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Magical Ability:

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Carjen is a beast in every sense of the word. He is vicious, he is ruthless, and he can literally turn himself into a jaguar. The shift is slow and was once painful, but now it’s mostly just uncomfortable, he compares it to the sensation of shaving- raw and gritty. It takes him about a minute to shift fully into his jaguar form, but he can do it completely at his own will, a few hundred years of practice has made him a master of shifting. He can pause the shift at any point between jaguar and human, and may even shift body parts at his choosing. It isn’t unusual to see him with paws instead of hands and feet, stalking someone on all fours, using his claws to fight or his pads to keep quiet. Though his human form is physically indistinguishable from a human, some of his feline traits carry over between forms. For example, he is very swift and agile, always seeming to land on his feet even when falling or tumbling from a great height, and he can climb obstacles and objects like it’s second nature. He is also faster and stronger than your average human, is able to leap impressively high and far, and has greater senses than your usual mortal, able to see clearly in low light situations and hear noises too high pitched for most human ears. He can track scents like a hound, not as well mind you but better than average, and is notoriously keen about following and locating people, able to use scent and hearing to pick someone out of a crowd easily. He is not keen enough to identify someone’s race just by looking at them, or strong enough to lift a horse over his head, he is just better than average, the level of an athlete or a trained bodyguard without any special training of his own.
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Appearance:

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Carjen is an imposing man, as sleek and predatory in his human form as he is as a jaguar. His body is limber and wiry, unusually tall at 6 ft 9 in, but still able to move with a smooth grace that seems almost supernatural. It’s not difficult to tell that he is a werebeast, even though physically he does not differ from humans. Except for his height and his unusually graceful poise, he is unassuming, thin with no unusual build up of mass or muscle. He has an attractive face, long and diamond shaped with a well cut jaw and a straight slightly upturned nose perched beneath a pair of well spaced green eyes. His eyes are an identifying feature of his- sharp like the rest of him, cold like a winter’s day. They convey a lot of emotion, especially when paired with his harsh brow, able to go from inquisitive to viciously angry in one subtle shift. His hair is medium length, hanging down past his ears when left to its own devices, but a clean cut serious man, Carjen usually has it slicked completely back and out of the way. Like his eyes, it’s a telling feature. The more unraveled he gets in a situation the less he pays attention to it, so when in his most ruthless of states, his hair tends to be a mess, with strands falling into his face, shadowing his eyes. It’s the same dark black color as his jaguar form, some say that in good light you can even see the faint hint of spotting in it.


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A leatherworker by day with some amount of money to his name after literally centuries of earning it, Carjen is known for his upscale dress. It’s almost always leather, even when cloth would be more comfortable and practical, and it’s often ornate and colorful with a distinct dwarven style to it, commonly adorned with celtic knotting and the symbols of animals, usually cats. His usual attire is a set of leather armor, somewhat impractical to wear all of the time but Carjen is a man who never lets his guard down. It is black in color with some silver accents, some scaling on the chest and arms and silvery studs holding it together. It’s lightweight and breathable, designed for mobility more than protection, but it will deflect an arrow or two at the right angle. It sports some white runes on it, sewn in by a mage who enchanted the armor to move with him when he shifts, so it is not torn or destroyed by his changing form. Most of it disappears, leaving only a heavy leather collar and some scaled accents protecting his chest and shoulders, but it is a noisy gaudy thing for a jaguar to wear so he usually takes it off before shifting.


