Mistborn: The Inquisition

Matthias
Skaa Rioter

Player Information
Name/Handle: Who... Me?
OoC Account: Lyrebon
Contact Information:

Character Information
Name: Matthias
Type: Skaa
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Place of Origin: Unknown
Occupation: Soldier (former) / Informant
Relationship Status: Complicated

Powers
-Type: Rioter
-Metal(s) Used: Zinc
-Degree of Skill: Adept (between Novice and Intermediate)
-Status: Hidden / Known to Kaled Valoren

Appearance: Matthias has a rather rough build. He is considered a bearded brute, with muscles to match the expected devastation he causes in a fight, even round-house tavern brawls. Of dark hair kept long, and large beard scraggly most of the time. Despite the robust features of his face; rounded nose, broken at the bridge, hard brows like he was frowning, he can appear gentle, almost fatherly, when he smiles.

He appears to have an under-bite, but this is a common expression of thoughtfulness and a habit of his. Matthias' expressions are easy to observe and he lacks in subtlety, openly displaying his emotions. Except when teasing someone he can manage to hold back a large sneer but still appears to be struggling to contain his amusement.
His blue eyes are the one offsetting thing to Matthias' brutish image and would look better on a porcelain noble than a hot tempered skaa.

Special Skills: His skill with hand axes are incredible - able to correctly judge weight and motion of them to be a deadly combatant, even for highly skilled opponents.

Despite his appearance he's able to gain favour in the skaa community relatively easily. His ability to socialise and draw people in is one of his greatest assets, even if his lingo is rather coarse.

Strengths: He implies intimidation, even without Rioting, but can be a very affable man which makes him great as both an enforcer, and a spy. On the one hand is a great fighter and a formidable foe, while on the other rests a more placated talker.

He very much enjoys conversation, being as gregarious as he is, and is a fine conversationalist able to identify the change in people's voices and posture.

Weaknesses: While he might be a socialite, Matthias is easy to rouse into a brawl. He is more than happy to swing his fists (or axe) at people for no more than being insulted. A brawl to him is a piece of fun.

This is obviously a problem in Luthadel where Kaled is often having to drag him away before officials show up to detain the trouble makers.

His Allomancy is pretty noticeable too, not being one for subtlety in things he deems unnecessary. Though he hates to admit, Rioting has proved useful in combat plenty of times. Though he has managed to hide his Allomantic powers because the people that know are either Kaled or dead.

Personality: Personality: Matthias has always been a cheerful person, at least as Kaled knows him. Even faced with the prospect of death he would anticipate the thrill of battle and welcome the challenge of his mortality. He likes to prove his skill in combat and feels frustrated that, in Luthadel, he's had to restrain himself; all the while thirsting for battle.

He is a very gregarious person to the people that know his gentle side. But to all others he is as intimidating as an obligator with his size. A stare from Matthias could make a rock wet itself. Though he is cajoled into a brawl way too easily.

Despite an overt tendency to run his mouth, getting into fights, and being bored with anything that doesn't involve swinging an axe at someone, attention to detail intrigues Matthias as much as staring at his axe and wondering if blood was any shade other than red.

Oddly, he developed a strong relationship with Kaled to the point he is considered a confidante by both Kaled and - on Kaled's word - Garren. Though Garren holds back certain details, Matthias is able to sniff them out but has yet to release that knowledge to anyone, even Kaled.

History: Nobody knows where Matthias was born. He himself has confessed he never knew his mother and father. Only that he was found left by the door of an underground skaa crew in Belinsk. Taken in and raised by them, Matthias learned the difficulty of a thieving crew and how to survive the streets. He became proficient in many methods of combat at an early age, impressing his tutors with his skill at the axe and - when his tutor insisted he study more "punile weapons" - knives. Bigger was better for Matthias; anything that could draw the most blood and he developed large muscles to compensate the weight of his weapons.

The crew leader, Sovorn, saw the potential in Matthias at a young age. His combat abilities and keen eye to notice what others missed made him ideal as an enforcer and spy. Not less his capabilites as a Rioter.

Matthias Snapped at a relatively young age for no other reason than his own temperement forcing out the power. Sovorn joking he must have scared it out of its restraints, to which Matthias only grinned. Matthias wasn't even sure himself when he started burning since there was any number of moments a skaa growing up in the slums could Snap. The crew never beat him as punishment, but brawls were a common way to settle disputes and Matthias had a problem with keeping his tongue still.

