Panem et Circenses
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Dire Straits of Feudal Peasant
Height:
5'11"
Personality:
Two-faced; quite cheery to customers, and otherwise a nitpicking perfectionist. He takes his responsibilities seriously, and can't tolerate any idleness in either his siblings nor his friends. It seems as though he takes the law seriously too, and has been known to turn in orphans to the law when others might have shown mercy. "Replying with kindness to wrongdoing is an evil act all its own," Ivan would retort to the criticisms, and say no more. He's a bit arrogant too, and has the terrible fault of enforcing his self-prescribed standards on the rest of the world, if that didn't give it away.
Background:
Though he's now the eldest of his family, Ivan is simply the first to survive to 14 years of age. Most children die before the age of 10, and his family's no exception. Ivan's seen two elder brothers and one elder sister die to fever or cold, and be buried. His mother went a bit mad with grief at the third one's death. The years under her care until Bernard worked up the courage to move past his grief, to return to fatherhood and husbandhood, are years Ivan would rather forget. Yet those days fester in him, and egg him on, hardening his heart into a hard shell, and turning his attitude unrelenting. Ivan has one younger sister, Marie, who is four, and quite sickly. Mother isn't likely to have another, so Marie is a priority, and much of their profits go immediately toward prolonging her health.
