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Name and Occupation- Taken Name: Brynn “Bri” Halcyon.- Pronunciation of the Name: BRIN “BREE” HAL-SEE-ON.- Name Etymology: Brynn chose his name out of simplicity in being able to pronounce it. His given names are, frankly, quite ridiculous to try and say aloud to anyone who isn’t Welsh, so he went for a short and simple taken name that he found quite snazzy to say. Reason for choosing the name is fair, looking at his given name. Is there any other reason he settled on Brynn in particular?- Given Name: Cadoc ap Llywd ap Gruffudd.- Pronunciation of the Name: CAD-oh ap huh-LOYD ap GRIFF-IFF.- Character Job: Brynn classifies himself as a “professional Adventurer” among other things. In all honesty, aside from his normal work as a somewhat pretentious author, Brynn will take on whatever jobs he finds most interesting, and which he can apply his battle-field viscometry to most efficiently. Once, he was a battlefield “medic”, and has been known to offer his healing services to parties of adventurers since those days. Brynn also fancies himself a collector and seller of magical artifacts when he gets the time. You could also consider him a con artist, though that’s only with the one coin trick, so to speak.- Qualifications: N/A.- Titles: Brynn has been given quite a few titles over the years, though he discredits them all.Ricky has a tendency to call him the Minuteman, much to his chagrin, due to his involvement with the Minutemen in the American Revolution. Many different names were attributed to him during the war, though simply the Torturer has been the only one to really stick with him past these years. Character Mentality- Character Personality: Despite his life experiences, Brynn is an almost obnoxiously optimistic individual, with a wilful ignorance of negativity in his life. With countless years of fighting under his belt, he’s decided that life is too short - even for mages - to be anything short of content with it, and it’s rare to ever find him in a bad mood. He’s an absolute busy-body, constantly finding something to occupy his time and when he’s not occupied, he’s either writing or going out to meet new people. Always a polite individual, Brynn never wants to offend anyone. He always wants to be made aware of what they find uncomfortable, and will go out of his way to make people feel safe in his company. He’s too used to people looking at him and seeing a scary man, and he just wants to have good conversation and a nice time with people. It is extremely rare for Brynn to forget his manners, especially in the presence of a lady (it is in this regard that he can be considered overly “chivalrous” at times, though this is due to centuries of being raised with a particular ideal of masculinity). To continue on the idea of centuries of a certain ideal of masculinity, Brynn can have a rather “toxic masculine” view on things. He is used to men being told to be a certain way, and being taught that a man holds certain values - these are the same values that he will always hold to himself, meaning that the concepts of sensitivity and open-mindedness can be alien to him at times. He has tried to learn and grow with the changing times, but there’s only so much self-improvement that you can expect a busy man like Brynn Halcyon to rigorously adhere to. It is in this regard that he can also be seen as somewhat sexist, as he has a certain view on how women tend to be and will, in dangerous situations, tend to gravitate towards protecting women before himself (though he is aware that this is not always necessary, of course). Brynn has suffered an awful lot of trauma from a very rough few centuries of living. Having lived so much of his life constantly fighting, Brynn feels physically and psychologically incapable of getting back into the lull of a normal life. This has characterised in his reckless hunting for something to do, always, which he will label (along with a large portion of the magic community) “adventuring”.I love this. Already this character seems grounded, well developed and most importantly, real. He is most definitely a survivalist. Perhaps not to the extent of certain others, but he does like to test his limits very frequently. It is not rare for Brynn to disappear for weeks on end from his friendships to see how long he can survive in nature without food, water, and with only his skills - he is aware that this is likely a coping mechanism of sorts, though he genuinely doesn't believe that he's been through anything harrowing enough to consider why he needs such extreme coping methods. It is through this regard that while Brynn will never invalidate someone else's experiences, and will always show compassion for the suffering of others, he is completely desensitised and disconnected from his own life experiences. Brynn is completely unaware of how much he has changed in many ways through the centuries, and tends to think back on his most horrific of memories with a completely dissociated viewpoint. He could talk for hours on end about his experiences in chilling detail without even showing the slightest crack in emotion, as it has just never clicked that these things have happened to him, and that he should probably have some sort of reaction. Is there anything that could trigger some kind of reaction in him? Someone probing him too far about his past? Nightmares? Or has he always dissociated from his past? He has an extreme interest in magical artifacts and their applications in contemporary life. Though this interest can probably just be extended to “artifacts” in general. Brynn feels incredibly old and jaded at times, so he finds a degree of satisfaction in the restoration of antiques, making old things once more useful. He may not be old for a mage, but he’s certainly not young by any means - a fact that he detests. Like most magi of his calibre, Brynn is a child at heart. He finds great enjoyment in the small pleasures in life; good food, warm drinks, anything homely. He himself is also a homely man. There is a deep fondness and respect within him for “honest work”, though he may not be able to do so himself anymore, he loves farm and animal work and respects those who work in these vocations at a very deep level. Brynn has a tendency to avoidance and emotional numbing due to the trauma that he has suffered, and any mention of his family or his past can trigger him to either completely withdraw and become disinterested in the conversation, or for him to become a completely different manGreat. Disregard my last point! - losing his charisma and his friendliness in a split-second and becoming exactly the sadistic beast that he was known for in the War. This is an extreme defence mechanism, and he rationalises his terrible actions during this harrowing time as the idea that he did what he had to, even though he went way above and beyond the call of the duty -- it’s hard for the man ever to truly get a moment of relaxation. It is times like this that he realises that every smile is fake, every nice conversation is just small-talk to distract from the horrific memories that are consistently plaguing him. This is one of the only topics in which he will very suddenly and very violently realise that he has been through a lot of horrible experiences, and this very realisation makes the mere prospect of living a suddenly unbearable burden, so Brynn merely avoids it. In his mind, he has lost everything that there is to lose, and he’s now just here to have the best remainder of his years until he very much naturally shuffles off this mortal coil. He may not actively be reckless with his life, but he certainly isn’t avoiding any danger whatsoever, and has very little regard for his health or his life. It’s more important to Brynn that he’s always being productive, always getting that rush of adrenaline from a brand new situation or a brand new artifact, and everything else is just the slightest bit arbitrary. He has a natural distrust towards certain afflicted, though this doesn’t impair his judgement of them as individuals, though he is specifically distrusting of Auramorbonists in general, due to his experience with one terrible Aura, and Fae - again, due to a bad experience. Though if any human has a particularly good opinion of the Fae, they are likely just the slightest bit mad. On top of this, Magiphage are a topic of discontent for Brynn, finding that anything that can copy your magic is oftentimes not good. - Character Likes: +History: Being a traveller, there’s a fair amount that Brynn has lived through. Somehow, though, there’s even more that he hasn’t experienced. An entire world of thousands of years of history is absolutely fascinating, and reminds Brynn that people have had similar experiences to him or even worse ones. This humbling experience is something that fuels his passion for history - and he’s never gets bored of an older mage’s rambling. + Ricky’s Bodega: Having lived a long and traumatic life, Brynn finds pleasure in the smallest of things. Most notably, he finds comfort in his friend Ricky’s humble bodega. It is a safe place, and a nice spot for him to meet with a friend and have a relaxing day. What would life be without Ricky’s world-class deli to smooth things over?+ Weaponry: What with being a soldier for so many years, Brynn has an incredibly vested interest in weaponry. There’s a degree of security to be felt in knowing exactly how a gun or a blade works, and exactly how to wield it. A lot of his time is spent learning about these things, even if he doesn’t carry weapons on his person constantly. It also interests him greatly to learn how every-day objects can be utilised as a weapon.+ Pain: An unfortunate side effect of Brynn’s branch in his magic, Brynn has an almost addictive love of pain - both the inducement and the experience of pain. He’s not especially proud of this like of his, but that doesn’t stop him from being awkwardly drawn to pain. He often will hang around with people who are somehow hurt or in the presence of people with random ailments due to this. Odd. I imagine him lurking around A&Es. Interesting though!+ Nature: He has a fondness for the beauty of nature, finding it to be a very calm and grounding experience. There is little that is more calming in the world than a nice bevvy in a heavily wooded area surrounded by nature, after all.+ Horses: They are both smart animals, as well as a trustworthy means of transportation. Brynn has a fondness for these animals, finding them to be good companionship on top of good practicality, however they are nothing on…+ His Goliath: This car is Brynn’s pride and joy. Many nights have been spent sleeping in his Goliath, and she is an extremely reliable means of transport for him. A lot of the money that he managed to build up over the centuries went to one incredibly impulsive buy that he hasn’t managed to regret yet. Even when leaving the country, he prefers to travel by ferries so that he can continue to use his Goliath. It brings a great deal of comfort to him. Plus, she’s a damn looker. - Character Dislikes: - Heat: Having watched his sister die before his very eyes, and his own traumatic experience with the American Queen Wrathia Venora, Brynn has developed an outright hatred for heat, fire, lava, anything of the like. It’s a hatred that borders on fear. - Violence: While Brynn does not actively shy away from violence by any means, he doesn't particularly experience any great enjoyment towards it. If anything, he has more of an exasperated attitude towards violence in general, finding it to be a bit of an annoyance overall.- Sudden loud noises: Slamming doors without warning, smashing objects without warning, anything sudden and loud is an extremely effective way to put Brynn instantly on edge. He has lived through so much violence that this experience will very quickly put him in a cold sweat - and his reaction is very often defensive. - Red-haired women: They don’t even have to resemble his sister in appearance or anything like that. The hair doesn’t have to be long, or even the exact shade - just any tinge of red in their hair spurs an instant dislike of the woman before him. Brynn is aware that this is unfair, and he feels a great deal of guilt about it, but he can’t bring himself to remember anything about her. Rhiannon’s death left a huge mark on Brynn, and this very simple reminder of her is the most evident way it manifests, he’s almost borderline rude to these poor women. - Whips: It’s very evident why he’d have a dislike of whips - or anything that can be used as such. During his years as an indentured servant for the Virginia colony he was transported to, Brynn was often subject to flagellation as discipline by his contract holder. This has left him with a lot of physical scars down his back, and a severe hatred for whips. Even the threat of this will be one of the only things to provoke an extremely violent reaction from the man.- Restraints of any kind: Again, his period of transportation (being a very harrowing journey to America), and his years as an indentured servant have ingrained a very heavy dislike of restraints, though he does not have nearly as violent a reaction to this, he’ll just do everything in his power to avoid such a fate.- Cats: Honestly, his reasoning for not liking cats is hilariously weak. He just doesn’t like them. They look evil, they’re always glaring, they get treated like royalty. What is actually to like about a cat? They carry fleas and there are strays all over New York. There is very little to like about cats. - Mental Traits: Although Brynn has never actually been to a psychologist for a diagnosis of any kind, he exhibits some rather obvious traits of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), like pretty much any mage his age likely will exhibit, most notably in the form of “emotional numbing”. Brynn also suffers from brain and nerve damage due to a life-threatening injury in the 1800s, mainly in the form of extremely bad short-term memory. Brynn can quite easily lose track of what he has done recently or forget conversations he’s had and has taken to writing a lot of things down or putting them as notes in his phone at risk of forgetting them otherwise. Does the nerve damage impair his performance in spatial tasks? His reaction time? Performance in combat? Don't mean to nitpick here, but nervous system shiet is something I can actually throw my 2 cents in on!Species and Allegiance- Species: Human.- Ethnicity: White, Welsh.- Nationality: Welsh. Though he operates mainly in America and for all intents and purposes is usually referred to as an American. - Alignment: Lawful Neutral.- Allegiance: N/A.- Reasoning: He likes to remain impartial in pretty much all matters that don’t concern him, though he is aware of his society’s laws and will try his level best to abide by them for the most part - he doesn’t want to cause harm to others without due cause, and usually seeks to find a peaceful solution to disputes. Relationships- Allies: Generally, Brynn will tend to ally with the Sanctuaries. Otherwise, he makes a point of being neutral in all things; he likes to believe that he’s impartial in most matters. Nadine Efugio has approached him from time to time for information, he could be considered one of her “contacts” in that regard, though he has no strong feelings of alliance towards the Spanish info broker. - Enemies: Other than his dislike of the Church of the Faceless, Brynn doesn’t tend to have many enemies. He has run shy of Lupa Risus too many times in his lifetime, and she is likely the only woman he’d call “murder-on-sight” simply due to how much of an annoyance she has been. - Family: His parents are deceased. He has two older siblings; Rhiannon Hiraeth and Madoc Sequoia. He was soul-bonded to his sister, Rhiannon.- Friends: He makes many friends, though not many of them are really big names. He has developed a liking for the Elder Thorkild Feilstrom in recent years due to them both being absolute monstrous guys during the War, yet pretty swell now. Brynn also has a “sort-of” friendship with Siobhan Donovan after getting some tattoos from her a while ago, though he finds her a little too cold to develop an actual friendship with. He’s close friends with an Auramorbonist (and professional Swell Guy) named Ricky Acosta, while their friendship initially started with Brynn merely being a customer in his bodega, it quickly became apparent that Ricky was into some shady business, and he now functions as a sort of quartermaster for Brynn in-between jobs, Ricky has a large array of weapons and good food that Brynn is incredibly interested in and will stock up whenever he gets the free time (and they’ll also have a nice chat, he’ll nerd out about the Goliath). However, his best friend is likely his Rough Collie, Banner. - Significant Other: N/A. As much as he’s overall a swell guy, he’s just not blessed with the ladies. Character Age and Gender- True Age: 570- Appearance Age: Approx late 20s to early 30s, maybe 28-ish. - Character Birthday: 10/01/1449- Gender: Cisgendered male. This means he was designated male at birth and identifies as male. Character Appearance- Skin Colour: His skin is a tan white colour, though does look fairly sun-damaged in some spots, especially on his face. His body is covered in freckles. - Height: 5ft10- Weight: 80KG- Hair Description: Unkempt, relatively shaggy. It falls to his shoulders in dark auburn curls, and he tends to tie it up into a loose bun. - Eye Description: Cognac-brown eyes, quite narrow. They are by far the most unremarkable feature on his face, looking rather muted at times. He has laughter lines on the sides of his eyes and thick brows hooding them, characterised by dark circles from countless restless nights. - Facial Details: Brynn has quite a square head, covered in freckles, with rather symmetrical features - other than his nose, which has clearly been broken and set wrong and now looks a little flat on his face. His eyes are wide-spaced, though look a little high up on his face. His lips are thin, though his entire mouth seems to be covered in scar tissue - burn scars and scratches that cover his mouth and jaw, all the way down to his neck, that mars the freckles which sit there. When his hair is down, it frames his face in crisp waves, and he has a neat beard and ‘tache that he keeps trimmed and oiled in an almost exactly square shape, coming out at about two inches from his skin. - Physical Appearance: Standing at a very average height for a man, Brynn’s most distinguishable feature is that he is incredibly broad. This gives him a rather “trapezoid” body shape, with his shoulders being the broadest part of him and his hips being just the slightest bit thinner. He’s relatively muscular, most evidently in his arms and shoulders - his back is covered with lashing scars, and his arms are covered in freckles. Brynn has what one would call a “lumberjack” build. His stomach is quite toned, though there doesn’t appear to be any shape to it - no six-pack for him, though he can dream. Overall, he is quite a heavy-set man, looking fairly intimidating at first glance. His hands, while quite large and wide, have long fingers - though some of his knuckles look out of place and his hands tend to relax in an almost-claw shape from his fingers being broken - with badly chewed fingernails and hangnails, with long scars running across his palms. Just between his shoulder blades, Brynn has a symbol placed to enhance his physical abilities - this was done by the renowned tattooist Siobhan Donovan in the early 2000s. As with most of Siobhan’s symbols, it is enclosed in a circle - about five inches in diameter, and looks pretty much like a squiggle; (click to show/hide)- Attire: Brynn likes to dress “smart-casual” pretty much every opportunity he gets. This usually means; Plaid slim-fit cotton shirts at any opportunity, usually with the sleeves rolled up to the crease of his elbow. He will forego ties in favour of just undoing the top button, though if he has to wear a tie he’ll usually pick a bow-tie (not a clip-on, a clip-on is for fiends) Cotton cardigans/sweaters, they’ll usually be a nice deep red in colour. He doesn’t always tend to wear these unless the weather is somewhat cool. Skinny jeans or khaki trousers, usually blue or black. He’ll always wear a complimenting belt with these. Stanley Impact Safety boots, in a honey (tan) colour, size 9. These boots are steel-toed, with a breathable insole, making them both practical and stylish, and suitable for absolutely everything. When leaving the house with the sole intent of combat, Brynn has a specific set of attire that he will wear; Heavy-pocketed trousers with his boots. Most usually these will either be combat trousers or cargo trousers in a tan or sandy colour. A breathable shirt, colour and style may change completely varying on both weather and what he feels like wearing. Usually, Brynn will not wear any jackets, though he did get converted into the style of certain motorcycle jackets during his meeting with Siobhan, and will sometimes be found wearing one of these in combative situations. I usually judge appearance descriptions by how vividly the character appears in my head. As always, you go above and beyond in this section! Speech and Habits- Character Voice: Weathered, gravelly, and quiet. It grates a little on the ears when he raises his voice. When he doesn’t strain it, he’s rather soft-spoken, rolling his r’s a little too heavily at times. - Speech Traits: Due to his age and travel, he only has a very soft Welsh accent - sounding more North American nowadays. He speaks quite quickly and lazily most of the time, making a lot of his sentences initially incoherent to those who haven’t heard him speak often. Brynn also tends to use colloquialisms and older slang in his speech. - Languages: English, Middle Welsh due to being alive at such a time, he is fluent in French as he spent time in the Francophone regions of Africa during the War. He can pick up certain bits of written Latin, though isn’t fluent. He is fluent in Afrikaans and Amharic. - Habits: He bites his nails and knuckles. Tends to run his tongue over his teeth when idle, an old habit. - Mannerisms: Brynn’s fingers tend to shake, and he can never keep them fully still due to them being broken, and set incorrectly on top of nerve and brain damage from an old injury. Upon being angered, he will usually fall completely silent and still. Weapons, Equipment and Artifacts- Large Equipment: The Animated Shield; this was acquired in Africa during the War. Through the use of magic and a spoken word “Onwrikbare” (Unyielding in Afrikaans), the shield can be controlled to a certain degree to protect Brynn without the use of his hands, allowing protection from one side and leaving both hands free for fighting. If he is too injured in combat, the shield will merely fall as it requires concentration to uphold. This has been dubbed “The Loyal Aegis” by those who have seen Brynn use it in action. - Small Equipment: He carries a lighter on his person, generally. A small, very aged wood carving lies in the Goliath, depicting what is presumably an attempt at a European Honey Buzzard - though this carving reminds him of Madoc, it was gifted to him from his sister Rhiannon, and most likely was her attempt at carving with their elder brother a long, long time ago. He has also been known to carry this in his pocket on particularly hard days, and the base of the carving has been worn through from where he’s rubbed it so frequently in times of distress. - Weaponry: As a soldier, Brynn has come to like having quite a few weapons around, though he doesn’t carry them on his person;- Mossberg 500 tactical pump shotgun - this gun has a 28 inch vented rib and an 18.5 inch barrel, a 12 gauge slug with 5 + 1 capacity. Due to the easy barrel swapping of this gun, he can switch it up in under twenty seconds. Attached to the end of the barrel is a “breacher brake”. A standard muzzle brake with 3 centimetre long slightly inward-curved spikes designed to be thrust into doors and other soft surfaces to allow the shotgun to create holes and breach doors. The brake also functions as an effective melee weapon in a pinch.