Ariel Legrand

Ariel Legrand

Profile

Basic Info

Heritage

NPCs

About

Table of Contents

1. About
2. Overview
3. Appearance
4. Images
5. Personality
   1. Strengths & Weaknesses
   2. Traits
6. History

OOC Info

Overview

Plot Opportunity

• None quite yet!

OOC Assumptions

• None!

Appearance

☽

Basics

Ariel is a massive man, standing in the giant's realm at 7' 4'' and weighing 320 lbs in Optime. He is heavily muscled from years of pursuing active warfare. Though he is scarred, he hides his scars well beneath his clothing and is insecure about the scars that are visible. Having a flair for flamboyance and decoration, Ariel loves his clothing like he loves precious few things (besides, perhaps, his boat). He takes special care of his hair and beard, taking the time to always be seen as well-groomed as possible. Most of the time, his hair can be seen up in various styles, often braided but sometimes in a bun or a ponytail. His beard he usually braids in many styles as well.

His size comes from his giant of a mother, who stood as tall as he did, and a large father. Part Greenland Dog, part Malamute, and part wolf, he was born with the physique of an athlete. That being said, he does suffer from being so large, though he has not made the connection between his joint problems and his size. As he ages, he has started to develop pain when he strains himself.

Paints his cheekbones red daily as an indication of his rank as a general. Before battle and during rituals he paints his body red more extensively, though the patterns for each differ.

Speech: Quiet, he thinks before he speaks, always. Perfectly comfortable with uncomfortable silences, he doesn't mind letting his conversation partner wait while he thinks of the right words to say. He has a deep voice that befits his massive size. A singer, see his vocal reference, Johan Karlström.
Scent: He often smells of sea spray, unable to get the salt out of his clothing since he's on the water so often. Pine clings to him as well, though he does not know why.
Quirks, Gestures, etc.: He spaces out, his eyes locking onto a point far in the distance as he simply stares ahead without blinking. Occasionally, it may take a few tries to get his attention.
General Posture and Body Language: Despite his great size, he has good body posture, something that his adoptive father taught him when he was training him to be a warrior. Ariel is neither dominant nor submissive and walks through life showing a perfectly neutral face. That being said, he is used to being the boss.

Color Palette

Fur

Hair

Eyes

Nose, Skin, Paw Pads

Lupus

127 lbs (57 kg)
42 in (106 cm)

Secui

190 lbs (86 kg)
52 in (132 cm)

Optime

320 lbs (145 kg)
7 ft 4 in (88 in / 223 cm)

Images

Complete Gallery & Image Credits

Personality

Overview

A kingly man, Ariel is in many respects exactly the sort of son that his adoptive father had raised him to be, so much so that he became a threat. Hardworking very nearly to a fault, as a child he trained and studied hard and excelled. Ariel is a straight edge, the kind of man that will do any job he sets out to do and complete any task given, if only out of pure stubbornness. His sense of duty is unmatched, and he works incredibly hard to fulfil his role both as a general and as an adopted member of the royal family. He is used to his position, and entirely comfortable in it. Those who are beneath him he expects to fall in line accordingly and treat him with the respect he deserves, as he treats those above him with the respect they deserve. When not given this respect, Ariel will unfailingly dish out punishment as needed to preserve the social order.

He puts an incredible amount of pressure onto himself both to succeed and to conform. This is in part due to his in-born stubborn and, to be honest, quite square nature as well as the social pressures he'd been raised under. So even when he finds himself struggling in many ways to conform to fit society's expectations of him, he is forced to hide these aspects of himself and his struggles. His pack has strict gendered expectations, and is a place where men are not supposed to particularly care about their appearance. Ariel is obsessed with his appearance and with how he presents himself; he is always incredibly careful to make sure that nobody sees him at anything except his best. He is insecure about the scars that litter his body from years of combat, finding them distasteful and unattractive, and does his best to hide them with magnificent clothing.

The only scars that he values is the art he has created on his body. The scarification on his back and front legs/arms is his greatest pride. He designed each piece himself, with the help of the priests and the carver, and each one holds personal value to him. If it weren't for the battle scars on his torso and legs, he would show the art proudly.

