[Purpleblood] Casfer Visage (Forever UC...)

[DraconicFeline]

Name: Casfer Visage
[From Castor, the genus of the American beaver and Casper, a name of persian origin that means “treasurer” and The Island of Visage, a place in the game Sunless Sea where one’s mask determines one’s role in society, and no one is allowed to be bare faced… not even visitors.]

Blood colour: #220e54, Indigo

Gender: Male

Symbol: A smiling moon and sun

Personality:

Casfer is generally an optimist by nature, confident that things will generally turn out all right if he puts the effort into it. Sometimes, though, he feels as though he is standing, alone, amidst a torrent of despair. Though he wants to believe things will go better this time, he is very aware that everything can switch in an instant, and it can all be nothing more than a terrible lie. It makes him sad to think of such things, but he knows that such is reality and he still has hope that this time things will be better. Having survived childhood betrayals and power games, he now finds it difficult to trust others even as he also wants to do so.

Casfer is acutely aware of the caste system, and for the most part his perception of it is very mainstream: Highbloods are on top (with purplebloods being superior to bluebloods and seadwellers being mysterious and deadly) and lowbloods are on the bottom (though he lumps them all together in his mind.) Everyone has a role to play in the world, determined greatly by their caste.

He believes that his fellow highbloods are rulers, with other things such as lying, backstabbing and nefarious pursuit of power and prestige falling naturally in place as part of their role. He expects them to be up to something, and (if they are higher than bluebloods, who he considers to be fairly stupid) he expects them to be primarily masterminds playing deadly games. Lowbloods are not sophisticated or wealthy enough to be capable of playing such games and he tends to trust and favor them because of this. However, he knows that even they have the potential to lie, cheat, and steal, just in a different sort of way. In general, Casfer believes that one must understand and embrace their caste-given role in society to be happy.

Casfer hides his face behind a mask and most of his bare skin behind clothes. His reasons are myriad and abstract – partially, he feels that he is vulnerable and needs the protection that the literal obscuring of his self can bring. Partially, perhaps, he feels that he doesn't quite fit into his societal role. However, his reasons are also philosophical: Casfer believes that masks are very special things. He believes that one is at their truest behind a mask, and that a mask can also transform you to fit its role. These philosophies may appear to be at odds, but Casfer believes that they can be reconciled by saying that what you transform yourself to be can be your true self, even when it needs to change to fit the situation. He feels that when he gets older, he will gain a deeper understanding of this principle, but for now, he simply appreciates the truth in both philosophies.

Casfer uses his mask as an armor of sorts. When his mask is on, he feels free to act in whatever way he needs to to survive. He can be as cruel, conniving, and devious as he needs to, protected from feelings of guilt or insecurity by the mask that hides his face. It also protects him from the disappointment he feels when he is betrayed, and lets him act as he needs to to express his feelings without fear of reprocussion. To not wear his mask would be to take away that armor. It would be like being naked -Worse than being naked: To be barefaced would be to leave him vulnerable and weak to the world and to others. Without his mask, he doesn't think he would be able to survive – the stress of life on Alternia would simply be too much for him.

This is not an unreasonable thought: Casfer is always keenly and logically aware of what he can and cannot do, even in the heat of the moment. He is confident in his abilities and reasonably careful of his weaknesses. He is neither particularly arrogant or anxious – he simply knows what he can do, and he does it. He is also capable of becoming aware of – and sometimes exploiting – the strengths and weaknesses of others... as well as the things they might, perhaps, wish to keep hidden. However, he has learned to keep such things to himself.

Secrets, he has learned, are one of the main ways to combat betrayal, a currency that buys respect and solutions to problems. Careful use of the raw, unadorned truth are also handy, and Casfer uses both to protect himself against other trolls who would seek to hurt or use him. However, he generally considers himself to be trustworthy, a bearer of the kind of integrity that his lusus espouses along with hard work. Hard work makes one worthy beyond ones assigned role, or even worthy of that role. Additionally, he likes how it feels: for Cesfer, this manifests in helping his lusus with projects and artwork. He doesn’t see any of this as out of place with his societal role.

Casfer has strong emotions and a desire to express them as directly as possible, which cannot always be expressed in his wood carvings and sculpture. Sometimes, only action can express his feelings. Casfer is not - and cannot be - a peaceful troll because of these strong emotions. When angry, he is more likely to pick up a blade if provoked than to talk it out, though he is certainly capable of diplomacy in cooler-tempered moments. He shows his caste at these times, and his manner in a fight is imperious, deadly, and efficient. He is very capable of murder, and, indeed, he has (likely) killed before. He is not stupid, however. Even when fighting with deadly intent backed by powerful emotions such as jealousy or rage, he will flee if his foe is suitably out of his league.

