Name: Solomon Grayson. Many people simply call him Sol or Gray, and he is known as the Gray Knight.
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Appearance:
The picture is of Solomon in full uniform, which he rarely wears. He is tall and powerfully built. Sol has scars running up and down his torso from his days on the streets. He also has a scar on his face, and he's vague about how he got it. Sol looks very intimidating, though his appearance is somewhat misleading.
Personality: Sol is a very caring individual. He often brings home stray animals and people to his home, giving them shelter and food. This, coupled with his exceptionally rigid sense of honor, makes it very difficult for him say no to anyone in need. He'll try to help people even if they don't ask him to, much to the annoyance of his roommate. Sol holds himself to ridiculously high standards and is unceasingly harsh on himself when he fails to meet them. He often wonders if he will every be good enough. He struggles very hard to be the kind of man his late mentor was, and Sol absolutely refuses to judge anyone by anything but their actions. He tries to see the best in people, but a voice in his head always points out the worst. Sol is reckless when others are in danger and doesn't follow orders.
His childhood has caused him to become very accepting of all races and statuses, and he never tolerates prejudice. He is genial, open, and enjoys being around all kinds people. He can strike up a conversation with a beggar or a lord and feel perfectly at ease. Sol has many friends and acquaintances, but is somewhat oblivious. He finds it hard to believe that people genuinely like him. Surprisingly, his sense of humor is sarcastic, deadpan, and grim. Sol will often crack a particularly pessimistic joke with a smile and will do it while facing the enemy.
Likes:
- Animals: Sol loves all animals, and he brings wounded birds, cats, lizards, etc. He has a special spot for dogs, though. Sol is dead-set on finding a hound and raising it. But with all the adventuring he does, Sol rarely has the time to take care of an animal for more than a few days.
- People: Sol has seen the best and worst in civilization but prefers to see the best. Despite his pessimistic words, he believes that when given the choice, most people will do the right thing. He enjoys talking to people from all classes and races. He's very awkward around children, however. Sol doesn't exactly know how to treat them. Kids seem to like him well enough.
- Combat: He can't help it. Sol absolutely savors a good fight. Whether a friendly spar or a battle, sometime primitive in him just relishes every part, from beginning to end.
- Warm beds: He has never taken these for granted. Sol's favorite thing to do at the end of the day is fall into a soft bed and fall into a deep sleep.
- Mornings: He's an early bird, and he wakes up very early. If he can, Sol watches the sunrise. Dawn and the immediate hours after are his preferred hours.
- Plays: Theater is Sol's version of a guilty pleasure. He enjoys watching and reading it, and he considers a well-written play to be a window into the psyche.
Dislikes:
- Unnecessary violence and death: Combat is one thing, violence is another. Sol abhors violence for the sake of violence. Hurting a person for no reason is despicable, in his opinion. Sol tries not to kill people but understands that it's sometimes necessary. Killing someone needlessly is absolutely detestable.
- Prejudice: Judging a person by something other than their character is something that makes Sol very annoyed. Acting on that prejudice makes him furious. He will defend people against prejudice, even if it means risking his own well-being.
- Stuck-up people: If you think Sol will respect you because of your status, family, or reputation, you are sorely mistaken.
- Abuse of power: He hates it when people shirk their responsibility or use it for their own game. His tendency to act on his dislike has gotten him in trouble in the past.
- Squeaky noises: High-pitched sounds drive Sol insane. If he can, he'll leave the room to get away from them.
- Sweet foods: He never ate sweet foods when he was younger, and Sol has never gotten used to them. Sweets taste very strange to him.
- Rain: It makes everything cold and wet. Getting soaked puts him in a very bad mood.
Weapon(s):
- Sword: Sol carries a long sword, also known as a hand-and-a-half sword or a "bastard sword." He has trained with it extensively and uses it like an extension of his body. His sword is of special dwarfish make, light, sharp, and almost unbreakable. It was a gift from his old teacher and is one of his prized possessions.
- Daggers: Although he is mainly a swordsman, Sol keeps several knives just in case. He is skilled at street-fighting, and he knows how useful a small knife can be.
Strengths: His height and reach are huge advantages in close combat, which is his specialty. Sol has extensive training in sword-fighting and much experience in street fighting. He is both quick and powerful, as well as nearly fearless. Sol's combination of formal and informal training makes him a formidable opponent.
Weaknesses: Sol's pretty useless at long-range combat. His experience with magic is very limited. Compared to other races, humans have terrible night vision. His large build makes him absolutely terrible at infiltration and other similar missions.
Fears: His greatest fear is being unable to protect those he cares about. Sol fears that everything he does may not matter. He also has a crippling fear that he may never be good enough. An almost-fear is his dislike of thunderstorms.
History: Sol was born in the worst part of the slums. Unlike many children born to unmarried women, Sol's mother decided to raise him instead of casting him out to the streets. The presence of his loving mother was what kept Sol from running completely wild and sliding into the vicious cycle of crime that afflicted many destitute youngsters. Despite this, Sol still had a harsh and unforgiving childhood, looked down upon by the fellow slum-dwellers for his mother's status, and excluded from the street urchin's circles because of the presence of a mother.
He fought frequently with boys and sometimes men to defend himself and his mother. He became a distinguished street-fighter and could hold his own against several opponents. During his early teens, Sol started to grow bitter and resentful, even more so after his mother passed away. He would have been ensnared by underworld once and for all, had it not been for one man.
At the age of fourteen, Sol was noticed by an old but renowned knight during a hunt for a particularly wanted rogue mage. Sir Dewar of Alamen witnessed a scuffle between Sol and several older boys and was astonished at the skill that the boy displayed. The knight then grabbed Sol and forced him into a duel with him. Sol had never used a sword before, but he proved to be just as natural with the weapon as he was with his fists. After a match that lasted maybe two minutes, Sir Dewar defeated Sol and brought him to the center of the capital.
Much to everyone's surprise, Sir Dewar announced that he would train Sol to become a knight. For the next seven years, Sol trained hard, and his reputation as a skilled warrior spread. It was with Sir Dewar that Sol learned of honor and morals. Slowly, Sol grew into a mature and kind-hearted individual, following the example of his mentor and late mother. His abilities and natural sense of justice lent itself well to knighthood. At age twenty-one, Sol was officially knighted. Barely a month later, Sir Dewar passed away.
Sol tried serving under a variety of lords, but he found that his ideals did not lend themselves to the tasks that the nobility assigned. Furthermore, though Sol's prowess was considerable, many high-ranking nobles looked down upon Sol for his low status. Sickened and disgusted, Sol left the traditional knighthood to become a lone knight. He became an adventurer, helping the common people the best he could. Sol was now truly able to follow his own moral guidelines.
Several years after becoming an adventurer, he took a quest to defeat a manticore that was terrorizing a small town. Unknown to him, the adventure hall had mistakenly assigned the same mission to another mage. The ferocious manticore caused Sol and the mage Hazel Rook to team up in order to defeat it. The two discovered that they made excellent partners, and a partnership was born. Hazel and Sol had been working together ever since. Although they tended to argue a lot, Sol considered her to be his best friend. Then, certain events caused a new member to join their team...