Entry tags:
Mask or Menace Application
〈 PLAYER INFO 〉
NAME: Orlando
AGE: 31
JOURNAL:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
paperback
IM / EMAIL: agreylady[at]gmail[dot]com
PLURK: paperbacks
RETURNING: yes, I play Brandon Heat and Nicholas D. Wolfwood
〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Lucius Artorius Castus, better known as Askeladd
CHARACTER AGE: mid-forties (the wiki has him at 44, I'd put him around 44)
SERIES: Vinland Saga
CHRONOLOGY: the end of episode 10 / chapter 20
CLASS: It's Complicated (I'll go with anti-villain)
HOUSING: individual housing, random city is fine
BACKGROUND: wiki
PERSONALITY:
"Do you understand, boy? Someone has to do it. Not a hero, not a god - just someone."
Askeladd is decades of lies, rationalizations, atrocities, anger, and isolation layered on top of true beliefs and attachments. He will kill a man for money, or a village for plunder. He will smile and reward you well as he leads you, while hating you and being fully willing to leave you to die. He disregards rules of honor, as they're impractical weaknesses. He steals, schemes, manipulates, and backstabs. And he looks for a man much better than he is, who has the potential to lead in a way that changes, if just a little, how cruel the world is. He looks for the best way to protect his true homeland.
Lucius Artorius Castus was named by his mother, and grew up on her stories. Stories about her homeland, Wales. Stories about the hero he was named after, a magnificent Roman general who defended what was then Britannia, who lived with the Celts rather than trying to obliterate them like the later Saxons. And stories about how the hero rests, recovering from his wounds, in a paradise to the west called Avalon, from which he will one day return to save Britannia again.
The problem is, that keeps not happening.
Askeladd was named by the people in his father's compound for whom he did the dirty, basic tasks they'd rather not deal with, in exchange for what he and his mother needed to survive. He learned how to be what others expected or wanted him to be. He learned how to keep his head down and observe, how to ingratiate himself, how to bide his time for the best opportunity. He learned how to fight, and how to kill.
The problem is, that makes him Danish.
Askeladd appears to be a Viking through and through, and one who's happy about it at that. As the leader of a mercenary band, he travels all over taking on assassinations, looking for conflicts and agreeing to work for whichever side will pay him more (if he has reason to believe they'll try to withhold payment, he'll just steal it instead), and when that's not enough just has his men raid villages. He treats his men well, laughing and joking along, seemingly unbothered by much. He drinks and eats with the rest of them, celebrating their victories along the way. He has no qualms about killing whoever is in the way or inconvenient. And there are indeed parts of this life he seems to genuinely enjoy - getting one over on others, for one, or a challenging fight.
Still, there are things that are off. He keeps himself on the edges and leaves early when the men celebrate, and never seems to actually get drunk. He may enjoy getting the money, but he's not attached to riches beyond their use in ensuring his men's loyalty and a place for them to stay over winter. He sleeps apart from the rest, when he sleeps at all. And there's that armor, an odd breastplate in a old, foreign style.
Askeladd sees himself, essentially, as a Welsh agent undercover in the rest of the world. Or at least, that's his goal. Lucius Artorius Castus may be tired of waiting for the hero to return from Avalon, but that doesn't mean he's given up on what that story represents. A just ruler, who appreciates more in life than war. Safety for the Welsh kingdoms. If he's traveling, keeping a decent position in Danish society and able to rise to a better one should he have the opportunity, maybe he'll be able to influence affairs. Maybe he'll be able to find someone worth following. Or, if that doesn't work out, push someone to become that. It's why he offers Thors leadership, even if Askeladd finishes his job killing Thors after it's clear that won't happen. It's why he gambles on Canute, believing that if he can just force the boy to grow up Canute may genuinely prove suited to being king.
Askeladd will follow that goal ruthlessly, committing even further atrocities in order to keep his chosen leader, or Wales, safe. He has absolutely no problem using other people to accomplish what he wants - in most cases, he actually defaults to seeing and treating people as tools he can manipulate. He'll regularly come after a person's psychological weak points, such as how he uses Thorfinn's anger over his father's death to keep the boy motivated or off balance. And if someone's far more trouble than they're worth, well, just kill them. He recognizes that his methods and his goals are incompatible, but in his view those methods are what you need to be able to get far enough to accomplish any change that would make them less necessary. The fact that he's willing to slaughter an entire village to ensure his troops are able to use their resources and that word of their movement can't get out is exactly why Askeladd knows he should never sit on a throne, even if it's a move that helps to ensure Canute's survival. Askeladd'll take care of the dirty work, and then maybe the idealists will have a chance.
Underneath the careless attitude, underneath the strategizing, Askeladd is a very angry man. He hates the Danes for what they do to the world, he hates (most of) his men for being typical of them. He hates himself for being yet another Danish Viking. He hates the Saxons and the Angles, for doing the same as the Danes and now having the nerve to claim they're different. He takes satisfaction in revenge, and can be crueler than necessary (well, "necessary") in the pursuit of his goals.
