Rami Kasimir Wessels (Rampion)

ATTENTION: I KNOW THIS SEEMS ODD, BUT IF YOU ARE DRAWING THIS CHARACTER, PLEASE DO NOT REFERENCE IMAGES IN HIS GALLERY DRAWN BY OTHERS. THANK YOU FOR UNDERSTANDING.

Rampion (Rapunzel)

General Information:

-Domain of: Rampions (Campanula rapunculus) division

-Sex: Male

-Nationality: German

-Country of Origin: Germany (Bavaria) 

-Original Name: Rami Kasimir Wessels

-Lived: 1607 - 1627

-Birthday: November 13

-Physical Age: 20 years

-Physical Appearance: About  5'9/152 cm, with a lean build. Face shape is a midlength, squarish  heart. Pale complexion. Has small flowers growing on his face where  freckles once would have been, most notably on his cheeks, resulting in  somewhat of a veining pattern as they've broken through the skin. Hair  is rather long, reaching to a little below his shoulders, and is a rich  gold in colour which makes his skin look more pale. The hair is also  very straight and thick. Blue eyes that are somewhat big and almond  shaped, and downturn slightly. He is also very heavy lidded with long  eyelashes, as well as having some permanent dark circles under his eyes  that make him look constantly tired. Has arched eyebrows that are not  particularly thick, and extend back decently far. Medium length nose  bridge with small-to-medium size nose that flares out only slightly, and  protrudes decently without an angle. Medium to small size mouth with a  thinner top lip and thicker bottom lip; he also has a noticeable bow. 

,  with a lean build. Face shape is a midlength, squarish heart. Pale  complexion. Has small flowers growing on his face where freckles once  would have been, most notably on his cheeks, resulting in somewhat of a  veining pattern as they've broken through the skin. Hair is rather long,  reaching to a little below his shoulders, and is a rich gold in colour  which makes his skin look more pale. The hair is also very straight and  thick. Blue eyes that are somewhat big and almond shaped, and downturn  slightly. He is also very heavy lidded with long eyelashes, as well as  having some permanent dark circles under his eyes that make him look  constantly tired. Has arched eyebrows that are not particularly thick,  and extend back decently far. Medium length nose bridge with  small-to-medium size nose that flares out only slightly, and protrudes  decently without an angle. Medium to small size mouth with a thinner top  lip and thicker bottom lip; he also has a noticeable bow. 

Downfall: He died of blood loss due "witch-pricking" and sleep deprivation during a witch trial.

Songs: The Cure - Like Cockatoos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKQjoaxX8H8,  2raumwohnung - Ich Weiß Warum  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDrRtWyhwxU, Falco - Rock Me Amadeus  (I'm not sure it really fits, anyway Amadeus lived in 1700s, but this  song makes me think of him for some reason)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVikZ8Oe_XA, Faun - Walpurgisnacht  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLgM1QJ3S_I

Quotes: 

"Do not, in your foolishness, assume that I am unkind simply because I am not gullible. For why would I want to be hurt?"

"Dear sir ... that is not how to wield a blade."
                                                            _{~to Madrono}

"And  after accused of being the greatest evil in all the world, and treated  as such, you think a trivial matter such as this would cause me pain?"

"And though I cannot feel pain ... I still think involving oneself in painful situations is a waste of my precious time."
                                                                                                              _{~(usually said when being  cowardly and trying to avoid a situation)}
 

Personality: In demeanour, Rampion will seem as a gentleman, though particularly  condescending to some, as well as generally very suave and stylish.  Close to the surface, however, the perceptive person will notice that  something about him also seems particularly dour. Though not an unkind  individual, this is true, and in general Rampion is a very bitter and  cynical young man, covering it up with a calm and collected, fashionable  demeanour. Indeed, though he does not seem it at first, he is an  introvert; however, he is not shy and tends to be very good with people.  More often than not, people like his demeanour and try to befriend him,  to which he promptly closes himself off and again retreats from the  public eye. He can also be disrespectful and is a snob intellectually.  Rampion feels the world is a corrupted place and dislikes anything he  feels has contributed to the corruption, causing him to dislike people  as a whole. Although he is very cynical and doesn't truly trust anyone,  he is still not uncharitable when thinking of an individual and can act  with genuine kindness. In fact, he has no issues with individual  persons, and seeing that the world is corrupt to begin with and feeling  that no one can help but contribute to it, he is actually rather  forgiving of small mistakes. In reality, he has a very good heart and  once wore his kindness on his sleeve. Eventually coming to believe that  kind people were more easily taken advantage of, though, he began to  grow more bitter and develop a tougher exterior as protection. Due to  this, he is very afraid for sensitive and kind people, and even if it  isn't too noticeable to others, he is protective of them despite often  seeming condescending toward them. Also due to this, his greatest fear  is to be taken advantage of or used for someone else's purpose. Since he  believes the entire world is not to be trusted, this results in him  being cripplingly cowardly.  

