Nolan O'Rourke
Nolan O'Rourke is the husband of McKenna O'Rourke and father of Corporal Brody O'Rourke; he is a quarryman and a former Career.
 | |
| Background | |
|---|---|
| District | 2 |
| Age | 47 |
| Profession | Quarryman |
| Spouse | McKenna O'Rourke |
| Children | Brody O'Rourke (son) |
| Weapons | Sword and shield (Career training) |
|
played by Artemis | |
Contents |
Early Life
Nolan Seoirse O'Rourke was the only son in a family with 5 children, and from the very beginning was surrounded by women who would greatly shape his personality as he grew older. Though his father was insistent on putting a sword and shield in his only son's hands as soon as possible (as was O'Rourke family tradition), he was raised predominantly by his 4 sisters and mother. Though he wouldn't be able to pinpoint the 'when' or the 'how', Nolan could at least say that it was the women in his life who had made a gentleman out of him and instilled in him a powerful respect for the opposite sex.
Like his schoolmates and in line with tradition, Nolan attended the Career Training Academy at the age of 12, immediately taking to the sword and shield. Unlike his predecessors, however, Nolan was of a kinder, more patient temperament and took more pleasure in the sport than the ideals of glory that returning victorious from the Games promised. He quickly shot up from the small, quiet redheaded boy into a young man whose stature rivaled his father's, growing comfortably into his xiphos sword named Milo ('Speak') and a heavy aspis shield named Akouo ('Listen'). As it was with the O'Rourke family, he named his weapons and regarded them with respect; he retired his old friends when his name wasn't called at his final year of the Reaping, though on various occasions over the years he'd be compelled to pick them up one more time.
Though Nolan had grown up in one of the larger cities of District 2, the bustling city life and its people had never truly been his calling; leaving behind his parents and sisters with well-wishes in their mouths and tears in their eyes, he made his way across the district to take up work as a quarryman. A young man of barely 19, he didn't waste time making his mark among his new colleagues; by now, he had grown into his body and was wired with muscle from years of swordplay and fistfighting. Of the few possessions he had brought with him, one of them included an old family book full of names (birthdays, marriages, children, deaths) and artwork from many generations ago that preceded even the Dark Days. It was from those books that he would pull the symbols and designs that now decorate his body.
Career Training
Being raised in a family of warriors and surrounding himself with roughneck quarrymen for friends, Nolan is an avid sportsman and despite his age hasn't lost his appetite for a good fight. His weapons of choice are a sword and shield, and following with family tradition has named both of them; Nolan's xiphos sword is called Miló ('Speak') and an aspis shield called Akoúo̱ ('Listen'). Though they're retired, he regards his weapons like old friends. Nowadays, when he's not picking up training weapons to spar with his son, Nolan likes to keep his skills up by roughhousing and boxing with the other local men.
Marriage
Nolan is first and above all things, a husband and a father. Nolan considers McKenna to be the love of his life, and though they've been married for around 20 years now, still enjoys thinking of ways to romance and surprise his wife; to anyone who has seen him interact with her (and Nolan being proud of who he's married to, that would be most people in town) it's apparent who wears the metaphorical pants in their relationship... and that's exactly how Nolan likes it.
Several years cutting his teeth as a quarryman went relatively uneventfully. But as was the reputation of government quarries, they had their share of cave-ins. Nolan wouldn't be able to say exactly what had happened, beyond hearing a rumble in the mountain, the sound of rock crumbling and reawakening sometime later being treated by a beautiful blond Peacekeeper medic by the name of Captain Shea. A secondary cave-in; Captain Shea threw herself over her patient, and he blacked out again. His version of the story differs from hers; Nolan regained consciousness first, slowly managing to unearth himself and the medic that had protected him, and had dragged both of them out of the tunnel. Though the Peacekeepers had been adamant about not allowing a civilian to go with their Captain as she was carted off to the hospital, Nolan strong-armed his way into the ambulance, and had sat vigil by her bedside until she woke up 3 days later. Nolan had come away from the second cave-in relatively unscathed, but Captain Shea had broken her back.
Grateful and utterly enamored of the woman who had saved his life, Nolan had pushed and pleaded and appealed his way into the hospital to visit her. Her name, as it turned out, was McKenna. Though the Captain was initially completely disinterested in him, as she was put through excruciating physical therapy and surgery to regain function in her legs, Nolan slowly became a shoulder to lean on in every sense of the word. It wasn't until the Peacekeepers had broken the news that her injury would cause her to be discharged that she allowed Nolan to take her on a date, after months of courting and coaxing and asking.
He pulled out all the stops, called home to tell his sisters about the new love in his life asking how to woo a woman who didn't accept help from anyone, trying every great (and not so great) gesture of romance he could think of; Nolan was nothing if not persistent. With McKenna still finishing her medical degree as part of a deal she'd struck with the Peacekeepers, they had fairly little time together, but it became the best part of his week. Halfway through her final year, McKenna had broken the news to him; she was pregnant.
Nolan had been far more thrilled than she was; it was too soon, she said. They weren't even married, she wasn't sure if she was ready to be a mother, so soon after getting out of the Peacekeepers... He had proposed to her months later as she had stepped off the stage to accept her medical degree. Heavily pregnant, and finally worn down by Nolan's dogged determination to win her love, she said yes.
Fatherhood
His only son, Brody, had been born just a few weeks later, blond-haired and blue-eyed and looking so much like his father, it was the first time he could remember crying tears of joy.
With McKenna back to work just a couple months after giving birth to Brody, Nolan had quit his job at the quarry to raise their new son. He would hear his son's first words ('Dada'! 'Mama'! 'No'!), watch him learn to walk, and as he grew bigger and older Nolan would follow the family tradition and put a sword and shield in Brody's hands. It was apparent early on, though, that as much as Brody was the spitting image of his father, he hadn't inherited his patience. Nolan spent all of Brody's Reaping years trying his best to reign in his son's forceful temper, and had been the one to point him towards the Peacekeepers when he was turned down as Tribute for the last year in a row.
He's very visibly affectionate towards his son Brody, and is immensely proud of both his skills as a warrior (Nolan having personally taught him how to handle a sword and shield as well as his fists) and the fact that Brody is serving Panem as a member of the Peacekeeper Corps. Regardless of the fact that Brody is a grown man at 21 years old and that Nolan outwardly treats him as such, he still regards his son as his baby. The fact that Brody is his only child has made the question of what Nolan would be unwilling to do for him, a redundant one.
