Almond

Almond Rhodes
Status	Alive
Age	23 (2281) 29
Born	October 21st, 2258
Born in	California
Race	Human
Nationality	American
Residence	Varies
Family	Cashew Rhodes (Brother) Nutmeg Rhodes (Father)
Affiliation(s)	N/A
Profession	Assassin Mercenary Bounty Hunter
Voice Claim	Steve Blum
Appears in	N/A

"There's always a hard decision to be made, and it never gets easier to know when to make the right one."
-Almond

Almond is the first and eldest son of The Prisoner, Nutmeg. Formerly a bounty hunter for the NCR tracking pond scum, finding his goal among the cowards within their ranks - to kill and maim the dispicable and heinous in a act of self-proclaimed righteousness.

He is responsible for stopping countless Legion expansions in the Wastleland in attempt to cripple their numbers and operations across the wasteland, forcing them into the Mojave at a smaller scale where he continues to pick them off tirelessly.

Biography:

Post Van Buren

Almond ran away with his brother soon after their father was imprisoned, choosing to leave NCR territory in favor of providing for themselves; to fine success until Almond urged to brother to flee in fear of his safety during a Legion assault related to Almond. After the raid, Almond went to go and search for the possible were-abouts of Cashew.

Freelancing and Vagabonding through the wasteland

Almond wandered in search for his brother soon after the two were forced to seperate, going from Texas up towards Canada, during these travels he came across several operations from the brotherhood that had resided within Texas. After spying on them for several days he learned of a crazed scientist by the name of Miles Reese in The Nursery.
Heading to the location of The Nursery, along The Gulf of New Meixco, soon after he caught the news, Almond intercepted the man and his plans that would have led to his death and helped him realize his plan would've been completely FUBAR for the effort he was trying to achieve and eventually helped him find a cause his efforts would be greatly fruitful towards.

Fallout New Vegas

After triangulating where his brother was years after the assault, Almond watched over his brother from afar to ensure he was alive, during The Second Battle of Hoover Dam, he revealed his presence to help the onslaught against The Legion. Staying after the bloodshed to reconnect finally with Cashew.

Appearance:

Almond has a tall and lean figure, primarily covered up by the hybrid equipment of a stealth suit and NCR riot gear. He has green eyes and heavy bags under his eyes alongside wrinkles, his long hair is also beginning to grey, it is also tied back. There is a large scar on the right side of Almond's face that has long since healed over, but it has left him with a weaker eyesight due to the physical trauma.

Personality:

Almond is painfully serious and follows his moral compass and beliefs very heavily. He is often sarcastic towards those around him, alongside the use of relatively deadpan humor to deflect from stress or other environmental factors. Almond is deeply cautious of his associates and surroundings to the point it may have correlation with paranoia, he's quick thinking and does not bend easily in stressful scenarios, dog eat dog mentality.

Abilities:

• Almond is an excellent shot due to his constant environmental awareness, prefering sniper rifles and precision rather than the more upfront and brash approach with rifles or shotguns if he can.
• Almond's hybrid equipment has been heavily modified by the combined efforts of himself and Miles, greatly improving his work and optimizing his efficiency for there to be higher odds in his favor.
  • His stealth suit's technology has been salvaged, rebuilt and combined to make his presence completely undiscoverable, allowing for more wetwork like tasks to be done in quicker timeframes. Additionally, the helmet that belongs with his riot gear has been modified beyond NCR recognition, serving more multipurpose as a gas mask for air filteration and identifying heat signatures.

In-Game Dialogue/Actions

Assortment of quotes and context from Almond during his vagabonding with Miles.

"What the hell makes you think this is going to fix a damn thing? I hate them as much you do but I'm not trying to kill them just because I think they're hypocritical megalomaniac stowaways." - Almond towards Miles and his plan.

"I'm surprised people actually y'know.. live here, it's a exclusion zone on top of a glowing sea.."
- Almond during his timed visit in Canada.

"They're going to pay us extra for fighting giant goddamn shrimp" "And if they don't?" "They won't have a choice."
- Almond and Miles after fighting a Giant Mutant Mantis Shrimp.

"The things we've done won't make us who we are but it is the nature of it and ourselves to it that will"

Relationships:

Nutmeg

Main article: Nutmeg Rhodes

Almond had looked up to his father a long while ago, his imprisonment broke the boys heart and he ran, as of recent he's fallen to the back of his mind, discovering what he interprets as his fathers death during a trip through Utah. Coming to terms with his absence and seeks to atone for his mistakes and tries feverishly to find Cashew, who is the last remaining piece of family he has left - he knows that what hes done, and knows that Nutmeg would be proud of him.

Cashew

Main article: Cashew Rhodes

Almond's beloved baby brother, who he has tirelessly tried to find for years. Almond wishes the best only for his brother and for him to be better than how Almond was when they were growing up.

Miles

Main article: Miles Reese

Almond helped Miles pull himself together and see reason to his ideals, to then after the two traveled together for weeks to months to years, he is the only person Almond deeply considers to be his friend in The Wasteland, the closest he's willingly gotten to any of his allies and has grown to care for Miles as much as he does for his father and sibling.

Trivia:

• Almond's role of being Cashew's brother was originally assigned to several other characters but those were scrapped in favor of giving myself a character to play during an "evil" route of F:NV, which also became scrapped as Almond was reworked entirely into something more fleshed out.
  • Originally, the role belonged to Vulpes Inculta, then was assigned to Conrad, and was later handed off to Nutmeg before Almond was created
    • Almond was originally planned to be affiliated with the Legion and willfully abandoned his brother, but during his rework that fact conflicted and it was cut due to major conflictions with his character.
• In his original design, Almond looked like a much older version Cashew, having shorter hair and a bandanna. His scar was also much smaller and he has goggles.