Laurent Matthias Foxlinde
⌈"And so the cycle of death comes full circle once more... "⌋
⌈"And so the cycle of death comes full circle once more... "⌋
Male
⌈Age⌋
32
⌈Personality⌋
Laurent is the type of man to make the best out of any situation. With all the hardships and difficulties he has endured, especially as a child, he could have easily become embittered and had a grudge against the world. Instead, he strengthened himself and trained himself that if he didn't like his current circumstances he would simply work hard to make them better. His admirable positivity not only flows inward, but shines outward as well. He is always smiling and makes an effort to encourage those around him to hang in and hold tight. As a result, people tend to flock to him and naturally look to him for guidance. Laurent is also quite sharp in his thinking. Even as a young child, he was naturally intelligent and certainly "wise beyond his years". His perception allows him to pick out details others would have over-looked and his reasoning would piece the puzzle together. Despite his higher thinking, he often focuses so hard on a single problem that it is difficult to communicate with him until he has solved the given situation. Laurent is not arrogant though. He constantly reminds himself of his humble beginnings even to the point of berating. All around, he is a kind hard-working man who only wants to help improve the world, if only a little, so others don't have to suffer quite so much.
Of course, as kind-hearted and endearing as Laurent is, insecurity swims below the surface threatening to break the dam of bravery holding it back. Laurent has lost three very important females in his life: his mother, his wife, and his infant daughter. Not to mention countless others that have come and go on his account. As such, he is very uncomfortable with taking on the roles of leadership he naturally seems to find himself in. He hates assuming responsibility for those around him due to his failings with his family. Particularly with women. He feels in one way or another he will fail them too. He will desperately complain and push the role onto anyone but himself even to the point of anger.
He also constantly wrestles with the permanently ingrained images of his dead loved ones' faces that haunt his conscious and subconscious mind. Most of the time he'll play it off with a pained smile and wave off any concern, but in some extreme cases, he becomes so engulfed with sorrow and guilt he has a panic attack and goes into nervous fits followed by withdrawn silence.
Happiness might result in a smile, but smile certainly doesn't necessarily result in happiness.
⌈Appearance⌋
Laurent is 6'3", weighs 185 pounds, and has a lean physique. He has emerald green eyes that seem to light up whenever he's thinking about something. His hair is a light dusty brown that just barely reaches his shoulders, but he almost always keeps it braided and tied at the end. He also prefers to keep his face clean-shaven at all times because he can't stand the itchiness and maintenance of facial hair. He often dresses in a simple pair of slacks, a white dress shirt, and a vest. Not over dressed and not under dressed. Nice enough to be professional, but not so over the top as to get in the way of work. Laurent has fair eyesight and has no need for eye-wear, but he often keeps a pair of goggles with a magnifier that he uses for his research. He also doesn't wear any jewelry except for his wedding ring that he keeps on a silver chain around his neck tucked under his shirt.
⌈Other⌋
Laurent's sons, Michael and Frederick, are six and four at the time of his disappearance into the games, and his late wife Margaret was 24 when she died.
Also, at the time of his kidnapping, he was wearing his standard black slacks and vest, but their are some oil splotches on the cuffs of his sleeves and there's dust and debris covering the rest of his attire as he had just gotten home from a rather extensive project. He also has his trusty pair of work goggles and his wedding ring.
⌈History⌋
Laurent was the only son of a prominent banker and a merchant's daughter, and for the first five years of his life his childhood and raising was no different than any other middle class family living in London. However, shortly after his sixth birthday, Laurent's father was arrested and persecuted for embezzling obscene amounts of money from the bank he was employed with. In the matter of a few days, the fragile little ties of the Foxlinde family dissolved into nothing. His father was imprisoned indefinitely, and Laurent and his mother were left homeless with no assets to their name.
His mother desperately pleaded with her family to take them in, but due to the scandalous and damaging nature of her situation, they refused for fear of putting any sort of tarnish on their name. With no other choice and refusal to let her son's future go down the drain, his mother pushed up her sleeves and set out to earn their income. Unfortunately, having never worked a day in her life as well as being a woman, job-searching was... difficult at best. She didn't have the work ethic or patience to be a seamstress, she had no aptitude or knowledge on how to run a shop let alone start one, being a maid was far too stressful between lecherous nobles and jealous wives making her miserable and inevitably firing her, and so down the food chain she fell till finally she hit rock bottom with pure desperation: prostitution.
Every night Laurent's mother would wander the streets and give herself away. In exchange for her dignity she received payment to support Laurent.
For the rest of his childhood, his mother sold her body and spent every pound on Laurent's food, clothing, education, and other necessities. As a result Laurent vowed to always work his absolute hardest to give his mother some form of pride if not to lessen her tears at least a little. He was already a clever and intuitive boy, and only succeeded in expanding his intelligence. This would continue until Laurent was 17.
Shortly after Laurent finished all of his primary schooling, he was ready to continue into his higher education. However, misfortune circled back and his mother's work finally claimed her life. Laurent watched her suffer for days before the diseases she contracted claimed her life. Heartbroken and alone, he had no one to turn to. He desperately wanted to finish his education, but with money and no reputation he had no other job, but to get a regular job working in the factories. He didn't stay long as providence shifted his direction. His great-grandfather passed away and a letter came in the mail with an inheritance originally for his mother but consequently redirected to him. It was a hefty sum, and as such he was able to complete his education and study under some of the finest engineers and scientists the world had to offer.
After six years of vigorous hard work, Laurent had successfully become a licensed engineer as well as an upcoming scientist. He signed on with one of the more prominent railway companies of the time, and even received funding for research on his own project.
At the age of 25, he would marry a young woman by the name of Margaret that he had met through one of his engineering acquaintances. By age 30, they had two sons: Michael and Frederick, and Margaret was pregnant with their third child. However, the tides of misery once again overtook him for when it was time for Margaret to give birth, something went terribly wrong and she died during labor. The infant girl dying an hour later. Despite being overwhelmed with sorrow, Laurent was determined to carry on and raise his five and three year old sons to be outstanding men who knew how to pick up their boot straps and make something of themselves.
A year later the broken family was laughing and cherishing every blessing they had. Laurent's career was at its height and everything felt right in the world again. Of course, nothing could prepare him for the next and final tragedy. Both his mother's and Margaret's deaths seemingly insignificant in the wake of the horror that was to befall him. Elbow grease and optimism was not going to carry him through the worst death of all: his own.