"Death is easy. Happiness though? Much harder."
Name: Allereun Usheim
Age: 21
Rank: N/A
Class: Alchemical Apothecary
Weapon
Allereun doesn't like getting caught with his pants down. Though he's physically strong, there's probably meatheads out there that can shrug off having a floor dropped on their heads, or something similarly stupid. To deal with those shenanigans, he always has a whole bunch of small bombs prepared in his bags, from smoke bombs to pepper bombs to flash bombs to super pretty fireworks.
Of course, maybe if he applied some more black powder, he'd be able to create an actual bomb…but that'd be a gory mess. Allereun prides himself in being someone who creates happiness. Other alchemists can be dunderheads, patting themselves on the back for creating grenades and silly destructive shit.
For all that talk of creating happiness, though, he still carries a sling and a short sword with him, and has used both more than once in the past.
Personality & Backstory
The son of a fireworks maker, Allereun was old enough to understand that when his mother left his father, she wasn't planning on coming back. It seemed to affect him less than it should have, but, regardless, not having a mother meant that someone else had to take care of his little sister, Carol. That someone was himself, and inbetween learning the firework-making trade with his father and doing guy things with the kids down the river, Allereun had to make sure his crybaby sister didn't do something stupid like drop her doll in a cauldron. It was tiring, at times, but he cultivated a sense of responsibility early on as a result.
Not that the sense of responsibility lasted once he became 13 years old and left his home to seek fortunes elsewhere. Explosions were cool when he was five, maybe six years old, but the mature Allereun that just hit puberty wanted something more. He wanted to understand the world through the lenses of cold, hard science, and, more than that, he wanted to make people happy.
So, his answer? Become an alchemist and invent a potion of happiness.
Allereun picked up basic knowledge from some guy whose name he doesn't remember anymore, and applied his own fireworks knowledge to it as well. The pursuit of knowledge made him a journeyman, and to make ends meet, the young traveller started selling fireworks, before moving onto the much more lucrative business of selling sketchy love potions to doting young maidens. Before he even had his first kiss, he was already comfortable with talking with all sorts of women, and Allereun's extroverted, boyish self simply became more and more pronounced. Isolation on the road taught him to talk to himself to stay sane (though everyone else must have thought he was a madman), while days living off pennies made him one of the most annoying hagglers in the market. Those were all good things, and he even learned to bluff his way out of a whole bunch of bad situations involving bad men…though that same proficiency in deception had also been applied to scam the unwashed masses into purchasing his wares.
His potions did work, honestly. He just omitted the fact that they were all still...experimental.
Most importantly, however, he learned that cooking and performing alchemical experiments weren't that different, and after a few years, became a rather accomplished cook, collecting recipes both for meals and for suspicious drugs. Doing things methodically became quite enjoyable, and setting his routines to song made those routines even more fun.
Sucks to be the person who has to listen to his songs though. Allereun can think up of beautiful words, but he can't articulate them worth shit.
Abilities
Allereun is an alchemist, and a pretty good one at that, if he's able to make up his own formulas without exploding his face. Though he lacks a proper atelier, he carries basic tools with him, as well as a large messenger bag full of base components. Veering away from the deadly poisons and life-saving medicines that people always assume those of his profession specialize in, the youth focuses more on…other things.
Sleeping powder, aphrodisiacs, pain killers, and everything else that covers the spectrum of 'not technically harming the human body but still having profound effects on it', that's what he puts effort towards. Outside of that, he's also rather good with the construction of fireworks, which is where he gets most of his anti-bandit measures when travelling alone, and, perhaps as a result of working closely with explosives, Allereun has nerves of steel in stressful situations. Unless he's in actual, physical pain. Then that really sucks.
Furthermore, though it pains him to admit it, he does have some modicum of magical ability: the ability to enhance the effectiveness of small items. Pepper becomes spicier, black powder becomes explodier, rocks become harder, that sort of stuff. It's often too hard to do it within combat, but what's amazing about Allereun's Enhancement is that it lasts. The quality of those items are permanently raised, and he can continue to improve them. The higher quality an item is, however, the harder it is to raise that quality with magic. Thus, regrettably, he can't make a spice of infinite spiciness.
And finally, though not nearly enough to face down some badass sword dancer or hit the asshole of a horsefly at 30 meters while blind and underwater, Allereun does reckon that he's fairly decent in handling a short sword and a sling.
Favourite JRPGS: Etrian Odyssey Untold, Bravely Default
Theme Song
