Arthur Hartest is an original character created by Aldrasos. A wanderer of humble origins, this young faunus warrior travels from place to place in search of purpose.
| Age | 19 |
|---|---|
| Alias | Arktos |
| Gender | Male |
| Species | Faunus |
| Handedness | Left |
| Complexion | Tanned |
| Hair | Brown |
| Eyes | Dark brown |
| Semblance | Red Thirst |
Appearance[]
Arthur Hartest is a tall, well-built faunus of Valeian descent, with tanned, weathered skin and short brown curly hair. His dark brown eyes are nearsighted, so he wears rectangular-framed black glasses. He often has a short stubble growing along his jaw due to lack of free time to shave, and has a general unkempt look about him. He has a dark red tribal tattoo that stretches from his left elbow, over his shoulder and across his upper back. If one looks closely, they might notice that his nails are black - this is due to his faunus trait, which is that his nails are instead sharp bear-like claws. He tries to keep them filed down for practicality, but by morning they always grow back to their usual size.
His usual attire consists of light brown slacks tucked into thick fur-lined leather travelling boots, with a dark green tunic over his upper body. Over his tunic he dons a leather chestpiece with a blackened chainmail sleeve for his right arm. On his arms he wears long fur-lined leather vambraces and studded fingerless gloves over his hands. Additionally, he wears patches of modified tree bark for a pair of makeshift greaves, as well as reinforcements for his vambraces, chainmail and small pauldron over his right shoulder. Across his waist he wears three brown belts - two to act as holsters for his axes, and a third for general use. A large belt crosses his chest from his right shoulder to his left hip, allowing him to sheath his battleaxe and shield. In cold weather Arthur sometimes wears a long brown cloak, but dislikes it due to its weight and inconvenience.
Personality[]
If Arthur was to be summarised in a single word, it would be 'hardworking'. A challenging life of toil and turmoil have made him thick-skinned and driven, unfazed by life's challenges and general hardships. He values effort and courage more than success, and so is more agreeable to those that struggle and persevere than those who skate by on good fortune, or those who give up when the going gets tough. Arthur's childhood teachings focussed primarily on personal integrity and honour, though Arthur harbours a strong sense of morality and will stubbornly refuse to do anything which he deems amoral or beneath him, while equally being the first to do the 'right thing' whenever a situation presents itself - not out of love for doing good, but out of what he believes to be his responsibility and duty as a living person.
One type of person Arthur particularly hates is a thief. Being a person who values hard work, Arthur despises those who steal from others for their own gain and will be unforgiving to those he catches in the act. Arthur similarly dislikes those who are needlessly lazy, laid-back and spoilt. Despite his general morality, Arthur is known to have loud, and sometimes violent, outbursts when pushed too far, and often has to force himself to meditate in order to regain his cool. Usually, however, he is a social creature who enjoys the company of others - particularly those who can regale him with stories of their adventures and exploits. He dislikes large groups of people, especially crowds, and so prefers small groups and quiet spaces. Arthur is the victim of signifcant mood swings which can greatly change how he reacts to events - from amusement, annoyance, anger and even apathy.
History[]
Arthur was born the third child and second son of a woodsman and his wife, on the outskirts of a small village situated to the west of the city of Vale. The Hartests were known to have heroic ancestors, but Arthur's small family preferred the relative peacefulness and isolation of simple life. And so did Arthur, at first. As soon as he was old enough the young faunus was put to work by his father, learning the trade of a woodsman, which was when he discovered his father's main source of income - the maintence of a small copse of rare Strongbark trees, known for being almost impervious to damage from tool or element. From the age of six until he was sixteen, Arthur spent his days cutting down trees as a typical lumberjack and hunting wild game in the nearby forests, having little interaction with the outside world besides occasionally going into town to trade and sell his goods. The work made him strong, mentally as well as physically, and he slew a great many rogue Grimm over the years with his trusty axe.
