Vostok Seruleani/Sanhorrhim Elves/Seaman-for-hire

Name: Vostok Seruleani

Gender: Male

Age: 152

Race: Elven

Tribe: Sanhorrhim

Occupation: Seaman-for-Hire

Title: Retired Pirate

Height: One ped, two fores, and two palmspans

Weight: 198 ods

Eye Color: Cyhalloian snow

Hair Color: Brown

Physical Attributes: Vostok is a well built, proportionate elf, attractively so. He is lean, skinny, but not at all sinewy, as muscles from years of sailing are obvious, even under clothing. His arms are long, longer then most his size, giving a slight odd look when standing straight. Broad shoulders give way to a long neck, holding atop a slender face, a small nose and wide eyes. His hair flows down slightly past his shoulders, an elegant brown hue, but is mainly kept in a ponytail to keep out of his eyes. His fair skin reflects the years spent in the sunlight, giving the perfect tan. His waist is skinny, and much to his displeasure, feminine in shape. This reinforces his stomach and chest, however, with which constant fitness training is in great tone. A tattoo adorns his right arm, depicting long flowing lines, representing the sea in an interesting fashion. Scars etch across much of his arms, gained through years traveling and life at sea.

Garments: Vostok, unlike most Sanhorrhim elves, wears clothing to match most of those in towns, wearing duller colors and trying to remain uninteresting. He wears a pair of dark blue trousers, with a short black loincloth flowing to his knees, a common apparel of his tribe. A belt is worn, adorned with several pouches, fish bones, a sheath for his rapier, and instruments for sea travel. A blue short-sleeved shirt is tucked in to the belt, with flowing black patterns depicted on it. Several bangles appear on his arms, a bright silver and light blue ornamentation. A large brown cloak covers the entire outfit often, as is needed if it is cold. On his back several straps hold his large Sanhorrhim shield, and underneath the shield is a sling containing his crossbow. A quiver is strapped to his thigh, holding the several bolts needed for his crossbow.

Mentality: Vostok has a daring outlook on life, treating every day as if it was his last. He has no hesitation in many of the things he does, and rarely thinks things through to the end. He is cheery and optimistic, and consequently never thinks of the hardships of many of the things he does. He is merry in conversation, and makes many friends in his vulgar but friendly speech. His optimism rubs off on many, making him a great motivator or spokesman.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths: Verbal Skills: Vostok is a great spokesperson, with a well trained vocabulary, and is exception at cheering people up or bargaining with someone. His frivolity is seen often in this sense, making him a well-liked person.

Marksmanship: In the serious sense, Vostok is an exceptional sharpshooter with his crossbow, an odd weapon for his tribe, but nonetheless extremely useful in many senses. The crossbow can be used in several other ways, improvised into a harpoon gun or grappling hook for soft materials, and can be used in more senses then a weapon alone.

Seamanship: Years of sailing have trained Vostok to be an excellent sailor, which is useful as a job in most cases, but can be used to save his skin if he gets put in a most unpleasant situation involving the sea.

Shield: Vostok learned a curious way of wielding his shield, hiding behind it while firing his crossbow one-handed from behind it. The shield is large and clumsy, but he has learned fairly well how to balance it and wield it.

Weaknesses: Scatter-brain Vostok is not very sensible, and while his daring acts may seem courageous, they are not very healthy. He hardly thinks things through and this ends up causing great displeasure in several cases of the word. He has been known to get into fights or risk his life for simple things.

Vulgarity: Though in most situations this is not a problem, his habit of vulgar speech can hamper his normally excellent speech to someone of higher status. His vulgarity can be seen as barbaric or savage, and with a select few individuals will dampen his reputation.

Money: Or lack of. His seamanship earns him some meager pay, but his lack of planning ahead leads him to squander most of his money on simple items, and he has been found with a complete lack of cash several times.

Land-Lubber: Though travel has lowered the effect of this, years of sailing have made Vostok uncertain on his legs on land, and somewhat clumsy at times.

