« Honestly, this is an awful lot of fuss for what could be a mere irritation. But I suppose some people are just predisposed to the dramatic. »
⌠Smoke and Mirrors | Poets of the Fall⌡
Fᴀᴄᴇ Cʟᴀɪᴍ ◆ Ikki ❘ Pᴏʀᴛʀᴀʏᴇᴅ Bʏ ◇ Verdandi
Dɪᴀʟᴏɢᴜᴇ Cᴏʟᴏʀ ◆ #0076A4 ❘ Tʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ Cᴏʟᴏʀ ◇#91278F
⌠Smoke and Mirrors | Poets of the Fall⌡
Fᴀᴄᴇ Cʟᴀɪᴍ ◆ Ikki ❘ Pᴏʀᴛʀᴀʏᴇᴅ Bʏ ◇ Verdandi
Dɪᴀʟᴏɢᴜᴇ Cᴏʟᴏʀ ◆ #0076A4 ❘ Tʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ Cᴏʟᴏʀ ◇#91278F
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
↪ＦＵＬＬ ＮＡＭＥ↩
⌊Gideon Felix Brandt⌉
⌊GIHD • ee • uhn ❘ Warrior; Cleaver⌉
⌊fey • LEEKS ❘ Lucky⌉
⌊BRANT ❘ Sword; Weapon⌉
↪ＴＩＴＬＥ(Ｓ)↩
⌊Professional monikers include the Spectre and the Prince of Thieves. His friends, and basically everyone else, call him Felix. It's unlikely anyone even knows that's not actually his first name.⌉
↪ＧＥＮＤＥＲ↩
⌊Male⌉
↪ＡＧＥ↩
⌊25⌉
↪ＳＥＥＤ↩
⌊Larkspur ● Original Seed ● Levity, Caprice, Lightness⌉
↪ＲＯＬＥ↩
⌊The Thief⌉
↪ＳＥＸＵＡＬＩＴＹ↩
⌊Flexible, but seems to prefer women.⌉
↪ＮＡＴＩＯＮＡＬＩＴＹ↩
⌊English ● Welsh⌉
⌊Gideon Felix Brandt⌉
⌊GIHD • ee • uhn ❘ Warrior; Cleaver⌉
⌊fey • LEEKS ❘ Lucky⌉
⌊BRANT ❘ Sword; Weapon⌉
↪ＴＩＴＬＥ(Ｓ)↩
⌊Professional monikers include the Spectre and the Prince of Thieves. His friends, and basically everyone else, call him Felix. It's unlikely anyone even knows that's not actually his first name.⌉
↪ＧＥＮＤＥＲ↩
⌊Male⌉
↪ＡＧＥ↩
⌊25⌉
↪ＳＥＥＤ↩
⌊Larkspur ● Original Seed ● Levity, Caprice, Lightness⌉
↪ＲＯＬＥ↩
⌊The Thief⌉
↪ＳＥＸＵＡＬＩＴＹ↩
⌊Flexible, but seems to prefer women.⌉
↪ＮＡＴＩＯＮＡＬＩＴＹ↩
⌊English ● Welsh⌉
Look your fill if it please you, darling, though I hope you know I operate on a system of strict reciprocity.
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
↪ＨＥＩＧＨＴ ❖ ＷＥＩＧＨＴ↩
⌊6’0” ❖ 155lbs⌉
↪ＨＡＩＲ ＣＯＬＯＲ↩
⌊It is a curious phenomenon, Felix’s hair. His family’s trademark hue is a platinum blonde color, distinct in nature from the white that characterizes the king, for instance. That said, recently, it seems to have changed, bleaching out not to the snowy hue of some, but to actual translucence. Each of Felix’s individual hairs is largely devoid of any color at all. Taken together, much like the coat of a polar bear, they appear white, but the apparent shade can change at a moment’s notice depending on the surrounding lighting conditions. If the light is blueish, his hair will tint the same color, under red light, he will appear a true redhead, and under a blacklight, it’s a glowing purple. The sun seems to catch it just so and throw iridescent rainbows onto nearby surfaces, almost like it would with a properly prismatic crystal. The basic idea is the same. His hair is well-tended, though cropped short, a rebellious move in court, to be sure. It slides through the fingers like woven strands of spider-silk.⌉
↪ＥＹＥ ＣＯＬＯＲ↩
⌊Dazzling, to say the least. His direct family line usually possesses blue eyes, but to call them blue alone is to do a disservice to the color. It is a fair mix of a bright azure and a deeper kingfisher hue, the latter flecked into the former to create an almost illusory effect—where the light strikes, one or the other color will predominate. Since his unwitting ingestion of the Seed, another color has been added to them, another facet for the jeweled irises: a fascinatingly-saturated violet-purple. His eyes no longer look like anything a normal human being can or should possess, and for this reason, he’s made a point to wear shades on any occasion he can get away with it. Notably, his eyelashes are the same color as his hair.⌉
↪ＳＫＩＮ ＴＯＮＥ↩
⌊Quite fair, unsurprising considering his lifestyle.⌉
↪ＦＡＣＩＡＬ ＭＡＲＫＩＮＧＳ↩
⌊There is a natural beauty mark underneath Felix’s left eye. On most occasions, he uses cosmetic paint to give it the appearance of a spade.⌉
↪ＳＣＡＲＳ ❖ ＢＩＲＴＨＭＡＲＫＳ ❖ ＥＴＣ.↩
⌊Felix has quite a few more scars than one would expect for someone of his apparent lifestyle. Fortunately, his style choices allow him to conceal these quite easily… as well as the newer marks, the ones of uncertain origin that have started to overtake his arms and chest, including the outline, faint but present, of a Larkspur flower, right over his heart.⌉
↪ＧＥＮＥＲＡＬ ＡＰＰＥＡＲＡＮＣＥ↩
⌊There are those who, upon first meeting Felix, are inclined to describe him as something akin to a peacock bird—flashy, graceful, and more than aware of the fact of his own appeal. He wouldn’t mind the comparison so much, for after all, who does not stop to watch such a creature go by? Certainly no one with even a hint of curiosity would ignore such a thing, and the curious people are the ones he likes. There is indeed some truth to the comparison; his looks are exotic to say the least. They always have been, and the recent changes in his coloration have only served to highlight what is already present. His visage is comprised mostly of sharp angles, saved from being feminine only by the line of his jaw and nose, perhaps, for indeed the rest of him is steeped in a sort of androgynous elegance that would be just as appealing on a woman as a man.
