SA | Alvaro| War-Forged | PERMANENTLY RETIRED

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Personality

Summary : Friendly giant with a big love for nature and poems.

  undemanding
Alvaro has grown up in the cold and harsh lands of Onea. He became used to the fact that abundance and luxury was something seldomly to find among the War-Forged. This friendly giant had never the ambition to own more than he need or hold more power than over his own life.

 courageous
All the years protecting and working on his fields made him strong. He is a big guy with enough brawn to kick the butts of horses or other animals that trample on his plants, and he will never hesitate to help someone in need.

 unimaginative
Val is more a realist than a dreamer. He sees no sense in reading fictional stories or create other types of art, except they are used to picture historical things, like a story or sculpture about the God’s War.
But at the end of the day he will never think about what he might could be or what dream about fantastic things that might happen to him. He lives in the here and now, not in a dream world.
An exception from this are poems. He just loves them and has a quite impressive collection of poem books.

 cheerfully & humorous
No matter how worse the harvest was, or how many rainy days he has to spend working in the cold, he will never loose his humour. Sometimes it is Black Humor but you will hardly never see this guy without at least the shadow of a smile on his face.
Last time a thief tried to steal some of his plants, he kicked his butt furiously and they send him home with a joke and a good-natured smile.

 Sociable
It’s no rare sight to see his little house at the shore bursting with life. He loves to have people around him and talks a lot, especially after one or two drinks. After the harvest, when he wanders around Onea to sell his goods, he will always visit some friends on the way. (And probably a few bars.)

 Stubborn
Alvaro takes his time to made a decision or opinion about someone or something, but once he made his choice, you will have a tough time to change it. This can get easily frustrating for the people around him.

 Unforgiving
Like mentioned, it is really hard to get this guy to display pure hatred or even upset him for more than a few short moments, but if you are able to wake his anger...congrats, you are probably one of the few people that he will treat unfriendly. Even after years Val will remember you - and he will do everything to make you remember him too.

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History

Summary

• Only child of a Hippocampus Medic mare and a Pegasus Scout stallion

• Protected Childhood

• Grown up on the shore at the Narrows

• Was into Raider training for one and a half year, until they sorted him out because of his unsuited character

• Chose his own way and became a farmer

• Owns a little house at the edge of a farmlands, at the shore of the forest edge

• Is one of the few Onean farmers that sells sea fruits (Market gab, woohoo)

• Learned about the existence of the Bloody Flank Clan when he was 17 years old

• On age 23 he married Luana to help her get away from her parents. Val und Luana get along very well, but their marriage is more platonic than everything else.

Foalhood

Alvaro was born into a loving, small family. His mother, Tallia, a Medic mare and a Hippocampus like himself, welcomed him into this world with a slightly tired but loving smile. She get’s never tired of reminding Val’s father on how nervous he was back then. They never had a foal before and the stallion was full of worry that something could go wrong, but both mare and colt were alright.
Tallia and her husband Gwaid, a Scout, are lucky to have a love marriage, even tho it was arranged by their parents.
They lived together in a small stone house at the shore of the narrows and Tallia used to plant all kinds of herbs, that could be useful for her job, in the garden behind the house. Val was eager to help his mother with the plants from the very beginning and his love for everything that grows was clearly visible to everyone .
Soon after Alvaro arrived into the world, one more horse moved into his parents house. It was his father's sister. Gwenn was a ,for her heavy breed, thin mare with a dull coat and sad eyes. In her youth she must have been a true beauty, but the death of her husband during the uprising of the Bloody Flank Clan had deprived every zest for life from her. Alvaro's parent’s invited her to move to their house so she won’t be alone anymore. Also they thought that it would be good for her to have a function again. They tasked her with taking care of Val during the day, when they both were at work.
Alvaro’s gentle temper was balm for the mourning mare's soul and the two soon formed a strong bond. They often went out for long strolls through the forest or along the coastline. Gwenn was also the one that awoke the love for poems in him and taught him how to read.

