Name: Rüdiger Baumann
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Facial expression: Concentrating; scowl
Hair: Black, shaved short (close to his skull, but still visible)
Eye color: Hazel
Skin color: Milk chocolate
Outfit: Standard
Personality:
Work is life, and living is something Rüdiger takes very seriously. The man completely missed his teenage years, having a sense of responsibility pushed upon him in his youth. As a result, he has an unnatural aversion to laziness, wealth, prosperity, and waste. Humans that display any of these qualities will be instinctively disliked by Rüdiger, even if they possess other 'redeeming' qualities. He can be quoted as distrusting these individuals immediately, though Rüdiger may have no history with them.
With responsibility comes the knowledge that even peace cannot solve a food shortage. While Rüdiger has not yet made up his mind on whether the walls are truly god-given and holy, he does know that the limited land within the three walls cannot support a growing population. As such, he feels scouts are necessary to keeping the entire kingdom from collapsing inward on itself. That being said, this belief, like that of his awe-inspired religion of the walls, is a wavering one. The scouts continue to bring back little information, and their labors might be better suited to the field in times of peace.
In general, Rüdiger is a firm believer that the walls can't fall. A 50 meter high wall may as well be impenetrable to a mythical creature he has never seen, which only reaches 15 meters in height. Even Rüdiger can do math that simple. Further forwards thinking is lacking. Rüdiger thinks in short time scales: months, a few years. This trend holds true for speculation as well: Rüdiger's imagination is limited. If he hasn't seen something happen, he has extreme trouble imagining that it will. All of his knowledge comes from the wisdom of experience, not from his own deduction.
Though he is getting better at managing it, Rüdiger unfortunately possesses a rather flaming temper. While he's learned not to take it out on unwilling participants, Rüdiger will engage in fistfights to release emotional tension. When the object of his distaste is unable or unwilling to fight, he resorts to breaking other things: kicking dirt, snapping twigs. He has a dilapidated punching bag made of cloth and filled with old straw to relieve this tension.
On the positive side, this fowardness of nature means that Rüdiger isn't hiding emotional secrets. Most know very quickly whether or not Rüdiger likes them. Those he does like do not find him expressively friendly, but he shows in gratitude by bringing them extra food, a gift from his mother, or putting his aggression to good use on those that might challenge his friends.
Friends are few and far between for Rüdiger. Growing up working with others makes him crave social company, and he'll spend time with almost anyone (even those he dislikes), but he remains distant and unwilling to talk about himself to almost everyone. There isn't a dark, mysterious, reason for this (though, some may think there is); Rüdiger simply dislikes talking about himself and finds farm life nothing short of boring. It's work, not interesting.
However, when it comes to others lives, Rüdiger excels at listening. What is more, he actually seems to enjoy asking questions and hearing stories of people (with the exception of rich, lazy royals, of course). He feels a sort of brotherhood for all people behind Wall Maria, and all other things created equal, will stand by them first and foremost.
History:
The Baumann family works with several others to manage a farm east of the Shiganshina district. Though they operate the land-plot, the food produced is distributed through the entirety of the three walls in exchange for land ownership.
As their only child, Rüdiger has worked on the 100 acre agricultural plot with his father for the entirety of his life. As a result, he has developed strong skills in knotwork, basic repair (such as broken wagon wheels), and husbandry.
His mother is very artistically inclined, and the family house maintains a work shed where his mother is often found at a pottery wheel crafting vases, bowls, and other work. Though well-made, these are objects you'd expect to find behind the walls of Maria and Rose; they're hardly of the quality nobles would ordain in their houses.
Born so far into peace-time, Rüdiger knows the most mathematics within his family. He is literate, though not exceptionally so, and tends to spell words phonetically instead of how they are meant to be spelled. He has poor interest in reading, and school in general, and will likely struggle in any future endeavors that require proficiency at reading or writing. Like many, he dropped out upon completion of middle school.
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