Gareth Wayne

**Age:** 26

**Weapon Propensity:** Knives

**Secondary Skill:** Survival

Dragon: Andul

## Appearance

With eyes that mirror pools of sapphire and hair as fiery as the sunrise,Gareth makes for an odd first impression.He stands at a fair 6' even and weighs 195 lbs. His body, from head to toe, is a visual map of the adventures and encounters he had while in dragon lands. Silvery lines criss and cross in an exotic art display, allowing his demeanor to look far more alien than other humans.

## Personality

A heart as golden as the scales of a dragon resides within the chest of Gareth. A look of mirth always alight in his eyes, and the hints of a smile always playing at the corners of his lips. He is a generally happy person, one that loves the land around him and the creatures that inhabit it. He has a healthy respect for the elderly and often times will help those in need. He is an adamant defender of dragons, and will be the first to stand up to a raider or amateur hunter. He believes that dragons are to be honored and respected - but more than that, they are to be left alone to their own ways. He believes that dragons do not wish to harm humans, but they will not hesitate to defend their own kind, and their young-lings.

Though he appears to be kind and soft, he can become a tempest of anger, if one pushes him to that point. His anger has always been his weakest flaw - always leading him into trouble more than out of it. His anger is what drives him to become the defender of dragons, but it is also when he is at his strongest.

## History

Hailing from Cimbre the Circle City, the last free human settlement in dragon-lands, Gareth has always seen the majesty of the the great beasts of the sky and earth, magic and mystery. Even as a child, his mother would tell him stories of the prowess of the dragons and their gifts, and the colors of their scales that shimmered in the light of the sun and moon, scales worth more than all the gems beneath the Earth. It was seeing their forms in the distance, great colored spots on the horizon, that brought about his admiration for these mighty creatures.

His mother, seeing the dangerous admiration her son had towards these devastating creatures, packed their things and left the Circle City. It was with a great sorrow that he followed his mother from their home in Cimbre to the over-populated Armaretto, a decision that still causes him sorrow to this day, for shortly after their arrival in Armaretto, he learned that the city had fallen to the dragons. It was not the only thing he lost that day, his father and grandparents were also within the city as the dragons fell upon it with a fiery vengeance.

His mother, in a deep despair and great desperation fell into a silent-state, and failed to provide for her only living child. Gareth was forced to find work in Armaretto and labored through the years doing various skills whether it be: smithing, tailoring, or even cooking. He did what he needed to ensure the survival of his mother and himself. It was his duty, and his privilege. She was his last living relation, and if he were to lose her, he would be alone.

And, as fate would will it, his mother succumbed to her grief and left him alone at the mere age of 19. His life would be difficult from this point forward. There was no work to be had in the city with the massive influx of refugees from the surrounding villages and townships. The dragons seemed to be fighting back against something, and his suspicions were proven when a group of weapon-clad armored men stalked into the city brandishing the body of a young dragon with its throat cut and wings sheared off. The sheer sight of the young dragon dead brought a rage within him that was nearly unbridled, one that would serve him well in his future.

He was arrested a few short days later for the murder of the group who had previously brought in the dragon corpse, and sentenced to death. This would not deter his mission - the cells held him for less than three hours before he had escaped and left the city to escape their "justice".

He traveled the wilds, for many grueling days, being forced to survive on what little he could until he reached The Swamp of Misery, where he was briefly taken in by a rag-tag group of villagers who made a living in the settlement of Riverbend. It was the closest thing he had felt to a family in many years, his family being taken from him by Fate and Dragons fire. He remained in Riverbend for 3 years, and upon the age of 23 he left for the Rhulak-Zagul, the land of the dragons. He held no resentment towards the creatures who had taken his family from him - he knew why they were attacking human settlements: The Raiders.

They were the source of the problem for dragons and human relations, and for the next three years, his life would be spent protecting the secret nests and lairs of the beasts. It was a short lived mission though, as whispers began to reach his ears of dragon sightings in Astel and the surrounding area. And, so he would leave dragon-lands, but not unchanged by the untamed magics that run freely in that land. His appearance would be forever altered by the creatures of legend; his ears taking on the likeness of daggers in their shape, and his eyes became pools of sapphire - rivaling that of dragons scales color. His movements would also become more graceful and agile, his body able to sustain itself without food weeks longer than the average human would be able to survive.