[Pomoland] Profile: Riley Kincaid
RILEY KINCAID
AKA: Riley
Gender: Male
Age: 22
Birth Date: December 20
Blood Type: AB
Height: 5'9"/175cm
Weight: 135lb/61kg
Ethnicity: Irish/Korean
Hair: Red
Eyes: Green
Occupation: Bodyguard/Hitman, communal pet??
Skills: Hand-to-hand combat, sixth sense for danger & food, building rapport with non-humans, iron stomach, always finding north, reading braille, plowing through various obstacles (without dying), high pain threshold.
Languages spoken: Irish-flavored English, some Korean/Gaelic.
Appearance: Riley's pretty distinctive, physical features (like hair and coloring) aside. But the most definitive feature is actually one in constant flux--namely his state of tattered dress (or undress), and the collection of surface injuries littering his person at almost all times. He's also never seen without the chain-linked dog tags around his neck, of which are stamped with his full name, date of birth, and blood type. Due to his little problem of not really being able to see where he's going, it's difficult for Riley to look anything other than "unkempt," or perhaps even a smidgeon bit "wild." At any rate, he's not short, but neither is he stupidly tall, with a compact, wiry build resulting from his active lifestyle.
Personality: While carp diem might not necessarily be the most accurate description of his life philosophy, it is certainly applicable on the grand scale, all things considered. A global amnesiac (i.e. one with both retrograde and anterograde amnesia) with what should've been a totally debilitating vision disability, Riley is nothing if not adaptable. As such, he has managed to remain relatively good-natured and easy-going despite all the devastating milestones that have ear-marked his years so far.
Riley's the type that lives at his own pace. A simple guy with simple pleasures at heart, Riley enjoys the more basic things in life: food, music, keeping company, The Great Outdoors, and physical sports. In fact, the order in which Riley prioritises his hobbies alongside most other things can often come off as eccentric to the casual observer. (Regardless, it should be noted that he can also be easily distracted--or appeased, depending on the situational necessity--by aforementioned list of interests.)
Prior to his second accident, Riley enjoyed interacting with people, regardless whether they were strangers or familiar acquaintances--and that particular aspect didn't change even after the anterograde amnesia set in. Unfortunately, an inability to form new memories isn't that easy to disregard, especially when the slightest distraction can derail all previous trains of thought, prematurely ending conversations and essentially resetting the meeting on Riley's end. Not all those who encounter him take kindly to such bizarre behaviour, but he never begrudges those who end up insulting him, seeing as how he is unable to remember them moments later anyway.
Somewhat of a sentimentalist by necessity, Riley prizes what few long-term memories he has left above almost all else. He still experiences moments of loss, but tries not to dwell on them too long (or at least, not to the point of extreme self-pity). As long as he can still function, still do what he loves to do no matter the setbacks, he can take and manage all that life flings at him.
History: So, the thing to know about Riley is that he has a bit of an eye-problem; a hereditary, x-chromosome recessive condition involving incomplete optic nerve development that all but renders him incapable of "seeing" anything that isn't in motion. Born into a loving, middle-class household, Riley's inability to see anything but moving objects didn't become apparent until he was able to move around on his own. Crawl his way into obstacles and sometimes through them, so-to-speak. What Riley could see was anyone's guess; certainly not color, nor stationary objects. The fact that he did react visually however, convinced his parents that there was still a chance for him to grow up with a sense of normalcy.
Deciding against a future of guinea-pigging for the hospital's specialists, his parents accepted the fact that their son was almost as good as blind and did their best to accommodate the handicap. They relocated the family to a suburban area, dotted with woodlands, in hopes that the natural scenery would prove beneficial to their child's development.
Riley, for all practical purposes, grew up in a warm, unhurried, nurturing environment. He learned to read Braille at his mom's knee and practiced mapping out the three-dimensional via tactile sense. Afternoons were often spent rough-housing with his dad and the family dog (when it became apparent that he'd become more than simply "durable" after a toddlerhood of tough love from inanimate objects). Meanwhile, concurrent to the skills he was picking up from his parents, his other senses also sharpened considerably in order to compensate for his odd sight-predicament. Home-schooled for the most part, he soon developed an intense interest in the surrounding wildlife, possibly due to the lack of other human playmates his age, or maybe it was simply because he found the animals' habitual movement--red-light/green-light/go, that sort of thing--fascinating. Either way, Riley ended up building an odd rapport with the critters in his area, often times seen playing some odd variation of hide-and-seek with the rodents in particular.
