Garth of Rohan

Character Name: Garth of Rohand

Name Meaning: Garth refers to a person working in a Garden. For Garth himself his name is a inside joke between his parents.

Age: 17

Date of Birth: 2993

Race: Man, 

Residence: Rohan

Profession: Mercenary

Appearance: Garth has long hair that is roughly cut just before it past his nose. His right eye is covered by a thick banes of his dirty blonde hair. This hair hides a deep scar that cross over his right eye, but despite popular belief he can still see out of it. He just does not like to let it show and allows it to be covered when he is in towns and around people. Out in the wild he pulls it back for full view. Most of the time he can be seen wearing a black gambison with a longsword attached to his waist.

In battle however he wears a heavy mail shirt over his gambison along with a steel pauldrons to protect his shoulders. His hands are guarded by thick leather gloves. His head is covered by a great helm which is only he only wears in serious situations. When he is not wearing the great helm he is wearing his Bascinet which lies underneath. Over his mail he wears a black surcoat that is trimed with blue lining. His feet are protected by thick leather boots with metal plates protecting the toe and the sole. 

Personality: Despite his gloomy look Garth is a upbeat person. He sees the world though a half full view rather than half empty. At the same time however he has seen the evils of the world and knows full well that darkness that lies in men hearts. He is slow to trust strangers and even slower to trust none humans. He has a hatred for Orcs that goes beyond fanatical and he has a dislike of elves. Dwarves however are seen in his eyes as alright due to his good relationship with a Dwarf blacksmith as a boy. 

Garth has a strong desire to be the greatest swordsmen in the land. He will sedelmly pass up a opportunity to improve his skill with the blade, or to challenge a possible worthy rival.  Becoming a the best is his greatest ambition. 



Parents: Garth was born to Talos and Freya of Rohan. His father was a soldier and his mother was a seamstress. 

Sibling(s): Garth has eight brothers and sisters. The eldest among them is his older sister Bera. She is twenty five years old. The second Oldest is Erica she is twenty two. Third in line is Grim and the oldest male. He is twenty years of age. After Grim is Odin Garth's twin brother. Both he and Garth are seventeen years of age. Next in line is Saga, she is sixteen years of age and the sibling Garth is closest to. After Saga is Tori, Talos' favorite child and daughter. Tori is ten years old and is the twin of Den, Freya's baby boy and favorite child. Lastly is the one year old Kari. Everyone is sure he will be a strong lad with his curly hair. 

Spouse: n/a

Children: n/a

History:Garth grew up in a outskirt village under the kingdom of Rohan. He was a soldiers son and as a result he was expected to fight when he got older. As a boy he was baptized in battle. At the age of three his older sister started his endurance training. He would be forced to run around the yard in heavy clothing and move small stones from one pile to another. At the age of five his eldest brother Grim began to teach him wrestling. At the age of seven his eldest Sister Bera taught him the way of the sword and shield. By the age of fourteen he had entered his first battle and was considered a man by his father. At sixteen he became bored with his life as a simple guardsmen. A strong desire to see the world rose up within him and Garth decided to leave home and test his blade. 

In his youth Garth felt as if he was the forgotten child. When he was little his mother always fawned on his twin brother Odin. This was the result of his brother looking similar to his grandfather on his mother side and Odin tendency of being a cry baby. Garth, who was a bit more distant, was left out. His father showed very little affection. From his view point men had to be hard and cuddling would produce only weakness. The result of this is that Garth grew up a bit distant from his parents. All of his paternal and maternal love came from his Eldest Sister Bera, who kept a constant eye on him, and his eldest brother Grim, who was forced to keep a eye on him. 

As a young boy Garth would spend a lot of his time around both Bera and Saga. Though to be honest it was more like Saga and Garth were hanging around Bera. The two children were attached to her hip in there early days. It was almost as if she was there mother. The main reason for this was that Bera would not allow them to leave her side. While the two children were growing up a young boy in the village wondered off into the woods and was killed by a lone wolf. Bera was scared that such a event could happen to her younger siblings and as a result she kept them close by her side. 

Despite being a daughter Bera might as well had been born a man. She did not take after her mother's skill with sewing and cooking, but instead took after her father's skills with the blade. As a young girl she focused more on self defense than sewing and as a result she passed these skills down to her two shadows. As a boy Garth would watch her for hours practicing her swordsmenship. He and Saga would often mimic there sister with sticks and watch her sparing matches with Grim and other individuals in the village. 

