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frivolous_dukePlayer Name: Maresuke
Player DW:cubemun
Contact: iamcubemun[at]gmail[dot]com,![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
Maresuke
Character Number: 2
Character: Duke Alla d'Aubergine (Often times referred to as simply "Duke")
Source: Original Character
Appearance: Duke has 2 forms. He usually appears as a male human roughly 5'9" with a pale complexion. He has blue eyes and his hair is naturally a light pink. His bangs are short and stick up, yet look slightly brushed back. The rest of it is longer and falls around the back of his neck. Duke's jaw is square but tapers off into a small chin. His ears are a little on the bigger side, but tilt back rather than stick out. You'll usually find Duke wearing red, as it's his favorite color. His light blue cravat is accented with a broach that resembles frosted blue glass with a black center. (The center actually contains a few of his spots, and upon closer inspection the spots can be seen moving about.)
His secondary form is taller, standing at 7 feet. He resembles a satyr, with large curved horns and furry lower legs ending in hooves.
However, his skin is Dark Blue-Gray, with a pronounced black stripe-like pattern traveling from the top of his forehead to his groin and inner thighs. Like a dog, his eyes and lips are lined in black. However, unlike a Satyr, his ears are large "fluffy" hooded/bonnet ears, left one white and right one black. The interior fluff of each ear is opposite of the fur lining it. His tail is also nothing like a goat, dear, or other creature of the like. Instead, it's very long and cylindrical, tapering off until it ends in a plume of black fur. (Like an over sized lion tail.)
The base of his big-coiled horns are easily hidden behind his large ears and thick yet fine black hair. All the fur and hair on his body is black except for the very front of his hairline, which remains pink. Back to the horns; since they're impossible to miss. Each one is made of a blue almost-translucent bone-like material. The inner curve of each horn bears a circular spot, while the backside is ridged and more frosted than the inside. The tips fade to opaque black.
His hands are quite the opposite. Alla's fingers are of same frosted blue material, but the tips of his claws are clear. The flesh of his hands is black and they shift back to blue just past his wrists. Further down his body, one will find his feet are hooves, once again made the same as his horns and fingers. Black fur lines his lower legs, but stop just under the knee.
If Duke were to open his mouth in this form, one would find he has three rows of sharp, jagged, shark-like teeth that surround his tongue. The tongue itself is black, and twice as long as a human's.
Inside his body, in either form, he has three hearts that pump a very deep blue, almost black like substance for blood. One heart is in his chest, while the other two are located opposite each other in the lower abdomen.
Personality:
From a distance, Duke appears to be quite the gentleman. He's respectful and kind to those around him, even if they are very different from himself. He'll do his best to lift someone's spirits and/or encourage them to not give up. After he began finding himself abruptly in other worlds, Duke has grown fond of exploring and puzzle solving. He's naturally curious and not at all discomfited by new places, even if they are strange or dangerous.
However, Duke is a bit flighty. It's not uncommon for him to pause mid-sentence and become distracted by something completely unrelated. There are a lot of things that he doesn't grasp easily, leaving him very gullible. He can come off as easily excitable too, making him appear overly optimistic and enthusiastic at times. It's common for him to plunge into adventures and situations without thinking much beforehand. Except when it comes to interactions with people. He puts a great deal of thought into his reactions to them, but unfortunately he can't always manage the easily-distracted part of his nature. If he says something he shouldn't, he often overreacts to cover it up, often with hilarious consequences.
Due to his lack of forethought, Duke has grown used to being laughed at for his over-the-top behavior. When it dawns on him that he might be in a bad situation, he makes a show of panic and hysterics. He appears completely hopeless and useless, tending to flail about, worrying over sometimes the silliest of things. In most cases he's actually enjoying the situations and is just as amused as the people laughing at him. Other times he's simply calm or a little worried. His overt reactions are based on what he believes a normal person should be doing, or feeling.
In truth, most his behaviors are exaggerations of his true feelings. He uses his derpy appearance to help filter his emotions. With this method, he avoids building up deep emotion and thus triggering the curse set upon him. It's important for him to keep some distance between himself and his feelings. However, rather than withdrawing himself from everyone and everything, he tries his best to fit in. It's more fulfilling to be around people and he enjoys their company.
That being said, he's far more aware of his surroundings and inner workings than he lets on. Alla can be a bit of a snoop, listening in on other's conversations for curiosity's sake. He'll purposely act ignorant to avoid certain situations or topics, in hopes people will excuse him and move on. After all, he'd rather they consider him a dimwitted human than guess at his true nature.
Alla is terrified of losing control of himself. If he shifts into his monster form, he might do harm or frighten people he considers friends. Being so frivolous gives him control over his true feelings while allowing him to interact with others. He also finds it amusing, and often times comforting to be able to successfully interact with people. It may not look like it, but Duke cares a lot about how people perceive him and if they accept him as a person, even a foolish one.
Duke doesn't necessarily hate his true form. He's just terrified of what he might do when in that form. When he can't maintain his balance of emotions and changes into his monstrous form, he becomes lost in whatever feeling he was experiencing at the time.(Anger, Love, Panic, Arousal) He almost always regrets whatever happens afterwards and blames himself completely, even if he did no wrong.
If that isn't enough, he feels guilty, as if he has let down his Father-in-law, Airen, for not controlling himself better. Joking aside, Duke is quick to down himself and take blame for things outside of his control. There is a part of him that still feels responsible for having to inflict nightmares upon unsuspecting people just so he can live. This guilt-ridden part of himself doesn't surface much while he's in his human form, only after he transforms. It could cause a transformation otherwise after all.
