• Fresh Baked Bread
• Rum and Wine
• Farm animals
• Daggers
• Loyalty

• Orcs
• Small spaces
• Slavery
• Heat
• Themselves

• Their backstory originally involved a coliseum, but was scrapped before handing it in to the DM. Yet the DM included the coliseum in Jem's story arc anyways. 
• Thorne was their bully growing up, and even broke their ankle when Jem was just trying to comfort him about his mom's death.  
• All but one of Jem's facial scars are from Orcs. Their chin scar is from a coyote that stumbled onto the property and almost ate Elgar. That's how they met. 
• Jem has named all of their weapons after dead people, except their handmade dagger. Which they named Caspian, after the person who gave them the gift. 
• Their favourite childhood book was called "The Adventures Of Lance Flintlock and Gus Musket". Which they switched acting out scenes from that book with Elgar, and hunting monsters in Elgar's Monster Encyclopedia. 

• Jem has black hair from their father, and green eyes from their mom. For realism art, I've always pictured Jem as asian-caucasian mix. 
• Most of Jem's scars are random aside from the ones on their face, and the 32 scars stretching up and down their back. Also the teeth marks from the roper battle around their waist. 
• They are exactly 5'11 and 3/4. Because I wanted a tall character but the party is made of giants apparently. 
• They are quite muscular, despite being drawn as a twink 90% of the time. Not their fault, I just draw twinks. It's hard to do anything else.
• They've gone through several different outfits and hairstyles. As long as you include these three things it's Jem: Their scars, their hair colour, and the leather harness. With the exception of Laufi's slut outfit. 

They don't know how to cope in awkward social situations or emotional moments. They weren't ever taught how to deal with these things, and they highly regret never learning. Especially when they see their friends hurting and there's nothing they can do about it. 

Jem is easy to anger, especially when it comes to two things: Orcs in general, and anything that could possibly threaten their friends (and that's on trauma sis). They've been working on this though, and they don't outright say how much they hate a person's face anymore. But they're definitely thinking it. 

Jem is very much a people pleaser. It doesn't matter if it's their best and closest friend, or a stranger, they will try and say and do what they think the other person wants them to do. They just don't want to create more conflict than it's worth. But also in a chance between fight or flight, Jem will always choose fight. 

They do have an aggressive nature, that Jem has worked on trying to fight ever since the Battalion took Belial. They see themselves as a monster, because secretly, they like taking lives. There's a certain pleasure in it. But they don't want to be like that anymore.

They also suck at learning lessons. I don't know why, but that is definitely a character trait that literally only worked out in war. 

Backstory

Jem was born to the human Cornelius, and the high elf Kalliope in the village of Belial in Katril. The two had been neighbors for much of Cornelius's younger years. Which developed from neighbors, to friends, to lovers. She had moved onto Cornelius's property once the two had gotten married, and shortly after Jem was born. 

They spent many days tending to the animals and securing their property. It was a perfect little family, even with a sweet but small halfling family next door. The village small, but peaceful and their was a tight-knit community among them. Jem spent many of their days with Elgar, either playing games on their property or helping Zeke Encantrado out at the bakery. Jem always thought they would spend their whole life in their peaceful village. They never wanted to leave. 

Until they couldn't leave. 

When Jem was no more than ten years old, Orcs had invaded Belial. It wasn't a complete surprise, given the war that had been raging just outside the village's limits for many months. But no one truly knew just how unprepared for the invasion they were. There weren't many adventurers or fighters in the village, and the ones that had resided in Belial were immediately killed. 

To be the Orcs' slaves, you couldn't be too strong, but strong enough to pull carts and do the heavy work in the fields. You couldn't be too weak, but weak enough to not be able to rise against them. Jem themselves, had no plans of sticking around. After a distraction was made by their father, Jem ran for the hills. Thinking if they got far enough way they could find help. 

That was very misguided of them. 

