Ozlo

Ozlo is the middle child of Myrsky and Tempest, the boyfriend of Luka, and the main protagonist of the story Homebound.

Art by Quailheart

Ozlo is said to have "the brain of a con artist, but the heart of a marshmallow." Having been on the streets from a young age, Ozlo has developed his gift of blarney in order to survive. He is a happy-go-lucky, mischievous risk-taker who is not afraid to take advantage of situations for his own benefit. There is something inviting about Ozlo that makes other gryphons relax and enjoy themselves around him. It could be his charming personality, but it could also be the fact that he is a social butterfly. He is masterful at letting tourists guards down to exploit them in the streets for money and food. He usually doesn't mean harm from his actions, the streets of Vetrovia are dangerous, after all! Ozlo does have a more caring, compassionate side underneath his more selfish tendancies. Throughout the story of Homebound he develops into a more honorable, selfless individual, even someone worth mentioning in the legends.

Although conning involves much thought, Ozlo can be rather impulsive. He often acts or says things without thinking about the consequences and this has lead to many troubles down his path. With his impulsivity, he has a hard time managing relationships and has drifted away from most childhood friends by the time he is an adult. Ozlo wishes he has a partner in crime he could rely on, but every relationship he has found himself in had lead to devastating fallouts from Ozlo's compulsive lying and his overall inability to maintain stability. It is only after Ozlo grows closer to Luka when he begins to self-reflect on his depricating behaviors. Could his actions stem from the fear of being known? fear of growing close to others? Fear of rejection or being hurt? These are internal turmoils Ozlo must confront during his journey in order to become a more realized individual.

Despite his turmoiled life, Ozlo grew to be a rather optimistic gryphon. He displays venturesome behavior and holds a secret desire to go out and explore the world beyond the slums he grew to know. Due to circumstances, he doesn't leave the city of Vetrovia to start a new life because of his focus on where he will sleep the next night or what his next meal would be. This dream comes to a sudden knocking at his door when he is chased out by the gang that holds territory of the faction he resides in, after tricking the leader to buy his "sack of rock salts" (that were really just a bag of small, white rocks). Due to the threat of getting killed if he shows his face in Vetrovia again, he sets out to start a new life.

Although Ozlo has an overall charming personality that is easy for many to get sucked into, it is only half of him, underneath masks a more unsure individual, one who is insecure of where his place and legacy in the world would be. He struggles to find a sense of a true identity and self-worth. This was also compounded by parental abuse in his youth (in which was severe enough that he ran away from home when he was young). Ozlo wears a mask of outgoing friendliness to hide the long list of self-esteem issues he endures.

Ozlo is a black gryphon with a slim build. He is of average height, but appears a bit small due to his thin frame. He's slightly underfed due to life in the streets and bears a large burn patch that covers the majority of his tail, which was recieved when he was chased out of Vetrovia. His beak is long and slim, and his ears are a bit large for his small head. The ears also have tufts at the end of them. He has white front toes, back feet, neck, and markings around his eyes and forehead. the black on his fur is darker on the triangular feather crest on his head and his front legs. The hindlegs, dorsal side of the wings, and his tail feathers sport a rich, royal blue coloring that steller jays possess. His tail is abnormally long for a gryphon, and at the end of it the fur 'fluffs' up, almost giving the resemblance of a large feather. He has bright blue eyes with a yellow ring around the irises, a rare trait among gryphons.

Ozlo wears a distinctive red bandana across his forehead that covers most of the markings on his head. He is never seen without it. He got this bandana the day he ran away from home, he wears it as a reminder of his old past and mother.