History:
A god of fear attempted to make a child once. It split into two because the elements of its design conflicted with one another. Thus W and G were created. The humans on that planet feared and despised that particular god. It usually took form of a hypercane and caused other terrifying disasters. After all, it was the god of fear itself, and swelled when there was much to be afraid of.
But the people were tired and frustrated. Eventually they found a way to seal off the god of fear with the help of three other gods. Furious, G began rampaging across the islands, killing and causing thousands of humans to suffer. What he hadn't anticipated were the other gods. Each punished the son of fear for his crimes by placing curses on him. One curse per god. The first was to repay for all the lives he destroyed by aiding others on their paths to destiny. The second god stripped him of his immortality and forced him to become that which he slaughtered without discretion: human. The last god, in an attempt to keep G from repaying his crimes too quickly, decided to make the child's task completely unknown to him. Satisfied with their curses, they hurled him to another world to begin his first task.
However, the last curse didn't mesh correctly with the other two. G ended up not just losing awareness of his tasks, but of who and what he was. This caused the other curses to warp slightly due to unforeseen loopholes. (Silly gods.)
So, when he woke in the middle of nowhere without a name and no idea where he had come from, the creature assumed he was human. However, his misfortune didn't stop there. While still in his confused state, he was captured to be sold as a slave. There was little he could do about it. He couldn't remember any languages or even how to behave as a person, and so was often overlooked by potential masters. Something about him made people uneasy. That was until group of noblemen visited to buy slaves. Among them was a Duke Airen dAubergine. His colleagues thought it amusing to bring the duke to the slave house as he was strongly against the idea of keeping slaves. However, Duke dAubergine had a plan up his sleeve. He was going to purchase a slave and then help make them a successful person. His sudden strange behavior was his odd attempt to prove that slaves were just very unfortunate people and that given the right circumstances, could be just as worthy the rich and noble.
You can see where this is going. Something about G had caught his interest. On top of that, choosing him would prove to be challenging due to how the lad's grasp of the basics was considerably lacking. The duke thought "If I could bring him up right, then there would be no doubt left in anyone's minds." It was a selfish and foolish idea, but he didn't consider that or any other consequences. His decision was made and the creature bought and delivered.
Duke dAubergine's manor was quite a ways from the nearest city. He enjoyed the quiet, and often took advantage of his distance from people to study and research. However, when his new investment arrived, that would change. Airen named the wild youth Alla and began his new life as his teacher. It was less like teaching and more like training an animal. It proved to be far more difficult than the Duke anticipated. Only the youth's curiosity gave him something to work with. Over the course of several months, Alla began to be able to communicate with Airen. Around that time the Duke noticed Alla had difficulty telling certain colors apart. Then, inexplicably, the Duke's staff began to disappear or act strange, specially after returning from trips away from the manor. At first, Airen thought it was due to the unruly man he was bringing up and that people just didn't want to deal with him. However, even when Alla became more manageable, help was still difficult to find and keep.
It wasn't until Alla disappeared one day that Airen stumbled upon the reasoning. He discovered that the boy himself was using a strange magic to feed upon his servants. Alla drained them with his spots until they ran off scared, lost their minds, died of fright, or a combination of the three. Airen didn't recognize Alla at first. He was in a state of shock when he saw the monster and began to panic, calling out for the child. It wasn't until the monster answered him, repeatedly, did the truth fall into place. He could only regret not looking into the matter before.
Airen fearfully tried to cover up Alla's crimes. There was so much that could happen if people found out. Instead, he began to work on understanding Alla as a creature. He studied his behavior and found that a day or two after committing these terrible crimes, the creature would return back into a man once again. It wasn't until a few months later that Airen got better idea of Alla's methods. To test his theories, the duke came up with a way for Alla to feed without inflicting major damage on people. However, by then it had become a rumor that the dAubergine manor was haunted.
When she heard about the rumors, Arielle dAubergine, Duke Airen's daughter, decided to visit her father for a change. The girl normally stayed with other family while being schooled. She wasn't too pleased to find her father had bought a slave. Though, her angry ranting calmed when she actually met Alla and listened to him. He explained that her father taught him to read, write, and speak. However, something about Alla made her feel weary and strange, and she began to suspect he was the cause of the rumors about their house being possessed. She wasn't exactly wrong, but Airen kept the truth from his daughter and came up with multiple excuses to cover things up. After spending a short time longer with her father, Arielle returned to school, still not completely convinced.
Over the next year, the Duke continued raising Alla, finding himself more and more attached to the young man. It didn't help that the youth picked up Airen's traits and habits while learning from him, making their bond more like something between a father and son. When he felt more confident about Alla, the Duke decided to have the young man accompany him into the city occasionally. The new social experiences proved to be just as difficult as everything else. Airen never forgot what Alla could become, but worked with him to control his tantrums, specially in public.
During the winter season it was customary for the noblemen to all gather in the capital city for a meet. Usually Airen went alone, but one year he decided to bring Alla along. Bringing servants wasn't unusual, but Airen had no intentions of his charge acting as his servant. Instead, Airen treated the young man more like a son, which appalled many people and stirred up rumors. Despite Alla's efforts to be what Airen wanted him to be, the noblemen treated the youth with great disrespect. There was a moment that tested Alla's patience, but much to Airen's relief, Alla didn't transform and go crazy in front of everyone. Instead he acted silly and featherheaded, causing him to be dismissed as a fool rather than something dangerous. He would use that tactic from then on.
