Tobias Karning*

[UnicornWizard†]

Name: Tobias William Karning
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Grade: 12
School: Bayview Secondary School
Hobbies and Interests: Video Games, Airsoft, Serial Novels, Volunteer Work

Appearance: Tobias is the sort of guy who looks like he wouldn't be entirely out of place with any crowd. A quarter Navajo on his father's side, and mostly German on his mother's side, Tobias has light tan skin, but it isn't too pronounced. He's of above-average hight, standing in at 5'11", with long, straight, medium brown hair falling behind his slightly narrow shoulders, often pulled back in a ponytail for convenience's sake. Tobias has a squarish face, and wears silver-rimmed glasses low on his sharp nose, hiding his pale blue, slightly almond-shaped eyes behind the tinted lenses. He keeps his goatee well trimmed, despite letting the rest of his facial hair grow to stubble. The only things that really stand out on Tobias are the double hoop earrings on his left ear, his single attempt at standing out from others. A young man of slightly-heavier-than-average build, around 220-225 lbs, he could stand to work out a bit more, or lose a few pounds, but keeps himself in fair shape running around with friends or playing Airsoft with his team.

While his wardrobe contains a good variety of clothes, he can be found more-often-than-not wearing cargo pants and a long sleeve, t-shirt combination of mostly blues and earthy colours.

Biography: Tobias grew up as an only child to a pair of loving parents, though he only gets to see his father on occasion, as he works in California's Silicon Valley as lead software programmer in the company he build with his college buddies from the ground up. Tobias maintains a very close relationship with his mother, and most of his time not spent with his friends hanging out is spent either playing on his computer, reading action-adventure novels along the lines of Indiana Jones knock-offs, or with her.

In the 4th grade, Mark and his mother moved from California to St. Paul to be closer to his grandmother after she broke her hip and lost most of her mobility, while his father stayed behind in order to continue running his company. Though his mom wanted to move in with her mother to make it easier, Tobias' grandmother insisted that they shouldn't worry too much, and that being in the area was good enough for her. They then moved down the street from Hollis family, with whom they would become good friends. Tobias met Mark Hollis at school, and they have been best friends ever since.

Even though Tobias is a fairly bright kid, he maintains an easy B average, because while he knows the importance of good grades, he doesn't feel that putting in the extra effort to get straight As is worth it when he can easily get Bs without trying very hard. In school and out, Tobias gets along with practically everyone, and so has many friends in different circles, but has only ever had a few very close friends. Some of his closer friends reside within his Airsoft team, of which he is captain of, with whom Tobias frequents local tournaments and exhibition matches.

The only major event that has ever occurred in Tobias' life that ever had a huge impact on how he looked at the world happened when he was 15. His next door neighbors' gas line had a leak that went unnoticed, and one afternoon was lit by their stove's pilot light, causing the line to explode, bursting half of the house into flames. Tobias and a few other neighborhood kids went to make sure everyone was alright as his mother called the fire department, and helped to make sure that the neighbors got out safely. The neighbor's 6 year old daughter, however, was trapped in her room, but with the help of one of the other neighbors, Tobias managed to move the burning beams and pull her out to safety. The fire department arrived minutes later, but couldn't put the fire out before the house collapsed, partially due to the fire, and partially due to the initial explosion.

While the young girl recovered in the hospital from the injuries sustained during the fire, she made Tobias a necklace to thank him. Being 6, the necklace consisted of his name spelled out with brightly coloured letter beads on a plastic thread, but he accepted it anyway. Four days later, the young girl died in the hospital from an infection that was overlooked by one of the nurses. As a result, Tobias rarely takes off the necklace she gave him. This tragic event spurred Tobias to try and help other people whenever he could, and so he spends at least one weekend a month doing volunteer work, whether it be working at the local soup kitchen to building a new park.


Advantages: Spending as much time as Tobias has playing Airsoft with his buddies, and as leader of the team, he's developed a sense of rudimentary battle tactics (only some of which that would apply to a real firefight), as well as a large respect for team work and great leadership skills.

Disadvantages: Being a generally nice guy, Tobias tends to be a rather trusting individual, and very few people have done anything to dispel this outlook for him. His close friendship with Mark could be used against him by putting Mark or his sister Rachel in danger.