Horus Falconer, Full-Time Jerk Age: 24. Gender: Male. Race: Hylian. Power: *** Wisdom: ** Courage: **** Class: Swordsman. Alignment: True Neutral. Home Horus’s home base is a structurally intact ruin not far from the Castle of Ikana. He inhabits it alongside his girlfriend Luna, his godfather Bertrand, and their herbalist Frederick, and he considers it ‘as close to home as Ikana will get.’ Companions - Luna: Horus's protégée and girlfriend, whom he is eternally devoted to and protects at all costs. While she isn’t exempt from his ill temper and anger, he has never physically hurt her. - Bertrand (NPC): A friend and subordinate of Horus' late father, and Horus' godfather and right-hand man. Immense both in stature and in strength, he is the strong-arm of the group to complement Horus’s agility and versatility. - Frederick (NPC): One of Horus' allies. A herbalist and wizard to whom the company owes their lives many times over. He is stoic and warms slowly, but devoted and valued nonetheless. - Cryo (Unusual Companion): Although he is far more attached to Luna than to him, the enormous bird with its affinity for ice has taken a shine to Horus as well following its rescue. Acquaintances - Morgan Liesmith: A young Hylian man Horus and Luna first met when they sought herbs for Frederick's recovery. He reminds Horus of himself when he was younger, and as such he is strangely tolerant of and patient with Morgan. Relatives - Pierce Falconer (Deceased): Horus' late father. He commanded a group of warriors that devoted themselves to keeping Rauru safe up until Ganon's attack. Horus' coat and sword are heirlooms of Pierce, and he taught his son the basics of swordplay and archery. - Alison Falconer (Deceased): Horus' late mother. Loved not only by Pierce but also by Bertrand, Alison was a medic who was often tasked with the care for the wounded amongst Pierce's warriors. She taught Horus magic and helped him care for Luna in the beginning. Weapons - Sword: Horus' primary weapon is the sword he inherited from his father. It's a normal, well-used and well-balanced sword, with the name of Pierce Falconer engraved just above the hilt. - Dagger: Horus's secondary weapon is a dagger he uses as off-hand weapon, parrying weapon, and even as a tool. It is not designed for thrown use, however. - Crossbow: When enemies are so far away Horus' sword can't reach or so powerful that melee range is dangerous, Horus resorts to his crossbow. Swordplay - Hero’s Legacy: Horus was born to the leader of a band of vigilante-like mercenaries and has inherited some of his father’s talents. These were further honed by training with his godfather, himself a gifted warrior. This makes it easier for Horus to pick up advanced swordplay. - Spin Attack: Although he had forgotten it for a while, Horus has remembered how to use the Spin Attack Hylian swordsmen are well-known for by infusing his sword with pure willpower. - Mortal Draw: The intangible part of Pierce's inheritance, which Horus has finally mastered. It is a single blow that channels all of Horus's strength and protectiveness into a guaranteed kill. - Dolphin Slash: Horus's sword seems to develop a will of its own and launches both itself and its wielder almost five metres up in the air, delivering a vicious stab. It involves a rough landing that seems to make Horus nervous. Instincts - Sense: Horus has the strong and reliable ability to sense when he is in danger. As common as it is among the Hylian race, he considers it one of the many things that have kept him alive for this long. - Lovers' Bond {Luna}: Horus' love for Luna is rooted so deeply that it has affected his psyche. He can sense danger to her as surely as to himself, and always instinctively knows where and how far away she is relative to himself. Magic - Needle Storm: Using his limited magical talents, Horus flicks his wrist, conjuring up a needle between two bent fingers. He can conjure up up to three needles this way, before throwing them. - Wizard Foot {Force Variant}: A more obvious application for his limited magic, Horus greatly enhances the power of his kicks. This spell leaves him completely drained and out of breath though. - Spirit Form: By willing his spirit to separate from his body, Horus can assume an intangible, spectral form. However, this does leave his body vulnerable. Other Possessions - Grappling Hook: A simple three-pronged hook attached to a good couple yards of sturdy rope. Horus' Grappling Hook is one of his most used tools in scaling the sometimes treacherous Ikanan terrain. - Roc's Feather: A ragged-looking, but clean brown feather. When Horus sticks it behind his ear or simply clutches it, it allows him to jump much higher or farther than he usually could. - Rebirth Stone: A diamond-shaped, pearly white stone that Luna and Frederick both say radiates an uncanny, but non-hostile kind of magic. Appearance: A far cry from the skinny and scared boy that came to