Player Name: AC E-mail: n/a Preferred Contact: PM this journal or Discord (AC#7235) Timezone: Central US Current Characters in Victory Road: Sion Astal
Character Name: Shrike Series: Original Character Timeline: About a month after joining Tetson's army, shortly before the offensive to capture the Kyric territory
Original Character Background:
World
Shrike comes from a fantasy-type world, with general notable features including the presence of magic of the "you have to study the intricacies of how it works to effectively use it" variety as well as plenty of inherently magical beings. Most of the sapient population is humans, but there's a fair few of said magical beings--commonly known collectively as 'fay' of various sorts--who can be quite as intelligent as a human, as well. Technology on the whole superficially resembles Earth's late Middle Ages, but simple magic being relatively commonplace means that overall quality of living is a bit beyond that. At least, in the more civilized and developed parts of the world.
The particular region Shrike hails from is what was formally the Saggrem Empire--an area consisting of temperate fertile valleys and lowlands nestled amongst craggy, forested mountains. Since the collapse of the empire nearly a generation ago, the entire region has become increasingly unstable, with many areas being ruled by assorted independent lords, and many others being largely lawless. It's also highly prone to conflict, as many of the better-established (or simply power-hungry) lords are prone to becoming warlords, attempting to conquer and hold as much territory as possible, though none have come near to reclaiming Saggrem's former full glory.
There are of course other parts of the world beyond this, but Shrike has no experience with them beyond snippets of stories heard or read, and currently there are few to no outside powers taking an interest in the region.
Character History
While Shrike knows very little about his early life with any certainty, a few points are possible to reasonably extrapolate. For one, he was indeed sired by a proper fay, as his striking appearance and other traits simply wouldn't be possible if the fay lineage were any more diluted. For another, his mother was probably a woman who was reasonably well-off, and thus could afford to indulge in the whim of caring for such a peculiar child, at least for a time. His earliest actual memory, however, is a vague recollection of a deep feeling of loss while being taken somewhere unfamiliar, followed by memories of his time at the first of what would be several orphanages.
You see, being fayblood, Shrike is weird. Aside from the obvious physical characteristics, he ages abnormally slow, and possesses an abnormal strength. Between people getting creeped out or just getting tired of caring for a child who won't grow up fast enough, and the inevitable accidents of broken toys, utensils, and bones that will come of a child's typical poor motor control and atypical strength, it would only be a matter of time before the boy was dumped on somebody--anybody--else.
All told, Shrike spent time at three different 'orphanages' of various credibility and repute, and finally found himself at an institution that made no pretensions of such altruism or charity, being straight up a sort of workhouse for children of a certain age and older. This last both offered the most realistic and straightforward expectations, but also the most indifference towards the children's behaviors outside of whatever jobs or apprenticeships they were assigned to. Shrike made the best of it, using whatever small stipend he could save for himself to acquire books and generally furthering his somewhat meager and haphazard education as well as he could. He also kept to himself, having learned the hard way previously that lashing out in pure self-defense would not absolve him of another child's broken nose or arm.
Unfortunately, his solitary habits weren't enough to shield him from the attention of his peers. Between his bizarre appearance and peculiar slow aging, it didn't take long for certain of his peers to find plenty of reason to pick on him any chance they got. Shrike responded by avoiding confrontation as much as possible, and when cornered, simply hunkering down and waiting for his assailant to lose interest. Rather than discourage such things, however, it only seemed to gradually escalate, until finally one day Shrike discovered that someone had found his favorite book in its hiding place under his mattress, and proceeded to hack at the pages crudely with a knife. This was more than he could bear and, clutching the ruined book, he sought out the overseer to plead his case... Who curtly told him to sort the matter out himself.
Realizing just how bad his predicament was, Shrike proceeded to carefully pack up his few personal belongings, leaving behind a note and his current savings for the overseer to cover any outstanding expenses, and fled that night, hoping fervently that no one would be sent after him.
