Russell Barnes

Nickname(s): Sir Barnes, Russ

Weapons: Steel Spear, Short Sword, knife, Kite Shield (has painting of a hen on it)

Armor/clothing: Leather armor w/ fur, thick leather bracers, black denim jeans w/ black knee pads, black shin guards, black hiking boots.




Canon/Original: Original

Relationship Status: Single

Family:

Father: Bartholomew “Bart” Barnes (Deceased)

Mother: Debra “Debby” Barnes (Deceased)

Brother: Noah Barnes (Missing)

Place of Birth: Pennsylvania

Current Location: Virginia





Height: 5’10’’

Body Type: thin; average build

Eye Color: Blue

Hair Color: Blonde

Special Markings: Sword scar on upper left hand shoulder.

Played By: Dacre Montgomery





Likes: Blades, leather, fruit, acting, fighting, oldies music, heroics

Dislikes: Bullying, unnecessary killing, thieves, hunger/thirst, cowardice

Strengths: Skilled in medieval combat, high stamina, knowledgeable/skilled craftsman

Habits: Trouble sitting still, allergies, rubs his left hand with his right.

Flaws: Left hand functionality (can open and close it but can’t hold heavy objects; struggles with a cup full of fluid), tends to overwork himself despite his high stamina, can be gullible at times 

Dreams/goals: Finding his brother, and finding a community that’s trying to rebuild the world.

Fears: Finding his brother dead or worse. Losing his sword. Failing others.

Overall Personality: Russ is very sociable and enjoys having a sense of community around him. He takes his role as a “knight” seriously and considers himself honor bound to protect those who can’t protect themselves. He does his best to stay in character as a chivalrous knight but can be hesitant to leap into battle at times, especially when he is uncertain of his own ability or those around him. Acting like a knight was a coping method he developed to deal with the undead and Protecting others gives him a sense of purpose. He does his best to set an example for others to be both strong and compassionate; believing compassion is the greatest sign of strength.






History: Russell is the first born son of Lord Bartholomew Barnes and Lady Debra Barnes. Lord Barnes, a skilled evaluator of safety standards and Lady Barnes, a practitioner in the health of farm animals met one fated evening in the fall during their favorite week of the season, the Pennsylvania renaissance fair. People from all around the state and beyond gathered to travel back in time to see how people lived centuries ago. Lord Barnes practiced blacksmithing as a hobby and would open a smithy every year to practice his art for those to see as well as purchase his sturdy equipment. Lady Barnes worked with the fairs mighty steads which put on shows of great agility and discipline.

Lady Barnes commissioned Lord Barnes to create horse shoes for her magnificent beasts and soon after they began a courtship which eventually lead to their marriage and the birth of Sir Russell Barnes and Sir Noah Barnes; the brother’s duo. The brothers, merely two years apart, were well versed in school and when they were of age, they began to learn their parents’ trades. However, while they practiced tending to the horses and metallurgy, they mostly fancied playing with their father’s hobby. Once, while the two battled with swords, Noah accidently struck Russell in the shoulder which left a particularly nasty scar.


Despite the incident, the two would continue to learn to fight with sword and shield as they decided that they too would participate in the Fair but not as a blacksmith like their father or caretakers like their mother; they would become stage actors for the renaissance reenactment battles! When not on stage the brother’s duo would still help their father and mother with their respective tasks at the fair.

They also would learn from other artisans, family friends, who showed them how to create leather from scratch, carpentry to build shelter, and hunting to acquire meat to eat. Once Russell had completed his studies and graduated, he sought to become an apprentice carpenter under Master Schmidt. However, fate would intervene in the form of the great collapse and the rise of the undead army.


Lord and Lady Barnes helped create a safe zone out of the fair grounds which had its perimeter fenced in and plenty of land to house many people. A majority of the artisans agreed to help build the safe zone away from civilization and surrounded by woods. They were safe for a time, but as days turned into weeks and weeks into months supplies began to dwindle and attitudes began to shift. Some left based on rumors of safer locations, others left because they could no longer tolerate living out of tents and some simply disappeared without saying where they had gone. Moral was low, but Lord Barnes and the others decided to combat this lowly state by adopting their renaissance personas. It helped the children cope and soon even the adults caught along with the act. The brother’s duo, despite their parents’ objections, formed the Order of the Grouse, named after Pennsylvania’s state bird. A mighty bird that thrived even during harsh winters. In an effort to conserve their measly stockpile of ammunition, they adopted medieval combat as their primary means of dispatching the undead armies and would dawn leather armor, shields, swords and spears.


The Order of the Grouse were 12 strong and existed outside the fairs other defense forces. Their purpose was to scavenge for supplies and materials to fortify the fair grounds as well as help maintain order within the fair grounds. Whilst on a supply run Russell grievously injured his left hand from falling through a damaged roof that he had climbed to gain a vantage point. Fortunately, the fairs doctors could mend it, however, he would lose a great amount of strength and mobility in it. Up until then Russell had favored a two-handed sword but afterward had to adopt a shield and short sword.


While recovering from his injury, Sir Noah Barnes and the other members of the Order decided to head further south into Virginia, they had traveled into Maryland before but had found very little to supply the fair but believed, based on rumors heard over the radio, that Virginia was a safe state. It would be their longest trek from their home but if rumors were true about Virginia than they whole fair could move there for safety.


Shortly after the order had left came the darkest day. A horde of the undead, drawn by the noise of the fair, easily broke through the protective fences that had kept them safe all this time. The fairs defenses were raised and everyone took up arms to battle. However, the size of this army was far more than they could handle. Ammunition ran out quickly, people were unorganized and panicked. Lord and Lady Barnes grabbed their son; prepared to bug out but unfortunately the Lord and Lady were both taken by the dead. Sir Barnes, torn up by his parents’ demise, took what he needed and ran. Without his fellow knights he stood little chance.


While on the run Sir Barnes meet up with a small group of survivors from the fair led by no other than Master Schmidt. Having helped map out the Orders path to Virginia, it was decided that heading south was now their only option. Hoping that they’d run into Noah and the other knights along the way. While camped out in Maryland, Sir Barnes went off to gather water from a near by creek but when he returned to camp, he spotted that they had been attacked and captured by bandits. Some of his fellow survivors were already slain in retaliation and old Master Schmidt was begging them to spare their lives.


The bandits let them live or more so decided to leave them to starve to death. Angered, Sir Barnes along with other survivors tracked the bandits down. They led a group of the dead to the bandits’ camp as a distraction and, while their attention was focused on the undead threat, Sir Barnes and his fellow compatriots flanked them; silently killing them from behind. This was the first time Sir Barnes had killed a fellow living human and he knew it wouldn’t be the last. After that day Sir Barnes swore to only kill when necessary, and to only take up arms against those who’d taken up arms against others for no just cause.


Just before reaching Virginia the group found a settlement that was well established, Master Schmidt proposed they stay there and forget about going to Virginia in which everyone but Sir Barnes agreed. The settlement had said a small group of men dressed as knights passed by but had missed their settlement and their scouts refrained from making contact. This to Sir Barnes meant his brother and the other knights had at least made it this far.


Sir Barnes stated that he would continue to Virginia alone to find his younger brother and the other Knights. The settlement helped Sir Barnes restore his equipment and gave him enough supplies to make the remained of the trip. The help the settlement offered refreshed Sir Barnes faith in humanities ability to rebuild after the great collapse. Having reached Virginia, Sir Barnes now seeks to find other settlements and survivors who might have seen his fellow knights or even be housing them.





Alias: Gryz

Other Character(s) on TWDN: N/A

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