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- Messages
- 958
- Age
- 26
- Pronouns
- he/him
Othen De Burr
ALIASES
Fury, BolverkAGE
Twenty-oneGENDER
Masculine / AndrogynousSEXUALITY
PansexualSPECIES
Human, of the Aesir TribeORIGIN
Amnesiac Curse, ExileOCCUPATION
Traveler, Student, RogueROLE
Trickster, Revealer, Misfortunemore information +
⠀
the self
⠀
Othen is a bit of a blank slate, which is not necessarily a good thing. He is ruthless and conniving, even when those attitudes would best be put aside. Quick to anger and to hold a grudge, Othen is simultaneously well-adapted into hiding his feelings and emotions, to the extent where sometimes even he doesn't know what is real and what is an act for himself. He does have a strong sense of justice however, and his cruelty is never without cause (real or imagined). He enjoys sharing drink and conversation, and spreading the plunder and fame to those who he likes and trusts. He is not above begging, stealing, cheating, or lying, and broadly doesn't think that anyone else should be either. Othen is fearsomely protective of the things he considers his own, whether people or property, and often regardless of the immediate consequences. Othen is a firm believer in reciprocity and hospitality, although his myopic worldview can sometimes contradict this noble stance. He values a good story and the creation of glory above all other things.
ALIGNMENT:
Neutral EvilLOVES:
Long walks, writing and calligraphy, poetry and storytelling, drinking mead, apples, warfare, magic, knowledge, lying and deception.HATES:
Large people (whether fat or muscular), disrespect, ignorance, swearing or "needlessly" adhering to oaths, prophecies and fortune tellers, being lied to or deceived.GOALS:
Learn all the secrets of the world, become powerful and wealthy, find a family to call his own, recover his memories.FEARS:
Nightmares, strangulation, being stabbed, eye injuries, snakes, wolves, losing control, becoming insane. ⠀
the body
⠀
HEIGHT:
5' 09"HAIR COLOR / STYLE:
Brown-grey, long and well-kept, often braided.EYES:
Orange/Gold—firelight reflected by a wedding band, a midsummer sun setting over a frozen ocean.SKIN TONE:
Pale, almost sallow, soft and easily reddened.PHYSIQUE:
Somewhere between "lithe" and "sinewy". Light weight, minimal body fat. Not very athletic.APPARENT AGE:
18-19, looks on the younger side with a "babyface" but still carries a clear adult maturity.VOICE:
Youthful, very changeable—clear, bright, and high when in public, low and soft, almost sultry when in private. Capable of mimicking many types of person and styles of speech. Has a "northern" (Scottish) accent by default.ATTIRE //
Simple hooded traveling clothes, ideally made for cold weather and with only a few colors at most (preferring golden and black or grey). Has a fondness for hats, but currently lacks one of his own.MODIFICATIONS //
Pierced ears, currently sans earrings.SCARS / MARKINGS //
Fetter-cuts on his wrists and whip lacerations on his lower back from a recent visit to the local prison. Mysterious healed scars around his neck and in the center of his chest.⠀
the power
⠀
Othen's abilities seem to be natural, for lack of a better explanation: if there ever was a time where he was trained in the arcane and deceitful arts, it simply belongs to the long laundry list of things Othen has forgotten.
-Healing minor wounds and stabilizing serious injuries,
-Communicating hidden messages comprehensible only to those Othen wishes,
-Making random suggestions when Othen is at a loss, in the manner of a coin-toss or magic eight-ball.
The runes are powered by Othen's mind—that is, they require some part of Othen's mind to be on them: if he has too many different runes going at once, or is faced with too powerful a contravening force on a rune, or otherwise can't focus, then they can be rendered ineffective. The runes can be physically scratched out or erased, or as mentioned above can be counter-spelled or have Othen made to lose track of them.
He also has a familiar, a raven named Huginn, or Thought: Othen can call the raven from a distance and speak with her, allowing her to scout and do simple tasks for him.
ABILITIES //
Othen is a skilled talker, able to use all sorts of oratory tools to achieve his ends. He is also a talented, if unprincipled liar, always ready and willing to concoct an advantageous story. He seems to have a naturally good sense of direction, rarely getting lost in the sense of not knowing where he is (figuring out what to do while he's there is another matter entirely). He is a quick learner and eager pupil, always ready to absorb some new information and put it to the test. Othen also has a reasonable ability in sneaking about, having learned how to hide the hard way and quickly.SPELLS //
Othen can draw or etch magical runes into things to perform a variety of tasks, including:-Healing minor wounds and stabilizing serious injuries,
-Communicating hidden messages comprehensible only to those Othen wishes,
-Making random suggestions when Othen is at a loss, in the manner of a coin-toss or magic eight-ball.
The runes are powered by Othen's mind—that is, they require some part of Othen's mind to be on them: if he has too many different runes going at once, or is faced with too powerful a contravening force on a rune, or otherwise can't focus, then they can be rendered ineffective. The runes can be physically scratched out or erased, or as mentioned above can be counter-spelled or have Othen made to lose track of them.
