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CHARACTER SURVEY
CHARACTER SURVEY
Because one of the goals of Kenos is to give characters unique, compelling reasons to both show loyalty to their faction and to question it, it’s helpful to get to know them better! While filling out this survey isn’t required, it’s highly recommended! How else can we effectively torment or reward your blorbo if we don’t know what they hate/love? ♥
Just fill out the survey below and post it to this entry! We recommend commenting in such a way that you'll be able to come back and update this survey throughout the game. As their desires change, this survey can evolve!
Series: Self-Explanatory!
Wiki Link: If one exists, put a wiki link for your character here
THE GOOD
How far would they go to accomplish their goals or fulfill their desires? Do they have lines they wouldn't cross?
In as little or as much detail as you want.
What is something they treasure?
Or someone. This can be something material like a precious heirloom, or can be more vague like "honesty".
What do they consider to be their best or most positive qualities?
In as little or as much detail as you want. You may also consider adding what others percieve them to be if the character is particularly self-loathing.
What is this character's best memory?
In as little or as much detail as you want. You can also link to scene(s) in canon if you want and are able.
Is there anyone they have highly positive feelings towards?
If so, describe them, link to wiki pages, say if it's another character or NPC in the game, etc.
THE BAD
What could or would tempt your character to compromise their principles?
In as little or as much detail as you want.
What do they desire above all else?
In as little or as much detail as you want. This can be something material like a MacGuffin from their canon, or can be more general like "world domination".
What are their biggest fear and/or insecurities?
In as little or as much detail as you want.
What is this character's worst memory?
In as little or as much detail as you want. You can also link to scene(s) in canon if you want and are able.
Is there anyone they have highly negative feelings towards?
If so, describe them, link to wiki pages, say if it's another character or NPC in the game, etc.
THE ET CETERA
What kinds of gifts does your character like?
Do they like chocolates? Flowers? A new car with a big red bow?
What item(s) would your character be pleased to receive as a reward?
Special weapons, a precious trinket, etc. List as many things as you want here, since this a pool where "free" AC rewards will be pulled from. Bold any that are particularly notable to the character or that you, the player, want OOC
What item(s) would your character never ask for, but you, the player, would want to give them?
If applicable. This is a free-for-all section for joke items.
OOC, what are your goals with this character? What would you enjoy seeing them getting involved in or would enjoy as a potential character arc?
Does your character strongly believe in one of the faction's promises? Did they get involved in a plot that they're now very invested in pushing to completion? Do you want a corruption arc for them? Or do they just want to become the newest local druglord? While not required, we strongly recommend giving this section thought, since this can be a helpful way for the mods to give you more customized AC Rewards, plot hooks, etc.
Just fill out the survey below and post it to this entry! We recommend commenting in such a way that you'll be able to come back and update this survey throughout the game. As their desires change, this survey can evolve!
SURVEY
Character Name(s): Include all names they've gone bySeries: Self-Explanatory!
Wiki Link: If one exists, put a wiki link for your character here
THE GOOD
How far would they go to accomplish their goals or fulfill their desires? Do they have lines they wouldn't cross?
In as little or as much detail as you want.
What is something they treasure?
Or someone. This can be something material like a precious heirloom, or can be more vague like "honesty".
What do they consider to be their best or most positive qualities?
In as little or as much detail as you want. You may also consider adding what others percieve them to be if the character is particularly self-loathing.
What is this character's best memory?
In as little or as much detail as you want. You can also link to scene(s) in canon if you want and are able.
Is there anyone they have highly positive feelings towards?
If so, describe them, link to wiki pages, say if it's another character or NPC in the game, etc.
THE BAD
What could or would tempt your character to compromise their principles?
In as little or as much detail as you want.
What do they desire above all else?
In as little or as much detail as you want. This can be something material like a MacGuffin from their canon, or can be more general like "world domination".
What are their biggest fear and/or insecurities?
In as little or as much detail as you want.
