Nero Lazarov
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 Nero Lazarov
| |
 "All work and no play means you're probably an indentured servant. Or tempered." | |
| Gender | Male |
| Race | Hyur |
| Clan | Midlander |
| Citizenship | Ul'dah |
| Age | 27 (born approx. 1550-1551) |
| Height | 5'11" (approx. 181 cm) |
| Guardian | Halone, The Fury |
| Namesday | 32nd Sun of the 6th Umbral Moon |
Contents
Character
♦ Appearance
"My dedication to reliability is almost as strong as my dedication to having good hair."
"Flashy" would be the simplest word to describe Nero's style; "vain" would likely be the most accurate. Though no longer a crisp and unblossomed youth, the Midlander has clearly taken steps to ensure that his appearance is noticed. Bright streaks of orange run amok a nest of smoky black hair; elaborate black facial tattoos can occasionally be seen underneath long, neatly trimmed bangs. Gilded earrings embedded with jewels of questionable value twinkle beneath his ears, and a well-maintained goatee crests a slightly pointed chin. Bright ice-coloured eyes gleam with a mischievous brand of intellect, and a perpetual smirk seems plastered on his face at all times in a manner that seems short of screaming "I think I'm a very charming person". A large scar runs from above his right eye and across the bridge of his nose, compounded by a second scar curving on the left side of his jaw.
Nero is not ignorant to practicality in his clothing, but still takes steps to treat his apparel with elaborate designs or embroidery. Even the most simple of his garments are often adorned with various decorations, and he will indulge in jewelry whenever possible.
♦ Behaviour
"I can disagree with you and you'll be wrong, or I can agree with you and we'll both be wrong."
If someone were to combine a disdain for authority, a sense of humour comprised entirely of poor wordplay and sarcastic quips, and an incredibly tangible sense of self-centeredness into one person, they would have been responsible for the creation of an reprehensibly annoying individual, and it is Nero's pleasure to be that individual. He is prepared for every inquiry and every insult with a flippant remark and a crooked smirk. His inability to deliver a straight answer is not to be mistaken for wit, however; often his "jokes" fall completely flat, or his sarcasm is incredibly dry, to the confusion of whoever he happens to be conversing with. Nero will often go out of his way to deliberately antagonise whoever he is speaking with, finding amusement in their reactions. Many equate his joviality with being simple-minded or lazy, a front that Nero maintains carefully, for he is anything but. Beneath every bad joke is an air of ambition, and his feigned laziness hides a strong conviction and professional conduct. Nero is also a very ruthless businessman; it requires a shrewd mind to run a successful smuggling operation, and an even shrewder one to expand it.
Nero is extremely unlikely to act out of emotional impulse or in anger. Self-control is considered one of his most important virtues, and the damage inflicted by a sentimental outburst can often be irreparable. Even so, that does not mean Nero is immune to fits of anger or irritability. He is very protective of children and, as befitting his ego, dislikes being ignored or brushed off.
However, Nero is also very daring, almost to the point of foolishness. In addition, his flippant attitude and loose tongue can make him seem insensitive to others, as he will often crack jokes to cope with negative events or experiences. Nero is also affected by being ignored, though he refuses to show it, and this can drive him to act impulsively or recklessly.
He is very hesitant to share any personal details about himself. When asked, Nero will often deflect the question with obvious lies or simply evade it altogether.
Nero will often act flirtatious, though this is mostly in good fun and he is not terribly interested in a true romantic commitment.
On morality, Nero is fairly lax. He will generally try to do the right thing when possible, but has no qualms about discarding the notions of righteousness or altruism if they become inconvenient. For him, the ends justify the means, and there are few situations in which he will not apply that philosophy.
Appearances are generally quite important to Nero. Often he will appear flamboyant or dramatic in an effort to provoke his enemies into not taking him seriously. He has also been known to wear an eye patch despite having full functional use of both eyes, claiming that "Nobody believes that I'm a raider without it." A sincere appreciation for luxurious food and clothing and a certain amount of vanity lends itself to his careful maintenence of his appearance. He is not wholly impractical, however; there will be times where such frivolous vanity will not be considered important to him.
♦ Brief History
(Author's Note: Recent RP events and developments will be updated here.)
There were many orphans on the streets of Ul'dah, and they took many forms; pickpockets, street urchins, and cheap labour alike were in abundance, even during the city's best days. Though his name was different in those early times, Nero was one of those orphans, one of many children who had the misfortune of falling through the cracks of Ul'dah. While the rulers of the desert city-state did their utmost to maintain the image of Ul'dah's luster, beneath the polish hid the rust, mud, and blood that was Nero's childhood. An orphan did not "grow up" in Ul'dah--a child had to already be grown up in many ways just to survive from day to day--as much as they were tempered against the city's unforgiving nature and apathetic citizens. Nero knows not from who he was born, only that it was very early in his life that he was forced onto the streets. First, he stole. When the stealing lead to fights, he fought. When the fighting lead to wounds, he would bite his lip and refuse to cry, a silent protest against the city's cruelty.
