App for Dragon Called

[brand_of_disgrace]

The Basics
Canon: Original
Character Name: Julian (Abel Narayana)
Character Journal: brand_of_disgrace
Player Name: Yuu
Best contact method: email at hoshiroyama@gmail.com or inbox messaging

Character Details
Canon Point: Taken from shortly after forging a Contract with Leo
Species: Human, but specifically a race of humans known as Nendeeni. Essentially, he is a human with some magical prowess and Beast-like attributes. Their people go through a Rite of Passage where they form a Contract with another living being, usually an animal, much like the bonding of dragons that happens on Osaaru. Some of their physical attributes change to match the creature in question, though their elemental and magical abilities come through rigorous training and study.

Timeline of Important Events in Canon History:

Abel Narayana goes through his Rite of Passage and forms a Contract with a dragon-type Kylan (Magical Beast to be Contracted by a Nendeeni tribesmen). These Contracts are lifelong; if a Nendeeni dies, so does their bonded Kylan, and should the Kylan die, a sickness falls upon the Nendeeni. This damaging illness leads to insanity and, in most cases, death. Out of pity and determination, Abel chose to Contract an injured juvenile dragon, rather than the strongest he could find.

Abel leaves his Nendeeni family, including his brother Cain and his cousin Ananta, going off with the nomad Alchemists to hone his magic. The Alchemists were seen as wanderers even amongst the nomadic Nendeeni people, and it's impossible to say who they all are or where they all came from. Here, Abel develops a gift for prophecy, and tells the Alchemists of the king he knows they must protect.

Abel returns to find his people being forcibly integrated with the Etudian people, who believe they are more civilized. He disguises himself as an Etudian and makes sure his Kylan stays out of the city. He is attacked in the city after trying to get in touch with his brother, Cain, and revealing himself as Nendeeni. A brawl is stopped by a young Etudian who steps in to help Abel.

Abel aligns himself with Cedric, the King of Prophecy, an Etudian with the Nendeeni-only ability to use magic and forge Contracts with Kylan. He meets Rowan, a large lion that has been bonded to the king. Each man shows the other unwavering respect and kindness, and they quickly grow to trust one another.

Abel becomes King Cedric's right-hand man, uniting the Etudians and Nendeeni and bringing peace to their world. Abel continues to work on his alchemy and other studies, namely the search for the Emerald Tablet, and through that, the Philosopher's Stone. His studies and dreams have told him repeatedly that for the world of Giliath to stay at peace, the king must hold the throne forever. As such, he seeks immortality, not for himself, but for Cedric Lionpaw.

Abel's brother, Cain, returns from the Nendeeni tribelands to try to convince Abel to use his study and intelligence and knowledge of immortality alongside Cain's own strength and cunning. When Abel refuses, Cain declares him a traitor to his family and his people. He first kills Abel's Kylan, rendering Abel's mind a shattered wreck. Cain then goes on to murder Abel, and then Cedric himself.

The Gods of Balance and Chaos appear at the death of the king of prophecy and grant Abel immortality, at a price; for each time he is resurrected in search for the king's reincarnated self, Abel loses a portion of his memories. This is both to fulfill the prophecy of the king's eternal, peaceful rule, and to curse Cain with the coming of his eventual, inescapable demise.

Abel is reborn for the first time, taking on the name of Belial, and continues his search for the king. He goes through many lives, cycling through the alphabet with the presence of mind that a cycle of 26 names may keep his soon-to-be-destroyed mind vaguely aware of how many times he has been reborn into the same body. Living through wars that change the land, and finding Cedric's reincarnations only to lose him again, and finding Cain only to be killed by him again, and so on, finally being reborn as "Matthias."

Matthias is kept captive by Cain, who has been continuing Abel's studies, but in a dark and necromantic manner. While captive, Matthias witnessed the creation of many golems and homunculi, and had the dark-magic tattoos inflicted upon him that would remain when he is reborn as Julian. These were intended to restrain and control Abel's natural magic, but instead, they react to intense emotion, burning the skin of Abel and his reincarnations, but sometimes lashing out with a magic controlled by no one.

Matthias is killed, and many cycles later, Abel's mind reawakens as Julian. His mind completely spent by so many memories gone, he has severe generalized amnesia, and has trouble focusing. He becomes easily distracted by everyday tasks as his once brilliant mind struggles to grasp onto the fleeting memories of so many lives come and gone.