It was when he was 15-years-old, however, that his stable life changed drastically. Sent out on a routine errand into the busier downtown area, Riley got himself hit by a car when he tried to save a let-loose dog from a similar fate. Riley's physical risiliency persevered however; after making sure that the dog was all right, he all but waved off the panicking driver's concern, unconcerned (or unaware) of his post-accident state and possible concussion: he had an errand to run and the locals were used to his strange-durability anyway. Unfortunately, after he completed the errand, Riley slowly came to the realisation that he'd no idea where he was, who he was, or how to get home. The immediate memories closest to the accident started fading first; then many important memories further back until Riley's only clues to finding his way back home were the remaining memories of quotes from books-on-audio such as Homeward Bound and Wizard of Oz.
Thus began Riley's epic globe-trotting. He recalled his name soon enough, as it was stitched on the waistband of his underwear, but found he couldn't consciously access any of the memories regarding the people and events of his life prior to the accident. Regardless, Riley wandered gamely for three years, always optimistic that he'd find his way back home someday.
During his travels, he tended to lose his clothes progressively/piece-by-piece, only to be reclothed at some point by the locals in whichever area he was in when he became too publicly indecent. By the time he made his way to Pomoland (i.e. Litre's amusement park/backyard), he was bedecked in a literal mishmash of ethnic garb and tourist accessories. Hei, who he literally ran into by chance, wrote him off as another new addition to Litre's novelty collection; Riley smelled food on Hei, felt a faint tug of familiarity, and followed him doggedly no matter how hard Hei tried to lose the "Circus Freak Runaway."
The rest, as they say, is history: Riley joined the crew under the incentive of having Litre's assistance in finding his way home, and was soon even participating in missions not long after. Alas, disaster struck again on one of said missions, leaving him with anterograde amnesia and only a very low prognosis of recovering from either amnesias. As is, Riley is unable to make any new memories, though he is still capable of picking up new skills (as most amnesiacs are wont; they just never remember the event of having learnt the skill).
He only has a five-year window of concrete memories, and most people, should they take the time to find out just what was wrong with this placid-eyed man, would ultimately come to the conclusion of "Dude, your life sucks." But Riley deals, pretty well in fact; he still believes that he will be reunited with his parents one day, and as long as he keeps close to his current friends, he'll be okay.
AKA: Riley
Gender: Male
Age: 22
Birth Date: December 20
Blood Type: AB
Height: 5'9"/175cm
Weight: 135lb/61kg
Ethnicity: Irish/Korean
Hair: Red
Eyes: Green
Occupation: Bodyguard/Hitman, communal pet??
Skills: Hand-to-hand combat, sixth sense for danger & food, building rapport with non-humans, iron stomach, always finding north, reading braille, plowing through various obstacles (without dying), high pain threshold.
Languages spoken: Irish-flavored English, some Korean/Gaelic.
Appearance: Riley's pretty distinctive, physical features (like hair and coloring) aside. But the most definitive feature is actually one in constant flux--namely his state of tattered dress (or undress), and the collection of surface injuries littering his person at almost all times. He's also never seen without the chain-linked dog tags around his neck, of which are stamped with his full name, date of birth, and blood type. Due to his little problem of not really being able to see where he's going, it's difficult for Riley to look anything other than "unkempt," or perhaps even a smidgeon bit "wild." At any rate, he's not short, but neither is he stupidly tall, with a compact, wiry build resulting from his active lifestyle.
Personality: While carp diem might not necessarily be the most accurate description of his life philosophy, it is certainly applicable on the grand scale, all things considered. A global amnesiac (i.e. one with both retrograde and anterograde amnesia) with what should've been a totally debilitating vision disability, Riley is nothing if not adaptable. As such, he has managed to remain relatively good-natured and easy-going despite all the devastating milestones that have ear-marked his years so far.
Riley's the type that lives at his own pace. A simple guy with simple pleasures at heart, Riley enjoys the more basic things in life: food, music, keeping company, The Great Outdoors, and physical sports. In fact, the order in which Riley prioritises his hobbies alongside most other things can often come off as eccentric to the casual observer. (Regardless, it should be noted that he can also be easily distracted--or appeased, depending on the situational necessity--by aforementioned list of interests.)
Prior to his second accident, Riley enjoyed interacting with people, regardless whether they were strangers or familiar acquaintances--and that particular aspect didn't change even after the anterograde amnesia set in. Unfortunately, an inability to form new memories isn't that easy to disregard, especially when the slightest distraction can derail all previous trains of thought, prematurely ending conversations and essentially resetting the meeting on Riley's end. Not all those who encounter him take kindly to such bizarre behaviour, but he never begrudges those who end up insulting him, seeing as how he is unable to remember them moments later anyway.
