Folkmore Application

[nativized]

❥ Character Information

Character Name: Alexander "Lex" Adams
Character Age: 24
Character Species: Human
Current Health: Alive; has some mental health issues from trauma and some notable physical scarring, but he's largely healthy
Outfit: I was playing him on the tdm appearing in a doublet and hoes, with the assumption he was taken from a party specifically. His more usual attire and armor he'll buy back with spin points.

Character Canon: Original
Link to History: pre-existing profile and history here. But a refined, less than 500 words:

• Lex was born in 1999 in the United States, specifically in Florida.


• When he was fourteen he was transported to a fantasy world by the mages of the besieged kingdom of Vanengardt. Once there, he was conscripted into the the army of the ailing realm.


• He'd only barely finished basic training when the fort he'd been summoned at was destroyed and Lex as well as the remaining survivors fled to the nation's capital.


• There, he met several people who would become lifelong friends for him, and trained and operated out of a relatively successful military scout and special operations unit.


• However, his unit, eventually lead by his newly met best friend Naram, could not single handedly win Vanengardt's war.The conflict was with a violent cult of angel-like violent warriors called the Cult of the Forgotten Sky, who sought to upend the current order of the world and bring "true death" to those who had forgotten the divinity they had sworn themselves to.


• Thus, despite Lex, Naram, and other companions' (such as his crush Amira and friend Aurelio) efforts, the capital of Vanengardt was eventually assaulted and, in a devastating show of force by the cult, fell.


• During the final battle, Lex himself was mortally wounded by a spear piecing the left side of his abdomen, which ruptured a few organs and caused horrible internal bleeding. As he lay dying, he made a desperate prayer to the world at large for his survival.


• By chance, his prayer was heard by a powerful elemental spirit of lightning. Following his wishes and pleas, the spirit formed their new identity as Lex's summoned partner, taking on a form somewhat between his memories of his mother and a more idealized, comforting woman. Her personality, born out of a violent moment, became comabtive and challenging. The embodied spirit took on the name "Alaendath", which came from the words Lex slurred as he faded out.


• Miraculously, Lex didn't die. At the last moment, he was saved by the healing magic of another soldier of Vanengardt, the older elven healer Aen Seriga. Her magic saved his life, and he awoke days later to properly meet the lightning spirit Aleandath - whom he nicknamed Linda.


• Traumatized by the war and unwilling to participate further in the doomed defense of a country that ripped him away from a peaceful life to begin with, Lex set out at age 19 to see the rest of the world.


• With Linda at his side as a powerful combat partner and traveling companion, Lex set out to the realms beyond Vanengardt and became a traveling mercenary.


• Since that time, he's had dozens of adventures in different realms, refined his swordsmanship, magic, and diplomatic techniques through both his own efforts, and the mentorship of new friends. At the point he's being apped from, he's been wandering and adventuring for about five years, sometimes returning to the lands his friends went to after the capital's fall, but never to Vanengardt itself.

Canon Point: N/A? Current with his 'canon' (having been a mercenary for a around five years)
Canon Iteration: Original
Canon Iteration Explanation: N/A

❥ Folkmore Roles & Attributes

Skills: Lex is a skilled warrior, used to fighting with a sword and other weapons against fantasy foes distinctly stronger than he is. Apart from this, he's okay at alchemy (tinctures, small buffs, healing potions, etc) and pretty good at juggling. Also has a good sense of balance and acrobatic ability.
Canon Abilities: Lex is a moderately skilled practitioner of spirit magic. This means that he makes pacts with dozens of "lesser" spirits as well as the greater spirit partner he has, Linda. Lex empowers his senses, abilities, or gains extra powers by way of contracting with and borrowing energy from elemental spirits. He has dozens of other contracts with lesser spirits, allowing him to do things like use wind spirits to jump higher or help track down creatures, water spirits to purify liquids, or life spirits to perform low level healing magic. If you were to apply this to D&D levels, he can probably cast an equivalent of second level spells using any other spirit besides Linda - enough to augment his physical abilities and/or senses, though insufficient to simulate being a true spellcasting combatant.

