Sir James of Oakshield

[Sir James Of Oakshield]

"There are no men like me, only me."

AT FIRST GLANCE

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you never know what lies beneath.[/right]
Full Name: Sir James of Oakshield
Alias: Known as Sir James The Fearless || Jim
Occupation: Knight
Gender: Male
Age: 23

DELVE A LITTLE DEEPER
but you still only graze the outer skin.

Skin Tone: Light
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Light brown
Height: 6’0
Build: Lean
Style:
James may not appear very intimidating at first, being only about 6 feet and 0 inches, nor is he very muscular looking. A relatively normal looking guy; he looks a tad skinny perhaps, but not underweight. He is even a little feminine looking, with several delicate features of his. But he is by no means frail or weak, which becomes obvious when one notices his muscles, which are not unhealthy pronounced. He is lanky as well as skinny, and his skin is rather pale, mostly due because of his natural pale complexion, also possessing the trademark grey air nomad eyes.

Skin is free of blemishes and scars, only adding to his alluring appearance. He doesn’t have body art but he doesn’t have any piercings. He has the presence of a true knight surrounding him, tall and proud and honour-bound, it’s the constant air of honour, loyalty and calmness around him that make people look up to him or even respect him for the way he acts or the way he speaks when speaking to someone of higher status, he’s respectful and never forgets his place, or his honour.

His face is soft yet expressive allowing him to be both comedic and serious with the right circumstances at hand, his face is starting to slim showing signs of aging. James’s neutral body position is a straight back and a head held up high, born into a noble family, he was always taught etiquette and proper posture. He has a wide mouth and jaw that is set firmly in place. He seems to be overly light hearted though people wouldn’t be half wrong in assuming this. His scalp is nicely shaped and covered with straight light brown hair, though short. For a man his age he stands at a decent height and is growing into his frame. His body lacks the calories that would have developed from hard labour or manual effort though his life, but still has the muscle and agility and grace of a man who has spent the greater part of his life wielding a sword.

Usually, James is dressed in a white tunic on top of which he often wears a black leather vest and black leather boots, into which tuck in brown pants, however for the most part James is seen wearing his armor on top of his clothing- a steel plate on which is a carving of an oak leaf and of course shoulder pads of the same steel and color of light metallic, cleaned and shinning and grieves around his boots, combined with a red or a black cape, depending on the circumstances. He sometimes wears leather gloves or even gauntlets depending on what he’s doing, his sword is always at his left side, hanging from the belt of his pants, the black leather hilt and the round pommel always sticking out in public, he carries a dagger on the other side of his body. More often than not, he'll bring steel armguards.

TAKE A LOOK INTO THE PAST
and you might find something useful.

Father: Lord Andrew of Oakshield, deceased
Mother: Lady Melissa of Oakshield, deceased
Other: Brother, current lord of Oakshield
Sister, married.
Origin: Oakshield Keep
History: James was born into the noble family of Oakshield. The family, well known for its riches, yet small lands and a single keep- the place where James began his life, born a second son to Lord Andrew and Lady Melissa. James was loved greatly as a toddler, being born into a wealthy and noble family, he was immediately given anything he wanted, he grew up a bit spoiled, though despite having a sibling- an older brother, he didn’t share a great amount of rivalry with him as children, the families riches were able to provide for both of them. Despite being brothers, the two were never really close; a difference of ten years restrained either of them from ever having a chance to grow up as actual brothers. Regardless, James had a great childhood- surrounded by loving family, servants to cater to his every whim and receiving anything what he ever wanted, it was a dream life; however it might not have been the life James had wanted. As a child, he often played with toy knights and watched the guards of the keep practicing in the courtyard, and since he was a child, James dreamed of being a knight in shinning armour. When he was five, his mother gave birth to a baby girl, his sister.

As far as James can remember, he was holding a stick from the day he could stand, swinging it about and pretending to be a knight. The master at arms serving his father saw great potential in the build of the boy- skinny, yet tall and enduring and as soon as he was old enough, James was trained by the best trainer gold could buy. At the age of seven, James had begun somewhat more serious training, of course, there were no swords or knives involved- but he was always running around, doing push ups, sit ups, pull ups and hitting ragdolls with a wooden stick until his arms hurt. Through the following months, the master at arms slowly progressed to teach him the correct way to hold an actual sword (with a stick) and the correct way to swing it and how to block incoming attacks, he began sparing with the child, of course- completely holding back any sort of power or effort. It was a slow process, regardless, James was progressing. It made his father proud, yet sad at the same time. James would never inherit Oakshield keep, as his brother was the heir, he would of course be entitled to the same last name, but as a second son he held no prospects in such a small family, besides being a priest or becoming a knight. Regardless, since he was young James was surrounded by tutors- being taught to read, history, geography, etiquette, anything a young lord would be taught.

