Hadrian Talbot, The Grey Knight

Name:
Hadrian Talbot. Titled Ser Hadrian or Ser Talbot in Kilika.

Gender:
Male

Race:
Human

Age:
Fourty-three

Living in:
Regalia

Origins:
Kilika, an island city-state off the coast of Ithania.

Family Details:​

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Family:

• Father: Baron Jocelyn Talbot - Natural causes, age fourty-nine
  
  
• Mother: Lady Julia Talbot - Died to a fever, age fourty-seven

Banner:
The Talbot family banner is rather simple in its design, colours are nowhere to be seen, merely different shades of grey. The design features bars of a light grey, almost white, patterning down the right side of the banner, the left half is nearly entirely grey, save for a vertical diamond pattern of the same shade of white-grey. In the center of the banners sits the Talbot family symbol, a warhound, standing ready.

The Talbot family banner is rather easy to spot in its simplicity, often sticking out well from the sea of colours that other family banners are fond of.

Physical Description​

Height/Weight:
Hadrian stands at a fairly unremarkable six foot, two inches tall, and weighs two-hundred and six pounds, a large portion of this weight is muscle mass. In his usual armour, he is even heavier, weighing in somewhere about two-hundred and fifty pounds.

Facial Structure:

Art by the awesome-sauce @Feykronos ​

Hadrian’s face is somewhat ovular in shape. His jaw is square, and while not hugely pronounced, it does have some definition to it. His chin is fairly rounded off, rarely seen as it is. His nose is rather flat-bridged and otherwise unremarkable, and his cheekbones are rather high.

Hadrian’s lips are thin and are prone to twitching and near imperceptible changes, as are his eyebrows, which are fairly average. Due to his age, his face does sport light wrinkling, most notably on his forehead, and the faint laugh lines either side of his mouth.

Body Build:
Due to Hadrian’s life as a knight, he has developed a fairly muscular body, with no particular emphasis on any spot, aside from his arms. Hadrian is proud of his physique, and his constant training of his squire, Katelyn, as well as his regular armour use, serves to keep it up. His shoulders are broad and his armour accents this even more so, giving him a wide appearance. Hadrian’s legs are also a bit longer than his body, and while he is not the fastest of runners, he can maneuver and dodge if needed, very much used to the weight of his armour.

Skin:
A fairly unremarkable caucasian, perhaps a tinge more tanned than average, due to times spent in the sun during Kilikan tournaments, and skirmishes to the Kilikan plains.

Hair/Facial hair:
Hadrian’s hair is dark and of a somewhat dishevelled nature, while Hadrian does enjoy to keep his appearance up, he is in no way dedicated enough to this to comb his hair to avoid the tangles that so often occur in it. At the root of his fringe, and either side of his head, hints of greying have started to show, perhaps a bit early, considering his age. However, like the goatee he keeps to his chin, most of his hair remains its natural colour.

Eyes:
Hadrian’s eyes are unmistakably grey, holding very little hint of colour, if any. They do have a tendency to reflect quite a bit of light, giving him a potentially unnerving glare. Otherwise, they are fairly unremarkable in shape.

Clothing/Accessories:
Hadrian is often seen in his armour, while he did abandon his set of platemail when he left Kilika, he does sport a Kilikan steel coat of plates, each side holding twelve or so plates arranged to cover the body. The plates are just over a quarter inch thick, and overlap in places, making the armour extremely difficult to penetrate, capable of sustaining arrow fire from the heaviest bows, and even lance hits. It also has covered plated pauldrons, and the coat ends a bit above his knee.

Underneath this, Hadrian wears a standard Kilikan steel set of chainmail, providing additional protection through his coat of plates, and gives his arms a good covering, and the hauberk ends just below his knees, further protecting his legs. A small plate collarpiece also sits on the chainmail, extending up his neck some of the way. On his hands he wears chainmail arming gloves, the chain being on the inside, giving the gloves a rather normal outward appearance, the gloves allow him to grip sword blades without any issue, allowing for grapple techniques and half-swording. At his waist he wears a belt, housing his sword and his dagger.

Further under still, he wears a padded aketon, to provide some protection from blunt force and impact, and under this, a plain undershirt. on his legs, he wears a light brown, plain set of trousers, though these are only visible at a tiny gap between his hauberk and his steel-cuffed boots, which are very sturdy.

Though uncommonly seen, Hadrian owns a Kilikan steel close helmet, with a split visor for versatile use. The lower half of the visor is shaped like the prow of a ship, and has the Talbot family warhound painted on the right side. The helmet has a single, low crest running from the front to the back, and is generally very well made, with subtle though skillful decoration across the entire construction,

Personality Traits​

Likes:

Combat
Rather unsurprisingly, Hadrian enjoys what he does best: Fighting. While the knight takes no pleasure in killing, he is very fond of the thrill of combat, and loves nothing more than to test another’s abilities against his own. His hunger for this thrill is often what drove him to attend every Kilikan tournament that was hosted, and ensured that his abilities grew strong.