Via the pact with Linda (confirmed that the fox will maintain this remotely in the FAQ) he is also connected to a greater spirit of electricity. As long as she's around or has empowered him, he has very good control over electricity energy and/or magnetism as a result, simulating spells through that power. Even with this spirit, however, he can't really cast true offensive "spells" so much as do little tricks like turn his hand into a weak taser, use magnetic fields to float himself or other objects for short stints, or redirect other electrical flows safely. If she could actually juice him up he can manage more, but she isn't present to do that, so this is the extent for Folkmore.
Role: Legend
Role Qualities/Attributes: Increased strength and durability to start with. Eyes which change color to correspond to emotional responses developing over time. A sixth sense for other people in pain, reflected through a halo which only appears above his head while that ability is triggered.
Role Reasoning: I think Lex's general attitude could be argued to be a more natural fit for a Familiar, but I wanted to make him a Legend in order to give him a more challenging arc. By being made a Legend and forced to deal with supernatural reflections of his emotions and senses that draw him towards other people's pain, my hope is that he will undergo an arc which will allow the best angels of his nature to be forced to grow over time. Essentially, again in D&D terms, he probably between Chaotic Good and Chaotic Neutral, and my hope is that the abilities hoisted onto him by the role will force him to become a more completely good guy. Also on a shallow level I have a hope to make use of the gaining a bond with a Familiar system down the line as a nod to his 'canon' spirit magic powers.

❥ Personality

Going for Option 2! (all of these are 300 or less words)

What was the most traumatic experience your character endured? How did this change them?

Lex has had several traumatic experiences, such as getting summoned to Vanengardt in the first place, being forced to fight in their war, and many other events he got involved in afterwards during his time as a mercenary. But the one which literally defines him to this day is when he nearly died during the fall of the capital at the end of the war. In that moment, Lex was just shy of twenty years old, was mortally wounded, and nearly bled out. He passed out while desperately pleading for his survival to anyone or anything that would listen, and was pretty convinced he was dying even after he woke up in the medical tent later.

Lex made many practical changes to his life after that incident (most notably summoning Alaendath and making a pact with her), but the most important outcome in that moment was the shattering of his sense of certainty. Until that moment, while the war had been terrifying, Lex was always confident that he and his companions - especially under the leadership of his friend Naram - could come out on top. Nearly dying, however, filled his heart with a deep sense of fear, and made him realize he wanted to live a more fulfilling life than fighting for a nation he didn't love or respect.

This realization was two-pronged, however. On the positive side, it urged him to leave Vanengardt and see the wider world. On the negative, he shirked whatever duties it could be argued he still had at the time (especially to the survivors of Vanengardt, and to Naram), but either way, he's never looked back.

What is the most important and defining relationship(s) in your character's life and why?

The top three relationships which have defined Lex's life, both for better are worse, are the ones he has with his former commander and friend, Naram, his former comrade and crush, Amira, and his partner, Aleandath.

Naram - His former and arguably current best friend, Naram was a brilliant tactician and squad leader in the Vanengardt army. Despite being roughly the same age as Lex, he was heaped with tremendous more responsibility, and there was a time where Lex's loyalty to him was absolute. His near-death experience shook that sense of loyalty, but he learned a great deal about both fighting and strategy from Naram, and for anything save for rejoining the war, Lex always looks forward to seeing him again.

Amira - Amira was Lex's former squadmate and, he would have once claimed, the live of his life. Hailing from one of Vanengardt's occupied territories, she was a conscripted soldier, and Lex had a crush on her from the moment they met. They grew closer over the time they fought together, and then after the war, Lex helped her return to her homeland. From Amira, he learned a lot about compassion, responsibility, and hope. However, he severely damaged their relationship after making things very weird between himself, Amira, and her appointed fiancé.

Alaendath - Aka Linda, Alaendath is a spirit that Lex summoned the day the capital fell, formed from his desperate wish not just to survive, but to have someone who would look out for and support him. Since that time, the two have been inseparable companions, "partners" in both a magical and practical sense. There is no one that Lex trusts or depends on more.

