Application
Name/Handle: Lauren
Age: 24
Gender: female
Timezone: central US
Email Address: foxxlaverinth@yahoo.com
AIM/other messenger screenname: red and dust
Personal LJ username: sandcoffin
Is English your native language?: Yes.
Character you're applying for: Leon D. S. Geeste
Series the character is from: Star Ocean the Second Story (Star Ocean 2) - video game - though I will be using many icons capped from the anime
Character's age: 12
Character's gender: male
Character’s “Real Name”: Daniel Delacour
How long have you roleplayed your character, if at all?: I have never roleplayed this character before.
Where have you roleplayed in general and/or with this specific character?: I've RPed in a couple Harry Potter games on GJ, apresmoi_rpg, and I currently mod a next-gen Naruto game on GJ. I also play Sai (needs_a_bond) at damned.
Have you played the game/watched the movie or anime/read the book or comic, etc. that your character hails from?: Yes. I've played the game several times and have seen the anime (which was based off the manga based off the game. XP )
Please give us a detailed personal history of your character:
Leon's race is listed as "Fellpool," but I have had a difficult time finding any information on this race at all. In the game, his parents seem human enough. In Star Ocean 3, the in-game dictionary makes reference to a "Felinefolk" race on Expel, but not the Fellpool. It mentions that at some point they intermingled, and sometimes recessive genes in parents will lead to some of the traits of the Felinefolk showing up in their children. You're never told that Leon was adopted, so I'm going to assume that Florice and Murdoch Geeste are his real parents and his Fellpool status is a result of those recessive genes.
General SO2 history has a young man from Earth named Claude getting himself in an odd transporter accident while exploring an unknown planet with his father and the rest of their away team. He winds up on the planet of Expel and meets Rena, the story's other protagonist and is dubbed the Warrior of Light, a hero of prophecy said to come to Expel in its time of need, because of his odd clothing and lazer rifle. The reason the planet would need a hero is because of the Sorcery Globe, a strange meteor-like object that fell to the planet and began causing monsters to appear. The continent of El, the place where it landed, is all but completely overrun. After seeing what effects a fragment of the Globe had on one of Rena's friends, Claude decides to help them out and check out the Sorcery Globe for himself. As in any RPG, along the way the two of them can pick up various other party members. Leon is one of them.
You first come across Leon in the Kingdom of Lacour, where Claude decides to participate in the up-in-coming Tournament of Arms. Although he won't get involved in the plot until later, you can talk with him while he watches the Tournament with his mother (where he'll make sure to tell you how idiotic he finds the competition) and afterwards in the laboratory (where he'll tell you rather imperiously that you shouldn't be there).
Later, the people of Lacour, as well as refugees from the continent of El, take shelter in the castle of Lacour because of a monster threat. It's then that the party hears news of a secret weapon being developed by Leon and his parents. Sneaking into the Laboratory, they listen in on the scientists discussing the weapon with the king and are caught by the guard. Leon's mother Florice recognizes Claude from the tournament and prompts the king to remember too. (Leon cared so little for the tournament that he doesn't remember him at all.) Claude thanks them for recognizing him, but doesn't have much of an excuse for being there aside from "we were just taking a walk." Leon then insists that they are spies, sent to get information on the Lacour Hope - their ultimate weapon. When Claude is confused by the accusation (he had no idea what the Lacour Hope was) Leon proceeds to let his ego get the best of him. There was, after all, no way Claude couldn't know about the ultimate Heraldic weapon that could "blow away a small island with no trouble!" You get a nice big sweatdrop from him when he realizes Claude really doesn't know.
Claude explains to the king of Lacour that they need a ship to reach the continent of El in order to investigate the Sorcery Globe. As they are currently stuck in the castle, they ask to be let back out into town. Leon immediately speaks up against this, saying that because they now know the secrets of the Lacour Hope that they should be put into a dungeon. Claude makes certain to point out that it was Leon that had blabbed secrets to begin with. Frazzled again, Leon quickly changes the subject to how he needs to get an item from the Hoffman ruins and "can't be bothered with these people!" Apparently, the final piece for the Lacour Hope can be found there. His father Murdoch points out that all the soldiers are being sent to the front lines to fight the monsters and there aren't enough to send with him to the ruins. Claude immediately volunteers the party for the job in return for passage to the Continent of El. Leon is quick to protest this, but Claude points out that it would be better than going alone. The boy gives in. "Well, if they're going to be such babies about it, OK then."