Gloating
Something rarely seen, but Hadrian adores nothing more than standing over a fallen opponent and rubbing his victory in their nose, provided previously felt disdain for them. Hadrian finds great amusement in humiliating his fallen opponents, trying to drive them into second winds, only to knock them back down again. Hadrian enjoys reminding his opponents who their better is.

Arms and Armour
A simple interest, his later education skewed towards the direction of weaponry and war, and the interest has simply never left him. He enjoys discussing weapons and armour, though he is rooted in the belief that his longsword is the superiour weapon over all.

Civility
Being a Kilikan noble meant Hadrian was mostly exposed to civil conduct when he was not on the plains or attending tournaments, this is how he likes it, frankly, and cannot stand tavern brawls and other things of that nature. While he is a capable warrior, potential killer, and temporary exile, he still holds himself as a Kilikan noble at heart, and will act as such.


Dislikes:

The Disrespectful
A huge annoyance for Hadrian. There are many kinds of disrespectful people, and he tends to dislike them all, be them aggressive tavern-goers or cocky young warriors. Hadrian does not tolerate disrespect to himself, and will often turn abrasive and insolent to those who do.

Alcohol
A rather simple dislike, Hadrian strongly dislikes the feeling of being intoxicated, he enjoys being in control and aware, and being drunk often makes him feel like he is just the opposite. He is capable of drinking, but prefers lighter wines that are commonly more found at court tables rather than stronger tavern variants.

The Regalian Guard
After some meetings, his dislike for Regalia’s guard has lessened, but he still holds many criticisms to the force, as well as some of its members. He dislikes the militia-like disorganisation that the force seems to have, picking recruits off the street and letting them use whichever weapons they brought from home. Hadrian finds the force unprofessional and unworthy of half of the pride they seem to hold.

Losing
Hadrian is a man who enjoys gloating, winning. As you can imagine, in the rare circumstance where he is defeated, he tends to take it very seriously. As a man so sure of his abilities, losses are always utterly unexpected and seen as unfair or dishonourable, he will rarely, if ever take a defeat well. Grudges are extremely likely to occur in this event, and his stubbornness will drive him to relentlessly pursue the opponent until he has settled them.

The Cowardly
Those who run in the face of a challenge, or when they see that they have bitten off more than they can chew, infuriate Hadrian to no end. An opponent running away denies him the opportunity to gloat and to humiliate, and this is something the man enjoys very much. He also holds his position as a Kilikan knight highly, and running away is seen as a huge dishonour.


Personality:

Hadrian is a dry and judging person, perhaps somewhat jaded in his age. People who approach him are quickly sentenced to being either a “Serah” or a “Sirrah”, both common Kilikan terms, and ones that Hadrian enjoys very much. Those that approach Hadrian politely and with some sort of reason are often met with a civil and fairly polite man, he is capable of conversation, though rarely goes out of his way to keep it going. Times spent in Kilika’s court have given him fairly good manners, when he chooses to use them, though he will only show his sincerest kindness to those who have known him for a very long time.

Those who come to Hadrian rudely or aggressively are quickly met with his insolent and abrasive side, while his time in Regalia often leaves him with nothing to do, he is stuck in his way of dismissing Kilikan commoners to continue about his busy day. While Hadrian was not outright hostile to commoners in Kilika, he only saw fit to speak with them if they had a suitable reason, otherwise he was above their time. If a rude approacher is not immediately turned away by his snarling and sharp language, he is rather capable with sarcasm, and enjoys picking people apart, so to speak, pointing out various flaws and the like. Rude people can very quickly get insults out of Hadrian, and he rarely regrets them.

Despite his subjective abrasiveness and quick to judge attitude, Hadrian is not a dishonest man, and is not apathetic. Lying is rarely a useful thing, and telling the truth is the more honourable and generally easier alternative. If Hadrian sees a person in desperate need, then he will usually lend a hand after some thinking over the matter, enjoying the opportunity to not only potentially fight, but also to enhance his image as a Kilikan knight, something Hadrian holds extremely highly.

Hadrian’s pride is another very notable part of him as a person, his frequent success at Kilikan tournaments and on the plains has proved his ability to himself and others, and has left him with an ego to match this. Hadrian will nearly always claim to be the better fighter in a situation, and is nearly impossible to intimidate, especially as a single opponent. While his claims can seem arrogant, Hadrian is hardly all talk, and his pride has yet to land him in any situation he could not prevail in.

