Name: Mikel Stormcrow
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Occupation: He holds a variety of odd jobs
Personality: Usually a very happy guy, Mikel has grown a bit more dour over the past few months. He changed from a sweet geek to a bit of a hardened rebel. But his care and love of his brother hasn't changed. He sometimes tries his hand at the carefree devil-take-it lifestyle, and he can pull it off thanks to his mind. Mikel is a genius, and he knows it. He's a study in contradictions, like all people if you look at them hard enough. A whiz kid, he loves the beauty of architecture and numbers, but the years have shifted his focus from his love to surviving and providing for his family. He's impatient with others and with life, feeling like he should be able to go faster and harder because of his gift, but at other times he shows a slow, quiet sensitivity thanks to his brother and his time with the clergy. He loves his brother, but is sometimes frustrated that Givenchy won't grow up and come back to earth so that Mikel himself can get on with his own life.
Appearance: About 6', skinny but with some muscle from working the plow. Sandy blonde hair that curls when it's cut short (which is how he likes to wear it), a nice tan but with faint freckles on the bridge of his nose, and light brown eyes that crinkle when he smiles (uncommon recently). He carries himself well, shoulders always square and straight, but he alternates between walking with an air of cockiness and an air of humility (learned from his travels). His fingers are smooth in certain places from the frequent rub of playing cards and pages, and calloused in others from farm work. He wears a faded black jacket that looks like it used to be of good quality, green tunic, a leather belt and black pants. Also he wears traveler's boots that are very worn. Mikel often has a five o'clock shadow, since he has little time for shaving, and looks a little more haggard than normal.
History: Mikel, the eldest child of Marsh and Linda Stormcrow, lived with his parents and four younger siblings in the little town of Lunt, thirty miles or so from Luben. He lived with them, helping with the farm and watching his younger brother Givenchy, until the age of 16. But when he was 16, his parents announced that they had always recognized his genius and had saved up enough money to send him to Luben, where he would study his heart's desire- architecture. Loathe to leave his family but thrilled with the opportunity, Mikel accepted their offer and headed to Luben to study under some of the greatest masters in that field. However, it wasn't as easy as he expected. Though he was accepted into the small school in the heart of Luben, he would not be simply sitting at his teacher's feet all day, learning how to draw blueprints and such. No, he was to be pushed out into the field. For three years, he wandered about Luben to see the greatest architectural feats ever accomplished. He even made his way into Elven country to study their designs, and once lived in a monastery and traveled with monks. After all, great designs are not just about drawing, but about putting your visions and experiences down on paper and translating them into blocks of stone and beams of wood. However, seeing so much of the world changed him. He saw not only the beauty of life, but also the evil, the rich and the poor. Mikel was especially attracted to how the rich lived.
He eventually returned to Luben and continued with his studies, but began to supplement his living with gambling. It wasn't evil, he reasoned, because for him it wasn't truly gambling. With his math mind, he could decipher the entire game and win without fail. So for a time he lived large, buying all the nicest things and joining all the richest people... Until the gambling places were tired of losing so much to the young upstart and banned him from ever entering their establishments again. So he ended up with nothing, as he had already spent all his earnings on wild living. He scrounged together enough to keep him fed and clothed and sheltered, but he chafed against the familiar bite of poverty since he had already tasted the bread of the rich. Mikel was unhappy and his work showed it. He was threatened with failure and expulsion and eventually the threat was carried through. Mikel was pondering whether to return home and tell his parents he wasted their hard-earned gift or to trek through Christia and regather his money when his entire family showed up on his doorstep, telling of attacks by an undead army. Within a week, that very army was approaching Luben and Mikel had no time to contemplate leaving.
Mikel met Robert the same time Givenchy did- the fateful day Robert stopped the younger boy from plummeting to his death. Mikel was entranced by the older bard, awed by his experience and tales of his travels. To a boy stuck in one small village his entire life, Robert's stories seemed too good to be true. Robert himself reacted kindly to the boy's hero worship, pleased to tell him all he knew.
Talents: He is the master of numbers and math, able to do large problems in his head without hesitation. He is also a great visionary, able to see massive structures in his mind and plot them on paper with an artist's hand.
