Hrodrich Thorne

Hrodrich Thorne
Laborer
Gender	Male
Race	Hyur
Clan	Highlander
Citizenship	Ala Mhigo

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Basic Info

• Gender/Clan/Race: Male Highlander Hyur
• Nameday: 1545 the 6th Astral Era, 13th Sun of the 3rd Umbral Moon
  • (Age as of the events of Stormblood: 32)
• Height: 6 fulms / 183cm
• Weight: 120 ponze / 54kg
• Hair: Black
• Eyes: Dark green
• Skin: Originally light, now deeply tanned

History

As a child, Hrodrich was small for his age, gentle by nature, and tended to avoid the rambunctious games young Highlanders play. Fortunately, the shy, withdrawn boy had parents who loved him very much and wanted to do everything they could for him. Unfortunately, one of the things they chose to do to try to give him a better life was to rebel against the Mad King's rule. Once the Garleans swept to power amid the chaos of the revolution, he and his parents found themselves in one of the Empire's "re-education" camps, wherein the less said about his parents' fates, the better.

Technically, Hrodrich survived, but the young man who emerged from the camp was broken and subservient, and without any skill, trade, or means of support beyond his capacity for manual labor. For the remainder of the 20-year occupation, he struggled, finding work when he could to sustain himself and pay the Empire's onerous taxes, and volunteering for Garlean work details when he could not, because at least they fed their slaves-in-all-but-name. Now that Ala Mhigo has been liberated, he is supposedly free to choose his own path. But is he truly, without one thin gil to his name? And can he even understand what it is to be his own man?

Appearance and Personality

Hrodrich is short and gaunt for a Highlander, at barely 6 fulms of height and 120 ponze. Long years of labor in the sun have left his skin brown and leathery, but for all his work he never got enough to eat to develop his musculature, and a few of his ribs are visible through his skin. Though fragile-looking, his body is scarred here and there with the evidence of the injuries and beatings he's survived, suggesting that he might be more resilient than he first appears. Long, unkempt black hair and beard, deeply-set bags beneath his dark green eyes, and permanent furrows in his brow combine to give him a perpetually tired, sad, and beaten expression.

Hrodrich's clothes are old and shabby, and hang unattractively on his thin frame, but he keeps them mended enough to be modest. Mindful of the unpleasantness of his bodily appearance, he tries to avoid situations in which he might be seen in a state of undress. His manner is quiet and somber; he speaks little, and only rarely without first being spoken to. He is most comfortable when following orders, and sometimes appears to be at a loss as to what to do when he must rely on his own judgment and initiative. He has learned to suppress displays of emotion in the presence of others, especially Garleans; but he does feel, and deeply, particularly for others in pain. He does whatever he can for them, even with what little he has, with a wordless, sad smile and a gentleness perhaps surprising in a Highlander.

Plot Hooks

• Other Ala Mhigans might know Hrodrich, of course, either as a child before the occupation, or as a fellow subject of Garlean rule.
• Resistance members and/or other sympathizers with the captive populace might have lent him aid or attempted in vain to recruit him.
• Members of the liberation forces might have met him during or after the counterinvasion of Ala Mhigo, and/or might have seen him freed from an outlying work camp.
• In the wake of the occupation, Hrodrich is almost certainly looking for work. Anyone with a job to offer him that pays enough for him to eat can probably get his ear, no matter how menial the labor; in fact, menial labor is pretty much all he knows.
• Not that he'd turn down an opportunity to learn a trade, or even to fight, if anyone saw the potential in his scrawny body -- and if it's not too late for this old dog to learn new tricks.
• If he did learn to fight, though, he might be interested in employing his new skills against the Garleans....

Affiliations

None so far. Contact Rory on the RPC forums if you'd like to be a part of Hrodrich's story!

Rumors

None so far. Hrodrich's just another face in the crowd struggling to make ends meet...for now.