♱ character application ♱
Out of Character Information
Player Name: Joey
Player LiveJournal: carcharodon
Playing Here: (swordofthenorth), (knows_it_all), (velvet_zealot)
Where did you find us? Through Shannon.
Are you 16 years of age or older? Yup!
In Character Information
Character Name: Kay (rhymes with sky) (Kaylan in the original script)
Fandom: Season of the Witch
Timeline: End of the movie
Character's Age: Roughly 17
Powers, Skills, Pets and Equipment: Kay has no powers to speak of, but is equipped with many skills; he is capable of reading, writing, and speaking Latin, is talented with the sword as well as the crossbow, and is very agile and quick-thinking, even in the heat of the moment. He will be arriving with a white gelding that previously belonged to his friend, Behman, but is unnamed. In terms of equipment he will have with him his own sword, as well as a book known as the Key of Solomon, an ancient text of incantations, prayers and rituals that was used by holy men throughout the ages to defend against the forces of evil. Kay isn't schooled in its contents, however. His understanding of how to use the book is limited to what he learned of it as an altar boy, and the one time he used it, to recite a passage Debelzaq, a priest, was unable to finish, in order to vanquish a demon. While eager to rid the world of evil, of course, Kay is far more comfortable tackling the task with his sword than by recital of what he is almost certain is magic...even if it is of a holy pretext.
Canon History: Every boy dreams of one day becoming something great, but not every boy is given a chance to make his dream a reality. For altar boy Kay, the day two deserting knights found their way into his hometown of Avignon was the day he was given the chance to live his dream.
Behman and Felson had abandoned their ranks as swords in service of the Church during the Crusades. Due to the horrible things they had been asked to do in the name of God, they fled across the countryside, spending half a year in wandering. But when food and other provisions were scarce and they were in need of horses fit for traveling, they made their way into the first town they crossed paths with. After replenishing their supplies of food and water, and after purchasing new mounts, it was a stable boy that was their accidental undoing. Amidst transferring Behman's bundles over to his horse, the pile was dropped, and his crested sword uncovered. At once the town guards were summoned, and Behman and Felson were arrested.
It was on their way to the dungeons that the guards were intercepted by a priest named Debelzaq, however. And upon asking to see their swords to verify their identity, he insisted they follow him at once to meet with the Cardinal in the Palais des Papes.
They were admitted to a bedchamber teeming with faceless men in white robes and plague masks, young Kay (but an altar boy) at the side of the bed, as well as a knight with whom they had spoken in town, a man by the name of Eckhart that had courteously explained to the pair the diminishing state of the nation beneath the all-consuming and greedy lips of the plague. Drawn bedside, Behman was introduced to the Cardinal D'Ambroise himself, unfortunate to have been stricken by the Black Death as well, and appearing as though he had very little time left.
Only then was it revealed why such a great and holy man had summoned two deserting knights to meet with him; the plague was brought unto them by the Black Witch, and they were in dire need of someone to transport the self-confessed woman to the Abbey Severac, six days north in the Gray Mountains, where her evil powers could be destroyed, and the curse of the plague lifted from the lands. Debelzaq admitted to hearing her confession himself, but his words held no sway with Behman and Felson and, despite the Cardinal's pleas, Behman told them he would serve the Church no more.
Escorted back to the dungeons and locked away, however, the pair were given the chance to see the suspected witch, a girl in tattered dress and cheeks smeared with dirt, with eyes that were steely, strong, and determined not to lose hope. That night, listening to her cries, Behman found his mind changed. He requested in the morning to speak to Debelzaq; on the condition that the young woman be tried as a human and given a fair trial, and that his and Felson's transgressions be pardoned, they would agree to transport the witch to Severac.
Behman and Felson's successes well known, and with no other men to entrust the task to, the Cardinal accepted the terms. Eckhart, his best knight, and Debelzaq, his most trusted priest, would accompany them...but Behman insisted on another, someone who had traveled the way before.
Hagamar, a known swindler and self-proclaimed seller of genuine relics, was found, and under the condition he act as their guide and not try to flee upon being released from his restraints, was promised he would be fully pardoned for his crimes. Hagamar, of course, accepted the terms, and Behman freed him, promising that if he did try to sneak away, others would need to get in line behind him for Hagamar's head.
