Jayden H. Nordstrom






Personality

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Living in solitude for a good portion of his life, Jayden's true personality is known by few. On the outside he is reserved and withdrawn. Some would call him cold. He would prefer to stay in the background and not draw unwarranted attention upon himself. The companionship he finds in nature is unrivaled by that typically found in the civilized world. There is a certain kind of honesty among the wildlife that is seldom seen in intelligent beings these days. Having been betrayed in the past by those he had trusted most, Jayden has a hard time putting faith in anyone but himself.

Although Jayden's exterior is hard, those that manage to pierce the veil will find a loyal, caring man. His love of nature and loyalty to those few that are close to him is second to none. He would risk life and limb to protect that what matters most to him. A solitary life brings with it a certain loneliness however. A loneliness he secretly longs to soothe, though he would never admit it, not even to himself. Immersing himself in the natural beauty of the world helps to push the aching into the deepest corners of his soul.

History

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Beldale was a small farming community nestled in the forests of north Bashar. The town, if it could even be called a town, was home to no more than a hundred or so. Most were farmers, growing enough to feed their loved ones and barter with their neighbors for other essential needs. The citizens of Beldale were mostly content in their ways. The temptations and vices of the bigger cities of Bashar were scarce in the farm town. The people cared for each other, taking care of those that needed taken care of, and protecting those that needed protection.

Among those citizens lived Heinrich and Yelena Nordstrom. Heinrich was like most others in Beldale, a farmer, specializing mostly in potatoes. Yelena was a homemaker, performing daily tasks around the homestead, and taking care of the couple's only child, Jayden. The family was as normal as any other, nothing out of the ordinary. Jayden was a typical child, curious and innocent. He would play with the other children of Beldale, roaming the fields, playing with the farm animals, adventuring in the woods, things any happy kid would do. Life was good in Beldale, life was good for Jayden, until the climate began to change.

As the world grew hotter, dryer, harsher, Beldale did the same. The once close-knit town began to grow apart. The main river running along Beldale used for irrigating the crops seemed to withdraw, so did the townsfolk. People began to loathe each other, keeping what dwindling supplies they had for themselves. Those who had little before, had nothing. Crime started to become a problem, the desperate began taking what they needed by any means necessary.

Jayden was only 6 or 7 years old when things took a turn for the worse. He had no idea what was going on. The neighbors he had once looked up to were now at each others throats. The people who had been the most caring generous people were taking whatever they could. It was a frightening, confusing time in the young child's life.

His parents did what they could to protect their lives and property, but eventually the disparity around them took its toll on the Nordstrom homestead. A group of Beldaleians, all of which were familiar and once trusted neighbors, stormed the home. Jayden's father did what he could to keep them at bay, but he was an aged and tired man. His old body stood little chance against the marauders. He died giving his wife time enough to flee into the surrounding forests with their son, as the gang pillaged their home.

Yelena and Jayden roamed the forests, gathering what they could to survive, evading anyone they came across. The mother and child would only be together for mere weeks. Yelena had little knowledge of surviving in the wild, and her body grew weak giving what little food they came across to her only child.

As Jayden awoke from beneath the large fallen tree they had used for shelter that night, he noticed his mother was alarmingly cold. He cuddled next to his mother's lifeless body, crying, shaking her as hard as his little body could in attempt to wake her. How long he sat beside his mother crying he didn't know. He was utterly alone, lost, hungry, scared. A child without a mother, without a father, without hope.

As he mourned the loss of his mother, a man emerged from the depths of the forest. Jayden didn't move, he hardly acknowledged the man. If he was there to kill him, he didn't care. As far as the child was concerned, death would be a welcome salvation from the hell he now lived in. Yet the man didn't harm him, he didn't even move towards him. He just stood there, ever still, watching the child. The man would come to be known as Gustav, and would become the mentor of young Jayden.

Gustav was a ranger, a wanderer, living off the land in the forests. Why he took the young child under his wing, Jayden would never know. It took some time for Jayden to come to terms with the demise of his parents, and to become comfortable with Gustav. Gustav was a reserved man. He wasn't much for words, but when he did speak it was with a wisdom Jayden had never known. His knowledge of nature and the wildlife was matched by no other, a knowledge Jayden can only hope to achieve in his lifetime.

Gustav would teach Jayden everything he could about the wild. How to hunt, gather, track. How to move through the terrain silently and undisturbed, the art of archery, the connection to the earth and wildlife, self defense, respect for the animals and plant life he consumed. Jayden took it all in, immersing himself in nature, truly connecting with the natural world.