As it happened, either he evaded pursuit, or nobody thought it was worth chasing after him in the first place, as Shrike made a clean getaway. He wandered for the next several months, partially foraging for food, partially doing small for people in villages or farmsteads in exchange for goods or money, all the while heading steadily towards the more sparsely-inhabited mountains region. Eventually he managed to find a cave that was reasonably habitable and hunkered down there, slowly making a crude home for himself while foraging and hunting. Soon he added visiting various scattered farmsteads in the area to that list, albeit always cloaked and hooded, taking whatever he was offered for his help and never lingering.
The first year or so was incredibly rough, but gradually Shrike adapted, to the point where he was even able to make the trek to the nearest town, bringing mountain goods to trade for occasional luxury items like another book. Even so, he had to take care no matter where he was--by now the whole region was embroiled in territorial battles by local warlords, and stumbling into an army would surely spell no good for a vagrant like him. To be sure, every now and then, he'd travel to a farmstead he'd visited previously, only to find it abandoned and ransacked or burned.
Shrike lived this lonesome wilderness life for about three years, until sometime after he turned sixteen, he happened to be paying his rare visit to town at the same time as a detachment from one of those armies. While there, a man approached him who Shrike immediately identified as some sort of warlord. Though Shrike did his best to avoid the encounter, the man was persistent, and insisted on speaking with him, to which the boy coldly asked "Are you here to kill or to kill?" Surprised but not bewildered by the frank question, the man replied that he was "here to put an end to the killing." The two spoke briefly, albeit reluctantly on Shrike's part, then in parting the warlord handed him a bag half-full of baked rolls and, with an apology for not having something more useful, three bronze and one silver coin. Not wanting to feel indebted, Shrike called out a warning to the man that the mountain snowcaps were still melting, and that he shouldn't let his people drown.
That seemed to be the end of it, except that it took little time at all before Shrike's curiosity got the better of him and, throwing caution to the wind, he tracked down the army in question, just to see what would happen. As it did happen, Shrike found a detachment of them--lead by that same warlord himself--hastily retreating from an enemy engagement. After insisting every soldier crossed the newly-reinforced by old and decaying bridge across a swollen river before him, the warlord followed, only for it to abruptly give way under him. His men shouted and began frantically rushing to the riverbanks, but Shrike knew better, and after he was sure he was out of sight rushed to a point downstream he could reach ahead of the current, thanks to a bend in the river's course. Sure enough, he spotted the unconscious warlord's body being tossed in the rapids, and leaping in himself was able to for once make truly good use of his unnatural strength, hauling the man to shore.
This left him with a dilemma, as Shrike could hardly leave him there, but he still felt wary of approaching the soldiers. So instead, he hauled the warlord to his cave home, figuring he could dry out, wake up, and perhaps have some food before returning to his army under his own power. A tidy resolution to such an impulsive act! What he didn't count on, though, was the warlord being far more curious about his rescuer upon awakening than desperate to get back to his men. The two exchanged words, the warlord not bothering to hide his intense curiosity, until a sudden movement caused Shrike's hood to fall and his fayblood features to be plainly visible. To his astonishment though the warlord did not react with disgust or fear or anything of the sort, but if anything merely seemed thoughtful.
Then he asked Shrike to come with him. Explaining that he could use the help of someone who knew the area so well, and pointing out that it was necessary to defeat the belligerents in order to make the land peaceful once more for everyone else, he eventually persuaded the boy. He then properly introduced himself--he was Tetson, lord of Uttwar, also called the Warchief by his followers. When the boy declined to give his own name, Tetson called him Shrike after noticing a scavenged harrow being used as a makeshift meat-smoking rack.
And so Shrike joined Tetson's army, acting primarily as a local guide familiar with the regional terrain. Even after a month or so he still keeps mostly to himself, but in interest of wanting to earn his keep has been assisting the quartermaster and in the process learning about logistics. This is the current state of affairs, with the army preparing for its next major assault, upon Shrike's arrival in game.
Personality: First of all, Shrike is incredibly shy. His fay parentage has left him with numerous plainly visible indicators of it, and people tend to react warily of him at best upon seeing what he is. As such, he strongly prefers not to be seen, avoiding interacting closely with people if he can help it and keeping himself as covered up as possible when he does. And not to mention, this avoidance means he's a bit lack in chances to develop normal social skills, which merely further adds to the awkwardness and shyness... To say nothing of a general sense of poor self-esteem.
