[PROFILE/APPLICATION] The Knight Who Fell
"Let fear propel you forward. Do not let failure stifle you."
General
Canon Source: Final Fantasy 9
Canon Format: Video Game
Character's Name: Sir "Iron-Tail" Fratley
Character's Age: Unknown: around mid-20s.
Character Information
What form will your character's NV take?: A plush Moogle carrying a book that operates mainly on verbal commands. Text and still images can be viewed on the book it carries (though it can also read text messages out loud). Though it certainly isn't sentient, the Moogle NV-sleeve (for that's what it essentially is) appears to have a limited personality and exhibits a number of the cheerfully irritating habits real Moogles display, such as a) a tendency to insert "kupo" into every other sentence, b) fluttering back and forth, c) popping in and out of ones clothing. The 'sleeve' can also converse with its user in a limited fashion, and is capable of taking verbal instruction, proudly promoting a "hands-free user-interface interaction experience!"
Canonly, Moogles keep track of and record the players progress, so it seems reasonable that a 'Moogle' could do the same job for Fratley in Siren's Pull. For text, it appears to physically 'write' in the book it carries; video and holographic posts are recorded, naturally, through its eyes. It runs on the charge generated by oscillating weights inside it, much like a kinetic watch. but when its capacitor runs low on energy it can also be manually charged at any electrical outlet.
Abilities
Character's Canon Abilities: Canon doesn't go into detail on Fratley's specific abilities (the player is never given the chance to control him or view his statistics, unlike other NPCs that temporarily join the party and he is also never fought as an opponent). It is established that he was a Dragon Knight, that he was Freya's senior, and that he was one of Burmecia's best warriors. Though he is an amnesiac, there is clear demonstration that his fighting abilities have not diminished with his loss of memory. When the party meets him in Cleyra, he easily eliminates three Black Mages with one hit each. He also clearly demonstrates the signature dragoon skill of being able to leap great heights.
Though Fratley remains a formidable fighter, he does not have any magical or spellcasting abilities. Freya can learn a number of these in-game, in the form of her various Dragon Knight skills. However, at no point in the game is it shown that Fratley can currently use these abilities. It is probably reasonable to assume that (like Freya) he holds the potential to learn these skills as the opportunity arises, but for the moment, he is limited to physical attacks and abilities.
Physiologically, I'll take a cue from the average rat, with obvious adjustments. Overall, he has better smell, touch, and hearing than the average human, but he also has poorer eyesight (in terms of sharpness of vision, not depth of focus) and tolerance for bright light.
Conditional: If your character has no superhuman canon abilities, what dormant ability will you give them?: ... Well, he's already a giant talking rat, so I think that's odd enough superhuman-ness for anyone. If you think he could/should have another ability, though, do let me know!
EDITED: Where other, human residents of Sirens Port have been granted the ability to turn into animals, Fratley will find himself in quite the reverse situation: capable of turning human. Inexperience with unfamiliar anatomy will throw him right off, certainly, and he won't be used to how expressive human faces are at all. Transformations will be involuntary at first, brought on by exhaustion or injury, and this ability will be dormant until the first time he becomes significantly injured.
Weapons: A large, bladed polearm. Structurally, it more closely resembles a glaive. Since Fratley refers to it as a "spear" in-game, that is how it will be referred to in RP.
History/Personality/Plans/etc.
Character History:
Most of what is revealed about Fratley's history is vague, and filtered through Freya's recollections.
Five years prior to the events of the game, the kingdom of Burmecia was at peace. Fratley, however, felt uneasy: around their kingdom, other nations were gaining power, and he doubted his own abilities would be enough to protect Burmecia. To gain more strength, he made the decision to leave Burmecia and go on a journey around the world. His decision did not go unmourned: a much younger, much more vulnerable Freya Crescent was aghast at the prospect of being left behind, but had no choice but to let him go.
(An aside: though the game stresses Freya's romantic attraction and devotion to Fratley, there is still ambiguity as to whether they were actually lovers or not. As a specific example: Freya consistently refers to Fratley (even when talking to herself!) as "Sir Fratley," while Fratley appears comfortable enough (pre-amnesia) to address Freya without a title. The familiarity may also be because he is her senior.
Whether they were actually lovers is a moot point unless another Burmecian appears in Siren's Pull, since Fratley has no recollection of it either way. Based on what the game shows, however, I believe their relationship never reached a point of consummation or acknowledgement.)
