Keola
rottendeadpan
- Created
- 5 years, 4 months ago
- Creator
- rottendeadpan
- Favorites
- 2
Profile
《 Are you gonna use that? 》
An orphan boy who has found his home with a pack of bandits, raised to second-guess everyone's motives and sleep with a knife under his pillow. He's a good boy deep down who earnestly cares for the few who he calls a friend, but he had been removed from 'proper' society long enough he doesn't quite understand how "well adjusted" people should act. He's possessive and stubborn, anxious, a little too quick to jealousy, and ends up rather determined to make something his once his heart is set on it... whether that thing ends up being a person or a shiny bit of treasure.
【 Detail 】
- Male
- Gay-leaning bisexual
- Around 19 years old
- Roughly 165cm tall
【 STAT 】
- Attack | ◆◆◆◇◇ | Temper | ◆◆◇◇◇
- Defense | ◆◆◇◇◇ | Kindness | ◆◆◆◇◇
- Agility | ◆◆◆◆◆ | Confidence | ◆◆◆◇◇
- Magic | ◇◇◇◇◇ | Charisma | ◆◆◇◇◇
- Intellect | ◆◇◇◇◇ | Sneakiness | ◆◆◆◆◆
【 Like/Dislike 】
⇈ Hard alcohol | ⇊ Heavy storms
⇈ Starry nights | ⇊ Overly sweet treats
⇈ Warm weather | ⇊ Broken promises
⇈ Wild animals | ⇊ Jungle fruit
【 Interest/No Interest 】
✔ Journal keeping | ✘ Idling
✔ Scavenging | ✘ Big parties
✔ Table games | ✘ Political matters
✔ Exploring | ✘ Religion
【 Discovery 】
Yaotl and Aritsune ran into the boy while in a port town. They heard him before they saw him; it's hard to miss the commotion of a thievery in progress and the cheery "oop, excuse me!" of a pick-pocket making his way through a busy street. They think nothing of it, even after the thief bumps into Yaotl and darts away with a "sorry, big guy!" --- that is, until they quickly realize they too have been pickpocketed. It takes a bit of asking around to figure out who the boy was, and where he was hiding out. Nearby the town is a little island dubbed the "Lonely Island" for how it sits on the horizon line, and the only residents on it are the town's friendly neighborhood bandits. Good of a place to start looking as any.
Once on the island they find nothing but hostility, though the bandits don't seem to be fighting to kill, rather to scare the duo off to no avail. Once they fought their way to the top they found Keola, sitting pretty on his recent haul. Curious why the two would bother coming all the way out there for some "spare cash" as he calls it, Keola makes the executive decision to join their party, whether they want him to or not. Turns out, according to the bandits, that's just how Keola chooses his new place to live; inviting himself in like a stray cat that won't take no for an answer.
Though their initial meeting wasn't on the best of terms, it takes no time at all for Keola and Yaotl to become fast friends, and the little pick-pocket's antics to turn in their favor. It takes Aritsune a minute more to warm up, but Keola is nothing if not persistent to earn her trust. (Though, if they find themselves a few coins short at the end of the night, they know exactly who to look for. "Consider it payment! Hey, I got you that awesome scarf earlier, did I not?" )
【 Relationships with the Team 】
If Keola had to choose a favorite in the group, he would probably chose Yaotl. Keola's insecurities at with his height and size gave him the side-effect of idolizing anyone physically larger or imposing, and Yaotl meets that requirement to a perfect T. Though... 'imposing', maybe not. Yaotl is a goof; large and friendly and Keola can't help but think of him like an oversized older brother. Keola's a little surprised that he never found himself with anything more than an aesthetic-crush on the swordsman, but he puts the blame on how similar Yaotl is to some of the bandits he hung out with. He's attractive, Keola's not blind, but...
Keola likes to jokingly play 'house' sometimes, in his head (or in his journals) and assign everyone a role in their little group. Yaotl and Aritsune are the big siblings most of the time, Mikaili is team mom, with Puu coming in as his little sibling. Whether on purpose or not, Keola and Puu get along much like real siblings and tend to bicker and tease each other to the point of breaking-- and then one minute later be back to best friends.
