Dark



Am Dark

The Basics

 * Name: Dark
 * Species: Moon fox
 * Gender: Male
 * Age: 42 (looks about twenty-fiveish)
 * Hair: Black
 * Eyes: Red
 * Race/Ethnicity: Looks Eastern European/Russian
 * Location: Corrant City, Moorath, The Mortal Plane
 * Year: 1813 (Equivalent to about 1926)
 * Verse: Original
 * Played By: Liam Boyle
 * Room #: 211
 * Mun: Pen

Appearance
In human form, Dark is quite tall, but this is offset by a very scrawny, wiry frame. He is basically nothing but bone and muscle, and his movements are lithe and catlike. He has black hair and red eyes and is quite pale. His face is sharp featured and usually expressionless. His nose is a bit on the large side. He wears very, very ratty clothes, basically anything he can pick up from a dumpster, though occasionally he’ll appear in a brand new shirt or pants.

In fox form, he is a bit smaller than the average red fox and is jet black except for silver at his paws and the tip of his tail. There is also a dusting of silver speckles across his back and shoulders. His eyes remain red in fox form.

Psychology
Dark is smart, but he does not come off as such. He is very quiet and very observant; he has a tendency to remain silent for hours at a time, just watching people and things. He has never had a formal education and knows very little outside of what he was able to learn in his time in the basement. Most of the world is very new and strange to him, and he has a very childlike curiosity and desire to learn. Because of his lack of knowledge, however, as well as his very broken speech pattern, he comes off initially as dumb or slow.

He is very careful around people, and seems to be perpetually between curiosity and suspicion with strangers. He does not trust easily, but once someone has earned his trust they have it forever. He is similarly loyal to very, very few people and has a difficult time with the concept of a “friend.” North’s presence is slowly starting to open his mind to the existence of relationships beyond master/servant, but he still has a difficult time getting out of the servant mindset. If he likes someone, he is quick to help them and occasionally borders on subservient. When others show him kindness or try to help him, he becomes confused, mostly because this has happened to him so rarely. The idea of people being helpful to him is completely foreign to him, though one that he is slowly starting to get used to.

Dark’s sense of right and wrong is extremely poorly developed. These days he essentially relies on North to tell him what is right and what isn’t. If he perceives a threat to himself or to someone he cares about, he won’t hesitate to eliminate that threat in the swiftest way possible. He will kill without a second thought to protect himself or his friends. He doesn’t really have a temper, but he does get frustrated easily when he can’t communicate something or when he can’t understand something. If someone is actively angering him though, he also doesn’t hesitate to fight them and beat the shit out of them, since it’s a fast and easy way to get someone to shut up.

Dark also smiles very rarely. This isn’t necessarily because he is rarely happy, but has more to do with his difficulty with facial expressions. He learns best by copying what he sees, but he had only just learned to transform to human when his mother was killed. After that he didn’t really have anyone to imprint on in terms of facial expressions, so he often looks expressionless.

Skills/Powers
In terms of Folk, moon foxes are not all that exciting. They cannot cast magic the way many species can, and they can’t utilize illusions the way other foxes can. They are nocturnal and they draw almost all of their energy from the moon. During the full moon they are at their strongest. During the new moon they are very weak and are forced to remain in fox form for the entire period. During solar eclipses they are at their absolute peak in terms of strength, whereas during lunar eclipses they are at their weakest, enough so that many moon foxes die during lunar eclipses.

Moon foxes are physically stronger than all other Folk foxes, but their real strength lies in their speed. They can move very, very quickly, and can also sort of teleport—this is referred to as “shadow jumping.” As the name indicates, it means that they can teleport between shadows at will, even if two shadows are across from each other on a sunlit street. They can also completely blend in with the shadows. This makes their movement at night very hard to keep track of.

