Horace
Description: Horace stands at just over six feet in height and weighs in at just under two-hundred pounds. His shaggy brown hair looks like he just got out of bed no matter how hard he tries to straighten it out but his short beard is always perfectly maintained. Warm green eyes invite anyone to come and speak with the man even if his near-perpetual scowl gives them fair warning that he doesn't want to hear it. On the occasions where he does smile the grin fills his face and his white teeth contrast handsomely against his tanned skin. The young man has always taken great care of his hands due to his father's own fastidious hand care and so many are surprised to find a farmer's son and small-town hero with hands that have no callous growth but his large muscle and confident stride is enough to curb most folks interest in mocking the man on the point.
Personality Traits: Horace can often be found talking to himself, if you are close enough it becomes clear he is having an argument with someone who isn't there.
Bio:
The voice of an angel Morning light shone through the young boy's slat window but it found him already awake fighting a vicious headache that seemed convinced to keep him in bed competing against the loud hammering of his father on something outside combined with his mother's repeated shouting for him to get up which won out and finally forced him from bed. When he finally came to the families main room he found a heel of bread filled with a thick grain soup waiting for him. "Your father needs help outside and you have been lazing about all morning, have you gone deaf boy?" "Sorry Ma'. Head hurts." "This is three days in a row, that excuse can only work so long and my sympathy has run out." "As soon as I am done with breakfast I will go help." "Good and don't go complaining to your father about how your head hurts, he is too kind for his own good." The boy just nodded and went about eating the soup before walking outside munching on the bread it was served in. When he made it out of the door he saw his dad hammering away on a fence post that didn't seem willing to go through the dry soil."Da' what can I do to help?" "Well Horace if you could make it rain that would be fantastic." A hearty chuckle escaped the older man's throat and he took a moment to wipe off his brow and look at the post with a critical eye. "I got an idea, may be a stupid one but cant be worse than hammering away at this for no reason." With that his father walked into the barn where they kept their various tools and moments later walked out with the largest augur the family had. "About every twenty of your feet I need you to drill down as far as you can till you hit the fence that is already up. Why your mother insists on having a garden by the house instead of just walking out to whats in the fields I will never know." The boy just smiled and did as his father instructed, putting one foot in front of the other for the needed paces before spinning the augur into the ground up to the handle. The sun was high in the sky by the time the young boy finished and his body was pouring sweat but his headache had finally left him and it was clear his father was happy for the help, even if it didn't seem to make the task any easier. "Can I get you to go to town and get my order from the general store? Don't let that greedy little dwarf try and cheat me on the salt either." Despite the harshness of the words the easy smile made it clear his father held no hatred for the man."Look you stupid sow that customer gave you your money so you gotta earn it." "Please sir I told you I was only a serving girl." "I know what you said but he gave you good coin and he expects to be served proper..." The man kept speaking in the hushed tone but the words faded from Horace's ears as the tinkling of a million bells filled his mind. Horace you need to intervene. No one else is going to help her but you can. Just speak up for her and the man will leave it be. "Sir you hired her to do a job and she done it, why would you be mad?" The innkeeper looked down at the boy with a mix of shock and confusion that quickly changed to anger, his face flushing red. "Boy what I do with my employees is none of your business and you best get out of here before I do the same to you!" Horace let go of the man but stood in front of the woman, his young frame coming up to her midriff but his intent was clear. "If you feel you need to you can, just let the nice lady be." "Take these and buy yourself a sweet, you have earned a lot more but this is what I have." You can't accept that Horace, Getting paid to do the right thing quickly leads to only doing the right thing for the wrong reasons.