Art by Me

Despite the inarguable fact that his life would be considered tragic, his beginnings are arguably happy, and even showed promises of a good life ahead of him. Born as the middle child to Myrsky and Tempest, Ozlo was adored by both parents, with the young, newly wedded couple even showing a bit of favoritism in comparison to his other two siblings. Ozlo was adored and pampered, being given the support and love any cub would need to thrive. As a young and naive cub, Ozlo still had the spunky, troublemaking personality he is known to have, but he still gave the occasional act of honesty when needed. This life however, was not to last. Myrsky and Tempest's arguments were becoming less private and more violent as the cub aged, more and more often he bore witness to his father laying his paws on his mother, leaving nasty bruises and wounds on the gryphon's body. One day, this violent behavior went too far, Myrsky fled her home and children in fear of her life. She was never seen again. Alive. Weeks later the local warden came to the family's den with the news of her body. Tempest was griefstricken by this revelation, and not being able to face the damage he had caused, he shut down. Tempest was never the same. He become more irritable and began to turn his anger onto his own children.

Ozlo learned quickly to not trust his father, even during the days he was sober from the ale he consumed daily. Tempest was not the same gryphon Ozlo once knew in his cubhood and it tore his heart to pieces. One night, when Ozlo was 12, Tempest chased him out of the den in a drunken rage after a particuarly bad argument. After regaining his senses in the barren marketplace in the small hamlet he grew up in, Ozlo made the decision to never come back. He still found himself caring immensely for his father, but the pain he had to endure for the past 8 or so years left the gryph in a damaged state. Ozlo knew he couldn't bear to enter the den again, and even feared of the consequences he would have to face when he came back. By the time the sun rose, he was gone from the town of Nasir, heading off the bustling city of Vetrovia.

The first few nights in Vetrovia were cold and lonely For Ozlo. The impulsive decision of leaving was starting to set in, and he was discouraged. He was at his lowest point, and didn't feel like he had any place to go. Two days was the amount of time Ozlo roamed the streets aimlessly, scrounging up food and shelter. But suddenly, a commotion was heard down the road, a street fight had ensued. Ozlo went to investigate, as it was the closest thing he got for entertainment in the few days that changed his life. That was when he met Myth. Myth beat the other gryphon into a pulp, Ozlo felt something flicker in his chest. He had to meet this gryphon, even if it means getting dragged into a fight. Ozlo followed Myth into the alleyway he disappeared in and called out for him. At first Myth was weary, maybe even a bit aggressive. But soon the pair devolved to an insightful conversation, one where there was promises of meeting again another time.

Hand Dexterity

Hand and Paw dexterity is an ability all gryphons in Homebound have, and Ozlo is not an exception to this. He is able to grasp and hold objects with care with his paws. He uses his paws for many tasks and is a useful asset for carrying more things than his beak could hold.

Thievery

Ozlo's abilities to steal could be considered legendary. He is able to pick out of the handbag of a passerby while chatting with them about random nonsense WITHOUT the gryphon even noticing anything is wrong. Ozlo uses these abilities to his full advantage, getting food and beautiful trinkets from the gryphons he talks to while picking them off of their items.

Flattery

With Ozlo's charismatic personality, he is able to use his suave to get out of troubling situations. He is always quick to find information or forge brief friendships with this ability.

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Stats

Luka

Ozlo's best friend and boyfriend, the pair are attached to the hip. Despite the first interactions they had with each other involved Ozlo running from trouble, Luka still helped him from the start. Ozlo loves to listen to Luka talk about concepts he doesnt have a full grasp on. Ozlo loves to leave gifts and trinkets for the larger gryphon whenever he finds any during his commutes to obscure areas in the region. The two had rough patches in their relationship, but they managed to stick together and even developed a bond stronger than most.

Blossom

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Haakon

Ozlo's younger brother, the two were born as twins. Although they didn't get along much at all in their adoloescence, Ozlo tried to reconcile with Haakon in their late teens/adult years.

• Ozlo has been a character of mine since 2012/2013, where I made the first concepts of him on a worksheet back in the 5th grade. He used to be a feathered night fury named Jaywing up until 2018.
• Ozlo has a sweet tooth for sunflower seeds. He tries to get them whenever he can.
• When Myth and Ozlo were dating, Myth would call Ozlo his "little jay". While it was endearing for him at the time, Ozlo HATES the name now. He thinks Myth called him it as a way of calling him weak or naive.