In other words, Cesfer is a troll whose emotions are strong, even violent, but whose main ruling trait is his reason. Though he has adapted to survival in cutthroat Alternia, he longs for the warmth and connection that trust brings. Caught between his own youthful optimism and his seasoned cynicism, he weeps for his own hopes and wears a mask to protect himself from the inevitable backlash that they bring.

Strengths:

Aware

Casfer tends to notice a lot about his world, often seeing things that others do not see or ignore - about his surroundings and about other trolls. In a similar vein, Casfer is also very conscious of himself; his feelings, his strengths, his weaknesses, and his general situation. He doesn’t always understand what these details mean or how to react to them, but he knows that they are there and can take advantage of that information if needed.

Confident

Although Casfer is exquisitely aware of his own weaknesses and the treacherous strength of others, he is also very sure of his strengths. He knows what he can do, and is usually very certain of what he is doing. This is not arrogance - typically, he has taken precautions based on what he knows about the situation to ensure some level of certainty in his success, and also has very realistic expectations of success. However, this does not mean he is infallable. No matter how confident and aware he is, he can still fail...

Expressive

Casfer has a strong desire to express himself and feels that his thoughts and feelings are too complicated, detailed, and nuanced to be lied about (though he occasionally twists them to deflect or defy the will of others). Though eloquent, words alone do not always fully describe how he feels. Casfer will sometimes express himself through physical movements or through his art, though more often he will use his masks and their respective meanings and interpretations as a medium.

Flaws:

Hopeful

Casfer’s naivete has been tarnished repeatedly, as has been betrayed and manipulated before, and he knows he’s going to get betrayed and manipulated again. He knows things don’t always work out the way they should, and that there are some terrible things lurking in the shadows... but, despite it all, he retains a few powerful shreds of hope; Despite ‘knowing better,’ he is always willing to expect a good outcome or the best in other people. Because of this, he will sometimes come across as simple and naive, which can play in his favor and cause people to underestimate him. Most of the time, though, his optimism leaves him vulnerable to further betrayal.

Wrathful

Sometimes, the only way to express his feelings - especially bitter anger, cruel betrayal, and intense disapproval - is to hurt another troll. This is not a problem for Casfer, who has learned that some trolls only respect force and strength, and he has also learned that he is quite good at expressing those feelings. Despite his general sweetness, Casfer is perfectly willing to hurt, maim, or even kill as needed to get his point across, though he typically doesn’t have the patience for outright prolonged torture. Morally, he sees nothing wrong with this at all.

Melancholy

Casfer has been exposed to some dirty aspects of life. He’s been betrayed and manipulated, his friendships abused, his trust trod upon. Despite being optimistic about his current activities, he is acutely aware of the treachery of his world, and is saddened by it. He doesn’t typically discuss it with others, but he can wax morosely philosophical on the world and there is sometimes an air of quiet resignation about him.

Weapon:
Dual blades like This guy. The blades are designed to be perfectly in balance with each other, and

Appearance:

Horns:
Reference

Right horn is curved in a half circle out from the side of his head. It has a small spike/notch/prong on it's upper curve that will get bigger and more defined as he gets older. His left side has three small, spike horns that occur in decending size from the top of his head, to down along his skull in a diagonal line.

Hair:
Closely shaved. Not quite clear-cut as a child, but VERY very short and near to the scalp. Very “Fuzz” would be a term I would use to describe it.

Facial Expression: If blocked by a mask, then none. If not blocked by a mask, then a sort of wide-eyed neutral expression.

The Mask:
White and indigo

Clothing:
The most elaborate and annoying part of his character design to be honest. It is based off of this guy's outfit:

Here is a ref for how it appears on Casfer:

show spoilerhide spoiler

Here is a breakdown:


Mask:
The mask in his ref is the basics of what I want to see – white and indigo, in an abstract but clear pattern. If that pattern is inspiring, go for it. If not, Hopefully this design will be more inspiring

Neck/shoulders: A sort of neutral tan short poncho/bib/cape/thing with his symbol on it in his blood color and with simple embroidery in a blue color and in his blood hue. It is essentially a piece of cloth with a hole for his head to go through that is longer in the back than the front and lies loosely on his shoulders.

Torso and arms: Black long sleeved shirt with silver bracelets ending the sleeves, which are slightly loose on him. His hands are covered with black gloves.

Legs: Black leggings made of a soft material.

Shoes: Boat-shaped shoes in his blood hue.


