Dante
From Reydala
Name: Dante ab Llew
Race: Human
Class: Fighter/Rogue
Gender: Male
Age: 24 years
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Deity: Triana
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Physical Appearance:
Height: 6’1
Body Type: Dante has a martial artist’s body; he’s whipish, with compact muscles
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: He lost one, but his good eye is brown
Clothing: Dante prefers the color red, and usually wears his best red cloak over his armor.
Other features: Dante carries his katanas one on each hip, down low enough that his fingertips brush the hilts when he walks with his arms to the sides. While certainly unconventional, putting his blades at this height makes a more natural drawing height, and allows him to draw a katana in each hand extremely quickly. Furthermore, it's been discovered that Dante carries a Naginata under his cloak, strapped to his back. This begs the question of what else he could be hiding on his person.
Background:
Hometown: Dante was raised in a small village on the southern tip of the Kaltian Empire, the notoriously cosmopolitan collection of regions on the eastern continent. His village, Joven, is composed almost entirely of warriors who spurn magic, relying purely on their martial prowess with the sword and spear. While Joven itself is located in the mountains, her people routinely walk to a nearby rocky beach to practice swimming and fishing. The people are generally good, with a few exceptions, but aren't really the type to be a part of, or organize themselves into a really large, complex government. They're still regular contenders in the Councilmaster Competition, though they compete more for the chance to test their skills than out of any real desire to rule.
While the men of Joven spend all day practicing the arts of war, it's up to the women to keep the village from collapsing in itself. The women of Joven are well-versed in trade, diplomacy, agriculture, architecture, medicine, and have the faintest grasp of politics (forming a Women's Circle that decides village policy as a whole). Both men and women are happy with this arrangement, as either side believes they wield the true power of Joven.
It should be noted that while married Joven women act as sheathes to their husbands' sword, those who decide not to marry often practice war right alongside the men, and in many instances surpass their testosterone equivalents.
Family background: Dante is actually an orphan, and was born in one of the far northern countries of the Kaltian continent. Whether by luck or by fortune, a warrior named Virgil came across an infant in the snow (while he himself was looking for a dwarf to craft him a sword), and took him back to Joven. He introduced the infant as Shutat, his adopted son and heir.
Family Statistics: Dante knows he was adopted by Virgil, but can't really remember anything about his life before. The only things he can recall are the color red, and flashes of purple.
Education: Dante learned the sword and the spear primarily from Virgil, though he learned various nuances that culminate into his style from all the swordsmen of Joven, including his trademark two-handed style. He also learned a basic grasp of philosophy, and ruminated on the nature of good and evil (as is popular to do in a village that focuses almost primarily on martial strength). Though intelligent, he never learned much more than small-group tactics for combat, simply because six Joven men is more than enough to defeat almost any enemy.
Character details:
Personality: It's extraordinarily difficult to pin down Dante's true personality (as anyone who's known him for about a week can attest), simply because he's so mercurial (though as he describes it, "he's a complicated man").
Characteristics about Dante that never seem to change, though, are: 1. He'll never back down from a challenge, from anyone or anything. 2. He'll steal anything that he can get away with. Whether it's for the actual value of what's being stolen, or if it's just because he can isn't known. 3. If someone's an enemy, Dante will not stop fighting until either they're dead, or he is. However, if he decides that someone's his friend (which is understandably rarely, as many people can't stand him long enough to become his friend), he'd go to Hell itself for them. 4. He hates being told what to do, and will often do the exact opposite out of spite. He's not stupid, though; if he suspects someone's trying to use reverse psychology, he won't do anything at all.
Religious Ideals: Dante, like most people from Joven, worship the goddess Triana. However, they only see her as a war goddess, and aren't anything like devout, only paying her lip service (if anything). While there is a statue that's supposed to depict Triana in Joven, it doesn't look a thing like the goddess it's modeled after.
Relationships:
Virgil is well respected as a swordsman in Joven, and his opinion in various matters is often sought out, though he can't really be said to be close to anybody (except "Shutat"). Though he can be seen as distant, Virgil holds the tenant of helping the helpless dear to his heart, and passed that basic philosophy towards life onto Dante. Since there really is no government to speak of in Joven, Virgil and Dante don't particularly care about government one way or the other.