
A character illustration for the Shadowun role-playing game setting but I suppose works well enough for any cyberpunk(ish) near future setting.

A character illustration for the Shadowun role-playing game setting but I suppose works well enough for any cyberpunk(ish) near future setting.

Name: Barracus Inctal
Race: Human
Location: Cuervo Garrac, Ferria
Barracus is a trusted crew member (boatswain in charge of the cargo room) of the merchant ship Raimelho. He has been a crew member in the ship for a few years now and has gained the trust of the ship’s captain and owner Jorge Gel.
Barracus is a typical person of southern Ferrian descent. His upbringing has taught him modesty, respect of life and harmony. As a man he is quiet and his demeanor is modest. He is erroneously considered to be extremely shy by those who do not know him. He just keeps his opinions to himself and works hard instead. He is the kind of person who makes things happen instead of constant bitching.
Barracus is an orphan and has no siblings that he is aware. He moved to Cuervo Garrac with his uncle ten years ago but after his uncle perished from a terminal illness he has been living alone near the dock area of the city. He met his future employer Jorge Gel by accident and Gel was at the time looking for a few able men to man his next voyage. A deal was struck to see how Barracus would fare at sea and he’s been a regular member of Gel’s crew since that day.
As a boatswain it is Barracus’ responsibility to not only make sure that the cargo is loaded and unloaded properly but also to make sure that the goods are secure during the voyage and that the goods arrive as promised to whatever destination they’re heading. When it comes to the space below main deck (ie. the cargo hold), Barracus gives the orders. He has not been able to gather much with respect to personal assets as he commonly gambles and drinks his salary as soon as he gets it. Being a boatswain is a life that suits him just fine making him content and thankful – even happy with how things have turned out.

Name: Sir Welyk Paize
Race: Human
Location: border regions of Groam and Zarnova
Formerly a leader of the mercenary group called The Eighteen Griffons, Sir Welyk Paize rose into fame after heroically saving the life of Lady Angelusia Wermander – the daughter to Lord Mortimer Wermander who is the high ambassador of Gruenroth to Groam and one of the chief counselors and a personal friend of the king of Groam. After that incident – which took place about 9 years ago – Sir Paize was recruited to the king’s guard but soon felt this new life was dull and uneventful and that life in the city with it’s comforts was for sissies and wimps. 8 years ago he was relieved of his guard duties and appointed to lead a newly formed military unit called The Emerald Unit. The unit is a first response group of stout warriors sent to deal with marauding undead creatures from the country of Zarnova. The unit operates in the border region of the two countries.
Sir Paize is a true warrior who lives and breathes action, adrenaline and combat. He does have a softer side to him in that he has a beautiful singing voice which he employs on still, cold nights after the duties of the day are over. Sir Paize leads his unit with a fervor and relentlessness but his men are hand picked by him and each and every man has had to prove their worth prior to being baptized in the unit. He enjoys the utmost respect among his men and his unit is well funded and supplied by the king himself who understands that all-out war with Zarnova is not in the best interests of the country but that still brutal force is required to send a message to the controllers of the intruding undead hordes.
Sir Paize is a skilled tactician and a logistical genius apart from being one of the best swordsmen in Groam to ever have existed. Little is known of his past and childhood but it’s needless to say his tough exterior started to grow at a young age.
He has an imposing figure of 190 cm and a rugged, weathered look in his face. His long reddish aubergine hair is a trademark of his and he usually wears his hair free-flowing.