His build tends to remove some of the ambiguity—though slender for a male, there is definition to the leanness of his musculature that betrays him for masculine. It is in the cast of his shoulders, the sharpness of his angled frame, harsher in the places a woman would be expected to be softer, more rounded. His body tapers rather than curving to the thinnest point at his waist, and his legs seem to go for miles, though perhaps that is but a trick of his comportment and tailoring, who can say? He is certainly built leanly and lightly, deceptively so, should one ever receive a demonstration of his physical capability.
Felix moves with the absolute assurance of someone completely comfortable in his own skin. Like the strutting bird, he is well-aware of his appeal, and it translates to a certain unnamable sensuality of demeanor. One gets the sense that this is a man of impeccable and discerning taste, and there is something about the utter confidence of his bearing which makes it seem that, were he to turn his attention upon another for even a moment, it would be because there was something in that other that was, just for a moment, likewise sublime. It comes as no surprise that he has many admirers at court, and perhaps even less that he seems to enjoy the attention.⌉
⌊6’0” ❖ 155lbs⌉
↪ＨＡＩＲ ＣＯＬＯＲ↩
⌊It is a curious phenomenon, Felix’s hair. His family’s trademark hue is a platinum blonde color, distinct in nature from the white that characterizes the king, for instance. That said, recently, it seems to have changed, bleaching out not to the snowy hue of some, but to actual translucence. Each of Felix’s individual hairs is largely devoid of any color at all. Taken together, much like the coat of a polar bear, they appear white, but the apparent shade can change at a moment’s notice depending on the surrounding lighting conditions. If the light is blueish, his hair will tint the same color, under red light, he will appear a true redhead, and under a blacklight, it’s a glowing purple. The sun seems to catch it just so and throw iridescent rainbows onto nearby surfaces, almost like it would with a properly prismatic crystal. The basic idea is the same. His hair is well-tended, though cropped short, a rebellious move in court, to be sure. It slides through the fingers like woven strands of spider-silk.⌉
↪ＥＹＥ ＣＯＬＯＲ↩
⌊Dazzling, to say the least. His direct family line usually possesses blue eyes, but to call them blue alone is to do a disservice to the color. It is a fair mix of a bright azure and a deeper kingfisher hue, the latter flecked into the former to create an almost illusory effect—where the light strikes, one or the other color will predominate. Since his unwitting ingestion of the Seed, another color has been added to them, another facet for the jeweled irises: a fascinatingly-saturated violet-purple. His eyes no longer look like anything a normal human being can or should possess, and for this reason, he’s made a point to wear shades on any occasion he can get away with it. Notably, his eyelashes are the same color as his hair.⌉
↪ＳＫＩＮ ＴＯＮＥ↩
⌊Quite fair, unsurprising considering his lifestyle.⌉
↪ＦＡＣＩＡＬ ＭＡＲＫＩＮＧＳ↩
⌊There is a natural beauty mark underneath Felix’s left eye. On most occasions, he uses cosmetic paint to give it the appearance of a spade.⌉
↪ＳＣＡＲＳ ❖ ＢＩＲＴＨＭＡＲＫＳ ❖ ＥＴＣ.↩
⌊Felix has quite a few more scars than one would expect for someone of his apparent lifestyle. Fortunately, his style choices allow him to conceal these quite easily… as well as the newer marks, the ones of uncertain origin that have started to overtake his arms and chest, including the outline, faint but present, of a Larkspur flower, right over his heart.⌉
↪ＧＥＮＥＲＡＬ ＡＰＰＥＡＲＡＮＣＥ↩
⌊There are those who, upon first meeting Felix, are inclined to describe him as something akin to a peacock bird—flashy, graceful, and more than aware of the fact of his own appeal. He wouldn’t mind the comparison so much, for after all, who does not stop to watch such a creature go by? Certainly no one with even a hint of curiosity would ignore such a thing, and the curious people are the ones he likes. There is indeed some truth to the comparison; his looks are exotic to say the least. They always have been, and the recent changes in his coloration have only served to highlight what is already present. His visage is comprised mostly of sharp angles, saved from being feminine only by the line of his jaw and nose, perhaps, for indeed the rest of him is steeped in a sort of androgynous elegance that would be just as appealing on a woman as a man.
