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[Lucien Senus]

Lucien Perrault
Noble Misting

Name/Handle: Brad/Lucien
Contact: Skype: Pyrosweaver

Name: Lucien Perrault
Type: Noble Misting
Age: 27
Gender: M
Place of Origin: Luthadel
Occupation: Bastard
Relationship Status: Single

Type of Powers: Misting
Metals Used: Steel
Degree of Skill: Advanced
Status: Open

Lucien is a Noble, that much is strikingly clear, and one of pure breeding. Despite his illegitimate status, there is no Skaa blood to be found within the haughty, imperious form of the tall (6'4") and well-built (238lbs) Perrault Bastard. Indeed, were one to look upon his discerning features, they may note that the striking blue of his eyes combined with the upwards formation of his cheekbones lend an almost regal appearance to the Perrault Bastard, despite his lack of attire to follow. Often foregoing the more appropriate dress of his peers, perhaps out of some desire for differentiation, Lucien clearly prefers the more controversial attire he has taken to.

A finely crafted, wool-lined leather coat serves as his primary identifiable piece of clothing, alongside a dark shirt of fine make, usually absent any form of decoration across the flat dark surface. His arms are usually exposed, no sleeves descending past his biceps, though a pair of black leather gloves often dominated his hands. The love of black, likely a direct correlation to his obsidian hair, dominates every facet of his clothing – even insofar as his leggings and thick, sturdy boots are concerned. Curiously, the Bastard seemed to shun metal – his clothing either bound by leather cords, or wooden buttons, both absent Allomantic charge.

The term ‘Perrault Bastard’ is not inaccurate when describing the personality of the man himself, and indeed, he seems to have taken to his ironic moniker with passion. Lucien is notorious for his blatant disgust at the Skaa, as well as his unhidden distaste for the notion of a Skaa rebellion. Dismissive, cold, and more than a little callous – the Noble seems utterly disdainful of the lower class of the Final Empire. This disdain, however, is not reserved solely for the Skaa; as some of his aristocratic peers have discovered in a few short moments of interaction. Truly, the only individuals he seems to treat with any semblance of respect are his Uncle, Cousin, Nobles that significantly outrank him and – of course – Inquisitors and Obligators.

Special Skills: Lucien is an adept duelist and intent master of swordplay, and lover of all things dealing with duelling. Perhaps it’s his nature as a Coinshot, or merely a symptom of his upbringing, but there is something about the art of duelling – regardless of it is with swords or knives – that seems to draw a truly joyous reaction from the Perrault Bastard. Alongside his combat acumen, of course, is his intellect which – despite his best efforts – is well-known to his family. Should he apply himself, he has the capacity to become quite the learned and impressive scholar… should be apply himself.

Strengths: Lucien is, simply put, a man gifted at wasting his own gifts. He is both highly physically adept, and highly mentally capable, yet has focused purely on the former to the detriment of the latter. Despite this fact, he is a naturally talented combatant, and has mastered the use of most bladed weaponry, or is at least adept in them. Furthermore, he has a mind for mathematics and physics, and has applied this without hesitance to his Allomancy, allowing him to judge angles and required force with startling accuracy.

Weaknesses: Lucien is notorious for his lack of compassion, or rather, his tendency to forego empathy in favour of cold dismissal. This often places him into situations that are less than pleasant, and has nearly cost him his life more than once. Atop that, he has a bad habit of instigating and antagonizing the wrong people, and a very lethal case of overly zealous self-worth and pride. Perhaps a symptom of his bastard status, he is not a people person, and often finds it difficult to make lasting friendships – even when he actually tries. Furthermore, due to an unknown defect, he suffers from excruciating, near debilitating headaches and migraines at random times.

Born 891 to Lord Francis Perrault, through a dalliance with a woman of lower rank, Lucien was unceremoniously delivered to his father as a babe – and taken in either by desire, or a simple obligation to ensure he did not grow to threaten the succession, unlikely as it was. Given clothing, food, and education; the young Lucien was groomed in the manner of the nobility, and given all the tools required to ensure he did the house proud – as proud as a bastard could, at any rate.