Julian finds Cedric's most recent reincarnation, a boy named Leo who works at a bar run by Mr. Brutus Sanarkant. Leo is fighting a golem alongside his best friend, Crash, and Leo's element of fire seems useless against it. Julian forges a Contract with Leo, as not to lose Cedric's reincarnation yet again, and the forged Contract make Leo's flames powerful enough to overtake the golem. The Contract has some added abilities, as well; the two are irresistibly drawn to one another, causing discomfort if they are too far apart physically, and giving them the ability to communicate into one another's minds.

Julian's failed memories render him incapable of explaining exactly who he is or why he Contracted Leo, only that he's called Julian and he has been looking for Leo for a long, long time. In order to stay close to his king, Julian begins work as a bartender at Club Wisp, much to Leo's chagrin and Crash's amusement.

Julian begins to accompany Leo on missions to defend Club Wisp's territory or kill stray golems, all the while trying to access his memories, though with far less urgency now that he has found what he was looking for all this time.

Personality:

Julian is driven mostly by his will to serve his king, and use his abilities as an alchemist to do good for the people around him. Whether it be by Abel serving Cedric in the very beginning, or Julian following Leo at the end, or even Abel serving his will to be useful to the Alchemists long before meeting his king, Julian/Abel seeks knowledge, truth, and balance, always wanting to provide fair remedies and discover useful information for the good of his king's people.

Julian’s personality can best be defined as “strange.” He’s bizarrely optimistic and very sociable; he’s also very sensitive and socially awkward. He hides that behind a mischievous mask. He likes to push buttons, but his sense of mischief and play leads the way he teases people. He doesn’t ever intend to hurt someone’s feelings when he picks on them. Julian is endlessly curious and can rarely sit still for too long. When the opportunity comes to him, he is constantly asking questions. However, more often than not, he’ll simply sit and observe. He’s hard-working when it comes to his jobs, but he’s got a casual and laid-back personality; dependable though he is, his tendency to daydream sometimes leads to what might be seen as laziness, but only once his work is done.

Occasionally, Julian might be spotted sitting and sulking, seemingly depressed, but in cases like this he’s usually just grasping for memories and is not actually unhappy. Sensitive though he might be, Julian is not easily depressed or upset, since he takes so much of everything in the most friendly and playful manner. He also has a tendency to be overly trusting, and while he can’t really imagine someone using a verbal attack over a physical one, he’ll never really expect either. Julian’s tone of speech is sometimes sarcastic, and he puts a lot of emphasis on his words. Though socially awkward, he’s also rather charming and charismatic when he knows the situation well. More than anything, he just wants to be comfortable and happy, and never wishes anything less on his companions. However, he feels an echo of grief from his past, and can sometimes be a little too snarky with his responses. He can be prickly when in a bad mood, but has a temper that almost never shows itself. When he does lose his temper, he gets cold and serious, and despite his poor memory he tends to remember all those little things that added up to him getting so angry; it happens so rarely, after all.

When meeting new people, Julian’s first instinct is to make friends. He’ll ask questions that range from “What’s your favourite colour?” to “What do you think dogs would eat if they lived on the moon?” His need to ask endless questions is often seen as annoying or nosy, but others find it endearing, and so far he’s been lucky enough to stumble upon a group of people who really enjoy nothing more than talking about themselves into Julian’s curious ears.

Julian adores animals, and has been known to bring home any that he can find...whether they’re tame or not. Though he eats very little, he’ll go through great lengths to try everything at least once. Technology baffles him and what baffles him can sometimes bore him if it’s well beyond his realm of understanding, but most of the time, he’s interested in everything almost to a fault. Very little annoys him, and he tends to follow new friends around like a lost puppy. Past everything else, his two great obsessions are music and gardening, the latter of which is something that rekindles a sense of nostalgia from a past life. These past lives can sometimes manifest in strange ways, a rekindled memory, a derailed train of thought, or even a subtle personality change as the world around him seems to shift to meet the old memories of a forgotten life. These shifts to the mindsets of Abel or Matthias, or any other of his past selves, happen infrequently, and Julian reclaims control usually after only a few minutes.