- Entrenching tool; a three-way collapsible entrenching tool that can multi-purpose as both a shovel, pick, spade, and axe - due to it being technically a multi-tool, he is able to carry it around frequently, giving him a good weapon. He carries this around in his truck. - Ammunition: Brynn has a three-gun waist rig for his shotgun, carrying up to twenty shells if needed. This also makes multiple quick-reload techniques for the Mossberg much easier to achieve, so he will tend to wear this for combat or general “adventuring” on any certain jobs. I'll leave this part for young Giddles- Pocket Items: He keeps a smart-phone on his person, as one tends to do now living in the modern age. It’s been dreadfully beat through and is on its last legs, with a smashed screen and everything. As usual, his wallet is always in his pocket - a battered bifold leather thing, he usually has a few notes and cards in here. There’s an old coin (a 1776 continental dollar) that always sits in the coin purse in his wallet, he considers it his lucky coin (it is carved with a symbol that is connected to a symbol on his wallet, meaning that it will teleport back into his wallet when pressed -- this is how he makes a lot of money when in a pinch). - Magical Equipment/Artifacts: There are two particular magical artifacts of any note, though he does have an active interest in artifacts and does try to hunt them down, so more may be added at a later date; His “Animated Shield”, it has been dubbed “The Loyal Aegis” by a few collectors who have deemed it one of a kind. If this shield is genuinely one of a kind is unknown to him. What is known is that it was crafted by a master metallurgist before the War and enchanted with old magic (likely with the help of someone with a discipline such as evocation). The actual material of the shield usually stands at a disc of only a few inches diameter, looking to be a solid alloy of Mnemosium and Pandorium, though upon the spoken command; “Onwrikbare” it will expand into an incredibly durable Nguni shield - an oval shield of about five foot in length. Its main capability is the use of being able to protect the user without the use of their hands, using only a small bit of their magic through the command to establish a “bond” of sorts with the user and move in the direction intended. This effect can last, theoretically, for any period of time, but a particularly grievous injury or anything that would split the focus too far will have this shield merely drop to the floor (or the user’s hand depending on their speed) uselessly, or revert back into its natural state. Brynn used to use this shield a lot for its ability to blend seamlessly with his particular combat style, though doesn’t carry it on his person anymore. His Disappearing Coin is something that Brynn will always keep on his person, no matter what, though this is mainly for sentimental value as there is very little practicality in having a coin. It is a 1776 Conintental Currency dollar coin struck in silver, about an inch and a half in diameter and 240 grains in weight. It is in surprisingly good condition, with one side a circular ring near the edge with the words inscribed “Continental Currency 1776” and within the ring a rising sun. On the reverse side are thirteen circles joined together, with the words “We Are One” embossed into the center. A summoning symbol has been engraved into the face of the coin, though it is only noticeable upon pressing it and imbuing it with some magic. The partner to this symbol lies on the face of Brynn’s wallet, which will summon the coin back to its rightful place in his wallet. He uses this for his good old disappearing coin trick, taking advantage of how much this coin is worth in the modern day to make a quick bit of cash when he’s in danger of running low and can’t get a job done. - Other: Brynn is in possession of a 6x6 Hennessey Goliath in a gaudy cherry red colour, it's his pride and joy - and he considers the upkeep of this truck to be of the utmost importance. (click to show/hide) As well as this, he has the deeds to a 4-bed country home in Carlow. He uses this home as a general area of rest, though prefers to travel and consequently spends more time in his Goliath. He has rented a flat in New York (as that’s his most frequent area of residence) that he pays for doing work for the American Sanctuary. Magical and Physical Abilities- Magic Type: Adept. - Specialization: Viscometry.- Immersion Metamorphosis: N/A. There is no IM for Viscometry. - Ability Specific Info: While many believe that Viscometry is very specifically “healing magic”, this is untrue. Viscometry applies to many aspects of biology, including the inducement and the removal of pain, wounds, etc. Most users of Viscometry will fall into proficiency in one of two branches; Affliction or Consolation, though some choose to be a jack-of-all-trades, never gaining mastery of either branch. Brynn is generally considered a “Visceral” or a “Butcher” due to his leaning on the Affliction branch. - Magical Abilities: Having used his abilities mostly in war, Brynn leans slightly towards the Afflictor branch than anything else, though he is technically proficient in both trees, just one more than the other;Pain: The inducement of pain is almost second nature to Brynn. He has a very good knowledge of anatomy, allowing for him to induce pain anywhere he wishes on the body. This ability takes very little magical or physical energy for him. However, he is also well-skilled at pain-removal, having needed to do this often in the War, and so hasn’t moved up any branch in particular in regards to this. He uses this ability very little in general nowadays. Where did he learn anatomy? Transferal of pain is a much preferred method of his (transferal in general being his specialty). During the War, he was a renowned torturer for his ability to concentrate pain to a particular area, creating an agonising experience for those with the misfortune of dealing with him. This is still a method he will inflict in combat. He has also been known to transfer pain between individuals, meaning multiple people are suffering the same type of pain (regardless of tolerance), and arbitrarily hurting more people than necessary. It was this method that put him further up the Afflictor branch. Brynn has become proficient enough in this aspect that he theoretically could incapacitate a whole group of people in this manner, though it would be extremely magically draining for him, which makes it harder for him to spread out the pain to lessen it. When it comes to storage of pain, Brynn is almost completely proficient in this aspect, as it was a large part of his role as a Battle Medic. In the past, Brynn was almost always with a red crown of thorns around his head, as he often would store the pain of his friends in his pain corona during battle so that they could continue on fighting without ailment until the battle was over, where he’d give them their pain back. He is able to store an immense amount of pain for extended periods of time before having to re-inflict them. Storing “heal” is a concept that he’s struggled with. If he expects a battle, he is able to store the absence of pain for later, but it is not a technique of the Afflictor branch he’s familiar with, and therefore he’s not proficient in this. It requires preparation and energy for him to do this. Wounds: Inducement of wounds was yet another technique he was known for as a torturer. He finds it simplistic enough to induce wounds onto any soft tissue. However, in this regard, he was always more of a jack-of-all-trades, as he never often found it useful to induce wounds. Removal was always more important for Brynn. He can heal any minor to moderate injuries of the soft tissue, though any harder substances such as bone or ligaments are almost impossible for him (though bones are mainly impossible for all Viscometers to heal). Any surface wounds are a simple job for him to heal, regardless of depth, but internal wounds are harder. Again, transferal is what he relies on. Brynn has had to transfer many wounds from one soldier to another soldier (who is less likely to survive from their wounds anyway), and sharing wounds between soldiers to make what would have been a life-ending wound merely a flesh wound to be treated later. A wound shared between soldiers often made it easier for battle, and he is able to transfer a wound between up to five people - rendering it nearby useless and treatable later. He is also able to merge and unmerge wounds easily, turning small cuts into massive gashes and vice-versa. Interesting use of magicAfflictor Passives: While Brynn has not reached mastery in either due to his extensive use of both branches, he leans towards the Afflictor branch, meaning that he has a lesser extent of the passive abilities made available to most afflictors. As an afflictor, while Brynn doesn’t have a higher tolerance for pain, he has learned to enjoy it -- being somewhat masochistic in nature and drawn to it due to this. He is able to sense pain, illness, and injury on others, almost being able to sniff it out. Brynn can discover exactly the source of pain and how it needs fixing. However, one downside of this is that while using his magic, his biology can encourage infection during affliction of pain/wounds. - Physical Abilities: Due to his symbol, Brynn has higher enhanced abilities. Not quite to the level of an afflicted, but he is faster and stronger than the average human. Having been a soldier in many different Wars, he is proficient in fire-arms and CQC, with a heavy preference to CQC, hand-to-hand. Brynn’s an extremely competent and agile fighter, with knowledge of different martial arts and defensive/offensive procedures in battle. His preferred guns are anything that are short-range, can’t go wrong with a pump-action shotty. Otherwise, he likes to fight hand-to-hand, using his magical strengths to give him an upper hand. Alongside his physical upper body strength, Brynn is extremely agile. He can climb and carry weights for long periods of time without tiring. Due to his very active lifestyle, he does not easily succumb to fatigue and is able to go for days without food or rest if needed.- Strengths: - Peak physical health: For a mage of his age, Brynn is at peak physical health. He is a formidable enemy when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, and has the constitution of an ox, it's very difficult to wear him down. - Harmful touch: Due to his magic proficiency, in CQC Brynn is an absolute monster to deal with. He has excellent survival instincts and is able to inflict unimaginable pain with a touch, making him an unwanted combatant. - Firearm proficiency: Brynn is proficient nowadays in pretty much any firearm, though since they can all be wildly different, here's a few of the guns he has most knowledge in; the Mossberg 500 tactical pump shotgun - this gun has a 28 inch vented rib and an 18.5 inch barrel, a 12 gauge slug with 5 + 1 capacity. Due to the easy barrel swapping of this gun, he can switch it up in under twenty seconds. Aside from the versatility of this, he's proficient in multiple handguns and hunting rifles. Martial fighting knowledge: As with any mage his age, Brynn has extensive knowledge of hand-to-hand fighting maneuvers. - Weaknesses: - Lack of accuracy: Due to an injury to his hands when he was younger, his fingers have been set in an awkward position, causing his hands to always have a slight tremor and lessening his hand-eye coordination dramatically. This means that no matter how good he gets at shooting or fighting, he will always have an accuracy disadvantage. - Brain and nerve damage: Yet again, an injury from the past has left him with irreparable brain damage that can manifest in the form of certain tics and even the loss of complete bodily autonomy at times. Combat can be a stressor that triggers these tics, giving him a devastating weakness in such an event. This has also affected his depth perception to a degree, meaning he isn't the best shot. Might also have a slight effect on reaction times- Pain-lust: Due to his discipline, Brynn can sometimes seek out reckless acts in order to feel or induce pain. This need can override any reason within him, completely destroying any tactical thought in his mind. - Training: Most of his magic was learned from his mother, who was also a Viscometer. However, he gained more full proficiency of magic and combat during the War, hence why he leans so heavily into the Afflictor branch. He took the time to learn about fire-arms during his time with the BFC (British Forces Cyprus) in the 1960s. Goals, Motivation and History- Major Goal: In all honesty, Brynn’s main goal in life is most likely just to “get by”, but he does have a deep desire to settle down somewhere with someone that he can trust with his life, and to build something that he can put honest work into and feel proud of, without the constant fear of losing it all looming over him. The old soldier is too used to losing everything so suddenly that he’s too wary to complete this goal, and has no one he can trust enough to ensure that this would be worked towards and protected. - Minor Goals: To put up a memorial for his sister, Rhiannon, and to find Madoc in order to break the news to him of her death. It has taken constant years of fighting and death for him to come to terms with the fact that she genuinely is gone, and he would like somewhere to visit to pay his respects and to honour her memory. While Madoc may not have been the most emotional towards them, and he had his snap and left after Alys’ death, it is somehow very clear to Brynn that there is a familial love for them both, so the least that he owes his older brother is the courtesy of telling him how much family the two of them actually have left - though he is incredibly wary of having to approach his memorably stoic older brother for anything.- Motivation: His fancy magical coin isn’t just practicality. He did carry the thing since 1776 after all! This coin also makes brilliant motivation for the man, hence why it is always on his person. Not only does it represent a quick and easy way out of any situation if it gets sticky (a la providing him the means to get an awful lot of money awfully quickly and being able to simply leave the situation) but it also reminds him of a time where his biggest worries were as simple as his humble farm, his lovely sister, and the looming threat of becoming a revolutionary. These simpler times remind him of his humble backgrounds and exactly where he has come from, making any task feel like it is actually attainable considering where he has managed to get to now.
A real interesting character. Just a few questions (click to show/hide)Quote from: Astaphaios on August 16, 2019, 08:22:52 AMName and Occupation- Taken Name: Brynn “Bri” Halcyon.- Pronunciation of the Name: BRIN “BREE” HAL-SEE-ON.- Name Etymology: Brynn chose his name out of simplicity in being able to pronounce it. His given names are, frankly, quite ridiculous to try and say aloud to anyone who isn’t Welsh, so he went for a short and simple taken name that he found quite snazzy to say. Reason for choosing the name is fair, looking at his given name. Is there any other reason he settled on Brynn in particular?- Given Name: Cadoc ap Llywd ap Gruffudd.- Pronunciation of the Name: CAD-oh ap huh-LOYD ap GRIFF-IFF.- Character Job: Brynn classifies himself as a “professional Adventurer” among other things. In all honesty, aside from his normal work as a somewhat pretentious author, Brynn will take on whatever jobs he finds most interesting, and which he can apply his battle-field viscometry to most efficiently. Once, he was a battlefield “medic”, and has been known to offer his healing services to parties of adventurers since those days. Brynn also fancies himself a collector and seller of magical artifacts when he gets the time. You could also consider him a con artist, though that’s only with the one coin trick, so to speak.- Qualifications: N/A.- Titles: Brynn has been given quite a few titles over the years, though he discredits them all.Ricky has a tendency to call him the Minuteman, much to his chagrin, due to his involvement with the Minutemen in the American Revolution. Many different names were attributed to him during the war, though simply the Torturer has been the only one to really stick with him past these years. Character Mentality- Character Personality: Despite his life experiences, Brynn is an almost obnoxiously optimistic individual, with a wilful ignorance of negativity in his life. With countless years of fighting under his belt, he’s decided that life is too short - even for mages - to be anything short of content with it, and it’s rare to ever find him in a bad mood. He’s an absolute busy-body, constantly finding something to occupy his time and when he’s not occupied, he’s either writing or going out to meet new people. Always a polite individual, Brynn never wants to offend anyone. He always wants to be made aware of what they find uncomfortable, and will go out of his way to make people feel safe in his company. He’s too used to people looking at him and seeing a scary man, and he just wants to have good conversation and a nice time with people. It is extremely rare for Brynn to forget his manners, especially in the presence of a lady (it is in this regard that he can be considered overly “chivalrous” at times, though this is due to centuries of being raised with a particular ideal of masculinity). To continue on the idea of centuries of a certain ideal of masculinity, Brynn can have a rather “toxic masculine” view on things. He is used to men being told to be a certain way, and being taught that a man holds certain values - these are the same values that he will always hold to himself, meaning that the concepts of sensitivity and open-mindedness can be alien to him at times. He has tried to learn and grow with the changing times, but there’s only so much self-improvement that you can expect a busy man like Brynn Halcyon to rigorously adhere to. It is in this regard that he can also be seen as somewhat sexist, as he has a certain view on how women tend to be and will, in dangerous situations, tend to gravitate towards protecting women before himself (though he is aware that this is not always necessary, of course). Brynn has suffered an awful lot of trauma from a very rough few centuries of living. Having lived so much of his life constantly fighting, Brynn feels physically and psychologically incapable of getting back into the lull of a normal life. This has characterised in his reckless hunting for something to do, always, which he will label (along with a large portion of the magic community) “adventuring”.I love this. Already this character seems grounded, well developed and most importantly, real. He is most definitely a survivalist. Perhaps not to the extent of certain others, but he does like to test his limits very frequently. It is not rare for Brynn to disappear for weeks on end from his friendships to see how long he can survive in nature without food, water, and with only his skills - he is aware that this is likely a coping mechanism of sorts, though he genuinely doesn't believe that he's been through anything harrowing enough to consider why he needs such extreme coping methods. It is through this regard that while Brynn will never invalidate someone else's experiences, and will always show compassion for the suffering of others, he is completely desensitised and disconnected from his own life experiences. Brynn is completely unaware of how much he has changed in many ways through the centuries, and tends to think back on his most horrific of memories with a completely dissociated viewpoint. He could talk for hours on end about his experiences in chilling detail without even showing the slightest crack in emotion, as it has just never clicked that these things have happened to him, and that he should probably have some sort of reaction. Is there anything that could trigger some kind of reaction in him? Someone probing him too far about his past? Nightmares? Or has he always dissociated from his past? He has an extreme interest in magical artifacts and their applications in contemporary life. Though this interest can probably just be extended to “artifacts” in general. Brynn feels incredibly old and jaded at times, so he finds a degree of satisfaction in the restoration of antiques, making old things once more useful. He may not be old for a mage, but he’s certainly not young by any means - a fact that he detests. Like most magi of his calibre, Brynn is a child at heart. He finds great enjoyment in the small pleasures in life; good food, warm drinks, anything homely. He himself is also a homely man. There is a deep fondness and respect within him for “honest work”, though he may not be able to do so himself anymore, he loves farm and animal work and respects those who work in these vocations at a very deep level. Brynn has a tendency to avoidance and emotional numbing due to the trauma that he has suffered, and any mention of his family or his past can trigger him to either completely withdraw and become disinterested in the conversation, or for him to become a completely different manGreat. Disregard my last point! - losing his charisma and his friendliness in a split-second and becoming exactly the sadistic beast that he was known for in the War. This is an extreme defence mechanism, and he rationalises his terrible actions during this harrowing time as the idea that he did what he had to, even though he went way above and beyond the call of the duty -- it’s hard for the man ever to truly get a moment of relaxation. It is times like this that he realises that every smile is fake, every nice conversation is just small-talk to distract from the horrific memories that are consistently plaguing him. This is one of the only topics in which he will very suddenly and very violently realise that he has been through a lot of horrible experiences, and this very realisation makes the mere prospect of living a suddenly unbearable burden, so Brynn merely avoids it. In his mind, he has lost everything that there is to lose, and he’s now just here to have the best remainder of his years until he very much naturally shuffles off this mortal coil. He may not actively be reckless with his life, but he certainly isn’t avoiding any danger whatsoever, and has very little regard for his health or his life. It’s more important to Brynn that he’s always being productive, always getting that rush of adrenaline from a brand new situation or a brand new artifact, and everything else is just the slightest bit arbitrary. He has a natural distrust towards certain afflicted, though this doesn’t impair his judgement of them as individuals, though he is specifically distrusting of Auramorbonists in general, due to his experience with one terrible Aura, and Fae - again, due to a bad experience. Though if any human has a particularly good opinion of the Fae, they are likely just the slightest bit mad. On top of this, Magiphage are a topic of discontent for Brynn, finding that anything that can copy your magic is oftentimes not good. - Character Likes: +History: Being a traveller, there’s a fair amount that Brynn has lived through. Somehow, though, there’s even more that he hasn’t experienced. An entire world of thousands of years of history is absolutely fascinating, and reminds Brynn that people have had similar experiences to him or even worse ones. This humbling experience is something that fuels his passion for history - and he’s never gets bored of an older mage’s rambling. + Ricky’s Bodega: Having lived a long and traumatic life, Brynn finds pleasure in the smallest of things. Most notably, he finds comfort in his friend Ricky’s humble bodega. It is a safe place, and a nice spot for him to meet with a friend and have a relaxing day. What would life be without Ricky’s world-class deli to smooth things over?