Leopold Starke

Leopold Starke
You probably don't want to know him
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, pulled back into a thick braid. His features are sharp and angular, his eyes somewhat small for his face.

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 other than a book, but he is always armed to the teeth. 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 cares for very few people around him and sees most people as a means to an end. He is an insidious two-faced bastard who will pretend to be your friend just to get what he wants.

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

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 a network of underground drug trafficking. The Starkes' operation is rather small but a part of a larger network. Known ally is the Tunnel Drakes

Adoptive family

• Father: Ansell Starke
• Mother: Rohesia Starke

Birth family
Currently unknown, not that he cares

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. He however calls the Starkes his real parents.
• 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 in one boot and a knife in the other.
• His carbunkle's name is Stotch.

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

Player rumors

Add yourself in.

History

Before the Calamity

Leopold was adopted as an infant by a mining family living near Blackbrush in Central 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. His birth family had 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.

Leo entered the family business at about 15 when he became a bodyguard for the family "mining" business. He had begun learning thaumaturgy a few years prior but was still somewhat awkward with it. During this time, he met A'randr Tia, a miqo'te practically straight from the tribe. The two hit it off relatively quickly through a mutual understanding of usefulness and similarities.

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.

At 18, Leopold began taking up jobs of his own, becoming an individual agent in his family's business. 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.