What does your character feel like they struggle with still? Where could they improve? This could be physically, mentally, emotionally, or otherwise.

Lex would identify his worst weakness as being craven. He's hyper-vigilant, always watching everyone and everything for anything might put him in danger. While he doesn't flee from fights, he avoids any he's not confident he (or his allies) can win. He doesn't feel as strong or capable as his friends so, especially in his life as a mercenary, acts with great bravado to cover up how much it bothers him. This makes him slow to trust others interpersonally, even after he's done sizing them up as a threat.

What is arguably his actual weakness, however, is how he's come to view love. He bungled things badly with the "love of his life," Amira, ruining (at least for the time being) any genuine he had with her. Since that time, Lex has become quick to flirt, eager to get into any kind of romantic or sexual relationship, but still hung up on his own worth within that dynamic.

This low self-worth has seen him increasingly rely on the special bond he has with Linda, an incarnated greater spirit who serves as Lex's main summon and partner. As a spirit of lightning, Linda is a rough and combative being, who became somewhat possessive and oddly affectionate towards Lex due to the circumstances of her summoning. Though their relationship isn't sexual, the romantic line between them is more murky. Lex is touch-starved, often turning to Linda for physical affection, and attempts to court someone else would incur her bitter jealousy. As they can feel each other's emotions, Lex often uses their bond as an excuse to self-sabotage his other relationships. It allows him to measure everyone else against an impossible standard, while perpetuating his paradoxical (and toxic) belief that no one but Linda would accept him anyway.

If your character could change one thing about their past, what would it be and why? Or why not?

The obvious answer to this would be that Lex would change being summoned to Vanengardt in the first place. He could have gone to high school properly and had a normal life back on Earth. If anyone actually asked him (and cornered him into such a position that he had to be honest), this is absolutely the moment he would single out. Just erase his whole adult life and all the trauma that led up to it, and do it over.

However, if you managed to actually read what's in his heart, the real answer isn't so simple. Over the decade he spent in that fantasy world, while Lex came to deeply resent Vanengardt and its mages for summoning him, he also made friends and connections there. He feels responsible for them, and likes the place he's carved out for himself. Even if in his life as a mercenary he's abandoned much of what he once stood for as a (conscripted) soldier, he's quick to play hero, and he genuinely loves Amira, Naram, Master Kin, Aurelio, and especially Linda.

As such, if Lex were ever actually offered to make that choice, to change the event that summoned him to another world, he wouldn't do it in the end. Deciding against it would definitely surprise him in the moment, though.

What is a time where your character failed drastically at something and how did it impact them, what did they do about it?

This answer has nothing to do with Lex's adventures as a mercenary, or the battles he fought as a soldier. This failure was an interpersonal one, that occurred when he helped return his beloved comrade, Amira, to her homeland after the end of Vanengardt's war. The journey took him further north than he'd ever been before (or since), up into the frozen tundra of the world. Upon arriving, both were surprised to learn that Amira's father and tribe had been consulting with various spirits and that she was, by technicality, engaged.

Up until that point, Amira and Lex had had a rocky romance, one complicated by their life in the army, their clashing personalities, and Amira's own hang ups over something a fortune teller had told her as a child. As such, when it was revealed she had a fiancé she didn't ask for, Lex got defensive on her behalf - but after learning that her betrothed was a beloved childhood friend (and budding spiritual leader to the community), Amira found she was willing to go through with the marriage for the good of her people.

Frankly, Lex was irritated. Convinced this wasn't what Amira wanted, he confessed his feelings by way of putting words in her mouth, insisting he knew Amira loved him as much as he loved her. Whether or not this was true, that Lex said it so presumptuously left a lasting scar on their relationship. In the end, he fled, and they've been on awkward terms since that moment. Amira and he have talked since, but never once about that situation, which has made Lex gun-shy about getting close to others.

❥ Player Information

Player Name: Charles
Pronouns: He/Him
Are you over 18?: Yes
Contact(s): Zerofiles @ Discord, bigdamnhero
Who Invited You?: Pi (link here)
Current Characters: N/A
Permissions: Here
Writing Samples: threads with several people on the tdm top level