Owain (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
scionoflegend) wrote2015-03-07 05:36 pm
scionoflegend) wrote2015-03-07 05:36 pm
Entry tags:
The Home Tree application
| character |
| canon | Fire Emblem: Awakening
| character name | Owain
| character age | Mid-to-late teens; canon doesn't specify, so I'm going with 16.
| gem | Day
| reason | Both gems will appeal to him, but the night gem speaks more to his invented persona, whereas the day gem speaks to his true self. For all his overblown talk about unquenchable bloodlust and striking from the shadows and so on, he truly believes that truth and justice and light should--and must--ultimately prevail over darkness. Even if they aren't always as cool-sounding.
| wings | Rubyspot damselfly wings.
| personality | Owain is, in a nutshell, a loud enthusiastic dork. He is described as the most hot-blooded member of his uncle's army, as he is fiercely passionate about tales of legendary heroes with their mighty weapons facing off against the forces of darkness. He very often speaks in an overly theatrical manner, constantly concocting his own elaborate tales with himself as the hero--usually a tortured hero with an uncontrollable sword hand that thirsts for blood. He writes some of these stories down, and even goes so far as to act them out, regardless of whether or not anyone else is playing along. He assigns formidable-sounding (or ridiculous-sounding, depending on who you ask) names to weapons, both his own and other people's, insisting that granting an object a name imbues it with a soul. He likewise names his "special moves" and will gleefully shout these attack names out in actual battle. The world is his stage, and Owain seems eager to soak up as much of the spotlight as he can.
It might be easy to assume that he has an enormously swollen ego, but in fact, the opposite is true. His theatrics are largely a coping mechanism, born from years of feeling helpless as those he cared about fought and died all around him. As he explains to Robin in a DLC chapter, he always admired his uncle Chrom and his cousin Lucina for their strength, and felt powerless and worthless by comparison. He begged and prayed to be like them, and in the end, compensated by acting as though it were true. That senseless hope, he says, was the only way to survive in his ruined world. He is well aware that other people often find his behavior strange or even annoying, and he can drop the act with conscious effort--he enjoys the company of others and the last thing he wants is to drive them away--but it's become a well-ingrained habit over the years and he always winds up falling back on it.
It isn't always all an act, however; sometimes he means every word, in spite of the overly-dramatic delivery. A "scion of heroes"? Yes, because his parents are his heroes and he is their legacy. He is intensely proud of his family and his heritage. Of course, he has a hard time getting others to take him seriously, and he can be hurt and upset when they assume he's merely playing around and acting out another escapist fantasy. He seldom remains upset for long, though; Owain is resilient, and a kind word is all it takes to bring him back to his usual exuberant self.
Owain is fiercely protective of those he cares about; having lost his parents once, he is determined to keep them and all his loved ones safe the second time around. He hates to be helpless, and even if the only thing he has the power to do is sacrifice himself, he will do so without hesitation. In the third Drama CD, in which his home falls to the fell dragon, he goes so far as to offer to face hordes of Risen alone in defence of his injured companions, saying that if he can't protect anyone he'd rather be dead. He is loyal, brave, and probably rather more reckless with his own life than his friends would like, but he will always fight to defend them and any who cannot fight for themselves, because that's what a scion of heroes does.
| background | Owain is from the nation of Ylisse, on the continent of the same name, and is the nephew of Ylisse's ruler Chrom, known as the Exalt. The members of the royal family are direct descendants of the Hero-King Marth, who lived over two thousand years ago and whose sword Falchion has been passed down through the generations as a national treasure, for it was forged from a fang of the divine dragon Naga and possesses the power to vanquish evil. One thousand years ago, another ancestor formed a blood bond with Naga, channeling her power into Falchion to seal away the fell dragon Grima; he became the first Exalt of Ylisse, and his descendants have borne the Brand of the Exalt as a mark of Naga's blood within them since that time. Owain's Brand is on his upper arm, and serves as proof of his mother's heritage as well as his own, as his mother's Brand never surfaced.
Owain was always close to his family and grew up with many of the children of his uncle's soldiers, playing with them and forming a club called the Justice Cabal with Cynthia and Morgan. He was still a child when the citizens of the neighbouring nation Plegia, worshipers of Grima, revived the fell dragon and the destruction of the world began. Grima had the power to consume souls, and the bodies of those who were consumed became the Risen, lifeless animated corpses who knew nothing but violence and who carried out Grima's will--the annihilation of all life. They very nearly succeeded; over the course of a few years, much of humanity was wiped out. Owain grew up surrounded by war and famine and death, battling the Risen every day from the time he was old enough, and seeing both of his parents fall in combat. His mother was slain while healing the wounded, and his father died from an arrow he took protecting Owain from a Risen archer. While he suffered (and still suffers) a great deal of guilt over not being strong enough to protect them, Owain fought on in their memory, believing that they lived on inside of him.