They left early to visit Arielle and spent the winter festival with her. It was during this time Alla and Arielle began to get along. From than forward Alla accompanied Airen whenever he visited his daughter, but their new friendship caught the attention of a distant relative, Derek, who was pursuing to wed Arielle to inherit the girls properties, title and wealth. He began to consider Alla a threat, and schemed of ways to get rid of him.
With Airen's health declining, Alla began taking care of the Duke to the best of his abilities. By then he was more or less a gentleman, if often an awkward one. He had somewhat mastered the manners and speech involved. Meanwhile, Derek had decided to use Airen's health condition to his advantage, and asked the duke permission to marry Arielle. Airen sent Derek away, saying he'd consider it. However, he truly wanted to speak with his daughter first. The young man was impatient and decided to end the duke's life early. Alla accidentally happened upon Derek slipping poison into the sick man's wine. The two immediately got into a fight. Truly enraged, Alla transformed while fighting, revealing his monstrous form. Derek escaped, half mad and spouting stories about a demon weakening Duke dAubergine.
Arielle tended to visit on breaks from school, but per Airen's request, she arrived early. During her stay Airen discussed how he wouldn't be around forever and she needed to marry, eventually bringing up Derek's proposal. She expressed no interest in Derek, but kept her feelings for Alla to herself. With time working against her, Arielle decided to confront Alla about her feelings. She found and hastily kissed him. When she made her intentions clear, Alla was completely thrown off guard. He ended up losing control of himself and transforming once again. Arielle was terrified and ran from him.
In a panic, the young duchess hurried to her father's side, trying to pull him from his bed and away from the manor. The whole shuffle nearly killed Airen. He managed to recover enough to figure out the reason for her behavior. Though, he wasn't particularly excited to hear his daughter's attempts to get close to Alla before marriage, but he still tried to reassure her. He explained how long he had known and how despite all that has happened, he still considers Alla the son he never had.
Airen asked his daughter to accept Alla for what he was and marry him. Not sure what to think, she left his side to seek Alla out. He was in his room with the door firmly locked. At first, Alla refused to be seen again while not human. The duchess had to pretend that Derek was in the manor in order to draw him out of his room. Once they were able to meet and talk again, she discovered that Alla was still the man she cared for, just in a different form. They even managed to spend an intimate night together. The next day Arielle proposed marriage and they both shared the news with Airen. No longer needing to worry about his children, the duke passed away peacefully.
Alla managed to shed his monstrous form in time for Airen's funeral. Derek, now riddled with fear, once again tried to propose to Arielle, in a desperate attempt to save her from the beast. Instead he heard her intentions to marry a slave, and a monstrous slave at that. The horrified and jealous Derek sent a large mob to attack the couple that evening. After all, their family didn't need a woman who was tainted by a devil! As you can imagine, Alla once again transformed, to defend the manor and his beloved fiancee from their attackers. He and Arielle managed to defeat them all. The next morning, Derek was taken and locked away into an institute. The two lovers decided to marry as soon as possible, before anything else attempted to separate them. However, right after being united in marriage, Alla was torn from that world and tumbling down toward the next.
Alla was stunned and confused when he arrived and immediately began searching for his wife. No one had heard of their land, manor, or any of the neighboring cities. In fact, most people didn't even understand him. A gypsy woman took interest in him, helping him to understand the basics of the world around him. The people of this world had no titles like Duke, and so it was mistaken for his name. (They also found it amusing to say.) His time in that world was fated to be short, but while there he did learn how to focus his power more specifically. He eventually befriended a strange man who took an interest in the gypsy who aided Alla. Without meaning to, he helped the two meet and find love together. Which happened to be his 'purpose' for appearing there. So, he disappeared from there soon afterward.
"Falling" into another world, Alla found himself in the middle of a lot of panic. Burning buildings and dead bodies were everywhere. In the midst of the chaos, he stumbled upon a scared and lost child. She was terrified of him at first, but he still tried to pull her away from the choking smoke and fire. A large monster stood in his way. With his newly refined powers, he managed to transform just his hands and swarm the creature with his fear-draining. He was able to kill it this way. Duke then used his spots to mimic wings, and he swept himself and the small girl out of the dying village.
The town he landed at was not far from where they were. It also had signs of disruption and attack. The little girl refused to leave Alla's side, saying she didn't want to be left alone. Duke came to find out her name was Erika, and he immediately made a foolish promise to never leave her, if that's what she wanted. So, Alla began helping to rebuild the town in exchange for food to feed Erika. The young man soon discovered that the beast he killed was using a nearby mansion as its lair. Unsure if it was the very same beast, Alla ventured into the building and ended up deciding to live there. It became his home, as the townspeople happily gave it to him. They wanted nothing to do with the cursed property.
He couldn't afford to send Erika to school or hire someone to look after her. So, the girl often wandered a little from Alla while he worked. One day she went missing, though it took him a while to realize it. She had been picked up as an orphan due to her parents being killed. When Alla finally managed to find the orphanage, Erika told him she was taken by force and really wanted to stay with him. In that case he would definitely keep his promise. Duke broke her out from the orphanage the very same night and they escaped by using his spots. He told Erika he would try to do a better job of taking care of her like a father.
Timeline: The night after he broke Erika out from an orphanage.
