Pick Harwood

[Deleted]

Pick Harwood




"Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company." Mark Twain

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Full Name - Pick Harwood
Nicknames/Alias - The Baron
Age - 40
Date of Birth - July 31
Place of Birth - Londinium
Gender - Male
Sexual Orientation - Heterosexual
Affiliation - Neutral
Occupation - Professional gambler and occasional doctor

Play-By - Timothy Olyphant
Build - Tall and slender
Height & Weight - 6’3 and 200lbs
Hair - Short brown
Eyes - Blue
Unique Features - Mustache and soul patch
Dressing Style - Pick tries to dress as prim and proper as possible. He is always wearing a vest ,a tie, a wide-brimmed hat, and usually a jacket of some sort. He tends to favor dark colors, like black and grey.
Other - N/A

Likes -
Anything with alcohol in it
Any woman who would have him
Gambling of any type
Easy money
Traveling


Dislikes -
Any thing or one who ruins a good time
Upper class types
Runs of bad luck
Being broke
Being sober


Quirks/Habits -
Obsessed with the number six (good luck)
Never washes his under pants (bad luck)
Almost always drunk


Fears -
That he will have to go home someday.
That he will die an old man.


Secrets -
He is a deserter from the Alliance military


Strengths -
Nerves of steel
Good instincts
Comes prepared
Smooth talker
Good cheater
Classically Educated


Weaknesses -
Alcoholic
Bad Liar
Superstitious
Compulsive Gambler
Bad luck


Talents/Special Abilities -
Core planet trained doctor
Skilled in sleight of hand


Aspirations -
He doesn’t have much in the way of aspirations


Overall Personality - Pick‘s personality is a little unstable. One moment he could be acting one way, and the next moment he makes a complete 180. He is always drunk, half crazy, and has a bit of a death wish. He simply doesn’t care about much anymore. Drinking, sex, and gambling are about the only things Pick needs anymore. He loves having a good time, and tends to drag others along for the party. He is in constant need of entertainment and distractions, anything to keep him out of his own head. His need for stimulation does lead him easily into addiction.

He operates on his gut instincts mostly, and they can lead him into trouble. Most of the time he doesn’t know what he will do in the next moment, as he flies by the seat of his pants. He is not a violent man, usually relying on his wits rather than his fists. Although he always carries a pistol, he tries not to use it. Even though he doesn’t go looking for conflicts, sometimes his mouth tends to get him into them nonetheless.

affiliation..etc

Father - Maximilian Harwood, 97, Politician
Mother - Jasmine Harwood, 68, Trophy wife
Siblings -
Colby Harwood , 62, Half-Brother, Soldier, Alliance War hero
Ardent Harwood, 40, Fraternal Twin Sister, Companion
Other Significant People -
Flora Harwood, 39, Estranged wife, Socialite
Maximilian Harwood II, 10, Estranged son
Pets - None
Your History -

Pick Harwood was born to one of the oldest and richest families on Londinium. His father was a political bigwig from old money, and his mother, his father's second wife, was once a rather popular companion amongst the ruling elite. His father had already gotten the male heir he so badly wanted with their eldest, Colby, and his mother got the girl she wanted when Ardent came along. That left the frail and sickly Pick at a great disadvantage when it came to gaining either of his parents attention. He spent his entire childhood desperately trying to earn his parents’ love, but no matter what he did his folks barely noticed he existed at all. It made Pick push himself hard, and because of that he got the best grades and graduated from the best medical schools at age 26. Then the Unification War began, and his brother became a lieutenant colonel. His father couldn't be prouder of Colby.

By the time he was twenty-nine he held a position in one of the most prestigious hospitals, had married a woman from an appropriate family, and had a son he named after his after his father. However, no matter his accomplishments he could never outshine his siblings. Colby had risen up the ranks of the Alliance military all the way to major and Ardent had made a name for herself as a companion amongst the core’s elite. Even though Pick had his own family who loved him he still wanted his parents’ approval. The war had been going on for three years, when he sought and received a commission.

