During the day, he's not much to look at. He might attract a great deal of attention for being wrapped in a brown hooded cloak that manages to completely conceal every inch of skin from head to toe, face wrapped in a scarf and heavy, nearly-opaque goggles covering his eyes. Occasionally, a crossbow is seen slung on his back, though more often, he goes unarmed.
It's during the night, or when otherwise sheltered from the sun's light, that his appearance becomes apparent. Alaric is a drow, fairly unexceptional for his race. His hair is kept cropped short, and interestingly, the tip of his right ear appears to be missing. Should his cloak and the shirt beneath come off, more evidence of abuse becomes apparent. His fingers tend to be calloused, his arms and torso covered in scars, many of them consistent with clubs or whips...
Alaric, you see, is an escaped slave. Until recently, he was the property of a mining company in the north, using the remote location of their facility and the length of the arctic day, combined with the harshness of the arctic night, to keep their slaves in one place. For more than a few decades, he spent his life in the mines, growing increasingly desperate. And, finally, one winter, he decided he would rather brave the arctic night than another day in the mines.
His chance came, and he ran, as far as he could, into the frozen wastes. He may have been hundreds of miles from civilization, but, to his thinking, at least he would die free...
At least, he would have, had it not been for the purest of coincidences. By a stroke of luck, as the drow collapsed from exposure, a gnoll was happening by.
Kirshtal, while travelling the northern wastes, took him in, gave him enough food and warmth to help him recover, and took him with her on the journey south, eventually freeing him.
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In his default storyline, Alaric has been traveling with the gnolltaur for almost a year now, learning under her tutelage how to defend himself, even taking up the crossbow and learning that he is, in fact, not a bad shot with it.
In terms of classes, this does, in fact, make him a low-level rogue. He has a small amount of experience in stealth, and dealing with the trickier aspects of adventuring. His time spent with
Kirshtal has, too, turned his relationship from one of companions to one more romantic. They are, in-character, now mated.
If desired, of course, for a scene such backstory can be altered, but such scenes should be considered non-canon.
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A
Loxagn alt.