The Vandermark: Baldwin Redwald

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Name:Aaron
Contact: oldalicechalmers[AT]gmail[DOT]com


[Public Application]

Character Name: Baldwin Redwald
Character Age: 44
Gender: Male
Birthday (including year): 6/1/204
Current Location: Vale of Harken
House [Birth and Marriage if applicable]: Redwald
Banner Appearance: A gold chimera on a field of silver, separated by a stripe of and bordered with royal blue.




House Description

The Redwald’s were originally known as the Harkin family at the onset of their landing on the island, but through time and various marriages soon became to be known as the Redwald family, primarily for their fierce countenance in battle, and their soldiers resembling a “wall” in their most common tactic, the skjaldborg, usually referred to as a “shield wall” by those not of the Redwald family, and while they are quite fond of the horses that they raise in the valley, it is not ideally suited for the breeding of horseflesh, and so they have to gain them from elsewhere. In this regards relying on mercantile trade of their common natural resources and produced goods such as armour, in order to acquire magnificent steeds which prized among the nobility. They are staunch followers of the old ways, with a deep respect for what is commonly called the “unknown”, though all of the gods are admired and feared, both for their benevolence and power.

They have been part of the Vandermark ever since the DeLauncey’s landed in 542 BF and have sworn loyalty and fealty from that point in history. Because of this, they were granted a holding in the Vale of Harken, first named by the family that had sat there first, and the name has stuck ever since. It is a fertile piece of land, known for its great trees, iron ore deposits, and swift flowing river named after legendary ancestor. Their homes are both a mixture of well crafted stone buildings taken from the quarries in the hills, and superb woodworking techniques as accent features and roofing.

Redwalds are strong and hardy, with fair skin, exceptional height and broad shoulders, and hair colours ranging from dirty blonde to dark brown, and grey eyes.

Player Base: Liam Neeson
Appearance:


Baldwin stands at an impressive 6’5”, and is hard and lean despite his age. His shoulders are broad and overall his figure is rather imposing. He keeps his chestnut coloured hair rather short, and some graying can be seen speckled throughout and prominently featured on his temples and cropped beard. His eyes are of a man that has seen a lot of things in life, and has lived out in the open, enjoying all sorts of weather. While his complexion is quite fair, having spent time on the seas he has a sort of permanent bronzing colour to his skin. He has a strong brow, cheekbones and jaw, and his forehead is beset by a few wrinkles. His attire is common to all those who live in the Vale, that of long tunics and loose trousers, commonly but not always with rich embroidery around the neck and wrists.

Personality: Having lived for a fairly long time, Baldwin is a very calm and composed individual, prone to intense bouts of thinking and pondering. Like his father and grandfather before him, he absolutely loves the seas and sailing, and does so as often as he has the time to. His mind is rather sharp, and he has a great knack for trade and economics given how much he has been able to expand the exports that the Redwald’s send out. His work ethic is sound, which is another trait he gained from his father.

Baldwin is very much a family man, having a rather good relationship with his children, training each of them how to sail, ride a horse, and even use weapons. He makes time out of each day to spend time with them, and he knows them fairly intimately, their wants and desires out of life, and if it is within the means of the family he actively encourages them to pursue it.

He is also a fairly tactical person, both in politics and battle, though for both he prefers to remain in the background, due to the fact that he does not like the glory seeking attitude that his grandfather had, which ultimately got him killed. He also has a penchant for reading books, although due to the prized nature of such things, his library is fairly small.

There is one aspect of Baldwin however which is fairly negative. While others often commend his grandfather for his heroic act of defending the old and weak, Baldwin knows that his grandfather also committed very evil and reprehensible acts as a mercenary, and cannot stand being compared to him (as they are said to look alike).

All in all, Baldwin is calm, collective, and intelligent, but prefers to not be in the limelight of things, and so others sometimes see him as a dotard, because he is not quick to speak up or offer things in public. His main weakness is his love for his family, as he cherishes all of them and does not seem them as pawns or bargaining chips.