Always toying with the idea that he could pull on people's emotions, make them sweat more under the collar, the Allomancy was inseperable from his normal motivations. Provoked by the crude imagination of unsettling them beyond what his aesthetics set up, he imagined emotion to be a set of strings he could lift up like a marionette.

The only difference came with a loss of apetite when he'd been "imagining" pulling on emotion a lot. He had to do something to entertain his mind at these boring meetings. Though observing the opposition for relevent exploits was always paramount, the mind still wandered. The idea of pulling on people's panic was of much amusement when he recalled, to the crew members, the lack of noble and merchant backbones.

Worrying he was ill, Sovorn had the crew doctor look him over, despite protests his appetite was only misplaced. Nothing seemed amiss and he was proclaimed healthy. But still the problem persisted, until one observant crew member suggested testing the lout for Allomancy. Giving him a vial of metals, Matthias located the familiar feeling and burned it as instructed. Going through several tests they discovered Matthias to be a Rioter, burning zinc.

There was one particular instance of a crew member - bigger than he was - who felt insulted by Matthias' propensity to go out looking for a woman (probably because Matthias had flirted with the man's wife previously), challenging Matthias to a brawl. To this day, when asked how he Snapped, he would just recall how tearing up half a hideout and then putting a bakery out of business across the street was enough for any man to Snap. Both men had collapsed on the bakery floor, too tired to carry on fighting.

Though Matthias' presumed illness due to his Snapping happened years before while he was not yet old enough to shave. He just recalls this event because how he really Snapped might have been mundane in comparison.

Towards the end of his life, Sovorn occassionally tasked Matthias with espionage jobs to advance the influence of the crew. But Matthias was ever the immortal enforcer, as the intimidation evoked by his imposing mass provided an advantage (and too much damn amusement); backs of rooms, in corners, arms folded and face scowling, his presence alone terrified merchants to put pen to paper.
Instead of sorrow, he felt pleased at how intimidating people regarded him. Often grumbling about having to wear fancy clothing and trimming his beard for the most part.

Matthias was not sadistic because he enjoyed a good fight; growing up, he satisfied himself with fist-fights which he always caused as a means to brighten his day up, simply because he knew no better. The crew always brawled as a means to settle disputes. After Sovorn's death, however, he did turn to the axe as a way of violence; suspending grief in the death screams of his opponents. With Sovorn's death came aggression from other skaa crews. Seeing a weak crew without their leader, Matthias quickly changed their minds through bloodshed, swinging wildly like a madman as though they had defiled the grave of a loved father.

Matthias took up the reins as leader of the crew in wake of its recent leader's untimely departure, being the popular candidate (and only one the men even considered). He never considered himself a leader, hated the idea infact. But he had a duty to the men that now looked up to him for guidance. Much as he might have complained mentally, Matthias was prudent in understanding things had to be done outside of ones likings and kept any complaints to himself.

Although there was one incident of a coup staged by jealous officers quickly put down due obvious plotting on their part.

A relatively short time passed for Matthias to regain control of himself and over the years the small thieving crew turned into a band of saboteurs. Mostly because Matthias wanted to occupy the minds of his men after their leaders' death, and give them something other than each other to release their anger out on. Among skaa crews, it was considered rare to find a man who led by example, rather than through fear. Though he had used fear to prepare the men for the harsh life ahead. Matthias admired this doctrine of Sovorn's and enforced it long after he became leader; pushing the men hard when their resolve slackened.

Three years after Matthias became leader of the skaa crew and in the decade leading up to the Belinsk revolt of 915, Matthias met with a strange woman. This woman being the leader of a small skaa rebellion. Matthias had been catching her attentions with his well planned strikes at noble shipments to Belinsk, noticing his crew was without direction and offering to give his fight a purpose; Matthias was aiming blindly, not caring for the damage he caused, only satisfied knowing he had caused some.

When questioned whether he thought he could be something more, his life became about fighting for a greater cause: the liberation of the skaa populace in Belinsk. At first reluctant from seeing so many attempts at an uprising put down with the flick of a wrist from the powerful nobles of Belinsk, he was stunned to realise the organisation and resources these rebels had available to them.