James was only eleven when his mother died and his father, seeing that his time would also be coming soon, summoned a knight to his keep- Sir Arthur of Ridge and requested that the knight take his son as a squire. Though at first hesitant, the old knight agreed once the lord paid him some gold and swore on his honour as a knight that he’d protect the lords son and make a knight out of him. The following year, his father passed away from a sickness and his brother became the Lord of Oakshield, inheriting the small amount of lands and the single keep that his father had including the vast amount of gold. Some of that gold however, was reserved for James when he reached the age of sixteen. James cried for days after the death of his father and before he even knew what was happening, Sir Arthur came into his room and ordered him to back some clothes, the sullen James did as he was told, but the knight threw his bags onto the floor and told him to take only the most necessary things, which were a couple of pairs of boots and shirts and pants. They took a horse for him from his father’s stables and rode out, James saw his brother watching him leave through the balcony of the keep, yet he said nothing nor did he do anything.

Scared and confused, James was soon told that he was going to be trained until he became a knight. Though at first it was hard, waking up early in the morning, in the woods, going out hunting for food with the knight, packing his stuff, cleaning his armour and making camp. James felt more like slave than anything. However, he was quite clever and Arthur saw the potential in him. He complained a lot and Arthur was an old guy with little patience, so James clouted more than once over the year, especially son when he got bratty or snobby with the knight, it was a treatment that soon helped James grow out of his spoiled noble nature. Of course, after some time, James got over the death of his parents and found a new lease on life- to become a knight. He was excited to become one, training, cleaning the knight’s armour and weaponry, feeding and cleaning the horses, truthfully, he was a servant more than anything. Of course, he was trained, the knight spent many hours teaching him to hunt and track and think logically, as well as how to fight and how to ride a horse properly. Soon, James and Arthur grew fond of each other, Arthur enjoyed how clever and witty James was, a trait he gained from being surrounded by tutors from youth and James loved Arthurs stories, his bravery and his intelligence, a trait of himself that the knight didn’t love to boast about. Arthur began calling James a moniker he enjoyed better than the young nobles name- “Jim”

And so, the years slowly passed, travelling, training and learning. They travelled a lot and because of that, James had seen his fair share of death, murder, fire and rape, slowly growing to disgust such vile acts. This was probably the best lesson Arthur ever taught him- without honour, a knight is nothing. However, James wasn’t a knight quite yet. He killed a man for the first time when he was fourteen, he and Arthur camped in the forest in a small river, Arthur had drank some ale and went to sleep and left James to clean the knights weapons. It was a dark night, cloudy and thunder crashed, but there was no rain. Suddenly, an arrow flew past the boys head, he quickly dashed up and saw a man throw down his crossbow and draw a sword, soon, three more men followed. Of course, if you’d ask anyone who has heard this story from Arthur, they’d say that James stood boldly against the men, the truth was, he frozen up and began to shake, the thieves laughed at him and taunted him. He stood there, holding the knights sword, gulping and trying not to cry, he couldn’t even speak, he was so scared. Yet, all the fear vanished when the first thief charged at him, or rather walked up to him, thinking he’d slash the boy once with his sword and end him, instead, the fear vanished and adrenaline took over, James parried the blow and sliced the thieves throat open. He fell to the ground, choking and gushing blood, before dying a few seconds later, in agony, a sight that James will never forget. The three remaining thieves quickly charged at him, but James was quite and skinny, the dark knight and the rolling thunder made it hard to catch or hit him, maybe it was luck, maybe it was skill, but in the next twenty minutes, James was covered in the blood of the men, standing over their corpses. He was all that a knight should have been- graceful, fast and strong, yet he felt nothing like that, he wanted to puke and cry and that’s what he did.

