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Levent Kartal

Levent Kartal is a traveling merchant infamous for being a polyglot, swindler, and fanatic.

He was born the result of an amorous tryst between a merchant from Istanbul and a lady from London. Accompanied by his feline companion Wilson, he wandered throughout Eurasia before setting sail for North America and new opportunities.

His time in Nova Scotia was overshadowed by his past demons, including the manipulative Amy Sunders. He was a member of Cercatori d'Arte during the spring of 2012, and fathered puppies with Hotaru -- but when the litter died, he roamed a loner again until the winter. Captured and punished for past thievery, he was whisked overseas again (after meeting long-lost daughter Atalanta) and eventually set up shop in Beirut, where he married a former thief, Daniyah bint Khairan, and became a father to three legitimate children: Faizel, Khairan, and Naila.

However, after fathering a bastard child (Benjamin) and committing other shameful transgressions, Levent found his family abandoning him; his offspring sailed for North America at his advice, and his mate left him.

1.  Appearance

1.1  Basics

Essentials Species: Levent looks like a smaller, scruffier version of a Common Gray Wolf. Fur: Thick, shaggy, scruffy. Optime Hair: Thick and shoulder-length, tamed by a cloth. Facial Features: Blunt, square facial structure offset by weaker Iranian features. Build and Size: Levent is short and scrawny, always looking a bit underfed. He has little muscle definition and generally visible ribs. His paws are proportionally large. Lupus: 50 lbs (23 kg) — 26 in (66 cm) Secui: 130 lbs (59 kg) — 33 in (84 cm) Optime: 170 lbs (77 kg) — 6ft (72 in) (183 cm) Humanization: High -- often found with accessories, humanized mannerisms, etc.

By Sie

Palette Fur Birch (#332920) Walnut (6C3E17) Whiskey (#D3AF74) Eyes Blizzard Blue (#99DAEB) Headband Sundance (#C0AF53) Copper (#A77133) Cutty Sark (#5D8384)

1.2  Miscellaneous

Accessories Levent cycles through his accessories with the exception of his characteristic head-cloth. He accessorizes mostly to show off his wares. Always wears patterned cloth tied around his head; striped yellow and orange slashed with blue, tied off with a strip dangling to the side Simplistic shirts/tunics and shorts/pants ripped off at the knee Gold hoop earrings Necklaces: decorated with shells, metal, wood, simple chains, etc. Rings, bracelets, bangles worn at random

Scars Tooth mark on left side of mouth Mass of scarring on right shoulder Bite mark on left arm Claw marks along ribs Forehead scar, hidden by headband Smooth cut, palm of right hand Various scars on torso, hidden by fur

Interaction

• Speech: Levent's voice is mid-range with a distinct Turkish accent. He speaks amiably but switches his tone at the drop of a hat. His speech is "quirky" and fast-paced, and he often interjects foreign phrases into his words.
• Scent: Desert and scrubland, musty buildings, rust and steel, earth, spice, cat, wolf, jackal.
• Quirks, Gestures, Etc.: Levent talks with his hands, gesticulating wildly, and is generally very animated in movement.
• General Posture and Body Language: Levent has decidedly slouchy posture. His body language is usually submissive yet animated -- though it's almost suspiciously calm when he's alone, his gaze generally lost off in thought.

Images

2.  Personality

Levent is an amiable and quirky character -- memorable. His smiles are quick and easy, his speech flavored with a Turkish accent and peppered with foreign phrases and endearments. He is flirtatious and would be considered a smooth-talker if his speech wasn't so fast and unusual. He's often recalled as the funny foreigner, the peddler of various wares, and about the last one you'd consider a threat.

Worldly canines will recognize that most of what Levent presents is a front, and that he's really kind of a slimeball. Despite an extroverted and friendly nature, he is immensely private and hides parts of himself away. He's flighty and has difficulty setting down roots -- wandering both from home and from his partner's bed to look for something new. His morals are loose and his intentions shamelessly selfish. Persuasive and good at playing a simpleminded and funny man, Levent is a dangerous predator to the naive.