Owain's cousin Lucina, Chrom's daughter, took up Falchion once Chrom was slain. She realized that they needed to awaken Naga and draw on her power if they hoped to defeat Grima, just as their ancestor had a thousand years prior. However, in order to perform the Awakening ritual they needed the five gemstones of the Fire Emblem, Ylisse's other national treasure, an ancient shield and Falchion's counterpart. These gemstones had been scattered across the world, and the surviving children of Chrom's fallen soldiers split into groups and set out to recover them. Owain and his group successfully recovered two, but it was not enough; they were ultimately unable to find all five. In desperation, Lucina performed the ritual with the gemstones they had, resulting in an incomplete Awakening: they could speak with Naga, but could not receive her power.
Fortunately, Naga had long ago devised a Plan B. She could send them back in time, in an attempt to prevent Grima from ever being revived. Success was by no means guaranteed, but they took her up on it, travelling through a portal she created at her shrine on Mount Prism and finding themselves dropped into a time before any of them had been born. They were separated on their journey through time, and Owain found himself alone on the continent of Valm, where he took to fending off brigands. This was the first time he'd had to fight and kill living people, and it was an upsetting experience, but he persevered. He was attempting to single-handedly drive off a group of bandits that threatened Sage's Hamlet when Chrom and his army--all much younger than Owain remembered them, of course--showed up and he joined with them. In the ensuing battle he was reunited with his parents, who had no idea what to make of this strange young man claiming to be their future son, but whom he vowed to keep safe this time around. He also received his personal sword Missiletainn as a gift from a grateful resident Sage.
Owain fought as a member of Chrom's army in numerous battles as they liberated Valm from the power-hungry Walhart the Conqueror, found the rest of the scattered time-travellers, and then made their way to Plegia as they sought to gather the gemstones and prevent Grima's awakening. They successfully acquired them all this time, but it was still not enough... for it was revealed that Grima had followed Owain and his friends through Naga's portal and into the past. Although one timeline's Grima would not awaken, the other simply took his place. He devoured the souls of uncounted Plegians who offered themselves up to him, recovering his full might, and sent hordes of Risen to hinder Chrom's company as they rushed to Mount Prism to awaken Naga. They fought their way through, however, and Chrom performed the ritual, imbuing Falchion with the divine dragon's power.
They fought the fell dragon upon his back as he soared through the sky. It was a long and trying battle, but they were ultimately victorious and Grima was defeated. He faded away, leaving only a heap of giant bones in the Plegian desert. With the apocalypse averted, but apparently unable to return to his own time, Owain tried settling down in Ylisse. Eventually, though, he set out on a lengthy quest to "stay his sword hand" and became something of a folk hero throughout the land.
(A few aspects of the game are player-determined, so for clarity's sake, here are the choices I'm going with: Owain's father is Libra; he was recruited as soon as the main plot brought Chrom's army to Valm; and Robin landed the final blow against Grima and faded away as well, turning up again some months later.)
| timeline | Very shortly after the final battle with Grima. Before Robin is found again.
| abilities | Owain has access to many different classes in canon, but since I'm playing him as a Swordmaster, he won't have any magical or superhuman abilities. (Unless he ever gets his hands on a Levin Sword, but I suspect a sword that summons magic lightning might be a bad idea in a tree.) What Owain does have is a great deal of skill with a blade. While his physical strength and defence are nothing special, his speed is extremely impressive, and he dodges blows with ease. He has a technique called Astra, which is a flurry of five quick strikes, and another called Vantage which lets him land the first strike even when attacked.
Owain is also very skilled at weapon maintenance and repairs (short of anything requiring a forge), as shown in several of his support conversations. He refers to it as merely a hobby, but it's said that he's one of the best in the army.
| inventory | Owain has two important keepsakes that he carries with him everywhere: his mother's wedding ring, and a broken piece of the staff she was wielding when she was slain. He also has his sword; while he likes to claim that it's the legendary blade Mystletainn, it's actually just a replica with no special properties whatsoever. Aside from these, just the clothes on his back.
| samples |
| amber entry |
RRRAAAAAAHH!!
