Bariviess Ironhand▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
Nickname ● Bess, The Giant
Age ● 31
Gender ● Female
Height ● 186cm (6'1" )
Race/species ● Dwarf
Romantic preferences ● Male
Role ● Citizen
Kingdom ● Ishgar
Allegiance ● Those I deem worthy
Occupation
● Hunter: Is this not obvious? I go out of the mountain and hunt wild animals to bring back as food and materials for others. I specialize in large and difficult prey.
● Mother: Being a parent, especially a single parent of three, is a full time job harder than any other. Fortunately, all of my children are old enough to travel outside of the mountain with me, but the younger ones are still too young to get involved in the conflict, so they must stay hidden with the eldest while I fight.
Hobbies
● Camping: Nothing formal it organized, I just love being out in nature. It is amazing what animals one will see if they are patient enough.
● Carving: It is nothing serious, but sometimes to pass the time I will carve bone or wood into little figures or shapes. Most of the time I end up giving these to my kids.
● Knitting: It may not be a rugged hobby like the others, but it is useful nonetheless. Seriously, do you have any idea how much clothing thee active kids go through? I'd be broke if I bought or bartered for all of it.
● Blacksmithing (formerly) :It was something my husband and I used to do together. He knew so much about the metals and how best to work them, and I could work the bellows and a hammer like no other. Together we were very good, but apart...I could never make something on my own.
The Personal Things
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Personality ● I am the strong, silent type who will always remain independent. I don’t care what others think of me or how they treat me both to my face and behind my back. All that matters is that I live up to my expectations, that I don't harm anyone who didn't have it coming, and that I defend everything and everyone I hold dear. Most are afraid to approach me, and I'm none too eager to dispel their fear. The fewer people I commit to, the fewer I have to lose. It may seem a cold and lonely existence, but I like it just fine.
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Strengths
● Bear: Bears are strong and independent, feared by many yet respected by all. They can be docile, yet when a threat approaches they do not hesitate to defend even if it costs them their life. But most importantly, there is no mother in the world so renowned for her loyalty to her children and her ferocity against any who would cause them harm.
● Strength: I am strong in both body and spirit. When I set my mind to something, I shall see it through.
● Perceptive: I pay attention to my surroundings and generally notice some of the smaller details. You never know when a small detail may determine if you live. I also use it for reading people, though I am not good at that unless I know the person well or they are somewhat obvious.
Weaknesses
● I'm a lady too!: Just because I am strong and independent and rugged, it doesn't mean that I'm not a lady. I actually like dressing up on occasion and being told I'm beautiful. Please treat me like a woman from time to time, please?
● Bear In The Room: I spend much of my time away from my people's mountain home and even when I am there I generally only speak as much as I must or with people with whom I am already friends. So when it comes to social situations different from the normal, I am the odd one out.
● The Rock: People rely on me to be strong, always. I cannot afford to show any sort of weakness either physically or emotionally, or else I may cause others to falter. Doesn't mean I don't ever have times where I don't want to be the strong one, but I have to ignore those moments.
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Biography
● I am a dwarf of unknown heritage: my mother was mysterious and had a reputation (whether true or not I don't know) of sleeping around with whomever she pleased. She died during my birth and I was reluctantly taken in by the community. I lead a rough and tumble life, yet I was still promised to another orphan boy. I despised him because he was a horrible bully, and refused to marry him. While roaming the streets in a more affluent section, I came across a frail boy about my age. Despite our differences, he did not fear me, but rather was curious and wanted to know what my life was like. We quickly became friends, and from there lovers. About six months before we were to marry other people, we launched a scheme that would force our parents to have us married to each other. The moment I revealed that I was pregnant to my guardians, they broke the engagement out of shame and threatened to throw me off the mountain if I didn’t make arrangements with the father for a wedding. A similar thing happened to him, and so the marriage was expedited to make sure we were lawfully wed before the child was born. Soon after it was our time to pick our professions, and while we would have loved to have gone into the same one, we knew my wanderlust was too great for me to work in the mines (as he wanted,) and he was not built to be able to defend himself from predators, so hunting was not a good fit for him. While it was unfortunate to go two different ways, we accepted it as the way things would be.
Seven years after our first child was born, I came into possession of another one. An old friend of mine had been kicked out of the mountain years ago, and now she was sick and had a young child. My friend did not know if she would survive, but she begged me to take her child and claim it as my own so that it might have a chance at a better future. It was a strange request, but I could not deny a friend what might be their dying wish. My husband was obviously surprised, but when I told him what had happened, he understood (he was the only person who knew I absolutely loved children and had wanted to be a mother,) and promised to play along with the charade, even going so far as to “remember” when the child was conceived and be able to point out features that belonged to his ancestors. Our story may have seemed a little less credible a year later when I gave birth to another child, but no one openly questioned us. Everything was as close to perfect as I could imagine for the next four years. Sadly it all came crashing to an end just like the mine in which my husband worked. A survivor told me that it truly had been an unforeseen event: even my husband, who knew the nature of rocks and their formation as well as he knew me, did not see any trouble until it was too late. His warning saved several lives, which I know would have pleased him, but all total eight men died in that collapse. All of the other wives came together to mourn their losses, yet I couldn’t join them. Their way of mourning, it did nothing for me. Instead I focused on helping my children cope with the loss, and eventually when they were ready, I returned to my hunts and brought them along with me. It may hinder me, but I will never let my family stay behind. They know the safest place to be is with their mother bear.
