Profile
trained in dulusk as Sylvos Rosario's own (ex)protegé, Farlan's main talent lies in information-gathering and subterfuge. he is highly deceptive, quickwitted, and an excellent liar- which he uses to his best advantage. he is cynical, independent to a fault, and can seem callous at first; but there is much warmth beneath his damaged exterior, no matter how hard he tries to suppress it.
about
personality
Untrusting and cynical, yet polite, accomodating, and (albeit unexpressedly) very humanitarian. Brooding young men with churning inner conflicts and mysterious origins are many, of course. Farlan knows this. He has been acutely aware of his own purported insignificance since birth, in fact; always second in importance to someone, whether that be his more capable twin brother, or his powerful and enigmatic mentor Sylvos Rosario.
The forefront of Farlan's identity is his inquisitive nature and talent for disguise. he is a chameleon of sorts- able to take on different identities or present himself in different ways as needed. he is pretty good at influencing others through persuasion or charm (and he certainly isn't above blackmail either) to get what he needs. fraud is his protection. ‘if i just pretend to be someone else everywhere i go, the REAL me will never get hurt’ is the logic he lives by. he feels as if he's spent too long being other people, and now he's not sure what's left of him under the barriers he makes. it's very difficult to get to know him because of it. he doesn't stop this habit because he needs it to get by.
On the other side of this coin is his observant and insightful nature. he can weave lies, but he can pick them apart even better. he is naturally curious and investigative- likes to keep an eye on everything around him.
wants his 'independence'. to him, this pretty much means isolation. he believes he isn't suited to a life with other people, whether it's a problem with him as a person or with the world at large. this is bullshit, of course, but it's the only thing he can bring himself to aspire to without endangering his cynical world view- so really he just thinks he wants to be alone. call that cognitive dissonance.
wants to make something of himself, to make some kind of improvement to the world around him so that nobody else has to endure what he has endured. this is, however, in conflict with his decision to basically be an uninterfering nobody until death, but he refuses to acknowledge it, because it's his way of defending himself. he will always want to help, despite telling himself only a fool would do so.
needs to have faith in something for once. have faith in a cause, have faith in others, have faith in himself. stop running from reality so he can have a life. endure pain and failure so he can see beauty.
needs someperson, somepeople. to stop rotting in his loneliness and self-isolation. learn to fucking cooperate and let himself learn that relationships aren't strictly fleeting and transactional. work with others, befriend and defend. fight for something he cares about by someone else's side. it's good to have someone looking out for you, at the very least.
fears being stuck.
fears building something, and watching it collapse. daring to feel something wonderful and having it ripped away.
design
Leuther's mouth had been an unmoving, stern, straight line since they'd arrived. But when laying his eyes upon Farlan for the first time, the line soon twitched upwards into a barely stifled smirk.
Farlan was doing a much better job at concealing his reaction to this, but his annoyance was evident when he spoke.
"Is something funny?" he asked.
"Yes," said Leuther. "Quite funny. How tall are you?"
appearance
Farlan is small. He's always been this way- stopped growing at 5 feet 5 inches even after his twin brother reached 6 whole feet. He has a slight frame, with long limbs but too much soft curvature to be considered lanky. He isn't particularly muscular nor broad, but his shoulders, arms, and back are strong and quite toned from handling a bow often.
Farlan's hair is a thick mixture of waves and curls, somewhere between strawberry blonde and light ginger, and falls to about chin-length. He ties it back and out of his eyes, but seems partial to long styles and won't cut it short even for practicality's sake. His eyes are a dull green; they look grey unless in direct sunlight, so not exactly sparkling emeralds, but more like tea or tree lichen or something to that effect. His cheeks and nose are host to faint freckles of varying size, as is the rest of his body- mostly his shoulders, joints, and back.
Farlan's ears are pointed, and longer than the average half elf's. His mother was a majestically long-eared elvhen lady- that's why. He has light facial hair most of the time, but does prefer to be a clean shaven baby-face.
Farlan is pretty, and puts effort into staying that way. Partially for the social advantage, but mostly for his own self image. He has a few scars- all of which are too hidden under his clothes to bother him, except for one tiny but quite obvious fleck on his left cheekbone. A welcoming gift from the city of Dulusk. A precursor to a prison sentence. He covers it when he can.
* Farlan is often pictured with a long diagonal scar across his nose, but he gets it much later in his story. dw about it :3
clothing and gear
Farlan puts practicality first, but this does not mean he lacks style or taste. He can be seen in loose buttoned shirts, tucked into dark fitted pants, brown riding boots, and simple jackets and hooded cloaks for travelling. He wears shades of white, brown, cream, and black- anything unsaturated and understated, especially when on the move. If he can't avoid travelling in the colder seasons, he will wear furs to keep himself warm at the expense of some agility. It's not unusual for him to wear jewellery or accessories such as rings or brooches, little clips to keep his hair tidy, and almost always earrings of some kind.
Farlan wears leather braces on his wrists and a shooting glove on his right hand, rather than a tab. He uses a wooden shortbow and keeps his arrows in a quiver on his back. He keeps his rapier at his side, and a dagger or two at his thigh or on the inside of a jacket just in case. The majority of his supplies while travelling are kept in pouches on his belt or in inside pockets. What he can't carry, he will keep on his horse at the time. He doesn't own a horse, but buys and sells (or 'borrows') them for each journey he takes, if he absolutely can't go on foot.
story
first hunting trip, nearly drowned|aged 14
A hunting trip with his brother Elorin, his father Nile, his father's friend, and his father's friend's son- Jac Argentein (a boy Farlan's age). Jac is the closest thing Farlan has to a friend. Jac tolerates him, maybe even likes his company. Neither of them give a single toss about their fathers' businesses, although Jac is more promising in skill. He and Farlan decide to swim in a forest pool at night despite being told not to. Farlan gets caught in the tangleweed below the surface and nearly drowns. Everybody wakes up and has to drag him out of the water. They go home early, with no catch, and with everyone annoyed at Jac and Farlan. The two are considered a bad influence on eachother. Farlan is further looked down upon by his family.
result: huge fear of water, can't swim. contribution to his feeling of inadequacy in the eyes of his father as a kid.