History:  

Rami  Kasimir Wessels was born in 1607 in the city of Bamberg, in Upper  Franconia, Bavaria, Germany, a citizen of the powerful Holy Roman  Empire. The Wessels were a wealthy Catholic family, having amassed their  wealth from a corrupt Bishop who secured the family a place in the  nobility through nepotism. Rami's father also was an influential  merchant, traveller and well respected aristocrat in general. He also  was rather good with a sword, and had seized fame through glorious  duels. Due to his frequent travels, the only child was left to be raised  most frequently by his mother.

Madame Wessels was a caring,  sweet, gentle and non confrontational woman, who doted on her precious  child frequently. However, the boy was always naturally intelligent, so  rather than simply growing up spoiled and whiny, he was always  questioning things, and at an early age wondered how he was so fortunate  financially while many of those around him were not. Thus, upon  learning of this aspect of the world, he began to hate nepotism,  corruption, and dishonesty, even as a young child. He also began to  dislike his religion and find the teachings of Luther to promote less  corruption. When he tried to speak to his mother about this, he noticed  her mindset to be rather mild regarding the issue; she seemed to  believe, not that there was nothing wrong, but that it was not her place  to argue with reality or fate.

In contrast to his wife, Rami's  father was a rather greedy, selfish man. On the rare occasions that  father and son would be able to meet, Rami was quite struck by his  father's nature: Conniving, glory-hounding, thoughtless, inconsiderate,  opportunistic, and even dishonourable. Though the man was always very  kind to his child, spoiling him nearly as much as his wife, he was also  stern and gruff, unafraid to discourage the boy from thinking too much  about certain things, or not taking opportunities. All this left Rami  with a rather bitter image of his father.

Due to this, one of the  child's first memories was made when he was around 6, in 1613, on one  of his father's visits. His mother, in her characteristic gentle manner,  was always hesitant to push her will, and often just let her son do  whatever he wanted. Resulting, Rami had never had a haircut in his life.  His father, however, upon learning of such a thing, was angry, claiming  that keeping such ridiculously long locks (they were down to the floor)  was a terrible habit, especially for battle and duelling, as well as a  detriment to his masculine dignity as the child's face was still  extremely soft as a girl's would be. Hence he forced the boy to cut his  hair to a disappointingly short length. Not used to extreme force, as  his mother would never show him any, Rami found this event traumatising.  As he grew older and more bitter toward his patriarch, he began to  think of his very long hair (which he only ever slightly trimmed) as a  symbol of his pride and newfound stubbornness. 

Another  concern of Rami during his early life was with his mother. Although he  got along with other children around him decently, he was never really  close to them, finding their interests to be too naïve and boring for  him to appreciate (though this was not in a condescending manner; he was  simply more often interested in details of the adult world, having a  mechanical mind, always wanting to know how things worked.) He was never  truly close with anyone except his mother. Despite how much she spoiled  him, he felt guilty often for what he thought he was only getting  because he begged, or when she gave into him. He became, as he got  older, more and more aware that kindhearted people like Madame Wessels  would be easily taken advantage of by the wicked people who made the  world around him unpleasant. In addition to being constantly worried for  her, he became over protective of her and overly defensive when he felt  like he was being used. He also began to become more hard, rigid and  bitter on the outside (ironically more like his father), his greatest  fear being to be taken advantage of or to be lied about/have words put  in his mouth for someone else's benefit.