+ Weaponry: What with being a soldier for so many years, Brynn has an incredibly vested interest in weaponry. There’s a degree of security to be felt in knowing exactly how a gun or a blade works, and exactly how to wield it. A lot of his time is spent learning about these things, even if he doesn’t carry weapons on his person constantly. It also interests him greatly to learn how every-day objects can be utilised as a weapon.+ Pain: An unfortunate side effect of Brynn’s branch in his magic, Brynn has an almost addictive love of pain - both the inducement and the experience of pain. He’s not especially proud of this like of his, but that doesn’t stop him from being awkwardly drawn to pain. He often will hang around with people who are somehow hurt or in the presence of people with random ailments due to this. Odd. I imagine him lurking around A&Es. Interesting though!+ Nature: He has a fondness for the beauty of nature, finding it to be a very calm and grounding experience. There is little that is more calming in the world than a nice bevvy in a heavily wooded area surrounded by nature, after all.+ Horses: They are both smart animals, as well as a trustworthy means of transportation. Brynn has a fondness for these animals, finding them to be good companionship on top of good practicality, however they are nothing on…+ His Goliath: This car is Brynn’s pride and joy. Many nights have been spent sleeping in his Goliath, and she is an extremely reliable means of transport for him. A lot of the money that he managed to build up over the centuries went to one incredibly impulsive buy that he hasn’t managed to regret yet. Even when leaving the country, he prefers to travel by ferries so that he can continue to use his Goliath. It brings a great deal of comfort to him. Plus, she’s a damn looker. - Character Dislikes: - Heat: Having watched his sister die before his very eyes, and his own traumatic experience with the American Queen Wrathia Venora, Brynn has developed an outright hatred for heat, fire, lava, anything of the like. It’s a hatred that borders on fear. - Violence: While Brynn does not actively shy away from violence by any means, he doesn't particularly experience any great enjoyment towards it. If anything, he has more of an exasperated attitude towards violence in general, finding it to be a bit of an annoyance overall.- Sudden loud noises: Slamming doors without warning, smashing objects without warning, anything sudden and loud is an extremely effective way to put Brynn instantly on edge. He has lived through so much violence that this experience will very quickly put him in a cold sweat - and his reaction is very often defensive. - Red-haired women: They don’t even have to resemble his sister in appearance or anything like that. The hair doesn’t have to be long, or even the exact shade - just any tinge of red in their hair spurs an instant dislike of the woman before him. Brynn is aware that this is unfair, and he feels a great deal of guilt about it, but he can’t bring himself to remember anything about her. Rhiannon’s death left a huge mark on Brynn, and this very simple reminder of her is the most evident way it manifests, he’s almost borderline rude to these poor women. - Whips: It’s very evident why he’d have a dislike of whips - or anything that can be used as such. During his years as an indentured servant for the Virginia colony he was transported to, Brynn was often subject to flagellation as discipline by his contract holder. This has left him with a lot of physical scars down his back, and a severe hatred for whips. Even the threat of this will be one of the only things to provoke an extremely violent reaction from the man.- Restraints of any kind: Again, his period of transportation (being a very harrowing journey to America), and his years as an indentured servant have ingrained a very heavy dislike of restraints, though he does not have nearly as violent a reaction to this, he’ll just do everything in his power to avoid such a fate.- Cats: Honestly, his reasoning for not liking cats is hilariously weak. He just doesn’t like them. They look evil, they’re always glaring, they get treated like royalty. What is actually to like about a cat? They carry fleas and there are strays all over New York. There is very little to like about cats. - Mental Traits: Although Brynn has never actually been to a psychologist for a diagnosis of any kind, he exhibits some rather obvious traits of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), like pretty much any mage his age likely will exhibit, most notably in the form of “emotional numbing”. Brynn also suffers from brain and nerve damage due to a life-threatening injury in the 1800s, mainly in the form of extremely bad short-term memory. Brynn can quite easily lose track of what he has done recently or forget conversations he’s had and has taken to writing a lot of things down or putting them as notes in his phone at risk of forgetting them otherwise. Does the nerve damage impair his performance in spatial tasks? His reaction time? Performance in combat? Don't mean to nitpick here, but nervous system shiet is something I can actually throw my 2 cents in on!Species and Allegiance- Species: Human.- Ethnicity: White, Welsh.- Nationality: Welsh. Though he operates mainly in America and for all intents and purposes is usually referred to as an American. - Alignment: Lawful Neutral.- Allegiance: N/A.- Reasoning: He likes to remain impartial in pretty much all matters that don’t concern him, though he is aware of his society’s laws and will try his level best to abide by them for the most part - he doesn’t want to cause harm to others without due cause, and usually seeks to find a peaceful solution to disputes. Relationships- Allies: Generally, Brynn will tend to ally with the Sanctuaries. Otherwise, he makes a point of being neutral in all things; he likes to believe that he’s impartial in most matters. Nadine Efugio has approached him from time to time for information, he could be considered one of her “contacts” in that regard, though he has no strong feelings of alliance towards the Spanish info broker. - Enemies: Other than his dislike of the Church of the Faceless, Brynn doesn’t tend to have many enemies. He has run shy of Lupa Risus too many times in his lifetime, and she is likely the only woman he’d call “murder-on-sight” simply due to how much of an annoyance she has been. - Family: His parents are deceased. He has two older siblings; Rhiannon Hiraeth and Madoc Sequoia. He was soul-bonded to his sister, Rhiannon.- Friends: He makes many friends, though not many of them are really big names. He has developed a liking for the Elder Thorkild Feilstrom in recent years due to them both being absolute monstrous guys during the War, yet pretty swell now. Brynn also has a “sort-of” friendship with Siobhan Donovan after getting some tattoos from her a while ago, though he finds her a little too cold to develop an actual friendship with. He’s close friends with an Auramorbonist (and professional Swell Guy) named Ricky Acosta, while their friendship initially started with Brynn merely being a customer in his bodega, it quickly became apparent that Ricky was into some shady business, and he now functions as a sort of quartermaster for Brynn in-between jobs, Ricky has a large array of weapons and good food that Brynn is incredibly interested in and will stock up whenever he gets the free time (and they’ll also have a nice chat, he’ll nerd out about the Goliath). However, his best friend is likely his Rough Collie, Banner. - Significant Other: N/A. As much as he’s overall a swell guy, he’s just not blessed with the ladies. Character Age and Gender- True Age: 570- Appearance Age: Approx late 20s to early 30s, maybe 28-ish. - Character Birthday: 10/01/1449- Gender: Cisgendered male. This means he was designated male at birth and identifies as male. Character Appearance- Skin Colour: His skin is a tan white colour, though does look fairly sun-damaged in some spots, especially on his face. His body is covered in freckles. - Height: 5ft10- Weight: 80KG- Hair Description: Unkempt, relatively shaggy. It falls to his shoulders in dark auburn curls, and he tends to tie it up into a loose bun. - Eye Description: Cognac-brown eyes, quite narrow. They are by far the most unremarkable feature on his face, looking rather muted at times. He has laughter lines on the sides of his eyes and thick brows hooding them, characterised by dark circles from countless restless nights. - Facial Details: Brynn has quite a square head, covered in freckles, with rather symmetrical features - other than his nose, which has clearly been broken and set wrong and now looks a little flat on his face. His eyes are wide-spaced, though look a little high up on his face. His lips are thin, though his entire mouth seems to be covered in scar tissue - burn scars and scratches that cover his mouth and jaw, all the way down to his neck, that mars the freckles which sit there. When his hair is down, it frames his face in crisp waves, and he has a neat beard and ‘tache that he keeps trimmed and oiled in an almost exactly square shape, coming out at about two inches from his skin. - Physical Appearance: Standing at a very average height for a man, Brynn’s most distinguishable feature is that he is incredibly broad. This gives him a rather “trapezoid” body shape, with his shoulders being the broadest part of him and his hips being just the slightest bit thinner. He’s relatively muscular, most evidently in his arms and shoulders - his back is covered with lashing scars, and his arms are covered in freckles. Brynn has what one would call a “lumberjack” build. His stomach is quite toned, though there doesn’t appear to be any shape to it - no six-pack for him, though he can dream. Overall, he is quite a heavy-set man, looking fairly intimidating at first glance. His hands, while quite large and wide, have long fingers - though some of his knuckles look out of place and his hands tend to relax in an almost-claw shape from his fingers being broken - with badly chewed fingernails and hangnails, with long scars running across his palms. Just between his shoulder blades, Brynn has a symbol placed to enhance his physical abilities - this was done by the renowned tattooist Siobhan Donovan in the early 2000s. As with most of Siobhan’s symbols, it is enclosed in a circle - about five inches in diameter, and looks pretty much like a squiggle; (click to show/hide)- Attire: Brynn likes to dress “smart-casual” pretty much every opportunity he gets. This usually means; Plaid slim-fit cotton shirts at any opportunity, usually with the sleeves rolled up to the crease of his elbow. He will forego ties in favour of just undoing the top button, though if he has to wear a tie he’ll usually pick a bow-tie (not a clip-on, a clip-on is for fiends) Cotton cardigans/sweaters, they’ll usually be a nice deep red in colour. He doesn’t always tend to wear these unless the weather is somewhat cool. Skinny jeans or khaki trousers, usually blue or black. He’ll always wear a complimenting belt with these. Stanley Impact Safety boots, in a honey (tan) colour, size 9. These boots are steel-toed, with a breathable insole, making them both practical and stylish, and suitable for absolutely everything. When leaving the house with the sole intent of combat, Brynn has a specific set of attire that he will wear; Heavy-pocketed trousers with his boots. Most usually these will either be combat trousers or cargo trousers in a tan or sandy colour. A breathable shirt, colour and style may change completely varying on both weather and what he feels like wearing. Usually, Brynn will not wear any jackets, though he did get converted into the style of certain motorcycle jackets during his meeting with Siobhan, and will sometimes be found wearing one of these in combative situations. I usually judge appearance descriptions by how vividly the character appears in my head. As always, you go above and beyond in this section! Speech and Habits- Character Voice: Weathered, gravelly, and quiet. It grates a little on the ears when he raises his voice. When he doesn’t strain it, he’s rather soft-spoken, rolling his r’s a little too heavily at times. - Speech Traits: Due to his age and travel, he only has a very soft Welsh accent - sounding more North American nowadays. He speaks quite quickly and lazily most of the time, making a lot of his sentences initially incoherent to those who haven’t heard him speak often. Brynn also tends to use colloquialisms and older slang in his speech. - Languages: English, Middle Welsh due to being alive at such a time, he is fluent in French as he spent time in the Francophone regions of Africa during the War. He can pick up certain bits of written Latin, though isn’t fluent. He is fluent in Afrikaans and Amharic. - Habits: He bites his nails and knuckles. Tends to run his tongue over his teeth when idle, an old habit. - Mannerisms: Brynn’s fingers tend to shake, and he can never keep them fully still due to them being broken, and set incorrectly on top of nerve and brain damage from an old injury. Upon being angered, he will usually fall completely silent and still. Weapons, Equipment and Artifacts- Large Equipment: The Animated Shield; this was acquired in Africa during the War. Through the use of magic and a spoken word “Onwrikbare” (Unyielding in Afrikaans), the shield can be controlled to a certain degree to protect Brynn without the use of his hands, allowing protection from one side and leaving both hands free for fighting. If he is too injured in combat, the shield will merely fall as it requires concentration to uphold. This has been dubbed “The Loyal Aegis” by those who have seen Brynn use it in action. - Small Equipment: He carries a lighter on his person, generally. A small, very aged wood carving lies in the Goliath, depicting what is presumably an attempt at a European Honey Buzzard - though this carving reminds him of Madoc, it was gifted to him from his sister Rhiannon, and most likely was her attempt at carving with their elder brother a long, long time ago. He has also been known to carry this in his pocket on particularly hard days, and the base of the carving has been worn through from where he’s rubbed it so frequently in times of distress. - Weaponry: As a soldier, Brynn has come to like having quite a few weapons around, though he doesn’t carry them on his person;- Mossberg 500 tactical pump shotgun - this gun has a 28 inch vented rib and an 18.5 inch barrel, a 12 gauge slug with 5 + 1 capacity. Due to the easy barrel swapping of this gun, he can switch it up in under twenty seconds. Attached to the end of the barrel is a “breacher brake”. A standard muzzle brake with 3 centimetre long slightly inward-curved spikes designed to be thrust into doors and other soft surfaces to allow the shotgun to create holes and breach doors. The brake also functions as an effective melee weapon in a pinch.- Entrenching tool; a three-way collapsible entrenching tool that can multi-purpose as both a shovel, pick, spade, and axe - due to it being technically a multi-tool, he is able to carry it around frequently, giving him a good weapon. He carries this around in his truck. - Ammunition: Brynn has a three-gun waist rig for his shotgun, carrying up to twenty shells if needed. This also makes multiple quick-reload techniques for the Mossberg much easier to achieve, so he will tend to wear this for combat or general “adventuring” on any certain jobs. I'll leave this part for young Giddles- Pocket Items: He keeps a smart-phone on his person, as one tends to do now living in the modern age. It’s been dreadfully beat through and is on its last legs, with a smashed screen and everything. As usual, his wallet is always in his pocket - a battered bifold leather thing, he usually has a few notes and cards in here. There’s an old coin (a 1776 continental dollar) that always sits in the coin purse in his wallet, he considers it his lucky coin (it is carved with a symbol that is connected to a symbol on his wallet, meaning that it will teleport back into his wallet when pressed -- this is how he makes a lot of money when in a pinch). - Magical Equipment/Artifacts: There are two particular magical artifacts of any note, though he does have an active interest in artifacts and does try to hunt them down, so more may be added at a later date; His “Animated Shield”, it has been dubbed “The Loyal Aegis” by a few collectors who have deemed it one of a kind. If this shield is genuinely one of a kind is unknown to him. What is known is that it was crafted by a master metallurgist before the War and enchanted with old magic (likely with the help of someone with a discipline such as evocation). The actual material of the shield usually stands at a disc of only a few inches diameter, looking to be a solid alloy of Mnemosium and Pandorium, though upon the spoken command; “Onwrikbare” it will expand into an incredibly durable Nguni shield - an oval shield of about five foot in length. Its main capability is the use of being able to protect the user without the use of their hands, using only a small bit of their magic through the command to establish a “bond” of sorts with the user and move in the direction intended. This effect can last, theoretically, for any period of time, but a particularly grievous injury or anything that would split the focus too far will have this shield merely drop to the floor (or the user’s hand depending on their speed) uselessly, or revert back into its natural state. Brynn used to use this shield a lot for its ability to blend seamlessly with his particular combat style, though doesn’t carry it on his person anymore. His Disappearing Coin is something that Brynn will always keep on his person, no matter what, though this is mainly for sentimental value as there is very little practicality in having a coin. It is a 1776 Conintental Currency dollar coin struck in silver, about an inch and a half in diameter and 240 grains in weight. It is in surprisingly good condition, with one side a circular ring near the edge with the words inscribed “Continental Currency 1776” and within the ring a rising sun. On the reverse side are thirteen circles joined together, with the words “We Are One” embossed into the center. A summoning symbol has been engraved into the face of the coin, though it is only noticeable upon pressing it and imbuing it with some magic. The partner to this symbol lies on the face of Brynn’s wallet, which will summon the coin back to its rightful place in his wallet. He uses this for his good old disappearing coin trick, taking advantage of how much this coin is worth in the modern day to make a quick bit of cash when he’s in danger of running low and can’t get a job done. - Other: Brynn is in possession of a 6x6 Hennessey Goliath in a gaudy cherry red colour, it's his pride and joy - and he considers the upkeep of this truck to be of the utmost importance. (click to show/hide) As well as this, he has the deeds to a 4-bed country home in Carlow. He uses this home as a general area of rest, though prefers to travel and consequently spends more time in his Goliath. He has rented a flat in New York (as that’s his most frequent area of residence) that he pays for doing work for the American Sanctuary. Magical and Physical Abilities- Magic Type: Adept. - Specialization: Viscometry.- Immersion Metamorphosis: N/A. There is no IM for Viscometry. - Ability Specific Info: While many believe that Viscometry is very specifically “healing magic”, this is untrue. Viscometry applies to many aspects of biology, including the inducement and the removal of pain, wounds, etc. Most users of Viscometry will fall into proficiency in one of two branches; Affliction or Consolation, though some choose to be a jack-of-all-trades, never gaining mastery of either branch. Brynn is generally considered a “Visceral” or a “Butcher” due to his leaning on the Affliction branch. - Magical Abilities: Having used his abilities mostly in war, Brynn leans slightly towards the Afflictor branch than anything else, though he is technically proficient in both trees, just one more than the other;Pain: The inducement of pain is almost second nature to Brynn. He has a very good knowledge of anatomy, allowing for him to induce pain anywhere he wishes on the body. This ability takes very little magical or physical energy for him. However, he is also well-skilled at pain-removal, having needed to do this often in the War, and so hasn’t moved up any branch in particular in regards to this. He uses this ability very little in general nowadays. Where did he learn anatomy? Transferal of pain is a much preferred method of his (transferal in general being his specialty). During the War, he was a renowned torturer for his ability to concentrate pain to a particular area, creating an agonising experience for those with the misfortune of dealing with him. This is still a method he will inflict in combat. He has also been known to transfer pain between individuals, meaning multiple people are suffering the same type of pain (regardless of tolerance), and arbitrarily hurting more people than necessary. It was this method that put him further up the Afflictor branch. Brynn has become proficient enough in this aspect that he theoretically could incapacitate a whole group of people in this manner, though it would be extremely magically draining for him, which makes it harder for him to spread out the pain to lessen it. When it comes to storage of pain, Brynn is almost completely proficient in this aspect, as it was a large part of his role as a Battle Medic. In the past, Brynn was almost always with a red crown of thorns around his head, as he often would store the pain of his friends in his pain corona during battle so that they could continue on fighting without ailment until the battle was over, where he’d give them their pain back. He is able to store an immense amount of pain for extended periods of time before having to re-inflict them. Storing “heal” is a concept that he’s struggled with. If he expects a battle, he is able to store the absence of pain for later, but it is not a technique of the Afflictor branch he’s familiar with, and therefore he’s not proficient in this. It requires preparation and energy for him to do this. Wounds: Inducement of wounds was yet another technique he was known for as a torturer. He finds it simplistic enough to induce wounds onto any soft tissue. However, in this regard, he was always more of a jack-of-all-trades, as he never often found it useful to induce wounds. Removal was always more important for Brynn. He can heal any minor to moderate injuries of the soft tissue, though any harder substances such as bone or ligaments are almost impossible for him (though bones are mainly impossible for all Viscometers to heal). Any surface wounds are a simple job for him to heal, regardless of depth, but internal wounds are harder. Again, transferal is what he relies on. Brynn has had to transfer many wounds from one soldier to another soldier (who is less likely to survive from their wounds anyway), and sharing wounds between soldiers to make what would have been a life-ending wound merely a flesh wound to be treated later. A wound shared between soldiers often made it easier for battle, and he is able to transfer a wound between up to five people - rendering it nearby useless and treatable later. He is also able to merge and unmerge wounds easily, turning small cuts into massive gashes and vice-versa. Interesting use of magicAfflictor Passives: While Brynn has not reached mastery in either due to his extensive use of both branches, he leans towards the Afflictor branch, meaning that he has a lesser extent of the passive abilities made available to most afflictors. As an afflictor, while Brynn doesn’t have a higher tolerance for pain, he has learned to enjoy it -- being somewhat masochistic in nature and drawn to it due to this. He is able to sense pain, illness, and injury on others, almost being able to sniff it out. Brynn can discover exactly the source of pain and how it needs fixing. However, one downside of this is that while using his magic, his biology can encourage infection during affliction of pain/wounds. - Physical Abilities: Due to his symbol, Brynn has higher enhanced abilities. Not quite to the level of an afflicted, but he is faster and stronger than the average human. Having been a soldier in many different Wars, he is proficient in fire-arms and CQC, with a heavy preference to CQC, hand-to-hand. Brynn’s an extremely competent and agile fighter, with knowledge of different martial arts and defensive/offensive procedures in battle. His preferred guns are anything that are short-range, can’t go wrong with a pump-action shotty. Otherwise, he likes to fight hand-to-hand, using his magical strengths to give him an upper hand. Alongside his physical upper body strength, Brynn is extremely agile. He can climb and carry weights for long periods of time without tiring. Due to his very active lifestyle, he does not easily succumb to fatigue and is able to go for days without food or rest if needed.