My sword hand--it--it writhes in anguish! My blood burns with the unquenchable fervor of the Eternal Flame! [He is gripping said sword hand (which holds the amber) as though restraining it. The image shakes continuously.] Gah... c-can it truly be...?! Can it possibly... yes, yes IT MUST BE!
For ages beyond the reckoning of gods and men have I searched... but it is here, unlooked-for, that my soul suddenly sings in resonance with that of another! YOU ARE HERE! My eternal rival, destined from the dawn of time to be my partner in the endless dance of life and death that mortals call battle--I have found you at last!
[His eyes narrow.] But... which of you is it? SPEAK, GOOD FOLK! Who among you can stand before the might of the legendary scion of heroes? Come forth, O fated adversary, that the song of our blades may echo endlessly across tide and time! Come forth, and embrace... your DESTINY!
| prose sample |
What a strange Outrealm this was.
Even stranger was the way in which he'd arrived; he'd been in Ylisstol, nowhere near the Outrealm Gate, and neither the merchant lady nor the creepy old guy were here to greet him and brief him on the details of his new quest. Owain had to hand it to them, though--they'd left quite the impressive setup to do the job in their absence. Glowing runes engraved into a rock, within a space that looked like the inside of a giant tree... it even smelled like the inside of a giant tree. A pillar of warm light, two great radiant gemstones, and even a bag and clothes constructed of giant leaves. Very atmospheric. He could hardly have done better himself.
Shouldering the bag, Owain stepped around the runestone and regarded the gems with wonderment. One a deep blue, one a vibrant yellow, both were far larger than any he had ever seen before. The blue one spoke to him of mystery and intrigue, of secret powers and forbidden knowledge, of cold mists and still nights and darker days; but it was its counterpart, the yellow one, that spoke louder. Its call was warmth and sunlight, flame and glory, trust and hope and his mother's laughter. Slowly, almost reverently, he reached out and placed his palm against it. A small fragment fell off into his hand.
...He'd broken it. Oh gods, he'd broken it.
He stood frozen for a moment as that thought registered, staring wide-eyed and dismayed at the unassuming little piece of yellow stone he held. Then he took a breath. "Okay, okay Owain, stay calm," he muttered to himself. "You can fix this." But try as frantically as he might, he could not fit the fragment back into its place in the larger gemstone and get it to remain there. It kept falling out. Maybe if he had something sticky... there was a spiderweb across the doorway, maybe he could use a bit of that...
He turned... and yelped, almost dropping the gem. There was something on his back--!
...Wings. There were wings on his back. Attached to his back, and rapidly turning around several more times wasn't shaking them off. Owain finally reached around and touched one, a hesitant brush of the tips of his fingers at first, before he poked at it. Insect wings, delicate-looking but surprisingly strong. Tentatively, he tried moving them. They responded--haltingly and awkwardly at first, but soon more smoothly. What forgotten magic was at work to make it possible, he couldn't fathom... this gem was no Dragonstone, and he was no Manakete... but he had wings.
"By Hector's blue beard..." he breathed. "...This is so AWESOME!"
| canon | Fire Emblem: Awakening
| character name | Owain
| character age | Mid-to-late teens; canon doesn't specify, so I'm going with 16.
| gem | Day
| reason | Both gems will appeal to him, but the night gem speaks more to his invented persona, whereas the day gem speaks to his true self. For all his overblown talk about unquenchable bloodlust and striking from the shadows and so on, he truly believes that truth and justice and light should--and must--ultimately prevail over darkness. Even if they aren't always as cool-sounding.
| wings | Rubyspot damselfly wings.
| personality | Owain is, in a nutshell, a loud enthusiastic dork. He is described as the most hot-blooded member of his uncle's army, as he is fiercely passionate about tales of legendary heroes with their mighty weapons facing off against the forces of darkness. He very often speaks in an overly theatrical manner, constantly concocting his own elaborate tales with himself as the hero--usually a tortured hero with an uncontrollable sword hand that thirsts for blood. He writes some of these stories down, and even goes so far as to act them out, regardless of whether or not anyone else is playing along. He assigns formidable-sounding (or ridiculous-sounding, depending on who you ask) names to weapons, both his own and other people's, insisting that granting an object a name imbues it with a soul. He likewise names his "special moves" and will gleefully shout these attack names out in actual battle. The world is his stage, and Owain seems eager to soak up as much of the spotlight as he can.