History: Baldwin was the first of eight children that his father Hengist had, and as the heir he was given many opportunities to succeed. Though he was simply given a very general education as a young boy, as his father knew that children were prone to dying young, even though the Redwald family has a history of producing strong children who thrive through just about everything. Which was fortunate for house Redwald, given that Baldwin’s grandfather only had one child; Baldwin’s father, and then once Hengist became old enough to take hold of the family, Sigismund went back to what he knew best; mercenary work. He was the second son, and nobody expected him to succeed, and so as he grew older he gathered a band of friends and struck out for adventure as a mercenary, selling their swords to anyone who was willing to pay their price. Because of this, Sigismund eventually did some fairly reprehensible things; murder, rape, pillaging, etc. All fairly commonplace in times of war, but usually it was raiders and other brigands who were the ones paying their way. Eventually however, their luck would run out. Sigismund and his followers were eventually captured by an unknown ship (Sigismund never did find out who its command it belonged to), and were pressed into service as oarsmen, though it was mostly a form of slavery as they were chained to the oars, and were rarely given much thought to their wellbeing, as they were whipped and beaten fairly often. Most men died to exposure, but thankfully for his sake, Sigismund was able to survive and eventually was released and sent back to his home. He never did find out why that happened either. As it turned out, Sigismund came home to the Vale only to find that he was the next heir. His elder brother had died in his sleep, seemingly of a weak heart after attempting to conceive a child, but he continually failed to do so. Sigismund did his duty however, by marrying his brother’s wife Ingund, and shortly after that she became pregnant. Eventually she gave birth and Sigismund named his son Hengist. After that point, the prosperity of the Redwald’s was fairly stagnant, as Sigismund had no real mind for trading or economics.

His trade was in death, and he continually longed for his old mercenary days, despite the fact that it ended up causing him to be enslaved. Once Hengist was old enough to be considered a man however, Sigismund passed the head of the family to him. A wise choice really, since Hengist was quite an intelligent lad at this time, and he began to make gains in trade, and re-affirmed the routes that his father had lost. Meanwhile in this time, Sigismund became a lone sell sword. He sailed around in a small ship, and soon received word of a village that was being accosted by raiders continually. The village itself was small and it suffered from the fact that all of the young and capable men were enslaved by the raiders, and the only people left were the elderly, children, and the infirm. Sigismund offered a price to them and he made it his duty to attempt to defend the village. It ultimately proved deadly, as Sigismund was eventually killed by numbers. The villagers mourned him as a hero who drove the raiders away, but Sigismund was said to have spoken these final words, "Now here I lie in my own blood, and strangers cry for me. I'm prepared to meet my gods, I wish they'd let me be. I don't deserve their sympathy, I know who I am, my soul is death and misery, I am an evil man." All of this happened the year that Baldwin was born, and Hengist continually told the story to his children to remind them that going off to war was not a glorious thing, and to remember that nobody has a spectacular past.

Once he got to the age of 15 however, Baldwin was specifically groomed for the role of the heir, once his father had ascertained that he was likely not going to die from some sort of debilitating illness. Baldwin progressed quite well at this, given that he was naturally gifted as a child at many different things, including but not limited to learning how to pilot a ship at the age of 8, though his brothers and sisters were also fairly gifted as well.

Because of this, Hengist was incredibly proud of his children, and while he constantly praised them for their good efforts, he was not so blind as to punish any wrongdoing, whether that was forgetting to feed or take care of their horses, doing their daily training regimens under the master at arms or scholars in the castle, or even things like not paying special reverence to the gods, given the strong ties that the Redwald’s had to the old ways.

Once Baldwin reached the age of 20, and despite being a reserved individual, he left on a journey to Arbrecht in order to get some more sailing experience in deeper waters, and also to act as an envoy to the Alinar family, which had previously made arrangements with Hengist to wed Baldwin to Dione Alinar.

They soon met, and after officially courting her for a year, they wed in Ernsaw in a fairly somber ceremony. The marriage initially was fairly loveless, as it was a political marriage, but on the journey back to the Vale, feelings began to grow and become mutual, and it was on the ship where the two conceived their first son Gildas, who was soon born in the Vale after their arrival. The birth was quite painful and long, as Gildas seemed reluctant to come out to the world. He was a fighter, and would remain so for his life. Baldwin considers this moment to be one of the happiest of his life, as his son was his pride and joy, and Hengist was also quite pleased to have a grandson so soon.

Four years later however, things would change as Hengist had a horse riding accident. While hunting a boar, his trusty horse got its leg caught in some roots, breaking its leg and causing Hengist to fall forward onto his neck, killing him instantly. Baldwin at the age of 26 was now the head of his family, having to care for its prosperity as well as the well-being of his brothers and sisters. That very same year, Baldwin and Dione had their second child, another son. Baldwin named him Samson, and just as when Gildas was young, Baldwin made sure that Samson had the best, and did not suffer from neglect like most second sons were. Both boys as they grew older seemed to get along fairly well to Baldwin, but as always, children have their secrets which Baldwin had no idea of.
After Samson was born, Baldwin and Dione soon conceived another child, this time a daughter, which they both named Arycelle. Much like the other two children, she seemed to get along well with the others, but because she was Baldwin’s first daughter there was something extra special about her and he spoiled her quite a bit, letting her get away with some minor things. Like Gildas she appeared to have a feisty personality, and Baldwin looked forward to the day that she would be married. Whoever it was, was going to have a tigress of a wife.