Home:
New Hemisect City:

Casfer and Chuppy live in a spacious apartment in New Hemisect that was remodeled by the beaverbeast into being much like a log cabin on the inside. Although it looks a little incongruous, it was well built by the lusus and, once one gets used to the idea that there are actual wood logs making up the walls, it is actually homey. Sweet smelling, too.

Otherwise, it has all the amenities appropriate to his caste, including standstools and a water feature for Chuppy. Casfer has a craft table and has made one of the walls into a gallery of masks which he likes to look at and use as a wardrobe, and which he switches out from time to time. His respiteblock is near the water feature (which helps him sleep) and Chuppy has built a small wooden 'lodge' over the water and Casfer's recouparoon.

The hive has a sitting room of sorts, but it is not a hive built for parties or, really, company at all. It's a place for a beaver and his troll to live, rough but pleasant, and that is about it.

Lusus:

Chuppy is a big, fat, white, hairy bucktoothed beaver. He is dignified, gruff and blunt, and values hard work and integrity over anything else. He feeds his charge a steady diet of these values, hearty foods, and reasonable caution. He is also quick to crack down on any hint of laziness he might sense in his charge - Casfer may be a highblood, but that does not mean he should fall back on it. In particular, he encourages his child to participate in manual labor that most highbloods would consider beneath them, and to express himself artistically via woodworking. Fortunately, Casfer seems to share his values. Frequently hugged in undignified ways by his charge, this alignment of values moves him to tolerate such treatment and, even, allow himself a few grudging noises of encouragement. Chuppy does not like other trolls very much at all, and generally treats them all, regardless of caste, with equal suspicion. He’s watching you.

Power: None  

[DraconicFeline]

Other Stuff

History:
His past itself is not particularly relevant to his story, suffice to say that he had a lot of encounters with Chiara-class troll children. That has colored much of his outlook.

Hemospectrum Thoughts and attitudes:
In Summary:

Red through Yellow = Casfer thinks lowbloods are great. Why he likes them and lumps them together as one ‘lowblood’ caste in his head is due to a bunch of complicated factors. However, partly, it is because he doesn’t believe that they are capable of backstabbing and betrayal and that kind of complicated unpleasantness. Also, they are generally compliant. He doesn’t believe they always have to be compliant, but it’s nice when they are. He sometimes feels protective of them. It’s almost like he considers them pets, rather than people...
Green through teal = In the middle. the way Casfer thinks of them is that they can either be ‘bluebloods’ or ‘lowbloods’. He is suspicious and wary at first meeting, but will generally slot them into one caste grouping or another and treat them accordingly. Trusting them is possible, but it takes time.
Blue = Casfer believes them to be, in general, nefarious and worthy of suspicion. And not particularly intelligent as a whole. Although he considers them capable of backstabbing and trickery and the usual highblood-style betrayals, he also views them with a particular disdain, almost as if they are trying too hard to be more than they are.
Purple = His caste. He believes them to be highly intelligent, highly devious and quite - almost playfully cruel. How much of this is what he actually thinks of himself is not clear. He is exceptionally wary around trolls of his own caste, and will generally keep a mask on his face or on his person around them.
Seadweller = He dislikes seadwellers intensely and does not trust them. This is partly because of caste jealousy – they are the highest caste, higher even than his own – and partly because they seem to keep to themselves, something he considers very suspicious. He is very likely to think nothing but ill of them, no matter what one does.
Powered and physical mutant Trolls = Casfer thinks highly of lowblooded mutants and that their powers and deformities should be extolled. He is less generously inclined towards coolblooded mutants, seeing them as somewhat freakish and as a source of increased wariness because of the advantages they posess. Sometimes, when his self confidence dips slightly, he wishes he had a mutation of his own, like wings...
Mutantbloods = He doesn't believe that they actually exist.

His hemospectrum perspectives can end up being downright kooky;


Quote:
Lets say theres a troll that kills and dismembers other trolls to collect body parts. They display these parts in their hive, and make dolls and are creepy as s**t.

Not cool, right?

If they were a lowblood, however, Casfer would think they were absolutely wonderful and want to play dolls with them and be completely unphased by the body parts.

Midbloods, he might be suspicious to, but still curious.

Blue on up, however, he would consider to be disgusting murderer abominations and he would loathe them and possibly make some sort of threat to the effect of adding their guts to their own collection.

Wearing Majoras Mask
Original Concept

As an intellectual exercise he does when he has time on his hands/is bored/is doing manual labor/for the heck of it is to try to figure out someone's role – or what sort of roles society can be broken into, aside from the hemospectrum.