Under the woman's - identifying herself as Grela - command, Matthias' crew
became a part of something larger. His men welcomed the retreat and integrated seamlessly with the rebels, as they greeted Matthias' crew with pats on the backs, like welcoming home old comrades from a long and tiring crusade.

They resided in the mountains surrounding Belinsk for many years, amassing a huge force and wealth they would need to turn the city on its head. Matthias knew the streets well and was often sent as reconaissance into the city, bringing back information on noble factions and additions to fortifications in the city.

Before long he was embroiled in a conspiracy involving a skaa woman posing as a noble contractor, the sister of a lord who in the past negotiated with a declining noble House to set up trade negotiations. Ones that had now made the House a profitable venture. The skaa contractor had become infatuated with the head of the House more than a decade beforehand and they had a child around the same age; the half-breed heir to a noble House. The idea was hilarious.

Matthias acted as the muscle to ensure their contracts went through without a hitch. Nostalgic at his thieving days he was pleased to see he could still intimidate people, often delighting in the reactions and laughing racously as he regaled the experiences to the crewmen.
Half a decade passed. The young half-breed had grown into a man and Tophian - Grela's daughter whom had recently succeded her mother as leader of the rebels - invited this man, Kaled, into the ranks. Eleanna, the half-breeds mother, had met Matthias on previous occassions in their negotiations, but he'd never met her son before.

Correspondance between the two men grew as they were both highly regarded in the rebellion; Matthias as a captain of sorts, and Kaled proving versatile in strategic planning. Due to Matthias' prejudice of nobility, Kaled wasn't favoured too well. But when Kaled displayed a hint of spite at the nobles and defended a wounded skaa Misting from Hazekillers, Matthias started seeing the man behind the pompous title. For in that battle, Kaled had been severely wounded, but insisted on carrying the wounded skaa back nonetheless. All the way to the hideout.

Though Kaled was solemn at times, Matthias yanked out the humour in the young man, often by teasing him. It got through to Kaled only sometimes. Just like with his men, Matthias employed humour to take a man's mind off reality when they needed it. As with Kaled, Matthias began to see his nobility as the burden it was and all but deduced that Kaled would declare himself skaa if it weren't for the rebels' plans.

Matthias gladly strived for battle. When the revolt came, he considered it the best moment of his life. Though Tophian's rebels didn't lead the bigger rebellion that propelled their own, they all but held back from the fighting. At this stage, Matthias was comfortably commanding a large fraction of the troops, Tophian another. While Kaled had taken to a small band of men and acted as scouts.

Roleplay Sample

"Who's my contact?"

The two men walking side by side looked a dichotomy of size; the short, stout man aside a much larger, muscular man suited to be the smaller one's bodyguard. And infact that was true, to an extent.
Matthias' size dominated the average skaa. His imposing figure was great to have around as muscle, despite him not being a Thug he could still land a hit and make a man wish he'd thought twice about sizing him up. And he would be the perfect bodybuard, if it weren't for a proclivity for pugilism. Fights made easier when you could enrage someone without them knowing what you were doing. Matthias wasn't a subtle Rioter and never claimed to the contrary. But when emotions ran hot like lava it was often difficult to deduce which part of the lava was hottest by sticking your finger in. Rioting worked on impulsive emotions better; people were less aware of the stimulus affecting such as anger and frustration that it was easier to influence.

"Your liason is a woman called Eleanna, she's managed to infiltrate House Valoren - I'm sure you understand what that means?"

Valoren. The noble House who had their grave dug and filled it back in themselves. The past decade proved fruitfull for the once waning noble name. Prosperity to make any noble-born envy of the trade deals Garren Valoren was attracting. Granted the more successful a man became, the more unwanted attention he invited into his domain. No doubt Garren's contracts were under investigation. Though they wouldn't find anything more than what Matthias could on the surface, he knew the truth, the truth about the woman, Eleanna.

Matthias and his handler - Matthias using the term mockingly - approached the market district, uneven cobbles giving way to order, tessellated paving more uniform in their grayness. Winter was always cold around this time in Belinsk, one of the few places in the Final Empire that actually received snow. Snow was a wonderous thing to have; the ash fell atop its layers and, with the warming spring, would wash away autonomously. Despite its grandeur, Luthadel would have to be cleaned of ash regurlarly. Which meant more skaa labour.