He also has a familiar, a raven named Huginn, or Thought: Othen can call the raven from a distance and speak with her, allowing her to scout and do simple tasks for him.
GEAR //
He possesses a wooden staff or walking-stick, carved from ash wood. It appears to be utterly mundane, aside from the uncanny ease with which Othen can swing it around and use it to trace runes.⠀
the story
⠀
Othen was born healthy and happy, growing up to be a promising young man. His father was the famous skald Burr, whose bright verses on the high mountains of his homeland thrilled every heart and raised every tankard: his mother was the shieldmaiden Bestla, a fierce warrior of the Aesir who was known for stripping trees of their bark in record time. Despite her renown and prowess, Bestla had a distaste for war, and so at her insistence Othen was instead raised on the path of his father instead. Worldly wisdom was his breakfast, stories and legends were his supper, and from the moment he could walk and talk Othen devoured it all voraciously. He also developed a habit, which later became a mastered craft, of lying: using words and deceit, he would draw the enemies of his family and people to their doom. A few detested him for this, but most simply shrugged it off: some use sharp steep to draw blood, Othen used sharp words. Same difference.
One dark night, a mysterious figure arrived: one eyed, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, the old man requested food and a fire, and the Aesir adhered to the laws of hospitality and provided. In exchange, the old man provided his hosts with stories. The stories were dark, even by the very dark standards of the icebound and warlike Aesir tribe. They were unlike anything Othen had ever heard, and they enraptured him. The night wore on, and eventually the two were left alone: it was then that the old man revealed deeper, more esoteric tales: legends of visions, of knowledge and understanding hidden even from the dead and the divine. The man told Othen what could be known, how he could know it, and then the old guest disappeared, vanishing into the night as though he was never there.
Spurred by the promise of this hidden knowledge, lusting after wisdom and acclaim, driven to utter madness, Othen was provoked to commit an unforgivable sacrilege. Binding himself with a noose to a sacred tree, Othen plunged a spear stolen from a nearby tomb into his own chest. By sacrificing himself to himself, Othen meant to "trick the universe" and gain knowledge and wisdom beyond the runes: understanding and mastery of life, death, and every realm eyes could see and hands could grasp. Before the grim ritual was completed, however, he was discovered in the act by others in his tribe. They cut him loose, treated his stab wound (which, by dumb luck, managed to miss any major arteries or organs), and imprisoned him to deliberate his fate while he healed.
It was quickly decided that Othen was no longer welcome, either in the presence or in the memory of their tribe. However, they were queasy about the idea of executing him, as any ritualized murder might just be the last little bit Othen needed to fully break the shackles of nature. Though they did not realize it, this was incorrect: the ritual had failed completely, and Othen was left completely mortal, having only gleaned the knowledge of runes from this act. Regardless, they settled on a second option. They sacrificed one of his two raven familiars, Muninn, also called Memory (Huginn aka Thought managed to escape), and drained her blood to create a potion. Then, they forced it down Othen's throat, and the cursed brew scoured his memory clean. He forgot his friends, his family, his loves, his old allegiances, all the stories and legends he once knew, everything that made Othen who he was. By this artifice, they hoped to eliminate the knowledge of runes and strip his magical power as well, looking to reduce Othen to little more than a mindless thrall to whoever was unlucky enough to own the shore they intended to dump him on. Perhaps he would find a comfortable life in the employ of some foreign lord: perhaps he would be eaten by wolves. Either way suited the angered Aesir tribe just fine. They hired a band of braves to send Othen as far away as they could possibly imagine: the red sands of Khare.
If their goal was to neutralize Othen, however, they failed. While much was lost and Othen was successfully exiled and purged of all recognition of his old life, the young man's magical runic power remained, seared into his soul in a way that neither man nor spirit could remove, giving the "blank slate" Othen a handrail and important tool as he entered a new world.
As far as Othen knows, he woke up one morning the way he was, lying face-down in the sands where the River Khare meets the western ocean. Lost and utterly confused, with only a single raven as his friend (how did he know that this Huginn was his friend...?), Othen torturously managed to talk his way through the shipping traffic, doing odd jobs and menial labor as he went to earn his bread. Just as the waters are drawn to the sea, Othen followed this human tide into the great city of Khare, making plenty of acquaintances but no friends. Trying to live as an itinerant student (Khare hosts many institutions of learning, both open and occult) was hard going, especially at first. However, warm and wealthy and fat as it is, Khare was the perfect place for a naturally clever and amoral individual such as Othen to carve out a fresh start.
At least, it was, until in a moment of inattention Othen was caught trying to separate a dandy from his purse. Unfortunately, that particular dandy was a cousin of a city councilor, so despite Othen apologizing and returning the stolen goods, he would not be getting out of it so easily. Locked in the dungeons for a week and given fifteen lashes on his way out, Othen has now just been tossed back out on the street with his few possessions, ready but not eager to start a new adventure...
INVENTORY //
Aside from the aforementioned staff of ash wood, Othen only carries his raven Huginn and the clothes on his back.
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