P L A Y E R; NAME: Matt AGE: 29 PLAYER JOURNAL: matt-doyle TIMEZONE: CST CONTACT: c.matthew.smit@gmail.com , japhethtrisko at AIM, mattnificent at plurk
C H A R A C T E R; NAME: Joscelin Verreuil CANON: Kushiel’s Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey. POINT IN CANON: towards the end of Kushiel’s Chosen. AGE: ~22. APPEARANCE: Tall, blonde, with high cheekbones and a pointed chin, generally wearing the grey of his former order, hair clubbed at the back of his head, and always carrying two daggers, a sword, and a pair of vambraces. CANON HISTORY:http://kushiel.wikia.com/wiki/Joscelin_Verreuil CANON PERSONALITY: Tightly wound. Joscelin is the middle son of an old traditionalist knight, and so was sent to serve in the Cassiline Brotherhood, celibate monk-priest-bodyguards in a country where sexual hedonism is literally an act of worship. Formal, moral, unbending, Joscelin is still every bit the disciplined Cassiline: even though he has now been outcast and forsaken the majority of his vows, they mean no less to him, and he is damned in his own eyes. But Joscelin is more than a rigid prude. He is loyal beyond measure, curious, possessed of a passionate sense of wonder, with a very dry sense of humor, a flair for the dramatic, and, most of all, an extremely short and volatile temper.
The discipline, however, is still vital. Every failure, every lapse he experiences, is a sting to his pride, a goad that motivates him further. And as a priest who has forsaken many of his vows, Joscelin has a constant well of shame and failure to draw on for motivation. The only thing that is nearly as important to him as his own brooding sense of inadequacy is his stubborn devotion to the one purpose he still has: keeping the woman he loves safe.
Love and loyalty kept him serving as bodyguard to a courtesan when they were sold into slavery, escaped, informally tried for treason, and sent on a suicide mission. Even later, when his devotion was tested by her returning to her old profession, as hurt and jealous as he was, he stayed with her until he believed she was marrying someone else.
While Joscelin’s first reaction to anything new is rejection or skepticism, time and again he slowly becomes more fascinated, more involved, learning the ways and languages of new countries. It’s also the mindset with which he approaches sex, when his vows finally gave way with Phedre. That curiosity is a trait of his family and his lineage, whether it’s inherited or cultural.
On the surface, like most Cassilines, Joscelin appears humorless. But in private, he relaxes more, laughing especially at the follies of his friends… and on at least one notable occasion, that sense of humor, in part, lead to him masquerading as a wandering storyteller, a job he took to with no little hesitation, but in which he flourished, demonstrating an unexpected gift for creativity and good humor, playing with and fascinating children,weaving epic bold-faced lies, and displaying a side utterly unlike the sober bodyguard. That capacity to accept and expand, to realize that he can be more than he is, has lead to Joscelin surviving many situations a less flexible man would have failed in.
Then there’s the temper. Joscelin is impatient with his own failures, with the faults in others’ characters, easily frustrated by bureaucracy and flowery diplomacy, by ornate court manners, by anything relating to style over substance, and most of all my any hint of betrayals of trust, large or small. That anger can range from irritation to murderous fury, depending on the scale of the offense, but when he is pressed or balked, sooner or later, it always emerges, usually in a cold shutdown of his social reactions and a reversion to sullen, disciplined blankness, but in private, there’s often impassioned shouting (followed by stalking off to sulk monastically, practicing his martial disciplines or kneeling in vigil and praying).
Finally: loyalty, curiosity, sense of duty and defensiveness… when it suits him, Joscelin is an excellent teacher. Especially with those he considers young or innocent, he has a patience that belies his temper, and becomes difficult to offend - he knows they don’t mean anything by it. And as a former monk thrust into world traveler, politics, and a hotbed of sexual intrigue, he has a certain sympathy for fish out of water.
Wry, self-contained, pious, driven by shame at his own failures, Joscelin can be a mass of contradictions. Time and again, Phedre’s enemies have underestimated her bodyguard as someone simple - in mind or in motivation. And the few who have lived to regret that underestimation regret it deeply.
