Roland Valiant
Name: Roland Valiant
Concept: Idle-rich Nobleman/Mercenary
Player: Bossmuff (see below)
Quote: “What use is money if you can’t have fun with it?!”
Story: Roland is – was – a member of one of the noble Wendinian families. Even in those happier times, he was a bit of a restless one; having little care for court politics, he became obsessed with military endeavors. With nothing else to do, Roland could devote all his time to carousing with soldiers and generals, participating in training exercises and studying the remarkable Knightmare Frames. It was here that he met Commander Archibald Portar, and his young son, Matthias.
When the invasion of Otora was conceived, Roland was overjoyed – he secretly sank gratuitous amounts of money into the invasion, funding the training of Frame pilots and making sure that the Wendians were staffed with a well-trained, well-armed fighting force. Matthias Portar was one of the trainees, and served admirably on the initial forays into Otora. None of them knew of their secret benefactor.
However, while Roland’s contributions were by no means insignificant, they were not enough to ensure victory, and the war’s momentum reversed. Annoyed at what he considered the ‘failure’ of his people, Roland bailed out, and stole a significant degree of equipment and manpower at the same time. Luckily for his men, Roland remembered them, and several proficient pilots and officers were no-where to be found as the Otorans crushed the depleted forces – leading to the deaths of thousands of Wendinians. Archibald Porter died due to reinforcements suddenly…. disappearing. Not knowing of Roland’s involvement in the war, Matthias swore revenge against the Otorans, and escaped to plan his revenge.
Meanwhile, Roland managed to save most of his family fortune before the torches arrived, as the expense of his family members – and even managed to ‘save’ several other families’ riches as well. This made him realize the lucrative nature of war, and prompted him to organize into a mercenary company. Dubbed ‘the Red Wolves of Wendia’ (not a typo), this group hires itself out to the highest bidder, taking any job as long as it’s a) lucrative and b) fun.
Roland keeps the exact nature of his family a secret, though he tends to possess an aristocratic flair in his speech, along with an embarrassing foppishness. He’s never without his two best friends and assistants, Ryan and Rothland, who generally serve as an entourage and background comic relief. He’s mostly been having fun as mercenary, but has lately been annoyed by a face from his past – Matthias Portar, now a mercenary and freedom fighter. While he doesn’t seem to take offense to Roland’s un-nationalistic approach, he has pursued a competition with his father’s old friend, trying to show up him and his minions wherever possible. Roland is sure he knows nothing about his betrayal, but doesn’t want him finding out and making the competition too serious…
Roland has no personal preference as to Otora or Wendin – he considers himself independent, and really will support anyone who can convince him that it’s more entertaining and profitable to join.
Attributes
Pilot: 3 (Mobile Melee)
Physical: 4 * (Disabling Strikes) +1 Melee
Charisma: 2 (Flair)
Command: 3 * (Elan)
Technology: 1
Wise: 3 (Playing Dumb, Preparedness) +1 Unexpected Necessities
Conspiracy: 4 * (Bribes) +1 Preparation
Mecha: 3 (‘Acquiring’ Cutting-edge tech)
Powers: 3 * (Keeps Coming Back)
Traits
Martial Artist
Purse of Holding
Paranoid
Merits
Insanely Rich: 2
Part of Group: 1
Toudou Rangers: 3
Those Two Guys: 0
Powers
Passive Luck
Ignore Pain
Intuition
Limit Break
I Understand Completely
Shounen Toughness
Flaws
Excitable: -1
Dark Secret: -2 (Heavily financed the war on Otora, then pulled out when it looked like they were losing)
Rival: -1 (Matthias Portar)
Plot of Damacles: -1 (The dead don’t forget…)
- = Flaw-modified stat
Note: If this character is suitable, I'll play this instead of St. Stephenburg.