Old References:

Concept art with blankie
Concept art
Another Ref
Horn Reference
Old horn ref
Shitty Doodle
Another Ref
Face and horns
Old full-body concept art
Doodle



Partial inspiration: Happy Mask Salesman!

As an additional note, the reason that the name Casper is important is because the idea of a treasurerer – a trusted keeper of someone else's belongings – is one of the many themes I've thought about him potentially growing into eventually.  

[Green Minuet]

Half a crit, from Green!

How does Cesfar cope with his to socialise and the distrust his lusus has seeded in him? You've opened stating that socialisation is very important. If it's something he needs this would cause a lot of internal conflict. It's fine to have these two contradicting ideas (since they make for an interesting mix) but consider how they play off each other!

You have a lot of subjective description in here. Whether or not a character is seen as cute is entirely up to another player/character. Not only that, it tends to rub people the wrong way. Give the whole thing a look over and clear out any descriptions that project perspective.

I have two questions about Cesfar not trusting highbloods. Does he go out of his way to avoid interactions with high bloods? Or does he prefer to keep a close eye on them?

Secondly, how does Cesfar feel about his own place on the hemospectrum. According to what he has been taught, he is one of the “untrustworthy” highbloods. Is he self-centered enough to believe that he is the only exception? Or does he believe that other highbloods might be mislabeled as well?

I'm also curious about where he gets this unique perspective of the hemospectrum. As a highblood himself, he should rarely experience any of the oppression that a lowblood might. Not to mention Alternian media uses subtle propaganda to influence how citizens perceive highblood and lowblood status.

The paragraph about Cesfar being helpful is not especially... helpful. Heh.

Jokes aside, you do a lot of waffling here. He likes to be helpful, but only for things he enjoys. He likes to be used but hates to be treated with disrespect. Technically you could do both, having him walk more down the middle, but I would not consider it a strong character choice. In that case, I would not even mention it, since it balances out to “average”. I would pick one or the other.

That's all for now. I haven't gotten the chance to do more than skim through the rest of it quite yet, but those were a couple things that stood out to me. Also be sure to follow the formatting in the official form. I noticed you had some good tidbits down below in “Other” section and they really belong up in the profile. (His hobbies and view on masks for instance). Also you can remove the list on the hemospectrum. You already covered all that information in his profile!

Green, out!  

[saedusk]

Hey Drac! I'm interested to see where Cesfer can go from here, I really dig the vibe of Majora's Mask and think it suits trollhood well, but there are a few things that need to be dealt with to get your character on the right track.

First off, please be sure to take a look at Green's crit if you haven't already and incorporate everything he brought up in your update. His crit covers a lot of bases that definitely need looked at. I want to stress that all of the extra information about his hobbies, etc, as Green mentioned, should be included in the profile section. Please be sure to use the official form, as that's what we go by when we crit quests. Anything extra that doesn't fit into the form should be in the second post, but only if it's "for fun" information that doesn't have a bearing on his character or how he'll be played in shop.

In addition to Green's crit, where exactly Cesfer learned both his wary behaviors and his ideas about the hemospectrum need a little more clarification. You stress both of these things heavily throughout the profile, stating he learned from his lusus, but when you get down to Chuppy's section there's either no mention of these things at all or what you have feels contradictory to your previous statements.

Let's start with the wariness and distrust. No where in Chuppy's profile does it mention him being wary himself, save for the one and only time he's called "suspicious." In fact, he's written as a lonely type who actually tries to socialize and ease that loneliness, sometimes to the point of losing track of his own child. It doesn't make sense to me that Chuppy is a social creature who wants to feel less isolated, tries to interact with others, and would love to be among his own species only to turn around and tell Cesfer he can't embrace his similar feelings towards other trolls. Considering Cesfer's extreme urge to socialize, and the feeling I get reading the lusus section that the two of them aren't really all that tight knit (correct me if I'm wrong), what exactly is keeping Cesfer from going off and doing what he wants anyway? And why would Chuppy say one thing and do another thing entirely? Is he the do as I say and not as I do type?

Now, onto the hemospectrum views, which are a huge part of Cesfer's character, and something Green also touched on in his crit. You mention Cesfer was taught what he believes in, and I can only assume it was Chuppy who taught him, but you don't mention Chuppy's feelings about the hemospectrum in his profile. In fact, you don't mention how Chuppy thinks of other trolls at all despite his teachings being such an important influence on his child's behavior.

Why exactly would he teach his charge these things when his status as a highblood could almost guarantee him a stable life? I need a little more justification behind why and I think a good starting point is really considering Chuppy's side, too.

