Nokule

+ Polite. Nokule is great at his job as a waiter due to his respectful nature. He is very considerate to everyone's needs and wants.

+ Genuine. Despite his fake persona, he is incredibly transparent with his feelings. It is difficult for him to hide how he truly feels.

+ Humble. He doesn't believe himself to be very powerful, and as a result, he tends to treat people with equal respect or higher. He would never act snobby towards anyone or speak over them.

~ Shy. He isn't an outgoing person and is generally timid when in larger groups. He doesn't seem to have trouble once he gets a conversation rolling, but starting it can be somewhat hard.

~ Soft. He is generally agreeable and nice, which is refreshing on Exodus grounds. However, that opens the door to pain later on, as he can be easily torn down and is more likely to give into his feelings.

~ Cautious. He prefers to avoid confrontation and wants to keep his true self hidden. Sometimes this benefits him, like him being well prepared, but other times it leads to him being inert and overly hesitant.

- Nervous. The combination of shy and cautious can mix into an uncomfortable anxiety. As such, he can become twitchy and skittish in stressful situations, as he is terrified about accidentally hurting other people.

- Low self-esteem. He has a bone deep self loathing. He hates his own species and what he has to do to satisfy himself. He is sickened by his own needs and sometimes desperately wishes he could just have been born a human.

- Aimless. With no loch to protect and his self loathing ways inhibiting him, he has no future plans or larger goals. He's just existing at this point.

Kelpies are notorius for their evil nature and instrinic urge to drown other creatures and devour them. Nokule was no different. Born in an isolated loch, he grew up wild and free and dangerous, and no one was safe from his nature. Anyone that remotely neared the loch would end as meat between his jaws.

He didn't care about others and didn't understand morality. As such, when fae gathered amongst each other, he ended up in the association of the Unseelie Court, where such immorality and wickedness was the norm-- and even encouraged. While he did not directly serve the Queen, given his isolated home and loner nature, he allowed creatures of the Unseelie Court to pass his loch or rest there. It can be left unsaid that many...unfortunate things have happened there.

But the terror of his loch couldn't last forever, not as humans found ways to capture kelpies. A laird, carrying a halter stamped with a cross, came to Nokule. His charms failed and the halter found its way around Nokule's head, binding him and forcing him into the laird's service. He was made to work and transport heavy mill stones. He was not treated kindly, nor did the laird release him when the work was done, housing the kelpie with the other horses, to be utilized later for more hard work.

It'd be expected for him to hate humans because of this, and, well... He did. If he'd been able, he would have ripped the laird's spine out and curse his family for generations to come, but he was stuck. So he took out his frustrations on any poor stablehand that got close to him. He was considered an "ill-tempered" horse that would sooner break your toes than be calm. He only seemed to "behave" for the laird, and as such, the stablehands couldn't take care of him the way they would for other horses. His bridle and harness never came off, he never recieved brushes, and he was never properly horseshoed. He was only provided the basics to survive. It was torture.

Things only changed with the arrival of a new stablegirl. She was different from the others, and not just because she was the only woman there. She automatically took interest in him and wanted to help him, as he clearly needed some care. That in itself wasn't too different, many tried and gave up once they realized how aggressive and stubborn he was. She didn't though. She kept going again and again, trying her best to get close enough to help him, even if she nearly got kicked a few times.

She succeeded in brushing him first, only a little bit, but it was enough. Bit by bit, she managed to "tame" the wild horse, receiving a few scars in the process, but it was well worth it. She finally got him calm enough where she could stand by him and care for him. However, she still could never get that halter off him.

Nokule was mostly confused about the stablegirl, not understanding her kindness in face of how he'd hurt her. Her touches were strange but soft and he had never experienced something like that before. It felt...nice. And ever so slowly, he lowered his walls, letting her inch closer and closer. The halter was something else entirely though, because any time she reached up to gently remove it, he panicked. This feeling was new too; The memory of it sliding on, and how it hurt, and would it hurt her too? The concern he felt for her was striking, and he had no idea what to do about it. So he kept rearing away when she reached up to help him.

She did get the halter off, although it was not in the way he perhaps imagined. The stable caught fire. She ran in to let all the horses out, and he'd been stuck to his pen, his bridle reins tangled around a post; like it had been intended. As a normal horse, he could feel the searing pain of the fire, and it hurt. It was dangerous and most people would have left him to die-- she did not. She risked herself to tear off the halter, freeing him of his confinement and unintentionally freeing him from the laird's will. There was one moment she saw what he was, before the smoke inhalation made her pass out.

She awoke later to her surprise, alive, having been pulled out of the fire. The laird had been found dead sometime during the night, disfigured like he'd been mauled by an animal. She knew who did it, but she didn't feel scared by that fact. Instead, she went about packing up and finding him.

Determined as she was, and with luck on her side, she did find Nokule. Imagine her surprise to find that he could change into a man? A handsome one at that too, although semi-feral and still inhuman. She couldn't deny that she was curious though, so she kept coming back, kept finding him. She taught him so much, and eventually...he came to understand love.

That's how he met his wife and how he came to be who he is today: someone who is now more kind and understanding. Of course, he is on his own once again, his dear wife passing away long ago due to old age. He's come to accept that and move on, but it was hard to stay in their old home, so he traveled away. Now, he spends his time in Exodus, working as a waiter until he finds the muse to travel elswhere.