Marquise

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• Name: Marquise

• Species: Lapras

• Pronouns: He/Him

• Age: 27

• Position: Rescuer

My player character for a friend's campaign!

Marquise of the Sea he is named, and he will always refer to himself in full title (though others may shorten it). What began as a transport service became a rescue one as he saw the dangers those in "far-off lands" were in. He neglected to inform others that unlike most of his kind, he couldn't sing, and was abandoned by a pack which could not physically hear him because of it.

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Backstory

When Marquise was a child, the world had seemed so simple.

Every clan had its own set of things they were naturally good at, and that’s what their calling was in life. The Pelipper Clan were distinguished fliers and navigators of the sky, so they transported letters across the air. The Delibird Clan were lifters of many great things with the diligence to match, so they naturally transported packages from place to place. The Lapras Clan, with their rigid backs, powerful fins, and lovely songs made them the perfect seafarers to transport Pokémon and goods through the seas.

Every day of childhood was training for the day that he and the other young ones of his kind would also become part of this majestic ecosystem. Proper greetings and good manners to all were the breakfast. Encumbered swimming was the lunch. For dinner, a practice of pitch, tone, and breathing exercises served as the main course with a side dish of code-song recital. They were all “important to maintaining one’s greater purpose”, so it was said. Even when Marquise was unsure of his notes or could not understand why his practice weights would slide along his shell, the elders encouraged him to fulfill his “greater purpose”.

Graduation flew by faster than a Noctowl darting towards its next meal. He was set on his own to begin transporting the land-dwelling Pokémon, as was his purpose in life. However, rather than a smooth sail into the future, all he encountered was struggle. Though many would compliment his shell’s glistening look, they would just as quickly complain about the uncomfortable and bumpy ride, and some would even outright slip and fall into the water! When he sung to relax the rider, he would be given but a few seconds before he was promptly yelled at and told that the screeching only made the ride worse. Worst of all, despite all his practice, his song-strung callouts to other Lapras would be completely ignored – unable to hear or understand him at all.

Customers stopped going to him. Some were even audacious enough to say that they would rather wait for someone else instead. Even one his clansmen said that perhaps he should look for a different calling in life. He didn’t understand. This was his greater purpose in life. This is what he lived and breathed, what else was there to life? He never once questioned whether someone could do something that wasn’t their life’s specialty. He never asked what the Pokémon he transported did; he didn’t see a reason to. He simply assumed they were to do what their greater purpose was. It was a simple suggestion – a courtesy really – but it was one that put a crack in his perfect worldview.

On the few remaining rides he did get, he began to speak more with the Pokémon on top of him. They spoke of many strange customs and perplexing ideas. An Elgyem told him that he used to be all about money as an “accountant”, but then looked at the stars and wondered what was out there. He changed his role to that of an “astronomer” and he loves his life more because of it. How incredible! A Sneasel told him how he never had a role; he drifts from town to town looking at what Pokémon someone wants to beat up – a “bounty hunter”, he called himself. How remarkable!

The stories and knowledge he received from others shattered what was left of his old view on the world. It was so… expansive, so… fluid. He needed to learn more. Maybe he wasn’t meant to follow in his clan’s footsteps. Maybe he could find some other "greater purpose". Like… transporting Pokémon who need trouble away from danger! There was this one Treecko that talked about something like that. A “rescuer”. Maybe that could be it! He asked right away what the nearest land that needed such a role was and was given directions to the rescue organization accordingly. He steeled his brow and nodded his head. In this new, foreign land, he would find and fulfill his new "greater purpose"!

The organization was filled with all kinds of odd sights, sounds, and smells! He drank in every bit of what he could – from the unusually quick yet drawn out way Pokémon spoke, to the artificial lights and gizmos that could conquer nature itself, to even the absolutely divine foods abound! “Spicy” was this wonderful, tantalizing new way to taste, and he considers such things from a place they called "Amico" to be his favorite!

Though his eagerness was welcomed, they considered his knowledge and skills much to be desired. However, through a patient mentor, he was able to quickly catchup on the basic wisdom and education that most should know: how to read and write, how to do basic math, what many modern conveniences were, and so on. His greatly admired his mentor, who performed all this on top of their ordinary rescue duties and wanted to be just like them one day.

Soon, the day came once again – his “second graduation”, in his mind – where he would finally be considered a formal member of the organization. The day that he could finally try a new “greater purpose” for the first time. He began trying all manner of mission within the organization to understand what it meant to be a rescuer, and if that was something he truly wanted to do. He went into it with valor and vigor and came out of it a much happier Lapras. Even through all the complexity, things had felt simple once again! However, he would soon find that the Amico region would be anything but simple…