Needless to say, Shrike also isn't especially trusting of people, usually falling back on the assumption that they will act in their own self-interest or gain. He doesn't think negatively of people for this, but it means that he's unwilling to open up to others, instead keeping distant. As such, he can unintentionally come across as very aloof even when he's genuinely curious about someone or something.
He is, however, very intelligent. He's a fast learner, and despite having only a spotty education at best, was able to effectively teach himself by acquiring books to learn from. This notably includes learning the basics of magecraft, allowing him to enchant his hood to cast his face into shadow, create simple mage-lights for his cave home, and trade performance of simple helpful spells to local farmers in exchange for needed goods. Additionally, while Shrike might avoid interacting with people, he's still a good observer and thus not too terrible a judge of character.
Shrike is also fairly gentle and kind. He hates fighting, and his own unusual strength has made him extremely cautious about avoiding hurting others by accident. His anger at the warlords who occasionally brought their armies through the area was largely based on seeing how the local farmerfolk suffered because of it; Shrike may not bother retaliating against someone who's wronged him personally, but is quick to be upset by others coming to harm. And while so far he's not been particularly close to anyone for it to be tested, it's likely that his reactions would be even worse if a person he did care about were hurt.
Those major points aside, whether it's because of his upbringing or due to his fay heritage, Shrike has a few other, minor quirks as well. First, he cannot stand the idea of being indebted to someone, but will insist on trying to do or give something in return, though he's less inclined to demand others repay him. Second, he's a very poor liar and generally doesn't even try to at all, giving partial answers or more often simply refusing to say anything if there's something he doesn't want to say or admit. And finally, he dislikes giving out his name. "Shrike" is not his original name, which is a name he's to date never told anyone. It's possible this might change if he came to trust someone enough, but so far that has yet to occur.
Pokémon Information Affiliation: Trainer Starter: Togepi Password: Atomic Fireball
Shrike | Original Character
Name: AC
E-mail: n/a
Preferred Contact: PM this journal or Discord (AC#7235)
Timezone: Central US
Current Characters in Victory Road: Sion Astal
Character
Name: Shrike
Series: Original Character
Timeline: About a month after joining Tetson's army, shortly before the offensive to capture the Kyric territory
Original Character Background:
World
Shrike comes from a fantasy-type world, with general notable features including the presence of magic of the "you have to study the intricacies of how it works to effectively use it" variety as well as plenty of inherently magical beings. Most of the sapient population is humans, but there's a fair few of said magical beings--commonly known collectively as 'fay' of various sorts--who can be quite as intelligent as a human, as well. Technology on the whole superficially resembles Earth's late Middle Ages, but simple magic being relatively commonplace means that overall quality of living is a bit beyond that. At least, in the more civilized and developed parts of the world.
The particular region Shrike hails from is what was formally the Saggrem Empire--an area consisting of temperate fertile valleys and lowlands nestled amongst craggy, forested mountains. Since the collapse of the empire nearly a generation ago, the entire region has become increasingly unstable, with many areas being ruled by assorted independent lords, and many others being largely lawless. It's also highly prone to conflict, as many of the better-established (or simply power-hungry) lords are prone to becoming warlords, attempting to conquer and hold as much territory as possible, though none have come near to reclaiming Saggrem's former full glory.
There are of course other parts of the world beyond this, but Shrike has no experience with them beyond snippets of stories heard or read, and currently there are few to no outside powers taking an interest in the region.
Character History
While Shrike knows very little about his early life with any certainty, a few points are possible to reasonably extrapolate. For one, he was indeed sired by a proper fay, as his striking appearance and other traits simply wouldn't be possible if the fay lineage were any more diluted. For another, his mother was probably a woman who was reasonably well-off, and thus could afford to indulge in the whim of caring for such a peculiar child, at least for a time. His earliest actual memory, however, is a vague recollection of a deep feeling of loss while being taken somewhere unfamiliar, followed by memories of his time at the first of what would be several orphanages.
