- [ app ] -
Player Information
Name: Dapper.
Age: 23.
Contact Info: [plurk] /![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rusticolus.
Other Characters: Vasquez,24karat.
Character Information
Name: Wight.
Canon: Original.
Age: Approximately eleven years.
Gender: Agender. Uses masculine or neutral pronouns.
Inventory:
- 36 marigold blossoms, affixed to his various points on his neck, shoulders, and skull
- A medium-sized leather satchel, containing basic gardening tools (trowel, hand rake, pruning shears) + 2 jars of various wildflower seeds, 1 jar of marigold seeds. Both are labeled with rough handwriting on the corks.
There are two pots strapped to the side of his bag each containing a succulent as follows:
- 1 pencil cactus, roughly four inches tall, contained within a somewhat lumpy pot
- 1 potted crassula cluster, mildly concerning in appearance
World Description: [ World info post! ]
Background:
The revenant designated Sekhra-17 was created during one of the final border conflicts of the Winter War, assigned to the 6th Longrider Cavalry along with a small complement of combat constructs in order to strengthen their position. The Cavalry, tasked with the defense of Ne'halle's mobile artillery platforms was generally considered one of the 'easy' postings; the longriders were never close enough to the front lines to be caught in the crossfire, and their position maintaining a chokehold on one of the mountain passes made them even harder to attack. This safety allowed for a far more relaxed social environment, and the captain in charge was far from a stickler about rules and regulations-- the fact that a fair number of the soldiers were from noble families who had ensured they'd be put in the least danger possible meant that most were hardly worthy of being called troops anyway, and their commanding officer was more of an engineer than a drill sergeant. The captain was a sociable man, however, and given Sekhra-17's leadership position over their undead support, deemed it prudent that they be on good terms. From their interactions, he first began to develop as a person instead of simply a tool-- aside from learning how to strategize and command his own troops, he started to gain the base of his own identity, albeit slowly. The captain was his first real friend, and through him, Sekhra-17 was able to begin forging similar bonds with the rest of the troop.
The unit dubbed him Wight after a short period of testing nicknames, and in their company, he was given the opportunity to establish his own personality. He was even encouraged to do so, in spite of his confusion and initial reluctance; they preferred having a new face to talk to, although this freedom was kept hidden from their superiors further up the chain of command. Wight became a sort of project for the entire unit to work on, and he could often be found sitting amidst a group of soldiers learning whatever he could from them, be it useful or otherwise. The environment was not only conducive to putting the men at ease-- the Cavalry spent most of their time training and maintaining the artillery platforms, and Wight had the opportunity to ease into his duties with minimal difficulty.
Wight's first experience with combat came roughly half a year after being stationed on the platforms. The opposing Sentian force had devised a plan to redraw the front lines in an effort to uproot the longrider emplacements-- at the cost of temporarily losing ground, their gambit succeeded, and the Cavalry was forced, amidst much groaning, to leave their position in order to continue shelling the enemy. A smaller unit of Sentian troops staged an ambush for the Cavalry, intending to take advantage of their vulnerability in order to eliminate one of the largest threats on the battlefield; without the longriders providing covering fire, the Ne'halite position was considerably weaker, and the Sentians could move freely and take full advantage of their familiarity with the terrain.
In the grand scheme of things, this border conflict was far from important. The Winter War had been ongoing for over fifty years, and Ne'halle had begun to push Sentia back a decade prior to this particular engagement-- to Wight and the Cavalry, it was a wakeup call. The ambush succeeded, triggering a landslide to trap them and by the end of the fight, a good third of the Cavalry had either been killed or heavily injured, including their captain-- to add insult to injury, they'd lost one of the longriders, the platform having been the first casualty of the landslide. On paper, the Ne'halite forces were victorious, although not so much in practice. Morale had flatlined, and with the looming uncertainty of a new commanding officer on the horizon, the remaining men were left bracing themselves for the worst.
