Name: Alifax Bunsem
from
Halifax, as in the
Halifax Explosion and
Bunsen, as in the inventor of the
Bunsen burner - yes, I'm that uncreative BD
Blood colour: Red! A very low red, at H 0. [H 0, S 100, B 34]
Gender: Male
Symbol: A fireball.
Personality: Alifax tries really, really hard not to get noticed. He's just a lowly redblood, after all, and that means that anything he does that's out of line is grounds for culling, or enslavement, or worse (he can't imagine what could be worse, but there are trolls for that). He tends to not make decisions that make him stand out from a crowd, and he prefers to venture out in the company of a large group of lowbloods because that way, he figures, it'll be more difficult to single him out specifically. Keeping to himself works pretty well for him, after all! When it comes to personal details, Alifax is often reluctant to share, and can seem standoffish because of that. Nevertheless, though, he's not bad company - he's willing to hear people out and he's not the kind of guy who tries to attract attention. Which is good, because a lot of the attention he attracts is not the healthiest attention.
The majority of his actions are centered around his future. Alifax's main goal in life, silly as it is, is to survive his natural lifespan, preferably without becoming enslaved or worse. He'd like a nice military occupation (no one can pretend a job as a ruffiannihilator isn't interesting, or perhaps just a navigatorturer), too, but that's not necessary - not if it means he'll die quicker. He admires military tradition, though, because it's disciplined and everyone knows his or her own place, and he does want the job security it'd certainly provide. He wouldn't say he's ambitious, although maybe he is, for someone with such a low blood color. But even warmbloods are assigned work when they're adults, and that's possible even if he's, well, powered. It's not his plan, though, to rise through the ranks, or even to eventually serve the Empress. He'd much rather never meet her at all! Alifax doesn't think she'd be merciful and kind.
In regards to the hemospectrum, Alifax ultimately accepts it. Sure, he doesn't like being seen as inferior and unworthy, but it's not as though the hemospectrum's going to change any time soon. The highbloods have incredibly long lifespans, psychic resistance, and the chucklevoodoos of the subjugglators on their side. Leaders of revolutions are consistently disposed of, as if they don't even matter to highblooded leaders - and they probably don't. Organizationally, the hemospectrum is a pretty good system, in Alifax's opinion. It keeps people in their place and makes sure that everyone knows what his or her duty is, and what he or she should be doing. He's not fond of highbloods by default, but he doesn't particularly dislike them, either. He does tend to bend to their will, and especially so if they aren't close to him. He doesn't really have a choice, does he? There are very few trolls with blood lower than his own. He accords respect to the majority of trolls for this reason, although he's more inclined to act casually around trolls with red or orange blood. He finds interaction with trolls who have lower blood than his own difficult, though, and he usually ignores them.
Alifax is a pretty easy-to-please guy, all in all. He has two main loves in life: reading and FLARPing. The first is probably the source of his point of view on life: he chose to build his hive in a cave that had once been part of a magnificent library system. He mainly spends his time in the history section, and he likes it there. Trolls have a long, glorious history, after all, and he can’t imagine any other species with an empire as expansive as their own. However, the history books also include long lists of warmbloods culled for no reason other than stepping out of line once or twice, and they remind Alifax daily that his life is not something he can take for granted. The empire sees itself first, and Alifax does that, too – history has taught him that it’s not important to be loyal to your friends, so long as you yourself survive.
FLARPing, though, is the main source of his interactions with other trolls. He prefers not to cloud, because he doesn’t want to risk the highbloods that he’d eventually play against culling him for making a boring campaign, or – or something. He claims that he enjoys FLARPing because it gives him combat experience, and that’s always a good thing. That may be true, but he’s also a redblood, which means he doesn’t have the money to purchase his own weapons. And FLARPing, while perhaps juvenile, is certainly a way to gain high-level weaponry. That isn’t all too common, of course, especially not for him – for the most part, Alifax plays as Initiate Rustward, a young, redblooded monk of mirth, and while his campaign success ratio is high, his class isn't known for its frequent loot drops.
He's also largely fascinated with cartography. Ancient maps, while delicate near fire, can give a sense of history (which provides context when he's reading through his books), and also help him to place himself while working through a tedious campaign that depends more on things like acumen and arcane knowledge checks. While FLARP stats are unique to his character, they're always based on him, after all - and he's not about to be outclassed here. Besides, maps are just...aesthetically pleasing, he supposes. Not that that matters to him, of course.
