[hider=Alistair Parton][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/f0trgI4.png[/img]

[b][color=0072bc]Appearance[/color][/b][/center]
Alistair’s physical form is fairly average; he’s perhaps a touch shorter than medium height, is neither scrawny nor bulky and has a face somewhere between broad and angular.  His hair is jet black and his eyes are a dull green.  He’s normally at least somewhat well-kept – he washes his face enough to avoid outbreaks of acne but does get the occasional spot; has his hair cut every four or five months or so; and shaves once every two days.

In regards to clothing, Alistair’s wardrobe isn’t extensive or especially varied, since he isn’t exactly fashion-conscious and lets his parents and grandparents buy most of his clothing for him.  His school uniform is worn according to Evergreen’s policy; when dressed casually he prefers mostly plain and fairly dark clothes, favouring mostly forest greens, maroons and deep blues, though he’s also a fan of burnt orange.  Where he does wear more colour is on his t-shirts – which most people don’t know because he also favours heavier clothing, to the point that he’s been known to wear jumpers during heatwaves.  Given that he enjoys walking, he possesses very rugged and practical footwear and sees little need to use anything else beyond his school shoes.

Alistair’s gear in the World of Fog will almost certainly skew towards the pragmatic and practical, favouring his usual rugged clothing and gradually augmented by what armour happens to be available.

[center][b][color=0072bc]Biography[/color][/b][/center]
Alistair’s life did not begin favourably.  His biological parents died in a car crash when he was about three.  Both were only children and, by a stroke of misfortune, all of his biological grandparents had died already; with no family to care for him, Alistair was thus put up for adoption.  This, in most cases, would not have set him up well for the future.

Enter Henry Parton and Steven Daniels, a young, kind couple who had just entered into a civil partnership, as soon as the law allowed, and were now looking to adopt.  Their application came through and, after warming quickly to Alistair and he only slightly less quickly to them, the two became his new parents and their mid-sized apartment in Manchester his new home.

This would be precursor to the best part of Alistair’s existence thus far.  Proving bright, he was placed into private education funded by Steven’s job as a civil rights lawyer, something which he enjoyed thoroughly.  At the same time, Henry’s work running a youth club in Manchester’s heart, where he kept watch over Alistair each day after school, kept the young boy from becoming snobbish – in fact, he became something of a little brother figure to several of the teenagers who frequented it.  Through them, Alistair learned about many of society’s social ills, an education that was redoubled by his participation with his parents in Manchester’s Pride events and their telling him about their experiences when they were younger and society was less tolerant.  Indeed, Alistair only knew two of his parents’ parents; Steven’s were heavily religious and had ostracised him upon his coming out.  Nonetheless, that was the past and this was now; now the two of them were happy together and now they had a son who was quickly developing the fire to confront obstacles to his own and others’ happiness head-on.

Several wonderful years passed.  Eventually, Steven secured a high-profile job at a law office in London and, Henry assuring him that one of his fellow youth workers was actively eager to take on a leadership role, the family moved southwards.  Fortuitously, this was just before Alistair was due to start secondary school; while he did shed some tears over leaving his friends at his old school and at the youth club, some parts of the transition would have been inevitable even without the move, making it somewhat less painful.  Performing very well in his SATs, he more than passed the threshold for entrance to the pre-eminent Evergreen Grammar School.  Indeed, life could seemingly only get better; Henry and Steven married in 2014 as soon as same-sex couples gained the legal right to do so and Alistair also took the surname ‘Parton’ at his own insistence, binding their family yet more closely.

And then things got complicated.

Alistair never quite learned to love London – the place was unfamiliar, yes, but Alistair also found it more claustrophobic than Manchester; there were noticeably more people and buildings packed into any given space.  It all felt rather hostile and, unfortunately, that set a tone.  He didn’t really secure a friendship group at Evergreen in the same way that he had at his last school.  Nor did he find himself with much social activity outside of school hours; not one to fall into gang activity, he instead started exercising his independence in walking through London’s many parks (one of the few things he preferred about the city).  Richmond Park quickly became one of his favourite places to be and he’d often spend hours traversing its pathways.

That gave him time to contemplate, and he needed it, for his beliefs were also under assault.  In 2016, when Alistair had just turned 15, the United Kingdom held a referendum on membership of the European Union.  He and his parents, like most others, expected a Remain victory.  They were proved wrong.  For Alistair, this was a shock; Brexit, and especially the surge in racist abuse afterwards, presented a profound challenge to his previous belief that humanity was moving towards a more open future and would continue that way if only there were people to strive for it.  He came to question whether fighting for a cause at all could in fact do more harm than good; after all, in Brexit’s case, the backlash against the values that he treasured had actually become more powerful than the case for those values.  This wasn’t helped by his increasing predisposition towards philosophy, especially existentialism, and his hardening certainty that there could be no such thing as an objective right or wrong – meaning that all of the beliefs that he considered abhorrent were, in fact, as justifiable as his own.  They could still be fought against, of course, but then he was reluctant to do that now.

