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#i love my little dumb half elf bard boy but what if he suffered
forensicbec · 3 years
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Me: I will not give this new OC a tragic backstory
Oc: Has a tragic backstory
Me: Damn it
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tenranfree · 2 years
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Once upon a time I swore I’d never want to give up my first character, Tenran Friloran. Half a year later and my backup characters are their own party. We got ya boi, Tennie Free, the lovely tiefling with the ice fingers in the middle, my one and only first love character. On the right (viewers right) we got Twelve the drow Warlock, and Ti’er the high elf, also warlock. Left is Marshall the Araakocra-tiefling blood hunter, and Serigil the changeling bard.
Twelve was brought to the surface by his parents when he was a young drow, but sadly he and his family were taken by slavers and sold off. Now, roughly 200 years later, he has sold his soul to an evil and cruel patron. His ultimate goal is kill his patron, win the seat of god that would be up for grabs, and use his power to save his younger sister - if she is even still alive. He is not allowed to love, by the rules of his pact, but in the depths of his angered heart he does everything for her.
Ti’er, the blue-haired elf, knows very little of himself, except that he is of high elf descent and a warlock to a Genie. When the contract was formed, he gave up his memories in exchange for his power. The catch is, he no longer remembers why. He doesn’t know how old he is, nor where he came from or even what his real name is (as his new name, given by his patron, means tears of gods in a fantasy language). He even suffers from memory problems. He’s not incredibly smart, but he is kind of heart. Dumb of ass, kind of heart, just not thick of chest.
Marshall Friloran is Tenran’s kid (set in the followup campaign which takes place like 20 years after the conclusion of the one I’m currently still playing Ten in). He’s the hybrid offspring of Ten and Iaka - the latter of whom is Araakocran. He came out a powerful hybrid, with the best of both his parent’s abilities. That is, until some psychos tried to sacrifice him for reasons he doesn’t know, and in doing so burned out half of his blood to become a blood hunter. Losing his demonic traits (ie darkvision, hellish resistance, etc), his stats rely solely on the Araakocran racial features, and his goal is to find the parts of him he lost. Unlike both his dads, he’s a blood hunter instead of a warlock, so it’s gonna be fun to play a fighter with blood magic and a horribly great flying speed. Despite his weird and messed up past, he was raised by very loving parents, and remains a positive and kind individual.
Last but not least is Serigil. He’s a changeling, born and raised in the feywild. He came to the material plane because he thinks humans are so boring, and wants to share the unrestrained ecstasy of feywild revelry with mortals. Taught under the college of glamour, he’s the type to use his magic to get himself out of situations that he most likely caused. He’s something of a big brother figure to Marshall, the protective type that ends up being the cause of the problems. He’s just here to spread a good time, and have a good time, but don’t be fooled by his gentle and charming exterior; just like the ever changing wilds of the changeling’s home, his mood is subject to equally rapid change. Best not to insult him or those he cares about, for as approachable as he is, a serpent lies beneath welcome grass.
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pcareielle · 5 years
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Goathead the God // Psycho Killer
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I was so excited when I found this picture was it’s basically what I imagine Hal to look like. Love the wrapping. There could definitely be some kind of deadly magical hand shenanigans going on beneath them. Handsome, but his features are not that readily identifiable. I do, however, imagine his clothes to be much more understated--more a peasant’s Sunday Best at the most. His modus operandi is to be unmemorable, to blend into a crowd with his Mask of Many Faces and do as he pleases. Nobody seems to quite have the same idea of what Hal looks like or what he is. Cheerful, charming, a fantastic performer; or a cruel and calculating entity with sinister intentions. Everybody remembers Goathead the Great. Nobody remembers Hal.
Persephone was created with the intention of being a foil to Goathead. Certain differences are more overt than others. F/M, Pure Melee/Pure Magic, Quiet/Loud, “Mean”/”Nice.” Their true dichotomy lies in their distinct similarities and how they have actualized in disparate directions from them. 
Even longer post b/c I got high and went on tangents about Goathead because he’s apparently my little Satan baby. 
Intent
Zapp Branigan was the inspiration behind Goathead. Good people, long to be seen as the hero, but chaotic and selfishly clinging onto dear life. There was always that seed of selfishness in him, even when I intended for him to be the wholly good hero, but the more they explored the Abyss, the more he shifted from Chaotic Good to a purely self-serving Neutral Evil, and then to whatever he has been up to since he left.
Spartacus: Blood and Sand was the initial inspiration for her characterization, but if my only memories of the show is some vague recollection from ten years ago of cheering, then Spartacus fucking the hell out of someone. Which raises the question: what does a person like that do when they leave their Colosseum?
With that in mind and her being a foil to Goathead, I intend for Persephone’s story to be that of redemption. From a purely hedonistic Chaotic Evil to a Neutral Good that does what they must for the greater good. Just like Goathead’s, who know’s if what I intend will actually come to fruition.
Identity and Goals
If one were to ask Goathead how he got his name, he would feed them some bullshit about how as a precious babe, neither the elves nor the humans wanted him so he was left to perish in the wilds, but was saved by a gracious Tiefling woman who said that he clung onto her like a little goathead, and from then on he named himself Goathead to honor his new mother. 
