Thread: The Half-elf and Her Giant ::Haru|Bear::

Name Leofward Irons Nickname Leo Race Human Height 6'8 Weight 482 Physical Appearance and Personality Leofward, or Leo as he is known to almost everyone he meets, can only be described as a bear of a man. Like all of his ilk, Leo is a towering man. Standing well over six feet in height, and heading more toward seven, Leo also has quite the girth, being a large man in all respects - as he likes to tell the ladies with waggling brows. With arms as thick as many men's legs, it is obvious that the man is a physical beast, yet within him resides one of the gentlest souls one could ever know. Which is perhaps a good thing, for very few have ever seen Leo lose his temper. Most have not seen the darker side of this blacksmith's son, and those who have do not speak of it. His belly tends to strain the buttons on his shirts, but if that slows down the large man it is not apparent. Carrying himself well, Leo is also nothing of not jovial. Perhaps it is simply the way he is, always looking at things with a bright and cheery perspective. Perhaps it is a defense he has set up for himself. Either way, he is quick to smile and quick to laugh, and seemingly nearly always in a good mood. Dark hair adorns his head and face, and Leo keeps it well trimmed. The dark hair on his head is curly, his beard bushy, and his dark eyes sparkle with mirth and peer out at the world with unabashed curiosity and intelligence. His skin is gently tanned, speaking of his general willingness to be outdoors. Leo is, if anything, a man with voracious appetites. He loves all that life has to offer. Food and drink, women, the wind in his hair and a bright sunrise, women, music and art, women, and did I mention food and drink? Embracing every day as if it might be his last, Leo revels in life. Background Leo is the only son of Reginald Irons, often known as Old Man Irons. A blacksmith and armorer who has set up his shop just outside of Magnimar. Leo's father had actually found the city just a bit too confining, and thus had settled their homestead and forge just outside what would be considered the perimeter of the city. This was the environment that Leo grew up in, known as the blacksmith's fat son just outside of town. Leo didn't let this bother him, and as he grew up his father taught him the forge. This contributed in part to Leo's prodigious strength, even compared to many of his blacksmith brethren. Leo was born to wield the hammer. And he would have, were he not so stricken with stories of adventure. Never a boy to let his father down, Leo studiously kept to his duties and learned the forge, growing strong as he grew tall. But ever did the wanderlust burn within him, firing his imagination. The local boys from Magnimar didn't help, often coming to jeer and poke fun at Leo from a distance. Never quite brave enough to say their mean things directly to his face, but close enough to make their jests and japes known to him. The gentleness of the large youth meant they had little fear of him, though they dispersed every time his father would yell at them. Leo was encouraged by his father to stand up to them, to defend himself, physically if need be, but Leo had little interest in engaging in such a thing. So he grew and grew, and the other boys went away, going off to lives of their own. Still Leo dreamt of traveling the world, pondering what wonders he might see. As was the wont of humans, war seemed to always reside just over the horizon. Leo's father, as a metalworker and armorer, was kept busy with his trade, and had orders for various articles of war on a near constant basis. Leo's mom, Maribeth Irons, doted on her only child, and recognized the docile soul in the boy. If he learned hard work and responsibility from his father, then he learned how to enjoy life and how to be kind from his mother. She was different from most women, larger than life to be sure, but it is evident to anyone who knew his mother that Leo takes after her. A woman with hair the color of gold and laughing eyes the color of the sea, Leo does follow his father as far as his looks... but his personality is entirely Mari, as his mother was known as. Things could have been described as idyllic in the household, at least until the autumn of Leo's tenth year. His mother took ill, and she was not the only one. A virulent infection had spread through the area, and though they knew not from where it came, the rumors told of one of the traveling merchants that frequented Magnimar. It didn't matter though, for even if it had originated with a traveler, that traveler most assuredly died, and not in a pretty manner. The disease replicated the symptoms of a terrible flu-like disease. Coughing, congestion, shortness of breath. Yet those were the more common side effects. The blood eventually grew thin, unable to clot and in fact unable to be held in the body. Seeping from the nose and mouth, even the ears and eyes, the last days of those who contracted the illness were spent slowly bleeding out, their lungs filling with blood as they eventually drowned in their own fluids and in great pain. Though Mari tried to get her boy to leave her side, Leo insisted on staying with her. Even his father could not bear to witness her end, but Leo was, if anything, a faithful and loving child. He held his mother's hands in her last hours. He cried until there was not a tear left to be shed, until he had cried himself dry. He watched as his mother perished for no reason at all. She'd never hurt a soul, and had spread nothing but good cheer and love. That was a lesson she had taught her boy, and she had imparted upon him some time ago words that he lives by to this day. She told him that she had been taught these words by her own mother, whom Leo had never met. Leo can even remember how she told him these words one day when he was small, perhaps five or six summers old, in the kitchen and helping her make blueberry pies. If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease where there are tongues, they will be stilled where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Leo always remembered those words and his mother spoke them often. So he sat. He watched her die. He remembered those words, and he promised her on, her deathbed, that he would always honor what she had taught him. That love could conquer all things. Leo lives by those words, and has not a harsh word for anyone. The now fully grown Leo hears the rumors of war, and the tidings that conflicts are smattered across the land, ever encroaching. Will Leo remain ensconced in the forge, or set out to see the world before it might be too late? Remember what you must do When they undervalue you When they think Your softness is your weakness When they treat your kindness Like it is their advantage. You awaken Every Dragon Every Wolf Every Monster That sleeps inside you And you remind them What hell looks like When it wears the skin Of a gentle human. ---------------------------------------------- Leo was rather comfortable with his life in many ways. He had a roof over his head, food in his belly, and a warm place to sleep. Yet despite this, Leo wasn't what one would call content. The desire to explore the world around him gnawed at him, and the only thing truly keeping him at home was his father. Not that Old Man Irons needed his help, but Leo felt compelled to stay and at least keep his father company. Yet the older Irons saw that wanderlust in his son, bubbling just under the surface. Ye know I can handle the forge on me on, boy. Ye should go an' get it all outta yer system. his father had said. Leo listened to this for almost a week before he decided to follow his father's suggestion. He'd been to the city of Magnimar that was close, and had seen the maps of the Inner Sea area of Golarion. He'd never truly studied the maps, but he knew the world was vast. There was no chance he would travel too far, but going out to Magnimar would be a nice adventure, especially if he could stay for awhile. The longest he'd been there was only a day. Golarion Magnimar ------------------------- Gathering some supplies, a bit of coin, and a hammer that Leo himself had made, the immense man bid farewell to his father and made for Magnimar. He hummed as he walked, carrying his great weight with ease. For all his bulk, Leo was quite deft, and he made good time, the walls of the city within sight by noon.