Knight in Tarnished Armor It had been a decade since the voice in his head first started chattering away at him and on multiple occasions it had got him into a tough situation but never before had he felt that his life was at risk but there was a first time for everything and on a lazy night in the middle of winter that time came. "That cry was Willem." When the words left Horace's mouth his mother and the voice in his head spoke simultaneously. "Willem doesn't cry." If you don't act Willem will die. "I know." The words came out flat and even Horace didn't know to which voice he was answering but ultimately it didn't matter, either way the voice in his head wouldn't shut up if he didn't check it out so he put the book to the side and sprinted out the door, his long legs carrying him across acre and a half to their fence. Scaling the fence wasn't difficult but when he got to the top his stomach twisted into a knot and it was all he could do to force himself forward."Wilfred stop! You are killing him!" The shout had more strength to it than Horace felt but that didn't stop him from running up to the two and putting himself in the way of the next blow. The club hammered into the side of his jaw and he felt a painful jarring of the bone that seemed to pull it out of his mooring but as the pain pushed into his body he let some of the minor magic the voice had instilled in him and green flames sank into the shattered boy's flesh where the cuts on his face began mending and the swelling immediately halved. It wasn't perfect but it was clear he would make it through. Stand up Horace, if you don't stop Wilfred he will kill you both. Don't fight him, just show him you won't be killed like an animal. "Wilfred you smell like a still. Go inside and go to bed." This time the words were most definitely Horace's own and spoken with more than a small amount of his own anger. "Mind your own business boy, just stay down and let me deal with my son." "I wish I could but if I did this little voice in my head wouldn't shut its abyssal sword sheath." Blood now ran freely from his mouth to the ground in an unbroken stream but he ignored it, ignored his pain, ignored his fear, and grabbed the farmer by the throat and slammed him to the ground, his detached teeth digging into the man's throat. Don't kill him Horace. In the morning he will be a changed man when he sees what he has done. Give him the chance to be better. The voice forced itself into his mind but in response he just squeezed tighter, the red of the older man's face quickly giving way to purple. Stop! The mental scream shot a spear of pain through his mind worse than any he had ever felt and he did as commanded."Did he kill him?" The woman's voice was cracked by what he was certain was a night of sobbing but he just shook his head and laid Willem down on the floor of the home. "Did you kill Wilfred?" Once more Horace shook his head and walked out of the home. He walked over and grabbed the now bloody and raggedly breathing Wilfred and slung him over his shoulder just as he had the younger man, the added weight not proving overly difficult. When he walked through the door with the unconscious farmer the woman was now looking over her child with a look of awe. "Willem was busted up before they went outside. What did you do?" Horace laid the man on the ground beside his father and finally looked up to the mother's pleading eyes. "I don't know. I just put my hand on him and he got better. Gods know why it worked and Gods alone care. I can't tell you not to kill Wilfred but just know I would take it as a kindness if you didn't. If he ever does something like this again I will take care of him myself. Have a good night Jane and try to get the kids to bed." With that the young man walked out one final time and started the short trek home.You did a good thing Horace. Take the teeth out of your pocket and put them back in your mouth, I will give you the strength to fix the damage you suffered in service to a greater purpose. "Nothing important. Off to bed Ma'." When the young man's head hit the straw mattress he was asleep in seconds.
A reluctant blade The small village had obtained some worrying reports about a band of orcs raiding some farms a few days ride from them. It wasn't taken as a serious threat until the third rider talking about his home being destroyed and his crops and animals stolen arrived. The village elders sat in deliberation for hours but many in the village were reluctant to wait on them to make a decision when their life and livelihoods were in danger so they sent a messenger down the hard packed dirt road on the way to Horace's family farm. The man was visiting home in one of his few breaks in training to become a proper warrior with a mercenary company in Battledale. His time spent training with Radick's Ravens had given Horace an understanding of basic tactics and combat techniques but even this relatively limited experience put him far above the rest of the village. The messenger told him all that he knew and the young man told him to ride around and get everyone who was old enough to fight to come to the village."Well this is going to be more excitement than this village has seen in a generation." His father chuckled, his nerves giving way to jokes as was his nature. For his part Horace laughed lightly to help calm his father and tightened one of his vambraces. "More likely than not they will leave when they see a united front. If they have just been raiding boarder farms they probably don't have a big enough group to fight an arranged force. Also as soon as we are done getting me properly dressed start gathering