Name: Aanandaprakash (Aanand or Aan, but really doesn’t care how people shorten it)

Age: ??? Varies in form and presentation, but judging by the rare times he’s talked about his personal life, one can judge that he is quite old.

Sex: Both Male and Female (Or perhaps neither)

Race: Rakshasa

Biome: Varies, but heavily forested areas or jungle is preferred. (Cities preferred over both, but not exactly an option on the preserve).

Sexuality: Bisexual

Relationship Status: ???

---

Height: 6'4" (or) 5’8”

Weight: 190lb (Weight does not change based on outer appearance).

Hair: Varies, but usually brown or blonde

Eyes: Varies, but usually green

Skin Tone: Varies, but usually fair skinned

Appearance:


Whether his mood changes based on his appearance, or his appearance changes based on his mood is hard to tell, although there is a clear difference between how Aanand presents himself and how he acts. The male form he (usually) takes is fairly reserved, although with a biting wit and bitter attitude. That isn’t to say he’s always in a bad mood when presenting as male, but casual conversation can quickly turn dark or serious without warning. There’s a rare few residents of the reserve who prefer this form, although it seems to be the one he’s seen in most often.

His male appearance is also one of the hints about his age. There’s a certain… antiquity about it. The lack of beard, the full mustache, and clothes a gentleman from a bygone era would wear. There’s a level of neatness and professionalism reminiscent of military service, and even his accent sounds more reminiscent of one you’d see a newscaster on the BBC use as opposed to finding on the streets of London. Tall and well built, he certainly cuts an impressive figure (For a ‘Human’ at any rate) though as a shapeshifter this isn’t much of a feat. Attire wise, he’s almost always wearing an overcoat and vest no matter the weather, and usually sticks to plain brown clothing. Presented well, but boring.

Aan’s feminine appearance still preserves some of these qualities, although they’re much less likely to surface unless she’s otherwise angered or in a bad mood. Still, that isn’t to say that this form is a straight up improvement for those that have to deal with her. Bitterness is replaced with impishness, and she’s much more likely to cause mischief for the fun of it- and her definition of fun typically involves invoking the ire of others. Still, she is much more light conversationally than her male counterpart, and provided she’s not up to bad business, it can be quite enjoyable to catch her for a quick chat.

Unlike her male appearance Aan’s clothing varies wildly from day-to-day, although a lot of her choices have the same sense of age as her male counterpart’s attire. Very few of her outfits could be considered immodest, even those that are much more modern in style. Still, some trends have clearly caught on with her, like a shorter hair length and the occasional pair of trousers in her wardrobe. Her accent is notably different than her male counterpart, though harder to place. Reminiscent of Welsh, for those that can tell the difference.

Skills:

Shapeshifter - More of an ‘ability’ than a skill, Rakshasa are master shapeshifters, to the point where they’re said to have no true form. For those who are skilled at seeing through illusions, they simply appear in the form that is most familiar to the viewer. Many choose to live their lives as animals rather than humans, though for Aanand this is clearly not the case.

Smoothtalker - Though casual conversation would suggest otherwise, when Aanand wants something he suddenly seems to develop a silver tongue. Though a minor annoyance for those familiar with him, it’s shown incredible results for strangers- who don’t tend to forgive him after falling for it the first time.

Soldier - Though nobody on the reserve has seen it firsthand, it would be obvious to any observer who had to chance to see that Aanand is well practiced in the use of several human weapons (Swordsmanship in particular, though also notably with handguns and rifles). And had excellent horsemanship.

----

Likes: Quiet, Mischief, Music (Jazz), Shopping, Sailing, Lecturing (Especially when unwanted), and Violence

Dislikes: History, Personal Conversations (At least regarding himself), Bossiness, Orders, Explosions, Drinking, Violence

Brief History: While he’s often tight lipped about his past, somethings can be discerned based on casual conversation: Aanand is old though how old exactly is hard to tell. With a little research it’s easy to tell that the name is Indian, and most people would recognize a British accent when heard. It seems like he enjoyed some level of wealth and status in the past, if his mannerism are anything to go by- but whether or not it’s all a show is hard to say. What is known is that he came to the Preserve over two decades ago, and seemed to be a friend of sorts with Ranger Rick’s parents.