At the age of five Garth began his martial training. His father, the person who had taught both Bera and Grim, decided he did not have the time to teach his son how to wrestle. Instead he passed the job down to Grim. This very fact was known to Garth. He felt a bit cheated by the entire ordeal as he grew up hearing about how fun it was for Grim to train with his father. None the less his training progressed. The gap between himself and his father widen however. For him his father was starting to become a distant stone figure that loomed in his life. Around the time that Garth was beginning his training in the marital arts his eldest sister began her search for a husband. Well it was more like her mother began her search and forced Bera to come along.  

At the age of six Garth began his formal training in melee combat. He placed on true armor for the first time and was taught the way of the axe by Grim. It was the basic training, nothing special, and was mainly designed to train his muscles and get him ready for the training that would come later. His sister Bera had found many suitors during this time, but she refused to take any of them due to her own desire to train her beloved siblings in the way of the sword. For her they were more like her children than her siblings. She pulled off her reluctance to be married by declaring that she would not merry a man who is weaker than her on the battlefield. Every man who attempted to merry her wold have to face her in a duel and every one lost easily. 

At the age of seven Bera had determined that Garth was old enough to learn how to fight with a sword. She had also bumped his younger sister Saga up and trained her along side him. For both Garth and Saga these were the golden years of there childhood. They spent many a day and night training with there eldest sister. If there was any time in there life that they could say they were truly happy this was it. For two years they trained under Bera, until the unthinkable happened. A warrior by the name of Thor had come to the village. He had heard about the skill of Bera and decided he was going to test her blade for himself. The two had a dual and by a narrow margin Thor won. Keeping to her word Bera married Thor and the two left the village. Bera left to her new home in the Capital city of Edoras. 

With there eldest sister gone it was like a hole was left in the lives of both Garth and Saga. At the time Garth was nine years old and not yet of age old enough to join the guard. Normally Grim would be assigned to teach his younger brother, but the boy was starting to move into his own career as a guardsmen. Erica took more after her mother than her father and as a result she could not teach the pair. To make things worse she was already engaged and would soon be married herself. For the first time in his life Garth was going to be taught how to fight by his father, or at least he thought. The old gaurdsmen decided to pull back at the last moment and instead sent his two children to train with his old friend Loki. Loki was skilled with the blade, but even more skilled with the spear. He taught the children how to fight using all types of weapons instead of simply focusing on one or the other. The spear however was his favorite and the one he pushed the most, but the two children were dead set on the sword, a expensive weapon that was favored by there Eldest sister. 

At the age of twelve Garth was ready to join the guard. he was not ready to enter into a full battle, but he could work as a watchmen and help settle minor disputes. He was assigned to a soldier nicknamed the Wolfbane. The title had been given to him due to his skill at tracking down wolves and eliminating them. Under the watchful eyes of Wolfbane Garth learned the basics of woodsmenship. He learned to hunt, to rack, and how to make camp. He learned how to judge a man by his foot prints, ride a horse and even read. Wolfbane also taught him how to gamble, a skill that would one day prove useful in life. Overall his training with Wolfbane was both useful and enjoyable. It was also under Wolfbane's tutelage that Garth killed his first man. There was a brigand in the woods ambushing travelers and slitting there throats. The brigand had made a mistake of not hiding one of his bodies properly and it was discovered by Wolfbane during one of his patrols. With young Garth at his side he haunted the man down and slit his throat while he slept. However Wolfbane did not know that the man had a ally. The ally attacked the gaurdsmen from behind. Garth jumped in to aid his mentor. Using a technique he learned from Bera Garth was able to isolate his opponent's sword with his shield and plunge his own short sword into the man's throat. As the man died Garth looked into the man's eyes. He watched as the life left them and the man hit the ground like a sack of flower. Garth had nightmares for weeks. From that point on however killing became easier.

At the age of fourteen Garth experienced his first true battle. Brigands had attacked the village in hopes of gaining treasure. The attack was fearsome and brutal. The gate surrounding the village had been breached through sabotage and victory was on the tong of the attackers. Garth was now fighting with a longsword and was now a full guard. He fought beside his younger Sister Saga, who took up a blade in defense of there home. During the battle both Saga and Garth fought like lions, but Saga stood head and shoulders above him. Her skill with the blade and her burly frame made her stand out on the battlefield. Many would be raiders underestimated her due to her gender and fell to her sword. At the end of the battle she had claim ten lives of the attackers and was deemed a hero by the villagers. Garth received a pat on his shoulder. 