And perhaps even more than that, he's a sad man. He mourns the loss of things and people that were, he mourns the state of the world. "It's like nobody around here has ever heard of grace or beauty," he says at one point, sitting down on a wall that could well be another Roman ruin. (The Romans, they knew about those things.) When he says he hopes the end of the world comes soon, he isn't joking. The state of affairs can't continue, it's already terrible enough, and getting worse all the time. This is the twilight of man.
But that doesn't mean he's ready to give up while the world's still here. Someone still has to take care of things now. Someone still has to look after the few things left that are worth it. Wales, where people do remember history and value better things. Canute, once he proves worthy. And, in some cases, the people around him, which Askeladd can care more about than he would ever admit. Askeladd is, absolutely, cruel to Thorfinn, willing to leave the boy behind if he fails in a fight and willing to goad him into easily losing a duel by insulting Thorfinn's murdered father. But he also attempts to teach Thorfinn about the world, about how to survive in it, and ultimately does tell Thorfinn to stay away from a situation that the boy absolutely couldn't win in. Askeladd's spent too much of his life being wicked to do a decent job at being good to others, but he does sometimes try. It's just that he tries through things like telling them to leave, or by acting like things are normal when they've been horribly injured (up until agreeing to help them die in battle). When you've made your entire life a lie, even when you tell the truth, you can't do it directly.
POWER:
True Nature: Askeladd will be able to tell, just by looking at someone's face, what general kind of person they are. Trustworthy, kind, cruel, selfish, etc. This of course will require player permission before it's used on player characters.
Foresight: Askeladd will, in high-stakes situations, have occasional brief visions of the near future. It's enough to, say, realize the enemy will be staging a surprise attack soon and plan accordingly. It won't come up at all in everyday situations, and it's limited to a few hours ahead.
〈 CHARACTER SAMPLES 〉
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE:
[voice]
[It's late, and the hour might be part of why there's a bit of a more thoughtful note in Askeladd's conversational tone.] What stories do you have, where you come from? That's where all this talk of "heroes" comes from, isn't it? [Villains, well, that's a different matter.
His tone shifts more towards amusement.] With all the places you lot come from, there have to be plenty.
LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE:
CnC 2020
FINAL NOTES:
As I played Askeladd AU'd into CnC 2020, I would also like for him to arrive with fairly vivid memories of that timeline. I would say it's going to make him even more distrustful of everything, but that's kind of hard to do. It will amplify his feelings that so much of the world, and what he's done with his life, is a waste, and that the world should have ended already. Also, it will mean he knows how to use a cell phone.
He will be pretending he does not remember or know any of these things, because information is power and also he's an asshole.
He would be arriving with his armor and sword.
NAME: Orlando
AGE: 31
JOURNAL:
paperbackIM / EMAIL: agreylady[at]gmail[dot]com
PLURK: paperbacks
RETURNING: yes, I play Brandon Heat and Nicholas D. Wolfwood
〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Lucius Artorius Castus, better known as Askeladd
CHARACTER AGE: mid-forties (the wiki has him at 44, I'd put him around 44)
SERIES: Vinland Saga
CHRONOLOGY: the end of episode 10 / chapter 20
CLASS: It's Complicated (I'll go with anti-villain)
HOUSING: individual housing, random city is fine
BACKGROUND: wiki
PERSONALITY:
Askeladd is decades of lies, rationalizations, atrocities, anger, and isolation layered on top of true beliefs and attachments. He will kill a man for money, or a village for plunder. He will smile and reward you well as he leads you, while hating you and being fully willing to leave you to die. He disregards rules of honor, as they're impractical weaknesses. He steals, schemes, manipulates, and backstabs. And he looks for a man much better than he is, who has the potential to lead in a way that changes, if just a little, how cruel the world is. He looks for the best way to protect his true homeland.
Lucius Artorius Castus was named by his mother, and grew up on her stories. Stories about her homeland, Wales. Stories about the hero he was named after, a magnificent Roman general who defended what was then Britannia, who lived with the Celts rather than trying to obliterate them like the later Saxons. And stories about how the hero rests, recovering from his wounds, in a paradise to the west called Avalon, from which he will one day return to save Britannia again.
The problem is, that keeps not happening.
Askeladd was named by the people in his father's compound for whom he did the dirty, basic tasks they'd rather not deal with, in exchange for what he and his mother needed to survive. He learned how to be what others expected or wanted him to be. He learned how to keep his head down and observe, how to ingratiate himself, how to bide his time for the best opportunity. He learned how to fight, and how to kill.
The problem is, that makes him Danish.
Askeladd appears to be a Viking through and through, and one who's happy about it at that. As the leader of a mercenary band, he travels all over taking on assassinations, looking for conflicts and agreeing to work for whichever side will pay him more (if he has reason to believe they'll try to withhold payment, he'll just steal it instead), and when that's not enough just has his men raid villages. He treats his men well, laughing and joking along, seemingly unbothered by much. He drinks and eats with the rest of them, celebrating their victories along the way. He has no qualms about killing whoever is in the way or inconvenient. And there are indeed parts of this life he seems to genuinely enjoy - getting one over on others, for one, or a challenging fight.