There's nobody on the team that Keola just cannot get along with, though Charmonix's insistence to dress him up "pretty" does tend to grate on Keola's nerves. Keola's still not positive if he dislikes the dragoon for the frilly fabrics, or because Charmonix is one of the only ones who can go toe to toe with Keola on how sneaky they can be. It's not like he hates him, he would just... rather not.
For any outsider, the most confusing thing with Keola's treatment of the party is his attachment to Karas. The Gambler joined them under the false name of Narak and lied his way through most of their journey together before the truth finally emerged. Everything in Keola's short-list of hard passes is part of Karas's personality traits; Liar, Untrustworthy, Backstabber, Cruel. Still, the two found themselves orbiting each other, and beyond all common sense Keola managed to worm his way into Karas's incredibly short list of "accepted people". It's a miracle Keola hasn't gotten himself killed yet by frequently pushing boundaries against the known murderer, but he guesses his luck must be holding firm.
Once they achieve some kind of middle-ground in understanding, the pair are a deadly alliance. Keola would sooner lose a friendship than drop Karas from his life, and, surprisingly, it seems that Karas is toeing towards the same mindset. They are, arguably, probably the worst for each other. But Keola's never said he's made good decisions.
【 Romantic Relationships 】
- Karas
Absolutely nobody probably saw it coming, beyond Farah who holds the second-closest friendship with Karas. In gameplay, if neither are romanced, they will always fall together naturally. Maybe it's their mutual experience and love of swindling people, or just the persistent way that Keola wormed his way under Karas's skin over his admiration over how 'cool' the older man was-- who knows. The friendship only starts to turn romantic after Keola's goddess fight, though nothing is set in stone or put to words until after Karas's own.
Keola has the most 'allowances' out of anyone for Karas's tolerance of annoying matters. Karas isn't sure why he allows so much, either, but part of him wonders if his stupid heart attached to how similar their backstories were in tone and theme and he just feels pity for him. At first, Karas absolutely tries to use Keola's growing affections for his own benefit, but when he finds himself returning any small favor he's horrified. This wasn't the plan at all. Reluctantly he comes to accept it, and when the party does eventually break and everyone leaves to do their own thing, the two stay together.
Keola brings a bit of excitement to Karas's fairly methodical life, and Karas stomps down any of Keola's more stupid, wild ideas. Though nowhere near perfect for each other, neither person would have it any other way.
【 Godmode Rán 】
It takes a bit for Keola to get his possessed form, as the whole thing hinges on his jealousy getting too deep and too many talks about the party disbanding once they complete Yaotl's quest.
The party is at a sea-side inn, resting for the night, when Keola complains of a growing headache and opts to step out and get some fresh air, joking that the smell of Yaotl's pits must be getting to him. His quick walk turns into missing for an hour, pushing two, and concern starts to mount since the thief isn't exactly the sturdiest of the team and might've gotten himself in trouble. Bizarrely, Karas elects himself to go look for the "idiot", leaving no room to argue when he taps Farah's chair and tells her to come with him. They're barely gone for ten minutes before Farah returns, more startled than her normally cool persona shows, to inform them that "something dragged Glasses into the river by the shops and she lost track of where he went," though she's fairly sure he's still alive. The party scrambles, and the hunt is on.
Everyone opted to the the wisest thing and follow the river down to the mouth where it spills into the sea, but the further along they get the more bits of Karas they locate. Glasses, an arm band, his tie; Puu gathered the bits and noted they weren't stained with blood which at least cleared the worry a monster had gotten him, though drowning was still a risk. When they finally came to the mouth they found Karas unconscious, thankfully still breathing, and tangled in what seemed to be an incredibly old fishing net. Approaching sets the fight off, with the net retracting sharply back to the sea's edge and the Rán-possessed Keola emerging from the depths.
It's an easy enough fight, despite the spirit's frequent screams and waves of water pushing and slogging down the party. The yelling is nonsensical, complaints about his head hurting and a teeth-baring wail to not leave him as the net tightens on Karas to an almost suffocating degree. The culmination of his orphan status and fear of being abandoned again mixing with the water siren's pull to just "drown them all, so they can't leave", prove too much and he breaks, giving up before he completely passes out. Like all the fight has left his body, Keola starts crying and withdraws the net before taking several steps back and to the water, falling backwards with a splash.
