Harold Bahn

DEFINING TRAITS
Avoidant / Cautious / Witty / Sarcastic / Paranoid / Mistrusting / Helpful / Humble / Indecisive

PERSONALITY
Harold is an upstanding member of a community defined by its slums. He's quiet, likable, and mysterious, although not enough for anyone to take notice. At birth, he was promised as collateral to settle his father's debts, and now serves a criminal family against his own will and better judgment. Before that arrangement was finalized, however; Harold was sent to serve in World War I. He came back a doctor, not a soldier, but has since taken up work to repay his father's debt as planned. His connections may be questionable, but Harold is considered a good man puppeted by poor circumstances.

Harold is defined by indecision, having most of his life arranged for him before he was old enough to question it. He's never sure of himself, or anyone else, and is always weighing one option against another. To be frank, it's rare he reaches a decision without someone else forcing his hand. The things he chooses for himself, however, are significant and he's reluctant to reconsider his options once he's made up his mind. This includes his opinions of others as well, and although he's forgiving by nature, he never forgets a first impression.

Apart from his hesitation to choose and occassional stubborn tendencies, Harold is a kind man who likes to believe he's doing the right thing. This makes him weak to receiving flattery or compliments, but he's not naive and is always skeptical of other people's intentions. He's mindful of what others want from him, and is frustrated by obvious attempts to manipulate his feelings. It can catch people off guard when he responds curtly to those who peg him for a fool. He holds his tongue in most cases, but when he doesn't resist, sarcasm suits him as a weapon of choice.

Although he prefers to keep others at a distance, Harold is undeniably eager to make connections and fond of company. He only withdraws to keep himself focused, and to prevent anyone from getting close enough to get inside his head. One of his fears is that he'll let his gaurd down only to find disappointment, or betrayal, in a potential friendship. It makes sense, considering most of his connections are forced, and he isn't accustomed to people liking him outside of what he has to offer. That being said, he's not looking to burn any bridges, and is always polite unless given a reason not to be. He'll shake hands, give an introduction, and entertain anyone who sticks around, but he'll have his doubts until he's convinced they're not playing charades. He also feels the need to know more about someone else than they know about him, in order to feel secure. He'll only start to open up and talk about himself once he's certain the other person has nothing to gain from it. Intentions can be tricky for him to figure out, but he's understandably reluctant to give away the few things he can control--his feelings in particular.

APPEARANCE
His body type leans on the heavier side, although dressed in layers he appears rather unremarkable. His strength might not be visible or easy to guess with his mild temperament, but his scars stand out against his softer features. His eyes are also tired and his skin is pale, showing signs of anemia and sleep deprivation.

HEALTH
He has symptoms of an anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress, but hasn't been diagnosed. He's also susceptible to obsessive-compulsive thought patterns and adjusts poorly to change.

NAME / RELATIONSHIP
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NAME / RELATIONSHIP
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NAME / RELATIONSHIP
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HOBBIES
He's seen enough death to keep him awake at night, but closes himself off and refuses to speak of it. He dislikes therapy and refuses to see any of the provided psychiatrists recommended to him. His remaining friends from the war worry about him, but all he can say for himself is that he's "managing." He distracts himself with anything he can find, including volunteer work as a traditional doctor, and he cooks meals for the local orphanage.

VICES
During the war, he was offered morphine by a fellow soldier as an aid to cope with his shell-shock and paranoia. He abused this drug for several years, until an intervention was necessary because it interfered with his work. The only reason he was helped was because it was more useful for him to have a sound mind, which is a fact he quietly resents. A part of him wants to give in and let himself deteriorate again, because he figures nobody cares now that the war is over. The only thing keeping him clean is his dislike for being dependent on the substance, and he already has nicotine as an alternative.

MOTIVES
Others consider Harold to be fairly agreeable, but only because he holds back any comment that could offend. Not out of politeness, but as a measure of laying low and avoiding unnecessary arguments. That way, even those who know about his criminal ties can't hold his personality against him. It also means that whenever he's questioned by the police, they leave him alone the second he says he doesn't know anything. Reputation is everything, after all, and he has a talent for seeming more honest than he is.

OCCUPATION
He's the private doctor of a criminal family, and is in charge of patching up the boys when they come home mangled and bloody from a fight. Technically, he's bound by a contract to serve the family, but doesn't feel obligated to do more than his good nature permits. He stands up for himself and can't be intimidated by men he's seen sobbing on his table more than once. Besides, even if he's not the favorite, they're not the type to turn on their own blood and Harold knows this well. If he ever wants a raise or a favor, he has enough leverage to use.

THE BITTER START
It's generous to blame fate for Harold's misfortune, and more realistic to blame his father. The old man was a whaler, and inherited an established company  off the coast of their homeland. While the business was successful and would've permitted his kin an easy life, opportunities abroad caught his interest and ultimately won over his reasoning. The move to England was opportunistic and came before Harold was born; before his father even wanted children, in fact. It can be argued that Harold's father never wanted children, at least not in the traditional sense, but circumstances and motivations change quickly when you're out of your element.

A BAD DEAL
Harold's father was soon at the mercy of a loan he couldn't pay, and in a desperate attempt to appease his lenders, he offered his firstborn son as collateral. They accepted, although mainly to humor him, and to claim a suitor for their eccentric and mildly unhinged younger daughter. Tying the knot might as well have been tying a noose around his neck in that marriage. Perhaps Harold got the better end of that deal, seeing as he was an afterthought up until he was old enough to be considered useful.

THE PRICE TO PAY
When Harold turned 18, he was shipped off with the rest of his generation to aid the war effort in France. He was spared from the front-lines and the trenches, but saw the worst of war's consequences as a hospital worker. He aided in recovery missions and surgeries, and became a respectable doctor by the time the war was over. Of course, "respectable," was merely another word for "useful" in the dictionary of polite descriptions to use for soldiers. He was traumatized, speechless, and numb like everybody else who came home with medals around their necks and blood on their hands. He found out later that a bribe was used to get him a position in the hospital rather than the infantry, but didn't have it in him to resent the action. He could only be grateful he still had all his limbs attached; he'd seen others who made it out far worse than him.

THE AFTERMATH
While the plan was to use him as extra muscle for the family, his training during the war made him better suited to becoming their private doctor. He knew enough not to ask questions, and had already seen worse than what his cousins brought home from turf wars and street fights. He's paid for his work and can't complain about the arrangement, as much as he dislikes the feeling of being trapped by a contract. Going along with deals, knowing when to negotiate, and when to back down are all necessary skills in the line of criminal work, although Harold hardly considers himself a criminal. Not even the police can think of anything poor to say about him, and have no reason to disrupt a war hero who's just doing his job. They might hate his clients, but it's hard to hate a decent man in a bad circumstance, so they leave him alone.