What is this character's worst memory?
In as little or as much detail as you want. You can also link to scene(s) in canon if you want and are able.
Is there anyone they have highly negative feelings towards?
If so, describe them, link to wiki pages, say if it's another character or NPC in the game, etc.
THE ET CETERA
What kinds of gifts does your character like?
Do they like chocolates? Flowers? A new car with a big red bow?
What item(s) would your character be pleased to receive as a reward?
Special weapons, a precious trinket, etc. List as many things as you want here, since this a pool where "free" AC rewards will be pulled from. Bold any that are particularly notable to the character or that you, the player, want OOC
What item(s) would your character never ask for, but you, the player, would want to give them?
If applicable. This is a free-for-all section for joke items.
OOC, what are your goals with this character? What would you enjoy seeing them getting involved in or would enjoy as a potential character arc?
Does your character strongly believe in one of the faction's promises? Did they get involved in a plot that they're now very invested in pushing to completion? Do you want a corruption arc for them? Or do they just want to become the newest local druglord? While not required, we strongly recommend giving this section thought, since this can be a helpful way for the mods to give you more customized AC Rewards, plot hooks, etc.
Howl
Series: Howl's Moving Castle (novel)
Wiki Link: Here
THE GOOD
How far would they go to accomplish their goals or fulfill their desires? Do they have lines they wouldn't cross?
When it comes to both having goals and pursuing them, Howl has a mercurial, short-lived attention span. One moment, he'll be hyperfocused and willing to do just about anything to get what he wants, but the next moment, he might completely lose interest in it. To the extent that an obsession becomes an obligation by the time he loses interest, his efforts will shift to avoiding that obligation as much as possible or handing it off to someone else. He is not a reliable person, and benefits enormously from having someone around to keep him accountable for his own promises and duties.
As a generally good-aligned character, he isn't willing to cross most of the usual lines (unnecessary violence, killing innocents, etc). At the same time, he is not against going back on his own word or doing things that others mind consider a "betrayal," as long as the actual effects of his actions aren't that severe. Moreover, he will never take actions that would put Calcifer in potential jeopardy; the fire demon is his biggest weakness and has to be protected at all costs.
What is something they treasure?
Calcifer, the demon Howl gave his heart to out of sympathy. This had the effect of creating a contract between them that extends Calcifer's life and provides Howl an enormous well of magic to draw from, but will be harmful to them both in the long run. Calcifer is in possession of Howl's literal heart, but it also makes Howl unable to truly love anyone other than himself, despite his efforts otherwise.
What do they consider to be their best or most positive qualities?
Howl would tell you that all of his qualities are positive and the best. Of course, he has his own host of insecurities and faults, he just isn't willing to admit it to just anyone. Not among those faults are his independence and willingness to take initiative when necessary — while his motivations are often selfish, Howl isn't the type to just sit around and do nothing when there's something he wants. Additionally, Howl is a genuinely kind-hearted person who has difficulties looking away from someone in need, but he might bitterly tell you that this tendency of his has caused him more harm than good over the years.
What is this character's best memory?
In his early twenties, he routinely traveled back and forth between Wales and Ingary, attending university in the real world while studying magic as an apprentice to a powerful witch in the world of Ingary. During this time, he was also playing on his university's rugby team and had not yet met Calcifer. It was during this era of his life that Howl decided to leave Wales for good, cutting off his toxic family members and doing what he really wanted with his life. He would likely consider this era of his young adulthood some of his best and happiest years.
Is there anyone they have highly positive feelings towards?
Howl's greatest passion is magic. He received a post-doctorate degree in magic at the age of 22, and although the book really doesn't elaborate on this (and might just be part of its tongue-and-cheek approach to its story generally), it appears to mean that Howl was one of those kids who was accepted into university as a teenager and blitzed through his higher education in only a few years. This is all to say that he feels an innate kinship with other people who practice magic or who are interested in magic. He takes great pleasure in sharing his knowledge and expertise with others — whether that's by teaching them or showing off.