His childhood was filled with weapons training, history, and a mix of tactical and strategic tuition – both in combat and politics. Groomed more as a homegrown bodyguard for his cousin Sebastian, than a person in his own right, Lucien understandably aged with a bitter, deep-seated sense of self-loathing and hatred for the mother that spawned him, and gave him up. At the age of eleven, he was subjected to a vicious beating at the hands of the House, and Snapped as a Misting. Being a Coinshot was, in truth, one of the most fortunate realities for Lucien; who was immediately elevated in rank and relevance in the eyes of his House.

This beating, however, only solidified his cold detachment from those around him. Not a longer by any stretch, Lucien maintained a circle of ‘friends’ with whom he would often converse and spend time with, though in truth these ‘friends’ were little more than a means of avoiding the pressure that would come from gossip of him being socially inept. Due to the nature of his upbringing, he came to loath the Skaa specifically for their subservience, deeming it a sign of their own ineptitude at making their lives better. This soon evolved into a hatred that led him to treat the lower class as little more than animals.

As the years progressed, and he grew more proficient both at duelling and at social dominance, Lucien embraced the natural cunning and calculated mind he’d been gifted with. He grew into a dismissive, oftentimes ruthless man with little regard for anyone, save perhaps his immediate family, and even then only barely. Preferring to toy with the emotions of pretty noble girls, and torment the occasional Skaa with his Allomantic powers from on high, Lucien settled into a simple routine; one face for the public, one face for the House.

And his true face for the misty nights, wherein he took his joy from leaping across the city, propelled by the steel burning in his body, and the freedom of a Coinshot.

Vexation, that was the word he had been searching for; an accurate means by which to describe his building state of dissatisfaction regarding his present situation. Here he was, a fine man from a fine house, standing in a blocked alleyway with a group of Skaa miscreants holding knives and rusty blades in an attempt to intimidate him. Vexation indeed seemed accurate for the feeling that resonated within him, surging like an instigating flame through his veins, urging him to action.

The foremost of his assailants, a reedy man lacking two teeth, and bearing an unsettling gold discolouration to the rest, gestured sharply with his knife to reinforce words he’d spoken only seconds earlier. “Go on then, lordling.” The apparent leader spat in a gravelly tone, nodding to the ground, “drop your valuable and we won’t stick you like a pig.”

“Yeah, don’t mess with us; we’re part of the resistance.” Another younger and buck-toothed Skaa chimed in, clearly the Skaa version of a sycophant, riding on the proverbial coattails of Lord scraggly-haired gold teeth.

“Shut up idiot, don’t tell him that.” Retorted scraggly, brandishing his knife threateningly at his cohort.

“Sorry boss,” replied buck-teeth, tightening his hand on his own knife, or rather, haphazardly converted shank.

“So allow me a moment to quantify this,” Lucien said boredly, looking from scraggly to his band of six misfits with thinly veiled disgust, “you and your little clique here are attempting to intimidate me into giving up my valuable possessions, using weapons that look like they’re held together by sheer luck more than quality, and then… what?” He asked with a raised ebon eyebrow, “you kill me?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Scraggly said with a nod, “so hand it over.”

“No,” Lucien said simply, suppressing a smile at the startled reactions.

“Boss, he said no.” Buck-teeth said worriedly.

“Shut up idiot, I know what he said.” Scraggly said to the younger man behind him, before turning back to Lucien. “I’m not kidding, noble. I’ll gut you like a fish.”

Lucien rolled his eyes, and sighed, finding his hopes for some sort of entertaining discourse rapidly burning up – but then again, they were skaa. “I really do detest skaa. Even the criminals are terrible quality.”

The Perrault Bastard felt the warm burn of steel in his stomach then, and focused on the blue line tying itself to the would-be mugger leader, or more specifically, to his knife. With a flex of power, he pushed on the knife with full force, not bothering to brace himself as he did. Scraggly opened his mouth to say more, and then cut off abruptly, as his knife abruptly slammed backwards into his body, and due to the angle, buried itself in his throat.

