Puppet Master: Alyssa

Character Name: Mikel

Character Age: 14

Gender: Male

Rank: Commoner

Hair: Mikel's hair is a shaggy blondish-brown, which has been cut too many times by his mother. Right above his left ear is a white spot, and his mother calls it " his special mark". He can almost pull it back into a horsetail, but not quite.

Eyes: His eyesight is sharp and unrelenting, although sometimes he picks up on too many things because of it. They are a dark shade of brown that is very normal. They are round and spaced a little more than an inch apart.

Build: Mikel has not yet hit his growth spurt, but he knows it's coming soon. His skin is tan from being outside most of the day, and does not burn easily. He is roughly five foot tall, but his older brother always teases him that he's smaller than that. He is skinny from not having much food on the table, and his arms are rather weak. His legs, however, are strong from running back and forth between the palace, nobles townhouses, his small house, and wherever else he is paid to go. His feet are rough because he shed his shoes two months ago; it was more comfortable to wear no shoes at all than to wear shoes that were three sizes too small. His hands are still quite soft, though, and he likes to keep them in fists to hide the fact.

Face: Mikel's face is very regular. He is definitely nor handsome, but he isn't what you would call ugly either. He has an average sized nose that is slightly hooked, a mouth with a full lower lip (which makes it look like he is pouting a lot), and a small chin. His cheeks are every evident, and he has freckles spread along his cheeks and over his whole face. His ears stick out a little bit, but not much, and they are covered by his ears so you can't see that they turn bright red when he talks to certain people.

Dress: Mikel wears whatever his mother has made for him. Right now that consists of three pairs of breeches, four shirts, and a tunic that is on the tight side. He is only able to wear his shirts after he gets home, though; he has to wear his messanger's tunic during the day. It is a deep blue with the royal crest on it, which matches one pair of his breeches. The rest are brown. His shirts are all cream colored, for that is easiest for his mother. He does not hae any shoes, but his mother is attempting to get him a pair. Without much luck.

Personality: Mikel is quite shy when he's around other people. To his mother, little sister, and older brother, he is a jokester, always telling them the news of the city and giving them all of the best jokes and gossip that he gets. To someone that he is just meeting, though, he is very quiet and is afraid to look beyond the top of his feet. He will even stutter occasionally. And he is especially nervous around women ages forty and under. Girls just do not make sense to him, and because of that, he is very afraid.

Talents: Mikel can run for long distances without getting tired at all. His mother says that he has lungs of stone. Mikel also sees more than he lets on, and tells his mother most of it. Because of his shyness and that he does not talk much around people outside of his family, he goes unnoticed a lot, which would be a good quality to have if he knew what to do with it. He has never held a weapon in his life, although he's always thought that he would be a good bowman because of his wonderful eyesight.

Faults: Mikel has never held a weapon, and he has no fighting skills whatsoever. He also can not run short distances very fast (he only good with long distances) and has trouble talking to anyone outside of his immediate family. He can not dance, sing, or play any instrument. He has had no education, so his grammar is not perfect, and he can't read or write.

History: Mikel was born to Ander and Catalin Riano, and was their second child. Their first, Mahoy, is three years older than Mikel, and enjoys being an older brother even if he doesn't let it on. The small house that Mikel was born and still lives in has two rooms and a latrine in the backyard, which is shared with their many neighbors. It is built on a very busy street it in the capitol city of Amaranth, and there is constant noise outside. Citlali, the sister five years younger than he, was born in the house also. When Mikel was tne his father told him and the rest of his family that he was going to find the Free Village, where he said they would never have to hope for a good dinner again. He said they wouldn't be taxed when they had no money, and they would not have to worry about criminals sneaking into their house and stealing the little coin that they had. He said that he would leave and come back for them when he had found the place that was supposedly the best place

to be if you were a commoner. His father left later that week, and Mikel has not heard from him since. After he did not return for some weeks, Mikel and Mahoy were both forced to get jobs. Mahoy moved to the palace almost a year later so that he could be closer to his job as a serving man. He still sent most of his money home, and he came home ever other night. Mikel took his job as a messenger happily, although the pay was less than he had hoped for. His mother could not work, for Citlali would be left alone if she did, so Mikel decided that he had to become the man of the house and fend for his mother and sister. He still goes to Mahoy's apartment almost every night to talk with him after work, but returns home soon after. His mother still waits for her husband, but Mikel has long since faced the fact that he just isn't coming home.