Black Jack | Stallion | Rogue

Stallion|10 Years|14.3hh|Spanish Hybrid|Rogue

Coat Color;; Black Tobiano
Coat Base Color;; Black
Greying;; No
Coat Markings;; Minimal tobanio markings
Other Markings;; None
Genetics;; EE/aa/nT
History;; Black Jack is the son of a sweet mother and a careless father. They lived together in a small but well-off herd. His father was the lead of the herd, but Jack rarely saw him. Black Jack was the eldest colt in the herd, and that should have made him heir, but his father did nothing to train him. The fool stallion was always chasing after the other herd mares, despite Black Jack's mom being his 'favorite'. So Jack stuck close to his mother, and had a strong bond with her. She was his teacher, and she was the one who taught him about the herd, even though that was the lead's job.

One day Jack and his mom when out so she could show him the territory borders when Jack was about a year old. This was a day that would end in disaster. It had started out as a normal day, and Black Jack was excited to see the full extent of the territory. The colt bounced around and stuck his nose into everything. It was innocent enough, and his mother thought nothing of it until he unknowingly crossed the territory lines to go explore a glint in the brush. His mother sensed something wrong, but couldn't stop Black Jack in time. The glint in the brush was the reflection of a wolf's eyes in this sun. The one wolf was being followed by the whole pack. Wolves surrounded the pair, ripping at them with claws and teeth. Reacting quickly, Jack's mother leapt in front of him to protect him from the attack, and she took the blunt of it, but not all of it. The wolves focused mainly on Jack's mother, and quickly killed her. A few of the wolves tore at Black Jack, but when his mother was killed they all focused on her, dragging her back to their den, and leaving Jack alive, but only just.

They were outside of the herd's territory, so no one knew anything of what happened to them, and no one thought to go look for them. Black Jack laid there for two days, slashed and bleeding, but no one came looking for him. He was nearly dead by time a kindly old Rouge happened upon him. Lucky for Jack, this rouge was versed in an unusual art: herblore. Using the plants in the forest, the rogue treated Black Jack's wounds -nearly all of which turned into scars- and nursed him back to health. When Black Jack was healed, the rogue presented him with a choice: return to his herd, or travel with him and learn the art of herblore. It had taken nearly a year for Jack to completely heal, and in that time he had come to resent his herd, and his father in particular, so he made an easy choice to travel with the rogue. Thus, the old rouge stallion took him under his wing and diligently taught him the ways of medicine. It had taken the old rogue many years to gather his knowledge through observation, and he did not wish for what he had discovered to die with him, so he was quite pleased that Black Jack was willing to learn from him.

For many years Jack traveled with the rouge, and learned by watching, or occasionally by doing as they helped passing equine with anything from stomachaches to arthritis to battle wounds. It was an eventful way to live. Constantly were they running from distrusting herd-goers while they tried to help the injured any way they could. One time though, this got the better of the duo though. They ran into a young mare who had been bitten by a rattlesnake, who, despite their best efforts, succumbed to the venom and was killed. Before they had a chance to hightail it out of the territory, the lead stallion of the herd found them, and didn't allow them to explain. He put two-and-two together himself, and in his version, Black Jack and his mentor poisoned his mare. His wrath was quick and severe. Jack's mentor was by this point very old was was not fast enough to run away from the stallion. He was killed in a fury of angry hooves while Black Jack was able to escape. For the second time in his life Black Jack has lost someone very dear to him. This affected him very deeply.

Personality;; Having lived as a rogue for much of his life, Black Jack knows just how distrusting herd-bound horses can be of wanderers like him. As a result, he is aloof, and typically speaks only when spoken to. He can come off as being a rather shady and suspicious character, but talk to him and you'll find that he is a pretty good guy. Mellow, worldly, and well-traveled he can tell you a lot. He's got a strong sense of justice, and is quick to stand up to social injustice when he sees it.

While he doesn't go looking to get involved the affairs of the herds, he's not afraid to jump in the middle of something when he happens upon it. He has no problem acting as a sort of mercenary for herd leaders, and getting involved in their dirty work. If someone wants a mare stolen from another herd, he'll do it. Need help with a battle, he'll be there to offer assistance. He'll do just about anything. However, he rarely does it for free and will always ask for something in return. Typically he wants things like free admittance into a herd's lands at any time, the right to breed a mare, and most commonly, immunity from punishment should he fail his task. Payment is not the only condition he has for his assistance. Of all the things he will willingly put up to, there is one thing he always refuses to do: take the life of another. His greatest talent is to prevent death, not cause it.

Appearance;; Black Jack is a mutt, with no exceptional bloodlines or defined breeding, and it shows. His body almost seems pieced together of various parts from various different breeds in a genetic game of mix n' match. He doesn't appear uneven or deformed in anyway though, by the contrary, he fits together rather well and his conformationally correct. He's just an odd character to behold. He is a fairly short fellow, standing just shy of 15 hands high. His hooves, hidden under a fair amount of feathering, are large and his legs are stocky, suggesting a draft influence. His limbs are not near as stocky as some full-blooded drafts, but they are still thick and stout, making him a hard fellow to knock-over. Contrasting to his heavy legs, his body - chest, barrel, hindquarters - is slim and light, like that of a warmblood. Working up, his neck is solid and powerful and on the end is a rather plain head. Slightly roman-nosed, his head is by far his worst trait conformation-wise.

Stretched over his jigsaw frame is a coat of black, splashed with only a small amount of tobiano markings on his legs and hindquarters and an irregular blaze on his face. Chocolate eyes contrast well with the black and white of his coat, as do a scraggly white tail and a black mane with a white forelock. But, this is not all there is to behold about his stallion's appearance. There is one last thing about him, and this is by far the most notifiable. Ragged scars mar his body from a foalhood incident. The most notable scars are on his chest and neck, and the largest is on his face, starting at his forelock and streaking down to his right cheek.

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