This is how  the boy's life continued for several more years; fearing for and  protecting his mother (this had to happen often, as she was rather  beautiful and appeared to be a single mother due to her husband's  frequent absence, she would often either get hassled by men or severely  looked down upon for potential adultery) and seeing his father every  couple years, the two men growing more distant each time they met. In  1614, a tutor was hired to teach the child Latin so that he could attend  a prosperous university. Rami found that he immensely enjoyed studying  and it became his escape in a life that was continually becoming more  and more miserable. As he grew older, he became more and more depressed  with the world; every day, he'd see some poor peasant deprived of some  necessity at the hands of a wealthy man, someone on the street starving,  some accused person being dragged on to be executed. Instead of being  afraid, he found none of this evil to be necessary and decided that the  reason the world was so corrupt was that humanity was too lazy to hem in  its problems and those who wanted to stop this plague were already too  late, that good people could do nothing to stop society's progressive  descent into immorality and disease.

He began not only to hate  corruption, but wealth and money in general. Being disgusted at himself  for being rich, he frequently gave away his most prized possessions, the  only material care of his remaining being fashion and his stylish looks  (as, being spoiled as a child, he was a bit of a narcissist or at least  rather vain.) Additionally, his love for education, and his forceless  upbringing, lead him to birth a mindset that he could not be wrong.

Often,  he was also ridiculed on these opinions by those around him, being  wealthy as he, and seeing nothing wrong with it. However, this only  caused the naturally sensitive child to become desensitised to petty  words and to grow an even tougher skin. Later in life, he was actually  thankful for this, thinking that it helped prevent him from being taken  advantage of. He became rather bitter and dour in demeanour, hiding his  kindness only for those he deemed worthy of it, and believing all who  ridiculed him to be fools who simply could not see the truth. This all  took place before he was even twelve years of age.

In  1618, in Rami's eleventh year, a terrible war broke out around him.  Though the boy wasn't very surprised, it greatly affected his mother.  Her husband was currently residing in Bohemia and had not returned in  quite some time, and now many revolts had sprung up there. She became  over protective of her son, and whenever he would have to leave her for  any reason, she became immensely worried. It was not long before she  became gravely ill due to her constant fear and fading will to live, but  she clung to life for her precious son.

This was a very  difficult time for the youth because since his mother was ill, he had to  not only take care of her, but mostly fend for himself as well, having  to do many things he had not previously learned, and having to face is  mother's fears every time he had to push himself or obtain anything for  her. He also grew anxious about her health.

As time  passed and Rami learned more about the current situation of his people,  he began to dislike Bavaria's position in the war. Many people were also  being killed more and more each year on grounds of witchcraft, which  Rami assumed the cause of, to be the duke of Bavaria (as well as other  nobleman)'s dislike of Lutherans and Protestants, who he thought was  trying to use this as an excuse to weed them out. Disgusted with this  assumed disregard for human dignity, and seeing how ridiculous many of  the charges were, also fearing that he would be accused of witchcraft,  Rami left the Catholic church and became a Lutheran in 1621. This action  also severely frightened his mother, a devout Catholic, and she feared  for his soul.

Despite the terrors of the war, Rami  was sent away to a high class university to be fully educated one year  later. The young man was happy for a chance to not only pursue his  beloved studies, but also change his life and break out of his father's  influence and of his ill gained background, not caring for wealth and  passionately hating greed. However, he was devastated to be sent away,  having to leave his ailing mother and all that he knew for what he was  afraid would be a stuffy school for only the elite. 

While there,  although continued to perform well in his studies and was generally  respected by the other students, his masters were often looking down  upon him. They had caught wind of his rebellious nature against  religion, and were afraid he would infect his peers with heresy. One day  he was discussing his political theories and feelings on Lutheranism  with his peers. This furthered the university's dislike of him, along  with many other incidents, until finally in 1623, he was expelled.  Disgusted, he gave up his inheritance and ties to great money, and left  for the more Protestant regions of Central Europe.

