V A L E N T I N E
Details
Full Name: Hershey Linus Valentine
Race: Human
Sex: Male
Age: 25
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 140
Birthdate: 16th of Ash, 195
Birthplace: Sangen Federation
Profession: Professional Dissatisfaction Solvent (Mercenary)
Housing: A cotton hammock and a cloudless night
Partners: Wanderlust and two toe-tappin shoes
Titles:
Factions:
Fluencies: Common
Conversationals: None
Ineptitudes: None
Appearance
"Never hurts to help, does it?" - Hershey Valentine
You ever been down south right around the beginning of Glade, all the trees gettin' green a lil faster, dogwoods bloomin', and the smell of honeysuckle sap on the gentle breeze that tosses your hair like your ol auntie who just loved you so? That's the same sorta feelin' you'd get should that sweet ol' Hershey Valentine tip his hat and flash you a smile bright as the moon and just as modest. He ain't the biggest, maybe he ain't the most dashing, but the man can turn the charm on like a lamp. His features are as sharp as his tongue and bright as your hometown jamboree. He's a little mousey, maybe a tinge gaunt, but honey ain't nothing can compare to the way the corners of his eyes crinkly up when he grins.
Hershey Valentine let his mama Mary teach him how to dress properly, no doubt about it, and he let the habits seep all the way down to his bones. Rare is the occasion where you find Mr. Hershey Valentine when he ain't dressed right to the nines. Pride might be a sin but taking a little bit of pride in your appearance. Now the only part of him which might appear a little worse for wear are Hershey's hands, which are large and weathered. Unfortunately, the business of being helpful often comes at the stark sacrifice of soft palms and clean nails, but it has one hell of a soulful payoff.
Personality
"For some folks, when it rains, it rains. But for other folk? Well, other folk just get wet." - Mary Valentine
It ain't easy practice, being kind and all. It takes some work, but just like movin' hay and haulin' lumber is good for your muscles, lending your hand is good for your soul. And little by little, you'll find it getting so much easier evr'y day by day to smile through sleet or sunshine. This is the kinda man Hershey Valentine has become - the sort who finds it just as easy to wipe off the dust and pour on some elbow grease as leaning as far back as he can and listenin' to the folks passing by. What needs to get done just takes some doing, but Valentine has realized the inherent value that taking things a little slower is also something that takes a little bit of doing.
History
"At some point it just seems like the place you call home is just another word to describe the person you've already become." Hieronymus Valentine
Simple beginnings are the most comfortable ones, I'd say. Like dirt becoming soil, so too did the blowin' grassy breezes of Beewood become the foundation from which Hershey Valentine would sprout.
Beewood smells like sweetness and sounds just the same, from the runnin' pitter-patter of the girls rolling up their dresses up to their knees to race down the road, to the almost obligatory Howdy, How Y'all Doin' Today? Just Fine, Thank You you'd hear from any two gentlemen passing each other on the street. Beewood was a found family and promoted their own sort of family values. It seemed almost isolated from the rest of the world, much to the gratitude of its residents. And in a little hand-built cabin in the center of town, in the year 95, Benji Valentine held his first son for the first time, and Mary Valentine, breathing heavy and fatigued but so relieved, held the hand of her best friend and partner and welcomed Hershey Valentine as the newest resident of Beewood.
The stretchin' canopy of weepin' willows made for just the nicest adolescence. Education in proper was nigh on impossible, but Mama Valentine was a smart lady, and Benji Valentine taught Hershey the value of a good day's sweat and a hard day's night.
Childhood was calm, and tragically uneventful. When Valentine was but 5 years old, his younger brother Hieronymus became the new newest resident of Beewood, and as such Hershey had to shape right up and start fitting the image of a man his father Benji had instilled so confidently in him. But what was a boy to do? He wasn't too good at caprentry - too many splinters. Babysitting? No, not when his baby brother needed so much help. And when he made lemonade, he got some juice in his eye, and boy howdy doesn't that smart. But Hershey had a fantastic idea, a wonderful idea, the sort of idea that only Hershey Valentine could ever have. And so, sat on his stool, feet planted on the counter of his roadside stand, whistlin' and pluckin' away at his six string, did Hershey wait for the first customer of Valentine's Solutions - Hershey's calling. And success came! Turns out the denizens of Beewood did, in fact, need some assistance. Catch my pet chicken, help me make a mother's day gift, find out why my best friend won't talk to me anymore. As Hershey got older, the problems got a little bigger. Help me fix my roof, dust my shelves, fix my wagon. Oh, but the young enterprising gentleman knows that success ain't only found at home. And so, with his cart, his hammock, his guitar, and a sharp pair of shoes, Hershey Valentine kissed his loving family adieu and set off to bring Hershey's Solutions to lands far away from Beewood, so that someday he could come right back home.
The story of Hershey Valentine is a thankfully short one. Why thankfully? Well, sir, because this is just the prologue.
Let's find out now what goes on next for our intrepid optimist.