together animals, we are going to need to take them into town." His father nodded and the two worked in silence, finishing preparing the younger and then getting animals gathered and herded. The dozen pigs the family owned walked ahead of the two men with little complaint. "Son now that your Ma' won't hear us how dangerous is this going to be?" Horace looked down at his hands and noticed a slight shake in them that he quickly stifled. "If we are lucky exactly what I said would happen will happen. Most likely this towns supply of grown men is going to drop substantially. A small group of orcs is still enough to cause damage if they are armed and armored, lets just hope they haven't managed to get their hands on proper full plate or half the town is going to die and that is conservative. Only good thing is Orcs aren't known for their riding skill so we should have a while to get ready. The best riders in the town are going to need to try and act as scouts to give us some heads up. The smiths are going to need to start churning out arrow heads and everyone with a bow needs to get warmed up for whats coming. I am going to teach basic spear formations to everyone else. Don't have the time for anything fancy so basically just gonna be a pointy square. When the Orcs break the spear wall is when its going to get ugly, gonna have to teach rush and gut but most folks won't have the courage to do it and the ones that do are probably going to get themselves hurt or killed when they do it. You need to organize the archers for me Da', you will be tempted to just let them fire away but don't. Keep them measured on your mark. Aim for the biggest ones first, they are orcs so the biggest will probably be the leader and if not it will still be better to not have the big ones up against our lines. If we had more time I would ask the smiths to work on helmets but at the very least we should be able to put some straps on hunks of wood and make some impromptu shields. Metal tips for spears and proper bodkin arrows won't be hard. I am going to try and end this without violence but I doubt I will have such luck." The young man shook his head, clearing his mind of the dark thoughts that began to bubble up. "Whatever you see out there Da' I promise I am no demon or monster in the night." "I know you aren't son, no fears of that. On the plus side if I am lucky some of the neighbors will die and I will be able to buy up their land." The two laughed at the dark humor to help banish the fear and they walked in companionable silence the rest of the trip."Hello everyone. You all know me and you know I've spent the last three years training with Radick's Ravens so I am going to skip all the bits where I try to convince you I know what I am doing and go straight to the important parts. Every elder, child, and person not capable of fighting is going to have to work together to get the crops harvested and bring the animals into the sell lot in town. Everyone with a bow needs to get it and come back to town for further instructions. Everyone that hasn't yet fallen into a category stick around, we are going to be drilling formations as soon as we can get enough lengths of wood to start so go grab some around six feet in height and come on back. Exceptions are as follows, I need the smiths, Talmar, Uri, Vadek, Obrik, and Hyram to come talk with me for a bit. This would be the part I ask for questions but honestly we don't have the time for them so lets get to work people." With that Horace clapped loudly and walked toward the edge and plopped down as he waited for those called out to come before him. First he looked at the individuals he had called by name. "I need you all to take your horses and be my outriders. Don't go near the orcs, just try to get vision on them and give me whatever detail you can. They should be a few days away so that gives us time to get some proper information on their makeup. Work it out who goes when but need a constant cycle, no leaving till your relief shows up. Now go do what you need to do." "John you and yours need to start churning out spear tips. Varen you and yours are on arrow tips. You need to make them heavier than hunting tips and square based with it narrowing to a needle point. Not sure if you have ever made a bodkin arrow before but if so thats what we are going for, if they have armor we need to be able to puncture it. Get to work y'all cause we don't have long enough to play around." The two families went their separate ways and Horace hopped off the dais and stretched out while he waited for the townfolk to return. His father patted him on the shoulder and let him know he would return after telling his mother to start harvesting and began jogging down the road. The spear square slowly gathered and when all of them that he could hope to expect gathered he grabbed the worst looking stick from the group and pulled out his belt knife. "Step one is carve your weapon. Needs to be two of my thumbs in diameter so probably two and a half for most of you. Start carving them down and when you think you are done bring them up here and see if they measure up to the one I make. Err on the side of it being bigger because bigger can be shaved down, too small is shite." With that Horace quickly carved down the wood to the proper stave length and laid it on the dais before walking to the lumber mill and and gathered as many semi-thin faces of wood as he could find into a cart before throwing an axe and a planer and hauled it back to the middle of town. He began hacking the wood into twenty rough circles and ten tall rectangles and had finished all of the gathered wood before