Rothrick - Southern Sellsword

The physical:

Rothrick is a tall savage looking man. His skin is a deep tan color from many years outside. He wears his very light brown hair cropped short in a military style (though not one that is local) with the sides cut even shorter than the close-cropped top. His dark green eyes peer out of a face that is hard and weathered, made of angles and planes that lend him a stern appearance. His nose is slightly crooked as if it has just been broken and not healed properly one too many times. He has a chin that looks as though you could hammer swords into shape on it and is very proud of his clean white teeth…even though he is missing one in the front. The rest of his front teeth seem to have chips missing from them from one too many chance meeting with a knuckle, sword pommel, or shield boss giving his smile a somewhat sharp look when seen with his upper and lower canines and their pointed tips. His build is very heavily muscled and only the extreme width of his shoulders makes his thick midsection look proportional. He was not a fat man by any means, but had a thick core as if all his strength came from working, digging ditches and hauling bricks rather than one of those that tried to shape their bodies to be appealing to women. His arms are thicker around the most women’s waists and his legs are almost like small tree trunks. His scarred hands are heavy fingered and calloused from work, criss-crossed by small scars along the backs of the fingers and knuckles.

The observed:
Rothrick walks with a stride that shows his obvious military background, showing in the steps that he was trained to march and drill and has walked many a forced march and hard day in his life. He has a slow carefulness about him that is often mistaken for gentleness. A perceptive watcher might realize that he moves so that he does not bump into anyone or anything. His manners are for the most part very polite and somewhat polished. He knows how to hold silverware and how to eat without shoveling food into his mouth. When speaking common he has a very exotic accent, as if his native tongue has more guttural sounds and comes from the back of the throat. The accent, thick as it is, does little to disguise that he has a low rumbling voice that has the hoarseness of years of yelling orders and instructions to troops over the sound of battle. His voice carries well even when pitched softly as if made to cut through other sound. With the obvious military background one might think it odd that he rarely carries a weapon aside from his belt knife and a short, broad gladius with a well worn leather grip and bronze pommel. He wears his emotions on his face and seems to have a placid demeanor, as if little perturbs him or upsets him. Of all his clothing only his boots and sword belt look to have been made with any care. His boots are supple yet tough animal hide that looks like leather and his belt is of the same material. He has a natural joy of hard work, the harder the work the more he likes to throw himself into it.

The background:
Rothrick walked his way into Seedorf only a few days after the port was blockaded. He had paid for passage on a barge to get him into the town but the captain had put him into the water after trying to rob him. Wet and pissed off, Rothrick had to make his way into Seedorf on foot and soon found himself at the Old Tower Inn. He had arranged for work for himself shortly after arriving and set out to learn as much as he could about his new town.
It is clear to most folk that he is a mercenary; there are too many telling signs that point to the fact that he is a soldier but obviously not part of any army. He claims to have come to Seedorf of all places because he had heard of the troubles they had been having for years and troubled places were the best places for him to ply his blade and trade. He is from a vast land somewhere he claims is across the great sea and over the equator, a whole continent ruled by a single empire. His reasons for leaving are not extremely clear, but he does not look like the type of man one really prompts for personal information.