Ikana with his parents, Horus is a young man blessed with physical strength and great agility; and it shows. He is tall and well-built, years of training and exploring in Ikana having left their mark on his physique. Although his entire body is toned, his legs are especially strong, owing to years of climbing, running, and using kicks to fight. Although Horus does bear scars, they are all on his arms, legs, and torso, and his face is free of them. Despite his life in Ikana, he appears well-groomed, making sure to take care of himself and his appearance. Horus is easily identified, by virtue of his bright red hair. He uses his dagger to cut it, so it’s somewhat messy, but he keeps it just short enough that it doesn’t pose a hindrance to his daily activities. Because his face is normally locked in an expression of distrust, disinterest, or open hostility, he can be hard to read, but those who know him well know that his bright blue eyes cannot hide anything. They betray that beneath his hard and defensive exterior there is kindness and gentleness. Like any other Hylian, Horus has distinct pointed ears. Almost all of Horus’s possessions are inherited from his father Pierce, whom he takes after greatly. Most of his clothing is quite nondescript, save for his trademark: his black longcoat. It has certainly seen better days, but alongside his sword it is his most treasured possession and he is rarely if ever seen without it. He carries his main weapons openly, making no secret of the fact he is armed- bearing his sword on his waist and his crossbow on his back. Personality Several terms have been used to describe Horus; ‘heartless bastard’, ‘selfish asshole’, and the more common ‘jerk’ foremost among them. Although certainly not images of himself Horus actively tries to discourage, these are only partially accurate. Horus has an extremely distrustful nature, a vile temper, and precious little restraint, especially once angered. Understandably, he is not easy to get along with by any stretch of the imagination, and his brutal honesty, combined with his dominant personality and his violent tendencies, have given rise to these hostile images of him. In fact, Horus himself identifies as aggressive and direct, preferring immediate action and quick decisions over long discussions to find the best way to tackle a problem. When asked, he expresses that ‘that’s what Luna’s for’ and this mentality has kept him alive to adulthood, making it a tried-and-true method to battle and survival alike. He detests sitting still or wasting time, and will take out his frustrations on anyone he perceives as doing either. When he does snap, he can be terribly intimidating… but as his companions agree, it is when Horus stops shouting that one needs to be afraid. However, he is not without good traits. Living in Ikana has made him a tenacious and determined man, who will see anything he starts through to the end, and he is fiercely loyal to his surviving companions, refusing to lose anyone else to death. In particular, however, Horus prioritizes the safety and well-being of his sole female companion Luna above all else, even his own life. He loves her deeply, and even though she is not immune or exempt from his fits of rage, under normal circumstances he speaks to her much more softly than he does to anyone else, and he values her opinion more than even his own. This softer, caring side of Horus vanishes into thin air the moment he is provoked, however, and very few people have his trust to a point where he is comfortable dropping his guard around them. History Horus was born to Pierce and Alison Falconer, inhabitants and guardians of Rauru, and vaguely remembers a time when Southern Hyrule was not on the grip of Ganon’s dark fist. However, he was no older than five when that changed, forcing the family and their friends to flee Rauru as soon as they had helped evacuate the civilians. Knowing that the Eastern Caves wouldn’t be able to handle the full influx of refugees from Rauru and Ruto, Pierce suggested an alternative route into the unknown- a dangerous gamble, considering the young Horus, but one he felt he had little choice in taking. In a way, their gamble paid off. Although they lost at least half their number to pursuers, the survivors managed to cross the mountains separating Hyrule from another kingdom, and settled in a land now known as Ikana. They acknowledged it wasn’t ideal –surrounded by undead, friendly though they were, and with the land less than fertile when not outright hostile- but they were alive, they could stay alive for a while longer, as King Igos was generous enough to grant them asylum and none of Ganon’s troops would enter Ikana and still pose a threat. Pierce in particular earned Igos’s respect when he and his best men joined a squad of Stalfos in fighting off several threats to the kingdom, and ended up becoming somewhat of a confidant to the king up until his