His build tends to remove some of the ambiguity—though slender for a male, there is definition to the leanness of his musculature that betrays him for masculine. It is in the cast of his shoulders, the sharpness of his angled frame, harsher in the places a woman would be expected to be softer, more rounded. His body tapers rather than curving to the thinnest point at his waist, and his legs seem to go for miles, though perhaps that is but a trick of his comportment and tailoring, who can say? He is certainly built leanly and lightly, deceptively so, should one ever receive a demonstration of his physical capability.
Felix moves with the absolute assurance of someone completely comfortable in his own skin. Like the strutting bird, he is well-aware of his appeal, and it translates to a certain unnamable sensuality of demeanor. One gets the sense that this is a man of impeccable and discerning taste, and there is something about the utter confidence of his bearing which makes it seem that, were he to turn his attention upon another for even a moment, it would be because there was something in that other that was, just for a moment, likewise sublime. It comes as no surprise that he has many admirers at court, and perhaps even less that he seems to enjoy the attention.⌉
What, it wasn't obvious?
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
↪ＰＥＲＳＯＮＡＬＩＴＹ↩
§ Charismatic § Flirtatious § Obfuscating § Trickster § Perceptive §
───────────────────────────────────────────────────
⌠If all the world’s a stage, then I’m the leading man. ⌡
───────────────────────────────────────────────────
⌊Some people, by some flaw of perception or judgement, manage to be both comely and talented without having the first inkling of it. Felix… lacks such flaws in perception or judgement. Indeed, he seems at every moment to be keenly aware that he is observed, watched and studied, both because he naturally draws the eye in the way beautiful things do and because of his personality and station in life. When one is born to nobility, one is doomed to always be observed, watched, scrutinized, and judged. One can either embrace that or attempt to run from it or ignore it, and Felix has done some combination of all three, while appearing only to do the first.
His outward affectations are those of any noble fop, a little too concerned with clothes and women and whatever should happen to catch his passing fancy, as the case may be. Entirely superficial, not too bright, and very much a gilded thing in a cage, pretending to its own freedom. Indeed, there is no denying that his mannerisms to fit this pattern, and so he is often judged to be just so—and he would have it no other way. The thing about beautiful, stupid people is that they are rarely bothered to be anything other than what they already are. If everyone knew him for as clever as he was, after all, he might be bothered to go into politics or something, and goodness knows no man in his right mind wants that.
No, indeed his outward demeanor is mostly affectation, a distraction by which attention is effectively diverted from what lies beneath. There is a certain charisma to him in either mode—when wearing his mast it is the innocent charisma of a well-meaning fool, guileless and benign as a summer breeze. But when the mask falls away, he is a different kind of charismatic altogether—a reckless, dangerous charismatic, exactly the kind of person one could believe has been stealing things from under the noses of the king and all his nobles and knights for years.
In either guise, Felix enjoys the company of the fairer sex, though admittedly, he will always prefer an intelligent woman over a lovely one, not that he can let on that such is the case. He seems always lighthearted, easygoing to the point that things don’t bother him nearly as much as they should, and carelessly indifferent to the plights of others, as a good nobleman should be. Of course, the Prince of Thieves cares deeply about the plights of others, though even he is not so reckless as to let the extent of his altruism be known. No, better that even those who think they understand him believe him simple and motivated only by money and risk. He is a man of deep complexity and many guises, to the point that it is difficult to tell where one character ends and another begins—and which of them is really Felix at all.