When Arthur saw what had happened he was proud of the boy, he patted him on the back and cheered him, but James began to cry and that was the first time Arthur embraced him in a hug and told him that everything would be alright. The knight decided it was time for more serious training, he gave the boy one of his other swords and the two began sparing. Arthur immediately told him that James would never wield a greatsword, or a battleaxe, he lacked the strength and build to do so. Instead, he told James that he needed to train his grace, his balance and his speed along with what strength he had to, his fighting style was based on such, speed and precision of attack, as well as control of your distance from your opponent and your movement, being able to calculate your actions in your environment. His training became increasingly harder and harder as the months passed, soon enough, over four years later- James would get a chance to prove his worth. Word came that a lord was gathering swords, knights, to come to his aid against violent raids being preformed by barbaric thieves. Arthur and Jim arrived and the knights were hired by the lord to help him eradicate the thieves. Though it wasn’t something written in history, it was a proper war- there were many soldiers and even more thieves. It was mostly centralized on the forest, James can’t even remember the number of camps they attacked during the whole thing, however he can remember the sleepless nights of horror after seeing a great deal of death around him. Arthur had gone about telling a lot of the knights about how James squared off with a group of bandits when he was fourteen, but many didn’t believe him and began to mock James with the moniker “James The Fearless” due to the unbelievable story yet at the same time the small impact of it. However, James would soon come to earn that title.

Two months into the “war” as they soon jokingly began to call it, James was patrolling the area with a couple of other squires when they were ambushed by a group of bandits. James took his horse and told the squires to flee, while he himself distracted the thieves. Of course, it would sound heroic if said like that, but for more than a second James considered running and leaving everyone behind, but he wanted to be a knight, he wanted to be a hero and Arthur always taught him that honour was everything. As the group of thieves chased him and his steed through the forest, James hid in a small cave, the thieves quickly scattered, trying to find him and James attacked. At first, he killed two of them, catching them off guard, then- he stabbed another in the back, and used the dead mans crossbow to hit another thief in the head (by pure luck) and tricked the thieves into thinking he ran off, as they chased a phantom, James returned to camp, branded fearless by some of the squires, as most of them had soiled themselves when it happened.

However, the true origin of that moniker came from the end of the war, when the lord’s, that had called their service, son was captured by the thieves and they were demanding ransom and that he end the war. While the knights didn’t know what to do, James, thinking this was the perfect chance to prove his worth and became a hero; he armed himself in Arthur’s armour and charged the camp, single-handedly. At first, he snuck in and killed a few thieves that were sleeping in the tents, then killed a thief that was guarding the young lord and freed him; however they had broken the lords leg so he wouldn’t attempt to run, so James, while carrying the lord, tried to leave camp and they were alarmed. Soon enough, the whole camp was bustling, trying to find James, who was hiding either in one tent or another, at times he laid the lord down and jumped out, to kill a thief or two and had to abandon his helmet and some of the armour so he could disguise himself and try to sneak out. Of course, it was a folly as he was hit by an arrow in his left arm and in his leg and his chest; however his plate saved him from death. Eventually, he managed to escape by starting a fire in the camp, which caused chaos in the camp and the soldiers attack, slaughtering the thieves.

The lord celebrated and thanked James for saving him; the knights cheered him as “James the Fearless” without sarcasm and Arthur hit him over the head so hard he fell over. Thought it was short-lived. The next morning marked the final battle against the thieves, a battle that James barely survived due to his previous injuries. Injured and dying, Arthur took James to Oakshield Keep, expecting the boy to die. However, when they arrived, James’s brother quickly saw to it that his brother would be quickly looked after their best doctor and within a few days, James was making a slow recovery, his fever had went down and his wounds were slowly beginning to heal. Once he finally woke up, he found his sister, who he hadn’t seen in five years sitting next to him they embraced in a long hug and for the first time in a while, James cried. Once he could walk he went for a talk with his brother, who offered to help him marry a nobleman’s daughter, but he’d have to leave his dream of being a knight behind him. James refused, resulting in an argument with his brother after which James and Arthur had to promptly leave Oakshield keep, with a small bag of gold crowns, the inheritance that James had received from his father. Soon after James’s horse died, a horse that had been with him since he had left his home that night.

Even to this day, the young knight remembers how he cried when he dug that hole for his faithful companion, he had to bury him, he had served long and faithfully, he couldn’t just leave him on the side of the road like some sort of trash. Regardless of everything that happened, James and Arthur went to small town of Ridge, where they took residence in Arthur’s home. It was here that the young squire’s training continued. For the following two long years, James and Arthur trained day and night. Swords, lances, horseback riding and hand to hand fighting. The old man had thought so much to the young boy, that he could hardly imagine his life without him. When he was twenty, after one of their rigorous training sessions he and Arthur ate dinner and before he went to sleep, the old knight said “We’ll see what tomorrow brings.” and sadly, tomorrow brought nothing for the old knight.

