Dynas Miramar

Description: Dynas is around 6ft tall, muscular and heavily built.  He is dark-skinned with short, messy black hair and very dark eyes set in a relatively square-jawed but handsome face, though is brow is heavy enough to give him a bit of a resting bitch face.  He has a scar through his right eyebrow and a smaller, fainter one on the left side of his upper lip, though they are far from the most noticeable of his scars despite their positioning.  Dynas has spent most of his life fighting or training to do so and it shows; his arms are covered in old scars from various blades and the claws and teeth of beasts, and there is a very large scar cutting diagonally across his chest from his left shoulder to just above his waist on the right side. His back is also heavily scarred with many fine, straight scars across the shoulders and upper back.  Fortunately these are usually covered; he usually wears short-sleeved or tank tops and jeans or other sturdy trousers (depending on the setting), along with heavy knee-high boots, all covered by a long, tan leather trenchcoat with black markings across the shoulders- the coat being a symbol of his status as a dragon rider.

Personality: Dynas can appear somewhat gruff and disreputable at first glance ; he is a big man who smiles only when he has a good reason to, he drinks regularly and his rough growl of a voice most frequently gets put to use flirting with anyone who will stay still long enough.  However, beneath that beats a heart of pure gold.  Dynas has dedicated his life to helping those who need protection and it's a cause he has taken to with his entire being.  He doesn't think of himself as a good person, but he's willing to risk his life for strangers, offer food and shelter to any down and out who crosses his path, and is unfailingly kind to children and animals.  His considerable strength and skill in combat is reserved for those who deliberately harm and exploit others, and even then he'd rather intimidate or cajole them into changing their ways than kill them.  He's very free with physical affection and is usually up for some sort of casual encounter or one night stand, with a few longer-term partners who he loves dearly scattered around.  Even for a relative stranger, he's the cuddling type and will make breakfast in the morning if they spend the night together.  Gaining emotional intimacy with him usually takes a little longer; there are a lot of things about himself and his past that he doesn't like to talk about, including some of the stories behind his scars, but even casual acquaintances will find him fiercely loyal and protective once they've proved themselves to be trustworthy, kind people.  Despite this, he can be very negative about himself and has a bad habit of engaging in self-destructive behaviour when he makes mistakes or fails to protect someone.

The only person he is completely open with is his soul-bonded dragon partner, Bane.  Bane is definitely the more sensible of the pair, though most people who encounter them don't know this since he can only speak telepathically, with those who touch him or are able to maintain eye contact.  Unless that person is Dynas, who he has a direct line of thoughts and feelings with at all times.

Background/Setting: Dynas comes from an original fantasy setting of mine; there are many diverse sapient species within this world, and the technology level is around that of modern Earth though many devices operate through a mixture of magic and tech.  Dragons in this world are elemental beings, taking the form of a four-legged, two-winged reptilian creature composed of their element.  For example Dynas' dragon Bane is a fire dragon, and appears to be made of billowing black smoke given a draconic shape, with a glow of embers visible within.  When irritated, the fire within him flares brighter.  Dragons are able to vary in size at will, from the size of a small lizard to a full-fledged beast with a thirty foot wingspan.  Those that choose a Rider do so while still in the egg, reaching out with their mind until they find a compatible person to bond to.  Once this is done, they will not hatch until that person is present, and it is the task of other dragon riders to find them.  Fortunately, dragons are able to sense the fledgling bond and find new Riders relatively easily if they happen to be in close proximity.

Dynas was one such chosen person.  He grew up with a farming family as the youngest of six children and bonded with Bane at the age of twelve.  Once his dragon hatched, he was apprenticed to an older Rider so that they could learn the ways of the order- dragon riders are sworn to protect the innocent and minimize suffering wherever they go, whether that means fighting off a dangerous creature threatening people or negotiating peace treaties or fully pitched battles aiding rebels against an oppressive regime.  The latter was one of the first major missions he undertook once he became a full-fledged Rider, alongside several of his peers from his training.  Unfortunately for him, the mission did not go well and he was captured, though he refuses to speak of what happened to him the scars on his back give a horrible clue.  He was rescued by his companions and took some time to recover before returning to his duties as a Rider, and eventually he took on an apprentice of his own, Mervant.  

Mervant proved to be exceptionally gifted with magic, something that Dynas knew basically nothing about, and thus he left him somewhat to his own devices or had other people train him in that area.  This proved to be his downfall; Mervant and his dragon discovered ways to strengthen themselves with an old, forbidden magical technique that had the side effect of enhancing the subject's greatest desire, to the exclusion of all else.  For Mervant, this was the desire for recognition, for his name and deeds to be known, and with his morality eroded by the magic he came to the conclusion that it would be far easier to become notorious as a scourge on the world than to be a renowned hero.  One night he and his dragon crept through the Riders' headquarters, killing those they came across and destroying- and even eating- several dragon eggs.  Dynas tried to stop him from leaving, tried to reason with him and understand his behaviour, but to no avail.  They fought, Dynas and Bane were seriously injured and Mervant left them to die, escaping into the world.  

Ever since, Dynas has searched for him, trying to find him and bring an end to his reign of terror, which has only continued while he has been free.  He blames himself for Mervant's state, believes he should have noticed that something was wrong despite his lack of understanding of magic, and thus also believes that it is his responsibility to bring him to justice.  The guilt has left him a ruined man; he started drinking as a way to cope with the pain of his injuries and it became a habit, he pushes himself to breaking point every time there is any whisper of his former apprentices' whereabouts, and the insidious voice of doubt in his head keeps him up at night with whispers of his failure, his inadequacy.

RP notes: I'm happy to tweak Dynas to fit modern settings as well as more traditional high fantasy ones, his backstory is pretty malleable in that regard and I do have a couple of modern variants for him as well that I can whip out.  I would prefer to only RP with people over the age of 18 due to the likelihood of violent or sexual themes with this character, even if only in his backstory.