"Skaa rebel, enticed noble lord by shaking her tits at him and now they have a child together. Genius." Matthias said, managing to stifle back his amusement for the most part. Though Faryn still gave him a narrow eyed look, obviously dissatisfied. The man was a bloody thunder cloud on a sunny day. They turned off the main thoroughfare, onto a street running orthoganol to the main traffic. The paving became less even here but maintained the unity in much of its layout. Gray plastered walls rose either side, occassionally giving way to rows of low walled boundaries, topped by iron wrought fences. The variance seemed random but if one looked long enough down the corridor of brick and plaster they'd start to notice an orderly pattern. Trying to imitate Luthadel, the centre of the world.

"You're to observe the proceedings only, boy. None of that miscreance you scoundrels call business. I want your hands in your pockets at all times. If you feel the need to pull them out at any time, I'll stitch them in there next time." Faryn was scowling openly. It had been plainly obvious in their first interaction that he disproved of Matthias' involvement with the skaa thieving crews around the city. Though the rebels were no more different to the underground as he liked to believe. The only thing holding Matthias back from cracking the shorter man's nose was that he pitied the man for his denial. Sure they were more organised, they had infiltration projects and structure like none other he'd ever seen. But the rebellion relied on the people to be lead, just as a thieving crew had.

Faryn turned suddenly and Matthias followed in his gait, anticipating the turn. Regardless of the uniformity, the house they would be conducting the meeting in was painfully obvious. Security was a problem displaying themselves like that out in the open. Anyone curious enough to feel there was coin in ousting a meeting place for skaa would undoubtedly betray them. That meant they had to be quick. Seal this deal and get out expediently. Before any Inquisition came knocking at the door.

After a brief pat-down by the door guards, Matthias was lead up two flights of stairs, to the top floor. Faryn had left Matthias below in the lobby - or what the cramped space passed as a lobby - and he'd made his way lead by one of the brusque looking thugs. Glad to be rid of the stumpy handler, Matthias walked through the door now held open by the thuggish guard, to a room no more generous and accomodating in size. A single table dominated most of the room where two chairs had been set out, one either side, made the room appear cramped. Still, the gaps between the table edges and walls would make it hard for the two thick set guards - one each corner at the back of the room - to manouvre around with much agility. An advantage Matthias would exploit should it come to bloodshed. He almost couldn't believe the merchant had overlooked this small fact in security detail. The merchant himself sat on the opposite side of the table. There was one window, blinds drawn to let only slits of light through.

The merchant, as with most, looked unimpressed. Matthias returned the sentiment, not even considering the guards after a glance, showing he wasn't intimidated, he met the merchant's eyes. Devoid of mirth, Matthias pondered how a man could view the world through those eyes, glassed by dusky lenses that filtered the joy out of everything. It wasn't hard to imagine the only amusement this man could find was in kicking a child and swindling people. Well, there would be no swindling here today. Matthias was to ensure that and twist arms where needed.

Shortly his contact arrived. She would have been notified of his presense but not as to the nature of orders. Eleanna, sandy hair resting on shoulders small enough to complement her diminuitive body. Her head quested the room, its occupants, taking them in. Then, as if she knew he'd been there all along, her eyes sought Matthias at the side of the door. They were a rich blue, a rare colour the envy of noble women. She didn't show surprise to find him there. Interesting that. Then again, she was a senior official amongst the rebels, married to the head of the Valoren household and mother to its heir. Slap on a bloody dress, fall into a man's bed and next thing you know you've become a bloody lady. Matthias thought, as he studied those enchanting qualities of Eleanna's. Beautiful might have been too weak a word here. It was easy to see how any man would fall for the charade. Matthias began to doubt his usefulness in this meeting, Eleanna's looks could hold sway over the entire proceedings. Those eyes. He spared a glance for the merchant again and Eleanna
took it as a signal to begin, like she had been awaiting his permission to proceed.

Eleanna sat at the remaining chair, staring down her competition for a moment. Gauging her prey like an animal would before deciding if it was game. Either decision, Eleanna opened up the meeting first.