While Wight had no practical authority over the living troops, he stepped up in the meantime, working with the interim CO to try and keep the Cavalry stable-- the two of them weren't incredibly skilled at it, but they succeeded all the same, through some stroke of sheer luck.
This recovery period was where Wight began to put himself more toward helping others than simply doing his job. Over time, his cheerfulness was equated (rightfully so) with his confidence-- it became something of a comfort to the troops, and the unit began to rely on him for support. What had started out as a brave face became important to more than just him, and Wight was more than happy to oblige them the comfort however possible. By the time the wounded had recovered enough to return to active duty, Wight had become more than just a mascot to the Cavalry; he'd well and truly found his footing, and had earned himself a place as part of the 'family' as a result. For the time being, he was allowed to do as he wished, and he used his time to do what he could to aid his allies while he had the opportunity.
The Cavalry's next captain arrived with a detachment of new men and a replacement longrider, and it took all of two days for the first problem to arise. Their new commander was by no means as relaxed as their last, and he was far less tolerant of Wight's freedom; this quickly put him at odds with the more close-knit members of the unit, but after the first few shouting matches between him and Wight, it shifted from quiet displeasure to a more outright anger. In spite of this, there wasn't much, if anything, to be done about it-- they'd expected this sort of shift, but it didn't make it any easier to swallow. They'd taken a weapon and had made it into a person, although the number of people who would honestly acknowledge Wight as such was slim. He'd been created to be expendable, and this fact, coupled with the views on constructs as a whole, kept him far lower in status than the original men of his unit had grown to think of him.
For the next few years, Wight kept his head down, largely restricting his social activity when not in private spaces. He did his best to minimize contact with the captain wherever possible, and outside of what was required of him, he was rarely ever seen anywhere near his 'fellow' officer. Over time, the Ne'halite lines had worn away at their opposition, and strategic focus had shifted from defense to offense-- with new battle plans in order, the Cavalry found itself closer to the front lines than it had ever been, and the next wave of assault began.
This push into Sentian territory resulted in more and more direct combat, and Wight did his best to secure the safety of his unit. His own troop of constructs suffered heavy, although easily replaceable, losses, and Wight himself sustained a fair amount of damage; in spite of this, the Cavalry was never overtaken, and they survived the last leg of the conflict with only minor casualties.
The unit as a whole received commendations, and their reputation began to shift away from its less-than-glowing image. Under their new captain, despite the tensions still present, the Cavalry was reformed into a respectable unit, and it was through their newly-exemplary service that they earned a week of leave in Kara, Ne'halle's capitol city. Wight spent his week enamored by the city's florist's shops, sinking far more of his time into window shopping than he'd initially planned; one of his friends got him a small bouquet of marigolds to sate his curiosity, and he was instantly captivated by them. He'd never had much of an opportunity to see greenery up close, and the idea of helping something to grow instead of destroying it captivated him. Before they left the capital, he managed to get his hands on an old book of gardening tips-- although it would be many years later until he'd be able to try any of them out, he read and reread the book until it was just about falling apart, keeping it a quiet obsession that he promised himself he'd indulge...eventually. The idea of peacetime was simply a myth, and while he couldn't imagine what it would be like, his imagination worked quickly to idealize it into a world of gardens and warmer weather.
In actuality, however, peacetime was hardly that.
The end of the Winter War comes suddenly, taking both sides by surprise-- the Sentian grand commandant arrived unannounced to the camp of Ne'halle's high marshal, bearing terms of surrender direct from the king. The enemy's war machine had ground to a halt, cut off from the resources it needed to continue by Ne'halle and her allies; the last five years had become a war of attrition, and Sentia was no longer able to keep fighting while her soldiers were starving. The terms were accepted, but the empress was far from merciful-- Ne'halle overtook Sentia completely, occupying the country under guise of aiding in 'reconstruction and relief,' and from there, it fell under her iron grip.