You see, being fayblood, Shrike is weird. Aside from the obvious physical characteristics, he ages abnormally slow, and possesses an abnormal strength. Between people getting creeped out or just getting tired of caring for a child who won't grow up fast enough, and the inevitable accidents of broken toys, utensils, and bones that will come of a child's typical poor motor control and atypical strength, it would only be a matter of time before the boy was dumped on somebody--anybody--else.
All told, Shrike spent time at three different 'orphanages' of various credibility and repute, and finally found himself at an institution that made no pretensions of such altruism or charity, being straight up a sort of workhouse for children of a certain age and older. This last both offered the most realistic and straightforward expectations, but also the most indifference towards the children's behaviors outside of whatever jobs or apprenticeships they were assigned to. Shrike made the best of it, using whatever small stipend he could save for himself to acquire books and generally furthering his somewhat meager and haphazard education as well as he could. He also kept to himself, having learned the hard way previously that lashing out in pure self-defense would not absolve him of another child's broken nose or arm.
Unfortunately, his solitary habits weren't enough to shield him from the attention of his peers. Between his bizarre appearance and peculiar slow aging, it didn't take long for certain of his peers to find plenty of reason to pick on him any chance they got. Shrike responded by avoiding confrontation as much as possible, and when cornered, simply hunkering down and waiting for his assailant to lose interest. Rather than discourage such things, however, it only seemed to gradually escalate, until finally one day Shrike discovered that someone had found his favorite book in its hiding place under his mattress, and proceeded to hack at the pages crudely with a knife. This was more than he could bear and, clutching the ruined book, he sought out the overseer to plead his case... Who curtly told him to sort the matter out himself.
Realizing just how bad his predicament was, Shrike proceeded to carefully pack up his few personal belongings, leaving behind a note and his current savings for the overseer to cover any outstanding expenses, and fled that night, hoping fervently that no one would be sent after him.
As it happened, either he evaded pursuit, or nobody thought it was worth chasing after him in the first place, as Shrike made a clean getaway. He wandered for the next several months, partially foraging for food, partially doing small for people in villages or farmsteads in exchange for goods or money, all the while heading steadily towards the more sparsely-inhabited mountains region. Eventually he managed to find a cave that was reasonably habitable and hunkered down there, slowly making a crude home for himself while foraging and hunting. Soon he added visiting various scattered farmsteads in the area to that list, albeit always cloaked and hooded, taking whatever he was offered for his help and never lingering.
The first year or so was incredibly rough, but gradually Shrike adapted, to the point where he was even able to make the trek to the nearest town, bringing mountain goods to trade for occasional luxury items like another book. Even so, he had to take care no matter where he was--by now the whole region was embroiled in territorial battles by local warlords, and stumbling into an army would surely spell no good for a vagrant like him. To be sure, every now and then, he'd travel to a farmstead he'd visited previously, only to find it abandoned and ransacked or burned.
Shrike lived this lonesome wilderness life for about three years, until sometime after he turned sixteen, he happened to be paying his rare visit to town at the same time as a detachment from one of those armies. While there, a man approached him who Shrike immediately identified as some sort of warlord. Though Shrike did his best to avoid the encounter, the man was persistent, and insisted on speaking with him, to which the boy coldly asked "Are you here to kill or to kill?" Surprised but not bewildered by the frank question, the man replied that he was "here to put an end to the killing." The two spoke briefly, albeit reluctantly on Shrike's part, then in parting the warlord handed him a bag half-full of baked rolls and, with an apology for not having something more useful, three bronze and one silver coin. Not wanting to feel indebted, Shrike called out a warning to the man that the mountain snowcaps were still melting, and that he shouldn't let his people drown.
That seemed to be the end of it, except that it took little time at all before Shrike's curiosity got the better of him and, throwing caution to the wind, he tracked down the army in question, just to see what would happen. As it did happen, Shrike found a detachment of them--lead by that same warlord himself--hastily retreating from an enemy engagement. After insisting every soldier crossed the newly-reinforced by old and decaying bridge across a swollen river before him, the warlord followed, only for it to abruptly give way under him. His men shouted and began frantically rushing to the riverbanks, but Shrike knew better, and after he was sure he was out of sight rushed to a point downstream he could reach ahead of the current, thanks to a bend in the river's course. Sure enough, he spotted the unconscious warlord's body being tossed in the rapids, and leaping in himself was able to for once make truly good use of his unnatural strength, hauling the man to shore.