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Occupation: He holds a variety of odd jobs
Personality: Usually a very happy guy, Mikel has grown a bit more dour over the past few months. He changed from a sweet geek to a bit of a hardened rebel. But his care and love of his brother hasn't changed. He sometimes tries his hand at the carefree devil-take-it lifestyle, and he can pull it off thanks to his mind. Mikel is a genius, and he knows it. He's a study in contradictions, like all people if you look at them hard enough. A whiz kid, he loves the beauty of architecture and numbers, but the years have shifted his focus from his love to surviving and providing for his family. He's impatient with others and with life, feeling like he should be able to go faster and harder because of his gift, but at other times he shows a slow, quiet sensitivity thanks to his brother and his time with the clergy. He loves his brother, but is sometimes frustrated that Givenchy won't grow up and come back to earth so that Mikel himself can get on with his own life.
Appearance: About 6', skinny but with some muscle from working the plow. Sandy blonde hair that curls when it's cut short (which is how he likes to wear it), a nice tan but with faint freckles on the bridge of his nose, and light brown eyes that crinkle when he smiles (uncommon recently). He carries himself well, shoulders always square and straight, but he alternates between walking with an air of cockiness and an air of humility (learned from his travels). His fingers are smooth in certain places from the frequent rub of playing cards and pages, and calloused in others from farm work. He wears a faded black jacket that looks like it used to be of good quality, green tunic, a leather belt and black pants. Also he wears traveler's boots that are very worn. Mikel often has a five o'clock shadow, since he has little time for shaving, and looks a little more haggard than normal.
History: Mikel, the eldest child of Marsh and Linda Stormcrow, lived with his parents and four younger siblings in the little town of Lunt, thirty miles or so from Luben. He lived with them, helping with the farm and watching his younger brother Givenchy, until the age of 16. But when he was 16, his parents announced that they had always recognized his genius and had saved up enough money to send him to Luben, where he would study his heart's desire- architecture. Loathe to leave his family but thrilled with the opportunity, Mikel accepted their offer and headed to Luben to study under some of the greatest masters in that field. However, it wasn't as easy as he expected. Though he was accepted into the small school in the heart of Luben, he would not be simply sitting at his teacher's feet all day, learning how to draw blueprints and such. No, he was to be pushed out into the field. For three years, he wandered about Luben to see the greatest architectural feats ever accomplished. He even made his way into Elven country to study their designs, and once lived in a monastery and traveled with monks. After all, great designs are not just about drawing, but about putting your visions and experiences down on paper and translating them into blocks of stone and beams of wood. However, seeing so much of the world changed him. He saw not only the beauty of life, but also the evil, the rich and the poor. Mikel was especially attracted to how the rich lived.
He eventually returned to Luben and continued with his studies, but began to supplement his living with gambling. It wasn't evil, he reasoned, because for him it wasn't truly gambling. With his math mind, he could decipher the entire game and win without fail. So for a time he lived large, buying all the nicest things and joining all the richest people... Until the gambling places were tired of losing so much to the young upstart and banned him from ever entering their establishments again. So he ended up with nothing, as he had already spent all his earnings on wild living. He scrounged together enough to keep him fed and clothed and sheltered, but he chafed against the familiar bite of poverty since he had already tasted the bread of the rich. Mikel was unhappy and his work showed it. He was threatened with failure and expulsion and eventually the threat was carried through. Mikel was pondering whether to return home and tell his parents he wasted their hard-earned gift or to trek through Christia and regather his money when his entire family showed up on his doorstep, telling of attacks by an undead army. Within a week, that very army was approaching Luben and Mikel had no time to contemplate leaving.
Mikel met Robert the same time Givenchy did- the fateful day Robert stopped the younger boy from plummeting to his death. Mikel was entranced by the older bard, awed by his experience and tales of his travels. To a boy stuck in one small village his entire life, Robert's stories seemed too good to be true. Robert himself reacted kindly to the boy's hero worship, pleased to tell him all he knew.
Talents: He is the master of numbers and math, able to do large problems in his head without hesitation. He is also a great visionary, able to see massive structures in his mind and plot them on paper with an artist's hand.