Rohirrden

Rohirrden was born in the remote alpine forests of the northern mountains. His people called a small secluded village their home. Making money off of logging, hunting, and blacksmithing, the people of the village were known to be hardy and resilient to the harsh winters. That however was not true for infants.

Rohirrden was born different from the others. Discolored skin, eyes, and hair led his parents to reject him. They'd intended to surrender the child to the wilds but Henrick stepped in. A kind soul in an unkind world. A former knight himself, returned to live a more laid back communal lifestyle. He lived on the outskirts of the village and made his livelihood as a hunter selling furs and meat to the villagers. Henrick raised Rohir as his own, teaching him survival and hunting skills alike.

It wasn't until Rohir was sixteen that tragedy struck. A plague crept into his small village. While life was always hard, it became more treacherous as the townsfolk fell ill. With crucial jobs vacant their small village began to collapse from underneath them. Some fled between the risk of financial ruin and a sweeping illness; staying wasn't worth it to them. But Henrick and Rohir? They stayed until the end.

The two were able to sustain their lifestyle for years after the village became vacant, relying on just themselves for everything. It was during this time of solitude that Henrick taught Rohir how to properly wield a blade and fight against man. It was just a matter of time before Henrick began to grow ill. Symptoms of the plague that'd decimated their community began appearing in the older man. Coughing, lesions, loss of muscle movement. Rohir cared for Henrick through his decline and never wavered even once.

Eventually the plague took the man Rohir called his father. The young man was the one to dig the hole in the frozen ground to bury the only relative he'd ever known. After the burial Rohir decided as the last resident: to leave. He packed up only the essentials and made his way to the capital. The journey was hard with no coin to his name. He was eventually able to scrape some up by completing odd jobs when he could. Looks of distrust and disgust were common for Rohir and some opportunitiesof employment were denied entirely to the man. He was different. An abomination.

Rohirrden was treated worse when he arrived in the capital. For months after his arrival he lived on the streets. Rohir struggled to survive but he always found a way, and thankfully not everyone turned their heads away from him. He was truly a gentle giant if given the chance to prove himself. He applied time and time again to become a knight for the kingdom but wasn't even given a chance due to not just his appearance but the stigma that floated around the capital. His people were wiped out from a plague, yet he survived till the end. Could he have brought it with him? Could he have been the origin of the strange disease with his strange appearance? People always fear what they do not understand.

Rohir knew he was healthy as a horse but not everyone agreed so hastily. It wasn't until Rohir stepped in during an altercation that the attention of the knights were brought onto him. Finally he was accepted into the knighthood just as tensions between kingdoms began to boil over. A war began. Rohir wasn't ever deployed in the castle as tradition. Instead he was sent directly onto the battlefield to be cannon fodder. Rohir was better with a blade than they'd expected. He cut down foes without hesitation, his movements fluid and strong even in the harshest of weathers. Even when he was left for death he returned. Gravely injured, but alive nonetheless.

Whispers spread like wildfire of how horrific the scene was when his comrades went to check the location of the enemy camp he'd been left at. Though Rohir was undoubtedly skilled, with such a debilitating injury he couldn't be allowed to fight any longer on the battlefield. Rohir had proved himself enough for the knighthood to see he was an asset they'd want to keep. Instead of releasing him of duty like many injured veterans they relocated him to a lighter duty: castle security.