Teenage Years

The years passed and Val became stronger and bigger every day. His carefree life would soon come to an end, because it was time to choose his future rank and begin his education.
An old friend of Gwenn, a Raider, had visited the small family a few times throughout the years and declared that he would love to take Val as a apprentice. With his muscular body and strong stature he was almost perfect for the Raider rank. Almost. The family thanked him for his offer and promised to think about this generous offer.
After the Raider left, Gwenn immediately protested against it. Alvarohad a too gentle heart to be one of this bloodthirsty warriors and his parents had doubt too. But they knew that it would be more than outrageous to deny such an offer, for  it only seldomly happens that a Raider offered himself voluntarily to take an apprentice. They blamed Gwenn's grief about her death husband for her resolute rejection of the Raiders offer, and decided to accept it.
Alvaro was given into the Raiders guardianship and started his training.
Unfortunately it became soon more than obvious that Val was more than a little bit inappropriate for this rank.
But Raiders are stubborn and so his teacher tried everything to shape the young colt into a brave fighter. The colt was a quick learner and had the potential to become a great Raider, but he was missing the right temper. He was to gentle and became easily distracted because he found the long lessons about weapons and fight strategies boring.
After one and a half year the stallion resigned and gave up on him. Alvaro was sent home again to his slightly disappointed parents and a more than happy aunt. With a snappy “I told you so” towards his parents, Gwenn welcomed him cheerfully.
It didn’t took him long to choose a new way. From his early childhood on he loved everything that grows and so he decided to become a farmer. His parents eventually agreed and let him go his own way. They helped him build his own little house at the shore on the edge of the farmlands, near the forest and to plant his first crops. His aunt stayed quiet a while until she was sure that he would manage to get along on his own. Both his parents and his aunt visit him regularly.
The young stallion really blossomed in his new task and got never tired of inventing new things that will make his crops grow bigger and better. After some time he also got the idea of planting sea fruit and after some experimental tries he managed to succeed. The sea fruit turned out to be a good source of income and in particular a very welcomed market gab.

When Val was around 17 years old, he went out on a dark and stormy day, to look after the crops he planted underwater. The sea was raging and the plants still young, so he wanted to make sure that they won’t be damaged.
As he swam through Cascade’s dark depths, suddenly a strange movement,in the corner of his eye, caught his attention. It was an equine's body. The strumming with which the horse tried to keep itself over water became slower every second and after some moments the movement stopped fully and the body started to sink.
The young stallion immediately rushed into action and carried the body back on the surface and all the way back to his little house. From his mother he had learned a lot about healing and herbs and he used to have a small field with those herbs in his garden. He quickly went out to gather some of them and made some tea out of it. Slowly his “guest”, a grey mare, woke up, probably because of the strong smell of the herbs. She didn’t seemed scared, but rather angry and repellent. It took Val some time, but his friendly temper seemed to have a calming affect on her and slowly but surely she relaxed and he could even convince her to take a sip on the tea. She started to tell him why she was out in the water on such a stormy day and where she came from. The mare even told him her name, Rose.

She stayed a few days and when she left he gave her a saddlebag full of food, because even if she tried to cover the bad situation of her Clan, Alvaro noticed how thin she was back then.
They parted in friendship and every now and then they meet, and when they do, it always goes the same way. Val brings some food and Rose tries to convince him to join the Flanks. She knows that he won’t join her clan as much as he knows that she will accept his offer of food every time, even if she always tries to decline the offer at the beginning.  