The only time Levent will act selflessly is when tending to an animal -- from cats to horses to exotic birds and other livestock, Levent is an animal lover and often accompanied by his own little menagerie.

A rough history with near-death experiences and religious fanatics has instilled a sense of fanaticism in him, too; while Levent usually isn't dangerous to anything but someone's wallet or innocence, there are rumors that he will do anything to obtain the gift of immortality...

2.1  Details

Traits Amiable, quirky, animal-loving, fraudulent, flighty, melancholy, hungry Outlook: Optimistic Sociability: Extroverted Expression: Submissive Alignment: Chaotic Neutral Motivations Self-indulgence, pleasure, hedonism Animals, rehabilitating and befriending Immortality Confronting his sins Fears Death -- his own or anyone's Restrictions, lack of freedom

Sexuality Bisexual, Kinsey 3 Levent is rather promiscuous and very open-minded. He has low standards for either sex -- sometimes finding pleasure in corrupting the innocent, sometimes eagerly pursuing an equal partner. He regularly seeks out flings and is very blunt about what he wants, if teasingly so. He seems to hold devotion as an ideal, but he is decidedly not devoted to any of his partners. Exceptions for romantic partners have existed in the past, but they are rare. Interests Likes: Trading, foreigners, animals (especially cats), self-serving religion, traveling, baubles, books Dislikes: Animal abuse, slavery, restrictions Substances Recreational drugs that don't seriously impede his mental state are fair game! Levent has a long history with alcohol. He's a lightweight and has done very questionable things under the influence of it. He has two states: being absolutely wasted for days on end and being by turns an asshole or a sappy crybaby; and swearing to stay sober the rest of his life. He falls off the wagon every six months or so.

Biases

• Species: Fondness for non-canine animals -- especially cats. Animals are "innocent" and he will go to great lengths to care for them, whether they're horses or parrots or lizards.
• Non-Luperci: Easy prey; Levent won't convert them and maintains that's their choice, but he views them as prime targets for taking advantage of and lying to them, viewing them as "simple."
• Sexuality: Unless it's clear-cut rape or sex with children, Levent is a-OK with it. A little too okay with it. Can he watch?
• Religion: Relatively open-minded, with preferential treatment toward other monotheists. Sees paganism and polytheism as the wrong way to go, but values their myths and legends; they're cute, quirky stories. He disdains atheists, but it rarely comes into play.
• Age: Levent is overprotective, nurturing, and indulgent toward young puppies until the age they're more or less self-sufficient.

Spirituality

• Levent was raised monotheistic, influenced by Abrahamic religions.
• His view of religion is loose and self-serving. He is as quick to disobey laws as quote scripture to prove a point. He sees religion as a way to "save himself" and believes immortality is possible.

3.  Relationships

3.1  Family Mother: Katherine Wilcox Father: Süleiman Kartal Children: By Agape Kokinos: Atalanta Kartal, Achilles Kokinos By Hotaru: Aiden, Aysun By Daniyah bint Khairan: Faizel Kartal, Khairan Kartal, Naila Kartal By Aleida: Benjamin Kartal 4.  Abilities