Now freed from duty, the soldiers were allowed to return to their homes, some for the first time in years-- the combat constructs quietly vanish, recalled to Kara to be stowed away in case of a resurgent conflict. As for the revenants, they pose a particular problem; intelligent enough to be their own people, but still bound by laws magically forged into their very existence, what was to be done with them? Enough of an argument was successfully made to allow for the more well-adjusted revenants to enter into society, although the transition was far from easy. Weapons of war are not commonly seen roaming the streets, and unrest began to brew behind closed doors-- the handful of free revenants are relatively safe, given their size and abilities, but most are left to find their own way in the world, with little government assistance offered. Wight, by virtue of his compatriots in high places, was one of those permitted to operate outside of military control as a half-citizen-- for a few months, he finds himself living in Kara with a few of the men from the Cavalry, still at a loss for what to do next. Peacetime caught them all unaware, and with the length of the Winter War, most had hardly dared to dream of it-- few plans had been made, and the momentum that had carried Ne'halle through the last battles evaporates.
But living in Kara isn't quite what he'd hoped-- it doesn't feel like home to him, and there's only so much he can learn about it before he paints himself into a corner. His decision to leave and see the world for himself comes abruptly, almost impulsively; all the same, it's his first real choice for himself instead of on someone else's behalf, and he's intent on seeing it through. What does he have to lose, anyway?
Canon Point: Eight months after the conquest of Sentia.
Personality:
Curious and inquisitive, Wight has a lot of questions to ask about the world now that he's been allowed to roam it freely. Due to the nature of his creation and existence prior to the end of his service, he didn't have the opportunity to investigate what he wanted to, and now intends to take full advantage of his situation. He's experienced very little of his surroundings outside of warzones, and he faces each new challenge and obstacle as a learning experience that can only help him in the end, even if it seems unpleasant at the time. He's incredibly optimistic, and sees the best in people almost to the point of folly-- what he's learned of human nature has been fundamentally shaped by war and its stresses, and he wants to believe that people are better when they're not stuck in such an awful situation. As such, he's trusting to a fault, and can easily be deceived or taken advantage of; he's as oblivious to red flags as he is most things, and will simply continue to act in good faith until he gets burned for it.
Wight's sense of self is a bit...tenuous. His identity as a free being is still quite new, and he's working on learning the ins and outs of how to exist as his own person. He's enthusiastic about the process, but that doesn't quite give him everything he needs to grow into his own; in particular, he has trouble detaching himself from thinking of everything in the context of the war. He's doing his best to break himself of the habit, but it's difficult, largely on account of the fact that he's never known peacetime. Still, it has its uses-- more often than not, he's forgetful when it comes to the finer details of things or even what he did the previous few days, although he's learned to work around this fault by giving himself 'missions', citing the relevant information as mission critical to make sure it doesn't slip through the cracks. It's not the most foolproof strategy, but it works enough to where he'll almost swear by it.
He's certainly not the worst at keeping morale up, and makes a point to ensure that his companions are doing as well as they possibly can be. Wight is known for being cheerful and peppy, and he's learned to try and motivate the same in others. This, coupled with how excitable he is, does mean that he can be grating-- not everyone meshes well with his particular brand of encouragement, but he often doesn't quite understand why. He's not the brightest bulb in the box, especially when it's a matter of social cues and etiquette-- his sense of boundaries, for example, is wildly different than most people's, with much more of a focus on physical contact. Wight is without a doubt a tactile person, relying largely on body language and gestures to communicate the finer points of his feelings; after all, a skull isn't really the most expressive thing there is.
Wight operates at a fairly high level of energy, and can easily be overwhelming. He can sometimes steamroll his way through conversations and activities, and is still learning how to moderate the amount of zeal he puts into things. As it stands, he's gotten to the point to where not everything requires one hundred percent energy all the time, but a lot of it still gets around eighty-five. He wants to experience it all to the fullest extent, and he doesn't see a better way to do it than to throw himself into whatever happens next.
