Ambrose Duren
"I want to conquer fate and I don't
think I'm the only one excited by the thought."
- Ambrose (he's kinda cheesy, fair warning)
The Basics
Name: Ambrose Duren Nickname: TBD
Gender: Male (He/Him) Age: 28
Species: Wolf Shifter
The Physical
Height: 6'3" Weight: 230lbs
Hair Color: Blonde Eye Color: Blue
Physical Description:
Ambrose's human form is very much the traditional vision of 'attractive'. With blonde hair, blue eyes and a strong jaw line, he's easy on the eyes.
The impressive, shiny armor tends to help in that regard, though it does draw a good deal of unwanted attention, as well. That said, one would have to pry the armor from his cold dead hands to get him to part ways with the whole gaudy affair, as it was gifted to him by a dear friend, Aratiri, when he chose to leave his home to travel the continent. She said something about him not letting himself become some monster's chew toy, when he first received it.
Apparently bright and shining armor is great for NOT attracting monsters out in the wild... right?
Tall and well built, Ambrose clocks in at 6'3" and 230 lbs of toned muscle. Lugging around that heavy armor, sword and shield does wonder for a person's figure.
Back during his days in Duren, when the House would host parties and the like, he would often be spotted on the arm of some beautiful woman or another, always of noble stature, looking rather bored with the whole affair. As a member of the House of Duren, he was always expected to make an appearance, no matter how droll he found such events to be.
Alternate Form:
Ambrose's original form is an average sized wolf with black fur. He's not massive like the Dire Wolves, or incredibly fast or strong. Just an average wolf of average build.
[Left: Ambrose's general appearance][Right: the unfortunate set of armor he wears]
Under the Hood
Personality:
Ambrose is not quite the boy scout his knightly visage makes him out to be, but he isn't that far off, either. He certainly has the moral compass of a knight, as well as that mind-numbingly irritating need to always help those in need. Quite the upstanding citizen of whatever country or territory he is currently visiting.
Despite that fact, Ambrose sheds the facade when in a less formal setting, with friends or when he's traveling through the wilds. The real Ambrose is witty, intelligent and has a strong sense of humor.
That said, he can easily slip between the two- cracking pointed jokes at his friends one moment, then properly asking a lady to dance the next. Ambrose is a social chameleon, in his own right, and is well acquainted with the intricacies of court, as well as the plight of those who live with more... meager wages.
Having been on the road for three years now, he's spent his fair share of time bunking with those who would house him -whether they be rich, poor or somewhere in between- or simply camping out in the wild when he couldn't find shelter. Ambrose has heard many stories of the inequalities and injustices wrought upon people with less than. Several beggars have even turned thief, trying to rob him of his expensive-looking armor over the years, proving the stories of their desperation to be true.
Skills:
Outside of his weapon based skills, Ambrose is most notably skilled in the following: persuasion, intimidation, climbing, riding (horse and dragon), battle strategy and survival (hunting/foraging/tracking/fire making/building temporary shelters/etc.).
Magical Education:
As a half-Shifter, Ambrose has no true potential for magic, unlike the elves, Keshar and humans. However, his ability to shift between forms is a powerful magic in its own right. Though he has had no formal education in regards to his shifting, he has learned much from a childhood spent with his mother, a true Shifter.
Technically, even though he lacks the ability to tap into the arcane in any capacity other than his shifting, Ambrose's affinity would be Earth, as he is a creature of magic down to his core. One of the rare hybrids born of man meddling with mother nature, or vice versa.
All of that said- while it's not your traditional magic and its more of a perk of his natural form, Ambrose is able to utilize his wolven senses, even when wearing his human face.
Weapons Training:
Very much the traditional knight or paladin, Ambrose is quite skilled with sword and shield. On top of that, however, he has had to compensate for his lack of magic by mastering ranged and melee weapons alike. That said, Ambrose is also skilled in the use of bow and arrow. He prefers a shortbow, but is more than capable of using a longbow, as well.
The sword Ambrose wields is of dwarven make, and has a low level enchantment that allows it to glow in dim light, or utter darkness, if he chooses to activate it. It was a gift from his father, that he received upon his initiation into the Dragon Knights. Given the intricate design and the enchantment, it likely cost an arm and a leg. Other than that, it's just a normal sword, though Ambrose takes good care of it and the blade is awfully sharp.
Vulnerabilities:
Generally speaking, Ambrose's greatest vulnerability is that he is mortal, and able to die of age if nothing gets him first. In more direct terms, he is unable to utilize traditional magic and has no resistance to it. That said, he must rely on the strength of his own two hands (or four paws?) to get things done.
On top of that, he is a wolf in human form. Though Ambrose was raised in a -mostly- human family, and human society, he tends to lose himself to his primal urges on occasion. Mostly just hunger at this point, as he has learned to control the others to an extent.
For example, if he goes too long without eating, the wolf will take over and hunt down his next meal, causing him to wake from his stupor covered in the blood of some poor creature, deep in some patch of woods or another. Sometimes this can get him into trouble, if the wolf happens to pounce on a farmer's livestock or some poor domesticated dog or cat.
Society Info
Guild Affiliations:
As a traveler seeking out the greatest mysteries and most interesting people and creatures the continent of Eos has to offer, one would assume Ambrose would be drawn to the Adventurer's Guild. And they wouldn't be wrong. At first, he was. Ambrose even went as far as applying to join the guild, before he learned of an expedition they had attempted in the Dire several years prior, in which many of the trees and Dryads on the outskirts of the forest had been harmed and even killed for barring the party's entry into the wood. It was their home, and they had the right to be territorial, but they were cut down for impeding the adventurers involved. The expedition ultimately failed, but it had left its mark on the Dire as well as a bad taste in Ambrose's mouth upon learning of it. He backed out of his application soon after, making his disapproval of the guild's actions well known during his interview with Sendra and Fayeth, the guild's leaders.