Sociopolitical Education and Learning: Years on the road as a trader and a natural gift for tongues have shaped Levent's ease of communication. His best languages were learned from both parents and his constant feline companion, while others were picked up with slightly less skill over months and months of schmoozing among the cities' traders. His bartering -- and his gift for telling a lie -- were likewise born, sharpened, and tested during his long stint as a merchant.
Language (Master): Levent is a polyglot, capable of speaking several tongues -- both High Speech and Low. His native language is Turkish, and he is equally fluent in his second language, English, and the feline dialect of Low Speech (thanks to Wilson). He has passing proficiency in Arabic, some traders' pidgins, and the more "common" or useful Low Speech dialects (like horse). Lastly, he can communicate very basic needs and ideas in a few other scattered European languages. Bartering (Master): He has a gift for wheedling and schmoozing and otherwise convincing people that his wares of are interest and that they are getting the better deal with trades. He can spin an exuberant tale making a dull coin necklace seem exotic; he is also brilliant at "underselling" items, pretending they're of no consequence. Deception (Journeyman): Lying goes hand in hand with bartering. Levent is skilled at deflecting attention from a subject, talking in circles, exaggeration, and even the occasional point-blank lie. He is especially good at projecting a "persona" that differs from his actual intentions, usually to convince someone that he is friendly or harmless when he is not. Reading & Writing (Journeyman): Levent is capable of reading and writing at about a high school level in his fluent languages.	His mastery of language does not imply absolute perfection, and even in his best languages he will grope for a word or phrase -- or just blend the languages seamlessly together, both to seem more "quirky" and because he's talking too fast for his mind to translate. His Low Speech skills also really vary. While "stable" dialects or common ones come easily to him, and he can pick up on the general body language of random animals, his Luperci way of thinking makes the attainment of new languages hard. Wilson also insists that his bushy tail makes his feline accent hilarious. His bartering is markedly more successful in some cultures than others. He relies on preying on the naive or desperate, so his attempts would be rather transparent to another experienced merchant. While he's good at deceiving most, an especially world-wise wolf wouldn't be so quick to trust him. When he has to resort to baldfaced lies, he's usually at a point where he's desperate, and his performance suffers as a result. Caught in a lie, he's easily flustered. Levent has the worst penmanship known to wolfkind.
Miscellaneous Education and Learning: Levent has picked up on other skills out of necessity or interest throughout the years. He learned animal care as a result of his love for animals, knives for self defense, and massaging for -- well, we'll not go into this here. He's had various teachers but didn't stick long with tutors of his weaker skills.
Animal Care (Journeyman to Master): Levent understands the basic needs of most animals -- and the specific needs for cats, horses, and other common livestock. He can take care of most animals if they're dumped on him, with a basic understanding of their food and space requirements and some specialized needs. His Low Speech helps him in this regard, allowing him to pick up on discomfort that might not be obvious to the average wolf. Throwing Knives (Apprentice): For self-defense, he carries a set of throwing knives. He practices often, but his combat experience is limited, and he usually tosses the blades to scare off would-be thieves; he could probably stick you four out of five times, but he wouldn't do well aiming for eyes or other specific areas. If fighting for his life, he usually relies on tooth and claw. Massage (Apprentice): Levent knows some massage techniques; he's good at massaging knots out of other Luperci and sometimes familiar animals (like sore horses). His knowledge comes from practice rather than any understanding of anatomy.	Though perfectly capable of caring for cats, as well as performing basic tasks to care for horses (feeding, exercising, grooming and hoof care, mental stimulation), Levent does not have specialized knowledge on all animals. His general and fundamental knowledge is very strong, and he would be able to keep most animals surviving (though not thriving) under his care, but exotics would likely suffer in prolonged captivity. He's best at assisting others more learned in their tasks. As mentioned, his throwing knives are more to scatter and threaten potential enemies than actually fight and kill them. He has average, instinctual combat experience otherwise -- and tends to be disadvantaged with his small stature. His massages relax and sometimes soothe, but Levent isn't a massage therapist or anything! Doesn't matter one lick to him; half the time it's just foreplay.

5.  History

5.1  Pre-'Souls Timeline

2008

• May: Levent is born to Süleiman Kartal and Katherine Wilcox. Not wanting to raise an illegitimate son with her high standing, Katherine immediately dumps the pup with his father.
• The next few months, Levent travels with father over trade routes, settling in various cities. His father is often away, so Levent befriends other animals and learns Low Speech.

2009

• January: Süleiman Kartal is killed by brigands. Levent is taken in by well-meant guardians, but Levent runs away from them and lives on the streets of Istanbul. He joins street gangs to survive, but his true friends are other animals.
• March: His gang ambushes an English woman to steal her books. The others manage to escape, but the woman collars Levent -- and recognizes him as her son. She whisks him back to London.
• May: Levent slowly adjusts to life in London's rich districts. At one point, he comes across some Luperci bullies harassing a young cat, and he defends him. The cat, Wilson, soon becomes Levent's best friend.