When James woke up in the morning the old man was dead, lying lifeless in his bed. James buried the old knight in the yard of his small hut and realized that now he had nowhere else to go. He sold the knights armour and bought himself passage to Royal Port. It was here that he utilized the coin he had got from his father, he bought himself special armour and weapons, they cost as much as a manor, but their quality was undeniable. He bought himself a fast horse and bought himself a shield on which he donned the sigil of the Oakshield House. After that, he rode to the palace and swore fealty to the king, claiming that Arthur Of Ridge, a knight of some esteem had knighted him after the “Bandit War” as the common folk called it now. Though he had little proof of his actual knighting, the lord whose son he had saved vouched for him and the king accepted it, the truth of his words may never be known. For the following years, James travelled and fought in a couple of tournaments, though gained little renown and championship or prize, he repaired his relationship with his brother somewhat, sending each other letters of apology and trying to be somewhat family, he missed his sisters wedding, as he was escorting a noble through some thief ridden roads and now currently he has returned to DÆNR, seeking his fortune.

STILL DO NOT JUDGE
for you will never walk their shoes.

Fears:

• Death
  
• Thunder on a rainless night
  
• Losing his knighthood

Mental Stability: Sane
Strength:

• Masterful Fighter
  
• Expert Rider
  
• Clever/Witty
  
• Honour
  
• Fast
  

Weakness:

• Women
  
• Honour
  
• Archery
  
• Physically weaker than larger knights
  
• Difficulty seeing bad in others
  

General Persona: James generally appears aloof and childish while at the same time laidback. James is full of adventure and a drive to be the best of the best, all the while remaining furiously loyal to his friends and loved ones. Heroic to a nearly idiotic extent, he will do anything it takes to save someone he cares for, or to even make a new friend. He has difficulty seeing the bad in others, and often finds himself convinced that, no matter the monstrous capacity of a person, there is always good that remains hidden between the lines of their actions. He is often cheerful and difficult to pull down, no matter his surrounding environment, and has always tried to friendly and social even from his early childhood, although he was usually rejected due to his nature James keeps his inner feelings to himself. James is very heroic, even for a stranger he would do all he could to save them, reaching to an extent where he would even sacrifice himself. While trying to hold a cold and cool exterior James is quite sullen and lonely inside, having to deal with the guilt that he couldn’t save his people and that he was rejected by others.

He's witty, smart, and yet at the same time can be a bit idiotic sometimes. He has a charming personality, but also comes off as an idiot to others. He was raised by a knight and was thought to be loyal, heroic and at the same time brave and strong. Although he tends to be a very big flirt with the women James actually tries to come off as a cool and cheerful and yet friendly person so no one would try to mend his lonely heart. He's also easily guilt-ed into things. He tends to shows signs, perhaps even trauma, and through the experiences he went through while living as a knight in training and can often is found mentioning something about his own past. Although he seems genuinely frightened of his past, he tends to joke and exaggerate; knowing that he probably wouldn’t be where he is today if it weren’t for his strange past. He's a bound of energy and can't seem to sit still, he loves combat, and he loves a good laugh. He enjoys the company of others, and will go out of his way to help those dear to him. He tends to take action first before thinking through things, so he can be very blunt and straightforward depending on the situation. On the other hand, James is very knightly in some aspects- he’s honourable, he’s loyal and he shows his respect to those that he feels deserve it- royalty and elders.

But in the inside James has his insecurities and they are not as well hidden or maintained as some however. Hard-headed as well as a bit depressing his outer appearance can be described as a lost, sullen child on the verge of self-destruction. His only refuge is training as well as the few, happy fragment memories of the past. He is an enduring young man but at times beats himself up about events he could not alter and ends up discouraging himself more often then not. James can be very distant, even as he tries to keep himself detached someone or something manages to infiltrate his defences and try to mend his broken heart. As mentioned before James tries to act cold and cool though that is only an act as in reality he is very shy and lonely, he will usually dump his insecurities on his friends and want them to make him feel better about himself and his past. James is quick to show his emotions to everyone seeming as if he shall never have an ever present air of calmness, thoughtfulness. If in example he may be angry with someone, he is the type of man to outright say he is, or complain and yell at you. The death of his mentor has changed him drastically and made him more social and less isolated trying to fill that emptiness.

