Vance was the oldest of three boys born to Gorys and Tulip McShmee in the province of Ethbar. Gorys, his father, represented the Baron in a small village in which Vance had spent much of his childhood. His father held virtually no political power outside of the town but managed to keep things well under control, preventing the Baron from making frequent visits. It was a peaceful village in which there was rarely anything of excitement.

As a child, Vance would often wander around the woods neighboring the village and dream of traveling to more exciting and exotic regions of the world, hoping to learn all about their pertaining environments, cultures, and history. The closest he would ever come to such a dream, as a youth, was never anything more than a small trip to a larger neighboring village or town with his father, where Gorys would conduct business with others. Gorys allowed Vance to go on those trips with hopes that he would one day succeed him and turn the village into a respectable town or city. Vance was never interested in such duties but would still always take the opportunity to get out of the village.

In a very unfortunate way, Vance eventually got his wish to see more of the world. At age 18, the Suul army invaded his small town and massacred his friends and family. Vance barely escaped with his own life and came across the army of Duke Yurin. Vance was imbued with a distinct hatred and intolerance for Suul from that point forward.

Battered and vengeful, Vance joined up with Yurin as a scout, having respectable knowledge of the region. Vance's ability as a scout helped get him on good terms with several of the soldiers in Yurin's army, including a combat mage by name of Griswold Grumby. Griswold was particularly fond of Vance's skill in locating nests of Suul and then helping Griswold direct a Geyser or other such destructive spells into their midst. Vance, likewise, benefited from the friendship as he would be supported by useful spells such as mage-stealth; a blessing that saved his life on more than one occasion.

Vance wasn't the only survivor from his village. Though his entire family was subject to the Suul's assault and any sort of reputation that he might have once had was now gone, Vance does still have a few childhood friends. Larin Farmer, Bluet Rancher and Timothy Rancher were those remaining friends. The four of them were actually outside of the village when it was razed and, thus, missed the larger portion of the attack. There were other people with them at the time, but they either failed to escape the Suul scouts or otherwise met their misfortune. These three friends also joined Duke Yurin's army. Other survivors, likewise, joined but none of them were able to endure the war.

During Vance's tenure as a scout, he found someone who he considered to be a great role model and hero. That individual was another soldier; a scout, in fact. This soldier, Mathis Hunter, was an amazing scout that appeared to have almost flawless skills in his responsibilities. The two developed a friendship that is best described as brotherhood. Mathis had a few years (and much greater skill) on Vance so it became much like a big brother-little brother relationship.

Vance is an honest fellow, always seeking to uphold the law. Due to his past, he also doesn't have much by way of personal possessions or wealth. Vance has a difficult time sleeping quite often as his years of scouting have him somewhat leery of what could be lurking in the shadows just beyond his vision.

Also due to his years of combat experience, Vance is an accomplished fighter, namely with the bow, and can spring into action without delay. He is physically fit and toned in build, something that helps the ladies come to his beck and call.

Goals:
Vance has the desire to retake Ethbar, but knows he has a lot of work ahead of him, including amassing wealth and power. He feels that through adventuring he can accomplish the short term goals of improving himself and gaining the knowledge necessary to defeat the evil Suul. He feels strongly that following along with his wartime buddy, Griswold, he can make an impact.

Notable Characters:

Larin Farmer: Fine Swordsman
Larin is 6' 3", 235 lbs, has brown hair and blue eyes. He was from the same small village as Vance and was always a friend. Vance wasn't allowed to go into the neighboring woods alone so he'd often get Larin to come with him. When the village was destroyed, Larin joined Duke Yurin's army with Vance. He, however, didn't have great desires to be a scout and was given the more common responsibility of being a normal soldier. He proved to have some talent and, after a few nearly fatal mistakes, eventually became a fairly good swordsman.

Following the war, Larin left the military and decided to seek his life as a member of the Azure Swords. Vance isn't sure if Larin ever made it.

Mathis Hunter: Expert Scout and Soldier
Standing at 6' 4", weighing at 229 lbs, with brown hair and brown eyes, Mathis was the example to which Vance always looked. According to their conversations together, Mathis didn't have plans to live his life as a soldier forever. He and Vance often spoke of exploring different regions when the war was over. Among those regions that Mathis desperately wanted to explore was the northern continent. Of course, he had to set those dreams aside until the more pressing matters were addressed.

Vance and Mathis went their separate ways due to reassignment. Mathis was given another duty to attend to and Vance hasn't seen him since.

Bluet Rancher: Horse-Riding Field Medic
A fairly attractive but quiet friend of Vance, Bluet is 6' 0", 131 lbs, has blonde hair and blue eyes. She's a year younger than Vance and would love to follow him and Larin when they would wander around. She was the tag-along that was never invited… at first. As they got older, Vance and Larin's interest in women increased and they began to go out of their way to invite her to come along. After all, she was a pretty girl. Often times, when she'd come along, her twin brother, Timothy, would come, too.

When the village was destroyed and her brother joined Duke Yurin's army, Bluet sought to make use of herself and joined the Celestine military as a field medic. Because her father was well experienced with animals, being a rancher, Bluet possessed much of the talent as well. This made her very useful as she would be able to skillfully ride a horse to nearly any point of the battle field to assist those who were injured.

Following the war, Bluet found that she had some ability in Magery and decided to see if she could attend the academy for some more supernatural ways of healing her friends.

Timothy Rancher: Good Cavalry Soldier
Timothy is 6' 5", 253 lbs, has blonde hair and blue eyes. He is the twin brother of Bluet and has always been very protective of her. For this reason, he was with her when the Suul invaded the village. Otherwise, he rarely hung out with Vance much. Since the event, they have become pretty good friends.

Timothy made a great warrior as a horseman with a lance. He likes big weapons and is able to cause quite a bit of damage with them. He would often brag that he took down several of the stone constructs down by himself. No one's sure how true those stories are.

Timothy followed his sister to the academy, save his training was to become an experienced knight of war. Really, he just wants to look after his sister.