The two stayed together until Jayden was in his late teens. He knew their time together was coming to an end. Not from hostility, or tragedy, it was just the way it had to be. It was in their nature to go it alone. Gustav had taught Jayden everything he knew, and they both knew it was time to part ways, time for Jayden to find his own way in life. There was no teary eyed goodbye, no promises to stay in touch, just a few exchanged words, a handshake, and they simply parted ways. Deep inside Jayden hopes he may once again meet the man that saved his life, the man that took him under his wing, but he knows that is all it is, a hope.

After parting ways with his mentor, Jayden roamed the lands. Along with the knowledge given to him by Gustav he carried his handcrafted longbow, his quiver and arrows, a small knife used for field dressing and various other things, a small dagger for self defense (if it came to that), a rucksack containing standard survival gear, and the lightweight leather armor Gustav had made him. He didn't stay in one spot too long, rarely going into the civilized world if he could avoid it. He had no home, in the normal sense. His home was nature, his home was everywhere and nowhere. He had his share of run ins with others, and most had shown the same behavior as that of his former Beldale neighbors. Dishonest, desperate, violent individuals eager to take anything and everything they could. He often wondered if that was all that was left in the world, if there were actually any decent people like he had once known in his childhood. All the evidence provided to him told him those days were over.

Roleplay Sample

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Sun rays beat down through the thick canopy to Jayden's forehead. He casually wiped the perspiration from his brow as he walked through the forest. Song birds chirped in the trees above his head. He stopped for a moment to listen, taking in the cheerful tweets of his winged friends. He reached into his pocket removing a small satchel of dried seeds and poured some into his palm. With his hand outstretched he whistled, matching the pitch and melody of the bird. It only took a couple repetitions before the small black bird landed on his wrist.

“There you go, friend,” he said, gently stroking the bird's head. It chirped contently, finishing the seeds and hopping up his arm to his shoulder, “... I suppose.”

Jayden poured more of the seeds into his hand. The bird eagerly bounced back to his wrist and began pecking at his palm. A faint smile crept across the ranger's face, a rare thing these days. “Hyahh! Hyahh!” a mans voice echoed through the trees, ruining the moment and causing the bird to flee, “You stupid... Filthy...”

Without missing a beat, Jayden pulled his longbow from his back and nocked an arrow. His eyes narrowed, searching the treeline in the direction of the noise. The man's voice called again, “Hyahh!”

Jayden locked in on the sound and made his way towards it, bow readied. He crept through the foliage his knees coming up to his chest, stepping over branches, twisting and ducking through bushes. To an observer he would have looked utterly ridiculous; like he was dancing the most awkward dance known to man, but it was effective in moving silently.

As he made his way through the thicket, he could make out a well traveled path cutting through the woods. He stopped next to a tree as the man yelled out again, this time followed by a loud whooosh and a crack. Then the familiar neigh of a horse.

Jayden could feel his blood start to boil. He peered around the tree. There were two men on the trail. One stood in front of a horse that was connected to a large cart, the other sat on the seat. The horse was on its back legs, flailing its front legs. It caused the man in front holding its reins to struggle to keep hold. The other had his hand raised holding a large black whip.

The horse was noticeably malnourished and struggling with the weight of the massively over packed cart. Jayden could see the pain in the creature's eyes as it bucked. The whip cracked again on the horse's back side. He could see the skin tear and blood trickle from the wound. Many other such wounds littered the horse's body.

Jayden's heart began to beat faster. He took a deep breath in and exhaled through his mouth, calming his nerves. The man raised the whip again. In a swift, fluid motion Jayden drew the bow, raised his aim slightly accounting for the distance, and released on an exhale. The arrow flew true, streaking through the air and sliced clean through the man's raised hand. In rapid succession he unleashed three more arrows. One pierced the whip man's shoulder from behind, protruding through the front. The others hit the second man. One tore through his forearm, the other in his thigh.

The men screamed in pain grabbing at their wounds. The one on the cart fell to ground, the other collapsed to his knees. They both scrambled back to their feet frantically searching for the attacker. Jayden released two more arrows. They impacted the wooden rails holding the horse to the cart, breaking them apart. The horse neighed loudly and darted off into the forest. Another arrow struck the whip man in his other shoulder. That was enough to send them fleeing down the trail screaming in agony.