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A Prodigal from the Mourning Isles, Claude is rather private about much of his history. This much seems to be true: once upon a time, he was a shav carpenter with a family. His tribe's village was one of the many that fell to the Gyre, and whatever family he had was lost. He made it to Arx during the Silent War, but moved on quickly enough to Old Oak after befriending Dame Zhayla, House Deepwood's Sword. It was the tragic death of that same friend that eventually brought him back to Arx, seemingly renewed in his desire to do some good amidst all of the dangers facing the world. At least as much as a quiet, artistically-minded carpenter can do. He'll make a start by joining the Faith's disciple ranks as a Liberator of Skald, serve as a vassal of House Deepwood, and go from there.

Claude has the lean, athletic build of a crafter who spends his days shaping the world into what he needs it to be. Dark hair is kept close-cropped on the sides, but left a bit longer on top in a messy, thick wave. He lacks the classic, square-jawed hero's handsomeness -- ears a little too prominent, nose not quite long enough -- but there is certainly appeal in the dramatic shade of dark brows, the warm brown eyes that almost glint amber in certain lights, a charm to his features that's more boyish than anything else, despite the full, thick beard he keeps well-groomed. His hands are rather beautiful, either because or in despite of the marks and scars that strongly indicate a lifetime of working with them. Large and strong, his long fingers hold a grace and dexterity that suggests not just strength, but the potential for delicacy and elegance.

People react to grief and trauma in a countless variety of ways. Claude is a man whose experiences have made him gentler and more empathetic to the world around him. He is someone who knows that he avoided a very brutal fate, and holds on to that fact as a responsibility to do what he can for others. In another life, he was warm and friendly and even gregarious; now he is finding out which of those parts of himself still exist and which have grown into something else. He is a fairly private person, and his attempts to reach outward into the world instead of remain inside himself as still new, a bit hesitant, and occasionally fumbling, but there's a core of earnest desire to do better to the world than it has done to him, and deeper still is a fiercer steel that rarely makes it to the surface.