Upon waking up, back to his regular color than the sickly green that had taken over his skin, Keola immediately throws up water, foam, and algae. Luckily, for him, they're still on the shoreline, though he had been pulled from the water. "That-- tastes so gross." Karas is even awake, though an understandable distance away from the boy and still picking bits of algae and pebble from his person. An explanation is demanded, and Keola sort of wishes they'd wait until he could talk without feeling like he's gargling rocks, , but... that's fair. It seems that during his walk he found his way to the shore and, with the headache having been a lie and excuse to go clear his head from the idea of an impending party-break, opted to just park himself there for a bit. Maybe if someone cared, they'll come check on him.
And then the voice came. A soft, comforting sound that gave him the feeling that this is what a mother should sound like, and he found himself agreeing with it. Maybe if he was better, they won't leave. Maybe if he was cooler, more interesting, stronger, they won't leave. He won't have to go back to those bandits if he gives his friends a reason to not leave. After that... he's not sure. He heard a splash nearby, something warm grabbing his ankle, and the rest was a blur. Karas just happened to be the unlucky person he snagged first.
The walk back to the Inn was awkward and cold, as most of Keola's clothes had been lost in the transformation. What little the party could offer had been cobbled together into something so he wouldn't be arrested for public indecency (which would be like, the lamest way to get caught). Karas stopped Keola from going inside, telling the others to go on without him. They hesitated because last time they'd been left alone, the whole situation had happened. Karas gave Farah a quick glance and she caught on, immediately shooing everyone back inside. He's not so much an idiot to get swept away again, lets go. To say Keola was nervous when the door to the inn finally shut and they were left alone would be an understatement. Part of him wishes he'd choked on all that water to save himself the embarrassment of... all of this. The long silence as Karas just looked down his nose at him did not help calm any nerves and it wasn't long at all before Keola was barking out an "I'm sorry, I wouldn't have-- I didn't mean to, like, try to drown you. But I can understand if you're pissed and wanna kill me. That'd probably be like, a benefit right now. Save me some embarrassment, or--"
"When you said you were waiting for someone to check on you, I did."
"--Huh?" Keola can feel all that clawing anxiety drop out of his legs, replaced with an odd hollow feeling he couldn't quite place.
"That's how you caught me. I had left the inn to look for you." Karas was using a tone Keola hadn't heard before, like he was trying to force the words out before he regretted it. Like he was trying to keep the eye contact going despite every bone in his body wanting him to turn away and leave. "Someone did come for you."
"-- I,"
"Do not try to drown me again." Karas finally looks away, turning on his heel to leave, leaving Keola floundering outside the Inn wearing barely anything, watching the door slowly fall shut behind Karas's retreating form.
【 Secrets 】
Keola keeps four different journals in his pack at all times. Getting to see them requires a variety of affection levels or to just explore the inn rooms when he's not in the party and hanging out elsewhere. Book one, the "oldest" looking, holds retellings of Keola's life before leaving with Yaotl and the crew. Some of the stories are a little fanciful, but others seem to be pretty grounded in reality which makes it difficult to know if he's telling the truth or not. The handwriting and grammar in Book One is noted to be "atrocious", and it quickly gets peppered with more doodles than text. Book Two functions as a guide to secrets Keola has heard of through the bandit grapevine; treasures to be discovered while on the road. Book Three is his running log of his time with Yaotl and is almost entirely drawings like he had given up on writing all together.
Book Four is the 'journal' he keeps closest to his person at all times and the most difficult to find so you can read it. Inside are his actual thoughts, since Keola tends to keep true feelings tucked away to play up a "friendly neighborhood thief" persona. It's not like he truly hides how he feels about things, but reading the pages of Book Four (or more, looking at the pictures inside, though there is more text contained within than some of the others) show his anxious, unsure side. It's only in these pages can you find out in Keola's own words "I don't know what I am, or what's wrong with me, but I'm afraid to find out and put words to it."
Keola keeps three knives on his person as well; one tucked into his boot, a larger one among the packs on his lower back, and a third tucked into his thick glove-like arm pack. All three were 'stolen', though it's argued the one on his back was more of a gift than anything. It was a 'hard won' victory prize for completing a challenge posed by the bandits before he was allowed to stay with them.
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