Eric l. eldrich

AGE

OCCUPATION

GROUP

DRAGON

personality

If one was to describe Eric in but a few words one might describe him as a fearless young man devoted to his country and to his duty as the Captain of the Dragon Knights. He is tactical, constantly evaluating everything around him and carefully choosing his actions as though each were a crucial step toward achieving some unseen goal. Not one to be easily angered he is level-headed and rational his eyes focused on reality and what challenges lay before him. He is eloquent and well-mannered finding charm in simplicity and his gentlemanly nature. Overall, he is one who dedicates himself to a task and sees it through to the end. He was raised on victory and careful planning to attain his goals and wont let anyone stand in his way. The most important thing to him is the protection of his home and will do anything to ensure the safety of his way of life.

Though blessed with such qualities he has his fair share of flaws. He is quiet and doesn't often speak unless he has something to say, this comes across as being uninterested in people in general or as being unfriendly. He demands perfection in himself and places high expectations on those he works with and under his command. It is this that pushes him to constantly better himself and flourish as a leader and a person, but it's also this that causes him to be impatient with people who don't think things through or speak whatever first comes to mind without consideration of the consequences. The young man may be intelligent, however he is self-sacrificing would often rather take the burden of the world upon himself than to share the weight with anyone else-- be it either because he doesn't trust them or that he would rather be the only one to suffer. This last point ties in with that he is dedicated, but perhaps dedicated to the point it becomes a fault. He takes his job as seriously as his father would expect and thinks of nothing else. He lives for his work and because of this people see him as overly serious. Finally, one would definitely say that Eric is egocentric. His innate talent at many things and overpowering confidence makes him misjudge his own abilities to be more than what they really are biting off more than he accounted for.

As a side note, Eric is terrified of water for some reason.  He doesn't know why, but he gets a bad feeling when around it.

history

Farkhan, the place Arland called home, the same land that would be lost to the young boy of three years old as he sailed to Woodkeep on a vessel made for war.  His father, a general in the Farkhan military, and his mother, a medic of the same, had left the young boy in the care of an elderly woman-- or they had planned for such.  The young boy, unable to bear the thought of his parents leaving without him, stole away on their ship, hiding in a barrel of apples.  By time he was found it was too late and land was far behind them.  His father and mother argued for hours of whether to turn the ship around or continue, his father was against turning the ship around and delaying their planned assault by a day setting back plans for acquiring Woodkeep.  His mother eventually gave in begrudgingly, against the idea of Arland being aboard the ship.

No one, however, could have predicted the catastrophe that followed.  Nearing the island, the waters began to grow restless, the dull thudding of footsteps above only adding to the tightly forming knot in Eric's stomach as his mother cradled the terrified youth in her arms.  The ship's rocking grew so violent it felt like the water was literally tossing the ship about.  Suddenly, everything grew cold and icy.  That was the last thing Arland could remember as the sea claimed him.  So ended the story of Arland of Farkhan.

But this wasn't to be the young man's death.  Whether by luck or through divine intervention the child was spared from his watery grave.  The boy awoke, his throat burning and his skin numb as he picked himself up from the sands of the beach.  The child was lost, confused, and utterly alone.  What should he do?  Where was he?  There were too many unknown variables and little way for him to find direction in what little he did know.  The youth wandered on his own aimlessly before he stumbled upon a great fort.  Finally, some place of civilization.  But the young boy didn't approach, instead he hid and watched the place from a distance.  It was like this for a few days.  People would come out of the fort and notice him, the young boy covered with the tatters of clothes he had from the shipwreck ran away, hiding in the forest.

Rumors of a boy living in the forest on his own spread through the town, some believed them to be only that-- baseless rumors, however with little else to do the dragon knights took it upon themselves to search the island.  If a mysterious young boy had found his way on the island, who was to say more weren't with him?  The search went on for several more days, the young boy evading the patrols and even applied several basic feats of misdirection.  However, being such a small island and with very little places to hide the young boy was finally caught and brought to Woodkeep.

The Captain of the Dragon Knights was impressed by the young boy, not only having shown promise in surviving on his own at such a young age and even outmaneuvering grown men, but also in the look the young boy had even at such a young age.  Having no children of his own, the Captain took the boy in as his own taking responsibility for him giving him the name Eric Laurence Eldrich.  The Captain was strict as both a father and a mentor, raising Eric with a tight leash and teaching him the proper mannerisms and skills that befit a knight of Woodkeep.

What promise the Captain had seen flourished under the man's tutelage.  The young boy's understandings of strategy and organization were astounding, he learned to read, write, and speak as any member of a court might be expected to and though polite and a kind person, he was quiet and reserved.  He learned to wield a sword and shoot a bow and arrow becoming an adept marksman and a skilled swordsman.  He learned many other forms of martial combat, however he preferred the one handed sword for its lightness and maneuverability paired with a shield for its defensive capacity.

At the age of sixteen the young boy was marked by the Red Dragon, Kedjat.  It was a day of celebration for his father as Eric finally matured into a man with the acquisition of his brand.  Only three short years later, the young boy was promoted to Captain of the Dragon Knights of Woodkeep, succeeding his father in the title.  It was a prestigious position the old man had relinquished with the knowledge Eric was ready for it.

One life had ended and another had begun, the story of Eric Eldrich and Kedjat.

WRITER