2009—2010

• There is a large gap in his history here. However:
• Levent supports his mother by taking on his father's merchant trade. He stars off by helping set up and close down markets, but he's "fired" form his job after freeing some abused exotic animals from their cages.
• Katherine pulls some strings to help get Levent on the road.
• Levent goes through some milestones, such as entering his first relationship and learning skills as he travels from region to region. Wilson is at his side the entire time.

2010

• September: Wilson is injured in Algiers. Levent deals with a shady Luperci for medicines, but the stranger drugs him. Levent falls very ill, hallucinating about demons. The stranger saves Wilson's life and his, but he also continues to feed Levent drugs and religious teachings. By the time the stranger leaves, Levent has changed.
• March: Levent travels to Athens for trade, and meets Agape Kokinos when she asks for a poison from him. Instead, Levent convinces her to cut ties with her family and come with him. They live together for a while, and Levent makes plans to propose.
• April: Levent gets completely wasted and has inebriated sex with a male relative of Agape's. There's a lot of drama, and Levent half-disappears and is half-driven-off by Agape. He has a falling-out with Wilson over his behavior, but manages to repair his relationship with the cat by swearing off alcohol. There are no such repairs to his and Agape's relationship.
• October: Levent meets Amy Sunders, who "marks" him during a night of passion. He does not understand the significance of this mark until much later. He also rescues an emaciated horse who he names Umut, but only to leave the horse with some Romani to recover.
• November: Wilson convinces Levent to leave Eurasia to escape some shadows of his old life, like Agape. They barter for passage on a ship to Barbados. Levent is traumatized by the month-long journey by sea, becoming hydrophobic.
• December: Levent trades in Barbados to gain passage to Freetown.

2012

• January: Levent lives and trades around Freetown, exploring the area. He receives information on Nova Scotian packs from Amy.

5.2  'Souls Timeline

2012

• March: Levent arrives in Nova Scotia. He runs into Amy again but allows himself to get drunk with her. After Wilson sets him straight, Levent lingers around the secretive Salsola (getting little information on it) and then explores the city of Halifax. He also heads south near Cercatori d'Arte, meeting and comforting one member on the death of her cat, and saving another -- Hotaru -- from a cougar.
• April: Levent has a crisis about what he's doing in Nova Scotia and considers heading back to Freetown and beyond. Wilson convinces him to stay and seek out a pack before pursuing his goal. He starts to visit some of the packs, learning that Amy has joined Anathema.
• May: Levent runs into Hotaru (who he has a huge bloody crush on) and learns a little more about her pack. He eventually joins Cercatori d'Arte.
• June: Levent has sex with Hotaru while she's in heat.
• July: Hotaru reveals that she's pregnant with Levent's children. He decides that he'll take care of her and help raise them. He's spared thinking more about it, though, as Cercatori d'Arte goes on a trading voyage to the north. Notably, Levent trades with Vinatta and receives an untrained mare, Mai.
• August:
  • Levent's children, Aiden and Aysun, are born. He becomes obsessed with them. Unfortunately, this makes Wilson grow distant, and so he decides to go on a trip with him to rekindle their friendship.
  • Levent runs into Amy Sunders again. He tries to confront her about an attack on one of his pack mates. He tries to keep his children a secret from her, and so she damages his shoulder and lays a "curse" on what he holds dear. He manages to get back to Cercatori d'Arte, where Hotaru and Wilson take care of him.
  • Aysun falls ill, and Levent attempts to spend time with her. She dies in his arms while he sleeps. Not a day after, Aiden dies from the same illness. Hotaru buries the puppies and blames their death on Levent, who in his grief leaves Cercatori d'Arte.
• September: Levent roams between Halifax and the territory surrounding Cercatori d'Arte, falling into a deep grief. He sends some prospective joiners toward Cercatori d'Arte, unable to stop thinking about the pack. When the 2012 Hurricane hits, Levent is warped into a much more desperate and dangerous creature.
• October:
  • Thinking that she's killed Wilson, Levent sexually assaults a woman in Halifax. He takes Wilson and leaves, heading north, where he runs into Amy Sunders again. He has a chance to kill her but cannot, and realizes just how much he's under her control.
  • Levent goes to Freetown for a few days, replenishing the goods left behind in d'Arte. He recognizes and steals Umut from a butcher, and is nearly killed for his trouble.
  • Levent returns to Nova Scotia and settles in Amherst. He does travel to Cercatori d'Arte in an attempt to steal his goods, but is driven off by Leviothan Moonbreaker, who inexplicably wants to kill him.
• November: Levent is found by the Freetown butcher and captured for his thievery. Wilson, near-death, gets left behind.