Since then he has come to know a good number of the residents, although if any are actually close to the Rakshasa it’s hard to say.

Your Story: Slowly.

One could ask why Aan was currently inching her way down from the ceiling of a cave above a slumbering minotaur. The simple answer, of course, would be that she knew said minotaur was an arachnophobe, and it otherwise wouldn’t make much sense to be in the form of a giant spider above him if he wasn’t. An equally simple answer would be that she was bored, and knew what was about to happen would liven up her day, if nothing else. However, if one wanted to be slightly more complex, they could assess that the Aan had done him a favor some time ago (A small affair, also having to do with spiders) and this was, in a roundabout way, her method of extracting payment.

Slowly.

There was of course a rather large chance of this going horribly wrong. Minotaurs weren’t exactly known for being the most understanding race in the world, in fact their distinct lack of understanding was one of their most well-known traits. Sure, Aan had known this particular one, Euthymios, for quite some time now, but that in some ways made what was about to happen even worse. She knew he would get over it in time, but until then he would be one sore customer.

And as the sun began to rise on the horizon, she knew it was time to be the alarm clock that Euthymios never asked for. Transforming her vocal chords into that of a human, she extended her eight legs menacingly and shouted:

“Euthymios, LOOK OUT!”

The reaction was almost instant, the minotaur’s eyes shot open and a scream erupted from his mouth that was far more animal than human. He scrambled backwards as quickly as he could, only capable of muttering “Nononononononono...” under his breath, looking for some kind of weapon he could use.

While Aan had intended for the charade to go on longer, it was only a moment before she dissolved into a fit of laughter and fell to the ground, rolling over and holding her sides with all eight legs as she transitioned from spider back into her human form. Fear quickly gave way to confusion for her victim, until a wave of rage began noticeably building inside of him.

“Aan? Aan?! What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

Knowing that she had to compose herself quickly, Aan began to pick herself off the ground, trying to stifle her remaining fits of laughter. She was, of course, naked (Ones clothes didn’t shapeshift with them, and dresses weren’t exactly made for a giant spider to fit into), but neither of the two cared about that at the moment. While she wasn’t exactly worried, the level of anger in the minotaur’s reaction did indicate she had fucked up more than expected.

“Relax Mio, it was just a joke. A bit of… compensation for that favor I did you a couple months ago.”

“Compen…?”

No, Aan had definitely fucked up. As the rising sun caught the minotaur’s eyes it was clear his rage was only building, not diminishing. And as his hand balled into fists he stood to his enormous eight foot height and began stepping towards her- his hooved feet echoing menacingly off the cavern walls. Aan’s hands were held up defensively to try and diffuse the situation further while taking a step back;

“Whoah big guy, I don’t want to fight you. Live and let live, right?”

That, of course, was a lie. Her blood was up too, and every inch of her being was straining against leaping on the half-bull and tearing his throat out. Minotaurs were naturally inclined towards rage, a curse from their bull nature. A Raksasha was similarly cursed with bloodlust. Not simply fighting or killing, but the shedding of blood was ecstasy. However, in polite society that was frowned upon, and she had tried to put those days behind her a century ago.

She was far too old to lose her self-control like a child would.

Euthymios, beyond words at this point, advanced further, clearly intent on causing as much harm as he possibly could to his unwelcome guest. Getting the hint, Aan saluted goodbye before bolting- morphing into a jaguar within two steps and bounding outside of the cave with the minotaur close behind. She knew, however, that he’d never catch her. As she escaped up the nearing tree he let out a scream of rage that could no doubt be heard throughout the entire valley that he lived in- and would be the gossip of the area for next few weeks.

Still, she was satisfied. At the very least, this could no longer be called a boring day. She carried on for another mile through the treetops before reaching the site where she had stashed her clothes and redressing. Not having any more plans for the day, she made her home in the nook of a nearby tree and looked back towards where Euthymios’ cave jutted out of the earth. Almost sarcastically, she offered him a final solute before sighing.

“Some people just can’t take a joke.”