The five men set out that day, the witch in tow inside of a caged wagon. Back in the bedchamber of the Cardinal, however, the doctors removed their masks and young Kay crossed his heart in prayer for the newly deceased Cardinal D'Ambroise. With no other ties to the town, he made the decision then to follow the men that had accepted the Cardinal's quest, and to aid them in any way he could. Although they have a head start, he takes a horse and travels nonstop to catch up with them.
It was Felson that first noticed they were being followed by a man on horseback, of course. He informed Behman at once, and the pair slowed the train to a halt, hiding out of sight, leading young Kay to believe it was safe to approach. Hooded, he rode into camp, but was immediately caught from behind by Behman, the knight's sword at his neck. Taking no chances, Behman ordered the altar boy to the ground off his steed, and then, knocking the lad's hood back off his head, insisted on an introduction, and a reason for being followed.
Debelzaq recognized Kay as the altar boy and told Behman as much, but Kay, too prideful to be known as something so meager, spoke up, introducing himself, and explaining to the knights the reason for his pursuit. His father before him served the Church as a knight, but neither man recognized the boy's father's name. Kay insisted, however, that what he wanted was to aid them on their quest, and he pledged his services to them so that, upon their triumphant return, Behman and Felson might vouch for him so that he could be knighted, too. Felson laughed derisively; Kay explained he had ridden in the lists twice, and even won flags for valor. Not impressed, Felson ordered the boy to go home, barked that this was no tournament and he was out of his league.
Undeterred, Kay responded that the road they traveled was free, and he was free to travel it; he did not require the permission of an old man to do so, and could not be stopped if he chose to pursue them anyway.
Though cautioned to retract his remark by Behman, Kay refused on the grounds Felson insulted him first. The older knight, ego smarting, drew his sword and promised to teach the boy his first lesson in knighthood. (Behman, allowing this behavior, told Felson to make it quick, and to be careful not to kill the boy, to use his other hand rather than the one he was most skilled with.)
Swords at the ready, Felson and Kay exchanged blows, the former more experienced and more powerful, the latter having youth and agility on his side. Eckhart, impressed by the boy's decisions in the heat of the fight, remarked to Hagamar that Kay really wasn't bad for an altar boy. Felson, however, soon grew weary of the lad's running around, and he yelled at him to stand and fight like a man, not a jackrabbit.
Weapons swinging, they lunged toward one another, but Behman interrupted, telling them it was enough...and concluded that Kay might be of service to them after all.
The band, now six men instead of five, set camp for the night not long after, with Behman and Felson exchanging stories about their rise to knighthood around the campfire, and the others listening in, amused. Laughs were shared, the men bonding with one another, until the gravity of the situation settled in at long last. Although Kay offered to take first watch of the wagon, Eckhart rose to the occasion instead, telling Kay there would be plenty of other opportunities along the way for that, and that the first watch would be his.
Unfortunately, during the watch the witch managed to overhear Eckhart talking to Debelzaq about his daughter, and she used trickery to lure him close to the wagon, attacking him when he was within arm's reach. The priest, attempting to help Eckhart, had the wagon key stolen from him in the process, and his cross wrenched from around his neck and driven through his hand, pinning him to the side of the wagon. The girl then took off running through the woodland and out of sight.
Having heard Debelzaq's pained screams, the others came running at once. Upon discovering the witch had fled, they packed up their belongings, mounted their horses, and set off to find her in the night. Their search, of course, took them from the beneath the canopy of trees into a decrepit little town; shadows hugged every corner, and under the pale light of the moon, beneath the occasional flicker of a torch, they could see warped and disfigured bodies being carried from houses and tossed into the back of carts, the dead piling up, and up, and up.
Through the winding streets the witch ran, the men chasing wildly, but once she managed to separate them at the scene of a mass dumping site, a grave pit for those that had perished by infection of the plague, she begun to work her true magic.
Eckhart, swearing he can hear his daughter's voice calling out to him, abandoned Kay's side, leaving him alone to search the shadows. He called out to his young daughter, over and over again, but the voice never stopped, and Mila, his daughter, never remained in sight for too long. Around and around, he eventually came full circle, and there at last she stood, calling out to him, her arms outstretched. He rushed forward, blinded by love for the little girl he remembered laying to rest. Her name escaped his lips, and even as he rushed Kay's sword, he did not see the young man before him.
Kay, trembling, laid the knight down, confused by the name the older man had been uttering, and horrified at what he had just done. He screamed desperately for Behman and Felson, who were quick to join his side.
