[Nanogg - from Ganon, the final antagonist in the many Legend of Zelda games. Also, a reference to the Nidhoggr, a dragon in Norse mythology that eats the roots of the world tree, who also apparently trades insults with an eagle living at the top.]
[Brekht – from Albreicht, the character who forges the ring of the Nieblung from the Rhinegold and thus starts the series of unfortunate events that constitutes Wagner's epic opera, The Ring.]
Essentially, brilliant craftsman, plots of world domination, and an unpleasant sort of guy. Clearly the inspiration for Sauron, too, though really the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy was heavily inspired by the Ring. Brokkr is also the name of a dwarf craftsman who forged Thor's hammer among other things, and was probably part of the inspiration for Albreicht...
Blood colour: #058C9C, Muddy Teal
Gender: Male
Symbol:
A symbol of tongs and a smelting bowl.
Personality:
Nanogg's Phoenix Initiative upbringing shows. Aggressively. He believes that all trolls, regardless of blood color, have infinite potential from the moment they emerge from the brooding caverns. It's what they do with it that counts. If they achieve their goals through the sweat of their own brow and with the force of their hands and mind, this is something well earned and Nanogg respects them for it.
Nanogg wants to bring out that infinite potential in himself. He believes that achieving the pinnacle of personal strength and dominion over others is, or should be, the goal of any troll. Others may have lesser goals - good for them. While he might think their goals are small-fry or silly, if they’ve earned their happiness, they’ve earned it. That’s their business. He’s just out for something a little more. And here is where he, perhaps, deviates from the Initiatives values. He wants power for himself. He wants to, in an almost unabashed way, rule the world.
He would rule it with brutal fairness, where everyone must earn their place and continually test and challenge themselves to keep it, even himself. It would be a vicious, chaotic sort of world… but Alternia is already, and at least his vision would be a fair utopia, built on hard work and respect. The order of it, and the chaos of it, is an appealing dream. He is aware that it is a long shot, but that’s the thing about dreams - you just have to believe that there’s a chance. He believes.
In the interim, he channels his strong urge to succeed into other supporting goals; becoming an expert weaponsmith and a strong fighter… these he pursues with passion. As a child, Nanogg will be spending most of his time honing these skills at his forge and at the training trees (and to a lesser, more persona extent in his kitchen) and his social connections inside and outside the swamp. However, even when these are achieved, he will never be satisfied. He is always looking for the next step, the next goal. That is why his ultimate goal is so high, but chances are - even if he somehow achieves that impossible goal, he still will not be satisfied.
Despite being dedicated, he has a very relaxed demeanor. His favored response to any hard situation is a hearty laugh. He considers his teammates are an extension of himself and, as long as it benefits him, he is happy to work towards the good of many. He encourages other trolls to achieve their goals and better themselves, and he is free with compliments (All honest). It is ultimately self serving – he enjoys the feeling of having inspired someone to be better. In addition, those trolls become more useful to him, and he can have some fun, meaty competition when the time comes to betray them.
Which he may well do: he is happy - a little too happy - to backstab and connive his way to glory on the backs of his allies. With his impish lusus as his conscience, he expects that other trolls will do the same. He appreciates and respects such actions. He even laughs at it. To him, that is simply how the world works. If they are taken in by a trick, that is their own fault. If he is betrayed, it is his fault, and thus something he must do better at next time (He just has to survive it.) With this mindset it is no wonder that Nanogg doesn't make emotional attachments very well, in addition to the fact that his doting (and doted on) lusus uses up a lot of that bandwidth. Though he enjoys the company of other trolls and admires their abilities, he ultimately sees them as varying degrees of expendable, and he has no remorse about his actions.
He is very full of himself, but he does not neglect his own strengths - he practices and trains so that he can be competent in the things that he enjoys. His particular interests include fighting, weaponsmithing, and to a lesser extent jewelry making (as an extension of metalworking and also an excuse to work with gold and shiny objects), and cooking.
When Nanogg has an interest it's more of an obsession than a hobby. He devotes his whole heart and soul to it, sometimes even forgetting to take care of himself if something has caught his interest. Obviously, he only has so much time and brain power, so he does have priorities with his interests, but when he is really on a roll with something, it gets his full and undivided attention. He demands a lot from himself.
His lusus encourages him, though she will sometimes give him snacks, brush his hair, or demand he pay attention to her instead.
Aside from his drive to succeed and a strange fascination (obsession) with the color yellow, one of Nanogg’s minor obsessions is playing with the truth. Nanogg appreciates honesty and critique. He himself rarely outright lies. Instead, he loves to twist and play with the concept of honesty, sometimes in a mean and brutal way. Part of it is that a well crafted lie is beyond his current capabilities, and so the art of wordplay is something he wants to work on, and one which he greatly respects
Of course, sometimes he does try a lie here or there. Sometimes he does cheat, or steal, or do something dishonest. Sometimes, he does not strictly 'earn' what he has. He doesn't care. These may be codes that he lives by and things that make him feel superior, but they are, after all, his rules. he can do what he wishes with them.