"Mr. Fallovar. A pleasure, I am Eleanna Valoren, wife of Garren Valoren, lord of House Valoren." She spoke with practiced eloquence. Not a hint of hesitation or falsehood in her voice. Whether she still remembered her native origin she hid it well behind a mask of grandiloquence - he'd learnt that one recently. It was very difficult even for Matthias to penetrate the act. Almost as if she really had become a lady over the years. He scoffed, recalling the last time he had met a "lady." They were anything but noble as suggested.

Mr. Fallovar sat silent. No return sentiment to her greeting, merely tapping the tips of his fingers. Deep in thought it seemed. How much money could he squeeze this woman for? How far could he push her? Matthias had seen the same calculating gaze on many merchants before. Only one had the grace to be pleasant, offering Matthias a tea that tasted as sweet as that negotiation had gone. This one wouldn't go as smoothly, but if there was water to quench your thirst, you bloody well waded through the thorns to get to it. When Fallovar did speak, however, it wasn't quite what Matthias expected.

"So, the favour of Lord Valoren has come to settle his matters; too busy a man he who prospers from the labour of others." Matthias could smell the wrongness in the air, this whole meeting stank. Guards on the door, top floor of a house in a room cramped and shut off from the world. The room was small because it was hard to move around in, what with that over large table. It looked heavy, too heavy for any normal man to budge himself. But for a Thug, yes, a Thug wouldn't have too much problem making a tool out of it to pin someone against the far wall. The merchant hadn't addressed Eleanna with any measure of respect, as one would expect if they wished to gain favourable terms.

"I... I am appauled at these mannerisms, my dear merchant. Had not my husband wished this contract I would have found the door myself. As it is..." Eleanna hadn't noticed it yet, but Matthias had. The movement was so sudden, so fast, Matthias almost didn't react in time. One of the "guards" launched himself forward in a controlled lunge, too precise and sure of footing. As Matthias had expected, the Thug lifted the table as Matthias wrenched Eleanna from underneath the falling edge, flipping a throwing knife from his sleeve and allowing it to flee from his grip. Her surprise was stifled in her throat as Matthias whipped her round by her arm, pushing her against the wall and the door. The Thug charged, table in Pewter-strengthened hands. Matthias wasn't able to burn Pewter himself. He couldn't take on a hyper-strong man and a heavy wooden table being used as a battering ram. He could only rely on his cunning and, luckily, he'd noticed something was off before the men had made a move. That allowed him the moment of space to react.

Pushing Eleanna to the floor, Matthias surged forward, teeth bared and flaring zinc. His face, combined with a sharp tug on the Thug's fear, made the brute hesitate, stumbling but catching himself deftly on Pewter enchanced legs. It gave Matthias all the time he needed to roll over the top of the table, landing on the floor behind the Thug. The knife he'd thrown jutted out of the merchant's neck, blood blooming from the wound, face frozen in a mask of horror as he'd seen his death in the point of that blade. There was nothing anyone could do when the storm ignited within Matthias. His hulking body deceiving the eye as to his graceful agility, often granted the higher advantage of surpise. There was still the other guard-assassin in the corner to deal with, Matthias expected an attack from him shortly but the Thug was the real concern. Leaping over the table positioned him nicely at the Thug's back. It also left Eleanna unprotected.

Pushing himself backwards, towards the knife expected to be there, Matthias slammed into the non-Allomantic guard. A sharp pain pierced his side and he knew what he'd find there. The dull thump suggested his momentum had slammed the guard back into the wall, and a sound like someone slumping down wouldn't produce much of a problem any more.
Glass jawed nanny of a guard.
Couldn't think of that now, not while the adrenaline was flowing. Use every precious moment, especially against a combat-type Allomantic opponent. Pewter burned out quickly, but one could make even the shortest thing last with careful moderation. He wasn't ready to take chances with that degree of skill; praise for novices but Matthias doubted he was dealing with anything less than experienced Pewter-arms here. Matthias knew he couldn't just wear the Thug down either; he'd be dead before the Thug even felt a twinge of fatigue. Instead, Matthias leaped forward in a blind rush. He couldn't let them get to Eleanna. Wouldn't let them! Bellowing out a ferocious battle cry and, again, yanking hard on the Thug's emotions - in particular the fear - he made a motion to the Thug as if his strike was coming up high. The Rioting served well to confuse the bulky man as he blinked, possibly surprised a man with no Pewter abilities was taking on one with Pewter. A wreckless, last resort move of someone who knew he was dead anyway. But Matthias knew he wasn't. Yet.