To sum up, Julian's lack of memories and inability to retain a train of thought for very long don't inhibit basic curiosity, and so his urge to help people is constantly aided by his discoveries of new ways to do so. He is friendly and playful, if not a bit absentminded. While there is no true evil in his heart, he if also full of the bitterness and dread of so many lives and so many memories lost, and there is a darkness in his heart that he hates to admit exists.

Abilities, Magic and Supernatural Skills/Afflictions:

Immortal in a physical sense. When his body dies, it is reborn, though his mind suffers another blow to his memories.

Herbalism and bar-tending, making him useful as a gardener, apothecary, or ...bartender.

He has the ability to subtly charm or glamour people into telling the truth or lightening up their mood. However, he's can sometimes he very bad at telling if someone is lying or being sarcastic, so this skill is best used when he's with an ally who can use the information Julian pulls out.

Ability to manipulate the basic four elements, though his affinities are first to air, then to water, before earth and fire. His affinity towards wind grants him heightened speed and flexibility, though not strength. He's actually quite fragile.

His tattoos can have reality altering effects, though not to his control. At weakest, they have been known to cause glass to shatter and objects to fall or break. At absolute worst and most draining to Julian's mind, body, and energy, they've been known to un-write someone's existence. This would NOT happen in-game, unless deeply plotted with someone. Julian never does this willingly but it takes such a loss of control and such strong magical stimulation that it simply wouldn't happen without heavy plot influence.

Lack of memories from his past / easily derailed from trains of thought in the present.

On the chance Leo ends up in the same game, their Contract would enhance their powers slightly and let them communicate their thoughts and emotions to one another. However, it is also dangerous for them to be separated by a great distance for too long, and if one dies, the other will either also die, or go insane due to the sickness of a broken Contract until the pact is re-formed.

Dragon & Magical Element

Elemental Alignment:

Wind - Julian already has a strong affinity for air, both because it's his preferred magical element and because of the Contract he'd formed long ago with the dragon Gabriel. However, it also represents his absentmindedness, his rare but dangerous bursts of uncertain temper, and his flexibility and calm towards change and nature.
Shadow - As one of the immortals granted long life by the God of Balance, Julian has a little too much bitterness and darkness in his heart. Back before the memory loss, Abel mostly used it to stick to the shadows, silent and unseen, when the racism of the Etudians towards the Nendeeni made it dangerous for him to navigate the city before meeting Cedric. Despite Julian's fear of the literal dark, he and his brother both had an affinity towards shadow magic. The difference is that now, Julian would find a way to use it in a way that was not inherently evil.
Water - He is heavily inspired by rain, as it tempers his foul moods and is a stark contrast to his partner's affinity towards fire. As a bartender and an herbalist both, he needs water both in his mundane life and in his magical one.

Dragon:

Julian's dragon is a standard-sized beast, the size of a large horse, comparatively. It has four wings, two large ones on the creature's back along either side of its spine, and two smaller ones edged out from the base of the larger ones; these smaller wings act almost as rudders, quickly adjusting the dragon's flight patterns as a small bird's flight feathers would do. The wings have a soft, buttery leather texture, slick and water-repellent, and the scales are so small they are nearly invisible. The wings themselves are durable, but thin. Though general flight or flight in a storm or heavy winds would not damage the flexible skin, most weapons would cut through.

As the skin joins in with the heavier structure of the wings, and especially as the scales continue down the dragon's body, they get broader. The body scales have the appearance of the sharp scales of a viper, but they are relatively smooth to the touch. However, the scales on the dragon's long tail are in fact keeled as a snake's might be. When agitated, the tail curls, and is prone to the stridulation effect shown by many snakes or insects; that is, it will produce a scraping, sizzling noise as the scales shift and slide off of one another. The tail is also tipped much like a rattle-less snake's. It has no barbs or tufts to speak of, and despite the threatening noises it may let out, it is only as dangerous as that of a heavily muscled and well-armored limb.

The dragon's neck is thick and long, curving up when grounded. Unlike the spikes on its spine, which are blunt and low to its body like armor, it has long spikes on the back of its neck. These can be moved flexibly, low against its neck while in flight, but prickled outwards in a dangerous situation on the ground. If it were to bow its head in a fight, these spines would protect the back of its neck from an attack. Unfortunately, this also means that anyone riding it, especially in flight, might be in danger if it were to pull its head up with spines erect.