One thing, then, can be said with great certainty—it is basically impossible to be bored in Felix’s presence. His ever-shifting landscape of traits and demeanors is liable to keep anyone guessing, and his predilection for trickery and wordplay is quite entertaining, when not turned on oneself, and indeed, perhaps even sometimes then. He is, more than anything else, a man who prizes his own freedom, his ability to make his own choices, and in that sense, the opinions of others are but secondary. He seeks no one’s approval, but nor does he act just to make people disapprove. He does what he feels like doing, says what he feels like saying, and whether anyone else understands it is rather beside the point.⌉
§ Charismatic § Flirtatious § Obfuscating § Trickster § Perceptive §
───────────────────────────────────────────────────
⌠If all the world’s a stage, then I’m the leading man. ⌡
───────────────────────────────────────────────────
⌊Some people, by some flaw of perception or judgement, manage to be both comely and talented without having the first inkling of it. Felix… lacks such flaws in perception or judgement. Indeed, he seems at every moment to be keenly aware that he is observed, watched and studied, both because he naturally draws the eye in the way beautiful things do and because of his personality and station in life. When one is born to nobility, one is doomed to always be observed, watched, scrutinized, and judged. One can either embrace that or attempt to run from it or ignore it, and Felix has done some combination of all three, while appearing only to do the first.
His outward affectations are those of any noble fop, a little too concerned with clothes and women and whatever should happen to catch his passing fancy, as the case may be. Entirely superficial, not too bright, and very much a gilded thing in a cage, pretending to its own freedom. Indeed, there is no denying that his mannerisms to fit this pattern, and so he is often judged to be just so—and he would have it no other way. The thing about beautiful, stupid people is that they are rarely bothered to be anything other than what they already are. If everyone knew him for as clever as he was, after all, he might be bothered to go into politics or something, and goodness knows no man in his right mind wants that.
No, indeed his outward demeanor is mostly affectation, a distraction by which attention is effectively diverted from what lies beneath. There is a certain charisma to him in either mode—when wearing his mast it is the innocent charisma of a well-meaning fool, guileless and benign as a summer breeze. But when the mask falls away, he is a different kind of charismatic altogether—a reckless, dangerous charismatic, exactly the kind of person one could believe has been stealing things from under the noses of the king and all his nobles and knights for years.
In either guise, Felix enjoys the company of the fairer sex, though admittedly, he will always prefer an intelligent woman over a lovely one, not that he can let on that such is the case. He seems always lighthearted, easygoing to the point that things don’t bother him nearly as much as they should, and carelessly indifferent to the plights of others, as a good nobleman should be. Of course, the Prince of Thieves cares deeply about the plights of others, though even he is not so reckless as to let the extent of his altruism be known. No, better that even those who think they understand him believe him simple and motivated only by money and risk. He is a man of deep complexity and many guises, to the point that it is difficult to tell where one character ends and another begins—and which of them is really Felix at all.
One thing, then, can be said with great certainty—it is basically impossible to be bored in Felix’s presence. His ever-shifting landscape of traits and demeanors is liable to keep anyone guessing, and his predilection for trickery and wordplay is quite entertaining, when not turned on oneself, and indeed, perhaps even sometimes then. He is, more than anything else, a man who prizes his own freedom, his ability to make his own choices, and in that sense, the opinions of others are but secondary. He seeks no one’s approval, but nor does he act just to make people disapprove. He does what he feels like doing, says what he feels like saying, and whether anyone else understands it is rather beside the point.⌉
Curiosity killed the cat, they tell me. Why does no one ever remember the second part of the adage? Satisfaction brought it back. Curiosity is nothing to be stifled.
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
↪ＬＩＫＥＳ↩
◊ Freedom ◊ ↣ Perhaps nothing in the world matters more to Felix than his ability to decide himself what he will do.
◊ A Challenge ◊ ↣ Intellectual, physical… it matters not. He is always keen to test his limits and his mettle, and improve both. Puzzles are a particular hobby of his, actually.
◊ Clever People ◊ ↣ Little is more satisfying than playing with words around people who can give as good as they get. He tends not to take rounds of verbal banter seriously, and as such is remarkably difficult to offend.
◊ Flouting Authority ◊ ↣ To the point that Felix will sometimes do something he’s not allowed to just because he’s not allowed to.
❖────────────────❖────────────────❖
↪ＤＩＳＬＩＫＥＳ↩
◆ Orders ◆ ↣ Don’t tell him what to do. He accepts advice, suggestions, and requests, but not orders. He is not a dog to be brought to heel by anyone.