While he has a tendency to follow orders and adhere to any chain of command there is, now that the pressure of war's been removed, Wight has acknowledged that he's finally got options. He's given himself enough wiggle room to allow for the questioning of commands and even outright ignoring them, should they clash enough with his own desires or goals-- slowly but surely, he's getting the feel for more independent action, and he's finding that he's quite fond of the idea. Personal autonomy is extremely important to him these days, but he's got the sense to stay quiet about it for fear of causing himself more problems in his homeworld. The general public is already unnerved by the presence of his kind, and giving them any more reason to panic is enough of an obvious bad idea to where even Wight understands.
Although he has the option to shirk orders, there are a few rules hard-coded into him that he cannot ignore. Wight is required to protect his human allies to the fullest extent of his ability, even at the risk of extreme injury or the potential cost of his life-- for all his personality, he was created to be a weapon of war, and ensuring that less replaceable units survive is the very purpose he was made for. He's aware of these compulsions, but he chooses to keep them under wraps in order to prevent their exploit.
He tries his best to be pleasant and genial just about all the time, but his easygoing nature does have its limits. It's easy for him to fall back into a sort of martial cadence, switching to combat mode in high-stress situations in order to better deal with what he's about to face. Wight would prefer to avoid conflict wherever possible, as he'll repeatedly insist in the minutes before it becomes unavoidable, and he'll do his best to talk it out if there's even the slightest chance of success-- if not, he has no other option but to end things as quickly as he can. He responds to threats hard and fast, and has been known to be more than a little harsh; he'll invariably regret it later, although it does a good job of ensuring the problem won't come back in the future. Now that he's not in a near-constant state of fighting, he wants to ensure that he can stay that way; he's absolutely not fond of responding with violence, as he's concerned that it will just restart the cycle of 'kill or be killed' he was stuck in, but he does acknowledge that it's unavoidable at times.
He's far more likely to act in the defense of others than he is for his own sake, even if there's considerable danger involved. Wight is protective of just about everyone he meets, and while his loyalty isn't all that hard to win, his dedication ensures that he'll be by your side for as long as he's able to stand. He's relentless and outright vicious in the protection of his allies; whether that's revenant code or his own personality at work is anyone's guess, but he's made no attempts to curb it all the same. Those that have honestly earned his friendship can count on him to be ready at a moment's notice to help them with whatever they need, from the most mundane activity to something almost fatal; he can think of no better way to show his appreciation for the people that let him into their lives than this.
Flavor Abilities:
- His eye sockets and mouth are filled with a black vapor. When angered or agitated, it tends to spill out in force, often streaming behind him-- when dead, the vapor dissipates.
- The red spots on his neck and hips are bioluminescent, and glow continually as long as he's alive. He can't turn them off, as they're basically built-in status indicators.
- He can make flowers and other plants stick to him with a tiny bit of energy exchange. While it does make the plants last a little longer than normal, they'll still wither and die after a while.
- Wight's blood moves extremely slowly, and it's more or less a black tar-like substance. His healing factor isn't out of the ordinary, but it does take him a good long time to bleed out if his injury doesn't clot first.
Suitability:
Wight has been in multiple life-or-death situations with awful consequences, but the horrors Norfinbury can provide are out of his league. What he saw during the Winter War is still a few levels below what the town's capable of at worst, although there's enough similarities to make it easy for him to adjust. He's handled monsters like the anomalies before, and can even relate to them in a way-- having to learn that the monsters are not, in fact, friends will be a little difficult, though. Once he's figured out what he should expect, he'll find the best way possible to deal with it; after that learning period's over, he'll throw himself into doing whatever possible to help others survive. He'll try just as hard to make sure people are as okay as they can be in more than just a physical sense, citing the importance of morale and teambuilding as plenty of reasons to do so. Being put in a place like Norfinbury is only going to make him want to help more in order to get everyone else out alive, even if his methods are better suited to a warzone. Crisis management isn't his specialty, but he's pretty sure he can get the hang of it with some practice.
Suddenly having to eat is going to be a problem for him, though. On one hand, it's something living people do, and that's awesome! On the other...he can die on account of it, and that's less cool. The novelty's going to wear off fast.
RP Samples: [ Test drive 1 ] / [ Test drive 2! ]
Name: Dapper.
