app post.
Character: Nicolai Conrad
Series: Shadow Hearts: Covenant
Age: 27
Job: Instructor in the Arts of Surveillance (Otherwise Known as "Professional Stalker")
Canon: Shadow Hearts: Covenant is the second game in the Shadow Hearts series and follows Yuri Hyuga and his party as they wander the globe (okay, just Europe and Asia) to thwart the plans of the secret society Sapientes Gladio, led by none other than Grigori Rasputin. You know, that Rasputin, who in Shadow Hearts: Covenant is out to accomplish world domination via his secret society and other fabulous things. It's all fun and games and your occasional demon soul pact! ... Until the second disc hits and things get even more ungodly complicated, but hey. It's an RPG. Don't they always?
Nicolai Conrad -- bastard son of Tsar Nicholas II -- serves directly under Rasputin and is responsible for many of the events in the first half of the game. To the average person, Nicolai seems like a perfect gentleman -- formal, courteous, concerned, and a cardinal in the Vatican to boot. But beneath his smooth demeanor is a clever man who is constantly scheming and working towards his ultimate goal, no matter what he has to do. This is a man who is willing to sell his soul to a demon in order to gain more power, after all! One of the things Nicolai is not, though, is a man of patience. When saddled with bumbling minions, his irritation seeps through his gritted teeth. However, despite all of this, Nicolai is a man full of complexities, and his main motive is much less nefarious than one would think -- revenge for his spurned mother.
Note: Nicolai is being apped from the end of the first disc.
Sample Post:
I must confess, the description for this position is rather . . . quaint. When the Madame Director had described the job to me in her letter as one of surveillance, I'd presumed it was a position that more along the lines of teaching the art of observation. Constant vigilance. Putting objects under scrutiny, even. But describing it as "stalking" seems a bit harsh, I'd think. Nevermind the fact that the pupils such as yourselves seem a bit less than lively and thus less than capable of actually successfully learning any of this. Still, a job is a job, I suppose. Far be it for me to shirk my duties, hmm?
Let's get right to it then. Proper surveillance abilities are essential if one wishes to survive. This isn't simply about watching someone for the sake of watching someone; it could be a sort of life or death situation. While this encampment can be rather hazardous given the precarious plant-life and simple-minded simians, it's quite manageable if one were to keep a good system in line. . . . is what I would usually say, but really, in a place like this? Anyone with half a brain would realize that things such as a glowing, polluted lake or a large kraken were synonymous with trouble. -- yes, you in the back, that means you need to give your partner next to you that-- whatever it is you're chewing on back to him immediately. He'll need that to understand this.
In any case, observing people becomes a bit more of a difficult task than simply observing one's surroundings. Given that people themselves can be rather unpredictable, it requires quite a bit of skill to successfully track a subject. Can anyone tell me what one of those skills might be? . . . No, having the skin of a killer is not a requirement. I suppose you think you're being clever? Fine, then! Come down here -- you'll help us with the practical portion of this lesson. Do you see that cabin situated over there? Show me how you would monitor someone living in there and we'll evaluate you. Pretend it's a girl you've been keeping an eye on, even. It's a rather straight-forward activity; I doubt even you could mess it up.
. . . Well. At the very least, I can say we have an example for the antithesis of subtlety with you. First of all, the moaning is a bit of a give-away. You realize this, don't you? No one in their right mind is going to sleep right with the constant guttural groaning for their own mind going on in the background. Not that they would anyway after the whole smashing of the fist through the window thing that you did there. The sound aside, the dried skin left on the shards would alert anyone if the smell from it didn't. And while it's rather . . . charming gesture that you'd want to give your heart away to her, actually leaving it on her bedsheets is over the top. Do you have anything to say for yourself with all of this?
. . . no, I don't particularly care that it's no longer beating and therefore not making any noise, that's hardly the point of the-- . . . nevermind. I can see this is going to be a very long day already. Let's just . . . try something else, shall we? For your next lesson, you will attempt to sneak into the hospital and procure a bottle of painkillers for me. A large bottle.
[voting went here. 100%, FUCK YEAH.]