While Hadrian is very had to get to know on a personal level, those that manage are treated to his kinder side, though his usual stoicness will still remain in places. Friends are something Hadrian makes very, very rarely, mostly due to his abrasive nature, and as such he is not overly familiar with how to treat them, though he is capable of showing kindness to them. A friend to Hadrian may be an ally, or a responsibility, though it matters not, he will happily point out when they are incorrect or misinformed, but will usually help them if they are in need.


Sexuality:
Heterosexual.

Abilities/Disabilities​

Talents:
Hadrian’s early years as a squire, and later years as a Kilikan Knight have left him with an outstanding capacity for combat. Hadrian is most talented with his longsword, forged from Kilikan steel, though he is versed in maces, arming swords, warswords, warhammers and has a fair grasp on lances. He is also a capable horse rider, and is versed in using a kite shield while doing this. Hadrian’s long time use of armour has also left him able to move relatively unhindered while wearing it.

Strengths:

Impeccable Combat Ability
Hadrian was exposed to combat from an early age as a squire, and shortly after he was knighted, he pursued every tournament Kilika had to offer, enjoying the challenge. In between tournaments he often stationed himself in the plains to defend the various lands under threat from brigands and other forces, and is said to have lead chases against particular parties on horseback. Overall, his early training to become a Knight, his constant tournament competing and frequent skirmishes on the bandit-infested Kilikan plains have left him with phenomenal abilities with his weapons of choice. He has also spent most of his life in heavier armours, and finds little to no encumbrance in using them.

Fairly Educated
While it has been a long while, while being squired, Hadrian was also given a noble’s education, and as such is decently knowledgeable and well-spoken. While he dedicated his life to combat later on, he hardly forgot most of his lessons, and has a decent capacity for learning. He is an expert in little other fields than his own, but he does have a broad knowledge, and is generally aware of many happenings about Aloria.

Training
As a Knight of Kilika, Hadrian was issued his squire, Katelyn Aderos, to care for his horse, carry his shield, and generally serve his needs as a Knight. However, Hadrian was also expected to train her to eventually become a Knight herself, and as a result has developed a decent ability to train others, though he considers his squire’s training of the foremost importance. His usual low disposition towards others also makes a training session with a stranger something Hadrian will nearly never engage in.

Perceptive
Something Hadrian has always been fairly good at, he enjoys taking note of subtle shifts of tone or expression, and can notice very minor gestures. He often made a game of this in his younger years, unintentionally honing this skill. He is fairly aware of his surroundings, and is generally hard to sneak up on, and even harder to subtly glare at.

Horse Riding
From a young age, Hadrian was taught how to ride on horseback, as was expected of most Kilikan soldiers, and especially knights. While Hadrian prioritised his training over this, years of horse riding have given him the ability to keep the most aggressive of war chargers under control.

Weaknesses:

Strong Confidence
Hadrian’s lifelong experience and combat aptitude have lead to him developing quite the confidence in himself. While his abilities mean this confidence is usually well placed, he is capable of misjudging, and is rather happy to fight groups of enemies. While a superb fighter, a group large enough can overwhelm, and his is overall headstrong when it comes to picking his fights.

Insolence
If a person approaches Hadrian lacking manners, he will rather quickly drop any notion of respect for the person, and will adopt a far harsher manner of speaking. This is mainly to do with his upbringing in Kilika. While Hadrian treated the other nobility with respect, a commoner who approached him rudely was to be immediately dismissed and punished. This can easily land him in trouble, should he make this decision about the wrong person,

Stubborn
As an older man, Hadrian believes, at least as far as combat is concerned, that he knows better than most, and as such will be incredibly adamant about the subject. On top of this subject, he is also generally hard to convince, and is very doubting of strangers . This can make him rather hard to get along with, and certainly makes him a difficult person to get to know. This shows in Hadrian’s past, having never had much luck with making friends due to his closed-off nature.

Range
A fairly basic weakness. While his coat of plates and high-quality chainmail is enough to protect him from bowmen, heavier crossbows at close enough ranges do pose a large threat, and Hadrian will often use his shield if available when facing off against one of these. In general, also, the man has few options when an opponent is a distance away, provided they seek to keep the distance.

Running
While Hadrian is physically fit and fairly quick on his feet, he is used to entering battles on horseback, or at a energy-saving pace, while his taller stature does mean he has long legs, he is not the best at running in longer bursts, and much prefers a steady jog if the situation is urgent. All of this means that, given the head start, an enemy can usually flee from Hadrian, assuming he leaves them without some kind of injury.

