Adrian Nightshade

[Nightshade]

(Awaiting review.)

Player Name: M
Name: Adrian Nightshade
Age: 35
Race: Human, for the most part.
Height: 6'9"
Weight/Build: 275 lbs, very musucular, very low body fat.

Appearance: Very fair skin, light grey eyes, off-black hair that grows thick and is worn in a crop that's not too short as to be completely utilitarian, but not so long as to be disheveled. Adrian is always cleanly shaven and would be considered classically handsome, if it weren't for the constant furrow in his brow, which gives the appearance of being entangled in an existential debate with himself at all times.

Dress and Adornments: Because of his size, Adrian has most of his garments specially tailored. He is a man of taste, though he is far from ostentatious with his clothing. Typically, he is dressed in trousers of a thick black fabric, black leather boots, and a black leather tunic. The tunic is drawn a bit taut across his chest (most tailors don't have access to swaths of material large enough). Perhaps the only real tell-tale sign of his attention to fashion is the tunic's Mandarin-style closure (which means the toggle closures are down the right side of his chest, rather than down the middle). His underthings and sleepwear are nondescript linen.

Personality: Fastidious, but not one to complain. Quiet, but not shy. Appreciates finer things, but is decidedly not haughty. Studious to a fault. Diplomatic, but suspicious of others. A workhorse, a soft heart. To play off the term "short-tempered," one would call him "very long-tempered." Distrustful of most authority.

Weapons and Armor: A man of Adrian's size and build would likely be assumed to be a warrior or military man of some kind. This was only true for a period of his life, the seven years he spent as a member of a small Norroenirlund militia faction. That being said, Adrian does not continue to carry weapons, nor does he own armor.

Strengths and Interests: Adrian is a very large, strong, and physically capable man. For example, if a brawl were to break out at a tavern, Adrian would be the one picking up smaller men by their collars and throwing them in the street, rather than joining in on the fight. He neither enjoys nor tolerates senseless violence.

He is also a very intellectually-driven individual, having spent more time than an average human youngster at the chessboard. Adrian could be found, still, with his nose in a book on mathematics, history, or philosophy. His intelligence contributes to his somewhat cynical humor, but that reveals itself only rarely.

Adrian is late to bed and early to rise, often well before the sun to do strength training exercises and to bathe before the day begins for the rest of the world. Presently, as a newcomer to Marn, he spends much of his days learning the lay of the city and reading about its history and politics.

As far as magic, Adrian has little to no interest in its practice. And it is simply that: a lack of interest, not a lack of familiarity or an outright aversion. What he doesn't know is that he possesses the significant gift of a "stone mind," or a mind which can't be penetrated by psychic magic. Any attempt by a magic-user to pry into his thoughts would result in silence. Because of the nature of this "ability," he has never realized it exists.

Weaknesses and Apprehensions: Adrian is a germophobe. He chooses to frequent more luxuriant hospitality establishments on account of their often higher standards of cleanliness, not because he has a prejudice against tavern patrons or cheap beer. But, it does make him literally distant in interpersonal situations.

Adrian left his station as a militia guardsman on terse terms. This was likely because he is slow to align himself with authority if he finds their dogmas dubious (one might call this a "neutral good" alignment). He is a philosopher by nature and will analyze politics with extreme scrutiny, at the risk of getting himself in trouble. Though to say he is a man of honor would be a strength, in a military oligarchy like Thar Shaddin's, this could produce grave conflict.

Adrian roots for the underdog (a virtue) and will lay himself down for the weak or underprivileged, which represents a soft, altruistic spot in his heart. This could be construed as a weakness on account of the potential for turbulence in social norms. However, he is not overly sentimental by any means, and distrusts most anyone who ask for help before helping themselves.

---

History: Adrian Nightshade was born in the Norroenirlund countryside to a military serviceman and a nomadic witch. At least, that's what he believes and remembers to be true. The relationship between his biological parents was fleeting and transient, and he was raised entirely by his mother in her home in the foothills.