Though Leon stops protesting about his company, he is quick to take full credit for anything good that happens at the ruins. Claude helps him open the door - Leon figured out how to do it. They reach their goal - Leon was the one that found it. (Though he does give the party "passing marks" when Claude complains about it.) However, after defeating a couple monsters that showed up as soon as the item was found, Leon scurries off to hide himself in case others show up. He'd never seen those monsters before, even in a book, and they terrified him. He comes out when the others call to him and admits as much. Claude finds this humorous and Leon gets ticked at him for laughing, but seems to forget some of his fear in doing so.
When they bring the stone back to the soldier waiting to take them back, the soldier praises Leon for finding it. Instead of accepting the praise, the boy seems disgruntled - prompting the soldier to wonder what he'd said wrong. The rest of the party doesn't seem to know either. Returning to Lacour, they present the stone to the King, who has Leon's parents go about installing it into the Lacour hope immediately. The two of them bring their son with them, as he is part of the team. The king then asks the rest of the party to head to the front lines and join the fight against the monsters in order to buy the Lacour Hope some time.
Several days after fighting in the front lines, the base is attacked by a large swarm of monsters far too large for the soldiers to fight off. At just the right moment, Leon appears. The Lacour Hope, it seems, is complete. (He also brings a gift for Precis - an upgrade to the robotic hand she fights with that he made "casual like.") The great heraldric weapon, after one shot, destroys the entire monster horde.
Afterwards, Leon comes down to brag about the weapon and the army is certain that victory is now theirs. The boy then tells Claude that his parents are looking to talk to him. Once met, Florice and Murdoch announce to the party that the King of Lacour plans to push the attack into El, and reclaim it from the monsters using the power of the Lacour Hope. They want Claude and his companions to join them back at Lacour Castle where the King tells them of their plans to attack before the enemy has a chance to counter their last strike.
The plan is to send a fleet from the port city of Hilton to the continent of El, where they will then ensure the safety of its citizens before attacking in full force. Claude and his party are to be the commando unit in charge of civilian safety, and they are asked to halt the investigation of the Sorcery Globe until the monsters are defeated. They agree. Leon joins them to help with the Lacour Hope, much to the displeasure of his mother.
Crossing the ocean, the ship is attacked by monsters - including the strongest one seen so far (who had already attacked the front lines once), Shin. Though the Lacour Hope is fired at the flying creatures, Shin is able to shield them from the beam, much to the dismay of the group aboard the boat. (Claude likens the shield to one seen on spaceships.) Shin then comes down and defeats Claude's whole party easily, knocking them overboard. The rest of the crew, Leon included, soon jump ship themselves in order to escape the monsters. Shin and his minions now have control of the Lacour Hope, and there are virtually no other survivors among the other battleships.
Leon and Claude wash up on the shores of the Continent of El close to each other. After Claude wakes the boy up and he comes becomes fully aware of his situation, Leon panics. He is certain that they are the only ones left, and he falls to the ground, pounding the earth with his fist and crying at the loss of his parents. He is completely inconsolable, eventually sobbing that he wished he had died too. At this point, Claude grabs him by the front of his shirt and slaps him across the face, efficiently silencing him and telling him never to say such things again. He tells Leon that just because the others aren't there doesn't mean they're dead, and that any monsters that might be around he would kill. Once he's managed to calm the little guy down somewhat, the two of them head out to find the others.
They soon find themselves in the colony of Eluria, where a few survivors of the demon attacks remain. The rest of the party is there, but Leon's parents are not. Claude assures him that they must be alive somewhere, and that they will continue searching. The Leader of the colony tells the group of their current position - of how the monsters have control of Eluria tower and most of the continent. Not ones to stand by and do nothing, Claude once again volunteers the party to help. This time, he intends to take the battle to the Sorcery Globe itself if he has to. Thinking that Leon would feel a bit lost being left in the colony to wait for his parents, Claude asks him to come along. Leon agrees, and the Leader promises to keep an eye out for his missing family while he's gone.
Making their way into Eluria Tower, Claude is briefly transported back to the Calnus (who had been watching the sector of space because of the anomaly that had shown up - the Sorcery Globe) via his communicator. He is not pleased, but finds out that Expel is about to collide with another planet... within the next 80 minutes. Tricking his father into letting him return to "say goodbye," Claude then leaves his communicator behind and rejoins the party. The group finally reaches the Sorcery Globe and meet some beings that call themselves the Ten Wise Men. They consider themselves a superior power and reveal that they were the ones who brought the Sorcery Globe to Expel - in order to redirect its course into a collision with the energy planet Nede, where it will be destroyed (and Nede, not being a solid planet like Expel and a great deal larger, will not be damaged). Its energy would be absorbed - all part of some greater scheme to conquer the universe. They also recognize Claude as an Earthling and Rena, surprisingly enough, as a Nedian. They vanish before the collision. Claude's party, because of their proximity to the Globe at the time, somehow wind up safely on the planet of Nede. Expel is completely destroyed.