The success of his sister did not bring jealousy in his heart, but it did light the sparks of envy. He watched as his father congratulated her on her skill with the blade. He even went so far as to practice with her and make her a part of his regular training program. Garth on the other hand was left to train on his own with the rest of the guard. Even his sister Bera, who they both loved dearly, returned to the village to give Saga her blessings. She of course talked to her little brother Garth, but for the young man it was not the same. He was however happy to see the two little children piratically attached to her waist. One was at least five and the other looked about seven. Both of them sturdy looking boys. Garth later learned that there names were Fell, the oldest, and Om the youngest. 

For two years Garth chased the recognition of his father. he has skipped the entire ordeal of trying to find a wife and instead focused on improving his skill with the blade. He was obsessed with becoming stronger and being known as the greatest. That aspiration never came. The village remained relatively peaceful and despite his best efforts he could never defeat Saga in any of there sparing matches. She, just like him, was chasing perfection. While he was drive to gain the respect and admiration of his father, she was pushed forward to maintain her respect and admiration. Both were powerful forces that kept them both on equal footing. It also helped that they spared weekly and that both of them had a strong desire to defeat the other. 

Garth's time in his home village came to a end when word of a band of highway men came to the town guard. The villains were not ambushing merchants, but guardsmen paroling the road. The audacity of the brigands incited the guard to retaliate, but the upper brass were fearful that this series of events were apart of a larger scheme to attack the village. Word was sent out to the capital to request aid. Garth's father Talos could not stand the idea of calling for help from other people. Gathering up a group of his friends in the guard and his own children he set out to bring these brigands to justice. It was Wolfsbane who first located there band and he reported it back to Talos. The enemy numbered twenty five while there forces were only a humble ten. It would be a nearly three to one situation ,and Talos did not like the odds. He was going to order a retreat back to the city and request aid from the local lord to handle the matter before reinforcements arrived from the capital. This plan however was thrown into chaos by Garth. 

Garth was eager for a glorious victory. This eagerness lead him to act foolishly. Rather than retreat from the enemy Garth decided the best option would be to sabotage the efforts. Taking a torch and some pitch Garth started a fire on the outskirts of the enemy camp. The brigands rushed to investigate and to control the fire before is spread across the woods. While the bulk of there forces rushed to control the flames Garth attacked . He took out there sentinel and rushed into the enemy camp.  Cutting down tow unaware men Garth rushed into the enemy command tent and began to duel there leader. The attack on the camp sent the brigands into chaos. Many of them began to believe that there was a coupe going on inside of the camp and soon they began to fight each other. Seeing the Chaos Talso moved his forces in. Half of the men moved to control the now abandon forest fire before it got out of control, the other half moved to protect Talos foolish son. At the end of the day the brigands were routed and the flames were brought under control. Garth was expecting to be praised as a brilliant tactician and a masterful swordsmen, but instead he received a slap across the face and was told he was a disgrace. Talos was angry. 

That was the final straw for Garth. For two years he had been chasing his father's admiration and had never received it, and now he was called a disgrace. Garth quietly took his blade and a few rations from the brigands camp and left without a word to anyone, even Saga. For the next year Garth lived his life as a blade for higher and a gambler. he would wonder into a village and challenge all the strongmen to a battle of the sword. Any man who could best him in a spar would receive a three gold coins, which he presented to the crowd. However in order to challenge him one would have to offer up a silver. This little racket always worked. Garth would make quick work of the strong men who knew nothing of the blade and easily overpower the weak men who relied on there speed. The only danger was when soldiers were around. They could actually pose a challenge and on a few occasions some of them bested him. However it mattered not in the end as the coin he made always out weighed the coin he lost. After a successful swindle he would stick around the village for a few days to accept challenges and to cave out a new practice sword from a piece of wood. Every now and then a dew eyed villager would come up to him and ask him for training in the way of the sword. He would always accept and teach the basics for about a week or so and then be off to the next village. He would always leave them a wooden practice sword, the last one he carved before he moved to a new village. 

When Garth entered a area of extreme conflict he would sell his services out to the locals as a blade for hire. Despite being a mercenary Garth never joined the side attacking Villagers. Garth may have moved on from being a guard, but he never forgotten his oath as one. "Always in the defense of the innocent. Never a blade of the wicket. A Oath to both the heavens and the earth. If I fail in my duty my the wraiths take me."