Age: 23.
Contact Info: [plurk] /
rusticolus.Other Characters: Vasquez,
24karat.Character Information
Name: Wight.
Canon: Original.
Age: Approximately eleven years.
Gender: Agender. Uses masculine or neutral pronouns.
Inventory:
- 36 marigold blossoms, affixed to his various points on his neck, shoulders, and skull
- A medium-sized leather satchel, containing basic gardening tools (trowel, hand rake, pruning shears) + 2 jars of various wildflower seeds, 1 jar of marigold seeds. Both are labeled with rough handwriting on the corks.
There are two pots strapped to the side of his bag each containing a succulent as follows:
- 1 pencil cactus, roughly four inches tall, contained within a somewhat lumpy pot
- 1 potted crassula cluster, mildly concerning in appearance
World Description: [ World info post! ]
Background:
The revenant designated Sekhra-17 was created during one of the final border conflicts of the Winter War, assigned to the 6th Longrider Cavalry along with a small complement of combat constructs in order to strengthen their position. The Cavalry, tasked with the defense of Ne'halle's mobile artillery platforms was generally considered one of the 'easy' postings; the longriders were never close enough to the front lines to be caught in the crossfire, and their position maintaining a chokehold on one of the mountain passes made them even harder to attack. This safety allowed for a far more relaxed social environment, and the captain in charge was far from a stickler about rules and regulations-- the fact that a fair number of the soldiers were from noble families who had ensured they'd be put in the least danger possible meant that most were hardly worthy of being called troops anyway, and their commanding officer was more of an engineer than a drill sergeant. The captain was a sociable man, however, and given Sekhra-17's leadership position over their undead support, deemed it prudent that they be on good terms. From their interactions, he first began to develop as a person instead of simply a tool-- aside from learning how to strategize and command his own troops, he started to gain the base of his own identity, albeit slowly. The captain was his first real friend, and through him, Sekhra-17 was able to begin forging similar bonds with the rest of the troop.
The unit dubbed him Wight after a short period of testing nicknames, and in their company, he was given the opportunity to establish his own personality. He was even encouraged to do so, in spite of his confusion and initial reluctance; they preferred having a new face to talk to, although this freedom was kept hidden from their superiors further up the chain of command. Wight became a sort of project for the entire unit to work on, and he could often be found sitting amidst a group of soldiers learning whatever he could from them, be it useful or otherwise. The environment was not only conducive to putting the men at ease-- the Cavalry spent most of their time training and maintaining the artillery platforms, and Wight had the opportunity to ease into his duties with minimal difficulty.
Wight's first experience with combat came roughly half a year after being stationed on the platforms. The opposing Sentian force had devised a plan to redraw the front lines in an effort to uproot the longrider emplacements-- at the cost of temporarily losing ground, their gambit succeeded, and the Cavalry was forced, amidst much groaning, to leave their position in order to continue shelling the enemy. A smaller unit of Sentian troops staged an ambush for the Cavalry, intending to take advantage of their vulnerability in order to eliminate one of the largest threats on the battlefield; without the longriders providing covering fire, the Ne'halite position was considerably weaker, and the Sentians could move freely and take full advantage of their familiarity with the terrain.
In the grand scheme of things, this border conflict was far from important. The Winter War had been ongoing for over fifty years, and Ne'halle had begun to push Sentia back a decade prior to this particular engagement-- to Wight and the Cavalry, it was a wakeup call. The ambush succeeded, triggering a landslide to trap them and by the end of the fight, a good third of the Cavalry had either been killed or heavily injured, including their captain-- to add insult to injury, they'd lost one of the longriders, the platform having been the first casualty of the landslide. On paper, the Ne'halite forces were victorious, although not so much in practice. Morale had flatlined, and with the looming uncertainty of a new commanding officer on the horizon, the remaining men were left bracing themselves for the worst.
While Wight had no practical authority over the living troops, he stepped up in the meantime, working with the interim CO to try and keep the Cavalry stable-- the two of them weren't incredibly skilled at it, but they succeeded all the same, through some stroke of sheer luck.