This left him with a dilemma, as Shrike could hardly leave him there, but he still felt wary of approaching the soldiers. So instead, he hauled the warlord to his cave home, figuring he could dry out, wake up, and perhaps have some food before returning to his army under his own power. A tidy resolution to such an impulsive act! What he didn't count on, though, was the warlord being far more curious about his rescuer upon awakening than desperate to get back to his men. The two exchanged words, the warlord not bothering to hide his intense curiosity, until a sudden movement caused Shrike's hood to fall and his fayblood features to be plainly visible. To his astonishment though the warlord did not react with disgust or fear or anything of the sort, but if anything merely seemed thoughtful.
Then he asked Shrike to come with him. Explaining that he could use the help of someone who knew the area so well, and pointing out that it was necessary to defeat the belligerents in order to make the land peaceful once more for everyone else, he eventually persuaded the boy. He then properly introduced himself--he was Tetson, lord of Uttwar, also called the Warchief by his followers. When the boy declined to give his own name, Tetson called him Shrike after noticing a scavenged harrow being used as a makeshift meat-smoking rack.
And so Shrike joined Tetson's army, acting primarily as a local guide familiar with the regional terrain. Even after a month or so he still keeps mostly to himself, but in interest of wanting to earn his keep has been assisting the quartermaster and in the process learning about logistics. This is the current state of affairs, with the army preparing for its next major assault, upon Shrike's arrival in game.
Personality: First of all, Shrike is incredibly shy. His fay parentage has left him with numerous plainly visible indicators of it, and people tend to react warily of him at best upon seeing what he is. As such, he strongly prefers not to be seen, avoiding interacting closely with people if he can help it and keeping himself as covered up as possible when he does. And not to mention, this avoidance means he's a bit lack in chances to develop normal social skills, which merely further adds to the awkwardness and shyness... To say nothing of a general sense of poor self-esteem.
Needless to say, Shrike also isn't especially trusting of people, usually falling back on the assumption that they will act in their own self-interest or gain. He doesn't think negatively of people for this, but it means that he's unwilling to open up to others, instead keeping distant. As such, he can unintentionally come across as very aloof even when he's genuinely curious about someone or something.
He is, however, very intelligent. He's a fast learner, and despite having only a spotty education at best, was able to effectively teach himself by acquiring books to learn from. This notably includes learning the basics of magecraft, allowing him to enchant his hood to cast his face into shadow, create simple mage-lights for his cave home, and trade performance of simple helpful spells to local farmers in exchange for needed goods. Additionally, while Shrike might avoid interacting with people, he's still a good observer and thus not too terrible a judge of character.
Shrike is also fairly gentle and kind. He hates fighting, and his own unusual strength has made him extremely cautious about avoiding hurting others by accident. His anger at the warlords who occasionally brought their armies through the area was largely based on seeing how the local farmerfolk suffered because of it; Shrike may not bother retaliating against someone who's wronged him personally, but is quick to be upset by others coming to harm. And while so far he's not been particularly close to anyone for it to be tested, it's likely that his reactions would be even worse if a person he did care about were hurt.
Those major points aside, whether it's because of his upbringing or due to his fay heritage, Shrike has a few other, minor quirks as well. First, he cannot stand the idea of being indebted to someone, but will insist on trying to do or give something in return, though he's less inclined to demand others repay him. Second, he's a very poor liar and generally doesn't even try to at all, giving partial answers or more often simply refusing to say anything if there's something he doesn't want to say or admit. And finally, he dislikes giving out his name. "Shrike" is not his original name, which is a name he's to date never told anyone. It's possible this might change if he came to trust someone enough, but so far that has yet to occur.
Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Trainer
Starter: Togepi
Password: Atomic Fireball