the slowest of the whittlers had finished their work."Alright now everyone go home and get yourself a length of leather, a couple nails, and a hammer then come on back." The spearmen dispersed and by that time the archers had all arrived, including his father. "You all know how to fire a bow so that saves us some time. Now its about timing. You all will shoot on my fathers mark. I will leave your training to him because he is the best archer in town. Just keep them timed and remember what to aim for." That last bit was for his father and when he was done with the short explanation he returned to the rough shields, now planing off the rough angles to make it them a fully circular form for twenty of them and removing the nicks around the edges for the last ten. He finished with them not long after the spearmen returned and handed them out to each of them. "The straps will make it easier but for now you just get to hold these by the rim, gotta get you used to the weight now. The rest of the day is going to be formation work and I promise you it is going to be tiring but I want to get it out of the way first so that you can be rested by the time our enemy arrives. Take your stick in one hand and your shield in the other then form a square, ten men wide, three men deep. Front rows job is to focus on safety so you get the big shields. You will need to focus on keeping your spear braced on your right side and your shield up. After initial contact you are going to switch to your sidearm which sadly is probably going to be a hatchet, or a hammer. We don't have the time for the smiths to craft you all proper maces but what we have will do. Second row you focus on supporting the first row, when the orcs rush in its going to be like getting between a bull ox and his cow so you have got to hold. You will be bracing your spear on the left side for the charge so we have our front fully armed. If a front row fighter falls and there is a lull in the battle you pick up his shield and you take his spot. Third row you get the fun job, you guard the flanks and when they aren't harrying the flanks you pop around and you stab those sons of whores as hard as you can. Biggest folks get front line and smallest get back. Now form up!" The villagers did as told and actually managed to look halfway decent at it. "Good! Wilfred, Willem outside of the smiths, my father, and me you are the two biggest men in town, Wilfred I need you to take center position and Willem on your left, Thorin take up Wilfreds right. The center of our formation cannot break or everyone who calls this village home is dead. Tommy I know you aren't one of the smallest but you have the fastest hands of any of us, I need you in the back and on the flank so trade spots with Martha. Jane I have no objections with you taking the other flank just know you are going to see combat if you take that side, no question about it." The woman had her face set in a look of determination and simply nodded her understanding. "Alright. Now reform." Everyone did as they were told and the square looked about as good as he could hope for. Horace changed the footing and hand position of some but as the sun rose to its apex the square looked respectable. "Good. Now we are going to do some basic drills. Back line you are going to try and hit my shield through the front lines without hitting an ally. I am going to be going at various speeds as I go up and down the line so be ready for it. Front lines just brace and hold for now." The tight formation drilled for the rest of the day, Horace randomly charging bodily into the front line to make sure they were bracing properly and the mid line was supporting them, other drills requiring the mid line to stab while the back line spread around to cover the flanks and get a clear line to strike at Horace. The sun was low in the sky when Horace finally called it for the night and told everyone to get their shields ready for the next day, attaching straps and putting any extra leather and padding they may have over the face of them. As he walked back home with his father beside him and Wilfred and his boys in tow he asked his father how the archers were doing and was pleasantly surprised to find that they all were firing on his que even though he knew when battle truly began it would likely be a different story. When the group was in front of Wilfred's farm Horace pulled the man aside to speak with him."I just want you to know I am putting you at our center because you are strong and stubborn as the abyss. I don't want you thinking this is about what happened a few years back." "I know Horace. I still can't thank you enough for stopping me and I owe you more than I can ever say. You are a good man and I know you are just trying to keep the village safe." In that moment something unexpected happened, the older farmer hugged Horace tightly for a few seconds before backing up with a sheepish grin on his face. "Now lets not think of the worst aye?" With that the older man walked to his home and Horace joined up with his father for the short walk to their farm."I haven't heard anything from you this whole time. You gonna be there when I need you?" I am always here Horace. You haven't heard from me because you have been doing the right thing. No reason to badger you when you are following the right path. "Don't have much of a choice do I? If I wasn't helping you would be nagging at me to do something." You give yourself too little credit. You are a good man Horace. "You can't know that, I can't know that. You have been in my head so long I don't know whats me and what you have forced me to be. I have never had a