Series: Shadow Hearts: Covenant
Age: 27
Job: Instructor in the Arts of Surveillance (Otherwise Known as "Professional Stalker")
Canon: Shadow Hearts: Covenant is the second game in the Shadow Hearts series and follows Yuri Hyuga and his party as they wander the globe (okay, just Europe and Asia) to thwart the plans of the secret society Sapientes Gladio, led by none other than Grigori Rasputin. You know, that Rasputin, who in Shadow Hearts: Covenant is out to accomplish world domination via his secret society and other fabulous things. It's all fun and games and your occasional demon soul pact! ... Until the second disc hits and things get even more ungodly complicated, but hey. It's an RPG. Don't they always?
Nicolai Conrad -- bastard son of Tsar Nicholas II -- serves directly under Rasputin and is responsible for many of the events in the first half of the game. To the average person, Nicolai seems like a perfect gentleman -- formal, courteous, concerned, and a cardinal in the Vatican to boot. But beneath his smooth demeanor is a clever man who is constantly scheming and working towards his ultimate goal, no matter what he has to do. This is a man who is willing to sell his soul to a demon in order to gain more power, after all! One of the things Nicolai is not, though, is a man of patience. When saddled with bumbling minions, his irritation seeps through his gritted teeth. However, despite all of this, Nicolai is a man full of complexities, and his main motive is much less nefarious than one would think -- revenge for his spurned mother.
Note: Nicolai is being apped from the end of the first disc.
Sample Post:
I must confess, the description for this position is rather . . . quaint. When the Madame Director had described the job to me in her letter as one of surveillance, I'd presumed it was a position that more along the lines of teaching the art of observation. Constant vigilance. Putting objects under scrutiny, even. But describing it as "stalking" seems a bit harsh, I'd think. Nevermind the fact that the pupils such as yourselves seem a bit less than lively and thus less than capable of actually successfully learning any of this. Still, a job is a job, I suppose. Far be it for me to shirk my duties, hmm?
Let's get right to it then. Proper surveillance abilities are essential if one wishes to survive. This isn't simply about watching someone for the sake of watching someone; it could be a sort of life or death situation. While this encampment can be rather hazardous given the precarious plant-life and simple-minded simians, it's quite manageable if one were to keep a good system in line. . . . is what I would usually say, but really, in a place like this? Anyone with half a brain would realize that things such as a glowing, polluted lake or a large kraken were synonymous with trouble. -- yes, you in the back, that means you need to give your partner next to you that-- whatever it is you're chewing on back to him immediately. He'll need that to understand this.
In any case, observing people becomes a bit more of a difficult task than simply observing one's surroundings. Given that people themselves can be rather unpredictable, it requires quite a bit of skill to successfully track a subject. Can anyone tell me what one of those skills might be? . . . No, having the skin of a killer is not a requirement. I suppose you think you're being clever? Fine, then! Come down here -- you'll help us with the practical portion of this lesson. Do you see that cabin situated over there? Show me how you would monitor someone living in there and we'll evaluate you. Pretend it's a girl you've been keeping an eye on, even. It's a rather straight-forward activity; I doubt even you could mess it up.
. . . Well. At the very least, I can say we have an example for the antithesis of subtlety with you. First of all, the moaning is a bit of a give-away. You realize this, don't you? No one in their right mind is going to sleep right with the constant guttural groaning for their own mind going on in the background. Not that they would anyway after the whole smashing of the fist through the window thing that you did there. The sound aside, the dried skin left on the shards would alert anyone if the smell from it didn't. And while it's rather . . . charming gesture that you'd want to give your heart away to her, actually leaving it on her bedsheets is over the top. Do you have anything to say for yourself with all of this?
. . . no, I don't particularly care that it's no longer beating and therefore not making any noise, that's hardly the point of the-- . . . nevermind. I can see this is going to be a very long day already. Let's just . . . try something else, shall we? For your next lesson, you will attempt to sneak into the hospital and procure a bottle of painkillers for me. A large bottle.
[voting went here. 100%, FUCK YEAH.]