- Strengths: - Peak physical health: For a mage of his age, Brynn is at peak physical health. He is a formidable enemy when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, and has the constitution of an ox, it's very difficult to wear him down. - Harmful touch: Due to his magic proficiency, in CQC Brynn is an absolute monster to deal with. He has excellent survival instincts and is able to inflict unimaginable pain with a touch, making him an unwanted combatant. - Firearm proficiency: Brynn is proficient nowadays in pretty much any firearm, though since they can all be wildly different, here's a few of the guns he has most knowledge in; the Mossberg 500 tactical pump shotgun - this gun has a 28 inch vented rib and an 18.5 inch barrel, a 12 gauge slug with 5 + 1 capacity. Due to the easy barrel swapping of this gun, he can switch it up in under twenty seconds. Aside from the versatility of this, he's proficient in multiple handguns and hunting rifles. Martial fighting knowledge: As with any mage his age, Brynn has extensive knowledge of hand-to-hand fighting maneuvers. - Weaknesses: - Lack of accuracy: Due to an injury to his hands when he was younger, his fingers have been set in an awkward position, causing his hands to always have a slight tremor and lessening his hand-eye coordination dramatically. This means that no matter how good he gets at shooting or fighting, he will always have an accuracy disadvantage. - Brain and nerve damage: Yet again, an injury from the past has left him with irreparable brain damage that can manifest in the form of certain tics and even the loss of complete bodily autonomy at times. Combat can be a stressor that triggers these tics, giving him a devastating weakness in such an event. This has also affected his depth perception to a degree, meaning he isn't the best shot. Might also have a slight effect on reaction times- Pain-lust: Due to his discipline, Brynn can sometimes seek out reckless acts in order to feel or induce pain. This need can override any reason within him, completely destroying any tactical thought in his mind. - Training: Most of his magic was learned from his mother, who was also a Viscometer. However, he gained more full proficiency of magic and combat during the War, hence why he leans so heavily into the Afflictor branch. He took the time to learn about fire-arms during his time with the BFC (British Forces Cyprus) in the 1960s. Goals, Motivation and History- Major Goal: In all honesty, Brynn’s main goal in life is most likely just to “get by”, but he does have a deep desire to settle down somewhere with someone that he can trust with his life, and to build something that he can put honest work into and feel proud of, without the constant fear of losing it all looming over him. The old soldier is too used to losing everything so suddenly that he’s too wary to complete this goal, and has no one he can trust enough to ensure that this would be worked towards and protected. - Minor Goals: To put up a memorial for his sister, Rhiannon, and to find Madoc in order to break the news to him of her death. It has taken constant years of fighting and death for him to come to terms with the fact that she genuinely is gone, and he would like somewhere to visit to pay his respects and to honour her memory. While Madoc may not have been the most emotional towards them, and he had his snap and left after Alys’ death, it is somehow very clear to Brynn that there is a familial love for them both, so the least that he owes his older brother is the courtesy of telling him how much family the two of them actually have left - though he is incredibly wary of having to approach his memorably stoic older brother for anything.- Motivation: His fancy magical coin isn’t just practicality. He did carry the thing since 1776 after all! This coin also makes brilliant motivation for the man, hence why it is always on his person. Not only does it represent a quick and easy way out of any situation if it gets sticky (a la providing him the means to get an awful lot of money awfully quickly and being able to simply leave the situation) but it also reminds him of a time where his biggest worries were as simple as his humble farm, his lovely sister, and the looming threat of becoming a revolutionary. These simpler times remind him of his humble backgrounds and exactly where he has come from, making any task feel like it is actually attainable considering where he has managed to get to now.I've got 0 problems with the bio, its very well written
[Snip]Character Mentality- Character Personality: Despite his life experiences, Brynn is an almost obnoxiously optimistic individual, with a wilful ignorance of negativity in his life. With countless years of fighting under his belt, he’s decided that life is too short - even for mages - to be anything short of content with it, and it’s rare to ever find him in a bad mood. He’s an absolute busy-body, constantly finding something to occupy his time and when he’s not occupied, he’s either writing or going out to meet new people. Always a polite individual, Brynn never wants to offend anyone. He always wants to be made aware of what they find uncomfortable, and will go out of his way to make people feel safe in his company. He’s too used to people looking at him and seeing a scary man, and he just wants to have good conversation and a nice time with people. It is extremely rare for Brynn to forget his manners, especially in the presence of a lady (it is in this regard that he can be considered overly “chivalrous” at times, though this is due to centuries of being raised with a particular ideal of masculinity). To continue on the idea of centuries of a certain ideal of masculinity, Brynn can have a rather “toxic masculine” view on things. He is used to men being told to be a certain way, and being taught that a man holds certain values - these are the same values that he will always hold to himself, meaning that the concepts of sensitivity and open-mindedness can be alien to him at times. He has tried to learn and grow with the changing times, but there’s only so much self-improvement that you can expect a busy man like Brynn Halcyon to rigorously adhere to. It is in this regard that he can also be seen as somewhat sexist, as he has a certain view on how women tend to be and will, in dangerous situations, tend to gravitate towards protecting women before himself (though he is aware that this is not always necessary, of course). Brynn has suffered an awful lot of trauma from a very rough few centuries of living. Having lived so much of his life constantly fighting, Brynn feels physically and psychologically incapable of getting back into the lull of a normal life. This has characterised in his reckless hunting for something to do, always, which he will label (along with a large portion of the magic community) “adventuring”. He is most definitely a survivalist. Perhaps not to the extent of certain others, but he does like to test his limits very frequently. It is not rare for Brynn to disappear for weeks on end from his friendships to see how long he can survive in nature without food, water, and with only his skills - he is aware that this is likely a coping mechanism of sorts, though he genuinely doesn't believe that he's been through anything harrowing enough to consider why he needs such extreme coping methods. It is through this regard that while Brynn will never invalidate someone else's experiences, and will always show compassion for the suffering of others, he is completely desensitised and disconnected from his own life experiences. Brynn is completely unaware of how much he has changed in many ways through the centuries, and tends to think back on his most horrific of memories with a completely dissociated viewpoint. He could talk for hours on end about his experiences in chilling detail without even showing the slightest crack in emotion, as it has just never clicked that these things have happened to him, and that he should probably have some sort of reaction. He has an extreme interest in magical artifacts and their applications in contemporary life. Though this interest can probably just be extended to “artifacts” in general. Brynn feels incredibly old and jaded at times, so he finds a degree of satisfaction in the restoration of antiques, making old things once more useful. He may not be old for a mage, but he’s certainly not young by any means - a fact that he detests. Like most magi of his calibre, Brynn is a child at heart. He finds great enjoyment in the small pleasures in life; good food, warm drinks, anything homely. He himself is also a homely man. There is a deep fondness and respect within him for “honest work”, though he may not be able to do so himself anymore, he loves farm and animal work and respects those who work in these vocations at a very deep level. Brynn has a tendency to avoidance and emotional numbing due to the trauma that he has suffered, and any mention of his family or his past can trigger him to either completely withdraw and become disinterested in the conversation, or for him to become a completely different man - losing his charisma and his friendliness in a split-second and becoming exactly the sadistic beast that he was known for in the War. This is an extreme defence mechanism, and he rationalises his terrible actions during this harrowing time as the idea that he did what he had to, even though he went way above and beyond the call of the duty -- it’s hard for the man ever to truly get a moment of relaxation. It is times like this that he realises that every smile is fake, every nice conversation is just small-talk to distract from the horrific memories that are consistently plaguing him. This is one of the only topics in which he will very suddenly and very violently realise that he has been through a lot of horrible experiences, and this very realisation makes the mere prospect of living a suddenly unbearable burden, so Brynn merely avoids it. This seems to somewhat contradict what you said two paragraphs ago. Maybe elaborate on what leads to this reaction, and what leads to the other kind of reaction exactly. In his mind, he has lost everything that there is to lose, and he’s now just here to have the best remainder of his years until he very much naturally shuffles off this mortal coil. He may not actively be reckless with his life, but he certainly isn’t avoiding any danger whatsoever, and has very little regard for his health or his life. It’s more important to Brynn that he’s always being productive, always getting that rush of adrenaline from a brand new situation or a brand new artifact, and everything else is just the slightest bit arbitrary. He has a natural distrust towards certain afflicted, though this doesn’t impair his judgement of them as individuals, though he is specifically distrusting of Auramorbonists in general, due to his experience with one terrible Aura, and Fae - again, due to a bad experience. Though if any human has a particularly good opinion of the Fae, they are likely just the slightest bit mad. On top of this, Magiphage are a topic of discontent for Brynn, finding that anything that can copy your magic is oftentimes not good. - Character Likes: +History: Being a traveller, there’s a fair amount that Brynn has lived through. Somehow, though, there’s even more that he hasn’t experienced. An entire world of thousands of years of history is absolutely fascinating, and reminds Brynn that people have had similar experiences to him or even worse ones. This humbling experience is something that fuels his passion for history - and he’s never gets bored of an older mage’s rambling. + Ricky’s Bodega: Having lived a long and traumatic life, Brynn finds pleasure in the smallest of things. Most notably, he finds comfort in his friend Ricky’s humble bodega. It is a safe place, and a nice spot for him to meet with a friend and have a relaxing day. What would life be without Ricky’s world-class deli to smooth things over?+ Weaponry: What with being a soldier for so many years, Brynn has an incredibly vested interest in weaponry. There’s a degree of security to be felt in knowing exactly how a gun or a blade works, and exactly how to wield it. A lot of his time is spent learning about these things, even if he doesn’t carry weapons on his person constantly. It also interests him greatly to learn how every-day objects can be utilised as a weapon.+ Pain: An unfortunate side effect of Brynn’s branch in his magic, Brynn has an almost addictive love of pain - both the inducement and the experience of pain. He’s not especially proud of this like of his, but that doesn’t stop him from being awkwardly drawn to pain. He often will hang around with people who are somehow hurt or in the presence of people with random ailments due to this. I think this could also be touched upon in Mental Traits, too. Just further reiteration (as it's a psychological trait, too).+ Nature: He has a fondness for the beauty of nature, finding it to be a very calm and grounding experience. There is little that is more calming in the world than a nice bevvy in a heavily wooded area surrounded by nature, after all.+ Horses: They are both smart animals, as well as a trustworthy means of transportation. Brynn has a fondness for these animals, finding them to be good companionship on top of good practicality, however they are nothing on…+ His Goliath: This car is Brynn’s pride and joy. Many nights have been spent sleeping in his Goliath, and she is an extremely reliable means of transport for him. A lot of the money that he managed to build up over the centuries went to one incredibly impulsive buy that he hasn’t managed to regret yet. Even when leaving the country, he prefers to travel by ferries so that he can continue to use his Goliath. It brings a great deal of comfort to him. Plus, she’s a damn looker. - Character Dislikes: - Heat: Having watched his sister die before his very eyes, and his own traumatic experience with the American Queen Wrathia Venora, Brynn has developed an outright hatred for heat, fire, lava, anything of the like. It’s a hatred that borders on fear. - Violence: While Brynn does not actively shy away from violence by any means, he doesn't particularly experience any great enjoyment towards it. If anything, he has more of an exasperated attitude towards violence in general, finding it to be a bit of an annoyance overall.- Sudden loud noises: Slamming doors without warning, smashing objects without warning, anything sudden and loud is an extremely effective way to put Brynn instantly on edge. He has lived through so much violence that this experience will very quickly put him in a cold sweat - and his reaction is very often defensive. - Red-haired women: They don’t even have to resemble his sister in appearance or anything like that. The hair doesn’t have to be long, or even the exact shade - just any tinge of red in their hair spurs an instant dislike of the woman before him. Brynn is aware that this is unfair, and he feels a great deal of guilt about it, but he can’t bring himself to remember anything about her. Rhiannon’s death left a huge mark on Brynn, and this very simple reminder of her is the most evident way it manifests, he’s almost borderline rude to these poor women. - Whips: It’s very evident why he’d have a dislike of whips - or anything that can be used as such. During his years as an indentured servant for the Virginia colony he was transported to, Brynn was often subject to flagellation as discipline by his contract holder. This has left him with a lot of physical scars down his back, and a severe hatred for whips. Even the threat of this will be one of the only things to provoke an extremely violent reaction from the man.- Restraints of any kind: Again, his period of transportation (being a very harrowing journey to America), and his years as an indentured servant have ingrained a very heavy dislike of restraints, though he does not have nearly as violent a reaction to this, he’ll just do everything in his power to avoid such a fate.- Cats: Honestly, his reasoning for not liking cats is hilariously weak. He just doesn’t like them. They look evil, they’re always glaring, they get treated like royalty. What is actually to like about a cat? They carry fleas and there are strays all over New York. There is very little to like about cats. - Mental Traits: Although Brynn has never actually been to a psychologist for a diagnosis of any kind, he exhibits some rather obvious traits of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), like pretty much any mage his age likely will exhibit, most notably in the form of “emotional numbing”. Brynn also suffers from brain and nerve damage due to a life-threatening injury in the 1800s, mainly in the form of extremely bad short-term memory. Brynn can quite easily lose track of what he has done recently or forget conversations he’s had and has taken to writing a lot of things down or putting them as notes in his phone at risk of forgetting them otherwise. While the nerve damage is not excessive or severe in any way, and has been helped with the use of magic, it also slows his reaction times mildly and affects his depth-perception/spatial awareness in every-day living that can at times feel overwhelming and crippling for him.[Snip]Character Age and Gender- True Age: 570- Appearance Age: Approx late 20s to early 30s, maybe 28-ish. He's looking pretty young for a mid-500 year old. Characters in their 400's in the books who fought in the War look this age and older. Is there any particular reason for this?- Character Birthday: 10/01/1449- Gender: Cisgendered male. This means he was designated male at birth and identifies as male. [Snip]Speech and Habits- Character Voice: Weathered, gravelly, and quiet. It grates a little on the ears when he raises his voice. When he doesn’t strain it, he’s rather soft-spoken, rolling his r’s a little too heavily at times. This would be a Speech Trait, I reckon.- Speech Traits: Due to his age and travel, he only has a very soft Welsh accent - sounding more North American nowadays. He speaks quite quickly and lazily most of the time, making a lot of his sentences initially incoherent to those who haven’t heard him speak often. Brynn also tends to use colloquialisms and older slang in his speech. - Languages: English, Middle Welsh due to being alive at such a time, he is fluent in French as he spent time in the Francophone regions of Africa during the War. He can pick up certain bits of written Latin, though isn’t fluent. He is fluent in Afrikaans and Amharic. - Habits: He bites his nails and knuckles. Tends to run his tongue over his teeth when idle, an old habit. - Mannerisms: Brynn’s fingers tend to shake, and he can never keep them fully still due to them being broken, and set incorrectly on top of nerve and brain damage from an old injury. Upon being angered, he will usually fall completely silent and still. [Snip]
- Bio: Brynn’s life has been one of extensive travel, and certain time periods may bleed a little here. Much like Ether’s, his bio is also quite experimental. We shall see if this will work. (click to show/hide) Cadoc was born in 1449 to a long line of magi in Wales. His formative years were not particularly important to him as a person, but shaped his life from a very early period of time. For context, his birth was during the aftermath of the Battle of Edgecote Moor, meaning that Wales was in an extremely turbulent time for both the magical and mortal communities alike. This meant that both his parents were very anxious about raising three children in such a violent environment, and had tried to become a reclusive family. They were disallowed from any fortified settlements and were not allowed any fire-arms to defend themselves against any threat, not just English soldiers. Their life was very much fraught with tension, and the children were always instructed to remain out of sight for their own safety. The family remained as reclusive as they could be. However, Cadoc’s family were not particularly well liked by the mortal community around them. With his mother Alys being a well-known Viscometer down the consoler branch, her services were often sought after, leaving his father (Llwyd) to look after the children. Cadoc didn’t see too much of Alys in his early years due to how busy she was all the time, and had already developed an extremely deep bond with his elder sister Rhiannon - as she had decided to take over caretaking duties of him from their father, who had to try and get food on the table somehow. Alys’ extreme self-sufficiency and compassion towards others was not met well with the people around them, with them seeming to be of the opinion that this was disrespectful to her husband. The very fact that he spent more time around their children than she did, and that she was always out of the house they decided required punishment - against his father’s insistence that no such thing was required. Cadoc was extremely young when he watched his mother get marched into the village for her punishment, a “walk of shame”. This walk required her walking barefoot, in only a petticoat, throughout the village while the crowd that had gathered chanted horrible things at her. This was apparently quite tame compared to what most other women in England and Scotland would have had to suffer through, but having to watch his own mother paraded through the town and called humiliating things just for being self-sufficient managed to leave an incredibly bad taste in the young boy’s tongue. Surprisingly, Alys kept her chin raised and her gait confident throughout the entire walk, never faltering. I see what you are going for here, and I understand just how little rights women had at that time, but this seems to slightly lack any solid reason for this happening. Did the mortal community know of her magic? It's just people sort her out for help, so it's hardly like she was just being independent. She was needed by people. Maybe add just something small that would tip the people into this would make it seem less out-of-the-blue? After that, despite Alys’ ferocity and desire to curse the entire village, she was suddenly an extremely prominent figure in Cadoc’s life. Alys would often take him from Rhiannon and Madoc to take him for walks and teach him about the local myths and legends. The young boy loved these walks, unaware that it was more of a coping method for his mother rather than any actual bonding time, and would always try and get her to talk for as long as possible. He found that when