Name: Werner Baerwyn
Race: Human
Location: Gruenwald, Gruenroth
King of Gruenroth, one of the biggest countries in Cresia, Werner is also a man of humble beginnings and retains his humility while serving his people as their leader. Gruenroth is a vast and sparsely populated country in a constant state of inner quarreling between city states claiming to be autonomous, tribal hordes seeking whatever retribution to whatever ancient and forgotten deed by their neighbors and between barbaric hordes of orcs, ogres and undead from Zarnova and ice elves from the north glaciers.
A competent combatant, Werner is also tempered with hardship throughout his life. His life has been a struggle since his parents were killed by marauding orcs when he was but 5 years of age. Since those times he has been determined to make a difference in the world. He truly believes that a single man can change the course of history.
He has four daughters with two wives – both of which are now deceased. His demeanor is that of a man determined to get his way and his attitude is the attitude of a can do -man. Gruenroth is seen to be in good hands by the common people although disgruntled voices from hot-headed tribal leaders need to be silenced on a regular basis. Gruenroth just might have the biggest army in Cresia but it is also widely dispersed around the country since there’s not a single neighbor that Gruenroth is quite comfortable with albeit actual wars are few and far between. And then there’s the intermittent feuds between warlords; should a military presence in any one area weaken, it will be filled by the forces of local warlords making it inherently difficult a task to keep the country under one rule instead of breaking into dozens of smaller tribal powers that alone would not be able to counter any of the country’s current neighbors.

Name: Hargar Ber Marono
Race: Ogre
Location: Wild mountain regions between Akron, Caheb and Groam.
The wild mountainous regions between Akron, Caheb and Groam are home to a wide variety of species. Many of which are brutish, violent and inherently dangerous and so the regions have never been claimed by any neighboring “civilized” country.
One of the species claiming the mountains their home is known simply as hill ogres – a misnomer really since many of their kin live in plains as well. Hargar Ber Marono leads a tribe of 80 hill ogres who dwell in areas south of Medon Pass. The tribe in question is semi-nomadic; they settle one area for some months at a time and then move to a different area returning to earlier locales doing cyclical moves between seven or eight camps. So when they abandon a camp, it usually takes at least a couple of years before they return to it. The camps are located roughly at the same elevation points (800-1500 meters from sea level), but span a rectangular region of at least 100 x 20 kilometers.
The ogres raid eagerly whatever they encounter and while their weapons may not be much more than stolen dull swords and broken axes, their fierce attitude and pack-hunting tactics make them quite deadly in deed. The entire tribe with even infants included take part in these raids and their females are not in any way considered lesser or inferior in any aspect of combat although the tribe is traditionally always led by a male ogre.
Trade routes between Akron and Groam using the Medon Pass are regularly targeted by Hargar’s tribe so any bigger convoys and caravans are discouraged to travel the pass without enough guards to be able to defend against the brutes.
Hargar doesn’t bow to anybody and is not a brute to be reasoned with. He considers humans as pesky annoyances but feels some sort of misplaced kinship with dwarves. If any dwarf should approach him with intentions to discuss trade-offs regarding free passage, it is less likely to end up in bloodshed. Although if he judges he has the upper hand, he makes demands completely ludicrous up to and including giving up females to be used as sex slaves by the brutes.

Name: Lady Melia Sur-Romano, Countess of Wywold
Race: Human
Location: Wywold, Akron
The wife of count Roberto Romano, current ruler of the small county of Wywold in Akron. Lady Melia is of Wywold origin herself and has been married to Roberto for 8 years. Lady Melia is originally from a small fishing village named Altenwold near the border of Akron and Ferria. She served as a cook for Roberto during Roberto’s initiation ritual when he was appointed the Count of Wywold by the king. Roberto was so taken with the excellent food prepared by Melia that he summoned the cooks in the dining hall and applauded them. She was soon selected as Roberto’s personal chef and they were married two years later.
She was already adept at using knifes, fishing hooks, tridents and such from her teen years. She wished to become as fearsome combatant as her mate and after some rather loud confrontations with her husband, they came to an agreement: she will get receive the best training available in Wywold in exchange for preparing meals for Roberto every three days. A deal was struck and years and years later Lady Melia still prepares her husband a meal every three days and has become one of the most adept combatants in the county. Their deal is well known in the county and oftentimes the people of Wywold make jokes about doing something every third day.
She is a balancing factor to Roberto as well. His harsh and stern style of ruling is mellowed down and smoothed by Lady Melia. While she is not an easy lady to deal with, she does understand that uncalled for or excessive harshness is counter productive. Lady Melia is currently herself teaching the art of swordmanship in the castle courtyard one day a week. While technically competent, agile and well-equipped, she severely lacks one of the basic training of true warriors – facing death during actual combat.

