Zarathustra (Ryu Alt)

[Zarathustra]

Name: Zarathustra

Class: Troubadour

Age: 50...?
Born in: Etruria

Appearance: A tall and slender man, Zarathustra fits the portrait of a hermit quite well. His limbs are long, and the skin is tight over the wiry muscles a life in the wilderness demands. His cheeks, and skin in general, is wan and pale, but the slight splotches that age has begun to draw upon him do not bother the man. His digits, all twenty of them, are spindly, looking to be more bone than flesh, and his nails grow white but crooked from their ends. The hair upon his head is graying, from its initial black, and his eyes look sunken within his skull. The whites of his eyes are slightly yellowing with mild jaundice, and his nose is a bit crooked from when he broke it, falling while trying to collect bird eggs from a tree. His teeth are also beginning to show age, chipped and angled.

His garb is simple, consisting of drab robes, completely unassuming and utterly basic. The cloth is in no way anywhere near fine, and is patched with rough twine and whatever fabrics he could find or craft. He bears no coin purse, no wineskin, and no sandals upon his feet or hat upon his head. In fact, his staff is at first glance just a gnarled branch, which he tends to use as a walking stick and to scratch his back when he is itching. The only part that sets it apart is the dark, blood red crystal embedded at the apex, almost as if the branches grew to encase it.

Personality: Zarathustra is an enigmatic and unusual man. While some call him a sage and a mystic, others revile him as a dotard and a quack. What is certain is that he is firmly set in his beliefs and grounded in reality, albeit his own personal reality. He speaks completely in contradiction of his appearance, with a strong voice and commanding tone. Often he can be found teaching the children, or singing with birds and frolicking with rabbits.

When on the subject of philosophy, Zarathustra is always willing to listen, to speak, and to debate. He dislikes arguing, and walks away from conversations that become unproductive or heated. Rational thought is his sole affection, and he dedicates himself to spreading his ideas.

In combat, Zarathustra prefers to hang back, often trying to avoid it when possible. He is not much of a fighter, but even less so a healer. Often, he forgets he has the power to assist others, and is in many ways oblivious to the pain and suffering of others.

Story: Zarathustra was born to an Etrurian family and raised in the ways of healers, in order that he might have a solid foundation for a life of piety and service to others. During this period of home-schooling in the healing arts, he simultaneously studied at prestigious academies of classical philosophy, graduating with highest honors.

He subsequently retreated into the forests at age twenty-five in order to pursue truth and reason. Many searched for the promising youth, but none found him. Zarathustra wandered far, ending up in the mountains of Lycia, where he tamed a wild horse by following it and speaking to it incessantly until it finally tired of the lectures and agreed to let him ride it in exchange for its silence. In all sincerity, how he acquired his mount is still a dubious 'truth' at best. What is known is that he named it Zoroaster and has never since been separated from it.

For the next twenty-some years, the hermit wandered and thought. He did not write, or speak to crowds, but simply thought. Often, he thought so hard about matters of philosophy that he forgot to eat or drink, only remembering when pains aroused him from endless swaths of stupor. It was as if nothing of his old life remained, and his entire being was dedicated to finding truth.

One morning, Zarathustra descended from the mountains. He saw truth, and endeavored to speak it to the masses, to teach them the wisdom he had learned and to educate the world in truth and philosophy.

And So Proclaimed Zarathustra: "He who gives others a piece of his mind must make sure he has enough to spare."

[Donovan]

In his personality description, you say "he is not much of a fighter, but even less so a healer". But as he is a troubadour, he would be only able to heal. Then you say he studies at prestigious academies and graduated with the highest honors, and enough of a reputation to have multiple people search for him when he disappeared. If he isn't much of a healer, I am not sure he would be such a prodigious student. Could you clarify?

[Zarathustra]

To your first point, Donovan - that is entirely for purposes of explaining how inept he is at being in tune with his 'job' as a healer. My intention is to illustrate the general air of self-centeredness that he possesses, blind to his ability to ease the burden on others. I in no way am suggesting that he can fight at this point, though down the road he may pick up a Rod or something.

To your second point, I was referencing the history of Nietzsche himself, trying to draw parallels. To clarify, I believe it might be better stated like this: Zarathustra is competent and capable of healing others as any standard Troubadour would be, no more and no less, but was a spectacular student, capable of quickly learning material and retaining it well. His honors would be more for academic performance than 'extraordinary' talent, since he's a Basic class. After spending time in the wilderness, however, his mindset has made him generally lack the regard for others that healers who are often in combat possess. So when he does find himself in a situation where others need his assistance, he is usually not aware initially and perhaps needs some prodding by the allies before he comes to his senses and 'does his job.'

Hopefully that clears things up!

[Donovan]

Right, so it would probably be more apt to say that he received top marks at academic universities where he excelled at philosophy and such, rather than at a magical academy, since he's not anything special as a healer.

[Zarathustra]

Absolutely. That was my initial point, I merely portrayed it poorly. With this, then, I've edited the initial application and believe it's ready for another pass.

[Donovan]

Accepted.