As moon foxes, their other abilities are suited to the moon. They can cast illumination at night by simply making their silver spots glow. They can sense tides as well as air and water currents, and usually make a habit of making sure the currents are behaving properly. They can therefore manipulate currents on a very small scale, enough to correct an imbalance. Dark has been able to sense currents all his life, but he has only recently been able to follow his instincts enough to manipulate them.

Moon foxes also feel a special affection for women and tend to be female protector spirits. Their mere presence promotes female health and moon foxes have long been considered to be good luck for women. They're also considered feminine protector spirits; their mere presence can soothe menstrual cramps and ease pregnancies, and they can also generally heal women. Their presence also seems to promote mental health and their teeth are said to cure insanity. Early moon fox visitors to the Mortal Plane were often killed for their luminescent fur and their teeth.

Dark has all of these skills, but he doesn’t know how to utilize most of them. He can shadow jump and move through darkness, but that is about it. Instead of all the subtle things that moon foxes are usually known for, Dark has been trained to fight, and thus is both very strong and very fast. He is practically unmatched in hand-to-hand combat and has never been beaten throughout his years in the pits. However, he has absolutely no experience with weapons—he has never used them, mostly because his hands are weapons on their own.

He can also transform between human and moon fox, as most other moon foxes can.

History
Dark is from a dying race. He is one of, if not the, last moon fox in the world. They were one of the first species to start disappearing when the Plague hit, though there were never very many of them to begin with. Moon foxes are a mostly nocturnal Insustantial race in the Whodden; they are essentially nature spirits. (Yep, Dark is from the same world as Kiba).

Like most Folk, he was born in the Whodden. He has no memory of his parents. His father disappeared before he was born and is presumed dead. He lived with his mother for the first eight years of his life, before his mother took him to Gaea (the Mortal Plane) in an attempt to escape from Plague. She succeeded, but shortly after their arrival in the Mortal Plane, Dark’s mother was killed and Dark himself was kidnapped and auctioned off as a curio. He spent a few years being bought and sold and shown off, treated as both a pet and a piece of furniture. After about five years he was stolen and sold to a circus.

He spent less than a month with the circus’s freak show before he was bought again, this time by John Delhouda, who was a major contender in the then-new Demon Wars. Demon Wars was essentially an underground dog fighting club, except that instead of dogs, enslaved Folk were pitted against each other in fights to the death. Delhouda had just lost his primary slave and had heard stories about the strength and speed of moon foxes.

He bought Dark and kept him in a cell in the basement of a warehouse. He taught him only enough to make Dark useful in fights. Dark proved to be an excellent fighter and so earned quite a bit of money for the Delhouda family.

This went on for about twenty years until Demon Wars was temporarily disbanded during a national crackdown on Folk slavery. During that time John Delhouda died, and Dark was left to his son, Ezra Delhouda, who was a much crueler master than John had been. For five years there were no Demon Wars, until the federal pressure faded. Demon Wars started back up almost immediately afterward. Dark needed several months to recuperate from malnutrition, but soon he was back in the pit and was again unrivaled.

Dark continued to fight in Demon Wars until he met North Stonewall. North was the first person to show him kindness and compassion. She was also the one to give him his name. North, however, was extremely disturbed by Dark’s situation, and when she discovered Demon Wars she made an effort to bring them to the public’s attention and have them shut down permanently. Delhouda and several other big names in the business caught wind of her investigations and decided to kill her. By then Dark had known North for about a month, and when he heard that his Master was going to kill her, he tried to talk Delhouda out of it. Delhouda wouldn’t change his mind, however, and had North kidnapped off the street and brought to the warehouse. She fought her way free from a handful of them, but when she had been cornered Dark appeared. He killed Delhouda and the bodyguards but was himself grievously wounded. North brought him back to her apartment/veterinary clinic and nursed him back to health.

Dark has been living with North now for the past month and has become completely devoted to her.

Tree of Life and the Planes
The world consists of four tiers—four planes—of existence. The four planes are connected by the Life Tree, which is a gigantic tree that is the source of all life. Think Yggdrasil. The Tree is the only passageway between the four planes, although some have discovered other means of travel.

