Nerres Jantii

> "*RUN, WHILE YOU'VE STILL GOT LEGS TO RUN WITH!!!"*
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> -Nerres' cry of retreat
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**Nerres Jantii** (sometimes known by his alias, **Strider**) was a full human Ranger, but was better known for being one of the co-founders-as well as the commander-of the Mercenary Company Dragon Turtles. He was known for being quiet but insightful, and was also often seen with his animal companion, a bear called Joseph.

## **Appearance**

Nerres was often considered a handsome man, being of a lean and muscular build. He had shoulder-length hair of a dark brown, which parted into a single bang in the front. In terms of facial hair, he grew a small chin strap beard around the time of his 18th birthday, which he has not yet shaved. He possessed dark blue eyes, often narrowed to spot enemies or potential recruits.

Nerres did not often change his apparel, as he felt it was necessary to be ready for action at a moment's notice. However, he did eventually shift to wearing heavier, thicker armor to favor protection over speed.

**Pre-Eclipse**: Nerres, at the start of his adventures, wore a tan cloth shirt with padded leather over it. In addition to this, he wore a pair of white pants of silk, a material suspiciously expensive for someone of his stature. He could hide this, though, as he also wore leather knee pads. Over all of this, he always sported his signature green cape and hood, a gift he had received from an elf along the road to Gohron. To carry his weapons, he wore several scabbards as well as a quiver across his back.

**Post-Eclipse**: Nerres decided to update his apparel after the battle with Vadomiir, swapping out light armor with its speed and comfortability for heavier banded mail, offering better protection. He now dresses in darker colors, wearing a dark green shirt and tan pants of rough cloth. Even when not in armor, Nerres wears a leather vest of blue/brown. He still wears his green cape, sometimes using it as a cloak, especially when disguising himself as Strider.

## **Personality & Relationships**

> "In the end, I suppose all that separates a man from his death is friends... a sturdy blade couldn't hurt, though."
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> -Nerres, on the importance of good friends
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Nerres was typically a quiet and insightful individual, speaking only when the situation demanded. When it came to defending his friends and ideologies, he was a fierce warrior, using his quick wit to try and talk his opponent down while parrying blows.

Nerres was very confident, and could even be described as cocky, as he was often seen taunting defeated enemies, or even boasting his own skill before a fight. He never backed down from a necessary battle, but fought aggressively to avoid fights that were avoidable.

**Jake Black:** Nerres first met Jake in Gohron, where they originally appeared to be a bit distant. While Nerres did not trust Jake at first, the two eventually grew a close bond and now work as partners in most situations. Whenever Jake charges headlong into battle, Nerres is right there, bow in hand, knowing he could trust Jake to do the same.

**Jedite Thames:** Jedite was the first of all Nerres' partners that he met, as he had gotten into a small fight near the Gohron City Bazaar. Nerres initially thought Jedite to be a cold fool, an impression which was disproven quickly upon spending time with him. Jedite remained an important member of the Dragon Turtles, and was trusted to scout the surrounding countryside every month to ensure Gohron's safety.

**The Bard:** While Nerres does not always approve of The Bard, he does tolerate his shenanigans for the benefit of both of them. On multiple occasions, Nerres has attempted to recruit The Bard, only to be turned down because the man "didn't want to be tied down". Nerres and Bard, after the events of The Eclipse, became close friends and partners, to the point that the two of them have undergone multiple misadventures on their own, sometimes accompanied by Jedite.

**John:** John was a simple smuggler who worked for The Dagger, and was employed to take the Dragon Turtles to Hearhten to investigate The Gohron Horn. Along the way, John supplied the Dragon Turtles with food, water, and some other useful supplies he had been ordered to deliver. He was one of the few kind souls Nerres had encountered on his path to becoming a mercenary, and so the two became good friends quite quickly. However, on the second night of the expedition, the wagon was attacked by a pack of wargs, and John was quickly killed in the ensuing chaos, decapitated by one of the beasts. The loss of John devastated Nerres and caused a total shift in his mannerisms, leading to him assuming a more stoic and leaderly role in the Dragon Turtles' careers. Nerres was shown to still care for John after his death as, upon being offered one wish by the Old Duke of Gohron, Nerres wished for John to be restored to life.

## **Skills and Abilities**

Nerres was a master warrior, known for his ability to attack up to eight times in six seconds, or notch and fire that same amount of arrows in the same time. He was the fastest in the world with a sword, and was even faster on foot. He was also an adept strategist, able to change plans at a moment's notice and identify flaws in his own strategies.

**Master Medic:** After the death of John, Nerres learned to be an adept healer, and was eventually able to easily close physical wounds and restore consciousness to downed allies. In fact, his skills were only rivaled by that of Jake, who was able to combine both magical means and his own skill as a Paladin field medic to aid the sick and injured.

**King of Archers:** Nerres is a master with a bow, theoretically being able to fire his own sword and hit a mark thirty feet away. He is able to fire up to eight arrows into one or more targets in under six seconds with pinpoint accuracy. With his level of skill, Nerres can even detect small openings in armor and target those points specifically.

**Born Leader:** Nerres possesses unnatural charisma, and is often able to sway others to his point of view through simple debate. When this fails, his blade is always ready, as are his friends.

**Good Smithy:** Nerres received vocational training as a smith when he was young, and so is able to work quite well at repairing and forging weapons and armor with a variety of metals. This was best shown when he was able to fully repair his own breastplate after it was pierced by a ballista shot.