All of this changed when Arthur was seventeen. One day, the Huntsmen and Huntresses hired to defend the nearby village skipped down after collecting their payment - and in their absence Grimm descended on the populus. The village was destroyed despite Arthur and his brother's best efforts, but Arthur's family managed to avoid the slaughter without harm. Without the relative safety of the village, the Hartests were forced to abandon their home and move to the city, where all but Arthur stayed. As soon as he made sure his family was settled into their new lives, the young faunus left them, deciding to find a new purpose in life now that his woodsman days were over. For two years he has been travelling from kingdom to kingdom, searching for a new calling, but has so far remained unsuccessful. While travelling he has undertaken a variety of jobs - usually short-term manual work that utilises his impressive strength, though occasionally he has undertaken more dangerous contracts, working as a bodyguard, debt collector, and even a bounty hunter on several memorable occasions.
Weapons and Abilities[]
Mordred[]
Mordred is Arthur's weapon. In its main form Mordred is a large duel-edged battleaxe of dark tempered steel, engraved with intricate tribal symbols on both sides of the axehead. The long handle is made of Strongbark wood - dark, glossy material that is incredibly resiliant to damage. The handle is capable of shortening up to half its length, upon which the axe splits in half straight down the centre and seperates into two identical handaxes.
Shield[]
Arthur also utilises a Strongbark shield which he wears on his right side. Around two feet in diameter, Arthur's shield has a dark metal boss and is ringed with studded steel for punching foes that get too close.
Red Thirst[]
Arthur refers to his Semblance as the 'Red Thirst'. It is a subconcious ability which activates whenever Arthur does visible damage to an opponent. Upon dealing damage Arthur immediately gains enhanced strength, speed, and pain tolerance as he is drawn into a berserker rage. Red Thirst will continually activate as Arthur deals more and more damage, prolonging the effects and empowering him to greater and greater levels. As his rage increases Arthur becomes more and more focussed on his opponent, and will begin to disregard defense and personal wellbeing in his pursuit of dealing more damage. If Arthur does not deal damage for an extended period of around thirty seconds his rage will fade, and his combat abilities and mental state will return to normal, though he will be visibly weary afterwards. Arthur's Aura is drained whenever Red Thirst is activated, but the increases to his abilities remains until his rage fades, regardless of Aura level. This means that even if his Aura is exhausted his rage persists at its current level, though it will no longer increase and Arthur will become susceptible to physical damage. Roughly speaking, Arthur's physical strength and speed increases by his base strength and speed with every 20% of his Aura drained, so at maximum rage Arthur's attacks are six times as fast and powerful (1 [base] +5 [1 for every 20%]). Arthur's 'opponent' must be percieved as a physical threat to him for his Semblance to activate, meaning people, dangerous animals, robots and Grimm can all be potential targets. As Red Thirst is a representation of Arthur's bloodlust, inanimate objects and other things he subconsciously considers harmless do not count. Damage to Aura and physical armour does activate his Semblance, although the latter will not result in as much of a boost.
Fighting Style[]
Arthur's fighting style wholly revolves around his Semblance and the opponent his is facing. Against a powerful opponent Arthur is likely to deal less damage, and so his Semblance activates less. This preserves more of his Aura for use in defense and keeps him in the fight longer until he believes he has worn his opponent down enough, upon which he will launch a counter-attack. Against a weaker opponent, or against multiple opponents, Arthur becomes more aggressive - utilising his Semblance early on to wreck havoc and to hopefully overwhelm his target with his unstoppable strength. In terms of weaponry Arthur will almost always use his shield, except when fighting nimble, speed-focussed opponents, in which case he will use it to protect his back. He will utilise Mordred's battleaxe form for power attacks, and its duel handaxes for speed, depending on his opponent's fighting style. In dire circumstances Arthur can use his shield to bludgeon his enemy, and if they happen to be long enough can even tear at his target with his sharpened claws.
Trivia[]
- The name Arthur means 'Bear King' in old celtic. His alias Arktos similarly means 'Bear' in Greek
- Arthur can also be derived from the mineral Arthurite, which is often green
- The brown, derived from the celtic word for bear, and the green derived from the mineral form the basis of Arthur's colour palette
- Arthur's general inspiration is that of a grizzly bear - ferocious and physically powerful, and extremely dangerous when threatened
- Arthur's weapon is named after the knight in Arthurian legend who supposedly slew King Arthur