POINT OF DEPARTURE: n/a ABILITIES: Like all D’Angelines, Joscelin has angelic blood in his veins. This does little more than make him incredibly, ridiculously beautiful. Like all Cassiline brothers, he was trained for ten years in swordplay and bodyguarding, and is superlative at both. He fights with ppaired daggers when defending, or a longsword when fighting to kill, and rather than rely on heavier armor solely uses vambraces. He’s a (defrocked) priest of Cassiel, and so has some theological training, as well as some academic knowledge of history & languages of his world, all of which he’s since had more practice in. Before the age of ten he lived on a farm, and since the age of twenty he’s a seasoned world traveler, so he has some outdoorsmanship & wilderness survival-related skills as well. INVENTORY; vambraces, daggers, longsword, religious iconography, leather thong hairties. ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW? Like Remy, Joscelin has been here for over thirteen jaunts, although he cannot remember clear details before Moebius. He does his best to mentor and protect new Travelers, and teaches them to do as little damage in each new world as possible. While Remy focuses on the selfish - Travelers protecting Travelers - Joscelin’s aim is to keep them from being responsible for any kind of destructive or immoral act, no matter what task the Trumps may have set them to.
S A M P L E S; FIRST PERSON:
“No. Don’t copy me.” Joscelin frowns, leaning in as if the girl isn’t holding a knife to correct her posture, tapping her instep with his toe to broaden her stance, lifting her elbow. “When I fight with daggers, I cut, and I use the hilts. The aim is to cause pain and disable the opponent without serious injury. I swore vows to uphold that discipline…” For a moment, his face is a silent thundercloud as he thinks on it, then he breathes out and shakes his head.
“But those are my vows, not yours. If you fight to defend yourself, drive the blade as deep as you can. Don’t stop striking. If you use the edge, pretend you’re paring an apple, and curve deeper. You’ll sever muscles that way, especially in the arms. And arms are a good target - you can keep your distance, rather than worrying about reach. If you are closer, aim high in the stomach, but stay below the ribs.”
As he speaks, he draws her hand forward, tracing the flat of her blade across his wrists, over his stomach, watching her seriously and without fear.
“What if I want to fight the way you do? To be like you?”
At her question, a sad, hard-edged smile crosses his face, and his eyes looked into the distance, at something or someone unseen.
“Don’t,” he answers. “Don’t wish for that, whatever you do.”
Joscelin Verreuil | Kushiel series
NAME: Matt
AGE: 29
PLAYER JOURNAL: matt-doyle
TIMEZONE: CST
CONTACT: c.matthew.smit@gmail.com , japhethtrisko at AIM, mattnificent at plurk
C H A R A C T E R;
NAME: Joscelin Verreuil
CANON: Kushiel’s Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey.
POINT IN CANON: towards the end of Kushiel’s Chosen.
AGE: ~22.
APPEARANCE: Tall, blonde, with high cheekbones and a pointed chin, generally wearing the grey of his former order, hair clubbed at the back of his head, and always carrying two daggers, a sword, and a pair of vambraces.
CANON HISTORY: http://kushiel.wikia.com/wiki/Joscelin_Verreuil
CANON PERSONALITY:
Tightly wound. Joscelin is the middle son of an old traditionalist knight, and so was sent to serve in the Cassiline Brotherhood, celibate monk-priest-bodyguards in a country where sexual hedonism is literally an act of worship. Formal, moral, unbending, Joscelin is still every bit the disciplined Cassiline: even though he has now been outcast and forsaken the majority of his vows, they mean no less to him, and he is damned in his own eyes. But Joscelin is more than a rigid prude. He is loyal beyond measure, curious, possessed of a passionate sense of wonder, with a very dry sense of humor, a flair for the dramatic, and, most of all, an extremely short and volatile temper.
The discipline, however, is still vital. Every failure, every lapse he experiences, is a sting to his pride, a goad that motivates him further. And as a priest who has forsaken many of his vows, Joscelin has a constant well of shame and failure to draw on for motivation. The only thing that is nearly as important to him as his own brooding sense of inadequacy is his stubborn devotion to the one purpose he still has: keeping the woman he loves safe.
Love and loyalty kept him serving as bodyguard to a courtesan when they were sold into slavery, escaped, informally tried for treason, and sent on a suicide mission. Even later, when his devotion was tested by her returning to her old profession, as hurt and jealous as he was, he stayed with her until he believed she was marrying someone else.
While Joscelin’s first reaction to anything new is rejection or skepticism, time and again he slowly becomes more fascinated, more involved, learning the ways and languages of new countries. It’s also the mindset with which he approaches sex, when his vows finally gave way with Phedre. That curiosity is a trait of his family and his lineage, whether it’s inherited or cultural.