untimely death- both Pierce and Alison, like many of their number, finally succumbed to an infectious disease, leaving their barely teenaged son to fend for himself. Well, not entirely. Ever since the day his parents died, Horus has been in the care of his godfather Bertrand, who had served as Pierce’s right-hand man and best friend. He learnt swordplay and archery with the weapons he inherited from his father, as well as perfecting the few magic spells his mother had taught him. As he reached sixteen years of age, he had developed his current dominant and aggressive personality, actively taking a leadership role among the survivors. None challenged him, knowing that he took after Pierce in many ways and trusting that despite his ill temper he would make the right decisions. As the years passed, Horus has grown close to one of his companions in particular; Luna, the girl they had encountered on their way to the mountains and taken into their company. Although he primarily considers himself her protector and caretaker, the two have fallen in love, finally leading to Horus having given her his mother’s ring, signifying a promise- even after they escape Ikana, they will still spend their lives together. Their bond is so close that Luna claims she had dueled Death on Horus’s part, although Horus himself has no memory of this. He believes her, though, as tricks of higher powers and diabolical beings are normal here; as proven by an encounter with a strange being that took his Spin Attack and instead gave him Dolphin Slash. Ever since that day, Horus has been plagued by nightmares of his illusory younger self shattering his own legs over and over again, but he has not told anyone this. Ikana is an unusual place to live, and so the two go through certain trials that seem surreal to inhabitants of the safer North. One of these trials occurred when the two somehow found themselves in a forest rather than at home, taking shelter from the rain in what turned out to be a temple housing a great evil. Upon cleansing the temple the two found their way home as inexplicably as they had left it, although Bertrand and Frederick insist the two had been asleep the whole time. More disconcerting is when the very reality that holds Ikana seems to crumble, such as when the ReDead became much more aggressive than they used to be and the Stalfos, normally dedicated to protecting the inhabitants of Ikana, simply let them attack the living. Traversing the sewage system of Ikana to circumvent the sealed gates of the castle, Horus and Luna confronted King Igos in hopes of getting answers, only to find His Majesty maddened by a curse that was not broken until they bested him in battle. Their King requested their help in quelling it by cutting it off at the source, before it would rob all Undead in Ikana of their sanity and reduce them to mere monsters. They agreed, but had to put the investigation and purification on hold on account of their companion Frederick recovering poorly from a ReDead bite sustained because of the curse. They set out to gather herbs for a restorative concoction, meeting with an enormous icy bird on the way. Having befriended the bird, delivered the herbs, and ensured the now-swift recovery of their friend, the two can finally turn their sights on the Stone Towers where the curse originated… But reality breaking down remains a problem. Before making their way to the Stone Towers, the two stumbled across what Luna describes as an irregularity in the structure of the world, which threw them to the other side of Hyrule. Here, they met Julius Surgate and Silas Longfellow, who filled them in; a portal to what seemed to be an entirely different world had appeared and was causing trouble. Now that they were there anyway, Horus and Luna offered their help dealing with the undead and the strange things on the other side, following which they were thrust back into Ikana as suddenly as they had left it, with no knowledge of whether they succeeded or not. Horus is confident that he and Luna can handle anything life throws at them, even if they don’t know what the future holds for them. 3 Rupee/Treasure history (Move your mouse to reveal the content) Rupee/Treasure history (open) Rupee/Treasure history (close) Character Creation: Character Creation +100 r. Sense -0 r. Hero’s Legacy -0 r. Spin Attack -0 r. Needle Storm -25 r. Wizard Foot -40 r. Roleplaying spoils: Bottom of the Well: Roc's Feather -30 r. Ancient Castle of Ikana: +10 r. Ancient Cistern: Rebirth Stone, +35 r. Sub-account Bonus: Lovers' Bond {Luna} The Twister: Dolphin Slash, -Spin Attack, -7 r. A Healthy Encounter: Mortal Draw, -40 r. The Spirits' Playing Ground: Spirit Form, Spin Attack. Current Balance: 3 r. Currently ongoing threads: * Stone Tower Temple: The continuation of Bottom of the Well and Ancient Castle of Ikana, in which they finally address and hopefully cleanse the curse robbing the Stalfos of their sapience.