The group is baffled. Claude knows what happened more than anyone, as the others are still getting over the idea that there were other planets like their own. Rena informs them that they are on Nede. Leon, ever quick to catch on, comes to the realization that she must feel a connection because it is her home planet. This is in fact the case, and they follow her as something instinctual begins to tell her where to go. As they walk, Leon asks about how his parents must be doing. Rather than acknowledge the fact that no one else on Expel could have survived, the group decides to believe in the lie, for now, that they will be able to see them again and that they must be waiting on baited breath for their return.
I could keep going into further detail regarding the plot from here on out, but as very little focuses on Leon after this point aside from some private actions in the towns, I should probably stop and just give a quick rundown - save the rest for the Wiki.
The gist of it is that they are brought in by the major of Central City on Nede, who gives them the run down on the Ten Wise Men and asks them to defeat them - seeing as their powers are different than their own, and the Nedians would only be fighting with the same types of abilities. (Not to mention they're no longer as powerful as they once were.) The party agrees and the second half of the game is filled with more dungeon crawling than anything else, leading up to fights with the Ten Wise Men and finally the leader, Indalecio. (In the original Japanese version they all have different names, with Indalecio being "Gabriel"... but I'll probably stick with the English version since that's what I played.)
After he is defeated, events lead up to the restoration of Expel as though it had never been destroyed. However, as I'm pulling Leon directly from the last boss battle, he would not be aware of this.
Also, you can play the game through with several varieties of characters. Ashton's player had him come from one where it was possible to have them all, but I won't be doing that. As you must play as Claude to get Leon and thus can't get Dias, Leon will know Dias only from the few interactions he had with him before they left for El. He will also not know Bowman, Opera, or Ernest, his party having Ashton and Precis instead. Not a huge deal, but it may come up in conversation or be an issue if anyone decides to play those other characters.
Please give us a detailed description of your character's personality: A child prodigy and likely the best brain Lacour has to offer at the young age of twelve, Leon has something of a large ego. Though this was diminished greatly in his travelings with Claude and the others, he's still very much aware of his own capabilities. He knows he's smart and can be stubborn if it comes to mentioning he's wrong about something. He picks up on skills easily, and is knowledgeable in the fields of both magic and machinery.
It peeves him when he isn't taken seriously due to his age and size, but that sort of reaction isn't something he's not used to by now. He takes consolation in the fact that most of the time he's able to prove himself right (though in such cases he may not hesitate to say an 'I told you so' which may leave some irritated by him).
While his intelligence is miles high, he can suffer a bit in the wisdom department. He simply doesn't have the worldly experience due to his young age, and he's still quite naive about a great many things. He wears his emotions on his sleeves, and his attempts to cover them can be cute but are usually futile. He'll claim he's not frightened even as his knees shake visibly.
Please give us a detailed physical description of your character: Leon is, first of all, rather short. This is a given seeing as he's twelve and all, but he's a bit small even for that age. He's a skinny bookworm with very little muscle - though he's been adventuring enough to build up a good amount of stamina.
He has turquoise blue hair and eyes of the same color. This isn't particularly anything special where he comes from, but then he also has a pair of light brown cat-like ears and those aren't exactly common (though no one really speaks of them either...). He could be made to wear a hat over these by the nurses, or they could simply insist that they don't exist. (If I have to, he can have regular human ears instead. But... kitty. ;_; )
He usually wears a long labcoat and would probably agonize over not having it at Landel's.
What point in time are you taking your character from when he/she appears at Landel's?: I will be taking him from the middle of the battle with the final boss, with the excuse that he was knocked out during combat. So he doesn't know if they were victorious.
What kinds of magical/special/crazy powers does your character have, if any?: Leon is a mage who specializes in dark, water, and void based magic. He has some of the most powerful offensive spells in the game - whether single enemy or ones that can hit entire groups of them. His knowledge regarding the heraldry arts is incredible, and he writes his own books to use as weapons. His basic attack (the one that is close range and uses no MP) involves summoning a monster from his book to hit the enemy. What comes out depends on the book. Certain books can also have bonuses to certain spell elements, or cut his MP consumption by a third or even half.