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More conspicuous than his human form, Carjen’s jaguar form is a massive hulking beast of an animal. Like all jaguars, he is built for strength and power, with huge jaw muscles and a massive bulky head mounted on meaty shoulders. Because his human form is unusually tall, his animal form mirrors it by being absolutely massive. He stands a good 18 inches taller than your average jaguar and weighs a good 200 lbs more, designed to leap onto the back of prey and crush their skulls with his jaws. Because of this single strike tactic, his stamina is lacking, he can give a great burst of speed for a few seconds but he tires quickly, moving all of that bulk around swiftly takes a lot out of him. So he fights with ferocity, aiming to take opponents down as quickly as he can before they are able to tire him out. He’s a true monster of a big cat, no one to take lightly, having spent decades mastering the art of the stalk and the kill, he is a beast to fight with. His tactics grow sloppy with his mood, anger can cloud his vision and ruin his judgment but it also adds a determination that can be deadly when combined with the curved claws and long fangs of his jaguar form. He is very comfortable shifting to defeat an opponent and, even in a casual fight, will often partially shift to give himself the advantage of claws and teeth.


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He is part of the 6% of jaguars who are born melanistic. His coat is solid black with some slightly brown highlighting occurring near his flank and belly, which can only really be seen in incredibly good light. In these slightly lighter areas, you can see faint rosettes, circular spots that clump together over his back and along his rump. Some of the smaller more dot like spots on his face can also be seen in really bright light, but usually he appears solid black and featureless. His eyes remain a sharp and piercing green.

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Personality:

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Carjen has always been described as a serious man. He is hard, he is cold, he is severe and unyielding, like a glacier or a mountain of rock, he is the opposite of soft or welcoming. Instead he is standoffish, reserved with a tendency to keep to himself, to rely on himself, but he’s not an idiot either. He knows his own limitations and knows that his desires are lofty and will require help to achieve. So though he can be crude and coarse to strangers, wary and untrusting at first, it is possible to warm him up a little. He never seems to be any kind of caring, he really lacks in empathy and compassion for others and really seems to only be in it for the money, for the fame and the fortune, the glamour and the grandeur. But he is more than willing to use other people and their abilities to help get what needs to be done done. He doesn’t make friends, he forms partnerships and alliances, using his quick wit and clever mind in tandem with his natural charm and a learned sense of charisma to get what he wants out of others. He makes a lot of deals and promises, and though not a nice or honorable man, he does stick to his word like glue. You can trust him to hold up his side of bargains and to never enter a situation where he is in over his head, he is too calm, too calculating. Conversely, he has no chill when it comes to broken promises, to liars and thieves, and crossing him in this way earns you an enemy for life. He holds grudges very close to his heart, he is an angry and wrathful man, easy to anger, easily frustrated and stressed out. But he buries his feelings and hides his emotions in favor of appearing cold and featureless. It’s getting harder and harder to do with each passing day.
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History:

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Carjen was not born into much. His family had once been rich and powerful, the wealthy nobleman of some king or another, ruling the southern lands for a hundred years. But war plagued their history and it boiled and simmered like a pot on the stove, burning everything in its path. They dumped horses and fire and weapons and chains into the war like it was all that mattered, and it bled them dry, emptied their granaries and tapped their gold stores until there was nothing left. By the time Carjen was born, they had nothing but a few loyal servants and their name. Carjen was one of many children, his mother had fifteen or so, as far as he is aware. It was such a chaotic way to come into the world, he’s not even sure which child he is- six, seven, eleven, who knows. He was not the first and not the last, and all he really remembers of his brothers and sisters was their tears, wailing of hunger, the smell of their soiled clothes and the cold winter nights spent huddled desperately to the fire.


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Despite it being a hard life, it was his life, and Carjen, a stubborn soul from the very beginning, had been determined to live it. He took a leadership role among the children, guiding the others on how to clean themselves and the stables and hallways, how to wipe down the small throne their father wasted away on, how to patch armor and swing swords. And his reward for stepping up and caring so much? He was sold. Like a dog at an auction, his parents popped out children as a means of income, so once Carjen was old enough and solid enough to really work, he was shipped off into slavery. His last memory of his father is him counting the gold coins in a bag as he watched the cart roll through the gates.