While there,  he wished to mostly stay anonymous. He travelled throughout the land;  whenever he felt that he had any sort of identity in the community that  someone could use against him, he left immediately. His fears had  finally caught up with him, proving his childlike bravery of earlier  years to be naïve. He now saw all the possibilities of what could happen  to him at the hands of corruption. More than anything, he became afraid  for his life, trying at all costs to avoid anywhere where a battle was  actively being fought, and for being accused of witchcraft. It was the  first time in his life that he was truly alone, without anyone to  protect him. In the back of his mind he felt that this corruption, that  the world had robbed him of a good life; he was, after all, only 16  years old at this time. He had faced rejection his entire life, and felt  this most recent turn of events highly unfair.

He travelled this  way for the next three years. He mostly occupied his time with, most  prominently, attempting to stay out of the way of war, and secondarily  he would often try to right wrongs when he would see them. However,  since being exposed so heavily to the world so quickly had left him  cowardly, his efforts would often fail, as he valued his life above  others. He was constantly torn between fear for his own life and sadness  at seeing he end of others'.

Unfortunately  for him, Central Europe was, of course, engulfed in the war. Despite  trying to stay hidden, it was impossible for him to avoid all the  problems of war, in a country torn by war. In 1626, frightened from some  nearby sieges, Rami was attempting to pass through the small town of Lutter  am Barenberge in Lower Saxony. Whenever he saw soldiers or fighting, it  was his ultimate goal to try to flee from them. On this particular day,  the Kingdom of Denmark was leading an army to try and attack the  Catholic and Hapsburg army, and the two armies clashed in Lutter.  

As  soon as Rami noticed the first happenings of a battle he attempted to  escape. However, this very action caused one of the Danish generals to  notice him, and assuming he was an enemy, pursued him. Eventually, the  faster, stronger soldier managed to pin the young man against a wall  with a musket pointed to his head. As he was about to be shot, he heard a  man yell, and come rushing toward the scene, saying something about how  “that boy was his son, don't shoot him!” Rami, unable to focus on  anything, was also traumatised and was crying in fear for the soldier to  have mercy on him. Possibly due to this, the soldier didn't hear the  running man's desperate pleas and fired his musket despite. Just as this  happened, however, the shouting man crashed into Rami, pushed him  aside, took the bullet and collapsed on the ground. 

Standing  aside, and traumatised to a degree where he was numb to emotion, Rami  was able to briefly observe the situation. The man who had taken the  shot, he recognised as his own father. He then noted that his father was  donned as a soldier would be, and wore the colours of the opposing side  to the pursuer, who was Danish. The other Danish soldiers who had  gathered appeared startled briefly but soon began to turn their  attention to Rami, assuming they had injured his father enough that he  would die his own. Paralysed by fear, Rami could only look on as his  father, with his dying strength, held out what appeared to be a letter  to his son. Suddenly he noticed the Danish had encircled him and were  getting ready to attack him, assuming that he was, indeed, an enemy.  Snapping out of his daze, and with a sinking feeling, he snatched the  letter from his father, as well as the musket the man had dropped, and  in a lightning fast movement, slammed the weapon down over the head of  an enemy soldier and using their surprise to his advantage, ran away as  fast as he could, in a direction that would take him out of the  devastated city.

Even several months later, Rami was  unable to forget the terrors of that day. He had been scarred for life  by the terror of looking death in the eyes, in seeing his father again,  in watching someone bleed to death in front of him, in being caught up  in the war, and perhaps worst of all to a sensible soul like his own, in  having faced the excruciating pain of being torn between saving his own  life or that of another, specially someone who he had known. Of course  he did not like his father, but he could not bear the thought that he  had, in a way, aided to the corruption of the world. It was at this  moment he fully realised a hatred of himself, a hatred of how cowardly  he was, of how helpless he was in the face of death, of corruption, of  the world. And especially in contrast to one as his father, someone he  thought was unshakably selfish, who of course did not like his son  either, who was willing to save his life.

The letter  he had received from his father was intended for his mother, discussing  everything that had happened to him. The letter also stated his reasons  for enlisting as a soldier in the Catholic League, and his sorrows that  he would likely never see his wife again. Rami's heart had grown softer  to his father since his death, and he begin to regret how he had  treated him, as a fellow human being who could feel, and who could love.  Though he still disagreed with his father on many things, he realised  that there was one area of life in which the man had completely bested  him; he had found devotion, to a woman, to the world even though it was  hopeless and cruel, and to love.