Pick served as battalion surgeon in a unit under Major Harvey Khan. Harvey was a talented soldier, but the fact that he had been born and raised on the Rim made him seem untrustworthy to the Alliance brass. At first Pick was unsure about the major himself, but he soon came to respect the man. He took to the life of soldier very well. He liked the men he served with. They taught Pick to drink and gamble, but they also taught him about camaraderie and duty. Those were all things his privileged upbringing had not included. He was pretty good at cards, so good in fact, that his unit started calling him “ The Barron”. In early 2511, four months before Serenity Valley, the Alliance tried to take an Independent stronghold on Angel. The Alliance sent 20,000 men under the command of the newly promoted General Colby Harwood. However, the campaign didn’t turn out how they thought. A strategic misstep by Colby led to the alliance being pinned down and taking heavy casualties. Major Khan and his unit held the line so the rest could retreat off world. The unit along with survivors of other units held the line for two days before they realized that reinforcements weren’t coming back for them. On the third day the Independents broke through the line, and all hell broke loose. Other than the whistle of dropping bombs, Pick doesn’t remember much. Next thing he knew he was waking up in a pile of the dead on the battlefield. It was over, and they were all dead. Something in Pick’s head broke at that moment. He couldn’t go home now. What would his father think? He made a decision right then that he should of died in battle that day, and that he would let the world think he did. He switched dog tags with a fallen Browncoat and with some surprisingly good smooth talking he got himself transport off world. Since then Pick has wondered the rim and border planets, as he tends to get a little nervous if he gets to close to the core. He made a living as a gambler and made an active attempt to drink himself to death. He has even made a name for himself in some circles as the silver-tongued “Barron”.

What should we call you? - Zoot
Roleplaying Experience - 5 years
Where did you find us? - Caution 2.0
Prove Yourself - Shiny
Post Script -
Other characters - None
How we should contact you - PM
Roleplay Example -

“ Drinks on me,” Pick drunkenly shouted as he raised his dirty shot glass above his head. He reached into his vest pocket with his free hand and pulled out a handful of platinum and slammed it down on the bar counter, and then he reached back into his pocket and did the same with another handful. The whole barroom started to cheer and started to rush towards the bartender. Pick smiled to himself and raised his glass to his lips as he thought about the run of good luck he had been having lately. He had come to Paquin only the day before and he had already quadrupled his money. He didn’t even have to cheat.

Pick finished draining the last of the amber gold liquid from his glass. With a satisfied sigh, he haphazardly set the glass on the counter. “Fill my cup till it runneth over this time, “ He hollered to the bartender as he pointed to his drink. As Pick was waiting for his refill he noticed a large man come up beside him and sit at the bar. “ That is mighty generous of you to go and buy all us little folks drinks,” The man said in a deep and rumbling voice. As Pick turned to face the newcomer he felt the pistol push into his stomach. “Seeing as you got so much, maybe you can pay what you owe,” the stranger growled.

Out of the corner of his eye, Pick watched as the barkeep filled his glass and walked away. He reached for the glass, but the gunman shoved the pistol deeper into Pick’s gut. “Don’t move,” the man spat angrily. “Dear boy, I am sure I have no idea what your talking about. I owe no debts.“ Pick slurred his words a bit as he tried to reach for his drink again. The Stranger stood up and cocked his gun. “ I said, don’t ruttin move. Carmen would be pretty ornery if I killed you before she got her money .” Pick stood there a moment in still silence. He had forgotten about Carmen. “Well I suppose I do owe the old gal some money,” He said sheepishly “But first let us drink to her health.” Pick said with a grin as his hand shot out for his glass. The other man grabbed Pick’s wrist with his free hand. “Hey,” Pick shouted. “ Don’t you care about your boss’ health” He said franticly as he and the man wrestled for control The stranger was so caught up with trying to control the situation, he never felt Pick grab the pistol with his other hand. He did, however. feel the gun push into his stomach.

