Francisco “Falcon” Fernandez was driven and determined. He lost his older brother Falco as a child. They were simply walking home, and got caught in the crossfire of an inner city gang war. Falco tried to shield him, and paid the price. Falco was everything to him. So he had a Falcon – his brother’s namesake – tattooed on his face and chest. And he made an oath on his brother’s grave. Every single participant in that war would pay the same. He trained, he fought, he learned. He grew into one of the finest swordsmen his city had ever known. And he made good on his vow. Both gangs were utterly eliminated. And he was still here. Now what?

He tried motivating himself with his mastery of the sword, but he already had few equals. There was no challenge. And his heart wasn’t really in it anyway. What was the point?

Falcon wandered aimlessly from there. He served as a hired duelist, a bounty hunter, a caravan guard, a mercenary – you name it he tried it. And none of it meant anything to him. He’d been driven by vengeance for so long he didn’t know what to with himself without it. So he spiralled downward. Usually drunk, making his way from tavern to tavern, never settling anywhere. Making his living doing odd jobs for law enforcement, merchants – whoever would pay enough to get him through the next week.

Enter Roland.

Roland found Falcon passed out on the floor when he wandered into a tavern looking for a bite to eat. He picked him up, sobered him up, and had his life story in no time. That’s just how it is with Roland. But instead of seeing a broken man who had long since given up, Roland saw a fallen hero who merely needed to find his way back. Falcon resisted at first. He resisted more than most to whom Roland dedicated himself. He couldn’t afford to believe again. He’d fallen too far. He couldn’t fall again. But Roland was…. Roland. And despite everything Falcon just couldn’t… quite… resist the call.

They were in a dilapidated village in the middle of nowhere. Ravaged by banditry and abandoned by larger civilization. And Roland was determined solve something that couldn’t be solved. One man can’t turn around the fortunes of an entire county. But that one man never met Roland. Roland dove in, converting those bandits he could and driving off those he couldn’t. Shaming corrupt nobles and guards into doing their jobs (with a little of the usual prodding and encouragement of Kat from the shadows). And things really did start turning around. Despite himself Falcon was pulled into helping. And the more it made a difference, the more he couldn’t help being drawn in deeper.

He’s still got his bitter side. He still knows on some level that the world outside of Roland’s dream is more like Kat’s. But he’s in for the long haul now. And whether that means diving in to the fray with Roland or getting his hands dirty with Kat he’s all in. Because as long as he’s following Roland, Roland’s belief can fill in for his own lack. And maybe someday… he’ll be able to believe in something again on his own merits.

In games Falcon is somewhat nebulous. He’s definitely a fighter and sword master, but very much of the light armor type rather than an armored tank. He tends more towards duelist, swashbuckler, or whatever class of that flavor is around. He’s not about pizzazz. He has none of the typical swashbuckler charm. But speed and skill, those he has in abundance.

He’s actually another former Wizardry character, though he has wandered rather far from his original conception:

Falcon is an interesting character to try to capture. He is kind of a darker shadow of Inigo Montoya – if Inigo had achieved his dream on his own and then had to carve out a life for himself afterwards. Capturing the combination of speed and danger combined with drunken despair with a falcon motif is… interesting. His queries tend to vary on:

“early 30s, dark-skinned, spanish male, duelist, scruffy, athletic, unkempt, scars, wearing ragged leather armor, facial tattoo of a falcon, long black hair, small goatee, looking drunk, staring at the viewer, pointing a rapier”

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