Large Bodies of Water
While Hadrian can swim, his usual armour does pose a problem should he find himself in water deeper than his head height. While he has worked up a large capacity for stamina over years of armour usage, he can only hold his breath for so long, and unless he can unbuckle the heavier parts of his armour, or find a way of ascending, he is likely to find himself in a very grave situation.


Weapon of Choice:

Kilikan Steel Longsword
A favoured and always carried primary weapon of Hadrian, he finds the versatility and power the sword holds unmatched by other blades. The grip is made of greyed leather, with a polished and modestly decorated pommel, the crossguard of the blade is wide and strong, which helps with parries and half-swording. The blade is about 43 inches long, with a 8 inch handle, it weighs 3.3 pounds.. Hadrian prefers two handed use for the added speed and power behind each strike, however, he is more than capable of using the blade one-handed, at the cost of some speed.

Kilikan Steel Poniard
Made to match his longsword in style, Hadrian’s poniard dagger is far less notable, and sees less use than his longsword by leagues. Hadrian will use this in closer quarters, or in the very unlikely event of being disarmed. The blade is mostly suited to thrusting, though it performs far worse than the longsword in all regards except from speed.

Reinforced Wooden Kite Shield
Hadrian only uses his shield on certain occasions, as he prefers to use two hands with his longsword, and finds carrying a shield around all day utterly impractical. The shield itself is of a kite design, flat-topped, with round edges that come down to a curve, designed to protect an entire flank when on horseback. The shield is of an excellent quality, while the bulk of it is made of wood to keep it’s weight down, it has Kilikan steel reinforcing the edges, and running across the face in a cross shape. The wood on the face of the shield is painted grey, with the Talbot warhound serving as the only decoration.

Relationships​

Kateyln Aderos (@littlemsclumsy )
Hadrian’s squire, and over the years, friend. Katelyn is a excitable girl, but one with a good capacity for learning. Hadrian enjoys her for this and sees her as more than a suitable squire to learn from his abilities. Katelyn is one of the few people to actually know Hadrian as a friend, and is exposed to his kinder side from time to time. Her loyalty means a lot to Hadrian and he is willing to return it. He feels responsible for the girl, also, especially since she followed him to Regalia.


Remi de Grimm (@Feykronos )
Hadrian is serving as Remi’s protection in Regalia, and has come to know the young Lord a bit better since arriving in the city. Remi strikes Hadrian as a fairly capable politician and general consultant. While Remi avoids trouble fairly well, Hadrian is usually ready to step to his aid, or help him should his blindness cause him issue.


Freya Lo (@BandoftheHawk )
An oddity. Since meeting her under Remi’s service, Freya has asked Hadrian to captain for the Radiant Gauntlet, but the woman seems hard to speak to on other matters. Recently the woman has become more agreeable, and Hadrian finds he often sees eye-to-eye with her, at least on arguments and the dilemmas he has encountered.


Medvul Alarashi
A drowdar that shares Hadrian's general low opinion of those unproven. Hadrian finds decent company in the drowdar, and the two often share their low opinion of Regalia openly. While Hadrian has had to tell Medvul to hold his tongue a few times, he is often content to let the drow engage in disputes with who he likes, seeing no reason to defend Regalians from insults, who sometimes, in his opinion, deserve them.


Lucas Pernum (@coolcraft1324 )
An irritance. The boy is clearly mad, Hadrian has decided, and has an odd interest in his squire. Due to Lucas’ apparent tendency to stab women, as well as assault them, Hadrian has forbidden him from speaking to her, and will take action if he catches him doing so.


Ulric Typhonus (@catcat1305 )
While Hadrian initially held a strong distaste for the guard commander, he has slowly grown more used to his presence, and holds some respect for the fellow aged knight. While Hadrian will still happily speak against him if he finds Ulric's actions disagreeable, he will otherwise remain reasonably polite and cooperative.


Jared Silverhand (@Jared4242 )
Another Regalian guard, and an apparently competitive one at that. Hadrian finds himself more than a little skeptical of the elf's fighting style, and does not see him as skillful enough to bother returning the competition. He finds the elf's definition of fighting disturbing, and has fairly uneven views on his actions.

Life Story​

Birth

The upper districts of Kilika were oddly quiet during the day, footsteps of passers-by and Unchained echoed easily throughout the street, most of the homes quiet as crypts, much to contrast the nights of the area, which often hosted some nobleman, or woman’s party. Though it was a usual, quiet autumn day on which Hadrian’s life began, the streets now alive with two new noises, the fallen leaves rustling and mumbling in the wind, and, as one neared one of the several properties of Baron Jocelyn Talbot, the screams of Lady Julia Talbot also became apparent.