he actually got to know his mother, he absolutely admired her. She was a very caring and loving individual, and her union with his father seemed to be built of actual care and love for each other. The two of them were a fearsome unit, protecting their family and keeping each other safe through the worst of times. They were trying so hard to raise a perfect family unit, and the three teens found that they all had their different lessons ingrained from them in different ways. Well, all of them but Madoc, he was always too stoic and disinterested to get a decent read on. It could be assumed that he took traits from both their parents, but Cadoc never got the opportunity to be as close to him as he was to Rhiannon. Him and his elder sister were inseparable, and this never truly left. Partners in crime, there was little that one did without informing the other. They both became very capable at young ages with their magic, though it was easier for Cadoc, as he had his mother to learn from. Cadoc was only fifteen when his father died in the Battle of Bosworth Field, leaving his family to fend without him. The soldier that came to inform the family was answered by Rhiannon, and when the teary-eyed girl went to inform the rest of the family, the only question that the teenager could ask was the soldier’s name. So from that day forth, Cadoc ap Llwyd ap Gruffudd was now Brynn Halcyon. The family each took the news rather differently from each other. Brynn hadn’t struggled much, as he hadn’t been that close with his father, and was also the youngest. Madoc was as hard to read as ever, he never showed any outward reaction to it, but he spent most of his time with their mother. Rhiannon openly struggled, though confided in nobody but Brynn with her sorrows. She had likely been the one to spend the most time with Llywd than anyone other than Alys, and missed his presence every other day. The only thing the two didn’t talk about was their love-lives, as Rhiannon had gathered a reputation for being quite the strumpet - and it wasn’t as if Brynn hadn’t slept around quite a bit himself. Alys had withdrawn completely; she had lost the love of her life, the protector of the family. It was clearly an effort for her to maintain her grief in any way, and she seemed an empty shell of the fierce and independent woman that she once was. For many years, it was Rhiannon and Brynn who kept the family running. They both worked for terrible pay to keep them all afloat. The only bright-side? The War of the Roses had ended, the new king was effectively integrating Wales to England. There was no reason to continue suffering anymore. There was nothing left for the family in Wales now but bad memories. It was one conversation with his sister that had Brynn decided on the fact that they needed to move. The two siblings were completely in agreement with this fact, though it was Madoc who had finally snapped out of his constantly withdrawn state and shown the two of them that he actually had quite the explosive temper. “Leave?” Madoc’s question was more of a demand, “To England? What with? We have built so much here--” “We have built so much here,” Rhiannon was remarkably quick to correct him, matching his own anger with a violent gesture towards herself and Brynn. “Whatever you’ve been doing, it’s certainly not been helping the family. There’s nothing left here for us but memories.” Madoc took her words surprisingly well, leaning back in his chair and returning to peeling his apple in silence. Rhiannon and Brynn glanced at each other awkwardly, unsure of whether or not to continue the conversation. Was that a silence of acceptance? Of anger? Madoc was so hard to read. The silence lasted long enough that they’d both stopped being so on-guard, believing the conversation to be declared as over. “And what,” Madoc said around the slice of apple he’d bitten off the end of his mouth, “Of Alys?” “What of Alys?” Brynn shook his head in bafflement, “Obviously, she’s to come with us.” “I doubt she wants to,” Madoc’s demeanour was calm once more, almost smug. “She quite likes it here, see.” A flush of shame coloured Rhiannon’s cheeks, and the red-head started pacing angrily. She was always easier to wind-up than Brynn, barely able to keep herself in control at some times. Her pacing very quickly turned into her teleporting mere steps away. “It’s so hard to make a damn living here, Alys can get a say when she starts getting to work.” “Alys will get a say regardless,” Their elder brother’s tone hardened now, his steely eyes glaring through them, towards their mother’s bedroom. “She raised you. Have some respect. If she says no, then it is a no.” “She won’t say no,” Brynn flashed his sister a grin, “We’ll talk to her. Show her the merits of moving country! Work will be easier to find, for one!” They were both met with a rueful smile from the older brother, though he merely shrugged at them. “I’ll light the pyres for your funeral.” Madoc’s warning, as it turned out, was very much needed. The two siblings had expected Alys to perhaps be a little upset, maybe give them some half-hearted reasons to remain in Wales… They learned the meaning of hell hath no fury that day. Alys threw a tantrum for the ages. It was the first time she had left her bed in days, throwing their belongings about the house with little care and screaming that she wouldn’t leave, they’d have to carry her body over the border. Llywd’s memory was in the walls they lived in, and she refused to leave. The argument was extremely heated, and went on for hours. Rhiannon and Alys had a screaming match that Brynn was sure could be heard across the entire world. It only ended when Madoc finally stepped in, shocking both siblings-- He talked to Alys in a calm, soothing tone, and very slowly brought out all of the benefits for her specifically to move to England. Neither Rhiannon or Brynn had even considered the benefits for Alys, but more of the family unit as a whole! They felt, to be frank, pretty showed up by Madoc here. Though it worked, Alys finally agreed. Their days in Wales were over. (click to show/hide) The colony was nothing like he was used to in England. While it wasn’t necessarily bad, it was very clear that they were still building their civilisation. The Virginia Colony itself was little more than a couple of homesteads, some plots of land they were trying to put together, and a lot of lonely men trying not to constantly fight each other. What Brynn could gather within a half hour of being at the new colony was that there had been some trouble with the natives in America, so the colony was on high alert, they were also struggling to acclimate to the harsher climates compared to England. It seemed the land was only really good for growing tobacco, and there were a couple acres of land that he was expected to tend to. His contract holder was a harsh man by the name of Johnathan Murray, who seemed to hold as many contracts as humanly possible. It was clear that cheap labour seemed to be his preferred method of getting things done. Not many of his workers were there completely by choice, though he seemed reasonable enough, so Brynn couldn't understand the fear they held for him. His first night in Virginia was absolutely nightmaric. As cool as this is, nightmaric isn't a word. (click to show/hide) Discipline was a value that Johnathan clearly thought highly of. He believed that if he broke his servants into submission that they would be excellent workers, as there was an incentive not to llama up. There didn't need to be a reason to set him off into the discipline thought process. It seemed he just needed to be in the mood for it. It wasn’t very often that he wasn’t in the mood for it. Mere hours after he had arrived in America, Brynn was subject to Johnathan’s cruelty. He supposed he should have been grateful that he was made aware of it sooner rather than later. There was no chance of mistaking him for a kind man that way. It gave him a good idea of what the next seven years would be like for him… Brynn’s hands would be tied to a low-hanging post, keeping his position upright when his legs would inevitably fail. Johnathan liked to alternate between a whip and a rod, but the end result was always the same. The first night was merely as an example of what was to be expected, though it was probably the worst -- Brynn had never been subject to this harsh treatment before in his life. Due to his hardiness, it was seventy lashes with a hard rod to his back. He was expected to count the lashes, but the pain was too intense. It felt as if his skin was getting torn off from the very first hit, as if his break was breaking again and again under the force of the rod, while people just stood by and watched his suffering as if it was nothing. Brynn was not ashamed to admit that he burbled like a young child under the pain, that his legs gave in until his wrists popped under the pressure of his entire body, and that his screams rendered his throat raw until all that would come out were pathetic wheezes. It wasn’t long of this torturous experience - although it felt like an eternity - before Brynn had lost consciousness from the pain. When Brynn had come to, he was allowed a little time from his work to heal - aided a little by the subtle use of his magic - and was expected to get straight to work when he was able to move. That didn’t take too long. Brynn worked harder on the tobacco farm than he believed he could work on anything in his life, though he was subject to the punishment of whipping regularly regardless. Time started to blur together a little bit for him during this period of monotony, it wasn’t often that he actually paid attention to the happenings in the colony, much preferring to get to work. He was starting to understand his brother Madoc’s reasoning for being so quiet. Things were easier when people assumed you were just too slow to talk. It wasn’t too long, perhaps a couple of years, when women started arriving. Brynn had not paid attention to the call for “young and uncorrupt” I'm unsure about this word. Maybe consider a different one, but if not, not that much of a problem maids to be wives for the men in the colonies, but Johnathan took him to meet with the woman he was to be wed with - he had paid for her transport to the Americas, though didn’t seem to consider a woman anything more than just yet another possession to be added to his collection. It was no small surprise, then, when it was his very own sister that marched towards them with her chin held high. Rhiannon, crafty and shrewd Rhiannon, had seemingly discovered his contractor and decided - in an absolutely harebrained scheme of hers - to bloody marry the man to be close to her brother. Brynn didn’t know whether to be angry or impressed. Neither response would have meant anything, it had happened now. Against all odds, she’d done it. Rhiannon married his contractor, and spent a great portion of her days with Brynn while he was working, the rest of it devoted to pretending to be a loyal and submissive wife. Lying always came so naturally to Rhiannon, lying and twisting the truth and until it was unrecognisable, she managed to thrive in America where Brynn could not. Seven years passed and Brynn’s contract was completed! He was scarred both physically and mentally, but nothing too dramatic happened throughout the stay, and he travelled towards Massachusetts, insisting that the land he was to be given at the end of his contract could be land there instead. Anywhere as far as humanly possible from Johnathan. That ended up being unnecessary. He was given the land in Massachusetts, though Rhiannon somehow managed to follow stealthily. When asked about her husband, she would merely shrug and say he disappeared. Either way, the soul mates had established that they were together once more against the world, and little would keep them apart now. Family came before everything else now. (click to show/hide) Peace could not prevail for too long, as not too long after the Revolutionary War things went sideways once more. Unbeknownst to both Rhiannon and Brynn, during their period of getting to know America, a certain angry Fae woman was carving her way through the Americas. It was during a visit away from their homestead, back to the old colony of Virginia, when they both had a run in that would change their lives forever. Rhiannon and Brynn were at their old homestead when they became what the Queen would later refer to as “collateral damage”. Her campaign for the Americas was brutal, as one would expect, and a large portion of the Virginia colony was simply burned down. Rhiannon and Brynn had opted to stick together during the carnage - though the woman herself had marched into their homestead, having seen Rhiannon’s useful ability for teleportation. Of course, under the mere heat of her presence the wood set fire. Brynn has tried to forget the memory since then. He was reminded so heavily of his mother’s death, thoughts that had not even crossed his mind in centuries. (click to show/hide) The siblings had been separated during this time, Wrathia seemingly had a one track mind, and her mind was currently on the girl she’d seen teleporting around the homestead - a useful ability that she had never seen before. The collapse of the house was what had Brynn incapacitated during this time, burning hot wood falling onto him. It burned into his skin with a horrific sensation and an acrid burning smell -- his groans of pain had attracted the woman to him. She tore those claws against his face in some twisted facsimile of affection, the skin of her hands, while not physically lava at this point, was hot enough to melt the skin of his face, exposing the bone while her horrific nails twisted into the skin, peeling it off with little to no difficulty. Brynn was barely conscious when Wrathia had moved onto Rhiannon - who had made the childish mistake of trying to teleport behind the soon-to-be Queen. He felt more than saw Venora’s hand go through Rhiannon’s stomach. A stupidly predictable move, one that every teleporter tried to pull. Rhi had forced herself backward, tearing Venora’s embedded hand out of her stomach as she felt her body burning from the inside. Brynn’s groans couldn’t be heard over Rhiannon’s own burbling and screaming, her hands raised in a useless protective gesture around herself. There would be no words to describe the pain as the woman merely held her hands over Rhiannon’s body, pouring molten lava over her body and burning her skin to the bone-- It was at the exact moment of her death that her claws tore through her throat, ripping it to shreds. The Soul Bond cleaved in two in that moment; the most agonising experience imaginable. It was as if he was experiencing the burning horror of her death in that moment, coupled with the unimaginable pain of his soul being halved - a hole that could never be filled. How did she know them? Did she just happen across them? Was it planned? It's slightly unclear. Rhiannon was dead, and Brynn would never be the same. Centuries of the only person he could rely on being at his side was destroyed in that one moment. Brynn fell into unconsciousness, and when he came to there was nothing for him. He felt like an empty shell of a man. A couple of days later, he approached Silas Crayne once more with the technicality that the offer had - even through all these years - remained open. In all honesty, Silas didn’t really look like he could give a singular llama but one look told him that Brynn was in a very bad place. “That’s rough,” was all Silas said, and bought the land off him with no fuss.
Name and Occupation- Taken Name: Brynn “Bri” Halcyon.- Pronunciation of the Name: BRIN “BREE” HAL-SEE-ON.- Name Etymology: Brynn chose his name out of simplicity in being able to pronounce it. His given names are, frankly, quite ridiculous to try and say aloud to anyone who isn’t Welsh, so he went for a short and simple taken name that he found quite snazzy to say. His reasoning for taking the name “Brynn” in particular was in part due to how easy it is to say, and partly in honour of the Welsh soldier who had made the journey all the way to his family in order to inform them of his father’s death.- Given Name: Cadoc ap Llywd ap Gruffudd.- Pronunciation of the Name: CAD-oh ap huh-LOYD ap GRIFF-IFF.- Character Job: Brynn classifies himself as a “professional Adventurer” among other things. In all honesty, aside from his normal work as a somewhat pretentious author, Brynn will take on whatever jobs he finds most interesting, and which he can apply his battle-field viscometry to most efficiently. Once, he was a battlefield “medic”, and has been known to offer his healing services to parties of adventurers since those days. Brynn also fancies himself a collector and seller of magical artifacts when he gets the time. You could also consider him a con artist, though that’s only with the one coin trick, so to speak.- Qualifications: N/A.- Titles: Brynn has been given quite a few titles over the years, though he discredits them all.Ricky has a tendency to call him the Minuteman, much to his chagrin, due to his involvement with the Minutemen in the American Revolution. Many different names were attributed to him during the war, though simply the Torturer has been the only one to really stick with him past these years. Character Mentality- Character Personality: Despite his life experiences, Brynn is an almost obnoxiously optimistic individual, with a wilful ignorance of negativity in his life. With countless years of fighting under his belt, he’s decided that life is too short - even for mages - to be anything short of content with it, and it’s rare to ever find him in a bad mood. He’s an absolute busy-body, constantly finding something to occupy his time and when he’s not occupied, he’s either writing or going out to meet new people. Always a polite individual, Brynn never wants to offend anyone. He always wants to be made aware of what they find uncomfortable, and will go out of his way to make people feel safe in his company. He’s too used to people looking at him and seeing a scary man, and he just wants to have good conversation and a nice time with people. It is extremely rare for Brynn to forget his manners, especially in the presence of a lady (it is in this regard that he can be considered overly “chivalrous” at times, though this is due to centuries of being raised with a particular ideal of masculinity). To continue on the idea of centuries of a certain ideal of masculinity, Brynn can have a rather “toxic masculine” view on things. He is used to men being told to be a certain way, and being taught that a man holds certain values - these are the same values that he will always hold to himself, meaning that the concepts of sensitivity and open-mindedness can be alien to him at times. He has tried to learn and grow with the changing times, but there’s only so much self-improvement that you can expect a busy man like Brynn Halcyon to rigorously adhere to. It is in this regard that he can also be seen as somewhat sexist, as he has a certain view on how women tend to be and will, in dangerous situations, tend to gravitate towards protecting women before himself (though he is aware that this is not always necessary, of course). Brynn has suffered an awful lot of trauma from a very rough few centuries of living. Having lived so much of his life constantly fighting, Brynn feels physically and psychologically incapable of getting back into the lull of a normal life. This has characterised in his reckless hunting for something to do, always, which he will label (along with a large portion of the magic community) “adventuring”. He is most definitely a survivalist. Perhaps not to the extent of certain others, but he does like to test his limits very frequently. It is not rare for Brynn to disappear for weeks on end from his friendships to see how long he can survive in nature without food, water, and with only his skills - he is aware that this is likely a coping mechanism of sorts, though he genuinely doesn't believe that he's been through anything harrowing enough to consider why he needs such extreme coping methods. It is through this regard that while Brynn will never invalidate someone else's experiences, and will always show compassion for the suffering of others, he is completely desensitised and disconnected from his own life experiences. Brynn is completely unaware of how much he has changed in many ways through the centuries, and tends to think back on his most horrific of memories with a completely dissociated viewpoint. He could talk for hours on end about his experiences in chilling detail without even showing the slightest crack in emotion, as it has just never clicked that these things have happened to him, and that he should probably have some sort of reaction. He has an extreme interest in magical artifacts and their applications in contemporary life. Though this interest can probably just be extended to “artifacts” in general. Brynn feels incredibly old and jaded at times, so he finds a degree of satisfaction in the restoration of antiques, making old things once more useful. He may not be old for a mage, but he’s certainly not young by any means - a fact that he detests. Like most magi of his calibre, Brynn is a child at heart. He finds great enjoyment in the small pleasures in life; good food, warm drinks, anything homely. He himself is also a homely man. There is a deep fondness and respect within him for “honest work”, though he may not be able to do so himself anymore, he loves farm and animal work and respects those who work in these vocations at a very deep level. Brynn has a tendency to of avoidance and emotional numbing due to the trauma that he has suffered, and any mention of his family or his past can trigger him to either completely withdraw and become disinterested in the conversation, or for him to become a completely different man - losing his charisma and his friendliness in a split-second and becoming exactly the sadistic beast that he was known for in the War. This is an extreme defence mechanism, and he rationalises his terrible actions during this harrowing time as the idea that he did what he had to, even though he went way above and beyond the call of the duty -- it’s hard for the man ever to truly get a moment of relaxation. It is times like this that he realises that every smile is fake, every nice conversation is just small-talk to distract from the horrific memories that are consistently plaguing him. This is one of the only topics in which he will very suddenly and very violently realise that he has been through a lot of horrible experiences, and this very realisation makes the mere prospect of living a suddenly unbearable burden, so Brynn merely avoids it. As usual, your depiction of mental illness and it’s multifaceted effects on the mind is impressive. Particularly between the above paragraphs. Gives a similar vibe to You Were Never Really Here, which is quite an achievement. From uses of coping methods that feel extreme to someone outside his head but are perfectly normal to him, to the hair trigger and contradictory emotions that are just… every day for someone in Brynn’s shoes is something I appreciate. In his mind, he has lost everything that there is to lose, and he’s now just here to have the best remainder of his years until he very much naturally shuffles off this mortal coil. He may not actively be reckless with his life, but he certainly isn’t avoiding any danger whatsoever, and has very little regard for his health or his life. It’s more important to Brynn that he’s always being productive, always getting that rush of adrenaline from a brand new situation or a brand new artifact, and everything else is just the slightest bit arbitrary. He has a natural distrust towards certain afflicted, though this doesn’t impair his judgement of them as individuals, though he is specifically distrusting of Auramorbonists in general, due to his experience with one terrible Aura, and Fae - again, due to a bad experience. Though if any human has a particularly good opinion of the Fae, they are likely just the slightest bit mad. On top of this, Magiphage are a topic of discontent for Brynn, finding that anything that can copy your magic is oftentimes not good. - Character Likes: +History: Being a traveller, there’s a fair amount that Brynn has lived through. Somehow, though, there’s even more that he hasn’t experienced. An entire world of thousands of years of history is absolutely fascinating, and reminds Brynn that people have had similar experiences to him or even worse ones. This humbling experience is something that fuels his passion for history - and he’s never gets bored of an older mage’s rambling. + Ricky’s Bodega: Having lived a long and traumatic life, Brynn finds pleasure in the smallest of things. Most notably, he finds comfort in his friend Ricky’s humble bodega. It is a safe place, and a nice spot for him to meet with a friend and have a relaxing day. What would life be without Ricky’s world-class deli to smooth things over?