Abilities:
Essentially, Duke is a monster. However, due to the curse inflicted upon him, he is able to retain a human form. The downside is that he'll change into his original, monstrous form when his emotions reach a certain cumulative point. This can happen almost instantaneously. When he eventually loses steam, Duke will be able to shed his skin and return to looking human. The process does involve actual shedding of skin, horns, and other tissue. It also takes much longer than the initial transformation, anywhere from a day to a week depending on the state of his mental and physical health.
Though, without evoking a full transformation, Duke can still shift his lower arms and hands into his claws if he needs to. Just like his normal transformation, he still has to wait a while before he can shed his claws back into hands. The more of his arm he changes, the longer he has to wait.
In his natural form, Duke has slightly better hearing. However, his sense of smell is far more limited.
Duke can materialize shadowy circles that are primarily used to absorb the fear in other beings. They're a strange extension of himself and appear to weigh nothing at all. These "spots" can be used to swarm a target, overpowering someone with their fears. When in large amounts, they can resemble a swarm of insects and can also be used in dark corners as camouflage. If there are enough of them, Duke can stand on them and float, or shape them into wings to bring himself up into the air. If he hasn't fed recently, he won't be able to fly or float for very long.
These spots can slide under doors, through cracks, and small holes. While he can't exactly "see" with them, he can hear and sense things.
When he 'feeds' with the spots, they absorb fear, but don't physically harm the person in any way. He usually does this to nearby sleeping people or animals, as it will just seem like part of the dream they're having.
Weaknesses:
While attacking the spots does harm Duke, it's nearly impossible to hit them physically. They can be harmed by magic and other forms of energy. However, if one were to somehow take his spots away, Duke would run the risk of starving to death as without them, he can't consume fear. Human foods can't sustain him at all--he needs the fear to live. Also, the further his spots are from him, the more energy he has to put into sustaining them.
He also has a very specific colorblindness. It's a type of Tritanopia colorblindness, where he is able to see blue and red, but not yellow. However, how he perceives things is a bit more saturated, so red definitely stands out to him. (It's why he likes it so much)
Oh, did I mention he has a weakness for sandwiches? This dude loves them. Like, wow. Best invention ever. You could probably trap him just by using a baloney and mayonnaise sandwich as bait. Hmmmm. Maybe someone should try that sometime...
Inventory: the clothes on his back, a handkerchief with the d'Aubergine family crest, and the special broach that contains a few of his spots.
Link to an image of the character: N/A (His icons are all I have right now.)
Prose Sample:
Duke sat among the rippling flowers, leaning down quite close to admire the red ones. To Duke, the ripe greens and yellows were just muted gray, but he didn't even notice. He felt calm in the serene setting. How easy it would be to mistake the world around him for an elaborate painting.
Suddenly he shrieked! The awful sound interrupted the tranquil wind, rustling grasses, and distant bird songs--but he didn't care. Duke pushed himself off and up the ground with widened eyes. Those dots in the distance! They weren't mere flowers, or insects, were they? No no, they had a sort of humanoid shape. Small, winged humans? That would be... different. He had to see.
A startled pillywiggin emerged from behind a wildflower petal to gaze up at the source of the scream, meeting eye to eye with Alla.
Duke's jaw dropped open. He glanced to the left, to the right, and then let out another scream. "Help! Heeeeelp! I don't wish to die today!" Duke flailed about, smacking the petals off other flowers in a desperate attempt to escape. "Please, spare me!"
In the midst of his thrashing, the young man cast another glance around, curious if anyone was actually watching besides the small fairies. No one was! He didn't see a single regular-sized human. Good. He dropped his flailing act for the moment, and skimmed the flower tops, until he spotted the very thing that he was making a fuss over. The creature ducked, thinking he'd scream again, but he didn't. Considering no one had responded to his cry for help, Alla figured he was alone. With that in mind he offered the fairy a soft smile.
He was actually very curious about the small creature and tilted his head slightly to study it further. Without realizing it, he began to speak to it. "Those petals don't suit you, really. Try that red flower over there. It might be better." Duke pointed a pink wild rose to see if he'd get a response. The pillywiggin, however, didn't move at all and instead raised a puzzled eyebrow at the strange man.
Although he didn't get the response he desired, Alla found some amusement in the one he received and leaned down closer to get a better look. "You're not so much bigger than my spots." He stopped and pulled himself away as if he had just recalled something forgotten. "Why, that is precisely what I'll name you. Spot." Alla chuckled, happy with himself yet still quite calm. Despite all that screaming a moment ago.
Journal Sample:
[Clouds float by the wiggling tree-tops. Obviously the mirror is resting on the ground, pointed upwards at the sky.]
Oh, my. I don't recall falling down any holes! How did I-
[The voice abruptly stops. In it's place a closeup of a man's face, particularly a nose, eyes, and two very pink eyebrows. The blue eyes dart about, paying very close attention to the edges of the mirror itself.]
What a intricately fine mirror! Never have I seen such fine handiwork on a common household item.
[The man pulls the mirror away from his face, showing his hair matches the eyebrows. A rowan crown perches upon his head. He is wearing an alarmingly bright red suit with a light blue cravat. The man's fixed attention wavers, seeming distracted for a moment, before being pulled back towards the mirror]
I'll bet some poor young lady is missing you terribly right now. How will she ever brush her hair with you lying on the ground?
[He flips the mirror over and investigates it's backside momentarily before flipping it back around to resume his conversation with the inanimate object.]
Come, lets find you the poor unfortunate young woman who owns you. I'm sure her hair is a mess of curly twine by now.
