Zachary Pye

OOC Info
Username/Nickname: Zachary Pye
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Character Info:
Canon/Original: Original
First Name(s): Zachary
Surname: Pye
Nicknames: Zack
Age: Appears to be around 17
Sex: Male
Place of Birth: Presumably streets of London
Occupation: Rifleman, Former 33rd, present 3 Coy/60th Rifles
Family: Orphan

Description: Due to poorer diet when he was younger, he is not the tallest lad but is still at the age, when he should be growing. Thanks to that he looks like he'd really need a good mother to feed him up. His hair is dark and messy cut in the present military fashion, his eyes are amber in colour, in starker contrast to his hair.

The most noticeable thing on him might be the scar coming from the nose diagonal down to his cheek and the look in his eyes that often reflects more the look of barely tamed creature. However, the look does not mean he doesn't follow orders or that he could be reluctant to. As he is skinny, his new clothes look a bit big on him. His back is littered with lashes he had received when he ran away and was accused of desertion.

Strengths and Weaknesses:
Strengths:
- He is easily excited, if under the right tutelage will give as much of his own as he can. He had given exactly what he was asked for to the 33rd, not exactly because he liked to, but because staying low was better than standing up for the flogging.
- He is very loyal and will lie for someone, if that someone is his friend or be silent even if he had heard the person saying something he shouldn't have. This can also be considered a weakness as it may be abused if the people to whom the loyalty had been given aren't exactly the right sort.
- He is a fairly good thief and able at hiding things well which might come as a benefit when things that ought not to be seen, aren't. He's got some of inner part of the coat as proof of his... habit. This is something he had to remove rather quickly from his 33rd's coat and then later sew back into his new one

Weaknesses:
- He doesn't see anything wrong in stealing. Which might, being all too natural to him, be a habit hard to let go.
- Food is of great importance to the boy, so much so that he could even get distracted by the need to find it. A strength in that however may be that he is very alert and good at foraging.
- He sees no value in books, is illiterate and perhaps comes across as simple. He isn't dumb, his priorities however do not lie in the higher spheres of thinking and the spiritual.
- He has very little skill in working with money of any sort. He doesn't have much of an attitude towards it, which also lead to the agreement to send a portion of his pay to his friend's family leaving very little for himself.

Background: Born, most probably, out of wedlock. His mother left him in a damp alley, where he was found by pure chance. He was carried to the doorstep of an orphanage and left there to be picked again.
There is no knowledge about who his mother or father are. His next days were decisive and from the brink of death he slowly rose to grow into one of the orphaned children. Working the jobs that all the children were made to do, he'd not missed seeing how the more well off lived. When he was but a babe he was in the group of children that were lent to beggar wenches. These women with 'their' babies begged for money, on the streets for the sake of 'their families'. When older and able he was learned in the ways of pickpocketing. Along with this his time was spent earning partially as one of the sweeps. That the same houses of which the chimney's were swept, could fall pray to the thieves was nothing unusual and though it was not known it was the same boys which could enter such abodes and knew where to look and for what. Due to certain circumstances and an event he was not wholly innocent of, Pye's career as a thief could nearly have ended and a change to the blind beggar begun. But as the cut was administered, the lad managed to flee, with but a nasty gash of the blade that missed his eye but cut into the skin across his nose and cheek.

Choosing this time as being the right one, he ran away from the orphanage, thinking the life outside, where he could command it, would be better. With the injury and in the time of body snatchers he was both lucky he had not become one of the subjects of the medicine school, with his corpse open for the world to see and that his wound did receive treatment in a somewhat unexpected turn of events.

For a while after he lived on the streets. He hitched a hike one evening, under one of the carriages which brought him further out of the more dense parts of London and to the closeness of one of the large estates. There he continued to steal from the kitchen, luck holding for a while. Since it was becoming harder and less frequent that he could snatch a bite and the dog's barking often alerted their masters, he sought for a different way to feed himself.

Still uncaught, he'd decided to steal a hunting rifle from the party, relaxing after a successful hunt. While the men were up to their antics and talk, leaving their properties unguarded and their dogs on leashes, the boy sneaked through the undergrowth emptying their pockets of powder and ball, some coin and pretty much what he could find, and taking one of the guns. When the dogs alerted the masters, the boy was already on his way. Though they've released the dogs after the thief, and ran to their horses to catch him, the young lad managed to flee. Leaving a dead hunting dog and one wounded behind , with some coin scattered all over the floor, and a few artifacts left where they fell when the boy defended himself.

It was since then that some of the game began to disappear. Having observed, and through trial and error, the boy attempted to make use of the firearm that he had stolen. However due to the loudness of the gun he was able only to fire it when the hunt was already organised, and where he could not attract unwanted attention. And even then, the chances were few with the gun powder running out.

- Joining the army -

It was one of those days, that the army came to promise a better life to the poor, that he was in the right place at the right time. Seeing the allure, but wrought with suspicion it took several free drinks and some food to have the boy eager to sign – and drunk enough too. Unlearned he could do but a cross as he was shown.
The next day, a hangover later, he was called into the 33rd. Since it wasn't unusual while still at home, for someone to desert, the boy did. It wasn't a killing offense
there after all. However it was neither a light one, and once caught – by mere stupidity – the flogging had him unwilling and unable to attempt a second escape.
Once the 33rd left England the lad came with them (In April 1809). Since then, he hasn't attempted to flee again.
Upon seeing the Rifles perform they caught his fancy, drawn most by their sometimes more unconventional ways.

Dates in short 1808-1809:

July-August - Joins the 33rd. Deserts. Is caught, returned and flogged.

Mid-August- mid-February - Training and drills

Mid February - late March - End of training, joins the 33rd properly. March down to Portsmouth to be shipped to Portugal

Late - End of March - Boards ship, beginning of sailing
About mid April - Arrival in Portugal

Anything Else: Names to remember possibly 60th: Schreiber (stopped Pye from sharing water), Weber (wrote letter, kind man - knows that there's a chick with the 60th), Braun (Comes from the same town as Weber and has known him since childhood) , Koch (debate with Schreiber). Fuhrmann (idea that the tracks point to carriers of something very valuable), Bachmeier (reckless young man, 3 times he has been seen begging for some water instead of carrying his own, last warning),

Name of friend 33rd: Wilton Johnny (because I've just realised that there is another Williamson John in the Hussars and although that shouldn't be odd, I think it's better there's two different ones. Hopefully now they are!)

Writing Sample/Past Roleplay: /
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