Contacts:
[The House of Duren] Born to the House of Duren, he knows the members well. Even though he has no claim to a seat on the Council, due to his general lack of magic, he bares no ill will toward his father's family. Ambrose does have a close connection with his parents, siblings, several cousins, his Aunt Aanya, and his nieces and nephews.
[The House of Katolis] Related through the marriage of his Aunt Aanya and King Ezran Katolis. While he's not terribly close to much of the extended family, Ambrose is acquainted with those who are close to his Aunt, including the esteemed King Ezran. Although, he would be hard pressed to ask any of them for a favor, even if the situation was dire. If his actions reflected poorly on his Aunt, he would be ridden with guilt.
[Pack Gévaudan] Ambrose's family on his mother's side. Though the pack is small and they are not all technically related by blood, they are strong and have connections to a few of the Earthbound elders in Ellesméra. Griselda, Ambrose's mother, was the first of her pack to learn to shift, but she was not the last. What she learned she passed on to the others, so they could survive on their own, when she and Azur left the Dire to be married in the heart of Duren. When asked for a surname for the documents, she provided the name Gévaudan. Though it was a simple name thought up on the spot, the pack has used it ever since. Griselda took Ambrose to visit the dire many times during his childhood, to show him her family and home.
[The Dragon Knights Of Duren] Ambrose is a veteran Dragon Knight. An ex-Dragon Knight, at least. Ambrose occupied their ranks for ten years reaching the rank of Captain, and earning his own squad, before relinquishing his position as well as his mount, in order to travel abroad. While he loved his job, and wishes to return to the ranks of the Dragon Knights one day, Ambrose plans to spend some time traveling the continent on his own- whether it be on two legs or four.
[The Moon Dragon Aratiri] Ambrose sat atop Aratiri for ten years, before they parted ways. Having fought many battles together, and shared countless meals, the two grew close. In many ways, Aratiri is Ambrose's best friend, one he has missed dearly over the course of his travels. Of course he offered for her to join him when he decided to leave the Knights, but Aratiri chose to stay. Dragon anatomy doesn't accommodate the writing of letters, so Ambrose sends his own along with any relic or keepsake he believes she would like, to be delivered to Aratiri on occasion, without expecting anything in return.
The Juicy Bits
Backstory:
Ambrose was born to the powerful House of Duren, on his father's side. Azur Duren, second son of Alexander Duren -the current head of House Duren and master of the Mage's Guild- was a powerful druid in his prime, and was seen as a savant even as a child. Drawn to the dire and the Earth Primal residing there at the ripe age of ten, Azur made his home deep in the wood, where he surrounded himself with nature and basked in the power of the primal.
After a few years in the Dire, Azur had made many friends among the wildlife, his favorite of which was a wolf with a dark, black coat of fur that he had taken to calling Griselda.
By the age of fifteen, Azur had spent five years in the Dire, studying the forest and the ancient magic hidden deep within. Magic that could turn animal to man. By that point, Griselda had grown close to the Druid, even living at his side like the Dire Wolves and the Earthbound Elves. They were companions, and the best of friends. So, of course, upon discovering and mastering this magic, Azur granted the ability to shift to Griselda.
It took the wolf-turned-woman two years to become used to shifting back and forth, as well as get a grasp on human language. But, eventually, teacher and student would turn to husband and wife, when Azur and Griselda migrated back to the human nation of Duren to be wed.
Not long after, Griselda bore their children. She gave birth in wolf form to a litter of five pups, naming the oldest of the lot Ambrose.
The five siblings were all talented in their own right, but Ambrose was a prodigy when it came to shifting. Born a wolf, or more accurately a wolf shifter, he had to learn to transform into a human. Fortunately, however, while his mother was a true wolf who then learned to shift, he was a hybrid between man and wolf, so he was born with the ability. He just needed to learn to tap into it.
The young wolf mastered the ability by the age of five, at which point he started tutoring under several different members of the esteemed Duren family. His father, Azur, attempted to teach him the ways of magic, while his Aunt Aanya trained him in the art of swordplay and archery. Of course, he had his studies as well, taught by his grandfather, Alexander. The Archmage was busy as the head of the Council and the Mage's Guild, but he always made sure to make time in his schedule to bestow his wisdom upon the younglings of the Duren clan. There was a classroom and everything. One that Ambrose hated, of course. Being a natural born wolf, he much preferred the outdoors.
Ambrose, despite his lack of magic, was deemed skilled enough to join the ranks of the Dragon Knights at the ripe young age of fifteen. So, he said his farewells and set out to train. Ambrose showed great promise, one of the top recruits in his class, so he was granted the privilege of observing a real battle when the time came, so he could study the way the knights fought. And study he did.
Eight years later, Ambrose had made the rank of Captain, earning his first command of his own squad.
Despite all of this, out in public he could hear people whispering of him as the failure of house Duren. A grandson of the Archmage, who couldn't use magic. He ignored it the best he could and kept working as hard as he ever had.
Two years later, at the age of twenty five and his tenth year in the ranks of the Dragon Knights, he relinquished his position, in hopes of traveling the continent at least once before he settled down to a life in Duren, and maybe a family of his own.
For the last three years, Ambrose has been traveling, seeing the sights and meeting the people of the various territories. So far, he's traveled through the Dire, Xadia and Valeria.
Ambrose has spent the last year or so in Valeria, getting to know the family his Aunt Aanys married into, as well as exploring the nation in his spare time.