Player DW:
cubemunContact: iamcubemun[at]gmail[dot]com,
Character Number: 2
Character: Duke Alla d'Aubergine (Often times referred to as simply "Duke")
Source: Original Character
Appearance: Duke has 2 forms. He usually appears as a male human roughly 5'9" with a pale complexion. He has blue eyes and his hair is naturally a light pink. His bangs are short and stick up, yet look slightly brushed back. The rest of it is longer and falls around the back of his neck. Duke's jaw is square but tapers off into a small chin. His ears are a little on the bigger side, but tilt back rather than stick out. You'll usually find Duke wearing red, as it's his favorite color. His light blue cravat is accented with a broach that resembles frosted blue glass with a black center. (The center actually contains a few of his spots, and upon closer inspection the spots can be seen moving about.)
His secondary form is taller, standing at 7 feet. He resembles a satyr, with large curved horns and furry lower legs ending in hooves.
However, his skin is Dark Blue-Gray, with a pronounced black stripe-like pattern traveling from the top of his forehead to his groin and inner thighs. Like a dog, his eyes and lips are lined in black. However, unlike a Satyr, his ears are large "fluffy" hooded/bonnet ears, left one white and right one black. The interior fluff of each ear is opposite of the fur lining it. His tail is also nothing like a goat, dear, or other creature of the like. Instead, it's very long and cylindrical, tapering off until it ends in a plume of black fur. (Like an over sized lion tail.)
The base of his big-coiled horns are easily hidden behind his large ears and thick yet fine black hair. All the fur and hair on his body is black except for the very front of his hairline, which remains pink. Back to the horns; since they're impossible to miss. Each one is made of a blue almost-translucent bone-like material. The inner curve of each horn bears a circular spot, while the backside is ridged and more frosted than the inside. The tips fade to opaque black.
His hands are quite the opposite. Alla's fingers are of same frosted blue material, but the tips of his claws are clear. The flesh of his hands is black and they shift back to blue just past his wrists. Further down his body, one will find his feet are hooves, once again made the same as his horns and fingers. Black fur lines his lower legs, but stop just under the knee.
If Duke were to open his mouth in this form, one would find he has three rows of sharp, jagged, shark-like teeth that surround his tongue. The tongue itself is black, and twice as long as a human's.
Inside his body, in either form, he has three hearts that pump a very deep blue, almost black like substance for blood. One heart is in his chest, while the other two are located opposite each other in the lower abdomen.
Personality:
From a distance, Duke appears to be quite the gentleman. He's respectful and kind to those around him, even if they are very different from himself. He'll do his best to lift someone's spirits and/or encourage them to not give up. After he began finding himself abruptly in other worlds, Duke has grown fond of exploring and puzzle solving. He's naturally curious and not at all discomfited by new places, even if they are strange or dangerous.
However, Duke is a bit flighty. It's not uncommon for him to pause mid-sentence and become distracted by something completely unrelated. There are a lot of things that he doesn't grasp easily, leaving him very gullible. He can come off as easily excitable too, making him appear overly optimistic and enthusiastic at times. It's common for him to plunge into adventures and situations without thinking much beforehand. Except when it comes to interactions with people. He puts a great deal of thought into his reactions to them, but unfortunately he can't always manage the easily-distracted part of his nature. If he says something he shouldn't, he often overreacts to cover it up, often with hilarious consequences.
Due to his lack of forethought, Duke has grown used to being laughed at for his over-the-top behavior. When it dawns on him that he might be in a bad situation, he makes a show of panic and hysterics. He appears completely hopeless and useless, tending to flail about, worrying over sometimes the silliest of things. In most cases he's actually enjoying the situations and is just as amused as the people laughing at him. Other times he's simply calm or a little worried. His overt reactions are based on what he believes a normal person should be doing, or feeling.
In truth, most his behaviors are exaggerations of his true feelings. He uses his derpy appearance to help filter his emotions. With this method, he avoids building up deep emotion and thus triggering the curse set upon him. It's important for him to keep some distance between himself and his feelings. However, rather than withdrawing himself from everyone and everything, he tries his best to fit in. It's more fulfilling to be around people and he enjoys their company.
That being said, he's far more aware of his surroundings and inner workings than he lets on. Alla can be a bit of a snoop, listening in on other's conversations for curiosity's sake. He'll purposely act ignorant to avoid certain situations or topics, in hopes people will excuse him and move on. After all, he'd rather they consider him a dimwitted human than guess at his true nature.
Alla is terrified of losing control of himself. If he shifts into his monster form, he might do harm or frighten people he considers friends. Being so frivolous gives him control over his true feelings while allowing him to interact with others. He also finds it amusing, and often times comforting to be able to successfully interact with people. It may not look like it, but Duke cares a lot about how people perceive him and if they accept him as a person, even a foolish one.
Duke doesn't necessarily hate his true form. He's just terrified of what he might do when in that form. When he can't maintain his balance of emotions and changes into his monstrous form, he becomes lost in whatever feeling he was experiencing at the time.(Anger, Love, Panic, Arousal) He almost always regrets whatever happens afterwards and blames himself completely, even if he did no wrong.
If that isn't enough, he feels guilty, as if he has let down his Father-in-law, Airen, for not controlling himself better. Joking aside, Duke is quick to down himself and take blame for things outside of his control. There is a part of him that still feels responsible for having to inflict nightmares upon unsuspecting people just so he can live. This guilt-ridden part of himself doesn't surface much while he's in his human form, only after he transforms. It could cause a transformation otherwise after all.