The first plane exists at the roots of the Tree, and is known as the Underworld—this is where people go when they die and where, if they lived a decent life, they are eventually absorbed into the Tree and return to the cycle of life. This is also where Plague originates. Plague is a noxious purple-black gas that has been leaking into the Whodden through Plague vents for about fifty years. No one knows how it can pass between the planes or why it exists or even what it really is. Plague tends to kill all who come into contact with it, though it also causes mutations and diseases. Plague has not yet managed to enter the Mortal Plane.

The second plane is the Mortal Plane, commonly called Gaea, and this is where humans reside. It exists at the trunk of the Tree of Life. It looks generally like the real world—mountains, rivers, cities, lots of people. The world is not Earth, however, and Dark is currently living in Corrant City, in the country of Moorath. In recent years, more and more Folk have been coming to live in Gaea due to the Plague vents in the Whodden.

The third plane is the Spirit Plane, called the Whodden, and this is where most Folk reside. This Plane sits in the canopy of the Tree. No one is quite sure how big the Whodden is, as its size and shape change almost constantly, as does the landscape. Maps are impossible but also unneeded, since Folk tend to instinctively know their way. The Whodden is currently divided into the Four Quarters, and each Quarter is ruled over by a particular family of Folk. The Northern Quarter is ruled over by the wolf spirits; the Eastern Quarter by tiger spirits; the Southern Quarter by djinni; and the Western Quarter by horse spirits. Power tends to change hands with some frequency. Currently there is an ongoing war between the Northern Quarter and the Western Quarter. The current ruler of the Northern Quarter has been driving for swift and bloody unification. The wolves already have control of the Southern Quarter and only the Eastern Quarter remains as yet untouched.

The Northern Quarter used to be ruled by a wolf called Gaija, but she was overthrown some decades ago by her brother, Sarif. Sarif, also known as the White Wolf, has ruled the Quarter ever since and has been pushing for unification in an attempt to control the entire Whodden. Gaija, defeated and almost killed, managed to escape to the Mortal Plane with the last shred of her energy. Her dying spirit reached out to a human family who had dealings with the Whodden wolves, and they offered to aid her. Gaija’s spirit took up residence in one of the females of the family and went into a deep sleep in order to recuperate. Gaija has been passed down from mother to daughter ever since, until about twenty years ago. Sarif had been trying to locate Gaija all that time, and when he found the human family he had them slaughtered. The woman whose newborn daughter was the current vessel for Gaija managed to run, though she was wounded and died on the steps of an orphanage.

Gaija currently resides in the body of North Stonewall, and is starting to wake up. The people of the Whodden await the time when their Wolf Queen will return.

The fourth plane has no name other than the Fourth Plane, and this is the realm of mystery. It resides at the very top of the Tree, and no one living knows anything about it. There are many theories about what exists in the Fourth Plane, but no one knows for certain.

Folk
Dark's world is populated by Folk, which is the collective name given to spirits, mythological beasts, and so on. There are four major groups of Folk:


 * Sidhe--These are commonly called The Fair Folk or the Fae. The group consists of fairies, elves, sprites, and various other creatures, some of whom are actually servants of the fairies. For the most part they are human-shaped, though many don’t look all that human. They are very clever and devious, and are known for their beauty and their affinity for Nature.


 * Legendaries--This is the second largest group of Folk, and consists of every creature that is basically seen as “legendary” to humans. Dragons, wyverns, sphinxes, djinni, shedu, bunyips, thunderbirds, kitsune, and so on and so forth; all the mythical beasts from Earth legends fall into this category. Legendaries have a high degree of magic, and are usually very intelligent and enigmatic.