One last thing, I'd like to touch on his sweet but violent nature. Right now he feels a lot like a turn on a dime type character, which can be difficult to convincingly play. I'd like to see more reasoning behind his violence when he's an otherwise sweet, shy, helpful troll. Is he violent only when threatened or does he use violence to solve other conflicts, as well? What sorts of stimuli can cause his violence? If you'd like to use it as a strength, it should be something that comes into play on a near nightly basis, so please keep that in mind.  

[DraconicFeline]

Updated... getting it checked out a bit first to make sure I answered the things.  

[DraconicFeline]

... more edits. Okay. Here we go...  

[seekingCylem]

This crit may be somewhat out of order since I jumped between sections to make sure I wasn't missing anything.


This app is really wordy. You may want to run it through www.hemingwayapp.com in order to clean up the sentence structures. Additionally, there are a number of contradictions in the character itself that I'm going to go over.

I would suggest narrowing down Cesfer to the absolute bare minimum characteristics you want him to have--like three or four traits--then working up from there. His thematic elements like the masks or his relationship with his lusus, or distrust of highbloods can be incorporated afterwards when he has a more solid direction. All of these details should be pointing your character towards a unified concept. How would you describe Cesfer in his entirety to someone with one sentence?

As for the nitty-gritty:

We don't need to know about the life-cycle of the Alternian beaver, especially when it seems to so closely parallel that of an Earth beaver. As a beaver one already assumes that it's capable of building dams. We only need to know what behaviors relate to your troll specifically and the life they currently lead.

How did Chuppy end up raising a troll like Cesfer, anyway? He seems like a pretty no-nonsense lusus, so how did Cesfer come about being as philosophical as he is? Where did he pick up the interest in masks? What was he like before discovering masks as a coping mechanism? How does Cesfer deal with Chuppy being aggressive towards other trolls?

What makes Cesfer wary of highbloods? It's mentioned he believes them to be untrustworthy, but if he's not regularly entering into deals or partnerships, what does he think they would do to him? As a highblood himself how is he not aware of the security his caste grants him? It seems like he's willing to pull rank during conflict. Why is he so supportive of specifically powered lowbloods? It's obvious Cesfer acts warmly towards lowbloods, but how does he interact with mid or highbloods on a daily basis? Is he courteous or outright hostile?

The example of Cesfer's views on the hemospectrum involving dismemberment is concerning, and not necessarily because of the dismemberment itself. How would he not register how ******** up that is, regardless of blood caste? Cesfer wouldn't have come across any trolls of any caste that would support his predetermined views, re: highbloods that are out to get him or exclusively subservient, pitiful lowbloods. Trolls are people--even ones that aren't player characters. His viewpoint on trolls make it sound like he's never met another troll in his life and learned everything he knows from highblood propaganda material.

"He is very capable of murder, and, indeed, he has killed before." He won't have killed another troll before even entering the shop.

"In other words, Cesfer is a generous but entitled highblood who is genuine and honest, but hides it behind a mask of lies and deception when he has to be." So which is he? It sounds like he's generous to lowbloods because he wants accolades, and he can only communicate effectively if he's putting on a persona. His default is also apparently to resort to violence when conflict arises. How often is this actually the case, since he seems to rarely go without a mask to remind him to keep himself in line?

How is violence a strength for Cesfer? How would it help him in his daily life or make people want to be around him?

You build up Cesfer's need to hide himself behind masks and his fear of highblood aggression. As such his gregarious flaw seems contradictory. Why did his lusus teach him to be wary of other trolls? Was that explicit on Chuppy's part or is it just something Cesfer picked up from Chuppy's own dislike of other trolls? What prompts Cesfer to approach complete strangers? What exactly does Cesfer gain from this strength?

"His delight in being helpful to lowblooded trolls especially might ingratiate some trolls, unnerve others, and upset those who prefer or are comfortable with the status quo – one way or the other." Is this intentional on Cesfer's part? Does he WANT to upset the status quo? Cesfer's helpfulness flaw reads the same as his hardworking strength: he enjoys running errands for trolls who are nice to him. If you had to chose between the two, it definitely reads better as a strength than a flaw.

At the same time, Cesfer's trusting flaw is at odds with his previously established views of everyone who's not lowblooded. At one point it's mentioned that he sees lies and violence around him every day. There's even more contradiction in his resignation flaw where he's resigned to the belief that he's going to be hurt and deceived. In turn, the resignation flaw says that he adapts and moves on when confronted, while he also has the stubbornness flaw that describes him as bullheaded and unwilling to relent to others.


What do you honestly want from this character? What makes them a character you want to write?