Spells (from weakest to strongest): descriptions taken mostly from Prima's official strategy guide
Ice Needle - hurls a spear of ice at the target (one enemy)
Wounds - summons a sadistic demon from the shadows (one enemy)
Shadow Bolt - summons a disturbing darkness from the shadows (one enemy)
Acid Rain - sends an acid rain that reduces enemy defenses (all enemies)
Deep Mist - impairs aim by filling the area with a thick mist (multiple enemies)
Black Saber - creates a blast of black vacuum show waves (multiple enemies)
Deep Freeze - rains down ice upon the target area (multiple enemies)
Word of Death - kills with a word possessed of ghostly powers (one enemy, large chance of failure)
Protection - improves defenses (one ally)
Starlight - shines a devastating light from above (all enemies)
Delay - slows movement by altering the passage of time (one enemy)
Shadow Flare - ignites flames of darkness that burn from hell (all enemies)
Haste - increases speed (one ally)
Growth - raises attack strength (one ally)
Noah - releases a flood of water (all enemies)
Gremlin Lair - summon gremlins from the blackness of hell (all enemies)
Daemon's Gate - summons the guard of the gates of hell (all enemies)
Dark circle - Propels up to one fourth of the target's hit points through a portal to another continuum (multiple enemies)
Extinction - engenders an overwhelming energy (all enemies)
If present, how do you plan to tweak those powers to make him/her appropriately hindered in the setting of Landel's?: Well, it probably wouldn't be fair for him to be able to use any of his spells at all. That seems to be the norm around here. More on this a couple questions down.
Does your character have any other non-magical skills or abilities that we should know about?: Yes. He's very skilled when it comes to machinery, and has various talents in other areas, as he picks up on things easily. He tends to be one of the best craftsmen in the game. (Characters can learn skills and craft items.) He also plays the violin.
How about improbable appendages?: Do cat ears count?
Please give us an idea of where you'd like to take your character within the scope of the Landel's Damned RP: Obviously, he's going to want to stick to Ashton and/or Dias like glue. He craves an older brother figure and they're the only others from his world he knows. I would definitely like to spread out with him, though.
Also - the fact that he's given an empty book (journal) to start with will mean he will probably want to attempt to make it into an offensive tool. If I can, I'd like to discuss the possibility of this with the mods. It obviously wouldn't be something he could use constantly, but it would be a means to defend himself.
What kind of psychological effect do you see Landel's Institute having on your character?: Leon is very young and naive, even after all of his experiences with Claude. He might get some seriously unwanted sense of the real world knocked into him. He also might lose it on occasion, and have to be comforted by others. If he was alone in this situation it would be much worse for him, but he should be a bit better off as long as he attaches himself to a few people.
Given that this RP takes place in an unsettling and outright horrific environment, how do you justify your character as being appropriate in both body and mind for this kind of setting?: While the types of horrors and such he experienced on his adventures weren't as downright disturbing as the ones at Landels, Leon has had his share of battles with monsters and the like. He's probably not all that well equipped mentally, but he does have a couple friends there already that can back him up.
Third-Person Sample:
It was difficult to draw precise geometrical heraldric symbols when one had an itch behind their left ear.
Leon was bound and determined, however, to finish up this particular design without raising his pen from the paper and having to start over. Again. He was a powerful heraldric wizard, after all - a household name among the citizens of Lacour and, in fact, most of the people on that continent. Thus, he was not about to be halted in the middle of these very intricate and very significant markings. They required the majority of his concentration and he was going to give it.
He didn't realize how his face scrunched up angrily and turned a nice shade of red, but he did notice the very slight quiver in lines that should have been far more straight, and the fact that his agitated ear was twitching in a very feline fashion. He took a deep breath and tried to get himself to relax. Almost complete. This was nothing. Failure was beneath him.
He was cool. He was collected. He wasn't itching so much it hurt. Sweet, simple geometry wouldn't fail him now. This was so basic. So simple. He was nearly complete...
"GAH."
Leon practically shoved his book aside, leaving a large mark across the entire page with his pen. He ignored it, giving his ear his full and undivided attention, scratching it until a blissful expression took over his face. Then he sighed, glancing down at the book irritably. With a 'hmph,' he ripped the ruined page out and crumpled it into a ball, tossing it off the side of the table and nowhere near a trash can. It wouldn't have come out right anyway.
He soon realized he'd attracted the attention of several other people in the room, who were giving him looks that ranged anywhere from confusion to amusement to pity. For a moment he looked sheepish, ears lying flat against his hair. This didn't last long, however, and he was quickly over it, glaring back at a couple people who's looks he found offensive. "What?" he asked. "Like you've never had an itch before."
He picked up his things and, in a huff that hardly masked his embarrassment, went to sit with Ashton.
First-Person Sample:
Leon would use his journal as an attempt to create a weapon, so there wouldn't be many actual entries in it, just symbols and spell formulas. Though he may take a few notes regarding the building layout, items, or other patients in the unneeded space.
Ashton, Dias
Cliff - has heard of Expel
Etc.
Note: the attached image is about as official as you can get.
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