Though Fratley promised to return, it was quickly obvious that this was a promise that would not be kept. Two years after his disappearance, Freya left Burmecia to find what became of her beloved. Fratley had evidently been busy: she consistently found traces of his travels and rumors of his exploits, though she never found him. (Inexplicably, the World Map and the map to the Mist Continent both bear quotes from Sir Fratley-- perhaps evidence of his far-flung travels?)
Fratley's trail grew cold, leaving Freya free to assume the worst. Though she never gave up on finding Fratley again, five years made a world of difference.
By the time the game's events rolled around, Freya had already had a few adventures of her own. After the invasion of Burmecia by Alexandria, she ended up finding herself in Burmecia's sister city, the sandstorm-protected, tree-bound Cleyra...
... Where she met Fratley again, just in time for him to save her and her friends from getting incinerated by invading Alexandrian Black Mages. It was like something out of a dream, the Dragon Knight descending to save the damsel in distress.
However, this was not the Sir Fratley that Freya remembered. For one thing, he had no idea who she was.
Puck, the runaway Prince of Burmecia, quickly showed up to fill Freya (and the player) in. By the time he found Fratley during his wanderings, the knight was already stripped of most of his memories, including his own name. Despite this, Puck claimed Fratley appears to have some vague recollection of loyalty to Burmecia and his duties as a Dragon Knight, because he felt compelled to come to Cleyra's aid once he heard of the attack on Burmecia.
Happily, the characters weren't left with much time to dwell in awkwardland, because shortly after this conversation a giant Eidolon came crashing down from the sky and blew Cleyra to pieces!
(The ending later confirms that Fratley and Puck survive the explosion, though it's never specified how. But he'll be taken just around this point, so that's all that's relevant for now!)
Point in Canon: Just after Cleyra is attacked (and incinerated) by Odin. In the confusion and chaos, it's a natural point for Fratley to come from; after all, finding yourself in a new world after you thought you might have died isn't as shocking as it could be.
Character Personality: Being an amnesiac, it's impossible to say how much of his original personality Fratley retains, or if his consistent, stilted formality is a result of the lack of memory to draw on. Rarely does anything seem to shake the knight from his composure, not even the threat of a city collapsing underfoot. Freya's memories of him suggest Fratley, or at least the Fratley she knew, was a warmer, gentler man. That he was an upstanding knight is a fact that no one questions, and his reputation among the Burmecians suggests a well-liked, respected individual.
Before the loss of his memory, Fratley was something of an explorer. He was also, evidently, not a man willing to wait for things to happen to him. Though Burmecia was at peace, he took the risk of leaving the kingdom so that he could become better able to protect it, even against Freya's protests. Fratley's actions suggest a man who preferred to look to the future and prepare for what was to come rather than be caught unawares. There is also evidence to suggest that his motivation for leaving Burmecia wasn't entirely altruistic-- part of him was obviously exhilarated by the prospect of meeting warriors who may be equal to or even better than he is.
All that, of course, is now gone. Without previous experiences to draw on, Sir Fratley is now motivated primarily by an unshakable sense of duty, the only part of his mind untouched by whatever accident took his memories. Fratley will fight for what he believes in, and his lack of fear may well be attributed to the fact that he has little to lose. He operates on an instinctive sense of what is right rather than something based on complex argument: if he sees someone in distress, he will do all he can to help, but he has little understanding of the 'grey areas' of morality.
The former Dragon Knight is not given to emotional outbursts (or at least visible ones); as a result, if his reaction to Freya's tearful appeal to his forgotten memories is any indication, he also has little idea of how to handle people caught up in them. This is less due to a lack of empathy and more of a lack of any idea what the appropriate response might be, beyond clumsy attempts at apology. The inability to offer more than awkward sympathy might leave one inclined to dismiss him as unfeeling or cold, but more often the actual emotion he finds himself expressing is bewilderment masked in the most polite terms he can manage.
The less kindly observer might be inclined to consider him slow or dull-witted, but those eyes and ears miss little, and all information he encounters is stored for later consideration. Though Fratley does not know much now, he's certainly willing to learn-- and fast.
The only real relationship he has had since the loss of his memory is with the Burmecian prince, Puck, who acts more as his nursemaid than his charge. Puck is directly responsible for what little the knight has been able to recall of his past, and Fratley generally defers to his better judgment.