History:
A god of fear attempted to make a child once. It split into two because the elements of its design conflicted with one another. Thus W and G were created. The humans on that planet feared and despised that particular god. It usually took form of a hypercane and caused other terrifying disasters. After all, it was the god of fear itself, and swelled when there was much to be afraid of.
But the people were tired and frustrated. Eventually they found a way to seal off the god of fear with the help of three other gods. Furious, G began rampaging across the islands, killing and causing thousands of humans to suffer. What he hadn't anticipated were the other gods. Each punished the son of fear for his crimes by placing curses on him. One curse per god. The first was to repay for all the lives he destroyed by aiding others on their paths to destiny. The second god stripped him of his immortality and forced him to become that which he slaughtered without discretion: human. The last god, in an attempt to keep G from repaying his crimes too quickly, decided to make the child's task completely unknown to him. Satisfied with their curses, they hurled him to another world to begin his first task.
However, the last curse didn't mesh correctly with the other two. G ended up not just losing awareness of his tasks, but of who and what he was. This caused the other curses to warp slightly due to unforeseen loopholes. (Silly gods.)
So, when he woke in the middle of nowhere without a name and no idea where he had come from, the creature assumed he was human. However, his misfortune didn't stop there. While still in his confused state, he was captured to be sold as a slave. There was little he could do about it. He couldn't remember any languages or even how to behave as a person, and so was often overlooked by potential masters. Something about him made people uneasy. That was until group of noblemen visited to buy slaves. Among them was a Duke Airen dAubergine. His colleagues thought it amusing to bring the duke to the slave house as he was strongly against the idea of keeping slaves. However, Duke dAubergine had a plan up his sleeve. He was going to purchase a slave and then help make them a successful person. His sudden strange behavior was his odd attempt to prove that slaves were just very unfortunate people and that given the right circumstances, could be just as worthy the rich and noble.
You can see where this is going. Something about G had caught his interest. On top of that, choosing him would prove to be challenging due to how the lad's grasp of the basics was considerably lacking. The duke thought "If I could bring him up right, then there would be no doubt left in anyone's minds." It was a selfish and foolish idea, but he didn't consider that or any other consequences. His decision was made and the creature bought and delivered.
Duke dAubergine's manor was quite a ways from the nearest city. He enjoyed the quiet, and often took advantage of his distance from people to study and research. However, when his new investment arrived, that would change. Airen named the wild youth Alla and began his new life as his teacher. It was less like teaching and more like training an animal. It proved to be far more difficult than the Duke anticipated. Only the youth's curiosity gave him something to work with. Over the course of several months, Alla began to be able to communicate with Airen. Around that time the Duke noticed Alla had difficulty telling certain colors apart. Then, inexplicably, the Duke's staff began to disappear or act strange, specially after returning from trips away from the manor. At first, Airen thought it was due to the unruly man he was bringing up and that people just didn't want to deal with him. However, even when Alla became more manageable, help was still difficult to find and keep.
It wasn't until Alla disappeared one day that Airen stumbled upon the reasoning. He discovered that the boy himself was using a strange magic to feed upon his servants. Alla drained them with his spots until they ran off scared, lost their minds, died of fright, or a combination of the three. Airen didn't recognize Alla at first. He was in a state of shock when he saw the monster and began to panic, calling out for the child. It wasn't until the monster answered him, repeatedly, did the truth fall into place. He could only regret not looking into the matter before.
Airen fearfully tried to cover up Alla's crimes. There was so much that could happen if people found out. Instead, he began to work on understanding Alla as a creature. He studied his behavior and found that a day or two after committing these terrible crimes, the creature would return back into a man once again. It wasn't until a few months later that Airen got better idea of Alla's methods. To test his theories, the duke came up with a way for Alla to feed without inflicting major damage on people. However, by then it had become a rumor that the dAubergine manor was haunted.
When she heard about the rumors, Arielle dAubergine, Duke Airen's daughter, decided to visit her father for a change. The girl normally stayed with other family while being schooled. She wasn't too pleased to find her father had bought a slave. Though, her angry ranting calmed when she actually met Alla and listened to him. He explained that her father taught him to read, write, and speak. However, something about Alla made her feel weary and strange, and she began to suspect he was the cause of the rumors about their house being possessed. She wasn't exactly wrong, but Airen kept the truth from his daughter and came up with multiple excuses to cover things up. After spending a short time longer with her father, Arielle returned to school, still not completely convinced.
Over the next year, the Duke continued raising Alla, finding himself more and more attached to the young man. It didn't help that the youth picked up Airen's traits and habits while learning from him, making their bond more like something between a father and son. When he felt more confident about Alla, the Duke decided to have the young man accompany him into the city occasionally. The new social experiences proved to be just as difficult as everything else. Airen never forgot what Alla could become, but worked with him to control his tantrums, specially in public.
During the winter season it was customary for the noblemen to all gather in the capital city for a meet. Usually Airen went alone, but one year he decided to bring Alla along. Bringing servants wasn't unusual, but Airen had no intentions of his charge acting as his servant. Instead, Airen treated the young man more like a son, which appalled many people and stirred up rumors. Despite Alla's efforts to be what Airen wanted him to be, the noblemen treated the youth with great disrespect. There was a moment that tested Alla's patience, but much to Airen's relief, Alla didn't transform and go crazy in front of everyone. Instead he acted silly and featherheaded, causing him to be dismissed as a fool rather than something dangerous. He would use that tactic from then on.