Much to the relief of both parents, Hadrian’s birth went as smoothly as a birth can, and their son was now visible to them. A little black-haired boy with pure grey eyes, much unlike either of his parents. Jocelyn recognised these features, that of his grandfather, and decided on the name Hadrian, to which Julia agreed. As Jocelyn and Julia loved one another, they loved the boy twice as much, Jocelyn had become an even more cheery and up-beat man, now that his son was born, and he had already decided on a path for him.

Jocelyn was not a violent man, it was more than safe to say. He enjoyed parties and festivals, and attended even more so in celebration of his son’s birth. Jocelyn’s father, on the other hand, had been a Kilikan warrior of much renown, and while Jocelyn never had the build or the spirit to follow in his father’s footsteps, he took his son’s features as a sign for him to follow this path. Though Hadrian was still young, they had much further to go before any of this could be finalized.

Julia was a thin and lithe woman, her and Jocelyn married for love, as most Kilikans do, and their unfaltering relationship was rivalled and known throughout Kilika’s court. The two were utterly in love, and so far time had yet to damage that. Time, however, had done damage to Julia, even when Hadrian was young, she seemed to be more and more prone to common infections and illnesses. Fevers brought her closer to death than one would expect, even common colds weakened her for weeks. While Julia was still her loving self when she was not ill, this weak immune system plagued her for most of her life, and only seemed to be worsening, much to Jocelyn’s concern, but no doctors had been able to pinpoint her problem.

Despite Julia’s health concerns popping up every now and then, Hadrian was cared for as one might expect for a noble family’s son. He had his own chambers just after he had turned one, and was cared for around the clock by either Julia or several servants. While Jocelyn did care of his son from time to time, he was often out at the parties of other Lords and Ladies, spreading the word of his son, his heir, the man was exceptionally happy.


Childhood

As Hadrian aged, he grew a little faster than one would expect, much to his parent’s happiness. This only made Jocelyn more confident about honouring his father with Hadrian, though opportunities his father never had were in Jocelyn’s reach for Hadrian, and he had every intent on acquiring them for his beloved son. Though again, Hadrian was not quite old enough.

Until Hadrian was of the age of seven, Jocelyn had settled on having wooden play swords made for the boy, trying to expose him to the idea however he could, to see if he would take to it, and much to his joy, he did, rather easily, actually. Indeed the toy swords and shields quickly became Hadrian’s favoured playthings, he was often caught pestering servants by asking them to play at swords with him, though this only prove to Jocelyn that his son was exactly who he expected.

Shortly after Hadrian turned seven, Jocelyn came to him and announced that he was being squired to the service of one of Kilika’s knights, Ser Oswald. Hadrian was as overjoyed as his father at this, all of the exposure to play swords had left him yearning for the real thing, though Jocelyn did sternly tell Hadrian that his other studies would continue, when he was excused every day by Ser Oswald, much to the boy’s discontent, but he was not one to argue with his father.

Hadrian’s first meeting with Ser Oswald was a fairly unremarkable one, much like how most of Ser Oswald was, though like all of the Kilikan knights, his skill with the blade rivalled by few, though Hadrian did not get to see the knight perform in much more than spars, in this early stage. As a young squire, most of Hadrian’s responsibility fell to caring for Ser Oswald’s armour and horse, running him errands and other such services. It wasn’t quite what Hadrian had expected, to say the least, but he pushed on with it, determined that something had to come out of the service.

The next three years were largely the same, though Hadrian did see some more of Ser Oswald’s abilities, he did his best to absorb them visually, though this had limited effectiveness, he did manage to loosely re-enact some of Ser Oswalds moves with his play swords at home, which were constantly being replaced to better fit the growing boy. Though Hadrian’s odd improvised sword “Practice” was often cut short by Jocelyn, who usually personally saw to tutoring his son on history, politics, and how to read and write.

When Hadrian turned ten, Ser Oswald announced that he would be sent to the Kilikan Court’s master-at-arms once a week, or twice if he performed well at his duties. Needless to say, this was all it took to drive the young Hadrian on to do his duties thoroughly, and while he mostly had to settle for a few hours of actual sword training a week, Ser Oswald did occasionally ask for a second session in the same week, as he had promised, much to Hadrian’s delight, though would sometimes opt to train the boy to ride on horseback instead.

The practice always captivated Hadrian, and the more frequent trips around the court meant he often encountered other squires. Needless to say, he usually asked to practice with them, those that accepted often won, at his early stage, though a learning experience it was regardless, and when Hadrian first bested another squire, he was rather ecstatic, though he kept it to himself, best as he could.