Without Puck, the Dragon Knight can function independently, but he lacks direction or motivation in determining his next course of action. Where Fratley was once much more certain of his goals, the loss of his memories leaves him a much more uncertain individual in the long term. The inability to recall his past is more of a source of grief to others than himself-- after all, he was perfectly fine before Puck came along and reminded him who he was-- but there are times he does wish he could remember a little more about what it was to be a Dragon Knight.
The past, as they say, is a different country. For Fratley, it might as well be the moon.
An aside: Based on what the player is shown of his character, and for purposes of specificity, Fratley can be diagnosed as having functional/disassociative amnesia, a.k.a. good old Laser Guided Amnesia. Because he's demonstrated himself capable of learning new information, it seems unlikely that his amnesia is caused by actual damage to his brain structure.
Character Plans: Fratley isn't, at this point, a fairly complicated character: he's still something of a blank slate. His character has clearly defined bounds, a sense of right and wrong he isn't willing to compromise. Throw him into a world like Siren's Pull, with all its assorted characters, and he's bound to run into trouble, which is half the fun! Depending on how he interacts with characters, and what happens to him in the world of Siren's Pull, I believe he could really grow as a character-- maybe even have a little more of his old personality surface, which is something I want to develop. He isn't a character who'd be terribly interested in the technical workings of the world to start with, but what I'm most interested in is having him find a purpose in Siren's Pull: something to which he can dedicate the loyalty and steadfastness he once had for his kingdom.
I'm also interested in seeing how he interacts with people (because really, a giant talking rat isn't going to pass without comment) and how he learns to deal with the sleaze of Siren's Pull, because it's going to make things a lot more complicated for him and he'll have to deal with it. :D
Appearance/PB: Official Art.
In terms of height, based on concept art, Fratley stands at around 6', give or take an inch for his stance (as he has digitigrade legs. His ears easily add another eight inches to his height when completely erect.
Writing Samples
Third Person Sample:
The city felt wrong under his feet.
It was a thought Fratley still could not shake, not even after weeks of living here, not even when he was distracted by methodically making his way across the Lower Class district. The roofs here weren't the most sturdy, and he had already had one rusty, peeling gutter break off underfoot last week, embedding a sliver of scrap metal in one toe and getting sprayed with invective by an irate houseowner besides. He was more careful now, better able to judge whether the next point he was about to leap to would be able to hold his weight or not.
It was better than trying to navigate the claustrophobic streets below, where the mingled smells of sweat, metal, and human despair made his head pound and the strange, unfamiliar yanking sensation in his chest felt like it throbbed in time with his head. This place had all the signs of life around it, but underneath it Fratley could feel-- if he reached for it-- something that made him queasy, the tireless beat of some great, artificial heart.
Or perhaps he was merely imagining things, and all this talk of Cores and Sirens had gone to his head.
He paused on top of a bakery (or what claimed to be one) to catch his bearings, unfolding the water-stained map his employer had given him, squinting at the unfamiliar symbols. Being a courier was far from being the most lucrative of occupations, or the easiest, but at least there was some guarantee of a steady supply of it. Still, the streets here seemed to hardly stay put, and the city had a way of looking completely unfamiliar when he wasn't prepared for it.
Briefly, he wished that Lord Puck were here, if only so he could be certain about what to do next. Just as quickly, he banished the thought, mentally admonishing himself. Better that the Prince of Burmecia be safe at home (and hopefully, alive and well) than here, trapped in a city that seemed determined to consume them all, surrounded by ruffians with no fear of justice.
The delivery address was a few more blocks to the north, and he would have to move faster if-- he turned his wrist to check his watch, a device he still hadn't gotten completely used to-- he didn't plan on being caught outside by Darkness-fall.
Crouching low against the pockmarked concrete, Fratley tensed to leap-- only to be jarred by the sound of a woman's scream from the street, far below.Ears flattening against his head, the knight's nostrils flared at the sharp, copper tang of blood, unconsciously baring his teeth. He'd smelled enough of that to last him a lifetime, and though he had caught traces of it nearly everywhere in his movements here, it had never been as sharp or immediate as this.
Another scream, and this time, there wasn't room to think about it. Fratley moved, lunging towards the edge of the roof--
(--just a moment's hesitation before the edge, remembering that today, of all days, he hadn't brought his spear with him, and the Darkness was going to fall in barely twenty minutes--)
-- and threw himself out into empty air, claws bared and muzzle twisted into a snarl.