**Solid Swordsman:** As commander of the legendary Dragon Turtles, Nerres expected himself to be the best at handling a sword, as he had a reputation to uphold. He often practiced his style in the fields outside Gohron City, wielding both his custom-made longsword "Nerres" and the Dragon Blade Voljotaak. He is a bona fide blademaster, able to parry any frontal attack, and even some from the side, in addition to his ability to counter and launch his own offensive strikes.

## **History**

### Early Life

Not much is known about Nerres prior to his appearance in Gohron in the late winter of 1221. When asked about his past, he either dodges the question or flatly states that he doesn't want to talk about it. One story he told in The Drunken Horn about his upbringing involved his father being a wealthy merchant who abandoned him in their home one night, but he was largely tired, and the credibility of this tale is questionable.

### The Road to Gohron

For reasons yet unknown to anybody but himself, Nerres set out from his old home on the 11th of Genesis, 1221. His goal was to reach Gohron City and become a world famous mercenary captain, but he was ill-equipped and became lost on the road, eventually stopping and setting up camp in the woods until he got his bearings.

It was at this time that Nerres began to perfect his skills with a bow, as his sword was ineffective for hunting the woodland animals. He spent a long time practicing his sword skills in the night, and in the morning he would go and hunt for food, if necessary. He began by hunting small squirrels and birds, but always was envious of the swift deer he saw running up to a nearby mountain. For this reason, it took him only three days to muster the courage to rush to the mountain's base and begin his hunt.

At first, the hunt was going well, and Nerres was able to spot a doe and track it as it went higher into the mountain's reaches. Very suddenly, just as he notched his arrow, a large brown bear tore through the foliage and tackled the deer, ripping out its throat. Nerres assumed that he was safe at his distance, and merely watched, frozen in shock. Soon, though, the bear turned to him and stood on its hind legs, roaring loudly. Nerres, gathering all his courage, stood in turn, notching an arrow once more and letting it fly into the bear's shoulder.

Nerres almost immediately regretted this decision, as the bear charged headlong into him, knocking him on his side and causing him to tumble close to the edge of the mountainside. Realizing this was a battle he could not win, he tried to run past the bear and up the mountain, hoping to wait in a tree until sundown, when it would likely go to sleep. This plan was useless, however, as he was quickly ripped from the tree by the bear, which proceeded to chase him around the mountain for the majority of the night. During this time, both combatants left many blows on each other, but Nerres' sword proved much less effective than the bear's claws.

As the sun rose, Nerres was picked up by his collar once more and thrown to a river, which flowed down into a waterfall over the clliffside. The bear slowly advanced upon him, and Nerres backed himself to the edge and closed his eyes, waiting for death.

Strangely, at just that moment, a loud sound-something like a dragon's roar-startled the bear, and scared Nerres into opening his eyes. Something about the sound of it inspired Nerres to action, and he quickly drew his bow and notched a single arrow. The bear charged, and Nerres let the arrow fly, striking the bear in the eye and killing it instantly. Its forward momentum carried it to Nerres' body, and nearly threw him off the cliff. Instead, however, its weight held him down and prevented him from falling to his death. He stat, stunned, for the rest of the night, thinking of the differences between friend and enemy, and what this bear had been. In the morning, he vowed never to give up as he had done fighting this bear, never to be so powerless. He pushed the bear off from himself and set out for Gohron, not even stopping to recover his supplies from his camp.

Along the road, Nerres encountered a young elf clothier who went by Soveliss, and the two became friends for their short shared time together. Nerres served as a hunter to gather their food, and Soveliss washed the blood out of Nerres' clothes. When the time came that their roads parted, as Soveliss was bound for Calradius, he bestowed a custom-made green cape to Nerres, a gift he had been working on since they first met. It was fireproof, and made for good camouflage in the forest. As Soveliss headed on his way, Nerres waved him off and tried the cape and hood on. Once he was over the horizon, the trip passed quickly, and Nerres arrived in Gohron City only a day later.

### The Founding of the Dragon Turtles and the Gohron's Horn

Upon arriving in Gohron, Nerres took in the old, beaten walls, as well as the crowds pouring into the city's gates. Remarking on how impoverished the town was, he went inside, thinking about how great legends always start in a place like that.

Directly inside the gates, Nerres found the bazaar, where hundreds of civilians were gathered to trade tools and other goods. He commented to himself on the poor condition of the city before moving on. As he reached the end of the bazaar, where this section met the more organized marketplace, he spotted a dispute occurring between a man and a half-orc, something about a theft. Deciding this wasn't business he wanted to be a part of, he moved on.

## **Trivia**

* Nerres' Post-Eclipse design is based loosely on Guts from Kentaro Miura's *Berserk*, with the large shoulderpads and large gauntlet over his left hand.
	+ This is not Nerres' only influence from Japanese media. In addition, his bear, Joseph, takes its name from one of the protagonists of *Jojo's Bizarre Adventure*, Joseph Joestar.
* It was by chance that Nerres connected spiritually with a bear, considering that before his trip to Gohron, he was attacked in the mountains by one, and had thusly developed a minor phobia.
* Nerres' famous retreat quote, "RUN, WHILE YOU'VE STILL GOT LEGS TO RUN WITH!!!", is never stated in canon, but is instead yelled in a Crack Adventure after a battle goes horribly awry.
* Nerres was born on the 19th of Jaki, 1204.
* His favorite food is country-fried steak, a meal that is hard to obtain from the greasy, low-quality inns he frequents