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Arguably, slavery was the better option. Big and tough as nails, strong as an ox, and clever as a fox, Carjen was what everyone wanted in a servant. He worked hard, complained little, and having cut ties with his family completely after being sold, he was a nameless faceless ghost of a boy. He made his way through the kingdoms, following horses in chains, sweeping their shit and sleeping in mud puddles. Hard labor made him strong, his hands rough, and when his ability to shift started to manifest in his teens, it only served to make him tougher, stronger. He could pull plows and stack stones no man could lift, he could run with hounds and hunt prey like the best huntsman you’d ever seen. Everything he seemed to try, he excelled at. So he was bought and sold like the finest piece of jewelry. Some families treated him well enough, he learned quickly from mistakes and was rarely whipped or punished. His skill at cooking made him popular with the women and as he grew into a handsome young man, they fawned over him, taking him to dances and showing him around town. He grew into services more akin to an escort, a pretty piece of clothing to wear on an arm, and it gave him a taste of the lavish life that he’d been robbed of as a child. Gold flew around him, the women dressed him in fine tunics and clothes, jeweled collars around his neck. He told himself that this was his duty, to do as was asked of him and ask no questions. He promised himself that when he was older, once the war was over and he was free, he’d never own or trade in slaves, he’d never be like these men and women.


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But power corrupts and as the decades passed, Carjen found himself less and less interested in the slave trade. He earned his freedom after about one hundred years of service and quiet patience, taking advantage of a loop hole in the king’s law at the time, plus paying off the right people. He didn’t go far from there. For a while, he was a prostitute, his time as an escort hadn’t always been completely clean anyway, it was a familiar face for him to wear. But eventually he settled into the life of a smuggler, helping slaves win their freedom, or stealing it for them, whichever was easier. He lived on a boat which he sailed all over Oedir, making deals in every kingdom, with every lord, trading them fish and cooked goods for people and eventually horses as he grew tired of the sea. At first, it was an almost noble cause, sailing around the lands, looking for slaves and whores to rescue from their pitiful lives. But Carjen was not noble. In all of that time, after all of the gold that flew through the hands of men on his behalf, he never learned to be kind, to care about others, to care for them. That had never done anything for him except get him sold. So he turned away from it. Rescue became trade, smuggling became buying and selling, and though he was never cruel to his slaves he didn’t work as hard to free them either, used them to build a castle with high walls of hard stone, to buy and steal horses, to plow fields and count his gold that he was steadily accumulating. He used them.


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Not long after it was erected, his meager castle was discovered by the human king, who demanded his loyalty in exchange for the land. Carjen had no problem with accepting this, he was living in the human kingdom and, to prove his loyalty, he started crafting armor for the hunters and assassins under the king’s reign. He had spent some time with the dwarves in his youth, and during his years in slavery, had learned a lot from his various masters, his armor was finely crafted- lightweight, breathable, designed not to impede movement, perfect for the hunters of the world. His men do most of the work- the tanning and sewing and threading and much of the smithing, but he makes the designs and carves the intricacies, marking the complex shapes and stitching that needs to be done, choosing colors and spending hours stamping patterns and sigils. He’s really earned himself quite a name as a craftsmen, among those who don’t remember him as a smuggler and pirate. The peace that has overtaken the land lends itself to the crafting thankfully and men and women come from far and wide to obtain a piece of Brando leather.


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But the leather is just a front. Quietly, in the shadows of the night, Carjen stalks the human kingdom, picking places, making maps, marking targets. He is still touched by greed and will do almost anything if the pay is good and hunting is his true specialty, so he regularly creeps into houses, stalks across fields and barges through doors to take down targets at the request of others. Or at his own request even. He considers it practice, for the day he and his men find the right castle, the right kingdom, to topple over and claim for the beast men. If there is one thing Carjen has never known in his life, it is the safety and security of home, he is always on edge, always looking over his shoulder, always watching and waiting for the wars to come again, for the chains to come again. He finds it unfair that werecreatures must live this way, while powerless pathetic humans have run of the world. He wants to make a stand, to seize power for the men that deserve it and maybe for some who just pay the right amount, he’s not totally sure on that yet. But one thing is certain, a kingdom will crumble, and the Chase Fire clan will rise to make a new world for all the beast men.