This city might have made an errand-boy out of a Dragon Knight, but it wasn't going to make him an accomplice to murder.
General
Canon Source: Final Fantasy 9
Canon Format: Video Game
Character's Name: Sir "Iron-Tail" Fratley
Character's Age: Unknown: around mid-20s.
Character Information
What form will your character's NV take?: A plush Moogle carrying a book that operates mainly on verbal commands. Text and still images can be viewed on the book it carries (though it can also read text messages out loud). Though it certainly isn't sentient, the Moogle NV-sleeve (for that's what it essentially is) appears to have a limited personality and exhibits a number of the cheerfully irritating habits real Moogles display, such as a) a tendency to insert "kupo" into every other sentence, b) fluttering back and forth, c) popping in and out of ones clothing. The 'sleeve' can also converse with its user in a limited fashion, and is capable of taking verbal instruction, proudly promoting a "hands-free user-interface interaction experience!"
Canonly, Moogles keep track of and record the players progress, so it seems reasonable that a 'Moogle' could do the same job for Fratley in Siren's Pull. For text, it appears to physically 'write' in the book it carries; video and holographic posts are recorded, naturally, through its eyes. It runs on the charge generated by oscillating weights inside it, much like a kinetic watch. but when its capacitor runs low on energy it can also be manually charged at any electrical outlet.
Abilities
Character's Canon Abilities: Canon doesn't go into detail on Fratley's specific abilities (the player is never given the chance to control him or view his statistics, unlike other NPCs that temporarily join the party and he is also never fought as an opponent). It is established that he was a Dragon Knight, that he was Freya's senior, and that he was one of Burmecia's best warriors. Though he is an amnesiac, there is clear demonstration that his fighting abilities have not diminished with his loss of memory. When the party meets him in Cleyra, he easily eliminates three Black Mages with one hit each. He also clearly demonstrates the signature dragoon skill of being able to leap great heights.
Though Fratley remains a formidable fighter, he does not have any magical or spellcasting abilities. Freya can learn a number of these in-game, in the form of her various Dragon Knight skills. However, at no point in the game is it shown that Fratley can currently use these abilities. It is probably reasonable to assume that (like Freya) he holds the potential to learn these skills as the opportunity arises, but for the moment, he is limited to physical attacks and abilities.
Physiologically, I'll take a cue from the average rat, with obvious adjustments. Overall, he has better smell, touch, and hearing than the average human, but he also has poorer eyesight (in terms of sharpness of vision, not depth of focus) and tolerance for bright light.
Conditional: If your character has no superhuman canon abilities, what dormant ability will you give them?: ... Well, he's already a giant talking rat, so I think that's odd enough superhuman-ness for anyone. If you think he could/should have another ability, though, do let me know!
EDITED: Where other, human residents of Sirens Port have been granted the ability to turn into animals, Fratley will find himself in quite the reverse situation: capable of turning human. Inexperience with unfamiliar anatomy will throw him right off, certainly, and he won't be used to how expressive human faces are at all. Transformations will be involuntary at first, brought on by exhaustion or injury, and this ability will be dormant until the first time he becomes significantly injured.
Weapons: A large, bladed polearm. Structurally, it more closely resembles a glaive. Since Fratley refers to it as a "spear" in-game, that is how it will be referred to in RP.
History/Personality/Plans/etc.
Character History:
Most of what is revealed about Fratley's history is vague, and filtered through Freya's recollections.
Five years prior to the events of the game, the kingdom of Burmecia was at peace. Fratley, however, felt uneasy: around their kingdom, other nations were gaining power, and he doubted his own abilities would be enough to protect Burmecia. To gain more strength, he made the decision to leave Burmecia and go on a journey around the world. His decision did not go unmourned: a much younger, much more vulnerable Freya Crescent was aghast at the prospect of being left behind, but had no choice but to let him go.
(An aside: though the game stresses Freya's romantic attraction and devotion to Fratley, there is still ambiguity as to whether they were actually lovers or not. As a specific example: Freya consistently refers to Fratley (even when talking to herself!) as "Sir Fratley," while Fratley appears comfortable enough (pre-amnesia) to address Freya without a title. The familiarity may also be because he is her senior.
Whether they were actually lovers is a moot point unless another Burmecian appears in Siren's Pull, since Fratley has no recollection of it either way. Based on what the game shows, however, I believe their relationship never reached a point of consummation or acknowledgement.)