This is the tip of the iceberg for a deeper internal war between watch-it-burn chaos and plot-and-plan order. Nanogg is both diabolical and anarchic, carefully controlled and wild. As a child, he sometimes has trouble keeping his elaborate creative urges and his impulsive destructive urges in balance and sometimes he sabotages his fun with plans, and his plans with fun. He doesn’t regret his actions either way, but he does wish that sometimes he could keep things under control. Eventually, his internal order and chaos will find their balance, and he will try to work around them in the meantime.
Thoughts on the Rebellion:
Nanogg is a Swampling, so he is in the initiative by default. He also agrees with their philosophy wholeheartedly. Merit over color makes sense, and change needs to be brought about to the world outside. Changing the system is the only way he can really achieve his dreams.
To him, he doesn't question that the leaders of the rebellion earned their place through blood and hardship. However, he doesn't accept the idea that Byakko is some sort of destined leader. Or, that her wards Maneki, Athera, or Cynril have the right to be the next leaders. A mutantblood has as much potential as any other blood in his eyes, and though he accepts that they have a LOT more to overcome to get where they are going, they are no better or worse than he is. The idea that someone would choose some random kid to be the symbol of the rebellion solely because of their blood color is kind of ******** up in his mind, and completely against the principles. Hypocricy aside, he does respect her for what she is, and he tries to learn what he can from her.
Incidentally, he does notice that an awful lot (Vremea, Stryke, Apirife?!) of the high ranking and well-regarded people in the rebellion are yellowbloods. With his strange fascination with the color yellow, he has decided that there may be something to that.
Strengths
Appreciative
Nanogg respects and even admires the strengths of other trolls, and is not shy about telling them what those are. He also tries to be aware of the weaknesses of other trolls, though he is less willing to speak openly about those unless it serves him in some way. Indeed, though his compliments themselves are not self-serving, he sees them as encouraging other trolls to become works of art… or, better put, more effective tools for his use. A side consequence of his freely-given respect is that if someone is betrayed by him and returns, or betrays him, he will welcome them with more or less open arms, a grin, and a strange sort of glee. After all, they survived the encounter or outwitted him, and he is impressed. It is like forgiveness, but it is more that he loves to be challenged by that kind of strength and competence -- it lets him learn from other trolls and become stronger himself.
Ambitious
Nanogg often appears to have an easygoing attitude, but he is never really at peace with what he has. He has a hunger that never abates, that always wants more and more and more, and which he plots and plans in order to assauage. This can be a negative - his eventual end goal and dream is world domination, and it’s impossible and his life is likely to crumble under the weight of it as he throws away what he has in pursuit of his desires. However, his drive for more means that he tries to be the best at whatever he does, and he gives everything his all. He practices intensely, and as a result is a competent, well-rounded young troll, skillwise. Not all of his goals are impossible - his smaller “interim” goals include becoming an expert weaponcrafter, become the leader of a gang of some nature, make an amazing mushroom souffle, etc… But he won’t be satisfied with those goals.
Honest
Nanogg prefers the truth to a lie. That isn’t to say that he won’t lie a little sometimes, and he certainly will choose his words with care and occasionally twist the truth, but in general you will get the truth out of his mean little mouth. Sometimes blunt, painful, cruel truths, but truth nonetheless. He respects liars, however, considering lying to be a very useful skill that he’s just not good at. Honesty is easier, and satisfies both his appreciative side and his destructive side.
Flaws
Obsessive
Nanogg is a hard worker, capable of an intensity of focus and a drive to complete projects. Ideas don’t always leave his mind, sometimes becoming stuck until he finishes the task and can free them. He can pursue a goal with all of his mind, body, and soul, sometimes to the detriment of self care or his lusus (though Mari can draw his focus away if she’s persistent). This means that he can work on something with single-minded determination and complete high-quality, intricate projects, and become the competent well-rounded troll he tries to be. It also means that once he has an idea set in motion, he often cannot stop even when he needs to.
An additional manifestation of his kind of mind are fixations. As he experiences life, Nanogg picks up behavioral oddities like a snowball. These can be minor like weighing whether he’s ‘earned’ something, or can be major like his intense fascination with the color yellow. Either way, these fixations and rituals will get more intense, varied, and possibly elaborate as he grows older, and will influence his behavior for his whole life.
