Name:
Liam Valence
Age:
28 years old
Appearance:
An originally soft set of facial features found themselves turning rougher with time on this stoic man. Bearing light blue eyes of normal size, golden-brown short, roughly cut and straight hair that doesn’t even reach his ears and a slightly tan complexion, his face is rarely ever shown to be in anything except a neutral expression or a frown of sorts… yet, if one was to get a glimpse of his face during certain nights, they would identify an extremely intense anguish and nostalgia emanating from a simple frown, twitching and cracking here and there. Finally, the last noteworthy feature on his face would be the always closed and scarred left eyelid, which despite healing, always remained closed and even ever so slightly sunken in, alongside other bigger and smaller scars littered around his head.
Apart from this, he has a somewhat tall and stocky build full of useful and well trained muscles, standing at around 5’10’’ and weighing 190 pounds. There are also outstanding scars on all of his body, especially around the right arm area which looked like it had been clawed brutally more than once. His hands are also calloused from using weapons for all of his life.
Personality: A stoic, seemingly cold and observant man, an individual who never shows a smile and is burdened with heavy trauma and loss from his past, and what he felt was his own failing at protecting what was important in his life: his sister. As such, the man known as Liam accrued a strong desire for his own end.... yet was also ultimately unwilling and unable to take such a step himself, nor die a simple cowards death, not when his village was ravaged and his sister killed by harmful supernatural beings.
This gave birth to a sense of duty and bloodlust towards beings and phenomena considered supernatural that can harm normal people, despite being far from normal himself. He pursued contracts and work of such path for years with reckless abandon, almost being crippled a few times and becoming scarred all over... but never satisfied, nor ever going down, the unwavering sense of regret and duty keeping the man on his feet despite how badly it hurt at times.
And all of this... is the twisted result of what originally was a gentle and kind man with strong curiosity and an even stronger desire to protect those that he loved and his hometown... but the moment he believed his sister to have been killed in the village attack of werewolves, a hateful and dutyful fire was lit in his soul and mind, and has been pursuing such endeavors ever since... yet, such kindness and gentleness ocassional breaks from his stoic and cold figure in small acts of kindness, his hobby of wood-carving (incidentally acquired while training trapmaking), and his soft, somewhat low but flexible and beautiful singing voice, singing the Grand ode with true understanding of the first four parts despite his current state... Something that his best friend back home understands, and tries to give Liam a place where he can at least display such tendencies in peace when not fighting.
Canon:
OC
Powers/Abilities:
Power: The biggest and only ‘supernatural’ power Liam possesses is part of the legacy of his village of hunters he has left behind since the faithful day of the werewolf attack. It's the song known as the Grand ode of hunters, of unknown origin to everyone but the chief of the village, as its extremely secret information of an already secretive group.
The song itself is composed of 7 fragments in a strange and old tongue, many of the pieces being substantially different from each other in tone and style, but all being able to be chained together if done with mastery and understanding. It's a retelling of the ancestors who founded the Hunting village in the distant past, a melody that calls upon nature and the world itself to empower the singer based on the specific story being told in song. Liam possess and has mastery over 4 of the seven song forms, that must be sung out-loud and not interrupted for them to take effect, on top of requiring a literary understanding of the emotions and intentions behind each fragment to display their power. (Names are a WIP)
1) XXX:how they moved through difficulties in nature and the unknown, to sleep under the stars giving them hope that one day, they would find a safe place to live in without fear (the Lullaby that Liam would sing and the first song he learned). Its effect would be to enhance the strength and durability of the person or an object in the symbol of resilience and hope in the face of adversity in a constant manner.
2) XXX:How after such a journey, the people found a valley to call home, but the fear of their surroundings, of the unknown and the supernatural terrified them due to the loss they suffered on the way and their natural fear, keeping them wary and always sharp on the surroundings. It sounds more like a tense yet quiet Elegy which enhances all of the senses and reflexes of the user, even adding a certain ‘sixth’ sense that if deprived of everything else, lets the singer understand their immediate surroundings.
3) XXX:After finding a home, the people were at risk of being pushed away from it and pursued… for the first time, Valor and resolve were mustered and the village stood its ground against the supernatural and unknown, heroically repealing it and securing their home for good. A song with the bearing of a Poem epic, one that invigorates the soul and body and prepares them for combat by stabilizing their mental state and restoring calmness, alongside Allowing for a short burst of strength and speed from the body far stronger than the lullaby could ever allow, at the cost of high exhaustion and strain afterwards
4) XXX:To take a step further from only staying at their home: To explore and fight their way through the supernatural and unknown to learn of the world, but smartly. To sneak, to observe, to strike by surprise, to study from the darkness to be able to confront. Its another quiet and tense song poem, this one evoking carefulness yet underlying bloodthirst ready to break out at any moment, commonplace among the new generation of hunters of the era. It thins the presence of the singer and steadily muffles the noises generated by the person alongside traces of heat that could emanate from them alongside being able to enhance the mental processing ability of an individual as long as they can remain focused. All the songs require some level of concentration and good execution, but this one is the most demanding one by far from the 7 known songs.
Beyond this, Liam is an accomplished sword and spear fighter, an outstanding marksman and a good survivalist and trap-maker… beyond that and some cooking, the man doesn’t have many more skills, he is even lacking somewhat in social skills, despite his best friend’s best efforts.
Equipment:
An assortment of ointments, healing powders and medicine alongside some tools to fight creatures, like substances with obnoxious and powerful smells, small and powerful contact bombs (more akin to grenades than true bombs).
A longsword by his waist made by one of the only people he holds dear, practical with only some engraving in the pommel, a strong wooden bow made of rare materials that only requires maintenance to remain in peak condition, a carving knife and an odd but special telescopic (retractable) spear that is hung besides his sword.
some rope and other miscellaneous survival and useful items packed in a bag that he carries on his shoulder usually.
Motivation:
To put it shortly: Somewhere in his heart, Liam wants to find out how to undo immortality or at least understanding, as to come to understand how to end it. From where he stands, the most unnatural and supernatural existences are the kind that approach this concept ever closer… and to understand it, could lead to knowing how to deal with such creatures better.
Even beyond that, there’s a hint in his own heart that maybe he could bring back his sister who he presumed dead… but it's a minor thing compared to the rest of his motivations, a temptation from trauma and not knowing the truth.. He also would be more than enthusiastic when it comes to cleansing a foreign place from foreign supernatural phenomena and creatures… the dragonrot included.
Backstory: WIP
Extra:
Despite starting solo, he is also expected to meet his sister Rayda who he presumed dead for years now in his venture, making his motivation possible to change as well. From the temptation to desiring to understand this immortality so he may have the slimmest of chances to reverse a transformation like being a werewolf… if such is not possible, to see what he could gain from this whole experience.
Group:
They enter on their own and will work on their own, for now but will eventually meet his only living family.