5.3  Off-Board Timeline

2012

• November: Levent is brought to Freetown's port and set to work. He's noted as an "indentured servant" meant to pay off his crimes instead of a slave, but it seems all the same to him, anyway. He bides his time for a chance to escape.
• December: Levent discovers that he has a daughter by Agape, Atalanta Kartal. He speaks with her and drops hints about Nova Scotia, though before Ata can come with him on his "trade journey" he is whisked away on a slave ship. Levent's dreams are plagued by the ghost of Amy Sunders, but nothing eventful happens when the ship lands in Barbados.

2013

• January: The ship sails back to Libson, Portugal. Levent plants seeds of revolt among the other indentured servants (finding the conditioned slaves a lost cause) and the lower-pay-grade slavers. He makes use of his quick tongue and convinces a number of Luperci that they can take over the slave caravan as it begins its journey.
• February: Levent starts the revolt; it fails spectacularly. However, the commotion attracts an independent group of thieves, and the slavers' focus on punishing Lev and the others distracts them long enough to be susceptible. The thieves attack and raid the caravan, killing few but injuring many, and make off with some shiny and useful things. In the confusion, Levent escapes and begins chasing down the thieves on his gelding, Umut.
• March: The thieves decide they don't like Levent following them, and so they sneak up on him when he's resting and kidnap him. The lead brigand, a jackal-wolf hybrid named Daniyah bint Khairan, is particularly cruel to Lev when interrogating him. However, she proves to have knowledge of equine Low Speech -- and treats Umut more nicely than anyone but Lev ever has. Levent tries really really hard to not be interested in her.
• April: Eventually, the thieves begin treating Levent like a partner instead of a prisoner, though Daniyah pretends to despise him still. However, Levent's skills as a merchant and a liar are a boon to the thieves, who begin their route through the cities.
• May: The thieves stop in crowded Beirut, taking advantage of refugees from Jerusalem. Levent and Daniyah fight and then they do some other stuff.
• July: Three children are born to Levent and Daniyah: Faizel, Khairan and Naila Kartal.
• December: Levent leaves his family in Beirut (where many of the thieves began to settle, content with their lot) to trade, drawn into restless wandering.

2014

• January: Levent spends some time in Amsterdam. Whoops.
• March: A girl from Amsterdam's red light district grabs Levent before he can leave and shoves a puppy at him. Whoops. He finds a nursemaid for the puppy but grows immensely attached to him and sticks around until the boy -- named Benjamin -- is weaned and able to travel with his father.
• July: Levent returns to Beirut -- to Daniyah and his yearling triplets. Ben is reluctantly introduced into the family, though it becomes clear that Daniyah is completely indifferent on the matter; she has no misconceptions about Levent's faithfulness. She doesn't acknowledge Benjamin as a son, but she also doesn't refuse to take care of him. His siblings approach him with varying degrees of warmth -- Faizel nurturing, Naila as indifferent as her mother, and Khairan cruel.

2015

• Fall: Something awkward happens~
• Winter: Suffering from the social stigma of her father, Faizel expresses a desire to leave Beirut. While Levent is saddened by this, he suggests that his offspring sail to North America -- specifically telling them of eastern Canada and his tenuous connection to the packs there. They depart.

5.4  Threads