Although he knew the path would  be dangerous, he decided he must give the letter to it's rightful owner.  He also made haste in seeing his mother, worrying she may not have even  survived thanks to his leaving her.

Upon eventually  making it back to his home town of Bamberg, it was the beginning of  1627, and Rami was in a terrible state, both emotionally and physically.  He was terrified for the life of his mother, for fear of what would  have become of his city since he had been gone. He had also long ago run  out of money and was starved, not stopping to work anywhere for pay on  his way back home so that he would make the journey in as few nights as  he could.

Upon his arrival, he saw that his worst fears had been  confirmed in every way. Bamberg had been engulfed in mass hysteria and  was now hosting magnificent witch trials; the streets were soaked in the  blood of the innocent, the air reeked of iron and was filled with the  cries of the victims and their mournful ones.

Though he felt a  fear greater than anything he had ever felt in his entire life and  sickened greatly by the loathsome state of the city, Rami Wessels  gathered every ounce of strength he had left and pushed on, entering  through the gates of Bamberg, which might as well have been the gates of  Hell.

Arriving at what had once been his house, the young man  was horrified to see two guards blocking his path. What was more, the  house appeared to have been burned. When Rami questioned the guards,  they informed him that the woman who had lived there was a wretched  witch and adulteress, who had recently been burned at the stake to help  purify the city. 

Devastated and unable to take it any longer,  Rami collapsed on his knees and began to weep bitterly. Soon, he also  began to loudly curse and revile the guards. Looking horrified, they  called out and ordered for him to be taken away. Unable to bring himself  to be physical due to his extreme grief and also his hatred for death  or killing, he was again paralysed and was easily dragged away, all the  while still cursing and being scolded by the men who had attacked him.

Eventually  he was thrown into a cart filled with livestock and because he would  not stop crying and yelling, he was hit on the head and fell unconscious  … but not before noticing how horrified the townspeople looked, how  some of them sneered at him, how some of them called out that he was the  witch's son, a great curse to the world.

When he  finally awoke, Rami Wessels was tied down in the centre of a very  intimidating room, all white, with very tall ceilings and windows.  Gathered around him was a court of men and women with gruesome  expressions, some terrified, some had their faces painted with hatred,  some of them crying. Others were screaming at him, and yet others, the  most important looking men, were discussing something, though Rami could  not hear what it was, too many people's voices filled the air. He felt  humiliated, disgusted and panic-stricken when he heard what some of them  were saying; most called him a witch, a black mage, reviled his birth,  his parents, said he made the world a horrible place, that he was a  great evil, everything he had ever feared. Suddenly one of the important  men shouted above all the others, asking what was to be done with him.  Rami's heart sank when he heard the cries of the crowd; they wanted to  have him “searched for the mark”, tortured, and then executed.

Knowing  his fate was sealed, Rami found himself unable to speak and only to  weep as the important men stripped him and began to search for the  devil's imprint on him. At this moment he wished he had not been born a  freckled youth, as every freckle on his body was punctured with a long,  sharp and grim looking needle. Apparently they were trying to see if he  would not feel pain, but since he felt pain on every prick, the trial  had proven him innocent of witchcraft. Enraged, the crowd and the men  began to swear at him and tried to force him to confess. However,  despite the extreme pain of the situation, Rami could not bring himself  to admit he was a witch, a great evil, a causer of corruption. He felt  this would render his whole life useless and a curse if he gave in. In  this moment he thought of his mother, and did not want her death to be  in vain, and his father, and how strong he had been in the end.

Infuriated,  the judges roughly dressed him in a gown and cast into a large, old  looking and frightening room. This, too, was a trial and a means of  extracting his confession. He was left there, and would be beat if he  tried to sleep. He managed to keep his sanity for about a day, but  without water, food or sleep, his mind began to decay. Often he would  start crying randomly or burst into uncontrollable fits of laughter. His  wounds also had not been dressed, and over the course of the first day,  had severely bled. 

Though he was losing his mind and life, he  still held on and managed to avoid confessing, no matter what was done  to him, no matter how tricky the words of the judge were or how many  corners he was backed into.

