Averill Rooks

Averill Rooks
The Vagrant
"There'll be a story here, somewhere..."
OOC Character Information
Main Job(s):	WAR/BRD
Main Tradeskill:	None
Preferred Role:	Tank
Server:	Balmung
Status
Alignment:	Chaotic Neutral
Reputation:	Known to Twin Adder and Maelstrom
Occupation:	Vagrant
Education:	Decent formal education, Survival Expertise
Marital Status:	Estranged
Sexuality:	Straight
Guardian:	Oschon, the Wanderer
Free Company
None
Items Carried
Scrimshaw's Carver, Self-crafted Armor (assorted)
Characteristics
Race:	Hyur
Clan:	Midlander
Age:	27
Height:	5'9"
Weight:	172 ponze
Eyes:	Green
Hair:	Red
Complexion:	Pale
Physical Build:	Athletic
Notable Features:	Pale left eye, deep scars across his body

Attributes
	Strength	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █		P.Defense	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
	Dexterity	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █		M.Defense	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
	Martial Prowess	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █		Intelligence	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
	Magic Affinity	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █		Luck	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █

Summary

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Averill Rooks (formerly Tomus) is a vagrant Midlander. Claiming no citizenship or loyalties of any professional measure, he wanders Eorzea sating a lust for new roads and challenges every day.

The scion of a long-dead Lominsan family, Averill has taken great pains to distance himself from the last of his family, removing himself to increasingly violent and dangerous locales for reasons he is hard-pressed to explain. The few who do know Averill note well his skill with the fell blade at his side, coupled with the single-minded savagery of one who has survived wilds as harsh as Dravania - and beyond.

Appearance

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Standing at average height for one of his clan, Averill's road-weathered physique evidences clear experience to the rigors of travel, combat, and simple survival. Scars mangle his body, most notably across his left side, so severe as to render his left eye pale and useless.

Typically, he wears armor crafted from the scraps and skins of beasts he has slain on his travels. His gear is piecemeal at best, leaving his chest exposed to preserve his innate agility. His arm is the only item he has purchased; a custom-made axe, forged to channel his abilities with devastating effect. He wields it comfortably in one hand or two, carving a whirlwind of steel and blood in whatever melee he throws himself into.

RP Hooks

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Listed below are some possible ideas for you to get connected to Averill. Feel free to include any of these in your RP!

Rumours

Perhaps the most common way to connect to Averill is through the hearsay that swirls about him. The rumour mill turns its grim spokes, its tales including:

• Whispers of a fell savage, axe lagging in one hand behind him, toppling ferocious beasts in bloody melees.
• Stories of the long-lost scion of the Tomus line, a family driven mad by the grim circumstances surrounding its last child's birth. Though scarred and by no means a scholar, arcanists may note a resemblance between Averill and the late, mad Dawson Tomus....

Official Business

For those seeking a more direct encounter or confrontation, consider the following:

• The Wood Wailers fervently seek dedicated hands to guard the borders of the Twelveswood, appeasing the Elementals and staving off the dreaded Greenwrath. When reports abound of a scarred beast bearing a grim axe, these requests grow ever more desperate, even going so far as to post this leve for the Adventurer's Guild:

Blow Ye Winds Ghastly

Client: Vorsaile Heuloix, Serpent Commander The Hearers are oft distressed by the slightest disturbance in the Twelveswood - now more than ever, with the Calamity bringing its fires to bear against all we held precious. The Elementals are only just restoring balance, and it is a delicate thing. Whispers of a force that will upset this reach me daily. Scouts report that a ghost of Gridania's past - the mistake of the Seedseer's mercy - is come to our sacred lands. His aims are unknown, but every breath he takes is a blight against our covenant. Lest Greenwrath take us all, I beseech every able arm to drive this creature from the Twelveswood, or drag his corpse onto a pyre.

• For a time, Averill was a combatant in the Ul'dahn-affiliated company, the Pathfinders. The Brass Blades took note of his bizarre strength, and oft seeks to entice the savage with recruiters.
• Known amidst hunters and mercenaries as a man of uncommon strength and singular purpose, many have attempted to sway his axe with coin and earthly pleasures. What will you try?

Aether-sensitivity

Mages one and all will note the following about Averill, perhaps encouraging an approach (or attack):

• The man carries himself with a wind separate from Eorzea's. No natural gale lifts his steps. His presence is the arrival of an unnatural storm front.
• A closer examination will reveal that he is steeped in corrupted wind aether, resisting invasive attempts to better understand the brutal crucible his life is forged in, and the madness that drives his violent worship.
• Even without magical roots, the common man may well shrink from his preternatural presence. His physical appearance, his body language, his attire, his scent - something warns them away from the thin veneer of civility that tugs at the savage's features, much in the way a bird may shrink from an anzu...

Relations and Affiliations

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Eorzea and its Organisations

Gridania

Knowing Averill's condition only by the tragedy of the tempered child secreted from the city state nearly thirty years ago, the Elementals have since raged against the savage's presence in the Twelveswood whenever he has deigned it necessary to travel there. Wailers actively hunt the beast down, lest Greenwrath destroy them all, and he is denied entry to the city-state proper. Such harsh action is endemic to those who suffer the wrath of Garuda's Xelphatol Ixali, and all those attuned to the will of the Elementals reckon well the anxiety shrouding any possibility of Averill and the Lady's children ever meeting.

