Azrul Valker

Azrul Valker
Race	Hyur
Clan	Midlander
Citizenship	Unaffiliated
Age	26
Orientation	Heterosexual
Alignment	True Neutral

Character

General

Azrul is a freelance mercenary and Co-Director of Torchlight Ventures. He was born in Uldah and raised by his father for most of his childhood in a traveling circus act. The circus disbanded when Azrul was 16 years old, and so he ended up following his father from the circus into mercenary work. Azrul specializes in hand-to-hand and one-handed sword combat, in addition to underhanded fighting tactics; Azrul's mentality is that of someone who will do whatever it takes to emerge victorious, honor be damned. He is also frequently seen at local bars and taverns, generally helping himself to a bountiful quantity of ale.

Appearance

Azrul is a relatively young man in his mid 20s with medium length dark brown hair, a full beard, and brown eyes to match; he stands at 6'3" tall with a fit, muscular build and has a single scar on his face on his lower left cheek that he obtained while practicing sword juggling and dropping a blade at a bad angle. Azrul is usually wearing loose clothing, mostly made of cloth and leather with occasional bits of flashy gold in the boots and gloves. When out of a city or town environment, Azrul often has black cloth pulled up over his nose and mouth to cover his face; while the cloth does protect his face from anything lingering in the air in particular dangerous caves or swamps, he mostly wears it because he likes how it looks. Often sheathed at either side of his waist are two black and gold scimitars that Azrul wields in combat, with one concealed knife hidden away in the side of one of his boots.

Personality

Having grown up in a circus environment, Azrul has had a mindset of being carefree and fun instilled in him at a very early age. As such, Azrul's number one priority in life is to enjoy it, which he often considers to line up with his tendencies to make money through mercenary work, and drinking at the local tavern. Azrul's carefree mindset has gotten him into plenty of trouble in the past, and will most likely continue to do so in the future, though said mindset has also allowed him to acquire a fair number of friends and acquaintances. Azrul enjoys a good fight from time to time, and enjoys emerging from said fight the victor even more; as such, Azrul takes any advantage he can get in a fight to gain the upper hand, often resorting to fake-outs, flinging dust or dirt in the opponent's face, or aiming for their particularly sensitive regions.

History

Azrul was born as the result of a one night stand between Alfond Valker, a local Ul'dahn mercenary, and an Ul'dahn entertainer named Reila Vensen. Upon giving birth to the child, Reila was determined not to be burdened with the responsibilities of being a mother and thus wanted nothing to do with her newborn child. Tracking down Alfond once more, she did not hesitate to offer the child up to him to raise by himself. Alfond chose to take responsibility for the child and accepted Azrul as his son, but quickly came to the conclusion that he would not be able to care for his son properly while also being a mercenary. Alfond quickly retired from his work and started looking out for a less dangerous line of work, which eventually lead him to discovering a traveling circus act known as "The Howling Flames" which he signed up for and joined as the group's new sword juggler.

Growing up with his father and the circus group, Azrul got to travel all around Eorzea watching his father's perform his act in front of all sorts of crowds. Azrul's earliest memories are, in fact, him watching his father performances. While azrul never participated in the circus act himself, his father used much of his spare time teaching him how to handle swords, specifically his two light-weight scimitars that he used in his juggling acts. Not only did his father teach him valuable skills, the other circus performers whom Azrul grew to see as his own family taught him useful skills such as sleight of hand, exotic animal care, and acrobatics. Azrul grew up in this environment all the way until the age of 16, when people began to lose interest in the circus do to their lack of new innovative ideas to incorporate into the act. As such, the circus ended up closing down, causing Azrul and Alfond to move back to Ul'dah, where Alfond resumed his life as a mercenary and a year later Azrul followed him into the business.

As a mercenary, Azrul went on to incorporate many of the skills he learned from his circus family into his work, successfully completing many jobs and making enough gil to purchase a small house in the Goblet which he later turned into the "Bottom of the Bottle", a small bar for him and his friends to spend time in. Eventually, Azrul was introduced by an associate to the Ravencrofts, a family of minor Ishgardian nobles who often hired mercenaries and contractors to get their work done. This business relationship eventually lead to Azrul meeting the family's daughter, Elizabeth Ravencroft, who went on to invite him to found a trading company with her known as "Torchlight Ventures."

Tendencies

Likes

• Drinking
• Getting paid
• Relaxing

Dislikes

• Charity
• Being bossed around
• Paperwork