Hadrian saw his first battle shortly after this, Ser Oswald was stationed to one of the holds out in the Kilikan plains, and as expected, a group of potentially hired brigands attacked. Their attack was pushed back, but Ser Oswald, as the Kilikan knight, was expected to lead a charge on horseback to catch those who were routed, and Hadrain, as his squire, was expected to go along.

Hadrian climbed onto his horse, a timid creature, as he had only been learning for a few years, and ushered it along to follow Ser Oswald. Hadrian was dressed in his mail, bought for him by his parents upon hearing the news, but that was before, and he was currently following Ser Oswald into a fight. Hadrian carried a heater shield and a simple squire sword, though opted to keep both hands behind the shield, and did his best to follow Ser Oswald after he had dismounted. Hadrian found his swordsmanship far more interesting then when he had lanced a few of the lesser brigands, he watched the knight march around incapacitating bandit after bandit with his blade, the other soldiers of course playing a part, but it was hard to focus on them.

Hadrian simply watched, behind his shield, avoiding any enemies, as a squire should. The men dying didn’t bother him too much, he didn’t quite understand it, after all. He survived the battle, rather in awe of Ser Oswald’s abilities, and rode back to the hold, his mind still running the memory over and over in his head. The death had been somewhat unpleasant, but Ser Oswald’s skill more than overshadowed this, for him.

The battle proved the first of many that Hadrian would see, though not directly fight in. His training, the squiring, the errand running and the armour care continued for years, his skills slowly honed, and he was shaping up to be a more than capable squire. He continued sparring other squires when he could, and his father’s home tutoring also continued, though this was slowly moving to take a back seat, so to speak. By age thirteen, Hadrian had been bought some new mail, again bought by his parents, who were determined to keep their son safe, in all of the danger he faced. After a brief, if not excited testing of the armour, he was sent to bed, his squire work still far from done.


Teenage Years

Hadrian’s work as a squire made slow but steady progress, as one would expect. In the next few years he saw more battles, his own abilities grew, through sparring other squires and otherwise, and he ended up being needed far more. Training had continued at its usual steady pace, but his other duties only amplified as Ser Oswald was sent out on more assignments in the Kilikan plains, though Hadrian was not fighting at this early age, he did take it as a learning experience wherever possible. He became capable at observation, and constantly tried to mimic whatever he saw Ser Oswald doing that was impressive.

Sometime when Hadrian was fourteen, he returned home from a day’s work, only to find Jocelyn sitting with Julia, who was ill yet again. The woman looked horrible, like she was on the verge of life itself, all from what was revealed to he a common fever. This shook Hadrian, to an extent, his squiring left him away from home for most of the day, and to return to this was difficult, to say the least. Julia’s fever stayed with her for weeks, it was unclear if she would pull through the entire time, though she eventually did, albeit she was horribly weakened.

Yet another year later, Hadrian had gone through more training and battles, and Julia had suffered from more crippling cases of common illnesses, her condition was something of concern, but all of the doctors Jocelyn brought her to failed to diagnose her condition. Ser Oswald announced to Hadrian that he would take over his training from now on, and it would be more frequent and intense, Hadrian agreed, though was understandably worried about his mother. Unknown to him at the time, his mother’s deteriorating condition was the very reason for his training’s increase.

Jocelyn was reduced to praying to the gods of Gestalt, any, frankly, he was desperate for Julia to recover. Oddly enough, this seemed to work, Julia continued to fall ill, but all of the illnesses failed to take her, Jocelyn saw this as hope, and for the next three years, he only grew more hopeful. Hadrian’s more intense training with Ser Oswald continued, and he would be lying if he didn’t find it fascinating, his progress increased tenfold, he actually felt like he was being trained to become a knight, now, combined with his mother’s frequent, but thankfully non-fatal battles with illness, he was rather happy.

At age eighteen, Hadrian was far more refined, still a squire, but he was expected to engage any enemies that might threaten Ser Oswald with an attack from behind or something of that nature. The progress left him feeling proud. On one of the far less eventful days with Ser Oswald, the knight received a letter, and his face quickly fell, he informed Hadrian of his mother’s demise to a fever, that old enemy of hers. Overcome with grief, Hadrian was excused from his day of squiring, though was fully expected to return the next day.

When Hadrian returned home, his mother had already been taken away, Jocelyn was next to where she had been presumably lying, in a greater state of sadness than Hadrian thought possible. The years of hope had raised Jocelyn’s spirits, but this had come too suddenly, and now the woman he loved was dead, Hadrian was greatly upset, but Jocelyn was on an entire different level. Despite Hadrian’s best efforts to console his father, Jocelyn left to his chambers, grief-stricken, leaving Hadrian sitting next to where his mother died. He fell asleep in the same spot, still clad in most of his squiring equipment

The next morning, Hadrian did as he had always done, and went to continue his service to Ser Oswald, though he saw nothing of his father. Hadrian was on an autopilot of sorts, at this point. He simply went about his day, doing his best not to think about his mother, difficult as that was. After a few days, Jocelyn had not left his property, and Hadrian was informed that his training was to be intensified yet again, as Jocelyn sank further into depression.