+ Weaponry: What with being a soldier for so many years, Brynn has an incredibly vested interest in weaponry. There’s a degree of security to be felt in knowing exactly how a gun or a blade works, and exactly how to wield it. A lot of his time is spent learning about these things, even if he doesn’t carry weapons on his person constantly. It also interests him greatly to learn how every-day objects can be utilised as a weapon.+ Pain: An unfortunate side effect of Brynn’s branch in his magic, Brynn has an almost addictive love of pain - both the inducement and the experience of pain. He’s not especially proud of this like of his, but that doesn’t stop him from being awkwardly drawn to pain. He often will hang around with people who are somehow hurt or in the presence of people with random ailments due to this. + Nature: He has a fondness for the beauty of nature, finding it to be a very calm and grounding experience. There is little that is more calming in the world than a nice bevvy in a heavily wooded area surrounded by nature, after all.+ Horses: They are both smart animals, as well as a trustworthy means of transportation. Brynn has a fondness for these animals, finding them to be good companionship on top of good practicality, however they are have nothing on…+ His Goliath: This car is Brynn’s pride and joy. Many nights have been spent sleeping in his Goliath, and she is an extremely reliable means of transport for him. A lot of the money that he managed to build up over the centuries went to one incredibly impulsive buy that he hasn’t managed to regret yet. Even when leaving the country, he prefers to travel by ferries so that he can continue to use his Goliath. It brings a great deal of comfort to him. Plus, she’s a damn looker. - Character Dislikes: - Heat: Having watched his sister die before his very eyes, and his own traumatic experience with the American Queen Wrathia Venora, Brynn has developed an outright hatred for heat, fire, lava, anything of the like. It’s a hatred that borders on fear. - Violence: While Brynn does not actively shy away from violence by any means, he doesn't particularly experience any great enjoyment towards it. If anything, he has more of an exasperated attitude towards violence in general, finding it to be a bit of an annoyance overall.- Sudden loud noises: Slamming doors without warning, smashing objects without warning, anything sudden and loud is an extremely effective way to put Brynn instantly on edge. He has lived through so much violence that this experience will very quickly put him in a cold sweat - and his reaction is very often defensive. Accurate, appreciated detail.- Red-haired women: They don’t even have to resemble his sister in appearance or anything like that. The hair doesn’t have to be long, or even the exact shade - just any tinge of red in their hair spurs an instant dislike of the woman before him. Brynn is aware that this is unfair, and he feels a great deal of guilt about it, but he can’t bring himself to remember anything about her. Rhiannon’s death left a huge mark on Brynn, and this very simple reminder of her is the most evident way it manifests, he’s almost borderline rude to these poor women. - Whips: It’s very evident why he’d have a dislike of whips - or anything that can be used as such. During his years as an indentured servant for the Virginia colony he was transported to, Brynn was often subject to flagellation as discipline by his contract holder. This has left him with a lot of physical scars down his back, and a severe hatred for whips. Even the threat of this will be one of the only things to provoke an extremely violent reaction from the man.An accurate, appreciated detail.- Restraints of any kind: Again, his period of transportation (being a very harrowing journey to America), and his years as an indentured servant have ingrained a very heavy dislike of restraints, though he does not have nearly as violent a reaction to this, he’ll just do everything in his power to avoid such a fate.- Cats: Honestly, his reasoning for not liking cats is hilariously weak. He just doesn’t like them. They look evil, they’re always glaring, they get treated like royalty. What is actually to like about a cat? They carry fleas and there are strays all over New York. There is very little to like about cats. - Mental Traits: Although Brynn has never actually been to a psychologist for a diagnosis of any kind, he exhibits some rather obvious traits of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), like pretty much any mage his age likely will exhibit, most notably in the form of “emotional numbing”. Brynn also suffers from brain and nerve damage due to a life-threatening injury in the 1800s, mainly in the form of extremely bad short-term memory. Brynn can quite easily lose track of what he has done recently or forget conversations he’s had and has taken to writing a lot of things down or putting them as notes in his phone at risk of forgetting them otherwise. While the nerve damage is not excessive or severe in any way, and has been helped with the use of magic, it also slows his reaction times mildly and affects his depth-perception/spatial awareness in every-day living that can at times feel overwhelming and crippling for him.Species and Allegiance- Species: Human.- Ethnicity: White, Welsh.- Nationality: Welsh. Though he operates mainly in America and for all intents and purposes is usually referred to as an American. - Alignment: Lawful Neutral.- Allegiance: N/A.- Reasoning: He likes to remain impartial in pretty much all matters that don’t concern him, though he is aware of his society’s laws and will try his level best to abide by them for the most part - he doesn’t want to cause harm to others without due cause, and usually seeks to find a peaceful solution to disputes. Relationships- Allies: Generally, Brynn will tend to ally with the Sanctuaries. Otherwise, he makes a point of being neutral in all things; he likes to believe that he’s impartial in most matters. Nadine Efugio has approached him from time to time for information, he could be considered one of her “contacts” in that regard, though he has no strong feelings of alliance towards the Spanish info broker. - Enemies: Other than his dislike of the Church of the Faceless, Brynn doesn’t tend to have many enemies. He has run shy of Lupa Risus too many times in his lifetime, and she is likely the only woman he’d call “murder-on-sight” simply due to how much of an annoyance she has been. - Family: His parents are deceased. He has two older siblings; Rhiannon Hiraeth and Madoc Sequoia. He was soul-bonded to his sister, Rhiannon.- Friends: He makes many friends, though not many of them are really big names. He has developed a liking for the Elder Thorkild Feilstrom in recent years due to them both being absolute monstrous guys during the War, yet pretty swell now. Brynn also has a “sort-of” friendship with Siobhan Donovan after getting some tattoos from her a while ago, though he finds her a little too cold to develop an actual friendship with. He’s close friends with an Auramorbonist (and professional Swell Guy) named Ricky Acosta, while their friendship initially started with Brynn merely being a customer in his bodega, it quickly became apparent that Ricky was into some shady business, and he now functions as a sort of quartermaster for Brynn in-between jobs, Ricky has a large array of weapons and good food that Brynn is incredibly interested in and will stock up whenever he gets the free time (and they’ll also have a nice chat, he’ll nerd out about the Goliath). However, his best friend is likely his Rough Collie, Banner. - Significant Other: N/A. As much as he’s overall a swell guy, he’s just not blessed with the ladies. Character Age and Gender- True Age: 570- Appearance Age: Approx late 20s to early 30s, maybe 28-ish. - Character Birthday: 10/01/1449- Gender: Cisgendered male. This means he was designated male at birth and identifies as male. Character Appearance- Skin Colour: His skin is a tan white colour, though does look fairly sun-damaged in some spots, especially on his face. His body is covered in freckles. - Height: 5ft10- Weight: 80KG- Hair Description: Unkempt, relatively shaggy. It falls to his shoulders in dark auburn curls, and he tends to tie it up into a loose bun. - Eye Description: Cognac-brown eyes, quite narrow. They are by far the most unremarkable feature on his face, looking rather muted at times. He has laughter lines on the sides of his eyes and thick brows hooding them, characterised by dark circles from countless restless nights. - Facial Details: Brynn has quite a square head, covered in freckles, with rather symmetrical features - other than his nose, which has clearly been broken and set wrong and now looks a little flat on his face. His eyes are wide-spaced, though look a little high up on his face. His lips are thin, though his entire mouth seems to be covered in scar tissue - burn scars and scratches that cover his mouth and jaw, all the way down to his neck, that mars the freckles which sit there. When his hair is down, it frames his face in crisp waves, and he has a neat beard and ‘tache that he keeps trimmed and oiled in an almost exactly square shape, coming out at about two inches from his skin. - Physical Appearance: Standing at a very average height for a man, Brynn’s most distinguishable feature is that he is incredibly broad. This gives him a rather “trapezoid” body shape, with his shoulders being the broadest part of him and his hips being just the slightest bit thinner. He’s relatively muscular, most evidently in his arms and shoulders - his back is covered with lashing scars, and his arms are covered in freckles. Brynn has what one would call a “lumberjack” build. His stomach is quite toned, though there doesn’t appear to be any shape to it - no six-pack for him, though he can dream. Overall, he is quite a heavy-set man, looking fairly intimidating at first glance. His hands, while quite large and wide, have long fingers - though some of his knuckles look out of place and his hands tend to relax in an almost-claw shape from his fingers being broken - with badly chewed fingernails and hangnails, with long scars running across his palms. Just between his shoulder blades, Brynn has a symbol placed to enhance his physical abilities - this was done by the renowned tattooist Siobhan Donovan in the early 2000s. As with most of Siobhan’s symbols, it is enclosed in a circle - about five inches in diameter, and looks pretty much like a squiggle; (click to show/hide)- Attire: Brynn likes to dress “smart-casual” pretty much every opportunity he gets. This usually means; Plaid slim-fit cotton shirts at any opportunity, usually with the sleeves rolled up to the crease of his elbow. He will forego ties in favour of just undoing the top button, though if he has to wear a tie he’ll usually pick a bow-tie (not a clip-on, a clip-on is for fiends) Cotton cardigans/sweaters, they’ll usually be a nice deep red in colour. He doesn’t always tend to wear these unless the weather is somewhat cool. Skinny jeans or khaki trousers, usually blue or black. He’ll always wear a complimenting belt with these. Stanley Impact Safety boots, in a honey (tan) colour, size 9. These boots are steel-toed, with a breathable insole, making them both practical and stylish, and suitable for absolutely everything. When leaving the house with the sole intent of combat, Brynn has a specific set of attire that he will wear; Heavy-pocketed trousers with his boots. Most usually these will either be combat trousers or cargo trousers in a tan or sandy colour. A breathable shirt, colour and style may change completely varying on both weather and what he feels like wearing. Usually, Brynn will not wear any jackets, though he did get converted into the style of certain motorcycle jackets during his meeting with Siobhan, and will sometimes be found wearing one of these in combative situations. Speech and Habits- Character Voice: Weathered, gravelly, and quiet. It grates a little on the ears when he raises his voice. When he doesn’t strain it, he’s rather soft-spoken, rolling his r’s a little too heavily at times. - Speech Traits: Due to his age and travel, he only has a very soft Welsh accent - sounding more North American nowadays. He speaks quite quickly and lazily most of the time, making a lot of his sentences initially incoherent to those who haven’t heard him speak often. Brynn also tends to use colloquialisms and older slang in his speech. - Languages: English, Middle Welsh due to being alive at such a time, he is fluent in French as he spent time in the Francophone regions of Africa during the War. He can pick up certain bits of written Latin, though isn’t fluent. He is fluent in Afrikaans and Amharic. - Habits: He bites his nails and knuckles. Tends to run his tongue over his teeth when idle, an old habit. - Mannerisms: Brynn’s fingers tend to shake, and he can never keep them fully still due to them being broken, and set incorrectly on top of nerve and brain damage from an old injury. Upon being angered, he will usually fall completely silent and still. Weapons, Equipment and Artifacts- Large Equipment: The Animated Shield; this was acquired in Africa during the War. Through the use of magic and a spoken word “Onwrikbare” (Unyielding in Afrikaans), the shield can be controlled to a certain degree to protect Brynn without the use of his hands, allowing protection from one side and leaving both hands free for fighting. If he is too injured in combat, the shield will merely fall as it requires concentration to uphold. This has been dubbed “The Loyal Aegis” by those who have seen Brynn use it in action. - Small Equipment: He carries a lighter on his person, generally. A small, very aged wood carving lies in the Goliath, depicting what is presumably an attempt at a European Honey Buzzard - though this carving reminds him of Madoc, it was gifted to him from his sister Rhiannon, and most likely was her attempt at carving with their elder brother a long, long time ago. He has also been known to carry this in his pocket on particularly hard days, and the base of the carving has been worn through from where he’s rubbed it so frequently in times of distress. - Weaponry: As a soldier, Brynn has come to like having quite a few weapons around, though he doesn’t carry them on his person;- Mossberg 500 tactical pump shotgun - this gun has a 28 inch vented rib and an 18.5 inch barrel, a 12 gauge slug with 5 + 1 capacity. Due to the easy barrel swapping of this gun, he can switch it up in under twenty seconds. Attached to the end of the barrel is a “breacher brake”. A standard muzzle brake with 3 centimetre long slightly inward-curved spikes designed to be thrust into doors and other soft surfaces to allow the shotgun to create holes and breach doors. The brake also functions as an effective melee weapon in a pinch.- Entrenching tool; a three-way collapsible entrenching tool that can multi-purpose as both a shovel, pick, spade, and axe - due to it being technically a multi-tool, he is able to carry it around frequently, giving him a good weapon. He carries this around in his truck. - Ammunition: Brynn has a three-gun waist rig for his shotgun, carrying up to twenty shells if needed. This also makes multiple quick-reload techniques for the Mossberg much easier to achieve, so he will tend to wear this for combat or general “adventuring” on any certain jobs. Young Giddles, as flint said, helped make sure there is nothing wrong with this section. It pleases Gideon.- Pocket Items: He keeps a smart-phone on his person, as one tends to do now living in the modern age. It’s been dreadfully beat through and is on its last legs, with a smashed screen and everything. As usual, his wallet is always in his pocket - a battered bifold leather thing, he usually has a few notes and cards in here. There’s an old coin (a 1776 continental dollar) that always sits in the coin purse in his wallet, he considers it his lucky coin (it is carved with a symbol that is connected to a symbol on his wallet, meaning that it will teleport back into his wallet when pressed -- this is how he makes a lot of money when in a pinch). - Magical Equipment/Artifacts: There are two particular magical artifacts of any note, though he does have an active interest in artifacts and does try to hunt them down, so more may be added at a later date; His “Animated Shield”, it has been dubbed “The Loyal Aegis” by a few collectors who have deemed it one of a kind. If this shield is genuinely one of a kind is unknown to him. What is known is that it was crafted by a master metallurgist before the War and enchanted with old magic (likely with the help of someone with a discipline such as evocation). The actual material of the shield usually stands at a disc of only a few inches diameter, looking to be a solid alloy of Mnemosium and Pandorium, though upon the spoken command; “Onwrikbare” it will expand into an incredibly durable Nguni shield - an oval shield of about five foot in length. Its main capability is the use of being able to protect the user without the use of their hands, using only a small bit of their magic through the command to establish a “bond” of sorts with the user and move in the direction intended. This effect can last, theoretically, for any period of time, but a particularly grievous injury or anything that would split the focus too far will have this shield merely drop to the floor (or the user’s hand depending on their speed) uselessly, or revert back into its natural state. Brynn used to use this shield a lot for its ability to blend seamlessly with his particular combat style, though doesn’t carry it on his person anymore. His Disappearing Coin is something that Brynn will always keep on his person, no matter what, though this is mainly for sentimental value as there is very little practicality in having a coin. It is a 1776 Conintental Currency dollar coin struck in silver, about an inch and a half in diameter and 240 grains in weight. It is in surprisingly good condition, with one side a circular ring near the edge with the words inscribed “Continental Currency 1776” and within the ring a rising sun. On the reverse side are thirteen circles joined together, with the words “We Are One” embossed into the center. A summoning symbol has been engraved into the face of the coin, though it is only noticeable upon pressing it and imbuing it with some magic. The partner to this symbol lies on the face of Brynn’s wallet, which will summon the coin back to its rightful place in his wallet. He uses this for his good old disappearing coin trick, taking advantage of how much this coin is worth in the modern day to make a quick bit of cash when he’s in danger of running low and can’t get a job done. - Other: Brynn is in possession of a 6x6 Hennessey Goliath in a gaudy cherry red colour, it's his pride and joy - and he considers the upkeep of this truck to be of the utmost importance. (click to show/hide) As well as this, he has the deeds to a 4-bed country home in Carlow. He uses this home as a general area of rest, though prefers to travel and consequently spends more time in his Goliath. He has rented a flat in New York (as that’s his most frequent area of residence) that he pays for doing work for the American Sanctuary. Magical and Physical Abilities- Magic Type: Adept. - Specialization: Viscometry.- Immersion Metamorphosis: N/A. There is no IM for Viscometry. - Ability Specific Info: While many believe that Viscometry is very specifically “healing magic”, this is untrue. Viscometry applies to many aspects of biology, including the inducement and the removal of pain, wounds, etc. Most users of Viscometry will fall into proficiency in one of two branches; Affliction or Consolation, though some choose to be a jack-of-all-trades, never gaining mastery of either branch. Brynn is generally considered a “Visceral” or a “Butcher” due to his leaning on the Affliction branch. - Magical Abilities: Having used his abilities mostly in war, Brynn leans slightly towards the Afflictor branch than anything else, though he is technically proficient in both trees, just one more than the other;Pain: The inducement of pain is almost second nature to Brynn. He has a very good knowledge of anatomy, allowing for him to induce pain anywhere he wishes on the body. This ability takes very little magical or physical energy for him. However, he is also well-skilled at pain-removal, having needed to do this often in the War, and so hasn’t moved up any branch in particular in regards to this. He uses this ability very little in general nowadays. Transferal of pain is a much preferred method of his (transferal in general being his specialty). During the War, he was a renowned torturer for his ability to concentrate pain to a particular area, creating an agonising experience for those with the misfortune of dealing with him. This is still a method he will inflict in combat. He has also been known to transfer pain between individuals, meaning multiple people are suffering the same type of pain (regardless of tolerance), and arbitrarily hurting more people than necessary. It was this method that put him further up the Afflictor branch. Brynn has become proficient enough in this aspect that he theoretically could incapacitate a whole group of people in this manner, though it would be extremely magically draining for him, which makes it harder for him to spread out the pain to lessen it. When it comes to storage of pain, Brynn is almost completely proficient in this aspect, as it was a large part of his role as a Battle Medic. In the past, Brynn was almost always with a red crown of thorns around his head, as he often would store the pain of his friends in his pain corona during battle so that they could continue on fighting without ailment until the battle was over, where he’d give them their pain back. He is able to store an immense amount of pain for extended periods of time before having to re-inflict them. Storing “heal” is a concept that he’s struggled with. If he expects a battle, he is able to store the absence of pain for later, but it is not a technique of the Afflictor branch he’s familiar with, and therefore he’s not proficient in this. It requires preparation and energy for him to do this. Wounds: Inducement of wounds was yet another technique he was known for as a torturer. He finds it simplistic enough to induce wounds onto any soft tissue. However, in this regard, he was always more of a jack-of-all-trades, as he never often found it useful to induce wounds. Removal was always more important for Brynn. He can heal any minor to moderate injuries of the soft tissue, though any harder substances such as bone or ligaments are almost impossible for him (though bones are mainly impossible for all Viscometers to heal). Any surface wounds are a simple job for him to heal, regardless of depth, but internal wounds are harder. Again, transferal is what he relies on. Brynn has had to transfer many wounds from one soldier to another soldier (who is less likely to survive from their wounds anyway), and sharing wounds between soldiers to make what would have been a life-ending wound merely a flesh wound to be treated later. A wound shared between soldiers often made it easier for battle, and he is able to transfer a wound between up to five people - rendering it nearby nearly useless and treatable later. He is also able to merge and unmerge wounds easily, turning small cuts into massive gashes and vice-versa. Afflictor Passives: While Brynn has not reached mastery in either due to his extensive use of both branches, he leans towards the Afflictor branch, meaning that he has a lesser extent of the passive abilities made available to most afflictors. As an afflictor, while Brynn doesn’t have a higher tolerance for pain, he has learned to enjoy it -- being somewhat masochistic in nature and drawn to it due to this. He is able to sense pain, illness, and injury on others, almost being able to sniff it out. Brynn can discover exactly the source of pain and how it needs fixing. However, one downside of this is that while using his magic, his biology can encourage infection during affliction of pain/wounds. - Physical Abilities: Due to his symbol, Brynn has higher enhanced abilities. Not quite to the level of an afflicted, but he is faster and stronger than the average human. Having been a soldier in many different Wars, he is proficient in fire-arms and CQC, with a heavy preference to CQC, hand-to-hand. Brynn’s an extremely competent and agile fighter, with knowledge of different martial arts and defensive/offensive procedures in battle. His preferred guns are anything that are short-range, can’t go wrong with a pump-action shotty. Otherwise, he likes to fight hand-to-hand, using his magical strengths to give him an upper hand. Alongside his physical upper body strength, Brynn is extremely agile. He can climb and carry weights for long periods of time without tiring. Due to his very active lifestyle, he does not easily succumb to fatigue and is able to go for days without food or rest if needed.