◆ Court ◆ ↣ One would never guess it, by the way he behaves, but he really does despise being at court.
◆ Buzzkills ◆ ↣ Whether one is serious or flippant about something rarely changes it, so why waste all that energy being too serious? It just brings everyone else down, and only a cad intentionally does that. Notably, even when Felix isn't feeling so great about something himself, he will act as though nothing is wrong to avoid troubling others.
◆ Secrets ◆ ↣ Perhaps ironically, he doesn't like the feeling that important things are being intentionally kept from him. He’s fine with people keeping personal secrets, of course, as long as they don’t have salience.
◊ Freedom ◊ ↣ Perhaps nothing in the world matters more to Felix than his ability to decide himself what he will do.
◊ A Challenge ◊ ↣ Intellectual, physical… it matters not. He is always keen to test his limits and his mettle, and improve both. Puzzles are a particular hobby of his, actually.
◊ Clever People ◊ ↣ Little is more satisfying than playing with words around people who can give as good as they get. He tends not to take rounds of verbal banter seriously, and as such is remarkably difficult to offend.
◊ Flouting Authority ◊ ↣ To the point that Felix will sometimes do something he’s not allowed to just because he’s not allowed to.
❖────────────────❖────────────────❖
↪ＤＩＳＬＩＫＥＳ↩
◆ Orders ◆ ↣ Don’t tell him what to do. He accepts advice, suggestions, and requests, but not orders. He is not a dog to be brought to heel by anyone.
◆ Court ◆ ↣ One would never guess it, by the way he behaves, but he really does despise being at court.
◆ Buzzkills ◆ ↣ Whether one is serious or flippant about something rarely changes it, so why waste all that energy being too serious? It just brings everyone else down, and only a cad intentionally does that. Notably, even when Felix isn't feeling so great about something himself, he will act as though nothing is wrong to avoid troubling others.
◆ Secrets ◆ ↣ Perhaps ironically, he doesn't like the feeling that important things are being intentionally kept from him. He’s fine with people keeping personal secrets, of course, as long as they don’t have salience.
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
↪ＨＡＢＩＴＳ ❖ ＱＵＩＲＫＳ↩
◊ Flirting ◊ ↣ It’s honestly a reflex by this point. That said, Felix can be surprisingly good at sensing the difference between this annoying someone and making them genuinely uncomfortable, and in cases of the latter, he is generally sensitive enough to desist.
◊ Manners ◊ ↣ He may be a thief, but he’s a gentleman thief, thank you very much, and he acts the gentleman part to the nines.
◊ Hair ◊ ↣ When particularly pensive, he’ll often unconsciously play with his hair, or run his hands through it. He also seems to have a fondness for other people’s hair, especially if it has interesting qualities like color or texture.
◊ Lip-Biting ◊ ↣ Just a small tic, really. He tends to worry his lower lip with his teeth.
❖─────────────❖─────────────❖
↪ＳＴＲＥＮＧＴＨＳ↩
◆ Grace ◆ ↣ There is an uncanny, catlike balance about Felix that makes feats of climbing and height-navigation almost laughably easy for him. He’s fairly acrobatic and flexible as a rule, aided by his slimmer frame.
◆ Lockpicking ◆ ↣ What thief worth his salt can’t get through a lock or a safe? Certainly, the best of thieves makes it look easy as breathing, and Felix is the best of thieves.
◆ Martial Arts ◆ ↣ He has always found weaponry unreliable, and so has trained since his youth in several styles of barehanded fighting. He has three blackbelts.
◆ Stage Magic ◆ ↣ Felix is very good at slight-of-hand, and tricks involving distraction, misperception, and illusion. He doesn't have the ability to actually make anyone hallucinate, of course, but what he can do is enough for his purposes.
❖─────────────❖─────────────❖
↪ＷＥＡＫＮＥＳＳＥＳ↩
◊ The Mask ◊ ↣ Few people take him seriously. This can be an advantage, but as of late, he’s been reminded that it has its downsides as well.
◊ Bleeding Heart ◊ ↣ It’s concealed, but exploitable.
◊ Cynicism ◊ ↣ It’s not always easy for him to place his trust in people, and he usually doesn’t bother pretending to do so if he can’t actually do it. People tend to mistrust him in turn.
◊ Uncertainty ◊ ↣ For a man that oozes confidence the way he does, Felix can be surprisingly unsure of the rightness of his actions, and tends to second-guess himself.
❖─────────────❖─────────────❖
↪ＦＥＡＲＳ↩
◆ Confinement ◆ ↣ What does a free bird fear more than the cage?
◆ Emotional Connection ◆ ↣ He keeps his relationships of all kinds light and jovial so they don’t have to be deep and serious.