A year later, Hadrian’s training had continued, as one might expect, but Jocelyn, while not as clearly grief-stricken as he was, was clearly still a broken man. He left his home only when absolutely necessary, Hadrian’s contact with his father had been limited in the past year, to say the least. He rarely saw him when he returned home, if he did, he would most likely be on the way to his chambers, where he spent most of his time. Hadrian had recovered as best as he could, but the same could not be said for Jocelyn. Nevertheless, Hadrian continued with his training, partly as a distraction, and partly still captivated with the entire idea.

Shortly after Hadrian had turned nineteen, he returned home, only to be approached by a particularly sorrowful servant. Jocelyn had failed to wake from a night’s sleep, years of drinking and parties, as well as his crippling loneliness and depression caused his demise. Hadrian was understandably upset, perhaps not as much as when his mother had died, but now his father was gone, too, and as the only living Talbot, he had no choice but to plan his father’s funeral.

The funeral was uneventful, at least as well as Hadrian could remember, he was never entirely there, during the event, the reality was still a bit daunting, but he succeeded in all of the duties that were expected of him, he left the funeral after his father was laid to rest.

Little but a few days after this, Hadrian went back to Ser Oswald, only to be guided into the Kilikan Court, initially confused, he looked around at the various faces present, but the intent was soon clear. This was his knighting ceremony, Hadrian did not argue, though did wish he had been in a better mindset. Ser Oswald himself knighted Hadrian, ending his service to him, though Hadrian’s training was far from over.


Adulthood

Shortly after being knighted, Hadrian was told that he was to take part in a customary, several year long training program, the idea confused Hadrian, but he had no choice but to agree. The next few years were rather ruthless, Hadrian was trained by any volunteering Kilikan knights, all of them elite fighters, all of them capable of defeating him in every which way. Though Hadrian was determined, and had quite a while to go.

This daily training lasted until Hadrian was twenty-four, five years of sparring with the best warriors in Kilika had left him fantastic with a sword and various other weapons, but there was more to learn, always, and he was asked to prove his abilities by leading a small group at the garrison at the plains village of Aelwick for one month.

During Hadrian’s placement at Aelwick, the village was attacked, as was nearly guaranteed with a village in the Kilikan plains. Their attack was held back by the garrison, and Hadrian personally lead a charge on horseback to chase down the routed mercenaries. After lancing the first he caught up with, he dismounted, and along with the others at his command, Hadrian defeated the routed forces, even capturing a few of the brigands to interrogate them for information.

After Hadrian returned to Kilika, he was informed that his assignment to Aelwick was a test of sorts, and his performance was more than acceptable, so he was allowed to continue as a Kilikan knight, much to his joy. Hadrian celebrated this by entering his first Kilikan tournament as a combatant, and although he won no prizes that day, he found it was another way of achieving the thrill that a fight provided, he was hooked.

The next seven years of Hadrian’s life were largely similar, though he enjoyed them all the same. He was assigned to various holds in the plains, or given men to hunt down notable parties of brigands. When off these duties, he would seek out Kilika’s bi-yearly tournaments, he failed to best the other, older knights in his earlier years, but the experience these tournaments provided was very beneficial. It was not until Hadrian was thirty-one that he won his first Kilikan tournament, the joy that brought him was indescribable.

The years kept ticking, Hadrian soon discovered his distaste for a lot of the politics involved in being a knight, often staying quiet during court sessions and such. His focus was on fighting, and he made no secret of it, he would frequently assign himself wherever he could, or looking in to any brigand groups worthy of hunting. His wealth grew, eventually allowing him to purchase a set of Kilikan steel platemail, this only made him more dangerous on the field, and he became all the more capable as he spent more time on the plains. He earned a callname, “The Grey Knight” he had heard, mostly due to his colourless features and his family banner. He was fairly indifferent to the name, though it proved to stay with him for the rest of his life.

At age thirty-two, Hadrian was issued a squire, Katelyn Aderos, an excitable girl, clearly enthusiastic. Hadrian had turned more prideful and terse as he aged, but squiring was how he learned, so he was willing to teach the girl. He gave the instructions he was given so many years ago, and showed her the basics of armour and how to put it on, something which she was expected to do. The girl proved forgetful, but Hadrian was not one to give up so easily, pressing on.