A few more years passed, and Baldwin continued to make gains in trade, and eventually another child was born to him and Dione, a second daughter, who was very different to Arycelle, and the two of them did not really seem to get along with one another from Baldwin’s perspective. However that childhood disagreement was soon cut short in 6 years, with the death of Selye from the plague that had wracked the Vandermark. Baldwin was devastated, and to make matters worse, his youngest brother Jeunan had also died from it. He tried his hardest to keep it out of the Vale, but it seemed that they were hit fairly hard, and it wasn’t until it had disappeared that he knew why; all of the trade continually brought many different people into the Vale, and because of this anyone who was simply a carrier of it and did not know, eventually transmitted it to the populace.

Now however, at the age of 44, Baldwin has come to realize that he has seen many things throughout his life and he had many more experiences that were only known to him. As of now, he has gone to Forsilvra with the DeLauncey family, and brought his entire family with him. The Vale itself was in the good hands of the castellan, and he knew there would not be any problems to deal with when he returned.

Writing Sample:

The sea was calm, almost too calm in a way, though there was a slight breeze indicated by the way the wails were filled. They caught the wind quite nicely, with their triangular sails, perfect for skittering about the coast as Baldwin had often done. He stepped lightly onto the foredeck, his leather vest making a creaking noise as he moved. Placing his hand onto one of the lines, he looked out to the vast horizon. He breathed in deeply, smelling the salt water and fresh air, feeling the spray of waves as they bobbed up and down. This was the place where Baldwin was at peace; the sea. He had loved it here ever since he was a boy, first learning how to swim from his mother, and eventually learning the finer aspects of sailing from his father. How to take hold of the rudder, to plot a course, to tack. All of these things came natural to him now, but they were the result of many decades of willingness.

He turned around to look at the crew he had with him. Not a huge number of men, for the size of his ship, but then the vessel was easy to sail and only needed about 15 men to be at full speed, though Baldwin had 20 men with him, because this was more than just a pleasure journey, though the sailors did not know this at first. He turned around to look at them once they had put out from the bay, and they were now just letting the wind do its work, while there were a few keeping watch of the lines and the wheel. He said to them all, "I'm sure you think its odd that there are more of you than normal here. But this isn't exactly a pleasure trip. There's been reported sightings of a shark off the coast, and we cannot exactly have that near our waters. It will scare the fish away, and it is dangerous for families with little ones who want to teach them how to swim. So we're here today to see if we can catch this shark, both for the excitement of it, and also to preserve our livelihood."

The men looked at one another with apprehension. A shark was no easy animal to catch, and Baldwin laughed at them and said, "Come now, why are you worried? You are experienced sailors and fishermen. We have the fishing lines already prepared, the ship is sturdy, and the harpoons are ready as well. Do you think I would be bringing you all out here if I was not confident in your abilities?" This seemed to reassure the sailors, and so he continued, "And besides, the shark is in the water so we won't be out here for very long I think." After that, he gave a nod to indicate that the sailors were free to do as they were.

After a few hours of sailing, Baldwin soon noted the landmarks of where they were, which indicated the area that the shark was previously spotted. He gave orders to the first mate to go into the hold and to bring out the fish guts and blood over the sides of the ship. Once this was done, he plotted a short course a distance away, and they dropped anchor. Within a few moments, they noticed the distinctive dorsal fin appearing out of the water where they had dumped the blood and fish guts. From here was the dangerous part however. 4 men each had to go down in a small craft with harpoons in order to spear the shark so that it could be brought back to the ship. Baldwin was in the lead ship, which would be the first to strike the shark with their harpoons. This was a dangerous position, as it would clearly anger the beast and draw its attention so that the other ships can get it harpooned and pulled into the ship to actually catch it.

Soon the small craft were out on the water, and rowing towards the shark. Once they were close enough, Baldwin took the first harpoon and aiming for the shark's ribs so that it would set good, he hurled it with all of his might. As the blade pierced the shark's flesh, the shark leaped through the air and gave almost a roaring sound as the wind passed through its open mouth. Baldwin looked at it and shouted to his sailors, "He's a big son of a bitch ain't he? Bring him down!"