Distrustful: Because of Vostok's horrible experience with his so called pirate 'friends', he has become distrusting of many people. He is daring, and willing to help them, but he never has any friendships of real value, for he never fully trusts anyone.

Wanted! Dead or alive!: Vostok's years of piracy have made him a known criminal fellow in many parts, so depending where he is, he must be careful of his identity and who he speaks with. He tends to avoid places near home like Milkengrad and dislikes being near any sort of lawful official.

History: Piracy is a troublesome thing indeed. It can bring great riches indeed, and for some make you wealthy for the long years of your life. It can bring fame or notoriety, a great reputation for other privateers or pirates. A daring outfit for peers in towns.

Or it can ruin you. You can lose all of your money, all of your wealth. You can earn yourself a reputation fit for a criminal rotting in jail. It can rob you of your rights and give people a reason to spit at you. It is a gamble, a hard one. A game of russian roulette. You win or lose.

Of course, no one is born a pirate. Vostok wasn't, certainly. He was born a common elf, in a common town, with a common family, like most common people. He showed curiosity in the most simple of things, like many children do, and tried to view life in a fun way. His family was kind, honest working people, earning a living in a simple fashion. But it kept up the livings of Vostok and his two brothers well, and they lived quite comfortably.

Vostok, like most of his Sanhorrhim brothers, showed a great interest in the sea and its wonders. His father was a sea guide, and his mother a fisher, so Vostok spent a large amount of time at sea with his family. His father showed off his skills often to his sons, and promised each of them he would teach them how to sail, eventually.

Eventually wasn't long at all. At the age of 15, and the oldest of his brothers, his father showed him several workings of a ship, and gave him the basic concepts of how they work. Vostok listened to each of his fathers teachings intently, determined to learn as soon as possible to sail with him.

He had a dream to have his own ship, to sail the seas on his own whim, rather then to be part of a measly crew fishing under orders. This would never happen, but every child has the right to dream, don't they? He dreamed big, which was likeable for this fellow. His father thought the same, and being a kind man, told him that if he tried hard enough, his dream could very well happen.

When Vostok was 29, closer to 17 in human years, he was already well accustomed to the sea. He had sailed several times with his mother and father on fishing expeditions and traded goods several times in Milkengrad. He was adept at fishing, well enough to help his mother, and he knew the tools and trade to guide the ship through the waters.

But at 33 years of age he caught his best catch. A Caeh-Fish, a delicacy of sorts with the Sanhorrhim people. His father found it right away when meditating with the sea, and instantly several fishers, including Vostok himself, were at the side, spears and nets ready to try and catch the fish. Nets were thrown into the water trying to catch the fish and heave it above the water, but to no avail.

The fish dodged the nets with agile ease, but in doing so came close to the surface. A ripple emerged as the fish started to peek through the water, and was seen by Vostok. He clutched his spear and threw it with all his might at the fish, and missed. His spear went sailing straight into the water. One spear gone, let's get another.

This minor inconvenience was not going to throw Vostok down, and he rushed back onto the other side of the small ship where a rack of spears was held, grabbing two more. Tying a rope to one quickly, he came back to the port side and tried to spot the tide. More sailors had started to throw spears into the water, but Vostok found the ripple once again. He took careful and a lunged the spear at the animal and struck true.

He grabbed the fisher to his right and together they pulled the rope over, And lifted the fish a few inches out of the water. Spears protruded from it suddenly as it became an easy target, and a net was thrown on it. After this, catching the fish was easy.

A Caeh-fish rapier was made in honor of Vostok's catch, and is worn on his side even now. But that is not an important part of his life. A grand catch indeed, but small in the grand scheme of things. His real trouble came on a trip in Milkengrad, when he was much more well into his life, at a ripe age of 79. Still young and hardy, close to a human in his early twenties, he sought wealth. His simple life didn't seem enough for him.

A shady man in a slum tavern seemed to have the answer. He owned a ship which was used to 'trade' others treasures. Though this trade was for the people's lives. Vostok knew immediately this was piracy, but he was not immediately thrown away from the idea. The man was persuasive, and gave Vostok a good idea, or exaggeration, of the wealth he could earn himself.