◆ Death ◆ ↣ There is so much he must yet do—to die now is to die too soon.
❖─────────────❖─────────────❖
↪ＳＥＣＲＥＴＳ↩
◊ Identity ◊ ↣ The nobility don’t know he’s a thief, and the thieves don’t know he’s a noble. It’s a delicate balancing act, to be sure.
◊ Regret ◊ ↣ For someone who seems to live solely in the present, Felix spends an awful lot of time thinking on the past. Not happily, either.
◊ Talent ◊ ↣ An adept musician, Felix has long since ceased playing.
◊ Flirting ◊ ↣ It’s honestly a reflex by this point. That said, Felix can be surprisingly good at sensing the difference between this annoying someone and making them genuinely uncomfortable, and in cases of the latter, he is generally sensitive enough to desist.
◊ Manners ◊ ↣ He may be a thief, but he’s a gentleman thief, thank you very much, and he acts the gentleman part to the nines.
◊ Hair ◊ ↣ When particularly pensive, he’ll often unconsciously play with his hair, or run his hands through it. He also seems to have a fondness for other people’s hair, especially if it has interesting qualities like color or texture.
◊ Lip-Biting ◊ ↣ Just a small tic, really. He tends to worry his lower lip with his teeth.
❖─────────────❖─────────────❖
↪ＳＴＲＥＮＧＴＨＳ↩
◆ Grace ◆ ↣ There is an uncanny, catlike balance about Felix that makes feats of climbing and height-navigation almost laughably easy for him. He’s fairly acrobatic and flexible as a rule, aided by his slimmer frame.
◆ Lockpicking ◆ ↣ What thief worth his salt can’t get through a lock or a safe? Certainly, the best of thieves makes it look easy as breathing, and Felix is the best of thieves.
◆ Martial Arts ◆ ↣ He has always found weaponry unreliable, and so has trained since his youth in several styles of barehanded fighting. He has three blackbelts.
◆ Stage Magic ◆ ↣ Felix is very good at slight-of-hand, and tricks involving distraction, misperception, and illusion. He doesn't have the ability to actually make anyone hallucinate, of course, but what he can do is enough for his purposes.
❖─────────────❖─────────────❖
↪ＷＥＡＫＮＥＳＳＥＳ↩
◊ The Mask ◊ ↣ Few people take him seriously. This can be an advantage, but as of late, he’s been reminded that it has its downsides as well.
◊ Bleeding Heart ◊ ↣ It’s concealed, but exploitable.
◊ Cynicism ◊ ↣ It’s not always easy for him to place his trust in people, and he usually doesn’t bother pretending to do so if he can’t actually do it. People tend to mistrust him in turn.
◊ Uncertainty ◊ ↣ For a man that oozes confidence the way he does, Felix can be surprisingly unsure of the rightness of his actions, and tends to second-guess himself.
❖─────────────❖─────────────❖
↪ＦＥＡＲＳ↩
◆ Confinement ◆ ↣ What does a free bird fear more than the cage?
◆ Emotional Connection ◆ ↣ He keeps his relationships of all kinds light and jovial so they don’t have to be deep and serious.
◆ Death ◆ ↣ There is so much he must yet do—to die now is to die too soon.
❖─────────────❖─────────────❖
↪ＳＥＣＲＥＴＳ↩
◊ Identity ◊ ↣ The nobility don’t know he’s a thief, and the thieves don’t know he’s a noble. It’s a delicate balancing act, to be sure.
◊ Regret ◊ ↣ For someone who seems to live solely in the present, Felix spends an awful lot of time thinking on the past. Not happily, either.
◊ Talent ◊ ↣ An adept musician, Felix has long since ceased playing.
I must confess that I do not fully understand what has happened to me, but that doesn’t mean I have to panic about it.