"He came running out of nowhere!" Kay explained, voice quivering. "Why didn't he stop? Why didn't he see me?"
Behman knelt to check Eckhart's pulse, but the knight lay still, no longer breathing.
"Oh, dear God, what have I done? What have I done?" A shake of his head, and torchlight flickered in Kay's terrified eyes. "He looked me in the eye, but he didn't see me. He...he called me Mila."
Before anyone can make any sense of the story, however, the witch's sobs are heard from behind. Felson uncovered her curled up in a crevice of rock, but the moment he turned his back to alert Behman, the girl attacked, unnatural force allowing her to knock over the hardened Felson, and forcing Behman to viciously throw the girl off his comrade's back. She retreated into herself then, crying and pleading with the three men, claiming that she had to run, she had to get away, that she couldn't let the priest touch her again and that she was sorry, so sorry.
Uncertain, but stricken with fear, the men loaded the girl back into the wagon. At daybreak, Eckhart was given a proper burial outside of town. Debelzaq guided the men in prayer, but it was Behman that cautioned the party not to let Eckhart's sacrifice be in vain.
The knight's death, however, weighed heavy on young Kay's heart and mind, and despite the priest's kind words in private, Kay claimed full responsibility for the man's passing. It marked a turning point, the first of many, and as he rode at the front of the wagon with Debelzaq, it became apparent to him how treacherous this journey truly was.
It was not long afterward that the party arrived at a precarious looking bridge, Felson and Hagamar, who brought them there, arguing over the reliability of Hagamar's travel information. Not wanting to listen to the men stand around and argue, Behman took the lead, climbing off the back of his horse and leading it toward the bridge, crossing slowly, and keeping the steed close by the reigns. Although the timber was rotting, it was secure enough to hold his weight as he and the horse passed. Upon making it to the other side, Behman instructed the others to unhitch the other horses from the wagon, and walk them over one at a time.
The wagon itself presented an entirely different problem, however.
In order to get it across, they were required to unload everything from it, excluding the witch. A single rope was tied at one end and wrapped around the trunk of a sturdy tree, while Behman and Kay pulled from the front, gently easing the wagon onto the bridge, and acting as the only form of breaks to keep it rolling freely away. When Debelzaq's injured hand gave way, however, the rope slipped free of Hagamar and Felson's grip as well, causing the wagon to plunge forward over the bridge, and forcing Behman and Kay to leap out of its way and roll off to the side. Kay's hold wasn't secure, however, and the lad slipped-
-but just when he expected it was all over for him, a hand reached out, catching him by the wrist.
The witch's hand...and only one. And without straining in the least she hoisted him back onto the bridge, no one else the wiser to what just transpired between them.
Although the struggle to reach the other side is a taxing one, the band managed to cross successfully, the rope finally snapping and giving way behind them, rotting planks tumbling into the cavernous depths between the opposing cliff sides, toward cold and rushing water below.
Behman gives the order for Kay to fetch new bandages for Debelzaq's hand; as he ventures near the wagon, he thanks the witch for her help earlier. Although unnerved, it was due to her that he stood there still, and crimes or otherwise, he owed her that much, a token of his gratitude.
Kay presented the bandages to Behman who immediately began to cleanse and newly wrap Debelzaq's hand. He called out to Hagamar, and asked the merchant where they were now.
"Wormwood Forest," Hagamar said, the blighted, foggy terrain before them explaining the rest.
They set forth, but before long the veil of mist was so dense Behman was forced to call the party to another halt, and to order them to camp until the fog passed. Upon settling, a campfire having been set, Kay disclosed to Behman the nature of what happened on the bridge. Troubled by this news, Behman left the campfire to speak to the witch, confronting her about her heroic one-handed save.
She sneered in return, and in response to his finding it difficult to believe, she whispered, "We believe what we want to believe. Do you believe I'm a witch, Behman?" The torch in his hand went out, and then flared back to life again, burning brilliantly in the darkness, vulnerable in her presence.
She leaned nearer to the bars, the wickedness in her smile seeming to grow, the madness in her eyes as voracious as the wild world surrounding them. "You're not afraid of me...are you?"
But Behman was afraid, so much so he pulled the tarp atop the wagon down over the sides to hide the witch from sight that he might not be forced to look upon her anymore. That night, however, her eyes upon him or not, nightmares of terrible deeds done in the past haunted him, startling him awake in time to hear another moving about in the camp.