Eventually, such a path lead Nero to a position most children inevitably found themselves in: the bandit gangs. The gangs found the children useful as thieves, informants, lookouts, and when need be, as commodities. Many a time did Nero see a friend sold to some wealthy merchant or nobleman, some of them jubilant, some going quietly with naught but a sideways glance, others sobbing and attempting to claw their way free. Nero himself was never sold, and as he aged, his chances of escaping the life of gangs and banditry seemed impossible. In despair, he felt doomed to be little more than thug and enforcer, with his only destination being a ditch outside the city.
In the year 1562, Ul'dah exiled the beastmen from its walls, and chaos began to gradually take hold in Eorzea as the Garlean invasion accelerated through the land. It was during this time that Nero decided to escape from Ul'dah, and using funds he had worked for or stolen, he smuggled, lied, and bribed his way across travelling ships and convoys, hoping to make it across the sea to Limsa Lominsa. It was during his exodus that he changed his name; his previous name was that of a child, and while he was but a mere twelve years old, the boy decided that his transition to a man required a change of identity. Thus did he adopt Nero, a Garlean name, both in the hopes that it would be intimidating to those who heard it, and as his secret, if childish, symbol of rebellion.
Limsa Lominsa seemed almost completely devoid of the despair that gripped the lower quarters of Ul'dah. There were rogues, raiders, mercenaries, and cutthroats, but if nothing else, the pirate city felt...honest. It was a very welcome change of pace for Nero, a change he embraced. Though the youth, now of the tender age of thirteen, tried his hand at an honest living, he seemed drawn to crime as his talents as a thief and his savage fistfighting (a near necessary survival skill in Ul'dah) caught the attention of a raider captain, Vail Lazarov, from whom Nero derives his surname, who employed Nero aboard his ship for reasons the teenager couldn't say. For nearly seven years he sailed with the raiders, plundering merchant ships, raiding ports, and occasionally battling with other pirates, and it was from the captain that Nero adopted a sense of joviality and humour, even as the rest of the crew engaged in vulgarity. A particularly impressive venture was transporting a thaumaturge, who dazzled Nero with his mastery of destructive magic, completely obliterating a ship with massive fire spell during a sea battle. Such powerful magic was wondrous to Nero who, while skilled in fighting, had never learned beyond his fists, the sword, and the axe.
It was all very exciting.
Change was inevitable, however, and the longer Nero spent at sea, the more that his home city of Ul'dah occupied his thoughts. His years with the raiders had changed him in more ways than one, but no longer did he feel the crushing helplessness that his childhood had inflicted on him. If someone wronged him, Nero could fight for himself. If he wanted something, he had the power to take it. Such freedoms were unheard of among the poor in Ul'dah, where gil was the only authority. To those born into poverty, with no opportunity to make a better life for themselves, the city was eternally the master of its people. The more the youth--now a young man of nineteen--thought about it, the more it made sense: if he could obtain such freedom, then surely it was within his power to grant that freedom to others.
It was with a purpose that Nero returned to Ul'dah in 1569 and took up studies at the Arrzaneth Ossuary--the Thaumaturges' Guild. Ul'dah had taught him how to fight with his fists; Limsa Lominsa had taught him how to wield all manner of martial weapons. The raider captain had taught him about self-respect. All of these were Nero's weapons, but what mattered wasn't the weapon itself, but the power that the weapon granted, and the power granted to Nero by just his fists or an axe or a cocksure attitude was woefully inadequate to the power he could obtain through the aether.
Five years did he spend as a student; five years spent watching his home city, and watching the blood and corruption fester during the war with Garlemald. The more he watched, the harder he studied at his thaumaturgy; the harder he studied, the more he felt compelled to watch. While his masters at the ossuary desired he stay, Nero knew he could not change anything with merely study, for power meant nothing if it wasn't applied. Thus began his career as a mercenary, and a return to his criminal roots when he journeyed again to Limsa Lominsa and took command of a ship of his own, the Second Forte, with the intention of preying on Garlean ships and smuggling goods. As much as his carefree attitude might disguise it, however, within Nero burns the subtle flame of ambition, and he seeks to expand his operation to Ul'dah. Crime is all Nero knows, and it is through crime that he seeks his fortune, and the power to change the fortunes of others.
Nero spends much of his time travelling between Limsa Lominsa and Ul'dah; operating his ships and trade from the sea, and gathering information and ingratiating himself in the desert. He is often found idling at the Quicksand--for people say many things when they believe none around them are paying attention--or managing his shipments from the docks. In Limsa Lominsa, he is often frequenting the Drowning Wench or the Missing Member.