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
↪R E A C T I V E X A D A P T A T I O N↩
───────────────────────────────────────────────────
⌠What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.⌡
───────────────────────────────────────────────────
⌊An interesting application of a seed, to be sure. Felix, upon receiving some kind of damage, is able to instantaneously “adapt” to that damage, bolstering his resistance to it in future instances. Shooting or bludgeoning him will increase the resistance of his skin to damage, for example. If he survives a poisoning, he gains immunity, if he's burned he becomes more fire-resistant, and so on.⌉
❖─────────────❖─────────────❖
↪ＰＯＷＥＲXＬＩＭＩＴＡＴＩＯＮＳ↩
─────────────────────────────────────────────
⌠…It might still kill me. ⌡
─────────────────────────────────────────────
⌊Well, chances are good that if he’s shot in the head or poisoned with a high enough dose, he won’t survive to adapt to it next time. Also, the ability is almost entirely defensive, leaving it with few offensive applications. That’s not, of course, to say it won’t serve him well in a fight, because it will, but actually doing anything but surviving is up to him, not the Seed.⌉
❖─────────────❖─────────────❖
↪B A R E X H A N D S↩
───────────────────────────────────────────────────
⌠Why gamble by fighting with something that can be taken from you? I would rather use what is always present. ⌡
─────────────────────────────────────────────
⌊Fortunately, Felix’s proclivity to fight only with what is constantly available to him is made slightly more practical by the fact that he really knows how. His blackbelts are in Wing Chun, Aikido, and Shaolin Kung Fu, all of which he will happily discuss with any interested parties. He was also working on another art, Krav Maga, before this whole thing happened and shot his plans to oblivion.⌉
───────────────────────────────────────────────────
⌠What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.⌡
───────────────────────────────────────────────────
⌊An interesting application of a seed, to be sure. Felix, upon receiving some kind of damage, is able to instantaneously “adapt” to that damage, bolstering his resistance to it in future instances. Shooting or bludgeoning him will increase the resistance of his skin to damage, for example. If he survives a poisoning, he gains immunity, if he's burned he becomes more fire-resistant, and so on.⌉
❖─────────────❖─────────────❖
↪ＰＯＷＥＲXＬＩＭＩＴＡＴＩＯＮＳ↩
─────────────────────────────────────────────
⌠…It might still kill me. ⌡
─────────────────────────────────────────────
⌊Well, chances are good that if he’s shot in the head or poisoned with a high enough dose, he won’t survive to adapt to it next time. Also, the ability is almost entirely defensive, leaving it with few offensive applications. That’s not, of course, to say it won’t serve him well in a fight, because it will, but actually doing anything but surviving is up to him, not the Seed.⌉
❖─────────────❖─────────────❖
↪B A R E X H A N D S↩
───────────────────────────────────────────────────
⌠Why gamble by fighting with something that can be taken from you? I would rather use what is always present. ⌡
─────────────────────────────────────────────
⌊Fortunately, Felix’s proclivity to fight only with what is constantly available to him is made slightly more practical by the fact that he really knows how. His blackbelts are in Wing Chun, Aikido, and Shaolin Kung Fu, all of which he will happily discuss with any interested parties. He was also working on another art, Krav Maga, before this whole thing happened and shot his plans to oblivion.⌉
My every secret, laid bare for your perusal? I daresay you’ll have to try a little harder than this if that is what you desire.
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
↪ＢＩＯＧＲＡＰＨＹ↩
⌊Felix’s history is fundamentally the history of two different men: Gideon Felix Brandt, heir to the Brandt duchy and scion of one of the most powerful noble families under the king, and Spectre, the Prince of Thieves, proud, independent proprietor of the kingdom’s notorious criminal underbelly and black market system. Considering that people are sold on the public markets, he personally doesn’t think the Black Market should be nearly as scandalous, but there you have it.
The Brandt heir was born first, as such things go, to parents who had both availed themselves of a loveless, political marriage that nevertheless left them partners and friends with one another. Not the worst of such situations, by far, but also not the best, and clearly not, for Felix was their only child, and neither showed any interest whatsoever in having another. He was the heir, and one heir was enough… provided he could be kept safe. The Brandts were an old family, and for many generations had had something of a reputation for being one of the more martial houses in the kingdom, refusing to let their sons and daughters soften under the illusion of security.
Like his father before him, then, Felix was trained in the martial arts, both with and without weapons, though it was indubitable that he took best to the use and implementation of his own body as a weapon. His mother tutored his more tender sensibilities, making him a musician of rare acumen, and a great appreciator of art and beautiful things. He certainly has the accompanying sense of taste.
There was no mistaking, however, that that same mix of traits cultivated in one so young carried some risk. Felix’s heart was tender enough that it genuinely bled for the downtrodden, those who fell under the heel of the current system of power. His mind was sharp enough, and his body strong enough, that he decided to do something abut it, and that is how the Spectre was born. At first, it was something of a challenge, with the side benefit that the money gained from selling his stolen goods on the Black Market was untraceable, and could be given under the table to those who needed it, and those who could help them use it properly.
But within a few years, it was a full-blown enterprise. Others of similar disposition, emboldened by the Spectre’s blatant flouting of authority, joined his cause, not only as thieves, but fences, informants, bookkeepers, and even the occasional noble sponsor. All organized underneath the one figure none of them were ever sure they’d seen, and in time, the Spectre was the Prince of Thieves, still playing the part of the nobility’s foppish son at court. His deception even extended so far as robbing himself, all the better to throw suspicion.