He's not a recluse, but doesn't spend a lot of time with any particular friend. He believes it's easier to just have a large network of acquaintances who'll all venture out together in the hopes that they themselves won't be preyed upon, after all, but he also doesn't want to get too attached to any one other troll - the word for friend is exactly the same as the word for enemy, after all. He's fairly cordial when he encounters trolls of his own caste, though, and that's useful for his occasional ventures to New Hemisect City, after all (some supplies just can't be found in Busthind Mountains).
When in the safety of his home, he does like practicing his powers - he has a strange tolerance for heat (perhaps it's his warm blood) and a fondness for the smell of smoke. Also, the bright light of fire is easier on his eyes than for other trolls - though it's still difficult to look directly into flames. Over the years he's developed a particular taste for slightly burnt food - it's just familiar to him.
Strengths: adaptable - Alifax really has only one priority in life, and that's to live out his natural lifespan, short as that may be, while maintaining some semblance of personal autonomy. He's easy to please and willing to do anything to meet that end, and that's why he hasn't had much reason to call attention to himself. He doesn't feel bothered by doing a lot of things, and when he does, he's developed an ability to put his personal discomfort on a backburner, at least for the length of time he's doing something. His willingness to do things makes him seem useful to many blood supremacists, and it helps him out to not be squicked when he's out of food or creature comforts. Redbloods aren't wealthy, after all!
sympathetic - One of the good things about having Alifax as a friend is that he finds it easy to relate to things, even if he's not really as good at connecting to people on a personal level [see
withdrawn]. He understands when a fellow troll's having troubles, and he's extremely concerned about the well-being of society as a whole (if other trolls aren't happy, he figures, that means mindless culling is far more likely). While he himself is withdrawn and quiet, and he often can't do much to help, anyway, he does spend a lot of his time patiently trying to lend an ear. In any case, he's certainly agreeable to other trolls' ideas, and he never tries to belittle other trolls. (How can he? He's only a lowblood, after all, and there isn't much lower you can go than Alifax's red.) He's good at listening to people and not interrupting, although that's not to say he's not going to sell your secrets out later, either (see subservient). But that's to be expected, right?
patient - Alifax is used to waiting. He has a long, long temper - he'll wait out beatings until he can go home and try to nurse himself better (he can't afford hospitals, after all), and he's willing to wait ages for someone to fulfill a request of his, rare as those might be. He has lots of other things to do, after all! Alifax isn't particularly demanding or insistent that things get done right
now, and he doesn't often make plans that are time-sensitive or that need to be put into place now (and he's certainly not going to support a plan to overthrow the hemospectrum and give lowbloods better rights, because he's sure that if that ever happens, it'll happen long after he's dead). He finds it easy to look into the future and remind himself that waiting will be worth it. As a result, he doesn't often lose his temper or act rashly in response to someone else (or at least, not while his power's out of use, anyway!).
composed - Wow, Alifax sure is one cool kid! Well, he wouldn't say he's
cool, exactly - but he doesn't get flustered easily, for one. He's not going to be found stuttering or cringing in fear, and it's difficult to make him freak out, even when faced with a highblood. He's calm and accepting, and while that may get on some trolls' nerves, his rather subservient nature usually makes sure that he isn't a threat. Being so composed is helpful, though, because it means that people don't know when he's
really out of things, and he can think about things instead of flying into a panic. Not that there's often a significant decision to make (for him), but, well. Also, it ensures that he doesn't usually flare up and try to attack a highblood or something completely preposterous.
Flaws:self-conscious - Alifax is ridiculously concerned with his own image and with how others perceive him. He doesn't want to seem like he's one of those lowbloods who'll make trouble (even in front of a highblood that he knows doesn't care about the hemospectrum), but at the same time he doesn't like to look weak in front of his friends. He dedicates most of his time to cultivating a careful image as a result. In front of highbloods, he's afraid to speak up or make suggestions, and in front of his lowblood friends, he's afraid to voice his fears about their futures because he's afraid it'll make him look weak. Often this leads to him bottling things up and spending much of his time alone or with his lusus.
subservient - Alifax doesn't encourage other trolls to treat him as an inferior, but he seems to have accepted the stigma of his blood and sees it as a reason for him to submit to those of higher castes in often ridiculous ways. He addresses highbloods very respectfully and tries never to get on a highblood's bad side. He tends to obey orders and suggestions from trolls in higher blood castes without question, provided they do not endanger his own life or somehow reveal his status as a troll with powers. There is very little that he won't do, though, and it would be easy for a highblood to get him to betray his friends' secrets. In general, he has few qualms about immorality. When in the presence of lowblooded friends, too, he's also usually pretty deferential. While he doesn't address them as superiors, he also isn't too concerned about much so he usually cedes to the will of the group as a whole. He's not much of one for independent action.