Somewhat of a sentimentalist by necessity, Riley prizes what few long-term memories he has left above almost all else. He still experiences moments of loss, but tries not to dwell on them too long (or at least, not to the point of extreme self-pity). As long as he can still function, still do what he loves to do no matter the setbacks, he can take and manage all that life flings at him.
History: So, the thing to know about Riley is that he has a bit of an eye-problem; a hereditary, x-chromosome recessive condition involving incomplete optic nerve development that all but renders him incapable of "seeing" anything that isn't in motion. Born into a loving, middle-class household, Riley's inability to see anything but moving objects didn't become apparent until he was able to move around on his own. Crawl his way into obstacles and sometimes through them, so-to-speak. What Riley could see was anyone's guess; certainly not color, nor stationary objects. The fact that he did react visually however, convinced his parents that there was still a chance for him to grow up with a sense of normalcy.
Deciding against a future of guinea-pigging for the hospital's specialists, his parents accepted the fact that their son was almost as good as blind and did their best to accommodate the handicap. They relocated the family to a suburban area, dotted with woodlands, in hopes that the natural scenery would prove beneficial to their child's development.
Riley, for all practical purposes, grew up in a warm, unhurried, nurturing environment. He learned to read Braille at his mom's knee and practiced mapping out the three-dimensional via tactile sense. Afternoons were often spent rough-housing with his dad and the family dog (when it became apparent that he'd become more than simply "durable" after a toddlerhood of tough love from inanimate objects). Meanwhile, concurrent to the skills he was picking up from his parents, his other senses also sharpened considerably in order to compensate for his odd sight-predicament. Home-schooled for the most part, he soon developed an intense interest in the surrounding wildlife, possibly due to the lack of other human playmates his age, or maybe it was simply because he found the animals' habitual movement--red-light/green-light/go, that sort of thing--fascinating. Either way, Riley ended up building an odd rapport with the critters in his area, often times seen playing some odd variation of hide-and-seek with the rodents in particular.
It was when he was 15-years-old, however, that his stable life changed drastically. Sent out on a routine errand into the busier downtown area, Riley got himself hit by a car when he tried to save a let-loose dog from a similar fate. Riley's physical risiliency persevered however; after making sure that the dog was all right, he all but waved off the panicking driver's concern, unconcerned (or unaware) of his post-accident state and possible concussion: he had an errand to run and the locals were used to his strange-durability anyway. Unfortunately, after he completed the errand, Riley slowly came to the realisation that he'd no idea where he was, who he was, or how to get home. The immediate memories closest to the accident started fading first; then many important memories further back until Riley's only clues to finding his way back home were the remaining memories of quotes from books-on-audio such as Homeward Bound and Wizard of Oz.
Thus began Riley's epic globe-trotting. He recalled his name soon enough, as it was stitched on the waistband of his underwear, but found he couldn't consciously access any of the memories regarding the people and events of his life prior to the accident. Regardless, Riley wandered gamely for three years, always optimistic that he'd find his way back home someday.
During his travels, he tended to lose his clothes progressively/piece-by-piece, only to be reclothed at some point by the locals in whichever area he was in when he became too publicly indecent. By the time he made his way to Pomoland (i.e. Litre's amusement park/backyard), he was bedecked in a literal mishmash of ethnic garb and tourist accessories. Hei, who he literally ran into by chance, wrote him off as another new addition to Litre's novelty collection; Riley smelled food on Hei, felt a faint tug of familiarity, and followed him doggedly no matter how hard Hei tried to lose the "Circus Freak Runaway."
The rest, as they say, is history: Riley joined the crew under the incentive of having Litre's assistance in finding his way home, and was soon even participating in missions not long after. Alas, disaster struck again on one of said missions, leaving him with anterograde amnesia and only a very low prognosis of recovering from either amnesias. As is, Riley is unable to make any new memories, though he is still capable of picking up new skills (as most amnesiacs are wont; they just never remember the event of having learnt the skill).
He only has a five-year window of concrete memories, and most people, should they take the time to find out just what was wrong with this placid-eyed man, would ultimately come to the conclusion of "Dude, your life sucks." But Riley deals, pretty well in fact; he still believes that he will be reunited with his parents one day, and as long as he keeps close to his current friends, he'll be okay.