Adulthood

The years passed and things turned into a routine. Val will plant the first sea fruits when he sees the first sign of spring and a few weeks later the land crops will follow. He sells his goods throughout the whole year at his home and once the last harvest of the year is over he will pack up the majority of his harvest and start his annual trek through Onea. He will sell his food on the way and visit some friends. Alvaro will visit his family for a few weeks every winter and helps wherever he is needed.
Only two years ago, a change happened to his life. Out of nowhere the parents of a young mare approached him with the question if he would marry their daughter. Val was quite surprised by this offer, because he neither knew the daughter nor the parents very well. They sometimes bought some food from him, but that was it. He asked to speak with their daughter, Luana first, before he would make any decision. They agreed and so the stallion found himself in the very awkward situation of asking the mare why her parents were trying to marry her to him. He could see all the anger and frustration in her and after some time she opened up and told him about her situation. Her parents were always trying to control every single second of her life and she started to rebel against them. To get her back under control they planned to marry her to a stallion of their choice. They must have talked for hours and in the end Val and Luana found a conclusion that worked for both of them. Alvaro offered her to agree to the marriage to help her get away from the watchful eye of her parents and she took his offer with relief.
Vals parents and aunt were pretty surprised and confused too when they heard about his wedding plans, but he eventually told them the truth about it and even if they are not fully agree to his plan, they accepted it.

After some time the marriage of convenience worked out quite well. Val and Luana shared their love for all growing things and they soon forged a strong friendship - but no love. The mare is still free to leave every time to explore more from Onea and he will agree without hesitation to divorce if she ever met someone she could truly love.
So basically his life didn’t changed that much at all. From time to time Luana spend a few weeks in his house and then leaves again to travel. 

In Game History

(didn't participated in Chapter 1-3)

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Familiar

name: Cielo
species: Tibetan Mastiff
shoulder height: 73 cm
coat color: wight
character: loyal | overly protective | territorial | intelligent | aggressive towards strangers

Alvaro found Cielo as a pup during his annual trek through Onea. It looked like an polar bear cup and he decided to take him home, since it's mother was nowhere to find. 
Back at home it didn't took Alvaro to long to figure out that it wasn't a bear, but a dog. 

Other (Trivia)

Favorites

Season: Spring. The first warm sunrays after a harsh and cold winter are always a salvation for every Forged. Val loves to watch the nature come to live again. He loves the bright green colors of the new leaves and the colorful wildflowers.
Element: Water, for an obvious reason. As a Hippocampus he prefers water over earth. It’s always different, even if you watch the same spot every day. Sometimes it’s just bright blue, mirroring the cloudless sky. On other days it’s dark, almost black, with raging waves.
Activity: Traveling. Alvaro's goods additionally.
He sells food throughout the whole year, but his hike starts after the last harvest of land-vegetables of the year.

Likes

Rainy Days. He loves water in every form and Val really prefers rainy days over hot and sunny ones. It may seem odd, but you can often watch him standing at the shore in the rain, starring, completely lost in his thoughts, at the dark water. He probably has a poem in mind or is just about to create a new one.
Poems: Literally everything about nature and life. All poems that deals with water and the mountains are his favorites.
Good Company: Alvaro's door is always open for friends and every wanderer who comes across his humble home. You will be greeted with something good to eat, a few amusing stories and a comfortable place to sleep for the night. Val really enjoys to be surrounded by people and get’s easily lonely if no one is around.
Pegasi. He loves the partly vibrant and beautiful colors of their feathers and the sight of them flying seemingly effortlessly at the sky. Val asks every Pegasus that is a guest in his house to gift him one of their feathers. Most of them agree mildly amused. Besides his collection of poem books he also has a great collection of feathers.

Dislikes

Apanas. After he woke up one day and found a whole herd of Apanas exterminating his whole field of crops, he has a deeply rooted hatred for this cute animals. He immediately tried to invent new methods to keep animals away from his field.
Heat Waves. Alvaro is blessed ( or during summer cursed) with an extremely thick coat that keeps him warm during the icy Onean winters. But with this warm fuer it can be a torture to work hours on the fields in scorching temperatures.
Misbehavior. It can’t be asked too much to have everyone treat each other politely and with respect, right? Val hates rude and cruel behavior.
Drugs. Alvaro dislikes all kinds of drugs, except alcohol. They only damage your body and he sees no sense in consuming them.