Moreover, Howl feels a special sympathy for those who are downtrodden and remind him of himself: people abandoned by their families, struggling with circumstances beyond their control, or suffering from curses.
THE BAD
What could or would tempt your character to compromise their principles?
Unlike many characters who would rather die than betray their own values, Howl will very much take whatever steps are necessary to protect himself and Calcifer. He has no intention of dying while he's stuck in Kenos, even with the Shards making death impermanent in most instances. Regardless of which faction wins, he intends on being part of the group that survives until the end. That being said, it really depends on the circumstances — most situations he'll be able to handle, at least partially, with his considerable magical abilities, so it's hard to say when he'd really be forced to kill an innocent person, for example.
What do they desire above all else?
To have his contract with Calcifer broken. While it might make him a powerful wizard, it's been ruining his life in just about every other way, and both he and the demon know that it isn't going to end well for either of them — the Witch of the Waste has a demon of her own, but after 200 years together, she has been rendered a shriveled, weak ancient on the brink of death, completely controlled by a demon so drunk with power that it's desperately looking for a new human to contract with.
What are their biggest fear and/or insecurities?
Howl's biggest fear is being unloved. He desperately needs others in his life while simultaneously being too scared to let anyone get close to him; he intentionally spreads negative rumors about himself in an effort to make most people leave him alone. Instead of fostering emotional intimacy, he resorts to physical intimacy; his vanity comes from his need to be loved and inability to forge genuinely intimate relationships with others. His greatest fear is to be locked with Calcifer indefinitely, which will slowly doom them both to a fate worse than death.
What is this character's worst memory?
Probably something family related — he has a very poor relationship with his sister and brother-in-law. His sister has no idea about his activities in Ingary, so from her perspective, Howl is an unemployed bum who goes missing for weeks or months at a time and only comes around her house when he needs something. He shows up with elaborate gifts for his young niece and nephew, with no apparent method of having earned the money to buy them. His sister mentions in the book that his family "sacrificed" a lot in order to put him through school, only for him to get a "useless" degree and leave the rest of his family broke and struggling to pay their bills. But there's a reason Howl did not want to stay in Wales and avoids his family whenever possible... they made him feel ignored, unsupported and unloved when he was young, and expected him to devote his education and adult life to supporting them financially. It's a situation where both feel wronged by the other, and do not treat each other kindly as a result.
Is there anyone they have highly negative feelings towards?
Howl has a distaste for government and bureaucracy, and those who help maintain it, as it stifles his need for freedom and imposes obligations on him that he has no interest in being beholden to.
THE ET CETERA
What kinds of gifts does your character like?
Pretty much anything having to do with clothes, make-up, or his appearance generally. Even if it isn't to his tastes, he'll appreciate the gift... and he can use magic to change it to his liking, anyway!
He's also happy to receive anything relating to magic, such as reagents, spellbooks, foci, enchanted items, or anything else.
What item(s) would your character be pleased to receive as a reward?
Aside from the above...........Proooobably money. He likes money. Things that he can't get with magic can usually only be purchased with money.
What item(s) would your character never ask for, but you, the player, would want to give them?
Anything that would give him an obligation to uphold or duty to stick to. You know that Kanye tweet like, "I hate when I'm on an airplane and wake up next to an empty water bottle because now I have to be responsible for it"? That.
OOC, what are your goals with this character? What would you enjoy seeing them getting involved in or would enjoy as a potential character arc?
I'd rather not put him through any severe trauma or test his values too ardently, mostly because I feel like I've already played that out with him when he was at AT/Kenos previously. Howl is my "easy" character compared to Link, for when I need more lowkey threads.
That being said, I'd like for him to establish himself as a reliable wizard in Kenos and maybe get involved in more "neutral" plot lines that are not connected too strongly to either faction, such as investigating the Tree, the Oracles, etc.