withdrawn - On the whole, Alifax finds it difficult to connect with other people. He's not so much unfriendly as just distant - he doesn't consider himself particularly interesting in the first place, and it's easy for him to mistrust others. Furthermore, he's often oblivious to the personal feelings of other trolls. It'd be false to say that Alifax goes out of his way to be mean, because he tries not to upset other trolls, especially if their blood is a significantly cooler hue than his own (and let's face it - he's a pretty lowblooded guy). On the other hand, he doesn't go out of his way to make friends, either. He'll often convince himself it's not worth the trouble, or that the other troll isn't really interested in him. Besides, it's in his best interest to be closed off so there aren't too many questions should he need to, say, run away, right? It's easy for him to push others away, and that's quite detrimental to his interpersonal relationships.
uncreative - Alifax finds it difficult to imagine things outside of the status quo, and he doesn't believe that he really has the power to do anything. He doesn't often do things on his own initiative, as a result. His decisions are easily influenced and he usually does things within the traditional model. He's not fond of going outside of the box, even to solve a very unorthodox problem. This creates problems for him because he isn't really capable of thinking critically, or on his own. He's not much of a problem solver at all, and that's not as much of an issue to him now but he'll find difficulty trying to get things done when he's older or when his lusus is no longer around to support him and guide him in the right direction.
Weapon: - Alifax uses a double-headed
meteor hammer to his best advantage. Sure, it took a lot of saving up for him to afford them (or, well, forge them), but they're super useful because they're not particularly flammable, and even when they do catch on fire they aren't completely destroyed by it. Usually. He trains with them constantly, and hopes to better develop his control when they're farther away from his body. [Note: I'm not sure if these can potentially kill, but I figure it's possible when using fire meteors - which, well. Alifax certainly has no shortage of "fuel" for those!]
Appearance: [Premade!] He's of average height and build for a troll, with maybe a bit more pudge to his cheeks than most. Alifax has chin-length black hair, horns that curve sharply upward, and dresses practically for the most part. Fashion is not at all important to him, and he doesn't have the funding for new clothes anyway. He prefers to only occasionally purchase very sturdy clothing - however, a lot of the time he neglects to purchase flame-retardant clothing, and that is a huge issue. Unfortunately, this means that much of his wardrobe is burnt. 8C
Home: Alifax lives on the mountainside - the Busthind mountains are pretty damn flame retardant, which makes them especially useful as a home for a troll who's still getting used to his own powers (although the same might not be said for its contents). His hive is pretty secluded and includes the bare necessities as well as a huge stockpile of books (he thinks they were left there by a previous inhabitant, but he's not complaining), which he's read very few of. In general he keeps those away from his lusus unless Alifax himself is there, though, even though Flambe used to spend his time reciting stories to Alifax at night. It turns out Flambe has the extraordinary talent of crushing books under his feet when he's not looking.
Lusus: Alifax's lusus (usually called Flambe) is a huge white salamander (he reaches the height of Alifax's chest when on all fours, which makes for a pretty clumsy lusus) with horns in a shape similar to Alifax's, but bigger. He's a cowardly parent, for the most part, opting to run at the first sign of trouble, and that's what he generally teaches Alifax, too. He has no special abilities, other than being really big and having scales that are difficult to penetrate by fire. He's great at being a chair for when Alifax wants to read, though!
Power: Alifax is a pyrokinetic troll, and he's pretty good at controlling his powers, if he can say so himself. This is a pretty biased account, though - his control as a kid is only generally precise when the flame's just about big enough to fit in his hands. Anything much larger seems to have a will of his own. He is also great with creating fires, but terrible with putting them out. Perhaps this control will improve with time! He prefers to keep the use of his powers private, believing that most trolls with psionic powers eventually go on to become helmsmen (and also realizing that his powers are a lot better at responding to his emotions than his face is). Alifax actually isn't sure what the power of conjuring flames could do as a helmsman (he doesn't have extensive psionic control or anything, after all), and his lifespan is probably going to be too short to be anything useful, but he figures it's better to be safe than sorry - as a result, only a few trolls have genuine knowledge of his powers. Besides, some of the most well-known helmsmen are known for their purely offensive psionic abilities. He utilizes combat style offensive B, by heating up his meteor hammers with his fire so that they pack a greater punch when they hit.
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