Lute

PLAYER INFO

Name: Ket
Contact Information: flutterpony
Time Zone: GMT -5
Characters Played: None


CHARACTER INFO

Character Name: Lute
Character Canon: The Violinist of Hameln

History: This series is waaaay too obscure for wiki links. But Lute's role in the story proper is fairly small.

The world it takes place in is heavily implied to be our world, since countries and famous composers that demonstrably don't exist in canon are mentioned frequently. But a thousand years ago, a race of demons showed up and pretty much destroyed everything. This leads to a long and bloody conflict. Eventually the demon king was sealed away in Pandora's box, and the demon forces retreated to their lands in the north for a few centuries to regroup. Human kingdoms eventually rose up out of the ashes, and the strongest of them was Sforzando.

The demons eventually started their attacks again, but this time they were facing a much more organized resistance and without the king sealed their magical power was limited. They naturally wanted him back. Remember the box? The key to it was guarded by Sforzando. The actual plot deals with the long lost princess of this country, the prince of a neighboring kingdom, Pandora's two children, and this other guy(poor Raiel) going north to stop the demon king from being freed.

But Lute's story takes place fifteen years before that. He was the prince of Sforzando and the head of their holy magic corps. He was the most gifted mage in all of the human kingdoms and he used his power to travel around fighting demons and protecting people. This earned him a reputation of being a guardian of humanity and a truly terrifying enemy to the demons. Lute had a bad habit of pushing himself and disregarding his own safety which worried his mother.

Eventually though, the demons got sick of dealing with him and sent the whole of their army to crush Sforzando and kill Lute. Everyone thought they were after the key to Pandora's box though, so off Lute went to the front lines. It... didn't go well. The demons played dirty pool, using Lute's infant sister as a hostage and the demon generals were too much for one person to take on alone. To his credit, Lute did manage to take out two of the four generals before they beat him down. In the end, they stole his soul to use as a nifty magic power battery and then one of the generals took control of his body.


AU History:

The wealthy and influential Sforzando family has been prominent in Calderan society for generations. With a history of military and political service, it's no surprise that many members of the family have sat on the ruling council of elders over the years. Currently, Lute's mother is on the council and is well regarded for her wisdom and charity. His father is a respected officer in the Battalion of Steel. Naturally, there is a lot expected of their son.

And, for the most part, he did not disappoint. Lute excelled in his studies from an early age, showed promise in learning combat, and displayed a eagerness to go above and beyond what his tutors expected of him. He also displayed a rare Earthkin ability, Kindred Soul, and he spent much of his free time chatting with the pokemon he met. He aligned with a Ralts that he named Cadenza several years ago and he considers her his best friend. More recently a friendly Pidove started following him around. Lute calls him Piccolo.

Besides a genuine love of learning, he's been working hard to become strong so he can protect Caldera. When the conflict with Gigas started, Lute wanted to go out and fight with the army. He was still young though, so his mother was very staunchly against it. She was worried about how cheerfully he insisted that he would gladly lay down his life to protect their homeland. When the conflict reached it's peak, he and his pokemon did head for the front lines and they fought alongside the army and the people from union. He did well, actually. Well enough to at least prove that his mother was wrong about him being 'too young.'

Lute finds the people from union fascinating and can't wait to learn more about their history and culture. He's convinced his mother to allow him to travel to union for a while to further his studies and help build relations with their new allies. He's promised to report back regularly.

Canon Personality:

Lute's reputation as the 'Guardian of Humanity' is actually pretty well earned. He's gentle and kind, and cares deeply about others. Rather than out of a sense of duty or responsibility, Lute does what he does because he genuinely wants other people to be safe and happy. He never complains about working hard and approaches everything he does with a cheerful enthusiasm. Until you get him into a fight. In stark contrast to his normal kindness, he's actually pretty ruthless against his enemies.

He's constantly risking his life for others, fighting against ridiculous odds to protect the happiness of the citizens of Sforzando. He even finds time to rush over to neighboring kingdoms to save the day whenever they have problems. And often heads out to deal with the next crisis before the people he just saved even have the chance to thank him. He's extremely brave and has faced down entire armies on his own without a single thought to the danger.

Which actually can be a bit of a problem. Lute tends to put others before himself in a pretty big way. Even though he has an entire army at his command, he still orders them to help civilians and maintain order while he goes out and fights. Alone. His own safety is always his very last priority. He gets hurt a lot. But he doesn't want his mother to worry, so he puts on a smile and hides his injuries. And he certainly isn't about to sit around in an infirmary while his wounds heal. Don't be silly. There are problems out there that need solving, people that need saving, magic spells that need to be studied! He typically sneaks away from his doctors pretty much as soon as he's able to move.

But he doesn't just study magic because it helps him fight. No, studying is actually one of his favorite leisure activities. And Lute gets very excited about learning new spells. A little too excited, actually. He tends to show them off to the other mages and then accidentally light them on fire or encase them in crystal or whatever the spell does. Once he tried showing off his magic to his baby sister. But he got carried away again and almost killed her. (He did eventually find a spell that made her smile though, so there's that...)

