expiation: application

[menancia]

Player: Christine
Contact: necrofancy or PM
Age: Thirties
Current Characters: N/A
Link to Reserve: here

Character Name: Dohalim il Qaras
Character Canon: Tales of Arise
Canon Point: Following the interlude in Pelegion.
Age: 28

Crime: Negligence.

Background: Dohalim @ the Tales Wiki, Setting & Plot Info

Personality:

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 Elde Menancia, things are decidedly different than in other realms: 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 coexist with the Renans. 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. In order to avoid having to revisit these memories, 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 had become quite genuine over time. It’s Kisara who eventually reminds him of this: though she had initially been furious upon learning the truth, the fact remained that he made life better for everyone in Menancia. It takes her some time to come to terms with the fact that he isn’t exactly the man she thought him to be, 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. He openly calls his Dahnan companions his friends, which turns out to be shocking to Renans and Dahnans alike, and he is dedicated to learning to live alongside the common folk and better understand what life is like for people who were not born into privilege as he was.

For all his high ideals, however, he is far from perfect. 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, 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, 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, but he remains quite oblivious at times and manages to say odd things that show just how out of touch he can still be.

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. 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:

➤ 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:

➤ Hanuman Shaft, his staff.
➤ His journal, filled with travel notes, musings on found artifacts and bits of poetry.

Samples: One and two!

Questions: None!