NSW Bio for CoL Daeim Baaran - No CC Needed

[claireducky]

Character Name: Daeim Baaran
Division: Army of the Light
Rank: Lord Captain
Character’s Age: 35
Place of Birth or Raising: Arad Doman
 
Physical Description: Tall and sturdily built. Copper skin with a handsome face and dark brown hair to his shoulders. He has a long and thin mustache and short beard that covers his chin and jawline. His left ear holds a gold hoop. He normally wears a black velvet beauty mark in the shape of a sword on his right cheek.
 
Personality: Lord Captain Baaran is personable and outgoing, making a friend of almost anyone he comes in contact with. His affable personality is partly responsible for his meteoric rise in the ranks, along with his excellent command of field strategy and his skills with a sword. Some say he is likely to receive a heron-mark within the next five years. Despite his prowess, he is never condescending, and always has time for a word with even the newest recruit.
 
History: 
 
Daeim was born the son of a merchant in the Katar region of Arad Doman. His mother Elrine was one of the most prosperous merchants in the region, trading in everything from furs to peppers. Daeim didn't know his father at all. His mother liked to tell him that he was the son of an outlander Lord, but knowing his mother's propensity for lying, Daeim thought that an innkeeper or merchant guard was a more likely candidate.
 
As the boy grew, he accompanied his mother everywhere, as did his older sister Masine. Even on dangerous merchant trains across the Borderlands, where a raid could sweep down from the Blightborder in an instant, he never left her side. As he grew older, he learned how to handle a sword from the guards his mother hired for the journey. He learned the art of negotiation from watching his mother haggle with those she traded with, and how a kind word or a smile could turn the course of an argument.

 

When he was eighteen, they were traveling across Saldaea in the fall of the year, near the western town of Kayacun, when the feared raid finally came. A fist of some fifty Trollocs fell upon them at dusk, led by a shadowy Fade. The merchant train was hit hard, wagons set ablaze with their precious cargo inside. Soon, many of the merchant guards had fallen, leaving them dreadfully outnumbered by the Trollocs.

 

Elrine sent his sister on their fastest horse running for Kayacun, hopefully to bring help back. Daeim took up the sword of a fallen merchant guard and joined the battle. The battle seemed to go on for hours, with the humans falling one by one. Finally, salvation appeared in the form of men in white cloaks-- Children of the Light who had been staying in Kayacun. Daeim watched with amazement as their leader charged the Fade, taking it by surprise and neatly slicing its head from its neck with one quick blow. The remaining Trollocs dropped to the ground, squealing in pain. The rest of the Children swooped in, quickly dispatching those left.

 

The battle done, Daeim went to find his mother. He saw her sitting on the buckboard of one of their wagons, and reached out to shake her arm as he approached. "They've done it, mother! We're saved!" At his touch, his mother slumped forward onto the ground. He gasped at the sight of her staring eyes and pale skin. A cruel black arrow with raven fletching protruded from her neck, dried blood caked around the wound. She had died alone.

 

Since Joining: After the battle, Daeim's sister took over the family merchant business. Eager to put the memory of his mother's death behind him, Daeim took the suggestion of the Children's leader and joined them as a recruit.

 

He soon was impressing his superiors with the speed at which he learned, from his swordmanship to history and strategy. He was promoted to Lieutenant after only two years, and given a small contingent to travel the Blightborder with. It was a post he relished, killing any Shadowspawn they came across quickly and ruthlessly. They also killed a few Darkfriends in that time, but not many. Daeim understood the way to people's hearts was through their protection, not persecution. 

 

Promoted to Captain for his deeds along the Borderlands, which had improved the Children's reputation in several areas, Daeim spent most of these years at the Fortress of Light, training newer officers and assisting his superior, Lord Captain Siliam. 

 

When Daeim was thirty, he proved his worth yet again. He was walking a pace behind Lord Captain Siliam, as Siliam walked through the Fortress with the Lord Captain Commander himself. They were heading to a meeting of the Council of Anointed and discussing the issues at hand. A man with a plain face and nondescript coat approached the three as they crossed a courtyard. Daeim's gaze slid off of the man, dismissing him as a servant or messenger-- until the man silently opened Lord Captain Siliam's throat with a dagger.

 

With a gasp, Daeim bared his sword, fighting to keep his eyes on the man. It felt like he had to force himself to see the man, who lunged at the Lord Captain Commander. Daeim slid sideways to block the attempt with his sword, while the Lord Captain Commander still was trying to understand what was happening. The man parried Daeim's sword and made one more attempt to reach the Lord Captain Commander, but Daeim managed to keep his eyes on him. He kicked the man in the gut, hard, and as the man bent over in pain, Daeim ran him through with his sword.

 

The man fell back onto the ground, dead. He was just another man, now, and the Lord Captain Commander seemed to see him for the first time. "A Gray Man?! Here in the Fortress? What is the world coming to? Captain Baaran, you just saved my life. I will see that the Council hears of this."

 

Daeim bowed as the Lord Captain Commander walked away, barking orders for Lord Captain Siliam's body to be prepared for burial. On the next day, he received the news -- the Lords Captain had just named him as the next of their number, replacing Siliam.

 

Since then, he has spent more time on paperwork than he'd like, planning strategy with the other Lords Captain. But he still relishes the opportunity to lead his Legion into the field as often as he can.