They left early to visit Arielle and spent the winter festival with her. It was during this time Alla and Arielle began to get along. From than forward Alla accompanied Airen whenever he visited his daughter, but their new friendship caught the attention of a distant relative, Derek, who was pursuing to wed Arielle to inherit the girls properties, title and wealth. He began to consider Alla a threat, and schemed of ways to get rid of him.
With Airen's health declining, Alla began taking care of the Duke to the best of his abilities. By then he was more or less a gentleman, if often an awkward one. He had somewhat mastered the manners and speech involved. Meanwhile, Derek had decided to use Airen's health condition to his advantage, and asked the duke permission to marry Arielle. Airen sent Derek away, saying he'd consider it. However, he truly wanted to speak with his daughter first. The young man was impatient and decided to end the duke's life early. Alla accidentally happened upon Derek slipping poison into the sick man's wine. The two immediately got into a fight. Truly enraged, Alla transformed while fighting, revealing his monstrous form. Derek escaped, half mad and spouting stories about a demon weakening Duke dAubergine.
Arielle tended to visit on breaks from school, but per Airen's request, she arrived early. During her stay Airen discussed how he wouldn't be around forever and she needed to marry, eventually bringing up Derek's proposal. She expressed no interest in Derek, but kept her feelings for Alla to herself. With time working against her, Arielle decided to confront Alla about her feelings. She found and hastily kissed him. When she made her intentions clear, Alla was completely thrown off guard. He ended up losing control of himself and transforming once again. Arielle was terrified and ran from him.
In a panic, the young duchess hurried to her father's side, trying to pull him from his bed and away from the manor. The whole shuffle nearly killed Airen. He managed to recover enough to figure out the reason for her behavior. Though, he wasn't particularly excited to hear his daughter's attempts to get close to Alla before marriage, but he still tried to reassure her. He explained how long he had known and how despite all that has happened, he still considers Alla the son he never had.
Airen asked his daughter to accept Alla for what he was and marry him. Not sure what to think, she left his side to seek Alla out. He was in his room with the door firmly locked. At first, Alla refused to be seen again while not human. The duchess had to pretend that Derek was in the manor in order to draw him out of his room. Once they were able to meet and talk again, she discovered that Alla was still the man she cared for, just in a different form. They even managed to spend an intimate night together. The next day Arielle proposed marriage and they both shared the news with Airen. No longer needing to worry about his children, the duke passed away peacefully.
Alla managed to shed his monstrous form in time for Airen's funeral. Derek, now riddled with fear, once again tried to propose to Arielle, in a desperate attempt to save her from the beast. Instead he heard her intentions to marry a slave, and a monstrous slave at that. The horrified and jealous Derek sent a large mob to attack the couple that evening. After all, their family didn't need a woman who was tainted by a devil! As you can imagine, Alla once again transformed, to defend the manor and his beloved fiancee from their attackers. He and Arielle managed to defeat them all. The next morning, Derek was taken and locked away into an institute. The two lovers decided to marry as soon as possible, before anything else attempted to separate them. However, right after being united in marriage, Alla was torn from that world and tumbling down toward the next.
Alla was stunned and confused when he arrived and immediately began searching for his wife. No one had heard of their land, manor, or any of the neighboring cities. In fact, most people didn't even understand him. A gypsy woman took interest in him, helping him to understand the basics of the world around him. The people of this world had no titles like Duke, and so it was mistaken for his name. (They also found it amusing to say.) His time in that world was fated to be short, but while there he did learn how to focus his power more specifically. He eventually befriended a strange man who took an interest in the gypsy who aided Alla. Without meaning to, he helped the two meet and find love together. Which happened to be his 'purpose' for appearing there. So, he disappeared from there soon afterward.
"Falling" into another world, Alla found himself in the middle of a lot of panic. Burning buildings and dead bodies were everywhere. In the midst of the chaos, he stumbled upon a scared and lost child. She was terrified of him at first, but he still tried to pull her away from the choking smoke and fire. A large monster stood in his way. With his newly refined powers, he managed to transform just his hands and swarm the creature with his fear-draining. He was able to kill it this way. Duke then used his spots to mimic wings, and he swept himself and the small girl out of the dying village.
The town he landed at was not far from where they were. It also had signs of disruption and attack. The little girl refused to leave Alla's side, saying she didn't want to be left alone. Duke came to find out her name was Erika, and he immediately made a foolish promise to never leave her, if that's what she wanted. So, Alla began helping to rebuild the town in exchange for food to feed Erika. The young man soon discovered that the beast he killed was using a nearby mansion as its lair. Unsure if it was the very same beast, Alla ventured into the building and ended up deciding to live there. It became his home, as the townspeople happily gave it to him. They wanted nothing to do with the cursed property.
He couldn't afford to send Erika to school or hire someone to look after her. So, the girl often wandered a little from Alla while he worked. One day she went missing, though it took him a while to realize it. She had been picked up as an orphan due to her parents being killed. When Alla finally managed to find the orphanage, Erika told him she was taken by force and really wanted to stay with him. In that case he would definitely keep his promise. Duke broke her out from the orphanage the very same night and they escaped by using his spots. He told Erika he would try to do a better job of taking care of her like a father.
Timeline: The night after he broke Erika out from an orphanage.