At last, after half another day had  passed, he had almost faded completely from this world. At the final  moment of his life, the judge asked him a trick question; in his broken  mind, he couldn't figure out how to escape the “truth” of his actions;  furthermore, men had arrived with long knives, prepared to inflict even  more torture. In great terror and confusion, Rami gave in, his last  words; admitting to witchcraft and a demonic affinity.

Even  in the last moment of his life he was unable to get a decent sleep;  awakening from a prodigiously painful experience, he found himself in a  place the opposite of the seemingly possessed city of Bamburg. The  sweetest scent wafted through the air, a beautiful melody could be heard  from somewhere in the distance. He opened his eyes, and towering above  him, a magnificent canopy of trees, as he laid on a soft carpet of grass  and delicate blooms. Suddenly Rami's sense of touch was reawakened, and  he became aware of a strange sensation; a cycle of life was actively  happening around him. As his blood was sapped into the ground, the  plants around him grew more and more vivid, and he could feel something  akin to a terrible pain and yet a sweet delight; petals burst upon from  each and every one of his wounds, killing their pain. 

Suddenly  horrified and aware that he was, in a way, being eaten alive, he tried  to sit up, but could not due to his weak body and the vines that had  rooted him to the ground. He began to think he had died and gone to  Hell. With all the strength and emotion he had felt in all his life, he  pushed his way out of the vines, but not without the extreme thrust of  acceleration propelling him forward; his body smashed against a tree,  and he fell into a deep slumber for the equivalent of one thousand years  until the garden walls were torn open … but not before he turned about,  and saw, with a great pang of horror, the deep, putrid smelling, red  fumes that were burning the vines that had held him down to a crisp …  and that the mysterious energy had come from his own body.

Relationships:
-He is hated by Cactus because he is German and resembles Kaiser, and Basil is wary of him also because of his ethicity.
-Madrono  dislikes him because he is an anti-Catholic Lutheran; though he himself  disdains the former, he still attempts do understand him.
-Be hates him because Madrono does.
-Gets  along well with Cantua. Due to many similarities (fathers that left,  abandonment of riches, an appreciation for kindness, very long hair,  etc.) they find each other interesting. He is often worried about  Cantua, however, because he feels that the kind boy will be easily taken  advantage of.
-Absolutely hates Amaryllis and Anise. Though the feelings with Amaryllis are neutral, Anise still likes him a bit.
-Gets along decently with Liu.
-Though he at first fights a lot with her, he and Suzie/Black-Eyed Susan become good friends.

Fun Facts:

-World  War II is, upon entering the modern timeline, his least favourite  historical event, even worse than the 30 Years War. He also hates the  Treaty of Versailles.

-He is fascinated greatly by the fairytale "Rapunzel" for obvious reasons.

-He is decently tall, and yet his hair is still longer than his body by a little.

-He  has similar magic powers to Lavraj, but he can't control them as  easily. Not only do they only appear when he is feeling very negative,  he can only harm others or lay curses on them. By constant torture and  discipline, Cynthia is able to take advantage of this power. Thus, she  is the person he hates the most in the world.

-His favourite food is chocolate and often he'll eat everyone else's candy, which gives him a slightly bad reputation.

-He  enjoys woodcarving to a degree. He especially loves to make small  wooden flutes and though is not particularly talented musically, he  enjoys playing them on occasion.  

-In the modern timeline he attempts to finish college.

-Under his clothing, his entire body mostly covered in flowers due to how freckled he had been in his lifetime.

-Like  Rosalisa he is terrified of cats, especially black ones. But being  rather sensible, in the back of his mind, he loves them and knows they  cause no fear. This leads to a weird relationship with Seshen.

Now I shall clear up the ultra confusing aspects of his design.
-Please reference his appearance description.
-He  has very noticeable dark circles under his eyes, as well as tired,  droopy, heavy lidded eyes. If you're drawing him, please do not forget  his tired expression XD
-He has a light swirly pattern on his hose/tights and bodice (?).
-His eyes are a blueish violet (or violet blue).
-On  his face, hands and arms, wherever he once had freckles, they have all  been replaced with tiny rampion flowers. Not only are they bleeding  since they sprouted from puncture wounds, but small  veinous patterns  can be seen around the skin.

-Plant veins are visible in his collar and pants.