Alistair thus began a search for answers that continues to this day – or, perhaps more accurately, for [i]the[/i] answer, one to the question of society.  His investigation fuelled him to near breaking point; what was distance before became active separation in an attempt to limit the perceived threat that any positive effort would entail, even as his conscience cried out that those efforts were needed now more than ever.  This internal struggle motivated him, if self-destructively, such that his GCSEs, then A-Levels, were all great successes, or at least deemed as such.

This brings us to the Alistair of today, headed to Thames’ Edge – close and eminent, the obvious choice.  His great struggle continues, caught between his desire to provoke change for the better and his fear that attempting to do so has an equal chance to bring about change for the worse.  This fight and its self-imposed conditions have closed him off, despair creeping towards his heart for, within it, he still wants the chance to [i]act[/i], to dedicate himself to the justice, truth and harmony that he remains hopeful the world can one day embody.

Perhaps he’ll have that chance.

[center][b][color=0072bc]Personality[/color][/b][/center]
Once extroverted and constantly cheerful, Alistair is now a considerably more muted and deeply extrospective young man, questioning everything about the world around him to try and make some sense out of the growing chaos and contradiction.  For now, that contradiction has rendered him more than a little mechanical, simply going through the motions of daily life.  He rarely attempts to make friends anymore; that said, should one take the effort to crack his shell and get to know him, they would find someone who is still very personable, kind and warm – even fun-loving!  What was previously his main drive, the determination to push society to be open and more welcoming, has been stifled; his primary goal now lies in finding the answers to the questions which are stifling it.

That stifling, naturally, is what has generated his Shadow.  Alistair’s Shadow is what he has suppressed in his uncompromising search for answers: his desire to act, to strive to make the world a better place rather than trying to avoid making it a worse one.  Like most Shadows, it is impulsive and reckless; unlike most, one could hardly call it selfish and, unlike most, Alistair does not reject it out of ignorance or fear alone but out of perceived necessity.

[center][b][color=0072bc]Education[/color][/b]

Studying [b]BA Philosophy and Sociology[/b][/center]
[center][b][color=0072bc]Affiliations[/color]

Henry Parton[/b] – adoptive father
[b]Steven Parton[/b] – adoptive father[/center]
Alistair has had a wonderful relationship with his adoptive parents for the vast majority of his life, a bond forged over many years of shared thought, trust, hope and laughter.  However, that bond is now under strain; Alistair’s relentless search for a way to enact change without risking its opposite has left him little time for regular interaction.  Alistair, of course, knows full well that they worry after him; though he regrets it, he believes it another necessary sacrifice.

[center][b]Janice Parton[/b] – adoptive grandmother
[b]Terence Parton[/b] – adoptive grandfather[/center]
Henry Parton’s parents have always doted on Alistair and that remains true today, something which Alistair appreciates.  That said, he doesn’t see them terribly often any longer, given their home in the North of England.  He’ll make more time for them at some point soon; such does he tell himself.

[center][b][color=0072bc]Relationships[/color][/b]

To be determined![/center]
[center][b][color=0072bc]Theme[/color][/b] (Solemn)

“[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or0yKOUXcNo]The world’s just too ambiguous to live in...[/url]”[/center]
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[center][b][color=0072bc]Equipment[/color][/b][/center]
Alistair’s first choice of weapon system upon entering the World of Fog will be ranged, supportive and easy to use.  The [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/carl_treadway/pavise_ss.jpg]pavise[/url] and crossbow, therefore, will suit him well, allowing him to shelter out of others’ way and strike from a distance.  He will also carry a basic first aid kit, enabling him to help others from behind cover.

Given the above, Alistair will initially reject his manifested weapon: a [url=https://hemasupplies.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/montante2.jpg]montante[/url] with a blade of beautiful silvery steel and spiralling script in that same silver running around the grip – an ever-growing list of the names of each of those for whom he has taken on the role of protector.  Almost as long as he is tall, upon accepting it Alistair may either grasp the blade and use the crossguard to strike at armour like a pollaxe or, more conventionally, whirl this surprisingly defensive two-handed sword in [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxHaNRO705k]great slashing arcs[/url] to keep multiple Shadows at bay and allow his teammates to work and fight unimpeded.

Once he has abandoned the crossbow and pavise in favour of the montante, Alistair will not carry any true ranged weapons; instead, he’ll keep a bag of [url= https://i.pinimg.com/originals/27/77/18/277718e1cd8c8bde74155d898944d37e.jpg]caltrops[/url] on hand to scatter immediately before a fight and collect afterwards.  These small tetrahedral spikes always land with a point up, significantly limiting the mobility of Shadows which move across the ground.  This can be used to simply slow them down or to concentrate them into chokepoints – where Alistair will almost certainly be.