They only had a slim chance of escape that hadn't panned out. The Orcs dragged them back forcefully to the town square and gave Jem a choice. To kill their father, or to kill not one, not two, but five children from the village. In the single most important choice they ever made, Jem chose the children. Some they knew, some they didn't. And somehow, it still made their father proud in his last moments. Not that Jem ever forgave themselves for it. Not to mention, in order to keep the rest of Belial from rebelling, the Chieftains kept Cornelius's body hung in the town square as a warning. 

As the years went on, slaves began coming from all around Katril. They stayed in the stables, and got to work everyday. Jem, feeling responsible for many of their townsfolk, took care of them the best they could. They fell asleep last every night, and woke up first every morning. Made sure everyone ate at least once a day, and they tucked properly in at night. 

From the farmwork and errands Jem participated in, they put on some muscle that impressed the Chieftains enough. They were very convinced that Jem's will had broken the night they killed their father, and furthermore when they ripped Jem from their mother's arms the following week. So the chieftains decided to train Jem in combat to fight for them. 

But they were wrong. 

Jem, with the last few strings of their mental health, devised a plan. Their first attempt of escape. Sneak away in the night, take out the front guards at the gate and once they were over the fortified walls, the slaves would make a break for the fence. Crossing into Vedra and disperse to begin their new lives. 

That was optimistic, but not completely in vain. Jem did take out the guards, and got almost have of the slaves over the wall. Unfortunately, Thorne (their childhood bully, yet one of the kids that Jem chose over their father) had ratted the slaves out. Now, the chieftains had stripped Thorne of his entire identity and masculinity. He decided that if someone spoke up then the punishment wouldn't be as bad. It was the best decision Thorne could make at the time. 

Some slaves were caught on the way to Vedra, others were killed, but many did escape. And that was something Jem could be proud of. Even through their punishment. Jem was tied up next to their father's still-rotting corpse, and lashed sixteen times in front of all the slaves for rebelling. But the chieftains had too much time and effort into Jem, and wasn't willing to kill them just yet. Instead, they chopped off the head of a 13 year old tabaxi named Luna that Jem had become a surrogate father to. Once again, sticking her head on a spike and keeping it in the town square. 

For two years Jem bided their time, pulling together the slaves once more and getting everyone (including Thorne) on the same page. In the midst of this, the Orcs had given up on treating the slaves with water, medicine or food. They had to completely fend for themselves. And through this, another child that Jem swore to themselves to protect died. As a matter fact, Jem was the one who had to give the killing blow. 

That was the last of Jem's innocence. The only thing left of them was rage. Thanks to Amalthea (the only girl Jem ever really talked to, and another child Jem chose over Cornelius), Jem was saved and lived to kill another day. This time, they realized peace was never an option. They had to take back Belial, or die trying. They attacked in the middle of the night, slicing the throats of sleeping Orcs and shooting them off out of outposts and off of the walls. 

Except for the chieftains. 

Once Jem had gained complete control of Belial by dawn, they had removed their father's body and Luna's laying them both to rest. And then tied up the Orcs and stoned them to death in the town square, completing and ending the cycle and their reign of terror. 

After gaining control of Belial, Jem got a few leads off of the letter that had been sent to the deceased Chieftains. Their mother was still alive somehow, after all these years. Jem left the next morning for Vedra, searching for their mother. With a parade of praise from their slave family, an awkward kiss from Amalthea, all the support in the world from Elgar, and a sarcastic quip from Thorne. All of who were healing, thanks to Jem's actions. 

But even though so many people looked up to them, and were so thankful for having their lives back, Jem could never forgive themselves. If they hadn't made a break for it, their father would still be alive. If they hadn't rebelled, Luna and Galen would be okay too. And all this murder, and "justice" had turned them into a monster, just like the very thing that Jem sought out to destroy. 

For four years Jem travelled between the two countries alone, with no contact to their old Battalion. No friends to call home. All in search for their mother who they weren't even sure was still alive. Hell, Jem wasn't even sure if they wanted to be alive anymore. 

 But something unexpected and magical happened after travelling alone for so long. It just sucks that this "magical" thing took form of two humans, and two high elves. All with their own secrets, but it somehow just worked. 

Ongoing

I also want to work on this later, mostly because there's A LOT to go over.