I actually have to get on a flight in a bit so this is still a work in progress until I find the time to figure out where to go with his backstory. And if the lore doesn’t fit with what [@DeadDrop] came up with, they can point it out before I get too far along. :)

Also, the prose in Disco Elysium got me feeling some kinda way so the profile section ended up being longer than expected. Apologies for any run-on sentences lmao

[hider=Virgil Preaker (WIP)][center][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/6590464d894f47f2baff9d11b7ef379e/tumblr_phirqiYh681vn2tmd_540.gif[/img][/center]
[CENTER][SUB][COLOR=cecece]V I R G I L  P R E A K E R
◄  37     ▎   MALE      ▎  5’10”  ►[/COLOR][/SUB][/CENTER]


[SUB][COLOR=cecece]P R O F I L E[/COLOR][/SUB][hr][color=a8a8a8]
     Virgil doesn’t cut the most intimidating figure at the 43rd — far from it, actually. With his scruffy curls, understated style of dress and the pair of horn-rimmed glasses he’s almost never seen without, he looks more like a harried schoolteacher than the seasoned detective he actually is. And the fact that he barely ever stands up straight doesn’t help in the slightest. At rest, Virgil appears to shrink in on himself, sporting a carefully cultivated slouch that seems to whisper “ignore me”.

To put it gently, Virgil is… troubled. He prefers the company of himself most of the day, only emerging from the dark recesses of his office (and psyche) when duty calls. And yes, he’s well aware of how horribly dramatic it all sounds, but not everyone is lucky enough to make it out of the Yukadran war machine unscathed. As a result of his service, Virgil’s general demeanor is that of a cornered animal. He seems to live in a constant state of hypervigilance — fight or flight — as if the mere notion of letting his guard down would mean the end of him. This awareness, after all, was what got him out of the trenches in the first place, and he would very much like to stay alive a little while longer.

Prickly at best and downright antisocial at worst, it’s safe to say that Virgil isn’t the easiest person to get along with. But while he doesn’t actively set out to be a social butterfly, even a lone wolf like him understands the value of playing nice. The majority of his interactions with his peers at the precinct comprise of short, clipped sentences. He doesn’t find socialising easy or enjoyable, and so, endeavours to keep things as uncomplicated as possible.

Virgil can be said to be part of the “old guard” at the 43rd, having worked the beat for five years, followed by a two year stint in forensics, before finally taking up the mantle of detective — a job he’s been doing for a good six years. Drive and dogged persistence are both values that Virgil has in generous measure, and for better or worse, he’s known for always seeing a case through to the very end. Combined with a razor-keen perception, there’s nothing that can stop him from unravelling a mystery once he gets his teeth in it.[/color]

[SUB][COLOR=cecece]D A Y S - G O N E[/COLOR][/SUB][hr][color=a8a8a8]
     Virgil’s story isn’t special. Like many, his parents were soldiers in the Yukadran Army, cogs in the machine of the Emperor’s dream of conquest. Then, at the tender age of seven, he suddenly found himself orphaned by the last of Yukadra’s pushes into the Belforth Emancipation Legion. The loss set him adrift, unmoored him from the stability he’d known his whole short life, but like all pieces of flotsam, he eventually found his way to shore.

The Nahlstadt Boys’ Home in the Yukadran capital was where he spent the majority of his childhood and adolescence. He wasn’t the only one, of course, and Nahlstadt wasn’t the only home for orphaned children. Plenty others had lost their family in the war between Yukadra and the Belforth Legion, and the Emperor’s advisors realised that the best way to keep him — and by extension, themselves — in power was to start young. Funded by the state with money straight from the Emperor’s coffers, the nuns that ran the home impressed upon the children the doctrines they abided by, principal among them the honour of dedicating one’s life in service to the Emperor.

It’s unclear exactly when Virgil started doubting the teachings of the Empire, and perhaps he never quite believed them in the first place, but he wanted to be more than just another soldier in the Yukadran army. 

WIP[/color]

[SUB][COLOR=cecece]M E M O R I E S[/COLOR][/SUB][hr][color=a8a8a8]
     TBA[/color]

[SUB][COLOR=cecece]T H O U G H T S[/COLOR][/SUB][hr][color=a8a8a8]

     TBA[/color]
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