songerein: application

[menancia]

Player: Christine
Age: 36
Contact: necrofancy or PM
Current Characters: Kainé (shithogs), Balthus von Albrecht (grappleking)

Character: Dohalim il Qaras
Canon: Tales of Arise, post-game.
Age: 28


Background Information: Dohalim @ Aselia/Tales Wiki

Personality:

CW: Talk of slavery and manslaugher.

At first glance, Dohalim is a soft-spoken, well-mannered and refined Renan Lord, a paragon of nobility known for his fine tastes and thoughtful, progressive leadership approach. In neighboring realms, the common folk live in fear of the Lords who rule over them; the divide between the native Dahnan slaves and their Renan overlords is both large and hostile, with countless slaves being worked to death day in and day out. In Elde Menancia, the realm over which Dohalim reigns, things are decidedly different: rather than speak of their Lord in hushed or fearful tones, the Dahnans speak openly about what a kind and generous ruler Lord Dohalim has been, and the great changes he’s made to their quality of life, allowing them to live alongside the Renans in the realm as equals— or as equal as they can be when their realm is occupied. His reputation speaks to him being fair-minded and focused on equality, a kind and compassionate soul that cares for all of the people within his realm, not just his own countrymen— and while the party is suspicious upon meeting him, as things progress, it appears that much of the praise Dohalim is given is well-deserved.

Mostly. After all, if something seems too good to be true, it very likely is. While Dohalim is far more fair and open-minded than most of his fellow Renans, and his reforms within the realm of Elde Menancia had done a great deal to improve the lives of the slaves who lived there, his motives were not nearly as selfless as most people within the realm have been allowed to believe. His goal was not coexistence for the sake of it, but rather to eliminate the need to hear any of the slaves in his realm suffer openly, their screams summoning forth memories that he would rather leave buried deep. Dohalim, in fact, never had any interest in political leadership at all— back on Rena, he had been a dedicated musician who cared for nothing more than music itself, but his standing within Renan society put him in a position where he was forced to compete for Lordship. During this competition, he was forced to face a close friend, one who resorted to dirty tactics in a bid to win the position for himself, and as a result, Dohalim killed him in self-defense. He has carried the memories of this day with him since, along with immense guilt, and the screams of Dahnan slaves immediately brought him back to that very moment: the death of his closest friend at his own hand, while his fallen friend’s fiancee wailed over his corpse and accused Dohalim himself of murder. In order to avoid having to dwell on the life he had left behind, the way everything in his life had swiftly come to ruin as a result of that duel, he altered the way things were done in Elde Menancia so that no slave ever need suffer again.

Despite this, Dohalim is not as much of a fraud as he sometimes accuses himself of being. Though his initial motivations for making reforms were quite selfish, his dedication to progress and taking steps towards equality in his realm was absolutely genuine. It’s Kisara who reminds him of this: though she had initially been angry upon learning why he’d made the reforms in the first place, the fact remained that he made life better for everyone in Menancia. Though it takes her some time to come to terms with the fact that he isn’t exactly the man she thought him to be, the leader she had gladly pledged herself to serve, she is always among the first to speak out about his kindness and open-minded way of thinking. As the party spends more time with him, they learn that he really is different from other Renans, as he dislikes and speaks out against the class differences among his own people and feels quite strongly that no single person’s value should be determined by their birth or their potential for astral artes, which is how Renan society currently measures worth. He openly calls his Dahnan companions his friends, which turns out to be shocking to Renans and Dahnans alike, and after resigning from his Lordship, he is dedicated to learning to live alongside the common folk and better come to understand what life is like for people who were not born into privilege as he was. In doing so, he has made a number of enemies on both sides of the divide, with many people being able to put 300 years of hatred behind them in the interest of coexistence, but there are also those who admire him.

For all his high ideals, however, he is far from perfect. Though he has left the station of Lord behind, adapting to life away from his previous post has been challenging for him. He is earnest in how hard he tries, making an effort not to complain while traveling across Dahna with his companions despite the fact that he’s gone from sleeping in a palace to a tent on the cold, hard ground, but there are times when it’s painfully obvious that he is used to privilege most people are never fortunate enough to know. He’s not much help when it comes to cooking or money management, and early on he is hopeless enough that he has trouble dressing properly without an attendant to assist him. Practical life skills are beyond him, as he’s never had to learn them for himself, but he is willing to learn so long as someone else is willing to be patient as he blunders his way through. Throughout the course of the game, he does make a great deal of improvement, including doing his share of the cooking, but he is still quite oblivious at times and manages to say odd things that show just how out of touch he is, such as snapping his fingers at the hot springs in order to summon the non-existent servant boy to bring him a drink.

He has a flair for the dramatic, often managing to be theatrical in his gestures and speech without even trying. On a personal level, he is rather eccentric; in addition to his love of music, he also has a passion for art and poetry, and will often write poetry aloud as the party travels, inspired by his surroundings, though the quality varies. He is passionate about the history of both his own homeland of Rena and the world of Dahna, and actively seeks to discover and collect rare and valuable artifacts with the hope of learning even a little something new about the Twin Worlds. This burning curiosity and desire to learn is as natural to him as breathing; he is eager to learn as much as he can at all times. Though his companions often find him to be exhausting, he is a generous spirit who is continually working to better himself and make himself worthy of the opportunities he’s been granted.

Abilities & Inventory:

Canon Abilities
➤ Dohalim is proficient in Astral Artes, as any Renan of rank is expected to be. Most of his offensive artes use earth or dark energy, and he is also able to use his artes to heal, protect and occasionally buff his companions. A full list of his available artes can be found here.
➤ He also has command of some martial artes, primarily staff-based. His fighting style built around agility and the ability to dodge and keep enemies on their toes, rather than brute strength.
➤ He is able to summon vines to ensnare a foe, making it easier to keep up with them.
➤ He claims to be able to hear artifacts "speaking" to him, though any truth there may be to this will be left behind in Dahna, where his attunement to earth astral energy was undoubtedly responsible for anything he heard.
➤ He is a very talented musician, with a great love for the violin, and has some talent for painting and poetry as well, though the latter is rather subjective. Some of his companions disagree.

Inventory
➤ Liber Pater, his staff.
➤ His journal, filled with travel notes, musings on found artifacts and bits of poetry.

Suitability & Plans: Dohalim is a thoughtful and curious soul who would take the time to get to know the ins and outs of Songerein's settings, and seek the make the most of the opportunities it grants. Dreamotion energy and dreamwalking abilities, in particular, will be of great interest to him— they are not so different from astral artes, which make use of the energy already in the atmosphere with the caster acting as a focus. He will find dreamscapes themselves fascinating, and will be eager to learn to navigate them and uncover any mysteries they or the world itself have to offer. He is a person who loves to learn, who is passionate about seeking answers but finds the journey itself just as satisfying as any answers he may or may not come across.

His canon point will give him a great deal to explore on a personal level, as well. It's been some time since he renounced his lordship, but he hasn't had the opportunity to truly live among common people, as he's been traveling with his companions. Following the events of the game, he finds himself faced with the great task of encouraging coexistence and trying to lessen the divide between classes, and despite having given up his leadership position, there are many who still look to him as though he holds it. Here, he will be eager to experience day-to-day life and take the opportunity to continue developing into the new Dohalim he has been trying to become since resigning from his post, with the intent of being better able to serve others through deeper understanding.

Test Drive Sample: One, Two, Three

Questions: N/A