Leopold Starke

Leopold Starke
Gender	Male
Race	Hyur
Clan	Midlander
Citizenship	Ul'dah
Nameday	12th Sun of the 6th Astral Moon
Age	23
Height	5 fulm 8 ilm
Birthplace	unknown

Character

Appearance

Leopold certainly isn't the best looking guy. His hair is a blend of red and brown, kept a bit shaggy and in his eyes. He has a strange patch of chin fuzz at the point of his chin reaching up to his lower lip. His features are sharp and angular, his eyes somewhat small for his face. His eyebrows are rather minimal as well, and are usually obscured by his bangs.

He prefers to wear red and black, despite the heat, and always wears thigh-high boots. Rarely is he seen with any kind of weapon, but he is always armed. While Leopold has a considerable amount of money, he dresses like he's lower class.

Personality

Leo is a horrible pyro. He enjoys watching fire destroy things and employing it as a weapon. He uses it as a threat as well, enjoying using psychological warfare to get what he wants or to prevent someone from double crossing him. Many of Leo's deals are shady and involved with the Syndicate, but he isn't beneath burning someone for double crossing the deal or trying to scam him.

Leo enjoys toying with people. Psychological warfare is a favorite pastime of his. If he finds a weakness, he tries to exploit it and manipulate people as he sees fit.

He is also fiercely protective of his family and close friends. Touch them and he will not hesitate to harm you.

Family

The Starkes aren't exactly the most respectable of people. Miners by trade, they trade less respectable things by night. They had their hands in trading addictive substances and otherwise illegal supplies. Aside from their more underground activities, they both love Leopold very much and believe he was the greatest trade they've ever made in his life.

As the Starkes weren't able to have children, Leopold is an only child, though he has a handful of cousins.

The Starkes also own and operate a mine near Cutter's Cry. The mine is a cover for the more illicit activities.

Adoptive family

• Father: Ansell Starke
• Mother: Rohesia Starke

Birth family
Currently unknown

Relationships

• Augustine Frost - there's just something about this guy that piques Leo's curiosity, mostly his appearance. While Augustine is taller, their facial features and even hairstyle are remarkably similar. Augustine is the first person he's come across that looks like he could be related. Surely it's just a coincidence, right?
• Renault Delumiere - a purple-haired hyur who seems to have decent connections. Leo found him on accident, following a conversation between R'ikve and Augustine about if the carpet matched the drapes. Leo made a deal with him, agreeing to pay for Renault to find if Leo had any siblings from his birth parents. He doesn't actually expect Renault to find anyone, as with virtually no information, no one has been able to uncover any information.
• R'ikve Niall - a miquo'te who seems to pick fights with Augustine. She apparently works for Renault, somewhat like a right-hand man.

Trivial information

• Leo will always introduce himself as Leopold, but he won't object to being called Leo.
• He is well aware he was adopted, and he isn't ashamed to admit it.
• His favorite foods are roasted nopales and salted cod puffs. His favorite drink is orange juice (spiked, of course)
• His favorite colors are red and black. He doesn't like white. It can't cover blood stains.
• Even if he looks unarmed, he isn't. He keeps a small thaumaturge's brand tucked into his boot.

Rumors

Common

• "The kid may look like the butt of a cactuar but he certainly knows his way around a deal. Surprisingly honorable, considering the work he does. He always fulfills his end of the bargain and hates being double crossed." ~ shady female merchant
• "I heard he's been acting as his parents' guard when they do trades." ~ traveling merchant
• "Have you seen his parents? He looks nothing like them. They're blond-haired and blue-eyed and he looks like he's been rolling around in the mud too much. At first, I thought they'd hired him to protect them, but turns out he's their son!" ~ tradesman and wife

Uncommon

• "I'm pretty sure the Starkes have connections with the Syndicate. Either that or they're just really shady." ~ adventurer
• "That kid is really into magic. I'm pretty sure he's trying to summon bad things." ~ frightened Ul'dahn kid near the Thaumaturge's Guild
• "Even if he looks unarmed, don't let it fool you. He's crafty, that one." ~ tradesman in Horizon
• "I'm pretty sure he has some highlander in his blood. Did you see that face? Those cheekbones and lack of eyebrows? Sure-tell sign of a highlander, if you ask me." ~ midlander merchant

Rare

• "Don't double cross that guy. See this scar? He gave it to me when I tried to undercut him. Struck me with a magic staff he pulled out of his boot!" ~ scarred Ul'dah trader

You might know Leo if...

• you're a thaumaturge. He is seen at the Guild, though not very often.
• you've visited the exchanges in Ul'dah. He visits the marketplace a lot
• you've made some shady deals in the past (please contact me OOCly before doing this)

History

Before the Calamity

Leopold was adopted as an infant by a mining family living in Horizon's Edge on the Royal Allagan Sunway in Western Thanalan. The Starkes weren't able to have children of their own, so they bought Leopold off his birth family using gil and drugs as a payment.

At an early age, Leopold became very aware he wasn't related to his parents. They were both blond-haired and blue-eyed and he was most definitely not. They explained they adopted him from a family which didn't want him, not telling him the details of the exchange. They told him his birth name was Leopold but they didn't know much more than that. They gave him the name Starke because they said he was part of their family, adopted or not. They considered him their son.

He accepted this, as the Starkes were the only family he knew. But that didn't mean the idea of what his birth family had done didn't sour his outlook on life. They'd given him up, but they put him in a suitable place. Still, there was that curiosity to find out who this birth family was and beat them with a stick.

Leopold didn't particularly care for the family business of mining, but he did it anyway as a means to pass time and pound out frustration. Truthfully he longed to fight, to be on the battlefield and in the middle of action.

The New Era

The Calamity didn't affect Leopold or his family as much as some. The family maintained their usual business, and actually took advantage of it. Leo took up fighting so he could defend his parents in their deals. He learned he had some talent in the magical arts and took up Thaumaturgy. He began looting houses and camps abandoned during the Calamity, sometimes burning them down to cover his tracks.

At 18, Leopold began taking up jobs of his own. Like his parents, he'd made his share of shady deals as well as legitimate ones. He was somewhat honorable, preferring to keep up his end of the bargain, given that the other side kept up theirs. His parents taught him well.

Leopold became more curious about his origins when someone who tried to double cross him called him an unusual name. Frost. Leo hadn't really thought about finding his birth family since he was much younger, but suddenly the idea had returned to him. While he could care less about his birth parents, he longed for siblings. He was an only child with the Starkes but he longed to have a brother who was interested in the same sort of things he was. He set out to look for leads and links, hired a few people, none of which actually got anywhere.

Five years later, his search hadn't gotten anywhere, and he'd nearly given up on it. Through a rather odd chain of events, he encountered Renault, a supposedly connected man who made an offer to find the information Leopold sought. Leo wasn't entirely convinced Renault could do a better job, but the man spoke rather highly and had an interesting sort of personality, so Leo gave him a chance, making a deal with him.