With that, the rest of the sailors in the first craft hurled their harpoons at the shark while it was in the air, and all of them stuck. Now came the dangerous part, as the beast hit the water with a crash and started to thrash about. They had to be ready with the oars, and the winch on the ship had to be prepared to tow the ship in quickly. But unfortunately for Baldwin and his men, the shark proved to be exceptionally strong, and heaved on their little boat which strained the line. He watched as the shark kept trying to swim under, and the winch was straining to keep it up.

Baldwin motioned with his hands to the other craft to throw their harpoons so the other winches could tow in as well, and reduce the strain on the one that his boat and harpoons were attached to. However, the shark came up under his craft and tossed the men into the air. Thankfully the other craft managed to harpoon the shark who was now in a frenzy, but Baldwin and his crew were thrown into the water. He kept his eyes open as he plunged into the water, and drew the long knife at his belt and put it between his teeth as he swam towards the shark.

He was going to have to kill it quickly before it ended up tearing him and his men in two. He swam hard towards the beast, and the thrashing it was doing was making it difficult to get close but eventually he was able to grab hold of the pectoral fin, and taking hold of the long knife, he waited until the shark tried to leap once more, and as soon as it did, he raised the knife high and plunged it straight into the skull of the beast, the keen edge and acute point breaking through the bone and finally piercing the shark's brain. He wrenched the knife free and did it again, repeating the process until eventually the shark fell from the air into the water, dead.

The ship managed to tow the corpse of the shark in, and the sailors who had fallen into the water were rescued and waiting on deck. When they got close enough to haul the shark in, they sent down a line for Baldwin to be pulled up, and once he got on deck his first mate said, "Shit cap'n, that was one tough bugger eh?" And Baldwin smiled at him and said, "You'd better believe it." And he then looked around at the men surrounding him and said, "Pour yourselves some rum, you've earned it! We're going to have a shark feast tonight!"

[Time Line Events]
 
Year 158: Sigismund Redwald is born.
Year 160: Ingund Redwald is born.
Year 176: Sigismund Redwald marries dead brother’s commoner wife Ingund, and becomes head of family.

Year 176: Hengist Redwald is born.

Year 192: Sigismund Redwald passes head of household to Hengist Redwald.
Year 197: Sigismund Redwald dies as a mercenary defending a village of elderly and weak people from raiders.

Year 197: Baldwin Redwald is born.
Year 199: Desmond Redwald is born.
Year 201: Mirabel Redwald is born.
Year 203: Hugh Redwald is born.
Year 205: Andoras Redwald (twin) is born.
Year 205: Ozma Redwald (twin) is born.
Year 208: Emma Redwald is born.
Year 210: Jeunan Redwald is born.

Year 218: Baldwin Redwald marries Dione Alinar.
Year 219: Gildas Redwald is born.
Year 220: Ingund Redwald dies.
Year 223: Hengist Redwald dies after falling from his horse. Baldwin becomes head of the family.
Year 223: Samson Redwald is born.
Year 224: Arycelle Redwald is born.
Year 227: Selye Redwald is born.

Year 232: Plague covers a great deal of the Vandermark.
Year 233: Selye Redwald dies from plague.
Year 233: Jeunan Redwald dies from plague.

Year 240: Plague dies out.
Year 241: Game start.

These are meant to be a quick reference of critical dates for your character.

Family Genealogy:
Italics indicates death via the plague

• SIGISMUND REDWALD -- INGUN REDWALD
  • HENGIST REDWALD -- WIFE NAME REDWALD (62)
    • BALDWIN REDWALD (44) -- DIONE ALINAR REDWALD (45)
      • GILDAS REDWALD (22)
      • SAMSON REDWALD (18)
      • ARYCELLE REDWALD (17)
      • SELYE REDWALD (Would be 14)
    • DESMOND REDWALD (42) -- TEARNEY GILCHRIST REDWALD (Would be 35)
      • JOAN REDWALD (Would be 16)
      • PHILIP REDWALD (Would be 9)
    • MIRABEL REDWALD NAME (40) -- HUSBAND
      • CHILDREN
    • HUGH REDWALD (38) -- WIFE NAME REDWALD
      • CHILDREN
    • ANDORAS REDWALD (Twin, 36)
    • OZMA REDWALD NAME (Twin, 36) -- HUSBAND
      • CHILDREN
    • EMMA REDWALD NAME (33) -- HUSBAND
      • CHILDREN
    • JEUNAN REDWALD (Would be 31)

[Tiberius Lexington DeLauncey]

Very impressive! :: ka-stamp! ::

[Tink]

OMG LIAM NEESON. WIN. YOU HAVE MY SEXY APPROVAL.

[Jenn]

Approved <3 go post!