He had been a fisher in a ship seperate from his mother and father for awhile now, and only came into contact with them when they both happened to be at the forest. They were not present to give their advice to Vostok's actions, which could have saved him a lot of trouble.

In the end, Vostok agreed to the captain's terms, and from then on he was a pirate. He was shown to the large ship under the captain's command, and was thrilled to learn he would be on his first 'expedition' only a week later. In this week he talked to the captain and some of the crew, and learned from one fellow of an interesting and remarkably useful weapon called a crossbow. Vostok had heard of them before, but he was never really interested in them until then.

He found a shop selling them fairly quickly in Milkengrad, and was able to buy himself one for a fair price. He would buy several more, as crossbows rarely last 70 years, but this was his first.

And a week later he was off on a brave expedition, plundering the riches of the innocent. Many men on the ship were not kind, and he found it to be a rather hard life, but the captain had not lied. It was fruitful indeed.

Several comfortable years later though, he was a wanted felone, a criminal among common people. He couldn't go back to his home in fear of being attacked by sailors, and he had to be careful in many of the villages he was in. He sailed with a new captain, as his old human captain had died of old age, and gained many more treasures. This however just made him more and more of a criminal.

The inevitable happened, and Vostok was captured by vigilantes at a small village and thrown in a dungeon. He had not much fear, as he knew his pirate brothers would save him. He had known many of them for years, and was a friend with the captain himself.

Obviously not much an important friend, as a starving Vostok was still found in a cell a week later. The people had not given him food, and only a meager supply of water. Vostok was not sure if they were going to let him die of starvation or kill him first. Honestly, he did not know which he preferred. He preferred getting out, of course. But that didn't seem like it was going to happen.

Now Vostok can't die here, can he? That would ruin the entire story! Of course he can't! He escapes! It was not an exciting escape. He did not lunge out of prison as an explosion rocked the entire dungeon, running through the streets as arrows rained down at all sided and swordsman chased him. He did not kill a single man in his escape.

He bribed a common person that happened to come down to the dungeon. A poor looking fellow that probably needed food as much as Vostok. Vostok made a convincing lie that he stored a small amount of gold in a box nearby, and was willing to give it all to the man should he find the key and let him free.

Sure enough, the man was kind enough to snatch they key to the cell from a guard, and let Vostok go. Vostok replied with a curt nod before dashing away into another room where they held his items. He did not even look through most of his clothes, but instead he simply grabbed his sword and shield and ran. He could buy the rest.

The village was small, and he escaped from town easily. Most people knew that he was caught, and most people had completely forgotten his face or his reputation. In the end, Vostok was left with nearly nothing. He had no money, no friends, no home, and no job. For weeks he was left a beggar until he manage to scrounge up enough money to buy materials he needed for travel.

He earned his living as a seaman, hireable by anyone, and from then on kept a simple life. He had his skills as a fierce pirate and excellent shooter, but he wished not to use them. He travels by sea or by land, seeking any job from any of those who have them.

Weapons: Caeh-fish Rapier: More of an ornamental belonging then a weapon, Vostok is unskilled in his sword. It can be useful as intimidation, but it is more useful to him as a stake then a weapon.

Crossbow: Vostok's primary choice of weapon, this simple wooden crossbow has gotten him out of several situations. It is not especially decorated, except with some small carvings by himself and some small fish bones hung from the handle. This is his most useful tool, however, and thus also carries some sentimental value.

Sanhorrhim Shield: More of a piece of armor or equipment then a weapon, his Sanhorrhim shield is often used in correlation with his crossbow, and has saved his skin several times. It is extremely durable and large, cut down from a standard Sanhorrhim shield to 1.2 peds, and decorated with several paintings and drawings of flowing script.

Belongings: Vostok doesn't have many more belongings then what is on him all the time, containing his weapons, clothing, and several tools for sailing. Other then this, Vostok doesn't have any special belongings.