Shepard Matthew Roebuck, In Nomine Patris

[Dead_Man_Riley]

Your ‘Real’ Name (or preferred 'out of character' Handle):
Riley

How Often You Can Post:
daily

Tell Us About Your Roleplay Past/Abilities:
I started rping 5 years ago. I’ve rped in forums, Instant messages, and some LARP. Also I’ve been doing theatre for 4 years.

How Familiar Are You With The Firefly 'Verse?:
Fairly familiar.

How Did You Hear About The BDV Site?:
I was looking for a good Firefly rp site and dun dun I’m here.

In your mind, you can picture your Original Character...now let us 'see' them. Charlie Hunnam
(Posted Image)

What BDV ship/location do want to be assigned to: Whoever wants him.


Character Name: Matthew Roebuck


Character Occupation: Shepherd/Ex-assassin and reaver hunter


Gender: Male


Age (the character, not the actor/actress): 26


Detailed Physical Description (2 PARAGRAPHS): Matt is a fair sized man at about 6’4”. He keeps himself in good shape through weight lifting and various martial arts. His light blond hair is cut short most of the time but he has been known to grow it out. Matthew generally keeps his facial hair tidy which gives him a softer look with his light blue eyes.

His order allows him to wear what ever he pleases which is usually plain. Matt prefers to wear a good pair of jeans and a button down shirt. What does indicate his Shepherd hood are the rosary around his neck and the variety of cross tattoos around his body. The rosary is a large silver cross with a gold ring around it, and the beads are simple red wood. His upper body is covered with wounds from his past that he prefers to keep quiet. Hence the long sleeves.


Detailed Personality (2 PARAGRAPHS) : Saintly would be the word to describe him. Matt is very laid back and courteous to everyone. He is wise for his age and will help anyone in need. Most think he is the perfect Shepherd. But even the greatest of angels have fallen.

It isn’t easy to piss him off but beware if you do. Every man has a devil hidden under his skin. Matt has his vices that he avoids at all costs. One of these would be the evil of alcohol. It bring out a side of him no one would believe was there.


Detailed History(2 OR MORE PARAGRAPHS): Blood and violence unfortunately has been around this young man all his life. Born on Alleluia to loving and devoted Catholics, Matt’s good years were short lived. His parent’s were brutally rapped and murdered during a reaver raid. They hid him in a hidden closet and he remained there until a religious brotherhood found him. Realizing he had much potential to help, they took him in.

They were apart of an order of the Catholic Church called The Brotherhood of Michael . They go around to various parts of the verse bringing help to those in need and spreading the good word. Being young and willing, Matt became a prime member in their ranks. They taught him the values and morals of tradition. But the man who brought him up instilled in him to accept others even those that were not catholic.

Though they gave the appearance of the ideal Christians but that was only what the public knew them as. The real purpose of the order was fighting any who threatened their followers, and rooting out corruption in the church system. Along with being morally just, they taught him the ways of a warrior. Their name truly means they are the human versions of the Archangel Michael. Matt learned weaponry and martial arts, particularly Krav Maga and Muy Thai. Even being so young he was a devoted member.

But their line of work was considerably dangerous and the numbers dwindled. The public believes it’s because the verse is just too large. Only those of the order know that the government felt they were getting too nosy. Eventually they divided into individuals but when something is too large to handle solitarily they band together once more. Matt has since been traveling the verse, giving aid and spreading the word to those who will hear him.


Strengths (1 paragraph): Matt is a man of morals and is a believer in following what he teaches. He is always there to help or lend an hear when needed. Will never insult another and is always courteous. Is a master of martial arts and can figure out how to use any weapon


Weaknesses (1 paragraph): Alcohol. It is one of his evils. Matt is an angry drunk due to all of horrors he has seen. If he is ever put in a situation where an innocent is killed the pain is almost unbearable. Matt’s greatest enemy is the wrath hidden within himself.


Sample Post: (3 paragraphs minimum/Third Person Past Tense)

Matt walked slowly down a silent alley of Persephone, humming a little tune to himself. He wore a long black coat and jeans with his cross hanging freely. The rain had lightened to a soft drizzle and the cold winter wind had calmed to a breeze. It was a fair night and it seemed very peaceful. Matt smiled slightly as he passed a large dumpster. He felt a sudden pull and the cold edge of a knife.

“You move and you’re dead. You scream and you’re dead. Dong Ma?”

"Yes,” Matt said calmly as the man moved in front of him. The man riffled through his pockets and groaned not finding a thing. “I’m just as poor as you are, mate,” He said in the same calm voice. The man grunted something unintelligent then saw the large rosary around his neck. The gold ring and silver cross made the man’s eyes grow wide.

“You will be giving me that, Preacher.”

“I’m afraid not sir,” Matt said with an edge in his voice. The man growled and lunged at him. Matt moved to the right and grabbed the man’s hand. Using the force he flung the man forward making him do a front flip. The man looked up then just laid his head down. “Times are hard and I forgive you,” Matt spoke softly putting the knife in his pocket and continued to hum as he walked away.