Still, there are things that are off. He keeps himself on the edges and leaves early when the men celebrate, and never seems to actually get drunk. He may enjoy getting the money, but he's not attached to riches beyond their use in ensuring his men's loyalty and a place for them to stay over winter. He sleeps apart from the rest, when he sleeps at all. And there's that armor, an odd breastplate in a old, foreign style.
Askeladd sees himself, essentially, as a Welsh agent undercover in the rest of the world. Or at least, that's his goal. Lucius Artorius Castus may be tired of waiting for the hero to return from Avalon, but that doesn't mean he's given up on what that story represents. A just ruler, who appreciates more in life than war. Safety for the Welsh kingdoms. If he's traveling, keeping a decent position in Danish society and able to rise to a better one should he have the opportunity, maybe he'll be able to influence affairs. Maybe he'll be able to find someone worth following. Or, if that doesn't work out, push someone to become that. It's why he offers Thors leadership, even if Askeladd finishes his job killing Thors after it's clear that won't happen. It's why he gambles on Canute, believing that if he can just force the boy to grow up Canute may genuinely prove suited to being king.
Askeladd will follow that goal ruthlessly, committing even further atrocities in order to keep his chosen leader, or Wales, safe. He has absolutely no problem using other people to accomplish what he wants - in most cases, he actually defaults to seeing and treating people as tools he can manipulate. He'll regularly come after a person's psychological weak points, such as how he uses Thorfinn's anger over his father's death to keep the boy motivated or off balance. And if someone's far more trouble than they're worth, well, just kill them. He recognizes that his methods and his goals are incompatible, but in his view those methods are what you need to be able to get far enough to accomplish any change that would make them less necessary. The fact that he's willing to slaughter an entire village to ensure his troops are able to use their resources and that word of their movement can't get out is exactly why Askeladd knows he should never sit on a throne, even if it's a move that helps to ensure Canute's survival. Askeladd'll take care of the dirty work, and then maybe the idealists will have a chance.
Underneath the careless attitude, underneath the strategizing, Askeladd is a very angry man. He hates the Danes for what they do to the world, he hates (most of) his men for being typical of them. He hates himself for being yet another Danish Viking. He hates the Saxons and the Angles, for doing the same as the Danes and now having the nerve to claim they're different. He takes satisfaction in revenge, and can be crueler than necessary (well, "necessary") in the pursuit of his goals.
And perhaps even more than that, he's a sad man. He mourns the loss of things and people that were, he mourns the state of the world. "It's like nobody around here has ever heard of grace or beauty," he says at one point, sitting down on a wall that could well be another Roman ruin. (The Romans, they knew about those things.) When he says he hopes the end of the world comes soon, he isn't joking. The state of affairs can't continue, it's already terrible enough, and getting worse all the time. This is the twilight of man.
But that doesn't mean he's ready to give up while the world's still here. Someone still has to take care of things now. Someone still has to look after the few things left that are worth it. Wales, where people do remember history and value better things. Canute, once he proves worthy. And, in some cases, the people around him, which Askeladd can care more about than he would ever admit. Askeladd is, absolutely, cruel to Thorfinn, willing to leave the boy behind if he fails in a fight and willing to goad him into easily losing a duel by insulting Thorfinn's murdered father. But he also attempts to teach Thorfinn about the world, about how to survive in it, and ultimately does tell Thorfinn to stay away from a situation that the boy absolutely couldn't win in. Askeladd's spent too much of his life being wicked to do a decent job at being good to others, but he does sometimes try. It's just that he tries through things like telling them to leave, or by acting like things are normal when they've been horribly injured (up until agreeing to help them die in battle). When you've made your entire life a lie, even when you tell the truth, you can't do it directly.
POWER:
True Nature: Askeladd will be able to tell, just by looking at someone's face, what general kind of person they are. Trustworthy, kind, cruel, selfish, etc. This of course will require player permission before it's used on player characters.
Foresight: Askeladd will, in high-stakes situations, have occasional brief visions of the near future. It's enough to, say, realize the enemy will be staging a surprise attack soon and plan accordingly. It won't come up at all in everyday situations, and it's limited to a few hours ahead.
〈 CHARACTER SAMPLES 〉
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE:
[voice]
[It's late, and the hour might be part of why there's a bit of a more thoughtful note in Askeladd's conversational tone.] What stories do you have, where you come from? That's where all this talk of "heroes" comes from, isn't it? [Villains, well, that's a different matter.
His tone shifts more towards amusement.] With all the places you lot come from, there have to be plenty.
LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE:
CnC 2020
FINAL NOTES:
As I played Askeladd AU'd into CnC 2020, I would also like for him to arrive with fairly vivid memories of that timeline. I would say it's going to make him even more distrustful of everything, but that's kind of hard to do. It will amplify his feelings that so much of the world, and what he's done with his life, is a waste, and that the world should have ended already. Also, it will mean he knows how to use a cell phone.
He will be pretending he does not remember or know any of these things, because information is power and also he's an asshole.
He would be arriving with his armor and sword.