 * Animal Spirits--This is by far the largest group of Folk there is. Basically, for every animal or insect that exists in the human world, there is a spiritual counterpart in the Whodden. They have the form of animals, though they can transform into human, can speak, and tend to be pretty intelligent. Some of them have certain magicks or powers. They are characterized by whatever characterizes the actual animals in the human world; dog-spirits are loyal and carefree, cat-spirits are aloof and clever, and so on. Unlike humans and other Folk, animal spirits are born with their souls on the outside, in the form of small glowing orbs like marbles, usually called their “light.” The light is typically carried in the mouth, stomach or behind the eye. Animal spirits can only die when the light is destroyed.


 * Insubstantials--This is a smaller group of Folk, and essentially consists of sentient and semi-sentient spirits. Elementals, house spirits, location spirits, and nature spirits all make up this group. Moon foxes, as a brand of nature spirit, count among the more sentient and intelligent of Insubstantials. Insubstantials tend to be untalkative and rather mysterious, and don’t really get involved in the overall Whodden community. They just do whatever they do and keep to themselves.

Very rarely will two different Folk come together and bear children. These hybrid offspring are generally shunned and looked down on.

Currently Dark is staying with North Stonewall, who his is protecting from the White Wolf along with a small handful of others. They are in Corrant City, and the time period is comparable to that of the Twenties.

In-Game

 * Isaiah Kennedy--Enemy--Isaiah is annoying, noisy, and idiotic as far as Dark is concerned, and he has repeatedly made fun of Dark and North. Dark would kill him if he didn't think North would be mad at him.


 * Ea Jones--Friend--She's pretty consistently been nice to Dark, and she also introduced him to indoor plumbing. He rather likes her.


 * Ladon Ceto--???--Dark sort of told Ladon that he wanted to eat Ladon's egg. Ladon doesn't particularly like him.


 * Edgar Ross Holloway--Neutral--He's not as annoying as Isaiah, but not as nice as Ea. Dark just sort of tolerates him. They've spoken a few times in the past.


 * Ki-ki--Friend--Ki-ki helped Dark learn some new words in the process of writing a story together. Dark likes him, even though he's a cat.

Canon

 * North Stonewall--Friend--Dark's best friend ever. She rescued him from the basement and later nursed him back to health after he was injured slaughtering Delhouda and his men. She's antisocial with humans and can be pretty abrasive, but she genuinely likes animals and most Folk. She has been teaching Dark about all kinds of things. Dark sort of has a crush on her, whereas North just sees him as a good friend or a little brother. Since realizing she is the Wolf Queen's vessel, she has become quite a bit quieter and more distant.


 * Kaiyss Shydath Murroe--Friend?--the Lightning Cat, a half cat-spirit, half lightning elemental thief. Under the orders of William, he and Jaereiper kidnapped North. However, upon realizing what they'd gotten themselves into, they betrayed William and are now staying with North. Dark doesn't like him much on principle, but Kaiyss has been nice to him aside from some teasing.


 * Jaereiper Madley--Friend?--Kai's partner in crime, Jae is a sand cat-spirit who can use sand as a weapon. She's colder and more distant than Kai, but she has been relatively nice to North aside from the whole kidnapping thing. Dark just doesn't talk to her much.


 * Rain--Rival--Rain is a half-human, half-wolf-spirit who drove off William and his crew and saved North when Dark couldn't. Rain is North's--or rather, the Wolf Queen's--rightful guardian; wolf-spirits chosen and bound to one member of the royal family for life. He is bound to the Wolf Queen and is thus bound to North, and he doesn't want Dark's assistance in protecting North. Dark just generally hates him.


 * Chiaroscuro Doci--Friend?--Chia is a rather hyperactive bat-spirit who has attached herself to Rain. She mostly just hangs around, but she's been quite nice to Dark and has been helping him to learn. Dark likes her, but isn't sure if he trusts her since she likes Rain so much.


 * William--Enemy--a Hound of the Wild Hunt, William is in charge of a small group working for the White Wolf who mean to capture North. He has been ruthless in his pursuit of North despite being defeated twice now. Dark hates him.