Description

Personality

Personality:
Confident, athletic, and definitely sarcastic at most times, when something that isn't serious is going on she will try to come up with a witty comment to go along with it. Sometimes she succeeds and even makes people laugh, sometimes she just keeps quiet, and other times she just pisses people off. Because of her constant sarcastic, "I'll fight you" attitude, some people get the wrong impression of her and call her a jerk, cocky and obnoxious. Despite this though, anyone who bothers to get to know her sees that she, like many other sarcastic characters, also has a kind side and a willingness to defend her friends in any situation. She trusts easily, but she isn't stupid about her decisions.

Usually, to hide her fear or nervousness in combat situations, she will make sarcastic remarks about her adversaries. But sometimes she does this when she is feeling confident as well, so only those who know her best (or are good at reading people’s emotions) can tell the difference and know when to put in an encouraging word or just laugh along with her.

In her home village, Alex was typically held back from doing the things she liked, which weren't considered ladylike, by her mother. Such things included hunting and practicing with weaponry. Since this was continually taking place from a young age, Alex typically took some time to actually get into the things she enjoyed, occasionally earning her the title of a slacker. The negative encouragement from her mother is what kept her from traveling to Emeralia the very day she got the summons. As such, she is late, and many may call her lazy, but she is just as willing to fight as the next person out there. When she left her home village, she was unaware of the current situation of Emeralia.


Skills/Talents:
When it comes to the arcane arts, she doesn’t have much skill in that area. In fact, she has no skill at all. So her rocks are just plain rocks that hurt… a lot. She is an expert slinger.

She has extraordinary eyesight, which is part of what makes her such a good sling-master.

Alex is extremely fit, and can run for 5 miles straight at a relatively fast pace (for a human, that is).

She is quite efficient at hand to hand combat, and, without her club, can hold her own fairly well. However, she would never intentionally confront an enemy without a weapon. She would lose eventually.
Her reflexes are very good, which is helpful in close range combat with her club.

Equipment

Personal Equipment (not weapons):
Leather armor (chestplate, gauntlets, shin guards, back plate). This is form fitted to her body and very easy to maneuver in. There is extra padding on her shins and forearms for close range combat. Because her armor is fitted, she wears a cloth shirt under (for comfort) and over (for modesty) her leather chestplate, and loose fitting, canvas material (jean) pants over her leg armor. She also has soft undergarments under her leg guards, simply for comfort.
Plain metal helmet, for added head protection.
Leather boots, metal plated toes and heels.
Backpack for carrying a personal tent and provisions, such as different clothes, food, and water.
Traveling cloak with hood.
Small knife for skinning (not a weapon).
The only sentimental thing she wears is a silver bracelet, a simple chain-link design, with a bright blue stone set in one of the links. It was given to her by her grandparents, and was a gift of Godspeed for her as she made her way to Emeralia to fight Shard’s horde of creatures. It, like much of her equipment, was enchanted by a mage; this item in particular was enchanted so that it would not tarnish, melt, snap, scratch or bend by any mundane methods. She keeps it on at all times.

Weapon of choice: A leather sling, enchanted by a mage at her local village (as with all of her cloth or leather equipment) so that it could not rip, burn or be torn in any way by standard methods (arcane fire and destruction spells will still work on the sling fairly easily). She carries a pouch of smooth river stones with her at all times, and if she runs out, or needs a particularly sharp stone, she can just pick up a rock from the ground, load up and let loose. She is as skilled with her sling as some of the best archers are with their bows, and can easily split a skull from a distance, and can just as easily use her sling as a deadly club up close (Ever read the Redwall series? If you have, think of Alex and her sling like the otters with their slings. If you haven’t read them… Disregard this comment entirely).

If she doesn’t have her sling ready at close range, she keeps a short, hardwood club on her belt at all times as well. It has a formed handle wrapped with leather for the grip, and has two long shards of sharp metal going through the top, one sharp bit protruding from each side (because sometimes unconsciousness just isn’t enough).

History

Alex doesn't really find her life that interesting, and many others wouldn't think so either. For most of her life, she lived quite an average life, staying at home with her mother, learning how to "be mature." She and her friends would always get together and have a fun time just wandering through the nearby forest or hanging around by a stream, and nothing too interesting happened in her life.
When she was 13 she was given a sling by her father, who always saw the potential in her to be very useful on a battlefield, even if she never learned how to handle a sword. It took some training, but eventually she became a natural, and her father (much to the disapproval of her mother, who wanted her to be a "proper young lady") would often take her hunting so she could practice and sharpen her skills. Eventually, she even outclassed him and his bow, and she would go out hunting solo by the age of 16. She would always be able to bring down a large game animal, and her family survived winter seasons quite abundantly thanks to Alex's hunting skills. In fact, her family became a highly recognized (for being in a small village) fur and leather dealer, and she was given lots of credit for the travelers her family attracted with their fine leathers and warm furs. At the age of 18, Alex decided to become a traveler herself. She ventured around the countryside for about a year and a half, still hunting with her trusty sling that had lasted all of those years, and selling some of what she felled for money that provided her with a small, one person tent, and enough food and water to keep her going just fine.
When she returned home after those 18 months, she found her family's business thriving. They had hired servants to assist in hunting and tanning, and it seemed as though they had no need of her.
However, she and her father would still go into the woods and practice with their sling and bow, "just to stay sharp," as her father would tell her mother, who still complained about how unladylike Alex's actions were.
When her village received a letter from Emeralia, many of the people agreed that she should go and assist, with her prime hunting and scavenging skills. Also, she wanted to go. She felt like staying in her home village held nothing for her, and she begged her parents to let her go. Her father was hesitant, but was willing. Her mother refused outright, and after a visit from her grandparents (who lived in a neighboring village but received word of the summons letter) and being given silver bracelet, she stole away late at night leaving nothing but a note, and met with her father (who had caught her sneaking out). He gifted her with new armor, and a new sling (which he informed her were enchanted as said above), and a traveling cloak and some provisions to last for the journey (provided she didn't stop to hunt). They said goodbye, and, clad in new traveling clothes, Alex left her home and headed towards a kingdom under siege.

Life was finally getting interesting.