Ishgard

Whilst not directly persecuted by the Holy See, Averill has caused no small amount of trouble for Ishgard's outposts. Camp Dragonhead has suffered Averill's presence in the central highlands as he took to the Weeping Saint, challenging ogres for their territory. So much so, in fact, that it was this that guided the Pathfinders to him. Beyond Coerthas, Averill's presence in Dravania has been tolerated owing in part to the severity of these environments. The hunters of Tailfeather share an amicable relationship, and a mutual trust born from Averill's assistance in handling the local, more unruly bandersnatches.

Limsa Lominsa

Averill's childhood home. In the past he took great pains to stray from his roots, and it was not until two years ago that he was eventually dragged back by his ailing father. Since his initial return, he has occasionally taken to the Vylbrand, tasting the familiar sea salt he fled from as a young man. His troubles as a teen have not been forgotten by the Yellowjackets, however, who keep an eye on Averill whenever they chance upon his distinctive garb.

Ul'dah

A hub for mercenaries and similarly immoral trades, Averill has found some small measure of sanctuary in the tarnished jewel of the desert. His first true stay came under the yoke of the Pathfinders, the Free Company that dragged Averill back into society. Despite the tumultuous times that followed, Averill has since found fast friends in Ul'dah, and frequently returns. The Brass Blades, noting his strength and the rumours that swirled about his martial prowess in various fights and tournaments, have occasionally attempted to recruit the savage to their side. The Sultansworn and Immortal Flames, however, tread warily about his bestial talents.

Abilities and Equipment

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Abilities

High Physical Strength: Perhaps due to the weight of his chosen weapon, or the abundance of aether pulsing through his body, Averill nonetheless possesses abnormal strength for a Hyur of his stature, comfortably wielding a weapon almost as large as he is in one hand or two.

Immense Aetheric Capacity: Flooded with corrupted aether from the moment of his birth, Averill sustains a gargantuan wellspring of wind aether, serving as both the fuel for his martial skill and the core of his savagery. In channelling such a volatile resource, he channels the strength of Garuda; her strength, and her boundless rage.

Wind Affinity: The heart of Averill's ability lies in the cruel gales that twist around his strikes, serving to increase their impact and sharpness both. With enough force, his storm can eviscerate even the stoutest of defences, physical or magical.

Martial Prowess: From the moment he set out, Averill has always preferred the axe above all weapons. As such, he has developed a style of combat unique from Marauders and fabled Warriors both, focussed on whirling strikes and unpredictable onslaughts. Bearing no finesse or professional discipline, his skill is born from an innate brutality and a decade of experience in the hard wilds of Eorzea. Even without his signature weapon, he is a formidable fighter with any blade - though none can withstand his abilities for a prolonged period of time without shattering.

Tempered Soul: Twisted in the crucible of Garuda's aether, held in check only by the weakest chains of civilising education, Averill's soul belongs to the Lady of the Vortex. Her will manifests in his nigh-insatiable bloodlust, but despite its drawbacks affords him unique protection against other aetheric influences.

Equipment

Huracan: An axe borne of Dawson's defeat. Upon realising there would be no stabilising or curing Averill's condition, his failing father sought to at least provide a suitable home for his son's abilities, lest they rip him apart from the inside. Forged from materials uniquely suited to conducting and channelling aether, it is named after a creature of legend; a beast that ravaged far away lands, its home a ferocious storm from which few returned. As of his return from the Cage, Averill has not been seen with Huracan - it was broken, destroyed during his last battle to reach the Scrimshaw.

Wilds Armour: In his travels, Averill learned to adapt the scraps he stumbled across into armour of his own design. Piecemeal and providing protection only to his vitals, it affords him the mobility to carve through battlefields unrestrained.

Scrimshaw's Carver: A grim gift from Scrimshaw, creator of Averill's axe. A tool used in the giant's ancient craft, Scrimshaw passed it to Averill with an aim to regulate his affliction whilst the savage gathered materials for a replacement. Unlike Huracan's design, meant to store his aether, Carver devours aether, dispersing it before it can cause any adverse effects. Though it is a temporary measure, it serves as a check for Averill's primal roots for as long as his reserves of aether lasts.

Rumours

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Anyone who RPs with Averill and leaves with a good/bad/dramatic impression, don't hesitate to add to the rumours section below!

• "You really don't want to get into a fight with this guy. He's not always terrifyingly fast and furious, though. There's a... well, I wouldn't say a normal man, but there's certainly some sort of man underneath all that frightfulness, and he makes good coffee." -Eaubront Shopont
• "Few I'd rather have by my side in a fight. He swings an axe like nothing else. Don't know too much about him, seems less than willing to speak on certain subjects." -Aysa Farland
• "Hn... Rooks? He's lovely company. If a bit savage. Pray you do not taunt his mood. He can be rather... unkind." -Coy Woman
• "I don't know what he became nor what became OF him. Sometimes I wonder if there was more I could have done and I just...This is a depressing subject, let's move on..." -Madison Brookstone
• "Huh? Mister Avs? Most don't try to understand him, and people don't know how to be kind to him, but Ayda's always wanted to keep his heart safe. I don't need anybody else if I have him. And hopefully... I'm enough too." -Ayda