Though Fratley promised to return, it was quickly obvious that this was a promise that would not be kept. Two years after his disappearance, Freya left Burmecia to find what became of her beloved. Fratley had evidently been busy: she consistently found traces of his travels and rumors of his exploits, though she never found him. (Inexplicably, the World Map and the map to the Mist Continent both bear quotes from Sir Fratley-- perhaps evidence of his far-flung travels?)
Fratley's trail grew cold, leaving Freya free to assume the worst. Though she never gave up on finding Fratley again, five years made a world of difference.
By the time the game's events rolled around, Freya had already had a few adventures of her own. After the invasion of Burmecia by Alexandria, she ended up finding herself in Burmecia's sister city, the sandstorm-protected, tree-bound Cleyra...
... Where she met Fratley again, just in time for him to save her and her friends from getting incinerated by invading Alexandrian Black Mages. It was like something out of a dream, the Dragon Knight descending to save the damsel in distress.
However, this was not the Sir Fratley that Freya remembered. For one thing, he had no idea who she was.
Puck, the runaway Prince of Burmecia, quickly showed up to fill Freya (and the player) in. By the time he found Fratley during his wanderings, the knight was already stripped of most of his memories, including his own name. Despite this, Puck claimed Fratley appears to have some vague recollection of loyalty to Burmecia and his duties as a Dragon Knight, because he felt compelled to come to Cleyra's aid once he heard of the attack on Burmecia.
Happily, the characters weren't left with much time to dwell in awkwardland, because shortly after this conversation a giant Eidolon came crashing down from the sky and blew Cleyra to pieces!
(The ending later confirms that Fratley and Puck survive the explosion, though it's never specified how. But he'll be taken just around this point, so that's all that's relevant for now!)
Point in Canon: Just after Cleyra is attacked (and incinerated) by Odin. In the confusion and chaos, it's a natural point for Fratley to come from; after all, finding yourself in a new world after you thought you might have died isn't as shocking as it could be.
Character Personality: Being an amnesiac, it's impossible to say how much of his original personality Fratley retains, or if his consistent, stilted formality is a result of the lack of memory to draw on. Rarely does anything seem to shake the knight from his composure, not even the threat of a city collapsing underfoot. Freya's memories of him suggest Fratley, or at least the Fratley she knew, was a warmer, gentler man. That he was an upstanding knight is a fact that no one questions, and his reputation among the Burmecians suggests a well-liked, respected individual.
Before the loss of his memory, Fratley was something of an explorer. He was also, evidently, not a man willing to wait for things to happen to him. Though Burmecia was at peace, he took the risk of leaving the kingdom so that he could become better able to protect it, even against Freya's protests. Fratley's actions suggest a man who preferred to look to the future and prepare for what was to come rather than be caught unawares. There is also evidence to suggest that his motivation for leaving Burmecia wasn't entirely altruistic-- part of him was obviously exhilarated by the prospect of meeting warriors who may be equal to or even better than he is.
All that, of course, is now gone. Without previous experiences to draw on, Sir Fratley is now motivated primarily by an unshakable sense of duty, the only part of his mind untouched by whatever accident took his memories. Fratley will fight for what he believes in, and his lack of fear may well be attributed to the fact that he has little to lose. He operates on an instinctive sense of what is right rather than something based on complex argument: if he sees someone in distress, he will do all he can to help, but he has little understanding of the 'grey areas' of morality.
The former Dragon Knight is not given to emotional outbursts (or at least visible ones); as a result, if his reaction to Freya's tearful appeal to his forgotten memories is any indication, he also has little idea of how to handle people caught up in them. This is less due to a lack of empathy and more of a lack of any idea what the appropriate response might be, beyond clumsy attempts at apology. The inability to offer more than awkward sympathy might leave one inclined to dismiss him as unfeeling or cold, but more often the actual emotion he finds himself expressing is bewilderment masked in the most polite terms he can manage.
The less kindly observer might be inclined to consider him slow or dull-witted, but those eyes and ears miss little, and all information he encounters is stored for later consideration. Though Fratley does not know much now, he's certainly willing to learn-- and fast.
The only real relationship he has had since the loss of his memory is with the Burmecian prince, Puck, who acts more as his nursemaid than his charge. Puck is directly responsible for what little the knight has been able to recall of his past, and Fratley generally defers to his better judgment.