choice." I am sorry you feel that way Horace but know that I am not the only reason you are a good man. "Whatever you say. Just be ready for whats coming, I don't think I will be able to talk the orcs out of this." It only matters that you give them a chance, that you try. "So we are going to shoot the one with the sword right?" "Aye" "Good. He is tall enough that if we aim for his head none of the others will get in the way. Stay safe son. I know you will be the first in line but if things get dicey get out of there." "You know I can't." "I know, but at least lie and say you will." "Okay Da', I will do what I can." The older man put an arm around his son and pulled him in tight. "Love you son." "Love you too Da'. Now lets go teach some orcs what fear is." "thats the spirit!" The older man laughed and motioned to his archers to get ready, the group gathering before the ramps to get on top of the houses that made up the sides of the alley"I don't need to tell you what is at risk, you know it like you know your own soul. I don't need to tell you to fight for all you are worth because I already know you will. I am going to try and stop this fight without bloodshed but if I fail that I will bleed alongside you, I will give my last breath and my last drop of blood to keep you safe. Look to your family, look to your friends, look to the men and women who stand beside you. If your heart falters remember them, remember why you fight, and give them Hell!" The gathered men and women with weapons in hand pounded their spears on their shields and let loose a roar that even managed to give pause to the now approaching orcs. "I am Horace, son and protector of this village. I ask that you turn from your violent path and leave us be, if you wish to stay in our village for the night, to eat, drink and enjoy our humble company we are more than happy to have you. If you insist on violence we may die but we will take enough of you with us that it won't be worth it." The orcish leader raised the visor on his helm and it was clear he was a devotee of Gruumsh as one of his eyes had been removed and the lids seared together. "Hello Horace, I am Torak of The Twisted Spear. I like you Horace, you are brave, if you were an orc I would be glad to have you at my side but from curse of birth you are my lesser so instead I will slaughter you, take your food, your drink, and your women. I will break you and string your corpse from the walls you have so nicely made for me." "I regret your choice but let us not put it off. Come and break upon our line." With that Horace lowered his helm and walked halfway down the alleyway before turning around and facing the orcs. In a far quieter voice than the booming shout across the field Horace began counting down from ten. "Archers aim at the rest of the orcs! I have this one." "I have fought a dozen duels human. I have never lost and that was before I was blessed by Gruumsh. What hope do you have of defeating me?" "How about you fight rather than slobber on your own spear eh?" The orc flushed with anger before the massive blade lashed out in a horizontal slice. Horace deflected the blow with his shield and took a step to the side, getting the orc closer to a wall and limiting the arcs of his swing. Another blow was easily deflected but the human knew his shield could not take many more blows, already there were cracks on the interior that he was certain were mirrored by the other. Time to live up to my own words. One more strike and I counter. This is gonna hurt. Last time I do that. Next time if it takes multiple hits its fine. Likely a good idea. I really don't need to hear from you right now. I know already, shut up. The young paladin rushed over to the downed villager and pressed a hand against him but the light didn't shine. Nothing came forth. "I need more damn it! If you are going to nag me about keeping people safe you better give me the power to do it!" Turn him over. "He did what you taught us. The old pilgarlic was actually good for something after all. He died saving me, shield got broken when I was blocking for his rush and gut of that brute and he didn't think twice, he finished with the big one and jumped right in the way of the axe that was coming for me. Never would have thought I would have been the death of him instead of the other way around." "You have taken the life of one of our own, you have tried to take the life of others, if the positions were reversed I know you would kill us all and leave our corpses to be eaten by crows. It is your good fortune then that we are not you." Stop this! They deserve to die for what they've done. "I give you this chance to change the path you walk. Help us bury our shared dead, help us return our lives to normal and you may have a place among us in this village." You have no right! Give my body back to me you thrice damned witch! "If you are willing to help place your weapon at my feet." You insufferable fiend if you are going to just give amnesty to the monsters that aim to destroy my people then you have no place in my head. Every orc walked forward and placed their belt hatchets at the armored feet of the paladin, the green light shining from his eyes. The light faded and Horace could feel the thing inside of him relinquish control but he knew that if he were to act against the orcs it would take over once more. Instead of fighting it he pointed toward a cluster of the archers, "Gather some shovels, let them show they deserve a place among us." With that he began taking care of the wounded, his mind raging the entire time.
Last edited by MundayKnight; Jun 26th, 2018 at 08:00 PM .
Jun 18th, 2018, 07:40 AM