- Strengths: - Peak physical health: For a mage of his age, Brynn is at peak physical health. He is a formidable enemy when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, and has the constitution of an ox, it's very difficult to wear him down. - Harmful touch: Due to his magic proficiency, in CQC Brynn is an absolute monster to deal with. He has excellent survival instincts and is able to inflict unimaginable pain with a touch, making him an unwanted combatant. - Firearm proficiency: Brynn is proficient nowadays in pretty much any firearm, though since they can all be wildly different, here's a few of the guns he has most knowledge in; the Mossberg 500 tactical pump shotgun - this gun has a 28 inch vented rib and an 18.5 inch barrel, a 12 gauge slug with 5 + 1 capacity. Due to the easy barrel swapping of this gun, he can switch it up in under twenty seconds. Aside from the versatility of this, he's proficient in multiple handguns and hunting rifles. I really should have brought this up previously, so I’m putting it in yellow so it seems less aggressive. Hunting rifle is ambiguous, I would suggest, “Proficient in handguns and long guns, with a preference for shotguns”, as you can use pretty much anything as a hunting rifle if you want to. Long guns just covers all your bases including “assault” rifles and unpleasant excrement like that. Alternatively, you can make this section. Even girthier by detailing his experience with multiple firearm types. This concludes this episode of Gideon’s Gun Game.Martial fighting knowledge: As with any mage his age, Brynn has extensive knowledge of hand-to-hand fighting maneuvers. - Weaknesses: - Lack of accuracy: Due to an injury to his hands when he was younger, his fingers have been set in an awkward position, causing his hands to always have a slight tremor and lessening his hand-eye coordination dramatically. This means that no matter how good he gets at shooting or fighting, he will always have an accuracy disadvantage. - Brain and nerve damage: Yet again, an injury from the past has left him with irreparable brain damage that can manifest in the form of certain tics and even the loss of complete bodily autonomy at times. Combat can be a stressor that triggers these tics, giving him a devastating weakness in such an event. This has also affected his depth perception to a degree, meaning he isn't the best shot. Also due to this, his reaction times have been considerably slowed from when his was younger, making combat an honestly too stressful experience for him at times.- Pain-lust: Due to his discipline, Brynn can sometimes seek out reckless acts in order to feel or induce pain. This need can override any reason within him, completely destroying any tactical thought in his mind. - Training: Most of his magic was learned from his mother, who was also a Viscometer. However, he gained more full proficiency of magic and combat during the War, hence why he leans so heavily into the Afflictor branch. He took the time to learn about fire-arms during his time with the BFC (British Forces Cyprus) in the 1960s. Goals, Motivation and History- Major Goal: In all honesty, Brynn’s main goal in life is most likely just to “get by”, but he does have a deep desire to settle down somewhere with someone that he can trust with his life, and to build something that he can put honest work into and feel proud of, without the constant fear of losing it all looming over him. The old soldier is too used to losing everything so suddenly that he’s too wary to complete this goal, and has no one he can trust enough to ensure that this would be worked towards and protected. - Minor Goals: To put up a memorial for his sister, Rhiannon, and to find Madoc in order to break the news to him of her death. It has taken constant years of fighting and death for him to come to terms with the fact that she genuinely is gone, and he would like somewhere to visit to pay his respects and to honour her memory. While Madoc may not have been the most emotional towards them, and he had his snap and left after Alys’ death, it is somehow very clear to Brynn that there is a familial love for them both, so the least that he owes his older brother is the courtesy of telling him how much family the two of them actually have left - though he is incredibly wary of having to approach his memorably stoic older brother for anything. - Motivation: His fancy magical coin isn’t just practicality. He did carry the thing since 1776 after all! This coin also makes brilliant motivation for the man, hence why it is always on his person. Not only does it represent a quick and easy way out of any situation if it gets sticky (a la providing him the means to get an awful lot of money awfully quickly and being able to simply leave the situation) but it also reminds him of a time where his biggest worries were as simple as his humble farm, his lovely sister, and the looming threat of becoming a revolutionary. These simpler times remind him of his humble backgrounds and exactly where he has come from, making any task feel like it is actually attainable considering where he has managed to get to now. I’m not crying you are.
(click to show/hide)Quote from: Astaphaios on August 16, 2019, 08:22:52 AMName and Occupation- Taken Name: Brynn “Bri” Halcyon.- Pronunciation of the Name: BRIN “BREE” HAL-SEE-ON.- Name Etymology: Brynn chose his name out of simplicity in being able to pronounce it. His given names are, frankly, quite ridiculous to try and say aloud to anyone who isn’t Welsh, so he went for a short and simple taken name that he found quite snazzy to say. His reasoning for taking the name “Brynn” in particular was in part due to how easy it is to say, and partly in honour of the Welsh soldier who had made the journey all the way to his family in order to inform them of his father’s death.- Given Name: Cadoc ap Llywd ap Gruffudd.- Pronunciation of the Name: CAD-oh ap huh-LOYD ap GRIFF-IFF.- Character Job: Brynn classifies himself as a “professional Adventurer” among other things. In all honesty, aside from his normal work as a somewhat pretentious author, Brynn will take on whatever jobs he finds most interesting, and which he can apply his battle-field viscometry to most efficiently. Once, he was a battlefield “medic”, and has been known to offer his healing services to parties of adventurers since those days. Brynn also fancies himself a collector and seller of magical artifacts when he gets the time. You could also consider him a con artist, though that’s only with the one coin trick, so to speak.- Qualifications: N/A.- Titles: Brynn has been given quite a few titles over the years, though he discredits them all.Ricky has a tendency to call him the Minuteman, much to his chagrin, due to his involvement with the Minutemen in the American Revolution. Many different names were attributed to him during the war, though simply the Torturer has been the only one to really stick with him past these years. Character Mentality- Character Personality: Despite his life experiences, Brynn is an almost obnoxiously optimistic individual, with a wilful ignorance of negativity in his life. With countless years of fighting under his belt, he’s decided that life is too short - even for mages - to be anything short of content with it, and it’s rare to ever find him in a bad mood. He’s an absolute busy-body, constantly finding something to occupy his time and when he’s not occupied, he’s either writing or going out to meet new people. Always a polite individual, Brynn never wants to offend anyone. He always wants to be made aware of what they find uncomfortable, and will go out of his way to make people feel safe in his company. He’s too used to people looking at him and seeing a scary man, and he just wants to have good conversation and a nice time with people. It is extremely rare for Brynn to forget his manners, especially in the presence of a lady (it is in this regard that he can be considered overly “chivalrous” at times, though this is due to centuries of being raised with a particular ideal of masculinity). To continue on the idea of centuries of a certain ideal of masculinity, Brynn can have a rather “toxic masculine” view on things. He is used to men being told to be a certain way, and being taught that a man holds certain values - these are the same values that he will always hold to himself, meaning that the concepts of sensitivity and open-mindedness can be alien to him at times. He has tried to learn and grow with the changing times, but there’s only so much self-improvement that you can expect a busy man like Brynn Halcyon to rigorously adhere to. It is in this regard that he can also be seen as somewhat sexist, as he has a certain view on how women tend to be and will, in dangerous situations, tend to gravitate towards protecting women before himself (though he is aware that this is not always necessary, of course). Brynn has suffered an awful lot of trauma from a very rough few centuries of living. Having lived so much of his life constantly fighting, Brynn feels physically and psychologically incapable of getting back into the lull of a normal life. This has characterised in his reckless hunting for something to do, always, which he will label (along with a large portion of the magic community) “adventuring”. He is most definitely a survivalist. Perhaps not to the extent of certain others, but he does like to test his limits very frequently. It is not rare for Brynn to disappear for weeks on end from his friendships to see how long he can survive in nature without food, water, and with only his skills - he is aware that this is likely a coping mechanism of sorts, though he genuinely doesn't believe that he's been through anything harrowing enough to consider why he needs such extreme coping methods. It is through this regard that while Brynn will never invalidate someone else's experiences, and will always show compassion for the suffering of others, he is completely desensitised and disconnected from his own life experiences. Brynn is completely unaware of how much he has changed in many ways through the centuries, and tends to think back on his most horrific of memories with a completely dissociated viewpoint. He could talk for hours on end about his experiences in chilling detail without even showing the slightest crack in emotion, as it has just never clicked that these things have happened to him, and that he should probably have some sort of reaction. He has an extreme interest in magical artifacts and their applications in contemporary life. Though this interest can probably just be extended to “artifacts” in general. Brynn feels incredibly old and jaded at times, so he finds a degree of satisfaction in the restoration of antiques, making old things once more useful. He may not be old for a mage, but he’s certainly not young by any means - a fact that he detests. Like most magi of his calibre, Brynn is a child at heart. He finds great enjoyment in the small pleasures in life; good food, warm drinks, anything homely. He himself is also a homely man. There is a deep fondness and respect within him for “honest work”, though he may not be able to do so himself anymore, he loves farm and animal work and respects those who work in these vocations at a very deep level. Brynn has a tendency to of avoidance and emotional numbing due to the trauma that he has suffered, and any mention of his family or his past can trigger him to either completely withdraw and become disinterested in the conversation, or for him to become a completely different man - losing his charisma and his friendliness in a split-second and becoming exactly the sadistic beast that he was known for in the War. This is an extreme defence mechanism, and he rationalises his terrible actions during this harrowing time as the idea that he did what he had to, even though he went way above and beyond the call of the duty -- it’s hard for the man ever to truly get a moment of relaxation. It is times like this that he realises that every smile is fake, every nice conversation is just small-talk to distract from the horrific memories that are consistently plaguing him. This is one of the only topics in which he will very suddenly and very violently realise that he has been through a lot of horrible experiences, and this very realisation makes the mere prospect of living a suddenly unbearable burden, so Brynn merely avoids it. As usual, your depiction of mental illness and it’s multifaceted effects on the mind is impressive. Particularly between the above paragraphs. Gives a similar vibe to You Were Never Really Here, which is quite an achievement. From uses of coping methods that feel extreme to someone outside his head but are perfectly normal to him, to the hair trigger and contradictory emotions that are just… every day for someone in Brynn’s shoes is something I appreciate. In his mind, he has lost everything that there is to lose, and he’s now just here to have the best remainder of his years until he very much naturally shuffles off this mortal coil. He may not actively be reckless with his life, but he certainly isn’t avoiding any danger whatsoever, and has very little regard for his health or his life. It’s more important to Brynn that he’s always being productive, always getting that rush of adrenaline from a brand new situation or a brand new artifact, and everything else is just the slightest bit arbitrary. He has a natural distrust towards certain afflicted, though this doesn’t impair his judgement of them as individuals, though he is specifically distrusting of Auramorbonists in general, due to his experience with one terrible Aura, and Fae - again, due to a bad experience. Though if any human has a particularly good opinion of the Fae, they are likely just the slightest bit mad. On top of this, Magiphage are a topic of discontent for Brynn, finding that anything that can copy your magic is oftentimes not good. - Character Likes: +History: Being a traveller, there’s a fair amount that Brynn has lived through. Somehow, though, there’s even more that he hasn’t experienced. An entire world of thousands of years of history is absolutely fascinating, and reminds Brynn that people have had similar experiences to him or even worse ones. This humbling experience is something that fuels his passion for history - and he’s never gets bored of an older mage’s rambling. + Ricky’s Bodega: Having lived a long and traumatic life, Brynn finds pleasure in the smallest of things. Most notably, he finds comfort in his friend Ricky’s humble bodega. It is a safe place, and a nice spot for him to meet with a friend and have a relaxing day. What would life be without Ricky’s world-class deli to smooth things over?+ Weaponry: What with being a soldier for so many years, Brynn has an incredibly vested interest in weaponry. There’s a degree of security to be felt in knowing exactly how a gun or a blade works, and exactly how to wield it. A lot of his time is spent learning about these things, even if he doesn’t carry weapons on his person constantly. It also interests him greatly to learn how every-day objects can be utilised as a weapon.+ Pain: An unfortunate side effect of Brynn’s branch in his magic, Brynn has an almost addictive love of pain - both the inducement and the experience of pain. He’s not especially proud of this like of his, but that doesn’t stop him from being awkwardly drawn to pain. He often will hang around with people who are somehow hurt or in the presence of people with random ailments due to this. + Nature: He has a fondness for the beauty of nature, finding it to be a very calm and grounding experience. There is little that is more calming in the world than a nice bevvy in a heavily wooded area surrounded by nature, after all.+ Horses: They are both smart animals, as well as a trustworthy means of transportation. Brynn has a fondness for these animals, finding them to be good companionship on top of good practicality, however they are have nothing on…+ His Goliath: This car is Brynn’s pride and joy. Many nights have been spent sleeping in his Goliath, and she is an extremely reliable means of transport for him. A lot of the money that he managed to build up over the centuries went to one incredibly impulsive buy that he hasn’t managed to regret yet. Even when leaving the country, he prefers to travel by ferries so that he can continue to use his Goliath. It brings a great deal of comfort to him. Plus, she’s a damn looker. - Character Dislikes: - Heat: Having watched his sister die before his very eyes, and his own traumatic experience with the American Queen Wrathia Venora, Brynn has developed an outright hatred for heat, fire, lava, anything of the like. It’s a hatred that borders on fear. - Violence: While Brynn does not actively shy away from violence by any means, he doesn't particularly experience any great enjoyment towards it. If anything, he has more of an exasperated attitude towards violence in general, finding it to be a bit of an annoyance overall.- Sudden loud noises: Slamming doors without warning, smashing objects without warning, anything sudden and loud is an extremely effective way to put Brynn instantly on edge. He has lived through so much violence that this experience will very quickly put him in a cold sweat - and his reaction is very often defensive. Accurate, appreciated detail.- Red-haired women: They don’t even have to resemble his sister in appearance or anything like that. The hair doesn’t have to be long, or even the exact shade - just any tinge of red in their hair spurs an instant dislike of the woman before him. Brynn is aware that this is unfair, and he feels a great deal of guilt about it, but he can’t bring himself to remember anything about her. Rhiannon’s death left a huge mark on Brynn, and this very simple reminder of her is the most evident way it manifests, he’s almost borderline rude to these poor women. - Whips: It’s very evident why he’d have a dislike of whips - or anything that can be used as such. During his years as an indentured servant for the Virginia colony he was transported to, Brynn was often subject to flagellation as discipline by his contract holder. This has left him with a lot of physical scars down his back, and a severe hatred for whips. Even the threat of this will be one of the only things to provoke an extremely violent reaction from the man.An accurate, appreciated detail.- Restraints of any kind: Again, his period of transportation (being a very harrowing journey to America), and his years as an indentured servant have ingrained a very heavy dislike of restraints, though he does not have nearly as violent a reaction to this, he’ll just do everything in his power to avoid such a fate.- Cats: Honestly, his reasoning for not liking cats is hilariously weak. He just doesn’t like them. They look evil, they’re always glaring, they get treated like royalty. What is actually to like about a cat? They carry fleas and there are strays all over New York. There is very little to like about cats. - Mental Traits: Although Brynn has never actually been to a psychologist for a diagnosis of any kind, he exhibits some rather obvious traits of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), like pretty much any mage his age likely will exhibit, most notably in the form of “emotional numbing”. Brynn also suffers from brain and nerve damage due to a life-threatening injury in the 1800s, mainly in the form of extremely bad short-term memory. Brynn can quite easily lose track of what he has done recently or forget conversations he’s had and has taken to writing a lot of things down or putting them as notes in his phone at risk of forgetting them otherwise. While the nerve damage is not excessive or severe in any way, and has been helped with the use of magic, it also slows his reaction times mildly and affects his depth-perception/spatial awareness in every-day living that can at times feel overwhelming and crippling for him.Species and Allegiance- Species: Human.- Ethnicity: White, Welsh.- Nationality: Welsh. Though he operates mainly in America and for all intents and purposes is usually referred to as an American. - Alignment: Lawful Neutral.- Allegiance: N/A.- Reasoning: He likes to remain impartial in pretty much all matters that don’t concern him, though he is aware of his society’s laws and will try his level best to abide by them for the most part - he doesn’t want to cause harm to others without due cause, and usually seeks to find a peaceful solution to disputes. Relationships- Allies: Generally, Brynn will tend to ally with the Sanctuaries. Otherwise, he makes a point of being neutral in all things; he likes to believe that he’s impartial in most matters. Nadine Efugio has approached him from time to time for information, he could be considered one of her “contacts” in that regard, though he has no strong feelings of alliance towards the Spanish info broker. - Enemies: Other than his dislike of the Church of the Faceless, Brynn doesn’t tend to have many enemies. He has run shy of Lupa Risus too many times in his lifetime, and she is likely the only woman he’d call “murder-on-sight” simply due to how much of an annoyance she has been. - Family: His parents are deceased. He has two older siblings; Rhiannon Hiraeth and Madoc Sequoia. He was soul-bonded to his sister, Rhiannon.