stuff for words

[Ivanthe]

Just words now, will edit fancy later.

Legend

• Capability
• Psychological
• External

[Ivanthe]

Capability

Primary
Survival skills and spycraft are first on the list for buffing––hunting, intelligence, lockpicking/pickpocketing and the like. Cooking and Mount are close seconds, at least on the novice-to-competent spectrum just so he can have them. I imagine once he learns to cook he will enjoy making food for others.

Discipline

[Ivanthe]

Psychological

Certainty of self
Ivanthe's healing process is so far just a draft, and is definitely subject to change in the future depending on where he goes as a character. This, however, is a quick transcript of a chat on Discord I had with Finn, so I don't forget it.

• oh my god my father figure is dead
• oh my god I killed him
• am I the most evil child on the planet?
• Why did I do it? I thought he was going to kill me/he would never do that, he was good and kind (flip flop between these extremes)
• he messed me up with empathy, I can't tell what feelings were real
• oh wait, the memories are perfectly fine – the only thing out of control were how I felt about them
• my memory is razor sharp actually
• the only way to know for sure is to relive what happened (yay meditation skill!)
• /relive traumatic memories somehow/
• Yaren was shit
• but wait he cared for me in a messed up way
• am I allowed to love parts of him without hating myself
• was I entirely wrong about killing him
• am I the most evil child on the planet
• shit he's dead and he's still controlling my life
• how do I break free
• (either get a healthy relationship or realize he has one)
• this is what friendship actually is so fuck you for fucking me up
• ain't nobody going to use/lie/abuse me like that again.

• 718 Cylus: Is surviving by running away from his guilt, but his nightmares are just beginning. Constant restlessness, the need to move and exert power over his surroundings. Believes self fundamentally broken and therefore different from "normal" people, stays on his own most of the time; he knows in the back of his mind that a breakdown is coming and doesn't want anyone else to know about it.
• Step 1: Ivanthe must admit that Yaren is dead and that he killed him, out loud. So far it's mostly been a distant, surreal dream, and Ivanthe keeps expecting Yaren to still be there. Every time he isn't, Ivanthe keeps moving so he doesn't have to think about it. He always keeps moving. Then the nightmares begin. I'm thinking maybe Ivanthe gets very sleep deprived because he wants to avoid the nightmares, and then he is pressed by a concerned friend, preferably a PC. Tensions rise until he admits out loud what he's done, and go from there.

Of course, these won't happen on their own and must be tied to actual events, and I would really like to see Ivanthe make connections with other PCs to help him not only come to terms with what Yaren was, but also teach him what a healthy relationship actually feels like. Seeing as he's never had one, that will obviously be a rocky and difficult road riddles with mistakes and unintentional hurt, but he will undoubtedly be fiercely loyal to whoever wins his trust in the end––whether they are good, evil or something between. This in itself could end up defining what his morality turns into, because if his friends happen to be sketchy, he will stick by them as long as they are loyal in return. While I still intend to develop his spying skills, whether he evolves into a hero or villain remains to be seen.

Discipline

[Ivanthe]

FAITH

Though not anywhere close to being able to explore concepts of faith and devotion, I would like Ivanthe to meet and eventually follow an Immortal or two. He must experience at least one healthy relationship before this can happen, however, so he can have a reference point to at least respect whomever he aligns with. As of writing this, the two most sensible options giving Ivanthe's background and future goals are Vri, god of death and love, and/or Karem, goddess of survival and wolves.

Starting with the simplest, Karem would be extremely relevant to Ivanthe in that she presides over surviving, particularly in a harsh and wild setting. Any relationship with her would likely be based on that; Ivanthe is a survivor by necessity, and also has the potential for extreme love and loyalty toward anyone who can increase his chances – something that could perhaps lead him to serve Karem as she serves the Eternal Empire.

With Vri, however, things would be somewhat more complicated. I do have plans for Ivanthe to develop a benign fascination with death once cylus ends, particularly with skeletons and graves. More specifically, he will find fascination where death and life intertwine (birds nesting in a deer skeleton, flowers growing on graves, etc.) and will perhaps start up a little philosophy. Hanging around graves, of course, will put him together with those coming to honor loved ones that have passed. Perhaps he could use a little bit of empathy for unselfish reasons, by comforting the grieved and honoring their dead with them? In any case, I personally am very taken by the idea of death and love being connected, and would like to explore that with Ivanthe as a running theme. Perhaps he could attract Vri's attention in this way, but that would be a task for another time.

[Ivanthe]

DEAR MR. FARLIN

More of an idle idea at this point, can be scrapped or edited if no opportunity is compatible with coming storylines.

The premise is this: either as a hunter or spy, Ivanthe's work takes him out to Middlecleft where he is discovered to have no chaperoning adult and then no adult relatives. He is then turned over to the Orphanage against his will, and upon lying that he has family in Etzos, he is informed that all he has to do is get them to come to Middlecleft and claim him in order to be set free. Because he has no such person to ask, Ivanthe is left on his own to escape the orphanage.

Dear Mr. Farlin begins as a series of letters from Ivanthe to Farlin, owner of the Chopping Block, providing apology and explanation for his extended absence at work. In these letters, he chronicles life at the orphanage and also his many escapades trying to escape. Ivanthe's dry tone and dramatic seriousness make the letters amusing to read, especially as Ivanthe's schemes get more and more over-the-top and he befriends other orphans. Upon finally earning his freedom, a large number of letters have been written and when he returns finally to Etzos, he finds that Farlin has kept all the letters as novelties and even reads them to friends for a laugh. It is suggested that Ivanthe publish them as a book.