As the years ticked on, the girl proved to be a hard worker, she was ten at this point, and Hadrian was thirty-five. Hadrian had attended many more tournaments and even more skirmishes in these past years, with Katelyn following along. The Kilikan knights he had grown up knowing were becoming fewer in number, and he was shaping up to be one of the more capable of the elite group. He boasted four tournament victories now, and even more successful skirmishes to the plains.

Again, the following six years were largely the same, Hadrian’s squire, Katelyn was shaping up to be more than capable, and at age fourty-one, Hadrian held eleven tournament victories to his name. It was not long after that a civil war was declared between Kilika and Estercrest, due to desire for lands in the plains. A new duty was required of Hadrian, he assembled a strong hybrid cavalry-infantry force, and had Katelyn properly issued with equipment for the battlefield. Hadrian went to represent Kilika on the plains, along with the other knights and the army of the city.

Hadrian and his force defeated several enemy bands on their own, and reinforced allies when larger clashes occurred. Hadrian earned yet more wealth during this, capturing Estercrest captains and other notable figures, and ransoming them. He always enjoyed taking prominent prisoners, he boasted to them, gloated as they were in chains, even the ones that put up something of a challenge on the field got the same treatment. Hadrian’s abilities once again improved over this period, as did Katelyn’s.

The war raged for months, Hadrian of course could not spend all of his time fighting, though he did find time to attend one of the tournaments in Kilika and gained his twelfth victory, although not every Kilikan knight was able to attend this particular tournament due to the war, which left the victory not as satisfying as Hadrian would of liked. When not fighting otherwise, Hadrian assisted in other war-related efforts, or had Katelyn trained, he was unwilling to have his squire fall due to poor training.

As the war neared its end, Hadrian turned fourty-two and continued fighting, though no result seemed clear, in a particular battle, Hadrian’s force was matched some more than usual, it proved to be difficult, though the Kilikan force seemed to have the upper hand. As the fighting numbers thinned, Hadrian took the front with the rest of the men, now dismounted, they fought with blades. Hadrian and the men with him clashed with the enemy lines, and Hadrian found himself crossing blades with a particularly experienced soldier. As Hadrian incapacitated the soldier, he was struck on the back of the helm by a warhammer by a Estercrest captain, thoroughly knocking him out. Hadrian’s remaining forces rallied to defend the fallen knight, and one aided Katelyn in dragging Hadrian to safety.

Hadrian’s recovery was slow to say the least, he was bedridden for three weeks, after being diagnosed with a severe concussion. His armour was taken to be repaired by Katelyn, and Hadrian’s time incapacitated was spent in a bitter mood, even when he was well enough to continue about his days. Hadrian, in his weakened state, he was too prideful to ask his squire to do some of her usual duties, as well as generally lacking in jobs to be done.

A month later, the civil war came to a close, with no side coming out as the clear victor. Hadrian’s injury healed with time, and soon he was back to a fighting capacity, something which would prove useful in the coming days. Hadrian set off to Estercrest on his own accord soon after recovering, riding through the plains by the single road that connected the two cities. Hadrian spent some time in Estercrest before eventually finding the very man that wounded him in the war, and after a fierce glare from both parties, Hadrian engaged the captain in combat. Hadrian half-sworded his way under the captain’s armour, causing severe wounds, before eventually delivering a mortal stab.

Hadrian left Estercrest in a hurry, but word of the conflict was never going to stay quiet, and soon he was brought into the disgruntled court to answer for his crime. After Hadrian stated his case rather flatly, openly insulting the deceased captain, calling him cowardly and such, Kilika’s Viscount, Lordship Ludwig de Grimm eventually deemed that a knight could not serve prison or exile sentences, so instead sent him to guard his son, Lord Remi de Grimm, who had recently found his way to Regalia. Hadrian had little choice but to agree.

As Hadrian prepared to leave, he purchased a coat of plates, a more practical armour for day-to-day usage, and took what he could, his sword, gold, and various other essentials. He did not speak to Katelyn over the matter, not wishing to take the girl out of Kilika with him, but he faced his sentence as best he could, boarding a ship for Regalia the next day.

Now, Hadrian is fourty-three, and is in Regalia, a town with no fighters he considers a challenge, and no tournaments. He is not fond of the city, to say the least, though he is determined to do his duty so that he might return home one day. Katelyn Aderos recently reunited with him, her loyalty touched the usually stoic man, and he has taken over her training in the absence of a master-at-arms.

 

Thanks, you lovely people you. I know Hadrian's a total grump and junk, means a lot that you have nice things to say. Or, thing to say, namely "Hawt". <3

 

Get that giant bass out of here.

 

Celebrated by adding a few relationships. Mostly Regalian Guards Hadrian has had notable and extended interactions with.