On a meta-level, his name comes from me forgetting to pick a name for him until the very last second, panicking, looking out the window and thinking of the goatheads in the driveway, and deciding to roll with it because it sounded cool. I’m sure his first time going by Goathead was spurred by a similar incident. Not a lot of Wisdom, that one. Although, upon searching for any kind of symbolism for goatheads besides clinginess, I was reminded of the fact that goat heads have a significant symbolism behind them. A lot.
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Baphomet is a symbol that is meant to represent the sum total of all things in the universe, acting both as parallel and paradox, showing the observer and student alike that concepts like “good” and “evil” exist only through perspective, and that all creatures, things, and ideas have a dark and light side within. Through Levi’s description we find that Baphomet is a symbolic representation of balance and necessity, in all things.
In reality, Goathead grew up with a loving family with a steady income, a nice home, a loving family, and no real problems in the city. On a whim, he decided to learn how to play the lute, found he was really talented at it, and started playing in local taverns. He was enraptured by the stories more well-traveled performers and patrons would tell him until he managed to persuade a bard to let him tag along with them and teach him their ways. 
Hal had so much fun roaming the countryside town-to-town. Although the city was vast, he never ventured too far from home because not all people took too kindly to half elves. And his teacher was also a hero! They would often save merchants from bandits or travelers from actual monsters. And sometimes these people would give them rewards for helping them! Delicious wines and cheeses that were heaven after begrudgingly getting used to hunting game and chalky rations, gold pieces, beautiful trinkets, and even promises. One grateful traveler even gave him a ring made out of platinum. He had never handled anything bigger than a sickle back home, and now he was just wearing platinum. Even better, that man didn’t seem to know that this plain band of incredibly expensive metal could let him look like whatever he wanted (Ring of Alter Self; how we retconned him going from a halfling to a half elf).
Getting the ring was the beginning of the end. If this ring could make him look even more handsome than he already was, and their songs could charm people, what else could magic do? Could it give him castles full of riches? Would everyone learn his name? Better yet--a different name. He was sick of the stupid nicknames, people calling him “Hunky Hal” and pinching his high cheekbones and thin arms. Even better: could he make them comply to his whims? What power could magic give him? 
Goathead was a sheltered city boy that left home to travel world, play his music with his pals, and save a princess or two. On her (maybe floating) mountain, Persephone also had everything she could possibly want. But it was torn from her, where Goathead willingly left it. The pleasures of the world sustain Goathead and leave him starving for more more more from wherever he can get it. Persephone lived in hell, ate from its fruit, is still trying to purge herself of it through her good deeds. 
Secrets
Both characters are incredibly secretive. Goathead is obvious: hiding his identity, creating the persona of a really genial and upstanding fellow when really he is malevolent and calculating. Goathead is defined by his shadiness and will take his many secrets to the grave. 
Persephone also has her secrets: her homeland, her angelic ancestry and relationship with Ilmater, her time with the monks, and the many missions she must fulfill. While she has mellowed out a great deal from dying all the time, she’s still an asshole. Just more aloof. She doesn’t see the point in getting close to people that will probably just die. If you open up, you get attached, then it hurts all the more when they don’t come back like you do. Despite this, she is just more guarded than straight up shady like Goathead. Her secrets are more of omission because no one asks too many questions of the dumb brute, and she knows this.
Suffering
I made Goathead’s playlist way before I made Persephone’s, but since they’re foils and I’m extra, I decided to have one song that’s in both of theirs. The song is supposed to be Wave of Mutilation, but I already wrote a bunch there and didn’t want to change the order of the playlist. It works because they’re both Psycho Killers, so whatever, but I don’t think it really works for him because there’s a hint of regret or remorse, but Goathead does not feel those emotions.
Both of them lost their minds at some point: Persephone in the monastery and Goathead when he lost his hand. Suffering drove Persephone to be stronger for her god and be better. Losing his hand and indelibly marring his person was the final breaking point for what remained of his good will. Nothing would tarnish his perfection. He would find a better hand and stronger magic and ensure nothing would ever hurt him again. From then on, the basis of his characterization became less Zapp Brannigan and more The Count of Monte Cristo Without a Cause. Persephone spends every moment of her life knowing she will suffer and that each moment may be her last. 
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Freedom
Again, Goathead is a creature defined by his desire for the freedom to do whatever he wants. While not quite inherently malevolent in nature, he is to those that get in his way, or that he believes are beneath him... which is most people. Goathead had always been free, up until he made a pact with some unknown Great Old entity. Probably many unknown entities at this point. Now he owes some of his much-coveted power to something he cannot even comprehend.
In contrast, Persephone has lived most of her life in service to others; first her slavery with the monks, then enlisting with the Dragonborn Confederacy to escape from them. She doesn’t quite know what Ilmater and her Angelic Guide expect from her besides cryptic statements about suffering well and home, but she trusts that what happens is his bidding and it will all be worth it one day. I believe that they have a genuinely good relationship, but I may be wrong. 
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