Dularay Starshot

Appearance

Dularay is a human, 21 years of age and rather youthful (a fact he's quite proud of.) With fair skin and soft dark brown hair he keeps at a medium length. He has icy grey eyes and is rather thin, being 150 pounds and 5 foot 8 inches tall.

He wears rather fine clothes, often seen with a cloak of his favorite color, sky blue. Although his family's color is Cerulean, he always favored the lighter shade of blue which evoked a sense of freedom. it has since come to remind him that for as great as he is, he's but a pale, faded member of a great and noble family.

He also prides himself on generally speaking in a more refined way than most the people in the caravan, though it often comes across as arrogant, and has landed the group in some trouble, a fact that he greatly regrets. Still though, his tongue has a tendency for snark and bark, though he tries to reign it in.

Skills

Dularay is a master marksman, favoring a bow in battle, though he can also hit his mark with other weapons like daggers. While he began his adventure with a standard longbow, after his run in with the Caravan blacksmith, he obtained (through intimidation, which still doesn't quite sit well with him) a shortbow with a modification to equip blades allowing it to brandished as a double sided sword in combat, perfectly marrying the favored battle style of his family (swordplay) and his own (archery) and allowing him to be a potent force at both close and long range. This bow he has dubbed "The Comet" as an allusion to his heritage and the fact he views himself as the child who was destined to fly so far and burn away his family ties, much like a comet streaking across the sky.

While he prefers to attack from a distance for his own safety, he is also skilled at close combat, able to brandish a dagger at close range, and now his newly acquired bow blade.

In addition to his physical capabilities, Dularay also has some magical capabilities, thanks to his studies as a child. While not particularly impressive, he can cast minor healing spells, as well as some other druid spells allowing him to communicate with animals, hide his presence, and lay traps (all learned for hunting.) Since adventuring, he's improved his magical prowess somewhat, to the point he can conjur animal spirits.

Summary

Had a well rounded upbringing due to his position as the eldest child of his family, which included an introduction to magic, swordplay, literature, hunting, and riding, among other things. However, while he did well in his studies, he lacked the drive to excel. Of his various subjects, archery was the one he held the most natural talent in.

Dularay believes an easy life is his by birthright. He trives to simply amass enough wealth to provide himself with a comfortable life, that won't require any particular effort or skill on his part. Placing himself first, he's hard to befriend as a result, but once one does, he'll hold them in high regard, almost as equals. Also, while he looks out for himself primarily, he will attempt to return any favors if possible.

History

His family was granted lordship after an ancestor, a Knight, helped secure a victory in an ancient war, leading his troops to victory. His archery skills were particularly noteworthy, earning him the name "Starshot," which became his family's name. Despite this, most his descendants favored the blade as their weapon of choice.

Now they govern their land, their chief livestock being the many sheep of the valley. Dularay grew up watching them graze from his bedroom window, envying their carefree life, and admiring their oddly cute (for a beast) faces.

The land his family governs, The Cerrula Valley, is a small valley nestled between two mountains. It is a slightly chilly place, mostly covered in green pastures and dotted with small woods, in which he was trained to track and hunt.

As the son of the lord of the Valley and next in line to rule, he was however considered unfit due to his lack of motivation, and challenged to the right to succeed as heir to the house by a more driven younger brother. After being bested in a duel of blades, he was cast out and his sibling became the next in line.

While he doesn't mind not having to deal with the responsibilities of governing, he still desires the status and comfort he enjoyed as a member of the nobility. As such, he wandered with the dream of finding a way to once more enjoy an easy life. Utilizing the skills he gained during his education, he eked out a meager life, but found himself unsuited to the life of a commoner, and thus had a difficult time finding a place in society. He further had to deal with prejudices based upon his previous failures.

Eventually, running out of options, he found a carnival in need of a marksman. Swallowing his pride, he joined with them. No one knew of his lost station, and he hoped to keep it that way until he could find somewhere more comfortable to start his life.

Bonds

At the start of his adventure, Dularay bears some sentimentality towards his family, or more specifically their status. However having been cast out, he no longer has any real bonds, and has walled himself off as a result.

However, as he began adventuring with Enoch, Arkoa, and Arturu, he's begin to open up little by little, especially after learning all his fellow travelers lacked and longed for a real family. While he's unsure if his family truly cared for him, or merely did so out of obligation to him as the firstborn and heir to the house name, it made him feel grateful for his family regardless of their motivations, and pity towards his companions, to the point of trying to answer their questions as to what it was like to have parents.

At the beginning, due to his ego, he considered himself something of a babysitter--or rather, due to his background-- a shepherd, keeping them alive simply due to not wanting to have to deal with explaining how they ended up dead. As he got to know the others though, he has lessened on this stance, seeing them closer to equals and warriors who can not only take care of their selves, but also be relied upon.