Without Puck, the Dragon Knight can function independently, but he lacks direction or motivation in determining his next course of action. Where Fratley was once much more certain of his goals, the loss of his memories leaves him a much more uncertain individual in the long term. The inability to recall his past is more of a source of grief to others than himself-- after all, he was perfectly fine before Puck came along and reminded him who he was-- but there are times he does wish he could remember a little more about what it was to be a Dragon Knight.
The past, as they say, is a different country. For Fratley, it might as well be the moon.
An aside: Based on what the player is shown of his character, and for purposes of specificity, Fratley can be diagnosed as having functional/disassociative amnesia, a.k.a. good old Laser Guided Amnesia. Because he's demonstrated himself capable of learning new information, it seems unlikely that his amnesia is caused by actual damage to his brain structure.
Character Plans: Fratley isn't, at this point, a fairly complicated character: he's still something of a blank slate. His character has clearly defined bounds, a sense of right and wrong he isn't willing to compromise. Throw him into a world like Siren's Pull, with all its assorted characters, and he's bound to run into trouble, which is half the fun! Depending on how he interacts with characters, and what happens to him in the world of Siren's Pull, I believe he could really grow as a character-- maybe even have a little more of his old personality surface, which is something I want to develop. He isn't a character who'd be terribly interested in the technical workings of the world to start with, but what I'm most interested in is having him find a purpose in Siren's Pull: something to which he can dedicate the loyalty and steadfastness he once had for his kingdom.
I'm also interested in seeing how he interacts with people (because really, a giant talking rat isn't going to pass without comment) and how he learns to deal with the sleaze of Siren's Pull, because it's going to make things a lot more complicated for him and he'll have to deal with it. :D
Appearance/PB: Official Art.
In terms of height, based on concept art, Fratley stands at around 6', give or take an inch for his stance (as he has digitigrade legs. His ears easily add another eight inches to his height when completely erect.
Writing Samples
Third Person Sample:
The city felt wrong under his feet.
It was a thought Fratley still could not shake, not even after weeks of living here, not even when he was distracted by methodically making his way across the Lower Class district. The roofs here weren't the most sturdy, and he had already had one rusty, peeling gutter break off underfoot last week, embedding a sliver of scrap metal in one toe and getting sprayed with invective by an irate houseowner besides. He was more careful now, better able to judge whether the next point he was about to leap to would be able to hold his weight or not.
It was better than trying to navigate the claustrophobic streets below, where the mingled smells of sweat, metal, and human despair made his head pound and the strange, unfamiliar yanking sensation in his chest felt like it throbbed in time with his head. This place had all the signs of life around it, but underneath it Fratley could feel-- if he reached for it-- something that made him queasy, the tireless beat of some great, artificial heart.
Or perhaps he was merely imagining things, and all this talk of Cores and Sirens had gone to his head.
He paused on top of a bakery (or what claimed to be one) to catch his bearings, unfolding the water-stained map his employer had given him, squinting at the unfamiliar symbols. Being a courier was far from being the most lucrative of occupations, or the easiest, but at least there was some guarantee of a steady supply of it. Still, the streets here seemed to hardly stay put, and the city had a way of looking completely unfamiliar when he wasn't prepared for it.
Briefly, he wished that Lord Puck were here, if only so he could be certain about what to do next. Just as quickly, he banished the thought, mentally admonishing himself. Better that the Prince of Burmecia be safe at home (and hopefully, alive and well) than here, trapped in a city that seemed determined to consume them all, surrounded by ruffians with no fear of justice.
The delivery address was a few more blocks to the north, and he would have to move faster if-- he turned his wrist to check his watch, a device he still hadn't gotten completely used to-- he didn't plan on being caught outside by Darkness-fall.
Crouching low against the pockmarked concrete, Fratley tensed to leap-- only to be jarred by the sound of a woman's scream from the street, far below.Ears flattening against his head, the knight's nostrils flared at the sharp, copper tang of blood, unconsciously baring his teeth. He'd smelled enough of that to last him a lifetime, and though he had caught traces of it nearly everywhere in his movements here, it had never been as sharp or immediate as this.
Another scream, and this time, there wasn't room to think about it. Fratley moved, lunging towards the edge of the roof--
(--just a moment's hesitation before the edge, remembering that today, of all days, he hadn't brought his spear with him, and the Darkness was going to fall in barely twenty minutes--)
-- and threw himself out into empty air, claws bared and muzzle twisted into a snarl.
This city might have made an errand-boy out of a Dragon Knight, but it wasn't going to make him an accomplice to murder.