Yes, a very promising apprentice. Mostly, she shows promise not to mess everything up too badly.
Name: Cordel Yates
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Job: Physician/Apothacary
Residence: Rumor has it, he sleeps in his office. Rumor isn't far off. Palisade
Appearance:
A lot of Cordel's priorities are immediately evident upon meeting him. For one thing, he doesn't bother styling his hair. His light brown hair is always rather messily cut short, simply because he doesn't see the point of trying to get it to look nice. It'll just be messy later and every moment he spends fussing over himself is a moment in which he's not saving lives. Same with shaving. On the off-chance he remembers to shave, the job will probably be rather slap-dash. He's one of those men who just has a constant five-o'clock shadow.
He does, however, manage to find time to keep himself trim. He has broad shoulders and a muscular form, due to his time in the army. Some habits die hard. Others never die at all, but are merely hibernating.
His clothes tend to be very simple and in earth tones. Honestly, he rather distrusts people who take the time to look nice, even as he admires their fashion sense. He suspects that they ought to be doing something more important than making themselves look pretty (yeah, he's a hypocrite).
He's about average height, standing at 5'10''. His eyes are a particularly light shade of ice blue.
Art by Pachbel. Ignore the tiny dragon; that is clearly not applicable here.
Personality: Full of snark and annoyance.
Cordel is an intensely moral and compassionate person. It's just sometimes tricky to see this beneath the layers of snark and occasional cantankerousness. A highly emotional person, Cordel is very much an 'all or nothing' type. It's what makes him an excellent doctor; he's willing to put everything into trying to make someone better, regardless of what cost it might exact on himself because he really does care. He is a man who is ruled by his heart rather than his logic. An odd combination for a medical man, perhaps, but one that works for him. The mind is all very well, but mere logic cannot explain love or courage or any of the other wonderful things human beings are capable of. (In fact, one might consider him a bit of a romantic for this; just don't say that to his face.)
While Cordel would like to think of himself as a cynic, he's really too... he just can't. In general, the man is about nine parts bluff, one part action. He may threaten to take away a patient's painkillers if they got on his nerves, but he never would actually go through with any of his threats. Really, he'd just go off grumbling to himself, possibly to enjoy a nice drink when he's off duty. Or several drinks. It's a problem.
Because of his strong beliefs---and even more so because of his strong emotions----he often gets into fights. His moral side prevents him from making many allowances, since he's terrified that such a thing might allow him to go down some slippery slope. This keeps him from being flexible. Between instinct and logic, instinct usually wins out. He's the type of guy to go with his first impulse, even if, later on, that proves to be sort of stupid. Thankfully, his compassion prevents him from doing anything completely idiotic, like risking someone else's life.
He's extremely stubborn. No, really. Even if he's proven, beyond all shadow of a doubt, that his belief is wrong, he will still defend it. At that point, it's less about his personal belief and more about just plain being right. If he's completely proven wrong, then he'll do his best to pretend it never happened. Admitting he's wrong is just unthinkable for the man.
And, honestly? He's far too involved with his work. You know that guy who will always beat himself up, that he should have done something better, even if he does a perfectly adequate job? That's Cordel. God help him if he ever fails at something. The sheer devotion he gives to his job can overshadow everything else in his life, to the point where someone needs to remind him to eat. Or sleep.
History:
-Was born
-Raised by single dad. They argued a lot. It was pretty much their primary method of communication. It wasn't due to hate that they argued, but simply out of passion. They simply had different beliefs.
-Father was a soldier, a captain in the army. He expected his son to follow him into the army.
-Cordel wanted to be a doctor.
-Father got ill when Cordel was 16. He caught a rare parasite overseas. There was virtually nothing that could've been done. He succumbed to that terrible disease that so often afflicts characters who dare pass on their genes: he died.
-Cordel sat very quietly staring at walls for a long time after that.
-And then he decided to finish his studies. He finished his studies and signed up for the army as a medic. In his own cantankerous way, he was fulfilling his father's last wish.
-Has now settled down in his home city once more.
Cordel was born and raised in Palisade. Honestly, it's what he knows best. His knowledge of Palisade and medicine are microscopically detailed, while his knowledge of everything else is merely microscopic. He never really knew what happened to his mom, but, chances are, she died of childbed fever. He was raised by his single dad, an army captain.
His dad wanted his son to follow him in the army. In his contrary way, Cordel decided to never do that ever. It kind of goes without saying that their relationship was tumultuous. Not out of hatred, but simply because they were both extremely strong-willed individuals who would argue about everything forever. They argued out of passion rather than hate. Cordel wanted to be a doctor. Specifically, a physician. His father argued against it, on the basis that physicians are gentlemen; he'd never be able to raise the money to send Cordel to a decent school like that.
Cordel managed to out-stubborn his father mostly by outliving him. When Cordel was 16, his father died of an infection. This... may or may not have had a lot to do with Cordel's renewed interest in doctoring.
He met a lovely girl at this point, Caysine. It was a whirlwind romance. In other words, it was a complete and utter disaster. They married far too young and it turned out that Cordel's first love simply couldn't compete with Caysine: if it came down to studying medicine or looking after Caysine, Cordel always chose medicine. Always. They divorced when Cordel was 23.
But, out of a desire to honor his father, he did sign up with the army. He signed up as a medic and picked up his skills through a literal baptism of fire.
He came back home to Palisade at 25 and has been there ever since. He's opened up his own physician's office and apothecary, on the basis that it's easier for everyone involved.
Other stuff: He is not a hedge witch. He's simply extremely good at what he does. He's uncertain what to think about hedge witches in general. Mostly, he has no problem with them; whatever saves a patient's life is fine by him.
