Llyr Nightgold
Description
Llyr's good health practically seethes around him, leaving something of a suffused brightness about him. He stands a little under six feet tall, rangy rather than thick-hewed, and constantly in motion of some kind. His long fingers are nimble and movements precise, orchestrated with simmering deliberation. A sweep of shaggy, dark hair styled to fall across his brow with careless ease frequently defies his best efforts to style it, and the summer sun may bring out sparks of warmer chestnut brown rather than the uttermost tip of coffee darkness it normally possesses. He has a face that many find open and appealing, invigorated by a warm complexion that holds a tan better than most Northlanders. A dusting of a beard and mustache fill the hollows of his cheeks, shadows that gather thickest against the hard angles of his jaw and chin. His mouth is wide and gregarious, readily delivering a smile. But those strange, ghostly eyes of his are a shade of the stormy skies, neither blue or not grey, but something in between. They're an odd feature for a man so given to good moods, given they possess deep clarity.
Personality
Be amazed by the world. Take delight in every new discovery made. Those precious acquisitions are more worthy than heaps of silver and chests of aeterna or umbra. Llyr values experience, and the act of experiencing, higher than any physical goods. He takes the deepest joy in astronomy, his favourite pastime, and the stars speak to him of wonders and marvels little understood by people with their noses to the dirt, obsessed by steel and other forms of wealth. He has a vast, expansive curiosity in the whole of the world, a pioneering spirit burning in his chest hotter than any flame. Where others quail at the path not taken, he lovingly scribes is every curve and contour, drunk on the act of knowing. Much of Llyr's nature is idealistic, but he isn't a man with his head in the clouds. He tries to bring that vast swell of knowledge into material form, hammering down the curves of rivers and unknown shores on a map. Wherever is grey uncertainty, he brings clarity through diligent efforts. Precise labours are as comfortable for him as the wild daring of leaving port for places unknown.
Background
Llyr was born to a cadet line of the duchy of Nightgold, and pushed back in the succession with the birth of every subsequent child. In that security he took the greatest satisfaction, assured of the love of his parents and no need to push for their acceptance. A good thing, considering that he walked with his eye to the horizon or peering up among the stars. He could often be found in better weather staring at the sky, drawing patterns over the constellations.
He wasn't difficult as far as children went, but he tramped farther and wider, pursuing some kind of stories. His cousins could count on Llyr to ask what lay over the next hill or through that forest. Finding the answer satisfied him, acting as a stepping stone to the next. His love for the wilds was never in doubt, but traveling by sea to Arx as a child utterly enthralled him. The moment he saw the ocean, felt the boundless expanse of the sky, he knew peace like he never had before.
Any chance of Llyr spending his life at landlocked Stonedeep was lost that day. The entire trip to Arx he spent grilling sailors and captains of ships. A sheer fascination for cartography blended with astronomy made him hopelessly enamoured, and finally it was agreed that he might be permitted to master those arts. He studied with some of the best trackers and mapmakers in the Northlands, and after that, took to the sea. His adventures were footnotes to the act of discovery, the intoxication of every new isle and every fine bay. Soon enough he stopped being just an apprentice underfoot learning about charts and an expert in the field, the years flowing fast through his hands, and a welcome addition. His reputation was made by the time he was 20, and the past near decade he has spent in the finest crews weaving their routes through the Compact's seas and beyond. More than once he's brought home boats through peril, storm-tossed but alive, and they say he's favoured by Mangata.
It help he never stints Mangata her due, giving prayers and offerings. For the last many months he's been on a crew that came to Arx after Arthen Dayne, hunting their fortunes.
