Noct app

[rowdyraven]

« PLAYER INFORMATION »

Name: Kam
Are you over 18?: yes
Contact: PM
Other characters, if any: N/A


« CHARACTER INFORMATION »

Character: Julian Devorak
Canon: The Arcana
Canon point: Book XX, Muriel’s route.
OU or AU?: OU
Age: 35
Species: Human



« RECORD »


Disposition: Julian is an intensely reckless person-- he thinks nothing of flinging himself headlong into danger without considering the consequences of his actions. Most notably, when said recklessness is in pursuit of self-sacrifice for others. He often does these things to protect the people he cares about, not realising that in doing so, he is causing them emotional distress. He often acts on impulse rather than forethought, leading to a variety of precarious situations that hurt both himself and those who love him.

Whilst in some ways this makes him selfless, his underlying motivations can - at times - be quite self-absorbed. He has a tendency to turn his emotions inwards upon himself, believing himself to be unlovable, a disaster waiting to happen, and a poison to those who enter into his orbit. His actions are often a form of self-flagellation and punishment-- he’s a masochist who time and again is demonstrated to take satisfaction from being hurt, and often when he pushes people away ‘for their own good’ or enters into precarious situations for the sake of someone else, it is also to satisfy his own masochistic desires. He’s desperately in love with his own suffering, and this often blinds him to the true needs of the people he professes to be trying to protect. Unfortunately then, he often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy by sabotaging anything good that comes into his life before it can really flourish, giving him further ammunition to use against himself.

This ties in with his needy nature. Whilst on the one hand, his desire to bend over backwards for others is an act of selfelessness, it is also another example of Julian acting on his own self-absorption and a desperate need to be dominated. During his relationship with Asra he often ignores the signs that the magician is less invested than he is, and continuously offers more of himself than the magician actually wants. There is one pivotal scene from his past where Asra is performing a ritual, for example, where Julian tells Asra that he will give him anything – everything - if it will help. Asra responds by telling him he knows he would, but only needs a little of his blood. Julian goes down on his knees and begs Asra to hurt him, to take as much from him as he can. Even when Asra tells Julian he can’t give him everything he wants, Julian responds – not by demonstrating understanding of Asra’s wishes – but by saying he will take whatever he can get. As such, Julian is often too needy and intense for the people around him. He can sometimes end up driving people away, which then feeds back into his self-absorption and self-fulfilling prophecy-- he makes a martyr of himself repeatedly, and when his deep neediness for the satisfaction of his own darker inclinations winds up driving people away, he takes it as proof of his own worthlessness, and the cycle continues.

This being said, Julian is nonetheless shown to be a genuinely kind and caring person. He loves deeply and demonstrates his care for those around him in small – as well as big, and dramatic – ways. His heart is demonstrated again and again to be in the right place, and people tend to be drawn to him. For example, many of the people of Vesuvia are devastated on hearing he’s going to be hanged. When he’s seen interacting with side-characters, it’s often through small demonstrations that he knows what they like, and that he’s taken the time to remember them. He gets things wrong, and frequently fucks up, but he has a lot of ambient love for the people who surround him.

He’s also intelligent and hard-working; he works tirelessly in his attempts to find a cure for the plague, working himself to exhaustion, and whilst this isn’t entirely a selfless effort – given that it gives him satisfaction to throw all of himself into the care of others – it nonetheless demonstrates what a focused and dedicated person he can be. The fact that he manages to go from a shipwrecked orphan to the personal physician of a Count demonstrates his own intense work ethic, his innate intelligence, and ability to go far in life when he chooses to apply himself.

And lastly, he is brave. He is not a fearless man – in fact, a lot of things are demonstrated to frighten him – but often he demonstrates bravery by doing them anyway. He’s been on countless adventures all across the world, sailed with pirates, worked as a medic on battlefields, and when Vesuvia falls into the hands of a corrupted Count Lucio, he remains behind to act as a spy and help the people trapped in the city.

Suitability: In canon, the way you respond in certain situations has a significant impact on both character development and the endings you receive. In this regard, Julian would be interesting to play in a game that presents him with assorted challenges and difficulties. Whilst I’m taking him from outside of his own route, canon nonetheless shows he has the potential to grow as a character, or submit to all his worst tendencies; depending on game events and the nature of the CR he develops he could rise to challenges admirably, or sometimes be plagued with self-doubts and uncertainties. He's the kind of character who can make tough decisions when he needs to, although he doesn't always make the right decisions, and this could lead to some interesting places.

The setting itself is both one he’s suited to and one that would challenge him! Julian has some experience with traversing other planes of existence, encountering supernatural entities such as ghosts and higher beings, and being faced with violence, threats, and disaster. At the canon-point I’m taking him from, the world has been plunged into chaos and upheaval by Lucio choosing to merge with The Devil arcana, and the main characters are still in the grip of a war that has yet to be lost or won. He has taken all of this in stride, is part of the force opposing Devil!Lucio, and has acted as a spy inside the city despite the risks this involves. At the same time however, he has a healthy wariness of the supernatural and magic. Finding himself flung into a strange new world where magic is commonplace and his body is subject to strange alterations, he will no doubt be gripped with a healthy amount of fear. Nonetheless, these are fears he’d work to overcome. He has a strong sense of adventure, and once he’s over the initial shock of being flung into this new world, he’s the kind of character who’d be motivated to learn more about, and engage with, his new surroundings.

Condition upon arrival: Julian will arrive in perfect health; in fact, as the next section will demonstrate, he’s rarely in anything other than perfect physical health. Mentally he’d be entering the game from a fairly solid place; he may be taken from the midst of a war, but it is at a point where he has strong reason to believe his side will win, and he has just spent the night drinking and celebrating with his fellow rebels. He is always friendly and personable with strangers, and will interact with the locals accordingly.

Abilities: Julian is a medical doctor, although his medical knowledge would be considered vastly outdated in Noctium, and he has a tendency to over-rely on leeches as a form of treatment. It is just as well then, that he also has a healing ability gifted to him by The Hanged Man arcana; he can heal other people of their injuries and illnesses by laying hands on them, and then taking their ills onto his own body where they swiftly heal. The healing of others takes a lot out of him however, and if someone were seriously wounded, he’d need to take some time to rest and recover afterwards. In contrast, he is also able to heal from most wounds and illnesses himself, and this recovery costs him nothing. It does have limits though, and he is not invincible (for example, if he sustained an injury that would instantly kill, he’d have no time to recover from it and would die), but it does make him pretty hardy.

He can also hold his own in a fist-fight, can use a sword, and is generally armed with a knife or two, but Julian is a lover not a fighter, and has no interest in causing harm to others if it can be avoided.

Inventory: The clothes on his back, a small knife tucked into his boot, another small knife in his belt, and a small bag of pirate gold.

Gembond: Amethyst.
Gem Location: the base of his throat.


« MISCELLANEOUS »

Sample: sample one, sample two and Noctium TDM sample

Notes: here’s his wiki entry!
in the above samples, both 'alittlesalty' and 'rowdyraven' are my journals, just in case that causes any confusion!