Personality

In the heat of battle, few are more aggressive and fearless than Barknel the Bold. He earned his name, after all. He's never seen a situation where he won't give a battle cry, take up his giant sword, and rush to the front to knock everything out of the way as quickly as he can. Some would call him stupid for taking this kind of method to fighting (and in a way, to living as well), but it's been ingrained in his mentality for him to rush headlong into situations because that's the more Nordic and honorable way to do things. He's all about maintaining his honor and respect among others, which sometimes probably does lead to some highly stupid actions, even if he's quite admirable in his wildness. Such a nature leads to him saying quite a few things before he thinks about them, as well, which can get him into trouble at times. He's quite a barbarian in several ways, truth be told.

Personally, he's quite a rambunctious, good-humored fellow. He's prone to participating in drinking games and eating a lot and generally having a good laugh about a joke and all the things a good ol' Nord would be expected to do. He also doesn't mind a good impromptu sparring match or wrestling match, and has a thirst for spur-of-the-moment adventures. He also has a thirst for women, being quite fond of spending long nights with them at some of Skyrim's mead halls whenever he gets the chance, even if he's never had anything solid with a woman before. Generally, too, he's extremely friendly, if he can be a bit cocky and aggravating at times, too. Truth be told, he would go a long way to keep the people he bothers to care about protected and enjoying life, because he sees it as one of his greatest accomplishments to share a laugh with good people.

History

Barknel never knew his parents. He was found in Skyrim near the town of Falkreath when he was more than likely not even two years old yet, trying to eat poisonous berries. The people who found him would not be the typical idea of parent figures - the Snow Bear Warband, a group of traveling warriors that worked under a patronage system from the various jarls of Skyrim to earn honor and little else, operating somewhat like an extensive family who simply wished to enjoy themselves rather than make coin like other mercenaries. However, the warband, pitying the young child, decided to take him in. An older member of the warband and a woman who had recently joined spent the most time with him as a youth and taught him to survive and, once he was several years older, how to fight. They fully expected him to re-enter the world on his own once he had come of age to take care of himself, but Barknel had grown to develop an attachment to those who watched over him. When he was thirteen, he took his first steps towards becoming a member of the warband by killing a single wolf. From there, Barknel's presence with them only grew to more and more prestige, and by the time he was seventeen, he had slaughtered a saber cat and earned his place as a full member of the warband.

Two years into his experience as a warband member, he faced a situation where several warband members were captured by a witch and her skeleton minions. Against the wishes of the elder members of the warband, he rushed into the fray all on his own in the middle of a snowstorm and slaughtered the skeletons just before the rest arrived to capture the witch. Thus, Barknel achieved the end of his advancement in the warband a full two years earlier than any of the other members ever had, receiving his title of "the Bold" for his reckless abandon and the position of vanguard alongside the other most fearsome fighters in the warband. Despite never knowing his parents and his strange upbringing, Barknel considered himself to be extremely happy in his newfound life, even dealing well with the loss of the woman who had mothered him when he was a child fairly well when she was attacked, tracking down the troll that had killed her and leading the attack to kill it. As was usual for the warband, his mourning lasted three months before he fully entered service again, just before rumors of war in Skyrim began.

With stability in Skyrim taking a huge hit even before Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak murdered the High King, the warband's task became a more difficult one as the Thalmor, dominating the Imperial forces in Skyrim that had been led by the king, began targeting the warband for their services to the various jarls, thinking them to be potential sympathizers for the traitor, Jarl Ulfric. The warband, placed in a difficult position, was forced to pledge some manner of allegiance to the Imperial forces. Barknel, having some sense of Nord pride despite his upbringing, could not be said to be the most thrilled with the arrangement but accepted it nonetheless, as it was what was best for all of them. Unfortunately, the relationship with the local Imperial citizenry proved shaky from the start, as the warband were called barbarians and loiterers and could not settle particularly well. Having always forged strong alliances with patrons through occasional marriages from daughters and sons from the area, the warband, in secret as always, decided to offer up Barknel to a local, influential family to secure the warband's allegiance to the queen of Skyrim.

Character Name.
Barknel, received the name "the Bold" from his exploits in combat

Age.
28

Race.
Nord

Sexuality.
Heterosexual (immensely so)

Faction, Army, or Allegiance.
Snow Bear Warband

Occupation.
Mercenary/Vanguard for the warband

Werewolf or Vampire.
N/A

Major Skills.
+Two-Handed: Barknel is essentially a berserker, diving wildly into battle and swinging his massive sword back and forth. Take that as you will. He specializes in, as said, two-handed swords and making himself just a flurry of power and sword swipes that's highly difficult to handle for anyone not highly experienced in combat. He's simply overbearing at the point of attack, with excellent balance and strength and possibly better ability to intimidate...'cause he's mad at the everything with a sword in his hands.

+Light Armor: Since he believes heavy armor weighs and slows him down too much, he's grown fond of wearing light armor into combat and just hitting more than he ever has a chance to be hit. In fact, sometimes he will tear into battle with nothing to speak of on his entire upper body to intimidate his opposition. Of course, he's taken his fair share of close-call wounds all over his body because of this wild nature, but he's survived them and will likely keep on with said wildness.

+Block: Since he doesn't use a shield nor heavy armor, he's become talented at blocking blows with the use of his large sword. Of course, he thinks a good offense is the best defense, since if something's dead it can't attack him, but he can stop blows now and again.

Weapons, Armor, and Belongings.

+Skaal Light Armor: Barknel uses the slightly more durable light armor that's a common feature of the members of his warband. The vest of the suit provides a little more durability against slashes and impact from weapons, and it typically features a hood that he rarely, if ever, wears unless the warband's buried in several feet of snow.

+Nord Greatsword of Gleaning: Barknel proudly wields one of the various greatswords passed around by the warband, with it finally arriving in his hands after he bested a fellow member of the warband for the rights to it. His sword is quite thick and heavy and possesses a magical charge that allows it to tire out anyone or anything he's facing in a fight, allowing him to outlast them far beyond what they can manage.

+Warhorn: An item common to his warband, so they may signal one another from a distance. Unspectacular.