- Friends: He makes many friends, though not many of them are really big names. He has developed a liking for the Elder Thorkild Feilstrom in recent years due to them both being absolute monstrous guys during the War, yet pretty swell now. Brynn also has a “sort-of” friendship with Siobhan Donovan after getting some tattoos from her a while ago, though he finds her a little too cold to develop an actual friendship with. He’s close friends with an Auramorbonist (and professional Swell Guy) named Ricky Acosta, while their friendship initially started with Brynn merely being a customer in his bodega, it quickly became apparent that Ricky was into some shady business, and he now functions as a sort of quartermaster for Brynn in-between jobs, Ricky has a large array of weapons and good food that Brynn is incredibly interested in and will stock up whenever he gets the free time (and they’ll also have a nice chat, he’ll nerd out about the Goliath). However, his best friend is likely his Rough Collie, Banner. - Significant Other: N/A. As much as he’s overall a swell guy, he’s just not blessed with the ladies. Character Age and Gender- True Age: 570- Appearance Age: Approx late 20s to early 30s, maybe 28-ish. - Character Birthday: 10/01/1449- Gender: Cisgendered male. This means he was designated male at birth and identifies as male. Character Appearance- Skin Colour: His skin is a tan white colour, though does look fairly sun-damaged in some spots, especially on his face. His body is covered in freckles. - Height: 5ft10- Weight: 80KG- Hair Description: Unkempt, relatively shaggy. It falls to his shoulders in dark auburn curls, and he tends to tie it up into a loose bun. - Eye Description: Cognac-brown eyes, quite narrow. They are by far the most unremarkable feature on his face, looking rather muted at times. He has laughter lines on the sides of his eyes and thick brows hooding them, characterised by dark circles from countless restless nights. - Facial Details: Brynn has quite a square head, covered in freckles, with rather symmetrical features - other than his nose, which has clearly been broken and set wrong and now looks a little flat on his face. His eyes are wide-spaced, though look a little high up on his face. His lips are thin, though his entire mouth seems to be covered in scar tissue - burn scars and scratches that cover his mouth and jaw, all the way down to his neck, that mars the freckles which sit there. When his hair is down, it frames his face in crisp waves, and he has a neat beard and ‘tache that he keeps trimmed and oiled in an almost exactly square shape, coming out at about two inches from his skin. - Physical Appearance: Standing at a very average height for a man, Brynn’s most distinguishable feature is that he is incredibly broad. This gives him a rather “trapezoid” body shape, with his shoulders being the broadest part of him and his hips being just the slightest bit thinner. He’s relatively muscular, most evidently in his arms and shoulders - his back is covered with lashing scars, and his arms are covered in freckles. Brynn has what one would call a “lumberjack” build. His stomach is quite toned, though there doesn’t appear to be any shape to it - no six-pack for him, though he can dream. Overall, he is quite a heavy-set man, looking fairly intimidating at first glance. His hands, while quite large and wide, have long fingers - though some of his knuckles look out of place and his hands tend to relax in an almost-claw shape from his fingers being broken - with badly chewed fingernails and hangnails, with long scars running across his palms. Just between his shoulder blades, Brynn has a symbol placed to enhance his physical abilities - this was done by the renowned tattooist Siobhan Donovan in the early 2000s. As with most of Siobhan’s symbols, it is enclosed in a circle - about five inches in diameter, and looks pretty much like a squiggle; (click to show/hide)- Attire: Brynn likes to dress “smart-casual” pretty much every opportunity he gets. This usually means; Plaid slim-fit cotton shirts at any opportunity, usually with the sleeves rolled up to the crease of his elbow. He will forego ties in favour of just undoing the top button, though if he has to wear a tie he’ll usually pick a bow-tie (not a clip-on, a clip-on is for fiends) Cotton cardigans/sweaters, they’ll usually be a nice deep red in colour. He doesn’t always tend to wear these unless the weather is somewhat cool. Skinny jeans or khaki trousers, usually blue or black. He’ll always wear a complimenting belt with these. Stanley Impact Safety boots, in a honey (tan) colour, size 9. These boots are steel-toed, with a breathable insole, making them both practical and stylish, and suitable for absolutely everything. When leaving the house with the sole intent of combat, Brynn has a specific set of attire that he will wear; Heavy-pocketed trousers with his boots. Most usually these will either be combat trousers or cargo trousers in a tan or sandy colour. A breathable shirt, colour and style may change completely varying on both weather and what he feels like wearing. Usually, Brynn will not wear any jackets, though he did get converted into the style of certain motorcycle jackets during his meeting with Siobhan, and will sometimes be found wearing one of these in combative situations. Speech and Habits- Character Voice: Weathered, gravelly, and quiet. It grates a little on the ears when he raises his voice. When he doesn’t strain it, he’s rather soft-spoken, rolling his r’s a little too heavily at times. - Speech Traits: Due to his age and travel, he only has a very soft Welsh accent - sounding more North American nowadays. He speaks quite quickly and lazily most of the time, making a lot of his sentences initially incoherent to those who haven’t heard him speak often. Brynn also tends to use colloquialisms and older slang in his speech. - Languages: English, Middle Welsh due to being alive at such a time, he is fluent in French as he spent time in the Francophone regions of Africa during the War. He can pick up certain bits of written Latin, though isn’t fluent. He is fluent in Afrikaans and Amharic. - Habits: He bites his nails and knuckles. Tends to run his tongue over his teeth when idle, an old habit. - Mannerisms: Brynn’s fingers tend to shake, and he can never keep them fully still due to them being broken, and set incorrectly on top of nerve and brain damage from an old injury. Upon being angered, he will usually fall completely silent and still. Weapons, Equipment and Artifacts- Large Equipment: The Animated Shield; this was acquired in Africa during the War. Through the use of magic and a spoken word “Onwrikbare” (Unyielding in Afrikaans), the shield can be controlled to a certain degree to protect Brynn without the use of his hands, allowing protection from one side and leaving both hands free for fighting. If he is too injured in combat, the shield will merely fall as it requires concentration to uphold. This has been dubbed “The Loyal Aegis” by those who have seen Brynn use it in action. - Small Equipment: He carries a lighter on his person, generally. A small, very aged wood carving lies in the Goliath, depicting what is presumably an attempt at a European Honey Buzzard - though this carving reminds him of Madoc, it was gifted to him from his sister Rhiannon, and most likely was her attempt at carving with their elder brother a long, long time ago. He has also been known to carry this in his pocket on particularly hard days, and the base of the carving has been worn through from where he’s rubbed it so frequently in times of distress. - Weaponry: As a soldier, Brynn has come to like having quite a few weapons around, though he doesn’t carry them on his person;- Mossberg 500 tactical pump shotgun - this gun has a 28 inch vented rib and an 18.5 inch barrel, a 12 gauge slug with 5 + 1 capacity. Due to the easy barrel swapping of this gun, he can switch it up in under twenty seconds. Attached to the end of the barrel is a “breacher brake”. A standard muzzle brake with 3 centimetre long slightly inward-curved spikes designed to be thrust into doors and other soft surfaces to allow the shotgun to create holes and breach doors. The brake also functions as an effective melee weapon in a pinch.- Entrenching tool; a three-way collapsible entrenching tool that can multi-purpose as both a shovel, pick, spade, and axe - due to it being technically a multi-tool, he is able to carry it around frequently, giving him a good weapon. He carries this around in his truck. - Ammunition: Brynn has a three-gun waist rig for his shotgun, carrying up to twenty shells if needed. This also makes multiple quick-reload techniques for the Mossberg much easier to achieve, so he will tend to wear this for combat or general “adventuring” on any certain jobs. Young Giddles, as flint said, helped make sure there is nothing wrong with this section. It pleases Gideon.- Pocket Items: He keeps a smart-phone on his person, as one tends to do now living in the modern age. It’s been dreadfully beat through and is on its last legs, with a smashed screen and everything. As usual, his wallet is always in his pocket - a battered bifold leather thing, he usually has a few notes and cards in here. There’s an old coin (a 1776 continental dollar) that always sits in the coin purse in his wallet, he considers it his lucky coin (it is carved with a symbol that is connected to a symbol on his wallet, meaning that it will teleport back into his wallet when pressed -- this is how he makes a lot of money when in a pinch). - Magical Equipment/Artifacts: There are two particular magical artifacts of any note, though he does have an active interest in artifacts and does try to hunt them down, so more may be added at a later date; His “Animated Shield”, it has been dubbed “The Loyal Aegis” by a few collectors who have deemed it one of a kind. If this shield is genuinely one of a kind is unknown to him. What is known is that it was crafted by a master metallurgist before the War and enchanted with old magic (likely with the help of someone with a discipline such as evocation). The actual material of the shield usually stands at a disc of only a few inches diameter, looking to be a solid alloy of Mnemosium and Pandorium, though upon the spoken command; “Onwrikbare” it will expand into an incredibly durable Nguni shield - an oval shield of about five foot in length. Its main capability is the use of being able to protect the user without the use of their hands, using only a small bit of their magic through the command to establish a “bond” of sorts with the user and move in the direction intended. This effect can last, theoretically, for any period of time, but a particularly grievous injury or anything that would split the focus too far will have this shield merely drop to the floor (or the user’s hand depending on their speed) uselessly, or revert back into its natural state. Brynn used to use this shield a lot for its ability to blend seamlessly with his particular combat style, though doesn’t carry it on his person anymore. His Disappearing Coin is something that Brynn will always keep on his person, no matter what, though this is mainly for sentimental value as there is very little practicality in having a coin. It is a 1776 Conintental Currency dollar coin struck in silver, about an inch and a half in diameter and 240 grains in weight. It is in surprisingly good condition, with one side a circular ring near the edge with the words inscribed “Continental Currency 1776” and within the ring a rising sun. On the reverse side are thirteen circles joined together, with the words “We Are One” embossed into the center. A summoning symbol has been engraved into the face of the coin, though it is only noticeable upon pressing it and imbuing it with some magic. The partner to this symbol lies on the face of Brynn’s wallet, which will summon the coin back to its rightful place in his wallet. He uses this for his good old disappearing coin trick, taking advantage of how much this coin is worth in the modern day to make a quick bit of cash when he’s in danger of running low and can’t get a job done. - Other: Brynn is in possession of a 6x6 Hennessey Goliath in a gaudy cherry red colour, it's his pride and joy - and he considers the upkeep of this truck to be of the utmost importance. (click to show/hide) As well as this, he has the deeds to a 4-bed country home in Carlow. He uses this home as a general area of rest, though prefers to travel and consequently spends more time in his Goliath. He has rented a flat in New York (as that’s his most frequent area of residence) that he pays for doing work for the American Sanctuary. Magical and Physical Abilities- Magic Type: Adept. - Specialization: Viscometry.- Immersion Metamorphosis: N/A. There is no IM for Viscometry. - Ability Specific Info: While many believe that Viscometry is very specifically “healing magic”, this is untrue. Viscometry applies to many aspects of biology, including the inducement and the removal of pain, wounds, etc. Most users of Viscometry will fall into proficiency in one of two branches; Affliction or Consolation, though some choose to be a jack-of-all-trades, never gaining mastery of either branch. Brynn is generally considered a “Visceral” or a “Butcher” due to his leaning on the Affliction branch. - Magical Abilities: Having used his abilities mostly in war, Brynn leans slightly towards the Afflictor branch than anything else, though he is technically proficient in both trees, just one more than the other;Pain: The inducement of pain is almost second nature to Brynn. He has a very good knowledge of anatomy, allowing for him to induce pain anywhere he wishes on the body. This ability takes very little magical or physical energy for him. However, he is also well-skilled at pain-removal, having needed to do this often in the War, and so hasn’t moved up any branch in particular in regards to this. He uses this ability very little in general nowadays. Transferal of pain is a much preferred method of his (transferal in general being his specialty). During the War, he was a renowned torturer for his ability to concentrate pain to a particular area, creating an agonising experience for those with the misfortune of dealing with him. This is still a method he will inflict in combat. He has also been known to transfer pain between individuals, meaning multiple people are suffering the same type of pain (regardless of tolerance), and arbitrarily hurting more people than necessary. It was this method that put him further up the Afflictor branch. Brynn has become proficient enough in this aspect that he theoretically could incapacitate a whole group of people in this manner, though it would be extremely magically draining for him, which makes it harder for him to spread out the pain to lessen it. When it comes to storage of pain, Brynn is almost completely proficient in this aspect, as it was a large part of his role as a Battle Medic. In the past, Brynn was almost always with a red crown of thorns around his head, as he often would store the pain of his friends in his pain corona during battle so that they could continue on fighting without ailment until the battle was over, where he’d give them their pain back. He is able to store an immense amount of pain for extended periods of time before having to re-inflict them. Storing “heal” is a concept that he’s struggled with. If he expects a battle, he is able to store the absence of pain for later, but it is not a technique of the Afflictor branch he’s familiar with, and therefore he’s not proficient in this. It requires preparation and energy for him to do this. Wounds: Inducement of wounds was yet another technique he was known for as a torturer. He finds it simplistic enough to induce wounds onto any soft tissue. However, in this regard, he was always more of a jack-of-all-trades, as he never often found it useful to induce wounds. Removal was always more important for Brynn. He can heal any minor to moderate injuries of the soft tissue, though any harder substances such as bone or ligaments are almost impossible for him (though bones are mainly impossible for all Viscometers to heal). Any surface wounds are a simple job for him to heal, regardless of depth, but internal wounds are harder. Again, transferal is what he relies on. Brynn has had to transfer many wounds from one soldier to another soldier (who is less likely to survive from their wounds anyway), and sharing wounds between soldiers to make what would have been a life-ending wound merely a flesh wound to be treated later. A wound shared between soldiers often made it easier for battle, and he is able to transfer a wound between up to five people - rendering it nearby nearly useless and treatable later. He is also able to merge and unmerge wounds easily, turning small cuts into massive gashes and vice-versa. Afflictor Passives: While Brynn has not reached mastery in either due to his extensive use of both branches, he leans towards the Afflictor branch, meaning that he has a lesser extent of the passive abilities made available to most afflictors. As an afflictor, while Brynn doesn’t have a higher tolerance for pain, he has learned to enjoy it -- being somewhat masochistic in nature and drawn to it due to this. He is able to sense pain, illness, and injury on others, almost being able to sniff it out. Brynn can discover exactly the source of pain and how it needs fixing. However, one downside of this is that while using his magic, his biology can encourage infection during affliction of pain/wounds. - Physical Abilities: Due to his symbol, Brynn has higher enhanced abilities. Not quite to the level of an afflicted, but he is faster and stronger than the average human. Having been a soldier in many different Wars, he is proficient in fire-arms and CQC, with a heavy preference to CQC, hand-to-hand. Brynn’s an extremely competent and agile fighter, with knowledge of different martial arts and defensive/offensive procedures in battle. His preferred guns are anything that are short-range, can’t go wrong with a pump-action shotty. Otherwise, he likes to fight hand-to-hand, using his magical strengths to give him an upper hand. Alongside his physical upper body strength, Brynn is extremely agile. He can climb and carry weights for long periods of time without tiring. Due to his very active lifestyle, he does not easily succumb to fatigue and is able to go for days without food or rest if needed.- Strengths: - Peak physical health: For a mage of his age, Brynn is at peak physical health. He is a formidable enemy when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, and has the constitution of an ox, it's very difficult to wear him down. - Harmful touch: Due to his magic proficiency, in CQC Brynn is an absolute monster to deal with. He has excellent survival instincts and is able to inflict unimaginable pain with a touch, making him an unwanted combatant. - Firearm proficiency: Brynn is proficient nowadays in pretty much any firearm, though since they can all be wildly different, here's a few of the guns he has most knowledge in; the Mossberg 500 tactical pump shotgun - this gun has a 28 inch vented rib and an 18.5 inch barrel, a 12 gauge slug with 5 + 1 capacity. Due to the easy barrel swapping of this gun, he can switch it up in under twenty seconds. Aside from the versatility of this, he's proficient in multiple handguns and hunting rifles. I really should have brought this up previously, so I’m putting it in yellow so it seems less aggressive. Hunting rifle is ambiguous, I would suggest, “Proficient in handguns and long guns, with a preference for shotguns”, as you can use pretty much anything as a hunting rifle if you want to. Long guns just covers all your bases including “assault” rifles and unpleasant excrement like that. Alternatively, you can make this section. Even girthier by detailing his experience with multiple firearm types. This concludes this episode of Gideon’s Gun Game.Martial fighting knowledge: As with any mage his age, Brynn has extensive knowledge of hand-to-hand fighting maneuvers. - Weaknesses: - Lack of accuracy: Due to an injury to his hands when he was younger, his fingers have been set in an awkward position, causing his hands to always have a slight tremor and lessening his hand-eye coordination dramatically. This means that no matter how good he gets at shooting or fighting, he will always have an accuracy disadvantage. - Brain and nerve damage: Yet again, an injury from the past has left him with irreparable brain damage that can manifest in the form of certain tics and even the loss of complete bodily autonomy at times. Combat can be a stressor that triggers these tics, giving him a devastating weakness in such an event. This has also affected his depth perception to a degree, meaning he isn't the best shot. Also due to this, his reaction times have been considerably slowed from when his was younger, making combat an honestly too stressful experience for him at times.- Pain-lust: Due to his discipline, Brynn can sometimes seek out reckless acts in order to feel or induce pain. This need can override any reason within him, completely destroying any tactical thought in his mind. - Training: Most of his magic was learned from his mother, who was also a Viscometer. However, he gained more full proficiency of magic and combat during the War, hence why he leans so heavily into the Afflictor branch. He took the time to learn about fire-arms during his time with the BFC (British Forces Cyprus) in the 1960s. Goals, Motivation and History- Major Goal: In all honesty, Brynn’s main goal in life is most likely just to “get by”, but he does have a deep desire to settle down somewhere with someone that he can trust with his life, and to build something that he can put honest work into and feel proud of, without the constant fear of losing it all looming over him. The old soldier is too used to losing everything so suddenly that he’s too wary to complete this goal, and has no one he can trust enough to ensure that this would be worked towards and protected. - Minor Goals: To put up a memorial for his sister, Rhiannon, and to find Madoc in order to break the news to him of her death. It has taken constant years of fighting and death for him to come to terms with the fact that she genuinely is gone, and he would like somewhere to visit to pay his respects and to honour her memory. While Madoc may not have been the most emotional towards them, and he had his snap and left after Alys’ death, it is somehow very clear to Brynn that there is a familial love for them both, so the least that he owes his older brother is the courtesy of telling him how much family the two of them actually have left - though he is incredibly wary of having to approach his memorably stoic older brother for anything. - Motivation: His fancy magical coin isn’t just practicality. He did carry the thing since 1776 after all! This coin also makes brilliant motivation for the man, hence why it is always on his person. Not only does it represent a quick and easy way out of any situation if it gets sticky (a la providing him the means to get an awful lot of money awfully quickly and being able to simply leave the situation) but it also reminds him of a time where his biggest worries were as simple as his humble farm, his lovely sister, and the looming threat of becoming a revolutionary. These simpler times remind him of his humble backgrounds and exactly where he has come from, making any task feel like it is actually attainable considering where he has managed to get to now. I’m not crying you are. I might tackle the bio later? But I watched you write a good portion of it so, we’ll see if I feel like it after work.
Kei, in regards to the history of women, if she was known for using her magic then she would have been killed instantly. On top of that, it's stated that her independence from her husband is what caused the tame punishment, it's far from random -- Rolling his R's has been moved to speech traits! […]His personality itself is kind of meant to be a little contradictory, considering he's in his late 500s and suffering the effects of PTSD, I was leaning heavily off my knowledge and experience with PTSD and how it changes one's psyche to such a level - if no one else finds it too jarring, I don't want to make the personality much wordier