This recovery period was where Wight began to put himself more toward helping others than simply doing his job. Over time, his cheerfulness was equated (rightfully so) with his confidence-- it became something of a comfort to the troops, and the unit began to rely on him for support. What had started out as a brave face became important to more than just him, and Wight was more than happy to oblige them the comfort however possible. By the time the wounded had recovered enough to return to active duty, Wight had become more than just a mascot to the Cavalry; he'd well and truly found his footing, and had earned himself a place as part of the 'family' as a result. For the time being, he was allowed to do as he wished, and he used his time to do what he could to aid his allies while he had the opportunity.
The Cavalry's next captain arrived with a detachment of new men and a replacement longrider, and it took all of two days for the first problem to arise. Their new commander was by no means as relaxed as their last, and he was far less tolerant of Wight's freedom; this quickly put him at odds with the more close-knit members of the unit, but after the first few shouting matches between him and Wight, it shifted from quiet displeasure to a more outright anger. In spite of this, there wasn't much, if anything, to be done about it-- they'd expected this sort of shift, but it didn't make it any easier to swallow. They'd taken a weapon and had made it into a person, although the number of people who would honestly acknowledge Wight as such was slim. He'd been created to be expendable, and this fact, coupled with the views on constructs as a whole, kept him far lower in status than the original men of his unit had grown to think of him.
For the next few years, Wight kept his head down, largely restricting his social activity when not in private spaces. He did his best to minimize contact with the captain wherever possible, and outside of what was required of him, he was rarely ever seen anywhere near his 'fellow' officer. Over time, the Ne'halite lines had worn away at their opposition, and strategic focus had shifted from defense to offense-- with new battle plans in order, the Cavalry found itself closer to the front lines than it had ever been, and the next wave of assault began.
This push into Sentian territory resulted in more and more direct combat, and Wight did his best to secure the safety of his unit. His own troop of constructs suffered heavy, although easily replaceable, losses, and Wight himself sustained a fair amount of damage; in spite of this, the Cavalry was never overtaken, and they survived the last leg of the conflict with only minor casualties.
The unit as a whole received commendations, and their reputation began to shift away from its less-than-glowing image. Under their new captain, despite the tensions still present, the Cavalry was reformed into a respectable unit, and it was through their newly-exemplary service that they earned a week of leave in Kara, Ne'halle's capitol city. Wight spent his week enamored by the city's florist's shops, sinking far more of his time into window shopping than he'd initially planned; one of his friends got him a small bouquet of marigolds to sate his curiosity, and he was instantly captivated by them. He'd never had much of an opportunity to see greenery up close, and the idea of helping something to grow instead of destroying it captivated him. Before they left the capital, he managed to get his hands on an old book of gardening tips-- although it would be many years later until he'd be able to try any of them out, he read and reread the book until it was just about falling apart, keeping it a quiet obsession that he promised himself he'd indulge...eventually. The idea of peacetime was simply a myth, and while he couldn't imagine what it would be like, his imagination worked quickly to idealize it into a world of gardens and warmer weather.
In actuality, however, peacetime was hardly that.
The end of the Winter War comes suddenly, taking both sides by surprise-- the Sentian grand commandant arrived unannounced to the camp of Ne'halle's high marshal, bearing terms of surrender direct from the king. The enemy's war machine had ground to a halt, cut off from the resources it needed to continue by Ne'halle and her allies; the last five years had become a war of attrition, and Sentia was no longer able to keep fighting while her soldiers were starving. The terms were accepted, but the empress was far from merciful-- Ne'halle overtook Sentia completely, occupying the country under guise of aiding in 'reconstruction and relief,' and from there, it fell under her iron grip.
