Post by Nicholas Foster on Aug 12, 2009 4:34:24 GMT
Nicholas Foster
L’amore vincera [/CENTER]
[/size]character basics
NICKNAMES: “Gumdrop” (But the only person who ever called him that is dead.)
AGE: 115 (Appears to be 25)
BIRTHDAY: November 18
GROUP: Dark Being
SPECIES: Vampire
OCCUPATION Head Security Guard
GENDER: Male
PLAY-BY: Josh Grobanappearance
Nicholas is lean, with a long face, which gives people the impression that he’s taller than he actually is (about 5’8”). His unruly brown curls also add to the illusion of height. While not overly buff, Nicholas’s body is tight and toned. His skin is pale, and when he smiles, he reveals twin fangs.
A thin layer of stubble usually covers Nicholas’s chin, although he never lets it grow into a beard. His eyes are the same shade of brown as milk chocolate. More than any other feature on his face, Nicholas’s thick eyebrows betray his emotions, drawing together when he is concerned or jumping up like startled caterpillars when he is surprised
Nicholas always wears a Medal of Saint Michael on a leather cord around his neck. It was a gift from the woman he loved and is the one holy symbol he can touch without any pain.personality
Nicholas hates leaving the cabaret. The world has become too loud and bright and crowded for his tastes. On the rare occasions when he does go out, he favors the parts of the city which remain much as they were a hundred years ago.
Due to a deal gone wrong, Nicholas is mute. And this doesn’t impact his job nearly as much as you’d think it would -- when you’re banging heads together or tossing people out the back door, there’s really not much to say. Nicholas’s inability to speak does keep many people from realizing that he’s rather shy and awkward. Instead, they assume that the Head of Security is a stoic badass.
As a vampire, Nicholas needs to feed. But he vowed that he would never kill in a moment of rage or hunger -- whenever Nicholas comes close to breaking that vow, the Medal of Saint Michael begins to burn his flesh like a warning. Instead of letting frenzy drive him, Nicholas drinks the blood of those who his bosses wish to see disappear, murdering them with cool professionalism and neatly disposing of the bodies.
Nicholas never carries a gun, preferring to rely on his vampire speed and strength rather than some newfangled device.
Having outlived everyone who ever mattered to him, Nicholas isn’t eager to forge new bonds. He doesn’t want to deal with the pain of losing anyone else. Instead of making friends, Nicholas tries to focus all of his energy on doing his job.
But, for better or for worse, there’s a part of Nicholas which still remembers the joy of loving someone. And no matter how hard he struggles against it, his heart longs to find a new soul mate. Beneath the impassive exterior, Nicholas is actually something of a romantic, with a particular weakness for damsels in distress.
Nicholas isn’t evil because of any passionate belief. He’s evil because it became the path of least resistance. If someone reminded him of the things which once stirred his heart, he might be brought over to the side of Light.family & history
Father: Dead
Mother: Dead
Siblings: None
Others: Not at the moment
(Nicholas is a character I’ve written before, so please excuse the long and slightly convoluted history.)
The story begins nearly a hundred years ago, with a young man who wanted to become a great singer. Unfortunately, no matter how much Nicholas studied and practiced, he just couldn’t give his voice that extra spark it needed. Until he met a taintling (a human/demon crossbreed) named Kale.
Nicholas never would have signed over his soul to Kale -- he was still too good and noble for that. But Kale wanted something much more harmless. In exchange for a magnificent singing voice, all Nicholas needed to do was secure a job at a local candy shop and befriend the white witch (Pepper) who ran it. Simple enough, right?
However, when demons (or taintlings) are involved, nothing is ever simple. Nicholas and Pepper fell in love. Meanwhile, Kale’s demands kept increasing, until he tricked Nicholas into helping him kidnap Pepper. That was the final straw. Nicholas broke his deal and rescued the woman he loved. But there was a price -- there’s always a price. Kale not only took back Nicholas’s ability to sing, he also took his voice, leaving Nicholas mute.
But does lack of speech matter when you’re in love? Pepper and Nicholas had a child together. A daughter. Unfortunately, their life was not destined to remain peaceful. The reason Kale had been so interested in Pepper was because of a prophecy regarding the child she had yet to bear. Now that the child had been born, a powerful being showed up and tried to take it.
Kale -- for reasons of his own -- sheltered the family. But even his powers weren’t strong enough. In the end, Nicholas became a vampire to gain the strength needed to protect those he loved. He eventually triumphed. But again, there was a price. Slowly, Nicholas’s humanity began to slip away.
Pepper died a year later. The daughter grew up and went to her destiny. And Nicholas found himself stranded in an increasingly unfamiliar world with just one person who really understood him -- Kale. So Nicholas became a combination of bodyguard, thug, and assassin for the taintling. Until even Kale succumbed to death.
Left alone in the world, Nicholas looked for work doing the only thing he remembered how to do. He started out as a bouncer in the cabaret, but quickly rose to the rank of Head of Security.
the roleplayer
NAME: Falcon Bertille
GENDER: Female
AGE: 38
ROLEPLAY EXPERIENCE: I started doing online play-by-post rp about three years ago. But I’ve been doing tabletop rp since I was in high school.
OTHER CHARACTERS: No one else...yet.
HOW YOU FOUND US: RPG-D
ROLEPLAY SAMPLE:(Excerpt from a story I wrote with Nicholas.)
Nicholas stepped to the center of the stage. No performance had been scheduled for tonight, so the auditorium stood empty, with rows of drowsy shadows forming his only audience. Not that it mattered. All that mattered was the song. Nicholas opened his mouth, prepared to test his voice. But, for a moment, he hesitated. For a moment, he was afraid -- afraid that he would find his singing unchanged, and know that he had been cheated. Or, far worse, afraid that he would find it improved, and know that he really had made a deal with the devil.
However, one way or the other, he needed to determine the truth. Summoning his resolve, Nicholas began to shape the notes of a familiar song. He often used “Per Te” at auditions. Not because the lyrics meant anything special to him, but because the sweeping vocalizations allowed him to demonstrate his range. Tonight, the song came easily, smoothing away his nervousness.
Mille giorni di felcita
Mille notti di serenita
Faro quello che mi chiederai…
As always, Nicholas’s eyes slipped shut when he sang. Usually, he envisioned sheet music, with its straight lines and neatly arranged notes. But this time, he saw the curve of a smile on brightly painted lips. He saw graceful lashes sweeping up from eyes the color of caramel. He saw silky brown hair tied back with a red ribbon. And something shifted inside him.
Per te, per te vivro
L’amore vincera…
All his life, those words had only been words -- syllables to be carefully replicated, but nothing more. Tonight, for the first time, Nicholas really felt them. Tonight, he understood what it meant to care about someone so much that your entire life becomes a gift you want to give them.
With a shiver, Nicholas realized that all those judges had been right. There really had been something missing from his voice. But now he heard it, as he sang his passion to the empty auditorium, and he remembered what Kale had told him at their last meeting. I imagine that your voice is already developing some of what it lacked. Sure enough, the taintling had kept his promise.
Andro sempre dovunque tu andrai
Daro tutto l’amore che ho
Per te
The song ended, and Nicholas opened his eyes. No applause. No roses tossed onto the stage. But Nicholas could hear the pounding of his heart, and to him, it sounded like the wildest ovation any audience had ever given. For the first time in his life, he’d been more than good. He’d been great.
