Jace Maren

== Description ==
DM Handle: WolfbrotherKronosPhysical Description: Jace is 5'10. His hair is a dark brown and his eyes are hazel. He is not a big man, but by looking at him, you can tell he has done much manual labor. His hands have calluses and scars showing that he has spent much of his life using farm implements. He is not fully bearded, but often has a five o'clock shadow type of stubble.Age: 20Gender: MalePlace of Birth/Raising: Andor
Personality: Jace tends to not say much. He says what needs to be said and nothing more. To others, sometimes this makes him seem "put-offish" but most find that after they get to know him and is a really nice person. He tends to listen, only chiming in when asked or when he feels his opinion needs to be heard. He knows very little about the customs of other areas. He is also a terrible swordsman but has special skills in archery and tracking. He has a relatively low opinion of himself and has an addiction to gambling.
== Character History ==
Jace entered the family home after plowing the field for the year's crop. Growing up as a farmer, he was slightly more well built than most people of his age. Jace lived with his mother and younger brother. Since his father died a few years ago from a sudden illness, the two brothers had been able to keep the farm running.
As he entered the kitchen, his mother glared at him.
"You need to go hunting so we have enough food for the week. I was going to go into town and buy some, but your trip last night put an end to that idea."
Jace hung his head in shame and acknowledged his mother's request with a nod. It was true. Jace had a gambling problem and to make it worse, he was bad at it. His father had the same problem before passing and Jace seemed to have inherited it. No matter what he tried, the dice kept calling to him back to the table and no matter how much he lost, he just kept putting more money into the pot.
My brother is the better man and is old enough to care for mom and run the farm, Jace thought as he strung up his bow and slung his quiver over his shoulder. Maybe it would be better for them if I left.
As he entered the woods, the thoughts of his gambling addiction left him. The peaceful trees made him think instead of the dreams he had been having lately.
The dreams were becoming more frequent lately. Dreams of wolves. Always of wolves. Wolves that were chasing their prey. He never saw them catch their prey, but always knew that they did. Other strange things have been happening too. His senses seemed keener. At the edge of the woods, he could still smell the bread his mother was baking in the house. He could hear things he could never hear before - men in taverns whispering to each other and animals moving through the woods.
He eventually arrived at the river and bent down to wash his face and get a drink of water. As he raised his head, he noticed his eyes were no longer hazel, but they glowed a golden hue instead. He closed his eyes and looked again, but there was no change. He wondered if the stress was finally getting to him, or if he was just going insane.
After taking a moment to calm down, Jace did some real hunting. He quickly found a deer and shot it. After cleaning and skinning the deer, he went to his room and opened up his secret stash beneath the floor. In it, he kept some money that he hid away to prevent him from gambling it away. He counted it, and realized that it should be enough to hire some hands to help with the planting. Jace put a couple of coins into his coin purse and then, he wrote a note to his mother and brother explaining that he needed to leave. Grabbing his bow, quiver, and a hunting knife, Jace left his home.
Jace headed east. He didn’t know where his destination was and it really didn’t matter. The point was his family didn’t have to worry about him losing all of their money in gambling dens anymore. The couple of coins he brought with him, he didn’t really need. He kept his waterskin full and could always find a rabbit or something for food.
After a few days of travel, Jace came upon a farm. Outside was a woman trying to plow her field. He noticed that she was having some trouble; the plow seemed to be stuck. Jace approached the woman and touched and gently grabbed the plow handle. The woman looked up gratefully, but gasped when she saw Jace’s golden eyes. Jace brushed her reaction aside, and began to plow her field for her. Upon finishing, she told him thank you and handed him a few coins – always avoiding looking into his eyes.
“It’s no problem ma’am,” Jace replied.
As Jace looked at the coins, he came by an idea. He would go from farm to farm and work for money or shelter. He avoided inns to keep himself from gambling, and so he was able to make a decent amount of coin by doing farm work as he traveled. He met an old blind man who gave him a cloak and a hat for helping with some household chores. The hat helped to hide his eyes from those who found them disconcerting.
Soon after his encounter with the blind man, Jace came upon Cairhein. As he entered town, he lowered his hat and kept an eye out for a tavern. Jace was proud of himself for having kept away from the dice tables for so long and felt he had earned a brew. He hoped that the gambling addiction that had forced him to leave his mother and brother was finally dissipating. He spotted a tavern on the right, and it looked decent enough, so he headed that way and entered.
Inside the tavern he could see a few patrons at the bar and several playing dice in a corner. Immediately, the sound of the dice echoed in his head - calling to him.
Just one drink and then I'm gone, thought Jace.
He shook his head and headed to the bar. The clinking of the coins in his coin purse seemed a little louder than usual, even with his highly attuned hearing. He pulled out a coin and ordered a stein of ale from the barkeep.
Jace took some time to survey the crowd as he drank his ale, but his attention kept going to a pair sitting at the gambling tables. They had one seat open. Jace tried to look away, but the dice kept rolling louder and louder, and his eyes kept going back to the pair. His fists clenched in frustration as he rose and headed to the table. The pair looked up as he approached.
"Playing crowns?" asked Jace.
The pair invited him to play and one of the men leant him a set of dice to play with. Jace put in his bet and threw the dice onto the table. He nearly gasped at what he saw – 3 roses and 2 crowns. He had certainly never rolled that well before, and it felt good to win. Continuing to play, the pots kept going to Jace and the man who had leant him the dice. The win always included the 3 roses.
“You’re cheating!” the other gambler said standing up. “Both of you are.”
“Sir,” Jace said calmly. “If I knew how to cheat, I would have started that a long time ago.”
“Don’t lie!” he shouted, overturning the table.
With that, the entire bar erupted into fighting. Jace stood up, and having no desire to fight, turned towards the door. Another patron took this opportunity to punch Jace in the chin sending him backwards. Jace rolled to land in a crouch, and then the vision came. Once again, wolves hunting their prey. Their ferocity grew in Jace as an audible growl grew in his throat. And then, it hit him.
The wolf dreams – the heightened hearing – the sense of smell – being able to see in the dark – the golden eyes – wolf eyes.
Am I becoming one of them? Jace thought.
Jace had no idea what was happening to him, but somehow, he knew the wolves held the answer. They knew what was happening to him, and he had to find them. He carefully moved toward the entrance and upon getting out of the tavern, he ran towards the city gates. Night had fallen and the moon was shining in the sky by the time he had reached the woods outside of Cairhein. He had no idea where the wolves would be, but he had to find them. They could help him. He didn’t know how they could help him, but knew they could. Hearing a wolf howling in the distance, Jace turned to head in that direction.
Now I will find out what is happening to me, Jace thought.
Category:Biographies
Category:Wolfkin Bios
Category:Wanderers