It might be easy to assume that he has an enormously swollen ego, but in fact, the opposite is true. His theatrics are largely a coping mechanism, born from years of feeling helpless as those he cared about fought and died all around him. As he explains to Robin in a DLC chapter, he always admired his uncle Chrom and his cousin Lucina for their strength, and felt powerless and worthless by comparison. He begged and prayed to be like them, and in the end, compensated by acting as though it were true. That senseless hope, he says, was the only way to survive in his ruined world. He is well aware that other people often find his behavior strange or even annoying, and he can drop the act with conscious effort--he enjoys the company of others and the last thing he wants is to drive them away--but it's become a well-ingrained habit over the years and he always winds up falling back on it.
It isn't always all an act, however; sometimes he means every word, in spite of the overly-dramatic delivery. A "scion of heroes"? Yes, because his parents are his heroes and he is their legacy. He is intensely proud of his family and his heritage. Of course, he has a hard time getting others to take him seriously, and he can be hurt and upset when they assume he's merely playing around and acting out another escapist fantasy. He seldom remains upset for long, though; Owain is resilient, and a kind word is all it takes to bring him back to his usual exuberant self.
Owain is fiercely protective of those he cares about; having lost his parents once, he is determined to keep them and all his loved ones safe the second time around. He hates to be helpless, and even if the only thing he has the power to do is sacrifice himself, he will do so without hesitation. In the third Drama CD, in which his home falls to the fell dragon, he goes so far as to offer to face hordes of Risen alone in defence of his injured companions, saying that if he can't protect anyone he'd rather be dead. He is loyal, brave, and probably rather more reckless with his own life than his friends would like, but he will always fight to defend them and any who cannot fight for themselves, because that's what a scion of heroes does.
| background | Owain is from the nation of Ylisse, on the continent of the same name, and is the nephew of Ylisse's ruler Chrom, known as the Exalt. The members of the royal family are direct descendants of the Hero-King Marth, who lived over two thousand years ago and whose sword Falchion has been passed down through the generations as a national treasure, for it was forged from a fang of the divine dragon Naga and possesses the power to vanquish evil. One thousand years ago, another ancestor formed a blood bond with Naga, channeling her power into Falchion to seal away the fell dragon Grima; he became the first Exalt of Ylisse, and his descendants have borne the Brand of the Exalt as a mark of Naga's blood within them since that time. Owain's Brand is on his upper arm, and serves as proof of his mother's heritage as well as his own, as his mother's Brand never surfaced.
Owain was always close to his family and grew up with many of the children of his uncle's soldiers, playing with them and forming a club called the Justice Cabal with Cynthia and Morgan. He was still a child when the citizens of the neighbouring nation Plegia, worshipers of Grima, revived the fell dragon and the destruction of the world began. Grima had the power to consume souls, and the bodies of those who were consumed became the Risen, lifeless animated corpses who knew nothing but violence and who carried out Grima's will--the annihilation of all life. They very nearly succeeded; over the course of a few years, much of humanity was wiped out. Owain grew up surrounded by war and famine and death, battling the Risen every day from the time he was old enough, and seeing both of his parents fall in combat. His mother was slain while healing the wounded, and his father died from an arrow he took protecting Owain from a Risen archer. While he suffered (and still suffers) a great deal of guilt over not being strong enough to protect them, Owain fought on in their memory, believing that they lived on inside of him.
Owain's cousin Lucina, Chrom's daughter, took up Falchion once Chrom was slain. She realized that they needed to awaken Naga and draw on her power if they hoped to defeat Grima, just as their ancestor had a thousand years prior. However, in order to perform the Awakening ritual they needed the five gemstones of the Fire Emblem, Ylisse's other national treasure, an ancient shield and Falchion's counterpart. These gemstones had been scattered across the world, and the surviving children of Chrom's fallen soldiers split into groups and set out to recover them. Owain and his group successfully recovered two, but it was not enough; they were ultimately unable to find all five. In desperation, Lucina performed the ritual with the gemstones they had, resulting in an incomplete Awakening: they could speak with Naga, but could not receive her power.
Fortunately, Naga had long ago devised a Plan B. She could send them back in time, in an attempt to prevent Grima from ever being revived. Success was by no means guaranteed, but they took her up on it, travelling through a portal she created at her shrine on Mount Prism and finding themselves dropped into a time before any of them had been born. They were separated on their journey through time, and Owain found himself alone on the continent of Valm, where he took to fending off brigands. This was the first time he'd had to fight and kill living people, and it was an upsetting experience, but he persevered. He was attempting to single-handedly drive off a group of bandits that threatened Sage's Hamlet when Chrom and his army--all much younger than Owain remembered them, of course--showed up and he joined with them. In the ensuing battle he was reunited with his parents, who had no idea what to make of this strange young man claiming to be their future son, but whom he vowed to keep safe this time around. He also received his personal sword Missiletainn as a gift from a grateful resident Sage.