[Brun]

Oh, sorry! This is E. in Brun's clothes. (They're kinda loose...)

Well, it just so happens that I need a Reaver hunter... if the app can be edited to correct the spelling? ;)

Also, if you could add in the Top Portion of the official application with your name, player history, etc? We don't put it in the App for the fun of it. Any new member who later needs to look up this character needs that information. If the Admins can put in our applications so can everyone else. :)


I like that he's not just another "assassin turned to God/walking the 'verse", (That is SOOOOOOO overdone!) but was actually trained by a religious order.

However, I'd like to see some minor changes here...

Instead of an order that is specifically a group of "Reaver Hunters", let's make it a religious order/brotherhood that focuses on charitable acts, and the protection of the "flock". Warrior priests= A kind of Knights Templar? Not like the modern conspiracy laden idea of the Knights Templar, but the original order of Knights, I'm talking. The crusaders battling corruption in the church, protecting the innocent, etc. (seeing HUGE potential for fabulous storytelling here!)

(If there was a religious order specifically out hunting Reavers, I would think that the Reaver problem would be more exposed. As we have it here at the BDV The Alliance shushes the Reaver problem every single chance it gets. Most people don't even really believe that they exist. Attacks are explained away, blamed on pirates, etc etc. :) ) Perhaps that's why their numbers dwindled? A certain Mr. Murdoch doesn't want them exposing anything? GRIMJACK?!?!?!

I'd like to see him still being a part of the order, but simply going his own way.

A couple things about the character himself:

Fighting: Muy thai and krav maga are both "easy learn" fighting forms, (krav maga was designed for soldiers to learn quickly and easily) so I can see how he'd be an expert by the age of 26, but I'm going to draw a hard line at those styles of fighting- I don't want to see him suddenly go all Kung Fu master or anything. :)

History: I want to see more conflict here. A man trained to kill in the service of God isn't going to just stop, not if he was taught it was his religious responsibility to serve and protect.

Question: And this is just an annoyed quibble from a woman who just watched a loved one die a very slow and agonizing (ten years) death from tobacco use... Why does he smoke? He's a priest, a reverend, a martial artist, and he uses something that will prematurely destroy his body? Why?

Nobody on Firefly smokes, except for Jayne's cigar, and suddenly we've got a flood of tobacco users. I think practically everybody on The Sherwood has a cig hanging out of their mouth every other post. :blink: What's up with that?

Okay, I'm done. :)
Other Admins? Anything here?

[oath]

I know I'm not an admin, but I do have something to defend the smoking.

In 'The Train Job', at the police *ahem* station, not only do we see the Sheriff light up, but we also see him pass the cigarette to a prisoner(?), implying that tobacco use is still prevalent enough that bumming smokes is still a common practice, at least on Rim/Border moons.

[Dead_Man_Riley]

Yah I forgot how to spell it! I'll fix that though.

I'll also go through my other apps and add the info. I didn't realize it was necessary but it's an easy fix. Copy and paste!

I like those Ideas and I'll incorporate it into the edited version.

As for the Krav maga and Muy Thai thing it's actually real easy: Both are heavy hitting techniques and both very quick and decisive attacks. And also considering now days there are several mixed martial arts programs. Such as the Kempo I'm in now. We take from Kenpo, Kung fu, Jujitsu, Muy thai and many other forms. So I thought that it would be sensible to know multiple styles. Plus that's a little bit of me in the character both are my favorite styles!

And I actually can see what your trying to say with the smoking issue. I was really just throwing it in, but I already got three smokers so I'll make him a non-smoker^_^. But I do agree with oath on his point.

Now off to make Matt more improved!

[Dead_Man_Riley]

There ya go it's been edited ^_^

[Ertia]

Most excellent! I like where you've taken the changes here.

Other Admins? Thoughts?

I'm formulating an intro for him to Kasern, but there's nothing that says you have to take a Kas gig if there's somewhere else you'd rather play.

Another thought is that we are currently Pastor-less on Ranjit... ;)

[Dead_Man_Riley]

What happened to Father Mcfinn out of curiosity?

I'll stick with Kas since your already working formulating for it.

[Ertia]

Jonesie had to retire from active play.
The Official Story is that Father McFinn is on sabbatical, helping to rebuild Bathegate Abby after it was destroyed in the floods in the HII ep "Deluge".

[Barry]

Since Riley recently announced his comeback, I'll throw down.

Firstly, thanks for the inspiration to get me to finally finish Alan.

It seems Roebuck here's leaning to be a Kas-man, but it sounds possible he will be startin at Route 66 until he can get in, so my doors are open once you get the second Admin approval. If he goes Bella first that's cool, too, so consider this an open invitation.

[Shepherd_Roebuck]

I really just want to get him out in the verse. I don't mind going to 66 first till someone grabs him.

[GrimJack]

"My name is GrimJack...and I approve this application!"

Sorry for the delay...didn't see this bad boy :)