Before the other skaa could do more than stare in stunned silence, Lucien flicked his hand and threw up the seven coins he’d had in his hand, flaring steel and pushing on all seven at once. The resultant attack felled almost the entire group of six, with only buck-tooth avoiding fatal harm, but falling with a coin embedded in his right shoulder. Vexation was definitely the correct word, especially for this band of idiots. They hadn’t even had the decency to make him feel vulnerable. Part of him regretted how quickly he’d killed them; it would have been more enjoyable to cut them down, but he’d avoided taking his obsidian blade out with him in a desire for lightness.

Approaching the whimpering form of buck-teeth, Lucien peered down, noting that from the look of his features the boy couldn’t be much older than fifteen. “So young,” he murmured faintly, looking into the skaa’s fear-stricken brown eyes. A moment later, he pulled out another coin, rolling it over his knuckles. Then, after a moment of consideration, he caught it between his thumb and forefinger. “I’m going to give you mercy, little skaa.”

“R-really? You’re not going to kill me?” Buck-teeth asked in a measure of hope and relief, a spark of hope entering his gaze.

So stupid. Lucien thought to himself in disgust, and dropped the coin, pushing it through the Skaa’s forehead solidly. Of course he was going to kill him; mercy simply meant he wouldn’t draw it out. Turning away from the corpse of the foolish child, he stepped towards a bloodied coin lying in the snow, next to the bleeding corpse of one of scraggly’s other companions. I really do hate skaa.

Flaring steel, Lucien launched himself from the ground, pushing back against a keep behind him and turning the steelpush leap into a graceful, soaring arc, heading back towards Perrault territory. The terrified brown eyes stayed with him, worming into his thoughts, showing the utter lack of control the Skaa had felt over his future. Lucien grimaced at the recollection, disgusted.

Revolting vermin can’t even hold onto their own lives.

He dropped another coin, and soared forwards into the misty night.

Edited by Lucien Senus, 05 May 2015 - 09:54 AM.

[Comatose]

This is an excellently crafted application, so the few items of feedback I have are minor.

In the last sentence of the special skills section, there's a bit of unnecessary repetition. Also, it seems there are some extra spaces earlier in the application, making it more spaced out than it should be. This is a small thing (it happens sometimes when copying and pasting) and I only mention it because your application is so good otherwise.

Not a critique, so much as a clarification: the Perraults are not a great house, so they would be residing outside of Luthadel (I believe in Fellise?). What you have about him heading for Perrault territory is fine, as long as you understand that they don't have territory in the city necessarily.

I'm already figuring out in my head which of my characters it would be amusing to have interact with Lucien . Let me know if you have any ideas after taking a peek at my character list!

Anyways, great work, you have your first vote of approval. One more staff vote and you'll have yourself an accepted character. I'm going to assume the second vote will be reserved for KChan, since you will be joining her house.

Happy posting, and welcome to the site!

EDIT: One thing I forgot to mention is that I would echo KChan's point about clothing. While it is fine to have him wearing unconventional clothing when out of the city, it doesn't make a lot of sense for him to be wearing it all the time, especially at balls. You will also have to keep in mind that people will react to him accordingly if he fails to dress in accordance with current fashions.

Another thing: usually we post character applications under the character's profile. You can find a guide to our Character System here.

Sorry I missed that in my first run-through. I'm just really excited about this character.

[KChan]

He'd probably be okay to wear it while training and when on nighttime Allomancer duty as well, since that stuff is done generally out of the public eye. He'd probably be asked (or ordered, depending on the circumstance) to go a more formal route for certain occasions though - balls, any time he's actively functioning as Seb's bodyguard, etc. Of course, he could still express unconventional tastes when forced to go more mainstream - preferring all black instead of white shirt/colored vest, going vestless, and so on are all fashion choices that would be marked as odd without being an embarrassment to the house. We can work on more specifics later, but those are just a few ideas for you to do with as you will.

Also, I'm a huge fan of his RP sample, and the way you make him sound pretentious just by certain word choices in your prose. Very well done!

It's an approval from me. Welcome aboard!

[Comatose]

This version of the character is being moved to the Mists because the player has chosen to rework him, and post a new application when he is ready.