Instead, he changed course at the last second, the Thug already throwing up an arm to bat away the feeble attempt. He went low, drawing another knife from his opposite sleeve. Using that, and crouched low, he slashed the Thug's hamstrings on the left ankle. A Pewterarm wouldn't feel pain, not like a normal man anyway. But muscles and tendons still worked the same. Even though he didn't shout out in agony, the man toppled on his useless foot. Matthias twisted himself, right arm arcing up in a swift motion. He rammed the point of another blade in that hand upwards, hard. Resistance as hand with blade met bowing head. A warm sensation as the blood rushed from the wound and the Thug keeled over. Dead. Not even a moment to feel surprise at being out-manouvred.

Matthias breathed hard, air coming in thick and humid under his own sweat. His side pained and there was the sense of wetness there. Without reaching fingers around he knew what he'd find. Best to get the woman out first. Hopefully she was still OK. The table had made an almighty bang as it'd hit the wooden floor, throwing up dust. The wood creaked slightly, as though it would buckle at any given moment. Over the table lay Eleanna, breathing in panicked. These azure and radiant eyes dim with fear. Scrambling over the table as adroitly as he could manage, Matthias realised he still had some zinc left, even after flaring it so much. In moderation Eleanna's sense of security, the emotions thereof, were Pulled up to hang over her panic and terror. Someone had tried to assassinate them, her fear was understandable. But it left Matthias with a perplexity. Who would try to kill the wife of a very powerful man in Belinsk? As he thought about it more, something the merchant had said seemed to clarify his wonderment. They expected Garren to come. She wasn't the target. Kill him, and House Valoren falls with him. No way a twelve year old boy was fit enough to rule a noble House in such a precarious position. It was like balancing on the edge of a cliff and hoping a gust of wind didn't blow you off.

"Wha... What... They tried to kill me, didn't they?" Soothing would be a better talent to have right now. Though she managed to remain calm due the envigoration, fear and uncertainty were not supressed easily. "How did you know, and how..." Following her gaze to the dead Pewterarm. Matthias grinned, impressed his appearance had yet again offset suspicions of his mobility. The little things.

"The man slouched too much." Matthias mused about the fallacies of Allomantic powers. Seeing the confusion in Eleanna's eyes, he expanded. "Pewter strengthens a man, makes them more alert when they burn it." Smiling he offered a calloused hand to help the lady to her feet. A groan came from the corner. The man Matthias hadn't killed. Not yet anyway. Striding around the table, downing another vial of alcohol-suspended metal, pain forgotten, he yanked the guard to his feet. Attempting to break the larger man's grip and failing feebly, whimpering.

"Who is Fallover really, and who contracted you?" Matthias was following the man's eyes, trying to close in any space he could use as some measure of comfort. There were more ways than Allomancy to keep a man on edge and squeeze out the answers.

"P... Pl... Please, I was just told I'd have to guard someone. I just took the job for the money!"
"Who?" Matthias pressed more firm. Finding the familiar strings for anxiety and panic, he gave them short, sharp tugs at a time.
"Pleeease! I was contracted, just like you. I'm a contract bodyguard, for an Inquisitor's sake!" The man was breathing rapidly, eyes darting around the room seeking escape.
"What was the objective in killing this woman?" He gestured to Eleanna but avoided using her family name. It was odd. This man was putting on a great act or he was actually convinced of his own innocence.
"I wasn't told! Just to expect two assassins posing as a noble and servant. The merchant who contracted me only said he feared another merchant was moving on his territory."

Matthias made a choice. He wouldn't kill the man, but he wouldn't be following the two out of the building either. Turning, as if to leave, a sigh of relief. Matthias instantly rotated back towards the man, bringing an elbow across the man's temple. For the second time, the guard-contracter-bodyguard - whatever - crumpled to the floor, sigh turning from that of relief to surprise quickly cut off.

"Consider that mercy."
Edited by Lyrebon, 12 December 2011 - 01:21 AM.

Matthias est finite!

Enjoy the 5,000+ word slog xD

Sorry that took forever. Unfortunately, the end of a semester is a slow time for application review. Anyways, you're Accepted! Go off and have fun!