His mother, an ecstatic witch who called herself Advea, began her life as a poor daughter of a poor family in rural Norroenirlund. She had heard stories about magic use, but had no access to its beginning practice, and no real natural talent. After running away from home to escape poverty and abuse, she became the apprentice of a traveling witch who taught her the basics of herbal magic and shamanism. Out of sheer fervor, she became restless with her teacher and sought higher power. She sought out further training from elves, but the elves had little interest in teaching their arts to a scrubby-looking, feral human teen. Advea, ever resentful, made her way into more illicit avenues of profitmaking and power-leeching. She became a scam artist who used her earnings to pay for training by wealthy mages, for whom she also provided sexual favors as additional payment. She was given access to forbidden esoteric texts involving angelic invocation and conjuring, making holy (and unholy) sacrifices, and channeling spirits. Her fragility, combined with her too-frequent and zealous baiting of the Astral Plane, caused her to develop severe social anxieties and waking hallucinations.

Advea came to distrust her mage consorts and fled, taking many of their prized spellbooks with her. To make money, she continued to prostitute herself. During her trysts with clients, she would chant subvocally, with the intention of leeching pranic energy from them and invoking divine spirits into their bodies. Combined with her masterful use of herbal tinctures, particularly deadly nightshade, she could render her client-victims catatonic.

This is how Adrian was conceived. Advea seduced a city guardsman, chanted him into a frenetic coma, then called upon an angel to inhabit his body and give her a child. She knew immediately when she was successful, and left the poor man naked and penniless to retreat to the countryside and raise her holy offspring. But Advea overestimated her divine progeny - he is human, and although he exhibits extraordinary proportions, intelligence, and good looks, he is without glittering wings or halo.

By the time Adrian Nightshade (named for the herb which contributed to his successful conception) was old enough to go to school, he was precocious enough to manage to get their on his own. He completed standard education, doing small jobs for merchants to get himself to and from the city. He cared for his mother, who was growing more and more mad with age and reckless use of magic. Adrian had no special love for Advea besides a general gratitude for bringing him into the world (and not sacrificing him to some powerful demon, which she sometimes threatened to do), for he knew her real humanity had been displaced by fanatical, celestial obsession. He left for the military without looking back to see if she was still breathing. He did, however, take with him an evil-eye charm: a small eyeball-shaped pendant of semi-precious stone set in silver and strung on a silver chain. As uninterested in the magic (the drug) that stole his mother's sanity as he was, part of him thought to take at least one piece of her with him out of respect, and as a reminder of where he came from.

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Goals, ambitions, and potential plots for Adrian:

Adrian is curious about the militaristic government of the area and a dark part of his soul is tempted to become a Judge, only to usurp the cruel system from within. If logic comes to overshadow ambition (of which there is a likelihood), he may find himself a place in the University, teaching philosophy and running an openly activist party promoting tolerance and true democracy. Hell, he might become a veterinarian. Because of his "heavenly heritage," Adrian carries a very strong streak of altruism, Robin Hood-like urges, and a monkish disposition. But he is also thoroughly human, and enjoys drinking whiskey and smoking tobacco in moderation.

[Saruna]

Heya and welcome to Thar! Please leave a reply to this thread when you're ready to have it looked at so we don't leave you hanging forever.

[Nightshade]

Oh! I'm good to go for a first review. Thanks!

[Niabi]

So I have read over your character and I would like to make a few suggested changes to it. The first and most important one would be removing any references to angels. Now I see where you were trying to go with your character and I am going to suggest that instead of angels you go with something along the lines of 'spirit/creature from the Astral Plane.' You see we don't really allow people to make characters that are angels or demons because in most circumstances people then try to tie in these characters with elements of real world religions and well we want to keep them out of Pal Tahrenor as much as possible. Now I want to clarify that beings of the Astral Plane can be angel or demon-like in appearance and personality with special abilities that they might normally possess the only real difference is that they come from the Astral Plane instead of some heaven or hell or what have you.

The other suggested change I want to make is the inclusion of another weakness. Adrian is a giant, he's strong and intimidating (or he will appear to be with those he towers over), he's intelligent and he's likely to find many allies with those that appease the government of Marn. What i would like to see is something that he struggles with. I want to see some sort of physical/mental or emotional roadblock that stands in his way and he has to repeatedly bash his head against it in an attempt to move forward. I like to think of weaknesses not so much as a way to weaken your character but as possible plot devices that you can use to both get your character into a plot and move them further. I like things that your character must work at and when they finally overcome it, they grow and change from the experience.

[Nightshade]

Thank you so much for your input. I will get back to do a second draft once this bout of illness wanes; sorry to have kept you waiting!