Name: Harden Crecy (hm, 6th lvl Fighter, LN, bounty hunter)
Submission by: CR Simmons
Description:
Harden is a young man with brown hair and a scraggly beard. He has a long, faint scar on the right side of his face, running from his brow to his chin. His blue eyes are continually squinted as if he were looking into the sun, and his face is browned and lined from long exposure to the elements. He is tall and thin and walks with a graceful, distinctive gait. He wears a brown hat pulled down over his eyes, a leather vest lined with wool, and a cape. A black scarf is always tied around his neck. His high leather boots are invariably dirty, but his weapons are always immaculately clean. Usually he has a twisted piece of pipeweed sticking out of his mouth, a habit he picked up while hunting a man who had fled to Maztica. Harden rarely speaks, but when he does it is softly mumbled out of the side of his mouth. However, no matter how softly he speaks, his voice carries a hint of menace. He seems to be able to communicate with others using only his eyes and body language. Most who meet him steer clear. He is considerate towards feminine women, but men and strong women are treated alike: as obstacles or sources of information.
History:
Harden was born and raised in Tethyr. He married young and began farming with his father. Then he was caught up in the Tethrian civil war. There was no official owner of the land Harden's father farmed. Two powerful nobles claimed the land as their own, and fought over possession of the barony. They imported large numbers of mercenaries and raised militia groups to raid the opposing side's land. One of these militia bands, Rarentil's Redlegs, happened upon Harden's homestead one morning and attacked it. Harden himself had left earlier that day and was in the fields when the attack started. Hearing the screams and shouts of the attack, he ran back to the farmhouse, but was knocked unconscious when one of the Redlegs slashed him across the face with a sabre. Harden awoke only to find his family dead and his home burned.
As he finished burying his family, a column of ragtag warriors rode up. Their leader, Brindertel Ambergill, told him that they were in pursuit of the raiders, intending to make them pay for their depredations. Harden joined them. For the next five years, Harden rode with Ambergill's Raiders. In time, the Raiders were changed by the nature of the war into men who fought only because they hated those on the opposing side. Their reputation grew as infamous as that of their rapacious enemy as they fought, killed, and burned their way across the countryside. In the end, the noble who Harden nominally supported was defeated. The Raiders were declared outlaw by the new Baron and were hunted down.
Harden was the last Raider left alive when he decided to leave his homeland behind. However, leaving the war behind was not as easy as that. A price was placed on Harden's head. As he fled Tethyr, bounty hunters trailed him. The price was substantial, and Harden was hounded for two years, eluding most of his hunters and slaying those who were unlucky enough to find him. After two years of running, Harden was repreived when the Baron who had placed the price on his head was overthrown and replaced. At the time he heard of the Baron's death, Harden was hiding in the backwater town of Arylon. He decided to stay there, tired of the years of rootless fighting and running.
He found a job as a field worker on a local farm and returned to the life he had left so long ago. However, he found that the life of a farmer no longer appealed to him. In some strange way, he missed the war. He had grown addicted to the excitement and fear of battle. He had never seen himself as the military type, but thought of another way to make such a living. He would become a bounty hunter. He knew the tricks, having been hunted himself for years. He found the first few bounties easily, killing those who refused to surrender.
Currently, Harden lives in a small townhouse in the Inner Ward. He only pursues the highest paying bounties now, and makes a comfortable living. His reputation has grown, and he has received many private bounty offers. He accepts them as long as he has the option to bring the fugitive back alive, but he will kill those who resist being brought in. He does not care what the person did to deserve a bounty. He may retire from this line of work in the future, but as for now, he is content to collect bounties.