Rising, he followed Hagamar to the wagon side where the guide revealed he planned to kill the girl, that his reluctance to put his life in Behman's hands was not meant as an insult, but a testament to his unwillingness to see others die like Eckhart had. He insisted none would be the wiser, but Felson interrupted, coming up from behind the merchant and placing a hand on his crossbow to keep it from beind raised.
It was, of course, too little and too late; from within the wagon the witch howled into the night, and echoing her cries were the many, many voices of dire wolves in response.
Debelzaq and Kay hurried to the wagon where the others stood, having been awoken by the noise, but by then the first wave was already upon them, closing in. Weapons at the ready, they danced with the dark creatures, man versus wolf, and man overcoming the feral beasts...but more were on the horizon, ululating calls echoing through the trees. The party's only choice, Behman decided, was to retreat; he ordered them to the horses and the wagon, and to make haste on the trail.
The wolves were fast, however, as well as wily. And as Hagamar passed a ridge on his mount he was tackled off the back of the horse he was riding and to the forest floor by one of the dire wolves. They surrounded him in a heartbeat, and although Behman wanted to help the man, it was hopeless, countless mouths already tearing into his flesh, the sounds of bone snapping and hungry mouths chewing drowning out the dying gasps of the best swindler to grace the lands all the way to Prague.
With no choice left but to flee, the party takes to the trail once more, hearts heavy with the lives lost along the way so far, guilt weighing upon their minds likes stones in a witch's pockets, dragging them down...down...down. With her. It is only after putting some distance between the site of Hagamar's gruesome death and themselves that Behman once more ordered the train to a stop. He climbed off the front of the wagon, crossbow in hand, and approached the rear where the witch was being held. She taunted him with viperous words, and he raised his weapon to smite her, but Debelzaq put himself between the two, insisting he would not allow Behman to jeopardize all they had worked so hard for, the lives that had been sacrificed up until now.
Even Felson agreed, pointing out that Severac was at last in sight...the end of their journey just around the next corner. Giving up now wouldn't be worth the cost they paid.
There was indisputable reason in this, and once more the train began to move, approaching the broad gates of the Abbey Severac, high in the Gray Mountains.
At the Abbey, however, no monks opened the gate to admit them, and not a soul responded to their calls. Kay, being the lightest, smallest, and most agile, was required to climb the walls and sneak inside in order to unlock the gate. Surprise was written all over his face when he saw how deserted the place was, but it did not slow him in his task. He removed the plank of wood that secured the doors, and soon his companions were wheeling the wagon through the tall archway and into the Abbey courtyard.
The priest, Debelzaq, explained that the monks should be in the chapel at that time of day, in Vespers. Felson and Kay remained with the horses and the wagon, while Behman and Debelzaq took to the chapel to greet the priest's brothers. The sight that they met with, however, was not at all what they had been hoping to find after such a long journey. The monks had all fallen ill and, weakened by the plague, they had died in the midst of prayer, some still clutching rosaries. The horror of it was enough to shake Debelzaq's faith at its foundation.
Behind, Felson and Kay entered the chapel, concerned with why the other two were taking so long.
Behman, his hand resting upon Debelzaq's shoulder, told the priest that they must leave, that there was no hope there for them, only the plague. Debelzaq, however, refused to accept that, and, insisting these men had been their hope, he knelt in prayer for them. It was his good fortune in doing so, for one of the monks was still alive, could hear the prayer, and began reciting it aloud with Debelzaq. The man was running out of time, however, and Debelzaq asked about the book, the Key of Solomon. Using the last of his strength, the plagued man pointed to where the book lie on an altar, drew in his final breath, and then passed away.
Although the monks had passed away, possessing the book gave the men a new hope. Debelzaq would perform the required ritual.
The four men exited the chapel together, Debelzaq in the lead, Behman at his side. The witch taunted them, to which Behman replied that she had sealed her own fate. Holy water was tossed upon the woman, and her trial, as it were, began.
She attempted to break the priest's confidence with harsh accusations, but Behman encouraged Debelzaq to keep to the ritual, to keep reading. And when the witch conjured a magic to reopen the wound in Debelzaq's hand, it was Behman that stepped forward, and her harsh judgment was then cast upon him. She mocked his heroism, and drew from his mind the words of holy man that had ordered Behman and Felson into battle during the Crusades.