THE TRUTH SHINES THROUGH
to reveal what is behind the mask.

Alias: Lawl
Gender: Male
Other Toons: None
Where You Found Us: Proboards support
Sample:
The old guy always loved the sunrise. James thought as he watched the sun slowly peak from under the horizon, his eyes were getting teary, but he didn’t cry. As the shovel slammed into the dirt and slowly ripped it from the hard ground, the young knight threw it aside and repeated the motion. Last night seemed perfectly fine, regardless of how hard they trained, old Arthur always seemed fine. Sadly, he wasn’t. Maybe James was too stupid to see it, regardless, Arthur won’t be here to slap him over the head and tell him to stop being stupid anymore. The old guy was gone, just as they woke up every morning and argued over meaningless things and bantered jokingly, now James woke up alone and found himself digging a hole near a forest. Yeah, the old man always loved the forest, he loved nature, he’d love it here, James told himself a thousand times.

The old guy was dead and James couldn’t bear to glance at his lifeless motionless shell that was once his body. Once was last night, when everything seemed fine and the only thing he could think about was whenever or not he’d have to clean the house tomorrow. The thought hit him like a mailed punch, he was alone now. His mentor was dead, gone and he’d never be back, he’d never laugh again, he’d never slap James over the head to teach him a lesson, he’d never console James when he felt down. Jim, he called me Jim. Tears filled his eyes, but he blinked them away, he didn’t want to cry. The shovel dug into the ground against, peeling some more of it off, forming a slightly bigger hole. He sniffled and blinked away his tears again. Stop crying, were the first words that Arthur had ever said to him, when he found the young boy crying in his room shortly after his father had died. Would he say the same about James crying over him?

You cried about burying your horse, but you’re not crying about me?!

The shovel hammered into the dirt that had grown softer as it went darker. He groaned as he pulled out a massive pile of dirt and threw it to the side and did so again and again, as fast and as strongly as he could, trying not to think, trying not too look at him. He dug and he dug, he didn’t want his brain to work, only his arms, a knight must work his arms day and knight to wield a sword and to have the strength to swing it. Though his eyes couldn’t help but wander to the motionless body. “You died…” James muttered, choking up he couldn’t even speak anymore. He closed his eyes for a long moment, holding back the tears. He thought of the old man, how good he was, despite the way he acted or spoke sometimes, he thought of the family he lost, he thought of home, but it only served to fuel his tears even more. Jim, he called me… and tears began running down his cheeks. “You died and you left me all alone.” James told the dead body as he continued to dig. He wiped his tears into his sleeve and threw the shovel aside, climbing out of the shallow hole that would be his mentor’s grave. He looked at the body once more.

Wrapped in his cloak and dressed in his tunic, he man looked almost peaceful. Did he die in his sleep? Or was it painful and agonizing that he screamed through the night, but James was deaf to his shouts of pain. He’d never know. James leaned down and picked the body up, he was light on his feet and he weighted little, a frail looking old guy. He always taught James that grace and speed could beat brute force any day, was he right? It was not an axe that killed him, nor a sword or arrow. No, he should have died as he lived- a knight, in the field of battle or in a tournament, but he died in his bed, cold and alone. Jim laid the body down into the small hole and crossed the man’s hands at his chest; he stood over the small hole for a second and gave him a moment of silence. No priests, no candles, only the sunrise. James wanted to say something.

“I wish you hadn’t died…” he muttered in a hoarse voice, choking up once again “You were a good knight, sir, loyal and true. Honour was everything for you and I’ll never forget you.” He coughed “Hellfr forgive your sins, sir, I hope the gods see you a just man, kind and loyal…” James took the shovel again and began to slide the dirt back into the hole to slowly cover up the motionless body. “Rest well, old friend.” He tapped the moist and soft ground with his shovel to make sure it was sleek and well dug. He took the shovel into one hand and wanted the grave of his mentor. Did he ever think he’d die like this? Alone, near his home town, buried near a forest without even the smallest tombstone. James would have bought him one, but he needed the gold to buy himself armour and weaponry. He gulped and turned again. Silently wishing to see the old man grinning in his chair when he came back to the house, but he was not there.

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[Wolf]

accepted;;

Very well written. When I get my female knight up, they shall have to thread. =}