Combat
=== ♦ Melee Combat ===: Nero is reasonably proficient in melee fighting. His years as a raider and mercenary have imparted upon him martial skill in most weapons. He feels most comfortable fighting with his fists or an axe; should the situation call for it, however, he will adapt with swords, lances, or whatever is near by. Experience has taught him to fight with a sense of utter pragmatism, and to try to end the fight early. Nero will not hesitate to aim for any weak spots (such as the eyes and throat) of his enemy, and even with a weapon he will use his environment to his advantage whenever possible, and his blows are often very aggressive in order to inflict as much damage as possible in the smallest time frame. However, it is to be noted that while he possesses good skill in fighting due to his time as a mercenary, his fighting style is rather unrefined and lacks a sense of technique, and thus in terms of fighting he is still less proficient than a professional soldier or other properly trained individual. A skilled duelist will be able to read his moves and counter with ripostes, parries, or grabs, as Nero focuses mostly on offense.
=== ♦ Ranged Combat and Magic ===: Nero was never trained in the bow and is thus unable to wield one well, if at all. On the other hand, however, he was a dedicated pupil in thaumaturgy. Far from a master, he still possesses the ability to use a scepter or staff to conjure plumes of fire, shards of ice, and streaks of lightning. Five years of study, even dedicated study, is a scant amount of time in the mastery of thaumaturgy, but it is enough for him to inflict considerable harm with his magic. Often, Nero will only use his magic as a last resort, or when fighting monsters or beasts. Rarely will a situation occur where he will feel comfortable enough to use thaumaturgy on people.
Relationships
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Rumours
NPC Rumours
■ Positive:
● "E's the captain o' the Second Forte, ye? Spends a lot o' his time hangin' around the poor an' the fisher's, givin' handouts to thems less fortunate. A good man."
● "He's an honest merchant. Some people might try to bring him down by saying he's a raider, but he only targets Garlean ships, and he does honest trading with honest men, and that's what matters."
● "A brawl at the Wench, and lemme tell ya, him and this other bloke, a Roe, came in and beat the hells out of ev'ry single one o' them bastards! Got'em all to stop fightin' long enough for the Maelstrom ta show up. It might'a escalated without him there.
● "Lazarov's not like the other scum who infest Ul'dah. He might not always do it right, but he tries to fix the things that are broken."
■ Neutral
● "That raider captain? Heard about him when he was a kid, couldn't have been older than fourteen when he was sailing with Captain Vail. Gods, that was years ago."
● "Pays on time and delivers on time."
● "He's tryin' to make some coin like everyone else. Only diff'rence be that he's got a ship."
● "Another criminal in a city full of them."
■ Negative
● "He's a dirty smuggler, and a thief. Caught him pickpocketing in Hawker's Alley, but he ran off before anyone could snag him. And I've seen those loads of unmarked crates coming off his frigate, only to see'em be shipped off in the night. How much illegal product does that ship of his bring in, anyway?"
● "You have never heard of the Second Forte's raiders? Savage lot. Their captain is the worst, though. The other raiders, you can see them comin' a mile away, but him? You best be careful when you catch him trying to cozy up to you with honeyed words and fake smiles 'fore he beats you down to nothin'."
● "Limsa Lominsa's got enough o' his type. Cocksure bastards who think the world belongs to'em, and that they can take whatever they want, lie whenever they want. It wouldn't be so bad if he were at least honest about it."
● "He couldn't care less about the people! All he wants to do is further his own goals and feed his own ego."
Player Character Rumours
- ■ "A smuggler. A scoundrel. A criminal. ... And an ally." -- Roen Deneith
- ■ "This man associates with some interesting people. I would keep your eye on him if I were you." -- Coatleque Crofte
- ■
Trivia
Likes
- ■ Children
- ■ Sophisticated women
- ■ Good humour
- ■ Novels and fiction
- ■ Being the center of attention
- ■ Scale models, toys, and miniatures
- ■ Technology
- ■ Cool weather, rain
- ■ The colours black, red, and blue
- ■ Kindness to those less fortunate
- ■ Flirting
- ■ Ships and boats ("Technically, they're referred to as 'vessels'...")
- ■ Fancy food and clothing
- ■ Jewelry
Dislikes
- ■ Scorpions
- ■ Children being hurt or used
- ■ Women that are simultaneously too immature to be sophisticated and too mature to be cute
- ■ Overly serious people
- ■ Being ignored or passed over
- ■ Strict morals
- ■ Spicy food
- ■ Scorpions
- ■ Very hot weather
- ■ Bright yellow, pink, very light shades of green
- ■ Wasted valuables (e.g. broken vases)
- ■ Murder (he considers it wasteful)
- ■ Loud animals
- ■ Giant scorpions
Hobbies/Talents
- ■ Collects toys and models
- ■ Petty theft
- ■ Good mechanical skills and hand-eye coordination
- ■ Lying
- ■ Cooking toast in fifty-eight seconds
Favorites
- ■ Favourite Food/Drink: Smoked Raptor, rum
- ■ Favourite Place: The Missing Member, Limsa Lominsa
