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Ripley Sholtz
Name: Ripley Sholtz
Ripley – after Robert Ripley, curator of trivia and amateur anthropologist
Sholtz – after Marie Tussaud, born Anna Maria Grosholtz, famous wax sculpture artist
Blood colour: #c3c239
Gender: currently ids as agender; they/them
Symbol: A symmetrical candlestick – or is it negative space of two faces looking at each other?
Profile: As a troll born to the Salamire mother grub, Ripley’s experience has been limited to a tiny microcosm in the greater scale of Alternia. The rebel way of life - getting by, keeping information under wraps and the formation of a tight community - has been instilled in them since their hatchday. However, since pupation and through Ripley’s young life, their lusus has sparked a curiosity and fascination with knowledge and the history of the planet that their race inhabits. The mysteries of Alternia and the lack of preserved knowledge is something that tugs at Ripley - their understanding of their place in the world unsettles them, as they know that at any moment the rebellion may be erased. A single troll is insignificant, and even trollkind is at the whim of an undersea horror. The grim reality that life is fleeting settled in shockingly quickly with the young troll, whose experiences already in a survival-based settlement structure have shaped them into a practical and unsentimental archivist of sorts.
Ripley considers themselves an anthropologist. Like a regular kid, they love to collect things that they find in the swamp - poking dead stuff, bringing home unique flora and the like. However, Ripley has a habit of experimentation that goes a bit beyond the norm. Attempts to preserve creatures and things using various techniques - including their lusus’ wax - make their own hive’s collection look fairly macabre. Fortunately for the sniffnodes of any troll entering their swamp hive, Ripley’s collection remains small - only the most interesting and ‘historically important’ specimens are worthy of being displayed. The rest are tossed to the toothcreatures.
At this young age, Ripley is a bit aimless - they know that a real archivist records everything, and tries to copy this notion in all of their efforts. They make extensive notes and have a love of journaling - and to some extent, scrapbooking. Each addition is documentation of Alternian life and therefore a success! They’ve yet to have the sense to cull unimportant or intimate details, and their nosiness can be trying in their regular swamp routine. Wherever something is happening, Ripley is there like a flapping carrion animal to collect the fallout and preserve it.
In terms of how they view their own place in Alternian history, Ripley’s obsession runs into some friction with their place in the Phoenix Initiative. Their idea of success is to become immortalized: to make a mark, or at least be known for crystallizing the Alternian ideal for the entire galaxy to witness for eons and eons. As it stands right now, Ripley is uncertain if the Initiative will outlast the Alternian Empire. This results in the yellowblood being very fearful and even uncertain about what their life journey is. While they have an appreciation for their isolated, swampy environment and the close ties it brings, the endgame looks unachievable with their current station in life. Not to mention - Ripley is terrified of change. If they consider something to be perfect, there is absolutely no reason to alter it. It should be left and maintained. This particular thought process keeps them from reaching their ambitions in the swamp, and unfortunately causes issues with Ripley’s relationships. Jealousy caused by acquaintances making new friends or having new interests is enough for Ripley to try and sabotage trolls they truly care about.
While the kind treatment and equity of lowbloods is a bonus in the swamp, Ripley enjoys being a cog in the machine. Waxdad’s influence is great with Ripley in this respect - they prefer the ideas of collectivism, and consider the sort of individualism present in the Initiative to be counter-intuitive to a successful society. Having a role to fill is a comfort for a troll living in the wilds, and any Imperial structure that the Initiative can’t provide is pulling at Ripley’s heartstrings. That being said, Ripley has a selfish streak. The self interests of this particular troll eclipse any other responsibilities or duties they have, whether it be coming from the Empire or the Initiative. As long as they are moving towards their own goals they’re a happy camper, regardless of who they’re working for. In fact, Ripley is happy to toady up to whoever has given them a task - earning favors is a bonus for the troll, who enjoys working, tinkering and organizing. On the off-chance that Ripley is totally disinterest in their duties, they’re likely to be a thorn in the side of their teammates. They’re not afraid of taking consequences from their peers, but in order to protect themselves and their own interests, Ripley will toady up to authority figures to keep in good graces.
With their unusual hobbies and laissez faire attitude, Ripley can come off as concerning and strange - especially due to their tendency to get into other troll’s business for their ‘records’. To Ripley, a friend is someone who stands out (a sign of a troll who will be important in the future) and lets Ripley be in their presence on most occasions. Unassuming trolls aren’t as interesting unless they’re working on some sort of death ray, and Ripley can generally take a hint if trolls reject their presence. It’s especially tough with Waxdad around - while he dotes upon his charge, his presence can be off-putting. He will often try to engage with other trolls, which tends to result in embarrassment on behalf of Ripley.
Besides their typical collection process (finding, stuffing, preserving, etc), Ripley is a very crafty, practical and science-minded troll. They enjoy drawing from life, especially the oddities and trolls around them - trying to capture them perfectly. Waxdad often needs assistance with his ‘look’, so Ripley has a keen eye for sculpting and form, as well as crafting and sewing bits and bobs to fit his exterior shell of wax. They are generally skilled in such things, and can often be found scuttling around the swamp for supplies, materials, models and the like. Gifts to friends are often in the shape of a taxidermy swamp creature (creatively designed) or a surprisingly lifelike sketch (showcasing your most prominent facial features and flaws).
Strengths:
Methodical – Ripley uses their intelligence to analyze situations and organize, prioritize and attack complex problems. They pride themselves in being thorough, particularly when seeing multiple outcomes of a particular issue.
