilien (in fact in the very ambush witnessed by Frodo and Sam, although he does not know this). Embittered and disillusioned, realising that he had been betrayed by his masters and attacked by their allies, he made for the nearest city, where he was soon involved in petty crime. When he killed a wealthy merchant during a burglary, he was forced to seek protection from the man's business rivals, who used him for a number of political killings before he was offered money to assassinate one of them. He used the money he earned from this act to flee the city, and began to wander Middle-earth, accepting whichever killings paid the highest. In the difficult early years of the Fourth Age, he is seldom short of work, and has enough of a reputation that his services are often in demand. Only low payment will cause him to refuse a contract, however repugnant the client or the task may be. His stealth, discretion and calculating personality make Hazad the ideal assassin, and he is as proud of his abilities as he is of anything, not that he ever talks about that either.

Hazad is mostly known by nicknames that he has been given over the years, most of them with unpleasant connotations. Few if any know his real name, which is given here for the sake of completeness. In fact nobody knows more than the merchants with whom he anonymously deposits and invests his money; and they know next to nothing. Several former clients are not prepared to trust in his discretion, and numerous powerful people have sworn vengeance against him. Naturally King Elessar wants to see him brought to justice, so he avoids the King's dominions when he can. Secrecy and mobility are the keys to his survival, and few can tell where he will be at a given time. His clients seek him out in the seedier inns and if they are lucky they find him. He has enough money that the loss of business does not trouble him overmuch.

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 6:38 PM January 20, 2004: Message edited by: The Squatter of Amon Rûdh ]
__________________
Man kenuva métim' andúne?
The Squatter of Amon Rûdh is offline