"They are Godless people, infidels! They have sinned against God and against his holy son, Jesus Christ! They must be punished!"
Behman and Felson were completely taken aback by this, neither able to conceive how the woman could possibly know what she did. Debelzaq, however, came to realize what they were truly dealing with.
The girl was not a witch...but a demon.
At once Debelzaq began a new ritual, sending the girl into a fury. The wagon caught fire, the licking flames hot enough to melt away the metal bars across the ceiling, and along the sides, thus freeing the girl from her confines. Enraged, face contorted by unholy power, she headed straight for the priest. Behman moved to intercept, but was knocked away by her god-like strength. Felson, as well, was sent sprawling when he drew his sword to attack. Quick thinking allowed Debelzaq to throw more holy water on the girl, causing her to recoil, and in that moment Kay lunged in with his sword drawn, hoping to take the beast down while it was weakened.
Hoping to no avail as the demon sprouted wings and took to the sky in retreat, hiding (for the time being) in another part of the Abbey.
The men looked on in a mixture of disbelief and horror. Collapsed and tired, Debelzaq muttered, "We're going to need more holy water."
Back inside they quickly began foraging for supplies. Upon bringing more holy water to Behman, however, Kay was told that this was as far as he goes, that this battle was not his to fight. Distraught, the young knight replied, "I took a vow to join your cause!"
Behman attempted, then, to release the boy from his vow, going so far as to explain there was no shame in it.
Undeterred, Kay did not relent. "Honor is not a thing to be dismissed...or forgotten! A vow must be fulfilled, else it is no vow at all."
"Even at the cost of your life?" asked Behman.
And Kay nodded, "Even then."
Behman drew his sword and, upon telling Kay to kneel, instructed the youth to repeat after him.
"Grant me courage, Oh Lord, for I am thy servant. And guard me with strength unto battle, that I may crush thine enemies as dust before the wind. Amen." Debelzaq and Felson repeated in respect the tail end of the prayer as well, and Behman told Kay, the flat side of his sword touched to both of Kay's shoulders, that now he could rise a knight.
Kay simply did not feel as though he'd earned it, but upon saying as much to Felson, the older knight told him in a grave and ominous tone, "You will."
The four men took to climbing the stairs to the upper levels of the chapel, then, discussing amongst themselves the demon and why it hadn't escaped. Kay proposed that escape wasn't the demon's purpose at all, and Behman concluded the demon wanted to be there. Debelzaq agreed that everything it had done up until that point had been to ensure that whoever stood in its way of arriving at Severac would have been killed. First Eckhart, who had wanted to free the girl due to her similarities to his daughter, and then Hagamar, who had been afraid of more people dying and had wanted to kill the girl prematurely. It was all beginning to make sense...
At the top of the stairs was a study. Cautiously the men entered. Around desks that were littered with parchment depicting half copied rituals from the Key of Solomon were more monks, bound to the desks at which they sat, and dead, like those found before them.
Dead, at least, until lesser demons were summoned to inhabit their bodies.
It is in that moment that Behman realized the demon they had been deceived by up until that moment had always wanted the book, and that had been its purpose all along. That was why the demon had convinced them it was a witch; it knew that a witch would be brought to those that possessed the book of Solomon, the very last in existence.
As if summoned, the creature greeted the four men from above to thank them, but Behman did not wish to listen to its boasting, and instead ordered Debelzaq to continue with the ritual. The demon, infuriated, caused walls above to collapse downward upon them and the men scrambled to get out of the way in time, Kay pushing Debelzaq.
All around them at the desks the copied pages from the book rose up in flames...and suddenly they realized the monks were no longer seated around them.
Their only hope was to weaken the creature, so Kay helped Debelzaq to his feet and uttered words of encouragement to him, standing guard at his side while the priest once more picked up his recital of the ancient passages.
They were caught off guard by monks from behind, however, wielding knives and aiming to kill the men. The first attacked the priest, but Behman intercepted and fought off the cloaked undead man. The next was Felson's, then Kay's, and they kept coming, one after another, two and three at a time, the only way to stop them was to remove the head. Even Debelzaq landed an impressive blow mid speech...by marking his page in the book, closing it, and striking a monk across the face when the undead figure had gotten too close to him.