SYR INTEGRA of CAUTION 2.0 created this and she will happily hunt you down, rip out your spinal cord, and beat you to death with it if you steal her hard work and claim it as your own. especially since she will gladly share it with any and all who wish to use it, provided they leave her nice, little credit attached.

[/color]

[Roger]

A few comments, questions, and concerns.

1) I'm getting a strong Western Gentleman vibe coming from him yet he's from Londinium. The Border and especially the Rim are the Western style while the Core is what you'd call a normal/modern style. Remember that Simon (from the Core) wears regular suits, the people at the hospital on Ariel (in the Core) all look normal or even futuristic in their dress. The only older and western styles are on border worlds like Shindig on Persephone or on any of the multitude of Rim worlds.

Now, all those concerns aside, maybe Pick has only recently taken on that appearance seeing as how he was Core-born but didn't return to that life. If that's the case then of course there is no issue.

2) His graduation from medical school at 18 is extreme. Such a feat would be remarkable even for a genius prodigy and from what I've read Pick isn't a genius prodigy. You don't even mention his intelligence or any thing else that would have helped him excel in school other than his dedication to his studies. Sure that is going to help him get good grades and make it through the best school in the 'Verse but that doesn't explain how he graduates as a doctor when most other kids his age would be graduating high school. Somehow he got EIGHT YEARS ahead of his peers.

3) You say that he joined the military and became a medic. What exactly do you mean by that? The term implies a field medic but that makes little sense when he's already a trained and talented doctor. Especially since he's buddies with this major, it would make sense if he were a battalion surgeon or something like that rather than just a front line grunt trained in giving first aid.

All that being said, if #2 gets changed then suddenly he might not be a doctor at that point in his life but merely pre-Med or perhaps he dropped out of med school to join the war. This could contribute to him not being a practicing doctor currently because he never actually finished.

4) Speaking of age, you say that his brother was the general who blundered the operation. That operation occurred 11 years ago and his brother is currently 45 which would have made him 34 at the time. Maybe in a war-time coalition like the Browncoats you'd see such a young man promoted so high, but in an established and regimented military like the Alliance you would not. Your typical general is 45-60. Assuming the brother is an outstanding officer and the war has slightly expedited advancement through casualties in the ranks, he might make Lieutenant Colonel at that age.

5) Does his family even know he's alive or do they think he died on the field with his unit? Your history seems to imply the later since he sneaked his way off world and never went home.


The above requests for clarification and the few age issues aside, I really did enjoy reading this and I think with a few adjustments we've got a good character ready to be approved. It could always use more length particularly in the history section but I'm not going to require you to churn anything out if it's not easily coming to mind for you.

[Roger]

Okay, his brother is good now so we can cross #4 off the above list completely.

#2 and #3 are fixed but not fixed. Yes, his background as a doctor and where they'd put him during the war makes more sense. But now this change has run into issues with the other parts of your bio.

1) His Family - You talk about his family when he's 29 now instead of when he was about 21 in the last version (obviously because we made him graduate med school eight years later). But his kid is still 19 as if he were born from that earlier pairing. You either need to adjust the son's age so he is 10-11 or you can keep it as is but specify in the narrative that he got married in college and continued his schooling while married and with a kid.

2) His War Record - The war started in 2506 when Pick would be about 26 which is exactly when he was leaving med school. But in your story instead you have him going on as a doctor for at least three years before then joining the military. Your options here are either to have him do his doctor thing and then join the war three years into it, or you can cut out the civilian doctor thing and have him join up at the start of the war.

I think both are good options. Watching the war unfold and then deciding that the war effort needs you and giving up a promising career to help soldiers is kind of a noble path. Alternatively graduating with your MD and then immediately joining the war as it starts is full of youthful brashness. Maybe this is his chance to prove to his father that he's just as brave as his half-brother. Maybe he just wants a little adventure and doesn't expect the war to drag on for so long and claim so many lives.


We're getting close!

[Roger]