On the surface, like most Cassilines, Joscelin appears humorless. But in private, he relaxes more, laughing especially at the follies of his friends… and on at least one notable occasion, that sense of humor, in part, lead to him masquerading as a wandering storyteller, a job he took to with no little hesitation, but in which he flourished, demonstrating an unexpected gift for creativity and good humor, playing with and fascinating children,weaving epic bold-faced lies, and displaying a side utterly unlike the sober bodyguard. That capacity to accept and expand, to realize that he can be more than he is, has lead to Joscelin surviving many situations a less flexible man would have failed in.
Then there’s the temper. Joscelin is impatient with his own failures, with the faults in others’ characters, easily frustrated by bureaucracy and flowery diplomacy, by ornate court manners, by anything relating to style over substance, and most of all my any hint of betrayals of trust, large or small. That anger can range from irritation to murderous fury, depending on the scale of the offense, but when he is pressed or balked, sooner or later, it always emerges, usually in a cold shutdown of his social reactions and a reversion to sullen, disciplined blankness, but in private, there’s often impassioned shouting (followed by stalking off to sulk monastically, practicing his martial disciplines or kneeling in vigil and praying).
Finally: loyalty, curiosity, sense of duty and defensiveness… when it suits him, Joscelin is an excellent teacher. Especially with those he considers young or innocent, he has a patience that belies his temper, and becomes difficult to offend - he knows they don’t mean anything by it. And as a former monk thrust into world traveler, politics, and a hotbed of sexual intrigue, he has a certain sympathy for fish out of water.
Wry, self-contained, pious, driven by shame at his own failures, Joscelin can be a mass of contradictions. Time and again, Phedre’s enemies have underestimated her bodyguard as someone simple - in mind or in motivation. And the few who have lived to regret that underestimation regret it deeply.
POINT OF DEPARTURE: n/a
ABILITIES: Like all D’Angelines, Joscelin has angelic blood in his veins. This does little more than make him incredibly, ridiculously beautiful. Like all Cassiline brothers, he was trained for ten years in swordplay and bodyguarding, and is superlative at both. He fights with ppaired daggers when defending, or a longsword when fighting to kill, and rather than rely on heavier armor solely uses vambraces. He’s a (defrocked) priest of Cassiel, and so has some theological training, as well as some academic knowledge of history & languages of his world, all of which he’s since had more practice in. Before the age of ten he lived on a farm, and since the age of twenty he’s a seasoned world traveler, so he has some outdoorsmanship & wilderness survival-related skills as well.
INVENTORY; vambraces, daggers, longsword, religious iconography, leather thong hairties.
ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW? Like Remy, Joscelin has been here for over thirteen jaunts, although he cannot remember clear details before Moebius. He does his best to mentor and protect new Travelers, and teaches them to do as little damage in each new world as possible. While Remy focuses on the selfish - Travelers protecting Travelers - Joscelin’s aim is to keep them from being responsible for any kind of destructive or immoral act, no matter what task the Trumps may have set them to.
S A M P L E S;
FIRST PERSON:
“No. Don’t copy me.” Joscelin frowns, leaning in as if the girl isn’t holding a knife to correct her posture, tapping her instep with his toe to broaden her stance, lifting her elbow. “When I fight with daggers, I cut, and I use the hilts. The aim is to cause pain and disable the opponent without serious injury. I swore vows to uphold that discipline…” For a moment, his face is a silent thundercloud as he thinks on it, then he breathes out and shakes his head.
“But those are my vows, not yours. If you fight to defend yourself, drive the blade as deep as you can. Don’t stop striking. If you use the edge, pretend you’re paring an apple, and curve deeper. You’ll sever muscles that way, especially in the arms. And arms are a good target - you can keep your distance, rather than worrying about reach. If you are closer, aim high in the stomach, but stay below the ribs.”
As he speaks, he draws her hand forward, tracing the flat of her blade across his wrists, over his stomach, watching her seriously and without fear.
“What if I want to fight the way you do? To be like you?”
At her question, a sad, hard-edged smile crosses his face, and his eyes looked into the distance, at something or someone unseen.
“Don’t,” he answers. “Don’t wish for that, whatever you do.”
THIRD PERSON: http://synodiporia-ooc.dreamwidth.org/6327.html?thread=25783#cmt25783