Unfortunately the men began to tire from consecutive attacks, and Behman was taken to the ground, pinned under a monk attempting to slash at his face. Kay as well, bravely fending off one monk and taking his head, was taken by surprise from behind by another monk, and brought to the ground in a struggling heap. And Felson, a blade driven into his back, also fell, but brought down with him the undead man that had stabbed him, going so far as to wrench the blade from his back and use it to slice through the monk's neck.
In Behman's struggle to get back to his feet and run to the defense of his friend, however, the demon was able to get close to Debelzaq, to get behind him and break his neck.
The book, nearly in the demon's clutches, was saved only by Behman throwing holy water on the beast, and kicking the Key of Solomon out of arm's reach. His actions served only to further enrage the creature of the underworld, however, and it rose, caught Behman by the throat, and drove him back against the nearest wall, fingers coiling about his throat, slowly cutting off the flow of air to his lungs.
Felson was not far behind the beast, and came to Behman's rescue. Weakened from having been stabbed, he still managed to catch the creature from behind, to draw it off Behman and occupy it. Things seemed to be looking up until he was caught by the demon's sinewy wings. Fire erupts between them, and Felson was incinerated, nothing left behind by the aged knight but glowing ash and cinder.
Kay seized that opportunity to get his hands on the Key of Solomon and continue reciting the remainder of the holy incantation Debelzaq had been reading. The demon rounded on him, and lunged in to directly assault the young man, but once again Behman came to the rescue, bodily wrestling the creature away from Kay, giving him the time he needed to finish reading the passage. Struck several times through by a claw on the demon's wing, Behman began to weaken, but by then it was too late for the demon, and Kay finished the holy spell. Flinging aside Behman, the demon rushed at Kay one last time, but could only clear half the distance between them before it was engulfed in a fiery bright light and destroyed, or sent back to whence it came.
The girl's body was freed of the evil that had overtaken it, then, and she lay on the floor, saved. Behman, glad to have been able to do this good deed, entrusted her protection to Kay as his dying wish.
Hours passed.
Kay used the time to set up graves for the brave warriors who gave their lives for the worthy cause they had undertaken...for Behman, Felson, and the priest, Debelzaq. The girl, Anna, begged Kay tell her of the men that saved her life so that she might know the men she owed so much to.
Once seven, now two, Kay and Anna climbed atop their horses and left behind Severac for once and for all, on route back to Avignon. The plague was lifted...few the wiser to its true cause, or cure.
Personality: In 14th century Europe a young man needed to be of noble blood, and needed to have incurred years of service under the tutilage of a much more experienced knight if he wished to become knighted himself. A dreamer, young Kay dreamed against those odds.
Despite having lived only seventeen years, and having spent many of those years as an altar boy in the services of Cardinal D'Ambroise at the Palais des Papes in Avignon, Kay recognizes that he has talents that could be useful to the outside world. His confidence in his skills wavers understandably given his lack of experience, but he is always determined to push forward, even when he has done things he feels he should repent for. He expects great things of himself due to his father before him having been a great man as well, and although he is not an opportunist by nature, at the passing of the Cardinal, Kay opts to seize his chance, come whatever may. He bravely requests that Behman and Felson accept him along on their quest, going so far as to fight Felson to prove his skills (when stating that he had ridden in the lists twice, and won flags for valor does not persuade them), bravely faces the perils along the way thereafter, and staggers only when he feels he has let down his comrades, or feels he could have done more to change the outcome of certain circumstances.
One might go so far as to say that disappointment of those he respects is, in fact, his greatest fear.
That having been said, his resolve remains unwavering, and his sense of duty great (enriched all the more by his sense of honor and his unwillingness to break any vow that is made, even if it means sacrificing his own life). Possessing an educated background, the ability to read, speak, and write Latin, knowledge of horse handling, sword handling, and manners that are nothing shy of impeccable, even if he is known to speak boldly, and sometimes unwisely out of turn, he is a very well-rounded lad. Should anything tip the scales (and this could easily cause them to lean in either direction) it would be his being so eager to learn that he absorbs from around him all that he can, arguably making him rather easily influenced by his surroundings, and leading to him being a little gullible, particularly due to his believing in the good of man.
Naturally charming in a boyish way, Kay has little difficulty making friends. His pious heart, though big, is not altogether too hard or too soft, and often open to the admittance of those around him, even if it means showing some extent of kindness toward his enemies.