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Miscellaneous:

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- Angry and violent with a short temper and a hair trigger, Carjen is notorious for flying off the handle. He calms quickly and has a lot of outlets for his stress but he needs them. Most notably, he shifts partially when stressed out, his hands turning to paws, growing a tail and ears and whiskers, spots appearing in his skin. The more panther traits he grows, the more agitated he usually is, so it’s not unusual to see him stalking around town with paws and a tail.

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- He is also an avid cook and particularly partakes in his hobby when he is angry. While it’s not unusual to find food lying around, it is noteworthy for clan members when they come home to like a fifteen course meal. That usually means boss is in a bad mood.

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- Though he doesn’t take his position as alpha too seriously, he does love to be called ‘boss’. It really strokes his ego. ‘Your grace’ gives him straight up sexual pleasure. He loves lofty titles and nicknames.

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- He has taken the name Brando, it is not his original family name, and he is considered a nobleman of the human kingdom. His house colors are black and silver, and his sigil is a cat with a chain in its mouth. He has few serfs living under him, but almost all of them are freed slaves. He pays them now for their services and they are loyal to him for freeing them, most of them are also werecreatures who are part of his clan as well, but that information is kept on the downlow.

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- He has a soft spot for slaves and tends to work to free them in exchange for their loyalty and services. He doesn’t treat them cruelly, but a hard man with little sense of humor, he’s not fun to work for either.

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- He is a user of brothels and prostitutes. Frustrated and angry, he is not a gentle lover, but his past makes him somewhat compassionate toward such pastimes and he pays well for such services. He has an equal preference for men and women, though in conversation he claims to be heterosexual.

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- During his days as a smuggler, he and his men were known as the Chainsmen. Older individuals may still know him as the leader of the Chainsmen, or the Cat in Chains. He’s also known as Fire Chaser (in darkness, his eyes tend to reflect light and can seem fiery to his enemies), Ghost of the Vale (he used a small ship as a smuggler, and would use its speed and the fog and environment to make quick escapes), the Black Fire (refers mostly to his jaguar form which is dark in color and swift, supposedly impossible to catch, like fire), and the Nightwatcher. He honestly prefers just Carjen.

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- His keep consists of a small castle, which is less of a fortress and more of just a fortified mansion- simple but efficient, and some surrounding acreage, which is full of small huts and fields. There’s a blacksmithing station near the castle’s base, a communal kitchen/galley house on the other side, and guard towers on the front corners, with a large gate in the middle. It could comfortably house 350 people living in the houses and such, a couple of thousand if tents were pitched in the fields. Right now it only has about 30 residents, including Carjen.

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- The castle doesn’t have a name but it sits in the middle of a lake on an island called Fire Island, and now known to be the location of a new werebeast clan, has been called Chase Fire castle or Chase Fire keep from time to time. Carjen doesn’t seem to care to name the place officially.

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- He rides a black Friesian named Manus, who has a matching set of scaled leather armor. Manus is a keen horse, very in tune with his surroundings, so though he is generally steadfast and obedient, he does spook pretty immediately when danger is around. Carjen doesn’t ride him into battle or anything, just uses him for travel. He’s a sturdy horse who can pull a cart if need be.

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- Though an avid hunter, Carjen does not like dogs and does not keep hounds.

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- A self-taught fighter, he is a scrapper with a wild and unpredictable fighting style. He doesn’t use weapons of any sort, though he can hold his own with a sword if need be. Usually, he just uses his fists and claws. He likes to shift fully to fight if he can do so without drawing too much attention, and uses his sheer size and bulk to topple horses.

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- PM me if you want to play one of his siblings or parents or anything like that.

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THE X-RAY DOG

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OOC Notes

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