Mikkelus Vagus-Taylor

Liechtensteiner. Papa. Private Courier. 

    Name: Mikkelus Vagus-Taylor
    Alias/Nickname: None known
    Affiliations: Vagus family / Clan Malarkey by blood
    Parents: Mikkelus and Alessandra Vagus
    Occupation: Cycle Courier
    Merits: Vibrant good health; reassuring/soothing aura
    Flaws:  Distracted by strong emotions; ill-at-ease in vicinity of hospitals;
    App: 2 / Cha: 3 / Intimidation: 0 / Arcane 2
    Height: 6’; Weight 125 lbs; Hair: Brown; Eyes: Grey
    Nationality: Liechtenstein
    Hometown: Ruggel
    Date of Birth: 29 FEB 1992
    Quote: “Sign here on the line, please”

Brief Description:
    A young man of completely unremarkable appearance (APP 2) , the unusual recumbent tricycle that Mikkelus uses when making in-town deliveries tends to be far more memorable than the young man himself. (Arcane 2) Seen around town on foot in anything less than rush hour, nothing about Mikkelus seems remarkable. His lean body, toned by pedaling hundreds of miles making deliveries each week, moves with the tireless stamina of a professional cyclist. He favors the conservative, practical, sensible clothing typical of his home: khaki, deep green, or navy trousers and plain button-up shirts, with or without a cardigan, sweater, and an all-weather reflective coat with the Village Courier logo on it as weather dictates. Weaving through a crowd or in city traffic, however, he becomes poetry in motion, moves with the poise and grace of a dancer while speeding his way to his next delivery. Indeed, on more than one occasion the local constable has warned Mikkelus not to pass cars with impunity on his level-powered tricycle in town, no matter how urgent the message might be.

   In the company of adults or in a business setting, Mikkelus exhibits a quiet reserve bordering on a level of formality typical of Germans, adhering to the traditional handshake when greeting people or taking his leave of them. Curiously, however, he seldom removes his light cycling gloves in public for that handshake.

Mikkelus can be found most days making deliveries in Galway or in the surrounding area. He's been known to frequent a few local pubs, stopping for tea and scones on his way home after work.

Character history (common knowledge):
Mikkelus remembers his childhood as being ordinary, which is to say his family didn't do anything as exotic as traveling with a circus or as exciting as teaching ski classes on the nearby slopes. He spent his days alternately playing with siblings and arguing over who would sleep with the kitties, going to school in the village, helping his parents around the house, and running errands for his father. The son of the village doctor, he grew up believing he was just like the village children all around him, except everyone's parents had different jobs; after all, a village of nothing but doctors would have been very strange. And, like so many of the other children in the village, he grew up with aspirations to follow in the family tradition as a doctor.

Eldest son of the village doctor in Ruggel, Mikkelus originally opted to take a gap year for "personal growth and to develop his strengths and talents" (okay, maybe just to play football and think about something else!), he set his sights on a place that he'd remembered his opa mentioning often and fondly: Ireland. While looking for his opa's Ireland, he supported himself as a bicycle messenger; living frugally, he managed to get by. (Resources: 2) While in Ireland, he discovered girls, and then his life started to get complicated.

His Liechtenstein passport lists Mikkelus' date of birth as February 29, 1992 and Ruggel as his home of record. It has been stamped as departing Europe from Zurich and entering the US at Boston in the spring of 2011 on a student visa, then departing the US and reentering Europe through Switzerland in the autumn of that same year. The trip to the US had been the first time he'd traveled abroad, until he departed for Ireland. As for that much shorter trip, travel within the EU didn't require entries in his passport.

He makes no effort to hide the reason he'd originally left home: to study abroad, so that he could go on to study medicine at the school his father and uncles had attended. He wasn't fully prepared to cope with all the demands of the university setting. Likewise, he makes no effort to hide the reason he came back: life as a student in the United States was simply too different, and he wasn't fully prepared to cope with living and studying in a completely different culture. Too, and perhaps more telling, he'd entered the US on a student visa and problems at the school had forced it to close its doors; it was all the excuse a homesick young man needed to return home to his family before trying again, somewhere closer to and culturally more like home.

Opting to take a gap year for "personal growth and to develop his strengths and talents", (okay, maybe just to play football!), he set his sights on finding a place that he'd remembered his opa mentioning often and fondly: Ireland. During that time before attending college, Mikkelus hadn’t played enough to have established anything like local fame on the pitch. In the club locker room, he had been know to his teammates for three things: most likely to volunteer to coach in the peewee football program sponsored by the local club, most likely to get hurt while coaching the peewee programs, and most likely to be found warming the bench on the injured reserve list after getting hurt coaching the peewee program. How someone so graceful could be so accident prone was often a matter of speculation; it was rumored that he must have an abusive girlfriend, or maybe a boyfriend, that regularly beat him.

Whether or not he will find his opa's Ireland has yet to be determined; come what may, it certainly won't be found in Liechtenstein! While looking for the Ireland from his opa's tales, he's supported himself as a bicycle messenger to augment his monthly allowance; living frugally, he managed to get by. And then, much to his mother's delight, while in Ireland he seemed to overcome his reluctance to let anyone get close, discovered girls... and his life changed.

Now married to Janessa and with a son, it seems that many of his concerns about getting too close to people, hospitals and clinics have have taken a back seat to the demands of marriage and fatherhood. True, he still flinches whenever someone accidentally brushes against him, and he's careful when he goes to shake hands with a client or someone he does not know, but he's taken to hugging friends and relatives. He no longer immediately gets sick near medical facilities, and has even even managing to accompany Janessa into the clinic on numerous occassions. It's a start.

His Sherer trike no longer makes the trip home at night, replaced by more family-friendly transportation: a human-hybrid Twike. Arguably one of the most fuel-efficient vehicles on the planet, provides safe and reliable transportation for himself and his new family. The Twike produces no greenhouse gasses, emits no polluting exhaust, and burns no fossil fuel. It seems the ethical choice for him. What’s more, the Twike is something that he’s actually able to drive, never having incentive to learn to drive a car or gotten a license; the enclosed three-wheeler is licensed and regulated as a moped, not a car.

It  matters little, however, for he, Janessa, and their son quietly moved out of the country and into town not long after the birth of their child. There are several different theories concerning where their family has gone, and nobody who knows for sure seems to be readily available. The apartment they had rented is empty, awaiting new tenants,  calls to the cell phone answered a lovely recording that the number was not in service at this time, and whether or not they will be seen again, in town or out in the country, is a matter for speculation.