Arkoa

Dularay has a fair amount of respect for Arkoa, which began when the gladiator single handedly cut down an incoming wolf. Upon learning his name, and recognizing him as a gladiator of great renown among the nobles, this respect only grew, as his brothers often argued over who got to be Arkoa in their pretend fights. Despite not caring for the games himself-as he found them rather barbaric-he knew Arkoa to be a worthy warrior, and one that would make a terrible enemy. This respect only grew as they battled together, with Arkoa cleaving many a foe, tanking impressive attacks, and even saving Dularay's life.

He also secretly relates to Arkoa, for his fascination with Rhinos, which is similar to his love of Sheep.

Samuel the Splendid / Enoch

Dularay initially greatly distrusted Enoch, known to him then as Samuel. Growing up in the nobility, Dularay saw many performers who made over the top displays while lacking anything of actual substance. Going so far as to refer to him (and Durn) as Jesters, he had no interest in getting to know the charlatans and their cheap tricks. However, when Durn's disappearance forced them to work together, Dularay eventually came around to the mage, seeing that he actually had the power to back up his over the top bravado.

Still, while he's learned that there's a great deal more to the man, he still often annoys Dularay with his ability to land the group in trouble, whether by picking a fight with the Caravan's blacksmith, meddling with Brom's dark books (though they later turned out to be relatively harmless) or telling the emissary of the Metalic Dragons their goals were akin to genocide.

Enoch's flirtatious ways also make Dularay roll his eyes frequently. Partially because he finds it to be normally over the top and out of place, and partially because it reminds him of the time he flirted with an elf boy only to be embarrassed by his father and court.

Arturu

Dularay took the longest to come around to Arturu, who he found pathetic, and most in need of his shepherding. Arturu, dubbed butterfingers by his companions, was generally unreliable in the first few battles, missing key shots and even ruining their attempt to sneak up on Brom. He also looked down on him as an inferior archer, particularly for his use of crossbows, which he believes lack the elegance of a hand drawn bow.

He began to come around upon learning Arturu was an orphan, and felt some pity. As the two ran the archery booth together, Dularay had a bad shot and missed his mark, which greatly angered him as he knew he was better than that. Upon losing the archery contest to a random boy, Arturu told him that "sometimes we win by seeing the smiles." This made Dularay feel some disgust towards himself for being so selfish about something so small. The two bonded some over the next two days of running the booth together.

While Dularay still takes delight in the many minor misfortunes that befall the rather timid and clumsy man, he's come to respect him, knowing he's not as brave as he makes himself out to be.

After Arturu took on a magical burn to save Arkoa, a thing he himself could not bring himself to do, his regard for the man grew considerably.

GRD-AA77053

A gigantic chicken the group uses as a mount. Dularay finds the beast oddly charming and has dubbed him "Sir Reginald Cluckinstein the 3rd," a name befitting one he would ride into battle.

Bartoma

Initially quite wary of Bartoma, he quickly became captivated by the Djinn's whimsical personality, kind disposition, and wisdom, respecting him a great deal.

Dularay has, along with his other companions earned a wish from Bartoma. He's narrowed down what to wish for to a few things, though he has yet to say what it could be.

Roddonerik Starshot

Dularay's father and the current head of the House Starshot which govern's the Cerrula valley. The two have a very strained relationship arising from Dularay's want for an easygoing life, and Roddonerik's desire for him to carry on the responsibility of the Starshot name.

Kaysten Starshot

Dularay's younger brother who challenged him to the right to be the head of household, and bested him in a clash of blades. Of Dularay's many siblings, he's the only one he doesn't get along with, referring to him as a "large, empty headed bafoon" and remarking that he must be a bastard half sibling as there's no way he could be directly related to such a clown.

Additional Trivia

Dularay does not drink alchohal, believing it to be the fool's drink.

Dularay secretly hopes that if he were to become a war hero, the masses would think him a reincarnation of the legendary hero Turmon 'Starshot' Herder.

Dularay admires elves, who he believes to be beautiful, perhaps the only ones surpassing his own good looks. He would gladly enter into a relationship with one given the chance. He even flirted with an elven boy who was with a traveling group of performers who visited his court. This brought up concerns on his ability to produce an heir when the time would come.

Dularay has an odd code of honor, that often forces him to help others against his wishes. While he doesn't believe he needs to do anything so mundane as "good deeds," he hates the thought of ever owing anyone anything, whether because they did something for him, or because he could have done something easily to help them. Still, given a choice between someone else and himself, without a strong personal bond, he'll choose himself.