It was on his last job that it started to rain just before he entered the mark’s home, and he thought nothing of turning his face to the sky, finding the feel of the water on his skin to be sublimely soothing. What that simple, innocent gesture would mean for him was something Felix could have predicted in none of his guises.⌉
⌊Felix’s history is fundamentally the history of two different men: Gideon Felix Brandt, heir to the Brandt duchy and scion of one of the most powerful noble families under the king, and Spectre, the Prince of Thieves, proud, independent proprietor of the kingdom’s notorious criminal underbelly and black market system. Considering that people are sold on the public markets, he personally doesn’t think the Black Market should be nearly as scandalous, but there you have it.
The Brandt heir was born first, as such things go, to parents who had both availed themselves of a loveless, political marriage that nevertheless left them partners and friends with one another. Not the worst of such situations, by far, but also not the best, and clearly not, for Felix was their only child, and neither showed any interest whatsoever in having another. He was the heir, and one heir was enough… provided he could be kept safe. The Brandts were an old family, and for many generations had had something of a reputation for being one of the more martial houses in the kingdom, refusing to let their sons and daughters soften under the illusion of security.
Like his father before him, then, Felix was trained in the martial arts, both with and without weapons, though it was indubitable that he took best to the use and implementation of his own body as a weapon. His mother tutored his more tender sensibilities, making him a musician of rare acumen, and a great appreciator of art and beautiful things. He certainly has the accompanying sense of taste.
There was no mistaking, however, that that same mix of traits cultivated in one so young carried some risk. Felix’s heart was tender enough that it genuinely bled for the downtrodden, those who fell under the heel of the current system of power. His mind was sharp enough, and his body strong enough, that he decided to do something abut it, and that is how the Spectre was born. At first, it was something of a challenge, with the side benefit that the money gained from selling his stolen goods on the Black Market was untraceable, and could be given under the table to those who needed it, and those who could help them use it properly.
But within a few years, it was a full-blown enterprise. Others of similar disposition, emboldened by the Spectre’s blatant flouting of authority, joined his cause, not only as thieves, but fences, informants, bookkeepers, and even the occasional noble sponsor. All organized underneath the one figure none of them were ever sure they’d seen, and in time, the Spectre was the Prince of Thieves, still playing the part of the nobility’s foppish son at court. His deception even extended so far as robbing himself, all the better to throw suspicion.
It was on his last job that it started to rain just before he entered the mark’s home, and he thought nothing of turning his face to the sky, finding the feel of the water on his skin to be sublimely soothing. What that simple, innocent gesture would mean for him was something Felix could have predicted in none of his guises.⌉
Yes, well… I suppose we can all be glad that our family can only influence us so far, hm?
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
▓
↪ＦＡＭＩＬＹ ❖ ＯＴＨＥＲ↩
❖ Father ↔ Lord Liam Brandt ↔ 55 ↔ Alive ❖ Felix considers his relationship with his father to be fairly average, as far as nobility is concerned. They are not affectionate with one another, certainly, but neither are they actively cold. They just both acknowledge that the primary motive for Felix’s existence was a concern about lineage—a business transaction, in all honesty. Still, Felix doesn’t resent the old man.
❖ Mother ↔ Lady Edith Brandt ↔ 53 ↔ Alive ❖ Felix does retain some tender feelings for his mother, considering all the things she nurtured in him tended in that direction anyway. He does feel affection and regard for her, though in truth it is the same kind of affection and regard others would profess to feel for a favored aunt more than a mother. Still, it is the relationship style that works for both of them, and so he doesn’t let it disturb him that it’s so.
ⒸⓄⓅⓎⓇⒾⒼⒽⓉ ⓌⒶⓇⓃⒾⓃⒼ
cs by © ઽ૮૨Α
filled by Verdandi
❖ Father ↔ Lord Liam Brandt ↔ 55 ↔ Alive ❖ Felix considers his relationship with his father to be fairly average, as far as nobility is concerned. They are not affectionate with one another, certainly, but neither are they actively cold. They just both acknowledge that the primary motive for Felix’s existence was a concern about lineage—a business transaction, in all honesty. Still, Felix doesn’t resent the old man.
❖ Mother ↔ Lady Edith Brandt ↔ 53 ↔ Alive ❖ Felix does retain some tender feelings for his mother, considering all the things she nurtured in him tended in that direction anyway. He does feel affection and regard for her, though in truth it is the same kind of affection and regard others would profess to feel for a favored aunt more than a mother. Still, it is the relationship style that works for both of them, and so he doesn’t let it disturb him that it’s so.
ⒸⓄⓅⓎⓇⒾⒼⒽⓉ ⓌⒶⓇⓃⒾⓃⒼ
cs by © ઽ૮૨Α
filled by Verdandi