Ariel is. . . picky about who he talks to. He'd much rather be alone than be in bad company and has very few close friends. If he doesn't like you, he won't say so outright, but you'll know. He probably will give you lots of "mhms" and "uhuhs" when you're talking to him, and he certainly won't seek you out. He's perfectly comfortable spending most of his time alone, actually, so his limited patience for stupidity or the like isn't so much of a problem as it would initially seem.

He holds no romantic or sexual inclinations, and any attempts to woo or seduce him have been gently (or harshly, in some cases) turned away in the past. Excepting the wife he took as a young adult, he has never been in a relationship, and that particular marriage had been arranged. Though the two eventually became friends, he was as uninterested in her as he was in everyone else, despite repeated attempts to do right by her and his family.

Strengths

• Honest and Direct: Ariel isn't one for lying or playing games. He has the confidence to speak exactly what he means at any time without fearing repercussion. This is in part due to the power he has. Even in situations where it may be more beneficial to lie, Ariel rarely does, as the thought simply doesn't cross his mind. He'd rather get to the truth of the matter using force.
• Strong-Willed and Dutiful: He always has a goal in mind, or several goals, and every step he takes is carried out with the purpose of getting him closer to that goal. Never in his life has he felt the desire to abandon these goals in favor of easier ones, and once he's decided to complete some task, it gets done. Period.
• Responsible: Ariel is not a man who will leave you hanging. His word is his promise, and his promises are fulfilled. He would rather run himself into the ground than abandon a promise or duty.
• Calm and Practical: The man is nearly always perfectly calm and rational. Though stern and stubborn, Ariel is generally still calm, and never breaks down at the first sign of hardship. It takes quite a lot to push him over the edge, but when it does, his fury is a sight to behold.
• Creates and Enforces Order: Ariel's primary goal is to keep everything and everyone working smoothly, like a well-oiled machine. When the machine breaks, he goes to fix it. If something is wrong with a part of the machine, he replaces it.
• Jack of All Trades: Ariel has always been a determined learner, and no matter what it is that he's being taught, he takes the time to learn it. It helps that he has a steel trap of a memory and can recall lessons learned long ago and pull quotes from books read years ago. Still, if he isn't actually interested in xyz then it is likely he only learned it because he had to and his knowledge on the subject probably isn't incredibly deep.

Weaknesses

• Stubborn: He has a hard time accepting anything unsupported by facts and has a harder time being convinced of anything that he hasn't decided is the truth.
• Insensitive: Though he doesn't necessarily mean to be rude, he also doesn't particularly care if he hurts someone else's feelings. His policy is to always be as efficient as possible and to always be as honest as possible, and if that hurts someone's feelings, that sounds like a them problem.
• Judgmental: He tends to apply his truth to everyone else and decide that anyone who doesn't 'fit' isn't 'right'. Unfortunately, when his truth is built in part by the standards that society has set, and he doesn't fit to those standards, he judges himself more harshly than anyone else could.
• Always by the Book: Ariel likes rules. He does not like bending those rules.
• Unreasonably Blames Himself: for everything. He tends to believe that he's the only one who can get something done, so even if someone else fucks it up, he will just blame himself for not taking on the job himself. Then he takes on more and more work and responsibilities. It's a problem.

Traits

Sociability

• Emotional Disposition: Curious; Even-Tempered
• Sociability: Introverted
• Alignment: Lawful Neutral
  • Respects the laws and authority figures of the community and nation.
  • Respects the authority figures in his family and obeys their mandates.
  • Considers public service in a leadership role an honor.
  • Has few close friends and would never betray those he has.
  • Believes people deserve the treatment they are willing to endure.
  • Is not concerned with those less fortunate.
• Tropes:
  • Mistaken For Gay - His wife has long thought that he may be gay due to his aversion to having sex/being romantic with her, but that his loyalty and sense of duty has kept him from seeking outside relations.
  • Even The Guys Want Him - Ariel is gorgeous in a relatively androgynous way (he works to maintain an androgynous appearance when he's not in armor). His long hair and fair facial features contrast his long braided beard and size/stature in a way that tends to make eyes linger.
  • Vanity Is Feminine - His vanity put him at the butt-end of many jokes as a young man. Now that he's older and has settled into a high status in the pack he hasn't heard anything like that in a long time, but that doesn't mean the damage hasn't been done.

