Name: Zak the Stout
Birth Name: Zakary the Younger (named after his father)
Nicknames:
Little Zak (by his foster family)
The Shepherd (by the Guard)
Zak Skinner during his time training with Grag Skinner the trapper)

Height: 6'2"
Weight: 198 lbs
Complexion: Medium
Hair: Blond
Eyes: Blue


He was born into a small farming family.  His early couple of years were typical for a serf baby.  However, things changed when his mother grew ill during her last pregnancy.  They were told she would not survive and that the odds were against the child surviving as well.  His father, Zakary the Elder, began seeking remedies and heard of some mystical place in the mountains where a cure might be found.  He left in search of it and never returned.  His mother and sister did, miraculously, survive though.  Without his father things looked bleak for his family.  None of the kids were truly old enough to do the primary farm work and, while alive, his mother was still weak for a time.

This began the next stage in his life.  The Shepherd family, villeins, who tended part of the Lord's flocks, offered to help his mother and the rest of his family at the low cost of fostering me to them.  No one is really sure why they did this as they had quite a large family themselves...perhaps they saw something in the young boy.  He learned a good bit about the flocks in his years with them and as he grew older...and much broader, he spent time in the militia.  It was during his time in the militia that the Lord's guard captain took notice of him and when he reached his age of choice, he was recruited into the guard.  In four years with them, he learned much and was lauded as one of the best with the spear.  When his initial service had ended, he was asked to return...however, the pull of the mountains called to him.  He, with help from his foster family, bought his freedom and sought out a man named Grag and asked to apprentice with him.

He has just recently ended his time with Grag and was greatful for all he'd learned.  It was time for him to find his own path to glory and fame...or to just live the best he could.