The scales range from the gray of gunmetal to pure black based on what part of the dragon is visible. While most of the creature is simply black, the scales around its lower jaw, its belly, the insides of its four legs, and especially the soft and delicate scales of the wing membranes are the colour of gunmetal. Its claws are the same metallic silver, and it possesses four toes at the end of each leg, three that jut outward and one that points more inward, like those of an eagle. In stark contrast to the storm-cloud appearance, the dragon has two eyes with irises that are molten gold. The pupils are catlike, dilated when agitated or excited, and slitted when relaxed. It has no visible ears, but a sensory organ hidden beneath the scales beneath its horns. It has two long horns like that of an antelope, curved outward, then sharply inward again, with two smaller horns in between. These are black, like most of the dragon's body. The face is not flat or wide, but slightly elongated, with very visible nostrils and white teeth like those of a jaguar's, rather than a snake's or a dinosaur's.

The dragon's egg is mostly jet-black, but with splotches of metallic grey. About the size of a goose egg, it honestly resembles a too-smooth and too-shiny piece of snowflake obsidian. There is what appears to be a large crack running up the side of the egg, but it is far more likely to be a streak of silver than any actual damage to the egg. It will take almost an entire week for the egg to hatch. When the unnamed and unsexed dragon hatches, it will be the size of a newborn kitten.

Personality traits inherited from Character Bond:

Absentminded when it comes to frivolous things

Unwavering loyalty, and moreover, obedience, to those who have earned its trust and respect

A temper that takes ages to build but is disastrous when unleashed

Ridiculous levels of curiosity to the point of "how are you still alive"

Writing Samples
First Sample: Test Drive Sample
Second Sample:

Though the echoes and proddings of old memories trying to make themselves known tended to make Julian's head rather crowded, the new feeling that had manifested was beginning to bother him. Sure, the music that he heard in all things alive, the cacophony of all things dark, that was normal. The static that started to fill his mind when he couldn't find the king? That was fairly normal too. He was used to his head being crowded, and it did little to help his poor focusing skills. This was different. This was like a bell, chiming through a musical piece he'd been long familiar with. Something new. Something that belonged, but had never been there before.

He could practically hear Leo's voice in his mind, screaming at him for being an idiot with no self-preservation instincts. He ignored it as he crept deeper into the cavern. The place ached with history, with music. It seemed full of voices, even though he knew that it was dead silent. Every voice was a note, a chord, a new instrument in a symphony that seemed to reach a crescendo as Julian stepped out from behind another corner. In the dark, his pupils were heavily dilated, the black washing out the golden irises. He almost wanted to hum to the sounds he was sure were only in his head, but it didn't feel right, especially when his gaze fell on a stone that did not quite match the rest of the cavern. Placed in a circle of small, simple gray rocks was a larger one, a perfect, smooth, egg-shaped...

"Egg-shaped," Julian muttered to no one. This felt familiar. He approached it carefully, though even as he did so, he sensed that nothing bad could happen here. "The seat of the world?" he asked, again, to no one in particular. But this wasn't that place, either. Pale fingers with fingernails painted like tar touched the small stone, which was black as onyx, black as jet, black as Julian's hair. As he tilted his head to look closer, he realized it was spattered with grey and white, snowflake obsidian, with one long streak of white spiderwebbing around the edge like a crack.

A crack. Wait. Julian took the egg - because now he realized, and how could he have not? - in his hands, feeling the breath of life against his palm, the heat, the gentle pulsing. A dark delight flittered through his heart, even as elation filled his mind, the thin rings of gold around his pupils now almost glowing. The crack on the side of the egg was just part of its pattern, he realized now, and yet it was truly cracking in other places. A chip fell away, and a tiny claw emerged, gripping, breaking more of the egg inward. A tail, heavily scaled but so thin and small, split part of the egg open, and in mere moments, it seemed, there was a dragon as black as the egg it had hatched from, sitting in Julian's palm. He stroked pieces of the inner membrane away from its wings, awestruck. The creature was no bigger than a newborn kitten, and yet, there was the voice, the music that had swelled and now fallen to rest, melding with Julian's own, as though they were part of each other.

This felt right. Leaving the shattered egg and the empty ring of rocks, Julian turned to leave the cavern, singing quietly to the newborn creature, which looked up at him with eyes as golden as his own.