Compliant – Always happy to help, this yellowblood is no stranger to lending a hand simply for the chance that a good deed may come back their way in return. Getting closer to others is easy when you’re helpful, even if you’re a bit awkward, and this is something that Ripley utilizes as much as possible. Gaining favors, learning secrets and quirks of the trolls that they’re helping, and generally being on the inside of the various tasks they’re eager to assist with gives Ripley a sense of confidence and an edge when it comes to piecing together social logistics.
Curious – Whether it be scientific experimentation or the interest in a particularly quirky acquaintance, Ripley isn’t afraid to put their sniffnode into a situation to understand it fully. This opens them up to ample opportunities for new social ties, skills and knowledge, particularly when combined with their proactive attitude.
Flaws:
Self-Serving – Ripley doesn’t particularly care about the individuals that they’re serving at any given moment. If a better opportunity comes up, they’re likely to ditch, and this can spell serious trouble. Ripley’s fairweather friend attitude isn’t the best for lasting relationships, and if a plot or experiment falls flat in the middle they make no effort to clean it up – at the expense of others. And as they say, what goes around, comes around.
Shameless – Ripley’s laissez faire attitude can get them into serious trouble. Without much of a worry to the self-preservation of others, they get themselves into dangerous or brazen situations that can end up hurting them and those around them. Socially they’re not quite aware of the impact of making morally corrupt decisions and don’t really care – leading to real, physical and emotional consequences for them (not just those they leave along the way).
Intrusive – A lack of social grace hits Ripley hard. They like to snoop, and often this attention is unwarranted and offputting. Learning the details of other’s lives is acceptable between friends, but digging through someone’s garbage and breaking and entering is something else entirely. Being a creep does little to help their social standing.
Weapon: Ripley uses a multi-purpose blowtorch, which can be modified in many ways to fit their needs.
Appearance: The young troll is not quite an elegant sight, and they pay little mind to their outward appearance. They are very portly and of average height. Their face is round, eyes large and buggy with prominent puffy eyebags, with a small perky nose that’s always running. Their teeth tend to grow in very quickly, leading them to constantly be filing them down – and the odd spacing and size of their chompers makes speech a bit tough to parse (not that they particularly mind). It also makes drooling an unfortunate side-effect, which they tend to occasionally and usually with the sleeve of their already ragtag patchwork labcoat. Ripley’s horns are already a prize rack, growing quickly in a branching pattern that will inevitably merge at the center and continue to grow in a shape similar to a candelabra. They rise above Ripley’s wild hair, which is constantly matted and styled with grease and wax and is currently medium length, swooping upwards on either side of their face. In addition to their coat, Ripley generally wears comfortable dark stirrup leggings and big yellow rainboots for stomping around in the swamp.
Home: Ripley is a child of the swamp, taking a dwelling in one of the many treehives in Salamire. They rather like the climate, not minding hygiene, but the isolation of the settlement disturbs them and adds to their anxiety about the rebel cause. However, the location is perfect for Waxdad, who can easily prey upon swamp creatures, lost trolls and weakened daywalkers among other organisms that float into the marshes. Due to Waxdad’s fluctuating mobility, Ripley’s hive is located close to the water with wax barricades surrounding it to ward off simple fauna and to capture wayward daywalkers in the sticky trap. It’s a fair trade-off, though many times in the morning Ripley has trouble sleeping due to the unfortunate sounds of the dead rising near their hive (and the subsequent sounds of the dead thrashing about and slowly coming to a stop).
Lusus: Waxdad is an unusual lusus, and usually isn’t visible to the naked eye. He exists a few layers deep in his current host at any given time, only emerging during vulnerable times to alter course. Waxdad is, in fact, a very dimunitive insectoid creature. Similar to an earwig, a scale insect and some kind of bee, his regular form is unimpressive. However, he possesses an incredible talent for producing a highly reactive wax that he can puppeteer, given an armature. The need to find an armature leads Waxdad to become a scavenger of sorts, inhabiting a variety of interconnected parts in order to form a framework that he can use to become stronger and more mobile. This leads Waxdad to burrowing inside of corpses and other organic objects, then setting up an inner network of wax in order to control the movements of the host. After a while, his wax overflows and becomes an external shell over the top of his found body. At this point, the host becomes a source of nutrients and breaks down over time. Waxdad will generally attempt to replace lost parts with other objects, but will abandon ship if his creation becomes too hodge-podge.
Biological quirks aside, Ripley’s lusus considers himself to be a member of troll society at large. As a small-fry even in the lusus world, he has a certain envy and entitlement towards troll culture, and having a troll as a charge has only cemented this. The closer he can shape himself into the ideal troll (and the more successful he can shape Ripley), the better off he is. With that in mind, Waxdad attempts to create hosts that are as “lifelike” as possible, often enlisting Ripley’s help in modeling his wax and features to perfection. He detests being seen as lesser, and especially as a yellowblooded lusus yearns for Ripley to fall into a respectable field in society so that his own status can be cemented. He therefore pushes his charge to rejoin society rather than stick with the rebel rabble, for their position in life is dangerous and won’t grant either of them stability or a cushy place where they can be accepted. He pushes Ripley to be as typical as possible, a moldable face and a useful citizen that can slip through the cracks and take advantage of any opportunity. While Waxdad intends to change his own appearance and Ripley’s career trajectory, however, Ripley is content to follow their own passions with gusto. This causes some tension in the otherwise amiable relationship between the two, where Waxdad will consider his charge to be lazy or misguided – he does not have an understanding of the sort of experimentation that Ripley takes part in, and simply prefers by-the-book, traditional answers to solutions. His conservative stance on many topics is something that the two disagree on, but ultimately Ripley appreciates the guidance and protection of their lusus. If they rebel, they simply will “forget” to tell him.
Power: Just a regular ol’ bean
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