Now freed from duty, the soldiers were allowed to return to their homes, some for the first time in years-- the combat constructs quietly vanish, recalled to Kara to be stowed away in case of a resurgent conflict. As for the revenants, they pose a particular problem; intelligent enough to be their own people, but still bound by laws magically forged into their very existence, what was to be done with them? Enough of an argument was successfully made to allow for the more well-adjusted revenants to enter into society, although the transition was far from easy. Weapons of war are not commonly seen roaming the streets, and unrest began to brew behind closed doors-- the handful of free revenants are relatively safe, given their size and abilities, but most are left to find their own way in the world, with little government assistance offered. Wight, by virtue of his compatriots in high places, was one of those permitted to operate outside of military control as a half-citizen-- for a few months, he finds himself living in Kara with a few of the men from the Cavalry, still at a loss for what to do next. Peacetime caught them all unaware, and with the length of the Winter War, most had hardly dared to dream of it-- few plans had been made, and the momentum that had carried Ne'halle through the last battles evaporates.
But living in Kara isn't quite what he'd hoped-- it doesn't feel like home to him, and there's only so much he can learn about it before he paints himself into a corner. His decision to leave and see the world for himself comes abruptly, almost impulsively; all the same, it's his first real choice for himself instead of on someone else's behalf, and he's intent on seeing it through. What does he have to lose, anyway?
Canon Point: Eight months after the conquest of Sentia.
Personality:
Curious and inquisitive, Wight has a lot of questions to ask about the world now that he's been allowed to roam it freely. Due to the nature of his creation and existence prior to the end of his service, he didn't have the opportunity to investigate what he wanted to, and now intends to take full advantage of his situation. He's experienced very little of his surroundings outside of warzones, and he faces each new challenge and obstacle as a learning experience that can only help him in the end, even if it seems unpleasant at the time. He's incredibly optimistic, and sees the best in people almost to the point of folly-- what he's learned of human nature has been fundamentally shaped by war and its stresses, and he wants to believe that people are better when they're not stuck in such an awful situation. As such, he's trusting to a fault, and can easily be deceived or taken advantage of; he's as oblivious to red flags as he is most things, and will simply continue to act in good faith until he gets burned for it.
Wight's sense of self is a bit...tenuous. His identity as a free being is still quite new, and he's working on learning the ins and outs of how to exist as his own person. He's enthusiastic about the process, but that doesn't quite give him everything he needs to grow into his own; in particular, he has trouble detaching himself from thinking of everything in the context of the war. He's doing his best to break himself of the habit, but it's difficult, largely on account of the fact that he's never known peacetime. Still, it has its uses-- more often than not, he's forgetful when it comes to the finer details of things or even what he did the previous few days, although he's learned to work around this fault by giving himself 'missions', citing the relevant information as mission critical to make sure it doesn't slip through the cracks. It's not the most foolproof strategy, but it works enough to where he'll almost swear by it.
He's certainly not the worst at keeping morale up, and makes a point to ensure that his companions are doing as well as they possibly can be. Wight is known for being cheerful and peppy, and he's learned to try and motivate the same in others. This, coupled with how excitable he is, does mean that he can be grating-- not everyone meshes well with his particular brand of encouragement, but he often doesn't quite understand why. He's not the brightest bulb in the box, especially when it's a matter of social cues and etiquette-- his sense of boundaries, for example, is wildly different than most people's, with much more of a focus on physical contact. Wight is without a doubt a tactile person, relying largely on body language and gestures to communicate the finer points of his feelings; after all, a skull isn't really the most expressive thing there is.
Wight operates at a fairly high level of energy, and can easily be overwhelming. He can sometimes steamroll his way through conversations and activities, and is still learning how to moderate the amount of zeal he puts into things. As it stands, he's gotten to the point to where not everything requires one hundred percent energy all the time, but a lot of it still gets around eighty-five. He wants to experience it all to the fullest extent, and he doesn't see a better way to do it than to throw himself into whatever happens next.