Biases

• Gender: Ariel has always felt more comfortable with women than with the men in his pack. Most of his close friends are women.
• Sexuality: Ariel has a lot of internalized homophobia that has been imparted in him subconsciously. He generally doesn't particularly care about others unless they are directly affecting him, so he wouldn't lash out at someone who is queer (and certainly exposure to queer folks will help him accept himself and others), but this has greatly affected his own mental state given his gender non-conformity. A large part of his psyche is taken up with the thought that he wants to 'fit in', but he just can't.
• Age: The older you are, the more wisdom and power you hold.

Motivations

• Balance/Peace
  • Primary Motivator: To bring all things into harmony and equilibrium
• Order
  • Secondary Motivator: To arrange, organize, and reduce chaos

Sexuality

Ariel is asexual and aromantic. He avoided marriage for two spectacular years (even with his father pestering him) before being forced into an arranged marriage with a high-ranking shaman (at the time only a promising apprentice of a family of high status). The marriage, though certainly not abusive or cruel, was loveless. Ariel tried and failed to love his wife Cassia,. Though at first she resented him, eventually they became friends and close confidants. She believes that Ariel is gay, and that the social pressures of his family and his rank are keeping him from loving a man. He lacks the vocabulary and understanding of his own sexuality to explain to her that he doesn't think he can love anyone romantically or that he would ever experience true pleasure from sex.

Spirituality

Ariel is incredibly devout, following the animist religion that his pack believes in. As a puppy he wanted to become a shaman, but shamanism is typically reserved for women in his pack. Despite this, he has always maintained a strong relationship with the religious sect of his pack and they are among his strongest supporters. The women taught him their dances and songs and Ariel often leads or otherwise participates in religious ceremonies.

History

Pre-'Souls

Born to the Legrand clan, Ariel may have been a shepherd in a different life. Unfortunately (or, fortunately?) for him, his parents offended the Dior clan shortly after he was born. The two clans went to war, and the Dior clan came out on top. Rather than eradicate their neighbors, the Dior clan made the Legrand clan their vassal. To enforce their will, Lambert Dior, the war chief of the Dior clan, took from the Legrand clan's leaders their firstborn son, Ariel Legrand, as a hostage. A common practice of the region, Lambert raised Ariel alongside his own children, isolated him from his birth clan, and instilled into the boy undying loyalty to the Dior clan. Very quickly, Ariel forgot the faces of his family.

Raised as a warrior, Ariel thrived among the Dior clan, excelling in every aspect of both combat and leadership. By the time he was three years old, he had built his own ship and had enough warriors loyal to him to be named a general by his adoptive father. Every summer, he and his warriors would raid the coast, bringing back wealth for their clan. His accomplishments both kept him safe and endangered him, for as long as he proved himself useful to the clan, he could not be discarded. On the other hand, the more powerful he became, the more his adoptive brothers feared him.

Ariel only briefly considered seizing the throne, as the chief's health declined with age and uncertainty crept into the clan. Legrand had four trueborn sons and two daughters, as well as many grandchildren. When his warriors approached him and pledged their loyalty once more, promising to back him no matter his course of action, he couldn't help but imagine himself wearing the crown. The thought was a silly one, though, and Ariel did not hold great ambitions for power, unlike his adoptive brothers. The cost of the crown would be a massacre, one that would stain his legacy until all had forgotten him. He let the idea go, and pledged his loyalty publicly to Legrand's firstborn son, Leo Dior.

Everything changed the night that Legrand passed. An assassin came in the night, one of Eric Dior's men, they discovered later, to murder him and his wife as they slept. Eric Dior, the thirdborn son, had murdered Leo and Jason, the second born son, in the night, and claimed the crown for himself. A bloody battle ensued, during which Aaron Dior, the fourth born son, was also killed, along with many of their respective children and allies. By dawn, Eric and his men had either killed or chased out all of their known enemies. Ariel, his wife, and his supporters fought their way to Ariel's ship and left under the cover of darkness.

They left behind many who supported Ariel less openly and survived the conflict, pledging their allegiance to Eric Dior while secretly making preparations to follow Ariel.