Abilities:
Essentially, Duke is a monster. However, due to the curse inflicted upon him, he is able to retain a human form. The downside is that he'll change into his original, monstrous form when his emotions reach a certain cumulative point. This can happen almost instantaneously. When he eventually loses steam, Duke will be able to shed his skin and return to looking human. The process does involve actual shedding of skin, horns, and other tissue. It also takes much longer than the initial transformation, anywhere from a day to a week depending on the state of his mental and physical health.
Though, without evoking a full transformation, Duke can still shift his lower arms and hands into his claws if he needs to. Just like his normal transformation, he still has to wait a while before he can shed his claws back into hands. The more of his arm he changes, the longer he has to wait.
In his natural form, Duke has slightly better hearing. However, his sense of smell is far more limited.
Duke can materialize shadowy circles that are primarily used to absorb the fear in other beings. They're a strange extension of himself and appear to weigh nothing at all. These "spots" can be used to swarm a target, overpowering someone with their fears. When in large amounts, they can resemble a swarm of insects and can also be used in dark corners as camouflage. If there are enough of them, Duke can stand on them and float, or shape them into wings to bring himself up into the air. If he hasn't fed recently, he won't be able to fly or float for very long.
These spots can slide under doors, through cracks, and small holes. While he can't exactly "see" with them, he can hear and sense things.
When he 'feeds' with the spots, they absorb fear, but don't physically harm the person in any way. He usually does this to nearby sleeping people or animals, as it will just seem like part of the dream they're having.
Weaknesses:
While attacking the spots does harm Duke, it's nearly impossible to hit them physically. They can be harmed by magic and other forms of energy. However, if one were to somehow take his spots away, Duke would run the risk of starving to death as without them, he can't consume fear. Human foods can't sustain him at all--he needs the fear to live. Also, the further his spots are from him, the more energy he has to put into sustaining them.
He also has a very specific colorblindness. It's a type of Tritanopia colorblindness, where he is able to see blue and red, but not yellow. However, how he perceives things is a bit more saturated, so red definitely stands out to him. (It's why he likes it so much)
Oh, did I mention he has a weakness for sandwiches? This dude loves them. Like, wow. Best invention ever. You could probably trap him just by using a baloney and mayonnaise sandwich as bait. Hmmmm. Maybe someone should try that sometime...
Inventory: the clothes on his back, a handkerchief with the d'Aubergine family crest, and the special broach that contains a few of his spots.
Link to an image of the character: N/A (His icons are all I have right now.)
Prose Sample:
Duke sat among the rippling flowers, leaning down quite close to admire the red ones. To Duke, the ripe greens and yellows were just muted gray, but he didn't even notice. He felt calm in the serene setting. How easy it would be to mistake the world around him for an elaborate painting.
Suddenly he shrieked! The awful sound interrupted the tranquil wind, rustling grasses, and distant bird songs--but he didn't care. Duke pushed himself off and up the ground with widened eyes. Those dots in the distance! They weren't mere flowers, or insects, were they? No no, they had a sort of humanoid shape. Small, winged humans? That would be... different. He had to see.
A startled pillywiggin emerged from behind a wildflower petal to gaze up at the source of the scream, meeting eye to eye with Alla.
Duke's jaw dropped open. He glanced to the left, to the right, and then let out another scream. "Help! Heeeeelp! I don't wish to die today!" Duke flailed about, smacking the petals off other flowers in a desperate attempt to escape. "Please, spare me!"
In the midst of his thrashing, the young man cast another glance around, curious if anyone was actually watching besides the small fairies. No one was! He didn't see a single regular-sized human. Good. He dropped his flailing act for the moment, and skimmed the flower tops, until he spotted the very thing that he was making a fuss over. The creature ducked, thinking he'd scream again, but he didn't. Considering no one had responded to his cry for help, Alla figured he was alone. With that in mind he offered the fairy a soft smile.
He was actually very curious about the small creature and tilted his head slightly to study it further. Without realizing it, he began to speak to it. "Those petals don't suit you, really. Try that red flower over there. It might be better." Duke pointed a pink wild rose to see if he'd get a response. The pillywiggin, however, didn't move at all and instead raised a puzzled eyebrow at the strange man.
Although he didn't get the response he desired, Alla found some amusement in the one he received and leaned down closer to get a better look. "You're not so much bigger than my spots." He stopped and pulled himself away as if he had just recalled something forgotten. "Why, that is precisely what I'll name you. Spot." Alla chuckled, happy with himself yet still quite calm. Despite all that screaming a moment ago.
Journal Sample:
[Clouds float by the wiggling tree-tops. Obviously the mirror is resting on the ground, pointed upwards at the sky.]
Oh, my. I don't recall falling down any holes! How did I-
[The voice abruptly stops. In it's place a closeup of a man's face, particularly a nose, eyes, and two very pink eyebrows. The blue eyes dart about, paying very close attention to the edges of the mirror itself.]
What a intricately fine mirror! Never have I seen such fine handiwork on a common household item.
[The man pulls the mirror away from his face, showing his hair matches the eyebrows. A rowan crown perches upon his head. He is wearing an alarmingly bright red suit with a light blue cravat. The man's fixed attention wavers, seeming distracted for a moment, before being pulled back towards the mirror]
I'll bet some poor young lady is missing you terribly right now. How will she ever brush her hair with you lying on the ground?
[He flips the mirror over and investigates it's backside momentarily before flipping it back around to resume his conversation with the inanimate object.]
Come, lets find you the poor unfortunate young woman who owns you. I'm sure her hair is a mess of curly twine by now.