Ruthless
Nanogg puts himself first, and is willing to stomp on the backs of others to do it. He is willing to do what needs to be done to get what he wants. Except, sometimes he just does it for fun. Even when Nanogg knows that it might set him back in his goals of power and wealth or cause trouble for him down the line, he has to fight destructive urges that promise him the fun of breaking (or smashing) something, be that a physical object, a person, or a relationship. His lusus, while she encourages him to achieve his goals, also likes to encourage his ‘fun’ side, and so is no help in this matter. This wild side is a part of the reason he doesn’t hold grudges, as he certainly doesn’t want to destroy something useful forever, and completely understands if someone tries to screw him up. But other trolls do hold grudges, and when he gives in to his destructive urges he can make things harder for himself, for Mari, and for anyone that is with him.
Hypocritical
Nanogg is honest. Nanogg is hard working. Nanogg believes that one should always earn what they get. Nanogg likes to believe that he holds himself to a code of conduct, a set of rules he follows that (along with his natural superiority) put him above other trolls. It helps him feel like a proper craftsman, and helps him also keep his self esteem even in trying situations. Unfortunately, this natural desire for order is balanced by a gleeful willingness to disregard his own rules and values. After all, they are his. He can bend, twist, and interpret them however he likes… even while judging others by them.
Weapon:
Nanogg's weapon is a big ol' greatsword. While he does use a smithing hammer in his craft and could probably use it as a weapon, he doesn't like to use it as such and is not adept in it's offensive use.
Appearance:
Colors of Note:
#C49700, Gold = Favorite Color
#058C9C, Teal = Blood Color
Clothes Reference
Nanogg's jacket had a previous owner, fate unknown, but it 'fell off the back of a truck' as part of an attempt to import some sense of fashion into the swamp. He took to it immediately. It is yellow and covered with soot from his forge.
Nanogg wears a dark shirt beneath it and resilient dark pants beneath that. His symbol is emblazoned in his blood color on the shirt, though he also has hemoanon shirts for variety. His boots – solid things that give him good traction – are black.
He has a teal cloth wrapped around his waist, a little dirty from soot and sweat.
Horns: Very demon-y. They curl around the side of his head, their points concluding at his lower jaw, near his mouth.
Hair: Something like this, tied back out of his face with a bandana or some sort of headband. Headband is either grey, gold, or his blood color.
Old Ref
New Ref (c) Peppermint Coffee
Home: (Salamire Swamp)
Nanogg lives in the swamp, in a sturdy hut a ladder away from the training facility and armory that was built there. As such, he visits it often and considers it to be an extension of his hive, whatever the others might have to say about it. He uses the equipment there for his crafting, and so he does not have a forge or anvil in his one-room, circular hive at all. He does, however, keep his jeweling equipment there, as well as a few choice finished pieces to decorate the swampy wood. He grows edible mushrooms in a pretty patch by his recouparoon – all edible ones.
His kitchen – or the table that passes for one in his simple hive – is carefully laid out, and is complete with a set of knives. He also has a well-kept kitchen fire, where he cooks and bakes where possible. He takes cooking and nutrition seriously, and tries to keep this stocked as best he can.
Lusus:
Mari is an imp: a feminine, white, troll-like creature about the size of a tamarin monkey (and with similar mannerisms) that bears horns, fangs, bat wings, a whippy forked tail, and sharp (but small) talons on her hands and feet.
She is easily bored, and very mischevious, enjoying getting a rise out of others. Attracted to shiny things, she is very willing to take what she wants, though she loses interest (and regains it) equally quickly. Although full of energy, she is very lazy when it comes to things she does not want to do, and will shirk responsibility when it is forced upon her. She is vain. She is isolent. She is self centered and selfish. Some might wonder how the hell Nanogg has lasted so long with her as his lusus.
The key is, he is the exception. To everything. He IS her everything. Initially, she had just gone to the rebel brooding caverns because she was bored and wanted to poke things with a sharp stick for the hell of it. But when she saw the ragged teal blood, bleeding from his wounds, barely able to walk, she felt suddenly complete. Her life suddenly had meaning.
Mari loves Nanogg in a way beyond that of a mother. She would do anything for Nanogg and believes that he can do so much. She whispers this in his ear, just so he'll know it always. And, in turn, she knows he would do anything for her. This has kept Nanogg alive and strong, but the relationship he and his lusus share may get in the way of his relationships later down the line. After all, jealousy is as potent a motivator as boredom, and the result could be just as ugly.
Fortunately, Mari is easily satisfied with a bribe of shiny objects, attention (she loves compliments), and sharp pokey sticks (her species’s preferred weapon) so it shouldn't be too hard for a future quadrantmate to get around her. Finding a place not occupied by her in Nanogg’s heart, however… that will be a true challenge.
Power: NA
Other:
Notes:
Disguise - yellowblood named Arurum Sursia (from aurum, the latin name for gold and Russia, a gold mining country)
http://www.color-hex.com/color/ffd700
#C49700 GOLD
Disguise symbol: maybe alchemical symbol for gold?
Also has a straight up 'hooded figure' outfit, too.