Although he is often successful at entertaining local children. Without casualties. He likes kids a lot, and will cheerfully spend the tiny bit of free time he actually has playing with them. Despite being a prince, Lute doesn't think much about dignity or protocol. He frequently gets scolded for forgetting to call the queen 'Your Highness' instead of 'mother' when in front of officials, and at one point even forgets his father entirely. (A running gag in the manga is that people are always forgetting about the king.) The queen herself says he was a little scatterbrained.



AU Deviation:

The biggest difference in Lute's life in Caldera is that it is a much safer place than the one he grew up in originally. This Lute didn't grow up with nearly as much fighting or death. He also doesn't have the responsibility of being the guardian of humanity. Which means he's had a much more sheltered upbringing with a lot more free time. He still has a tendency to overwork himself, but it's been more focused on studying than fighting. It's also a far less silly place. He's still a little scatterbrained, but less likely to forget his father exists or accidentally light someone on fire.

Lute did spend a lot of his canon life around animals, but pokemon are special. For one he can actually communicate with them, so he tends to view them as equals and usually treats them the same as he does people. As far as the war with Gigas, it was actually far less bloody and horrible than several centuries of fighting against demons. And in this case, rather than a separate race of beings, the forces from Gigas are humans and pokemon. Just like the people from everywhere else. That said, Lute doesn't really like Gigas. At all. In his mind, they've proven themselves to be violent bullies at best and tyrannical villains at worst. In the case of most people, Lute is always willing to offer them the benefit of the doubt, trusting them fairly easily. People from Gigas are likely to be treated more cautiously and regarded with suspicion.

Canon Abilities:

Magic- Magic in Lute's world is pretty broad, encompassing everything from fireballs to teleportation to summoning to binding spells to fortune telling to anything you could honestly think of. And Lute is the most powerful mage that world has ever seen. He knows a lot of different spells and is very good at casting them.

Combat- He's also pretty well trained in fighting, both hand to hand and with blunt weapons. (The weapon of choice for the Sforzando royal family is giant metal crosses. I think its impractical too.)

Pure of heart- Lute is so pure of heart that he attracts animals like a Disney princess. This sounds great, but in practice often leaves him covered in birds and squirrels and boa constrictors who just want hugs.

Enlightened Abilities:

Lute is one of the rare Earthkin in Caldera with a Kindred Soul. He is Psychic/Normal type. His psychic abilities will manifest as follows:

Initial- teleport, agility, psybeam, ally switch
1st Evolution- reflect, light screen, mirror coat, miracle eye
2nd Evolution- future sight, psychic, luster purge

Starter Pokémon: Ralts and Pidove

Notes/Special Considerations: Nothing in particular

SAMPLES

-What would you say the role of Pokémon is in your life?

Role? Friends, obviously.

[An embarrassed laugh.]

Um, hopefully anyway. They could also be acquaintances, or co-workers, or I suppose even enemies. Really they're just like people.

-What do you feel your role in Union is?

Well... they helped us out a lot against Gigas, so hopefully I can find a way to repay that kindness.

-To what lengths would you go to rescue your allies if they were lost in the wilderness?

Any lengths at all! If someone needs my help then I'll do whatever it takes.

-What would you say the most important occupation is within Union?

I don't know all that much about union yet, but I do think the rangers are pretty impressive. But maybe that's not what you meant by important?

-What aspects and traits do you respect most in your individual fellow man?

Hmm... I really admire people who are able to be kind in the face of cruelty. That's not so easy.

-What do you look for in the Pokémon with whom you bond?

[Have a confused head tilt.]

I don't really look for anything in particular. I'm happy to align with any pokemon that wants to be friends with me.

-What do you think your Pokémon respect most about you?

[He laughs. Probably because there is a Pidove attempting to nest in his hair.]

I don't know if 'respect' is the word I'd use. But Piccolo once told me he admires my enthusiasm!

-A human has attacked a wild Pokémon who retaliates in defense. How do you respond and whom do you defend?

Since I don't know the circumstances I have to stop the fight before either of them gets hurt. Once I do that, I'd try to iron out whatever problem caused the fight in the first place.

-You are alone and bereft of your Pokémon allies, upon what strengths do you rely on to see yourself safely home?

I'm a pretty strong psychic and I do know how to fight. I think I'd be fine.

-You plunge into the depths of the Old City. What is it that you seek from the past? Treasure, technology, wisdom?

Knowledge. I'd like to know more about what happened back then. If we know what happened in the past, then we can avoid making the same mistakes in the future.

-When encountering a rare and powerful Pokémon, what is most important? Researching it, bonding with it, or defeating it? Why?

I think I'd ask the pokemon what matters the most to it first. Maybe I could help in some way. Of course, if it is willing to chat with me, then I would have a lot of questions. Either way, I hope we could be friends.