A character illustration for the Shadowrun role-playing game setting.

A character illustration for the Shadowrun role-playing game setting.

Name: Temur Soxion
Race: Human
Location: Gruenroth (or where ever princess Leana travels)
Temur is the chief of princess Leana Baerwyn‘s personal bodyguards. He owes his life to king Werner Baerwyn and has vowed a life of servitude to him and by extension to his family. Temur has a history of violence back to his early childhood in the restless mountainous regions between Gruenroth and Zarnova. He was orphaned at an early age and adopted to a reclusive monastery located near the once bustling community of Ilven. The monastery was later ruined by a dangerous shadowy spider cult led by priestess Chya of Zarnovan origin whose influence is thankfully now shifted to warmer climates of Caheb. Temur spent ten years fighting against unspeakable creatures of Zarnovan source at the mountains and eventually joined Gruenroth‘s standing military at the age of 19.
He quickly rose in the ranks as he already had a decade of actual combat experience under his belt whilst most of his superiors lacked the power and skills to even subdue him. While the country is officially living a peaceful interlude in it’s history, the eastern mountainous regions are in actuality a veritable fountain of bloody skirmishes extending the entire border’s length of thousands of kilometers. And have been for quite some time. Total war is held at bay only because the region is just too damned difficult for either country’s armies to deal with (logistically or strategically) and the mountains also hide indigenous dangers hostile to all outsiders as well.
Years went by and eventually Temur commanded the entire standing army of eastern Gruenroth as a general appointed by the king himself. He was hand-picked by the king to his personal guard unit of elite warriors and gladly accepted the challenge leaving the army at an age of 40 and now holds a honorary title of Grand General of Gruenroth. He then quickly outmaneuvered his younger comrades and rose to lead the body guard unit nowadays simply known as The Soxions. When the king’s eldest daughter Lady Leana exhibited signs of interest to travelling the lands, the king appointed Temur to permanently body guard Lady Leana and on that mission Temur is still today. Lady Leana and Temur are good friends now sharing many common beliefs and a quirky, yet benevolent, sense of humor. Both also exhibit a similar appetite to righting wrongs – all in all this makes Temur content, pleased, proud and honored by his position.
Temur is deep, enigmatic, quiet, thoughtful and careful in his choice of words. He is the literal old wise man but also a warrior that can punch your lights out if need be.

Name: Princess Leana Baerwyn
Race: Human
Location: Gruenroth
Lady Leana is the eldest child of Gruenroth‘s current king Werner Baerwyn. Leana is a wandering spirit who finds it hard to settle down even though many expect just that from her. She spends around half her time travelling the lands of Gruenroth (and sometimes those of Argan and Akron as well) with a retinue of around twenty adventurers, cooks, servants and bodyguards. She uses her title to settle disputes, right wrongs and reports problems to her father’s trusted aide and political adviser Chalty Veron whom she considers more of a father than her actual biological father ever was.
Lady Leana is a competent and hardy traveler excelling in survival skills uncommon for women in general and she even hunts her own food by traps or by bow and arrow. She is therefore much respected by those who travel with her as she is the exact opposite of a narcissistic and pampered princess – say – like her two little sisters Lady Lucia and Lady Lise both of whom are content living a life of excesses in the king’s palace.
She has a very strong sense of right and wrong and she knows that her moral compass is the one she should be following in a world of injustice, violence, intolerance and hatred. She sees herself at a somewhat martyrish light although she has long since abandoned the need to shoulder the entire world’s wrongs. Some things she can’t alter and she accepts that. It still doesn’t stop her from trying. She speaks her mind freely and never voluntarily bow to men of authority even if she gains enemies that way. Mostly her father accepts her behavior as she does a tremendous amount of truly good things on her travels and the good far outweigh the bad. The king’s only concern is that he wants Lady Leana safely at home sooner rather than later because the future ruler of Gruenroth needs to be Lady Leana and not Lady Lucia or Lady Lise and the future queen must understand that governing a vast nation requires more than just survival skills.
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