While he has a tendency to follow orders and adhere to any chain of command there is, now that the pressure of war's been removed, Wight has acknowledged that he's finally got options. He's given himself enough wiggle room to allow for the questioning of commands and even outright ignoring them, should they clash enough with his own desires or goals-- slowly but surely, he's getting the feel for more independent action, and he's finding that he's quite fond of the idea. Personal autonomy is extremely important to him these days, but he's got the sense to stay quiet about it for fear of causing himself more problems in his homeworld. The general public is already unnerved by the presence of his kind, and giving them any more reason to panic is enough of an obvious bad idea to where even Wight understands.
Although he has the option to shirk orders, there are a few rules hard-coded into him that he cannot ignore. Wight is required to protect his human allies to the fullest extent of his ability, even at the risk of extreme injury or the potential cost of his life-- for all his personality, he was created to be a weapon of war, and ensuring that less replaceable units survive is the very purpose he was made for. He's aware of these compulsions, but he chooses to keep them under wraps in order to prevent their exploit.
He tries his best to be pleasant and genial just about all the time, but his easygoing nature does have its limits. It's easy for him to fall back into a sort of martial cadence, switching to combat mode in high-stress situations in order to better deal with what he's about to face. Wight would prefer to avoid conflict wherever possible, as he'll repeatedly insist in the minutes before it becomes unavoidable, and he'll do his best to talk it out if there's even the slightest chance of success-- if not, he has no other option but to end things as quickly as he can. He responds to threats hard and fast, and has been known to be more than a little harsh; he'll invariably regret it later, although it does a good job of ensuring the problem won't come back in the future. Now that he's not in a near-constant state of fighting, he wants to ensure that he can stay that way; he's absolutely not fond of responding with violence, as he's concerned that it will just restart the cycle of 'kill or be killed' he was stuck in, but he does acknowledge that it's unavoidable at times.
He's far more likely to act in the defense of others than he is for his own sake, even if there's considerable danger involved. Wight is protective of just about everyone he meets, and while his loyalty isn't all that hard to win, his dedication ensures that he'll be by your side for as long as he's able to stand. He's relentless and outright vicious in the protection of his allies; whether that's revenant code or his own personality at work is anyone's guess, but he's made no attempts to curb it all the same. Those that have honestly earned his friendship can count on him to be ready at a moment's notice to help them with whatever they need, from the most mundane activity to something almost fatal; he can think of no better way to show his appreciation for the people that let him into their lives than this.
Flavor Abilities:
- His eye sockets and mouth are filled with a black vapor. When angered or agitated, it tends to spill out in force, often streaming behind him-- when dead, the vapor dissipates.
- The red spots on his neck and hips are bioluminescent, and glow continually as long as he's alive. He can't turn them off, as they're basically built-in status indicators.
- He can make flowers and other plants stick to him with a tiny bit of energy exchange. While it does make the plants last a little longer than normal, they'll still wither and die after a while.
- Wight's blood moves extremely slowly, and it's more or less a black tar-like substance. His healing factor isn't out of the ordinary, but it does take him a good long time to bleed out if his injury doesn't clot first.
Suitability:
Wight has been in multiple life-or-death situations with awful consequences, but the horrors Norfinbury can provide are out of his league. What he saw during the Winter War is still a few levels below what the town's capable of at worst, although there's enough similarities to make it easy for him to adjust. He's handled monsters like the anomalies before, and can even relate to them in a way-- having to learn that the monsters are not, in fact, friends will be a little difficult, though. Once he's figured out what he should expect, he'll find the best way possible to deal with it; after that learning period's over, he'll throw himself into doing whatever possible to help others survive. He'll try just as hard to make sure people are as okay as they can be in more than just a physical sense, citing the importance of morale and teambuilding as plenty of reasons to do so. Being put in a place like Norfinbury is only going to make him want to help more in order to get everyone else out alive, even if his methods are better suited to a warzone. Crisis management isn't his specialty, but he's pretty sure he can get the hang of it with some practice.
Suddenly having to eat is going to be a problem for him, though. On one hand, it's something living people do, and that's awesome! On the other...he can die on account of it, and that's less cool. The novelty's going to wear off fast.
RP Samples: [ Test drive 1 ] / [ Test drive 2! ]