Though dubbed a knight by Behman at the end of the movie, Kay does not feel in his heart that he has earned the title. Felson tells him that he will, and Kay, much like he has through every undertaking leading up to that point, rises to the occasion. In the end, he possesses all the characteristics one expects of a knight. He is dedicated, selfless, dutiful, venerable, and most of all, courageous.
Why do you feel this character would be appropriate to the setting? Kay has bravely faced such tasks as transporting a suspected witch across perilous lands for trial, battling with hordes of dire wolves in forests wrought with dense fog, and facing a demon capable of burning a man alive by merely wrapping its wings around his body. He was young and naive when he began his quest, and although he is only six days older at its completion, he is six years the wiser since having set out. Anything Anatole can throw at him he is mentally equipped to handle...but you can definitely expect him to make a lot of these expressions along the way.
Writing Samples
Network Post Sample: [ The jostling of a waist pouch causes the Forge to turn on and begin recording. Folds of thick leather muffle the sound of footsteps, as well as a pair of voices, but if you listen closely, the exchange isn't at all inaudible. ]
[ The first voice belongs to that of a well-spoken young man, someone that hasn't yet had the time to grow accustomed to the ways of Anatolian society, much less Anatole itself. ]
Please, sir, could you spare a moment of your time that I might learn of this strange city? [ He pleads with genuine sincerity, and ventures deeper into a room that allows his voice to carry. Instinctively the speaker forces it to soften so as not to appear hostile or overbearing. ] I seem to have lost my way, and I am not quite certain of how I came to be here. The very last I recall, I was not far from the Abbey Severac, in the Gray Mountains. I was traveling with a young woman...but she is nowhere to be found now.
[ The second voice also belongs to a man, although he is much older than the first, and his voice possesses grainy, time-weathered qualities. ]
You are far from your home, lad...and I regret to inform you that your companion may have been left behind. Such is the way of the Mist and the powers that compel it. Tell me...what is your name?
My name is Kay.
Kay, this city you have found yourself in is known as Anatole. It is as old as some worlds, still older than others; it has seen many like yourself, and will see many more after you. Some choose to make it their home...others wish only to escape it. I cannot tell you which path to choose, but perhaps if you kneel with me, and pray...all your questions will be answered.
[ A hint of resignation enters Kay's voice. ]
And to who might I be praying, if I am no longer in my own world...?
[ The caretaker of the church speaks with a clerical fondness. ]
The Mist, my son, and the forces that necessitate its actions.
[ A startled hitch in Kay's breath can be heard, and a backward step is taken. ]
What of God?
[ The older man sighs regretfully. ]
Your god does not exist here, I'm afraid.
[ The feed times out, and connection is cut off. ]
Third Person Sample: The city was clockwork intricacies; a swamp of mechanical devices, teeming with the buzz of people, the hiss of steam, and the low rumble of a daily grind. Beautiful in the way its angular protrusions jutted skyward, branched outward, were lost in the coiling appendages of the mist at the city's fringes, and horrible in the way that no exit was perceivable, in the way that the enormous gate in the center of the town led absolutely nowhere...nowhere at all.
Kay could not fathom how he had come to be here, and he was terrified by what his separation from Anna might mean.
Had the demon deceived them all one last time? Had it won? And if it hadn't, would Anna be safe on her own in those perilous mountains just the other side of Wormwood Forest? He had promised Behman that he would protect her, that he would see her safely back to Avignon, and now, against his will, whether by hand of the demon or Fate itself, or some other power far beyond his understanding, he could not keep that promise.
It wasn't fair or just...or worth agonizing over if he could not do anything about it, right? That's what Felson would say, he told himself.
And Behman, well, he would tell him to prioritize.
Back on the road during their travels only a few things had been important beyond the company they provided each other. Food, water, firewood, shelter, keeping one's weapons sharp, and their wits about them; it was a recipe for survival in the wilderness that could not do without even one ingredient.
At his side his horse whinnied. Kay brushed the palm of his hand over its nose and said soothingly next to its ear, "Shh, it will be alright. I bet you're hungry, hm? No telling how long it has been since either of us last ate. Let's find you some apples, or some oats. I still have some coppers. Surely that will afford us both some nourishment."
Snorting, the gelding lifted its head, the reigns dropping forward as though it understood and was permitting Kay to lead the way.
Anything else? I may have just saved you the trouble of watching the movie. Whoops.