[center][b][color=0072bc]Theme[/color][/b] (Defiant)

“[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-_Mx7vvxCE]I promise: if I’m still standing, you’ll be standing too![/url]”[/center]
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[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/1GRsDIi.png[/img]

[i][quote=Dionysius of Halicarnassus]‘Horatius alone remained where he had first taken his stand, and directed Herminius and Larcius to tell the consuls, as from him, to cut away the bridge in all haste at the end next the city... the rest, he said, would be his concern.  Having given these instructions to the two men, he stood upon the bridge itself, and when the enemy advanced upon him, he struck some of them with his sword and beat down others with his shield, repulsing all who attempted to rush upon the bridge. For the pursuers, looking upon him as a madman who was courting death, dared no longer come to grips with him...  Finally, when he was overwhelmed with missiles and had a great number of wounds in many parts of his body... he heard those behind him shouting out that the greater part of the bridge was broken down. Thereupon he leaped with his arms into the river and swimming across the stream with great difficulty (for the current, being divided by the piles, ran swift and formed large eddies), he emerged upon the shore without having lost any of his arms in swimming.

Horatius, who had shown so great valour upon that occasion, occupied as enviable a position as any Roman who ever lived, but he was rendered useless by his lameness for further services to the state; and because of this misfortune he obtained neither the consulship nor any military command either.’[/quote][/i]
[b][color=f7941d]Background and Symbolism[/color][/b][/center]
Publius Horatius Cocles (the last part, meaning ‘one-eyed’, coming from the fact that he had previously lost an eye in battle) was a junior officer in the legendary earliest days of the Roman Republic.  After the Romans lost a battle against an army of Etruscans seeking to restore Rome’s former king and their own forces fled into the city, Horatius fought first alongside two more senior officers and then alone to hold the Pons Sublicus, the wooden and at the time only bridge across the River Tiber, as it was torn down behind him.  Though battered by enemy missiles and wounded in many places, including being run through entirely with a javelin above the hip, he stood steadfast against the entire Etruscan host until the bridge began to collapse; at that point he jumped into the Tiber itself, trusting himself to the god of the river.  At this point tradition diverges.  According to Polybius Horatius died in the waters, swept away under a hail of spears; according to Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus, he reached the bank despite the weight of his wargear but was crippled by his injuries.  Whatever happened, Rome survived.

[center][b][color=f7941d]Appearance[/color][/b][/center]
As Alistair’s Persona, Horatius takes the form of a man with bronze skin, wearing sandles, a bronze breastplate, greaves and a broad-brimmed, crestless helmet over a deep red woollen tunic; all are battle-worn, marked with innumerable scratches and dents.  Highly prominent are two holes that run straight through his body, one above the hip and one through his eye-socket; the latter of these is the only properly visible part of his face, as the helmet casts an unnaturally dark shadow over it.  He wields a bronze [url=https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/files/1972/07/Sword-Necropolis-Alfedena-Campovalano.jpg]Italic sword[/url], stained with blood, in his right hand.  Most notable, however, is the shield that he wields in his left: of the Republican style ([url=https://i.pinimg.com/736x/a5/e7/0f/a5e70f71e9cd1b49b29024f50a391572--roman-soldiers-knight-armor.jpg]a heavily bowed rectangular shape that bends backwards less than its later evolutions[/url]) but absolutely massive, easily as tall as Horatius himself and proportionately wide.  Its face is similarly bloodstained, stuck with dozens of broken and half-broken javelins and, like Horatius’ armour and skin, covered in scratches and gashes, as is its rim.  The one exception is the entirely untarnished central bronze boss and its plate, formed in the shape of an outward-facing, halting palm, which gleams defiantly against oncoming foes.

[hider=Symbolism][center][b][color=f7941d]Symbolism[/color][/b][/center]
Horatius represents Alistair’s ability to dedicate himself to his allies and friends after realising that he need not understand every facet of the causes for which they fight to do so.  Horatius also reflects the potential pitfalls of that approach, however, both in his semi-historical origins and his appearance: broken and known only for his martyrdom, leaving nothing of himself to the world.[/hider]
[center][b][color=f7941d]Skills[/color][/b]


⚔ Uses [color=92278f]Fear[/color]-inflicting multi-target [color=fdc68a]Phys[/color] Skills ⚔
☄ Wields weak [color=a36209]Tera[/color] and [color=ec008c]Psy[/color] Skills ☄

⛋ May access [color=0072bc]Rakukaja[/color], [color=0072bc]Matarunda[/color] and [color=fff200]Defence Master[/color] and eventually [color=0072bc]Tetrakarn[/color], [color=fff200]Endure[/color] and [color=fff200]Firm Stance[/color] ⛋

⛉ Resists [color=fdc68a]Phys[/color] and [color=fdc68a]Gun[/color] Skills ⛉
⛶ Weak to [color=6ecff6]Aqua[/color] Skills ⛶[/center]
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