Jac and Farlan spent a lot of time together. People in the small village thought they were too close, however, and offered many disapproving stares and comments. Farlan liked Jac a lot, but kept it very secret because, surely such a thing can't be normal, can it? He was already an underachiever- the family disappointment in his own eyes- he didn't want to be abnormal on top of that. He had intended to take this secret to the grave- until one day Jac kissed him square on the lips, and brought the realisation that perhaps he wasn't abnormal after all. He couldn't be, if Jac felt exactly the same way. They shared eachother's first intimate relationship, clumsy but sweet, until Jac moved away a year later. They haven't seen eachother since.
result: discovery and, luckily, acceptance of his sexuality.
Farlan's father intended for him to be a part of his hunting and fur business, despite Farlan's obvious distaste- and lack of skill when compared to Elorin. Considering himself the 'lesser twin', and having always felt like he didn't fit, Farlan had no intention of sticking around in his secluded home village anyway. It surprised nobody when he announced his plans to leave, but his father still protested. After all, despite being smart and quick on his feet, Farlan could barely skin a rabbit- let alone make a living in the city. But when Farlan sets his eyes on a path, it is very difficult to dissuade him from following it. On the night of his birthday, he left quite suddenly to ensure nobody could stop him, leaving a written goodbye as he couldn't bring himself to do it in person.
result: the first major decision he made for himself, and his entry to independence, for better or worse.
Escalating quickly from the last life experience. Farlan had been living in the city of Dulusk as the protegé of Sylvos Rosario- the leader of a gang of sorts, part of Dulusk's sprawling underground crime community and black market. Under Sylvos, Farlan discovered talents unbeknownst to him before, and learned new tricks to help him survive in the world; although some of those tricks landed him in custody a few times. Farlan learns a lot from Sylvos and the two spend most of their time together. Other members of the gang find it odd but daren't mention that to Sylvos.
result: protection from practically everybody in the city, an unbalanced relationship with a charismatic (yet very odd) lord of the underworld.
Farlan's relationship with Sylvos had never been healthy, but by this point it became more turbulent than ever. The man had always been of a very private nature, taking journeys to god-knows-where by himself and leaving Farlan alone for weeks at a time; but he became even more isolated. Farlan felt just as overlooked as he did as a child. He felt intense attachment to Sylvos but was beginning to believe Sylvos didn't care for him at all, only using him as a glorified assistant, or to bring in money and information. Sylvos left on yet another excursion- this time not even telling Farlan beforehand, leaving him to wake up alone. It had been two months and the syndicate was falling apart without Sylvos' direction. Without Sylvos, Farlan was nothing to the syndicate- people began to suspect him of sabotaging Sylvos' leadership too. Feeling spited by the abandonment and more than a little bitter, there was nothing left for Farlan in the city of Dulusk (besides possibly getting his throat cut in his sleep), so he left... with as much money and supplies from Sylvos' personal quarters as possible.
result: heading off to literally anywhere other than the gloomy grey dump that is Dulusk.
As Farlan left Dulusk, something odd happened. They called it mass amnesia- the loss of memory on a continental scale. At first there were bizzare clusters of cases reported from the far villages. People going missing- an important public figure suddenly wandering off, leaving their loved ones and possessions behind, to be unheard from after. Perplexing stories for the weekly papers. It was different for everybody. Some cases were nearly unnoticed. Some were devastating. The origin of a scar suddenly eludes you, though you’ve had it all your life. You wake to a stranger in your bed who’s ring matches your own. You wake in a house unnavigable. The photographs on the mantelpiece bear your face.
result: Much of Irilios in confusion, chaos, or conspiracy. Perfect for somebody trying to lay low.
trivia
summer and sunny weather, gold jewellery, milky tea and coffee, old books, learning about history and such, wine, archery, sparring, bathing and being a clean boy.
deep water, long treks/rides/journeys and living rough, overly friendly and tactlessly flirty acquaintances, fighting, authority figures somewhat, meat, nobles, having no control
- capable duellist, and an even better archer. not made for fighting, though. it's his last resort.
- physically fit despite how skinny he looks. very bendy, would be amazing at yoga lmao
- musically gifted. he can play violin, and sing. but he won't do it unless he really really likes you- or if you pay him.
- a pretty incredible social chameleon, and charming if it gets him what he wants. his true self is actually quite different.
bonds
friend, love interest | maakus andrekov
They crossed paths by chance; Maakus trying to find something, Farlan trying to get away from something. Similar circumstances and interests led them to pair up and travel with eachother.
mentor, jilted ex-lover | sylvos
The city of Dulusk has a sprawling underworld network of criminals, shady characters, and the like. Sylvos is one of the top players. He took the young Farlan under his wing, encouraging his gift for deception and subterfuge, and training him in all manners of combat and shady dealings. The two had a strange relationship, very close yet distant at the same time. Farlan left after Sylvos became almost constantly distant, obsessed with understanding his origins and Izcan mythology. He still makes efforts to avoid Sylvos or his Dulusk agents and peers; maybe because he has commitment issues, maybe because he stole his money and ran.
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