Owain fought as a member of Chrom's army in numerous battles as they liberated Valm from the power-hungry Walhart the Conqueror, found the rest of the scattered time-travellers, and then made their way to Plegia as they sought to gather the gemstones and prevent Grima's awakening. They successfully acquired them all this time, but it was still not enough... for it was revealed that Grima had followed Owain and his friends through Naga's portal and into the past. Although one timeline's Grima would not awaken, the other simply took his place. He devoured the souls of uncounted Plegians who offered themselves up to him, recovering his full might, and sent hordes of Risen to hinder Chrom's company as they rushed to Mount Prism to awaken Naga. They fought their way through, however, and Chrom performed the ritual, imbuing Falchion with the divine dragon's power.
They fought the fell dragon upon his back as he soared through the sky. It was a long and trying battle, but they were ultimately victorious and Grima was defeated. He faded away, leaving only a heap of giant bones in the Plegian desert. With the apocalypse averted, but apparently unable to return to his own time, Owain tried settling down in Ylisse. Eventually, though, he set out on a lengthy quest to "stay his sword hand" and became something of a folk hero throughout the land.
(A few aspects of the game are player-determined, so for clarity's sake, here are the choices I'm going with: Owain's father is Libra; he was recruited as soon as the main plot brought Chrom's army to Valm; and Robin landed the final blow against Grima and faded away as well, turning up again some months later.)
| timeline | Very shortly after the final battle with Grima. Before Robin is found again.
| abilities | Owain has access to many different classes in canon, but since I'm playing him as a Swordmaster, he won't have any magical or superhuman abilities. (Unless he ever gets his hands on a Levin Sword, but I suspect a sword that summons magic lightning might be a bad idea in a tree.) What Owain does have is a great deal of skill with a blade. While his physical strength and defence are nothing special, his speed is extremely impressive, and he dodges blows with ease. He has a technique called Astra, which is a flurry of five quick strikes, and another called Vantage which lets him land the first strike even when attacked.
Owain is also very skilled at weapon maintenance and repairs (short of anything requiring a forge), as shown in several of his support conversations. He refers to it as merely a hobby, but it's said that he's one of the best in the army.
| inventory | Owain has two important keepsakes that he carries with him everywhere: his mother's wedding ring, and a broken piece of the staff she was wielding when she was slain. He also has his sword; while he likes to claim that it's the legendary blade Mystletainn, it's actually just a replica with no special properties whatsoever. Aside from these, just the clothes on his back.
| samples |
| amber entry |
RRRAAAAAAHH!!
My sword hand--it--it writhes in anguish! My blood burns with the unquenchable fervor of the Eternal Flame! [He is gripping said sword hand (which holds the amber) as though restraining it. The image shakes continuously.] Gah... c-can it truly be...?! Can it possibly... yes, yes IT MUST BE!
For ages beyond the reckoning of gods and men have I searched... but it is here, unlooked-for, that my soul suddenly sings in resonance with that of another! YOU ARE HERE! My eternal rival, destined from the dawn of time to be my partner in the endless dance of life and death that mortals call battle--I have found you at last!
[His eyes narrow.] But... which of you is it? SPEAK, GOOD FOLK! Who among you can stand before the might of the legendary scion of heroes? Come forth, O fated adversary, that the song of our blades may echo endlessly across tide and time! Come forth, and embrace... your DESTINY!
| prose sample |
What a strange Outrealm this was.
Even stranger was the way in which he'd arrived; he'd been in Ylisstol, nowhere near the Outrealm Gate, and neither the merchant lady nor the creepy old guy were here to greet him and brief him on the details of his new quest. Owain had to hand it to them, though--they'd left quite the impressive setup to do the job in their absence. Glowing runes engraved into a rock, within a space that looked like the inside of a giant tree... it even smelled like the inside of a giant tree. A pillar of warm light, two great radiant gemstones, and even a bag and clothes constructed of giant leaves. Very atmospheric. He could hardly have done better himself.
Shouldering the bag, Owain stepped around the runestone and regarded the gems with wonderment. One a deep blue, one a vibrant yellow, both were far larger than any he had ever seen before. The blue one spoke to him of mystery and intrigue, of secret powers and forbidden knowledge, of cold mists and still nights and darker days; but it was its counterpart, the yellow one, that spoke louder. Its call was warmth and sunlight, flame and glory, trust and hope and his mother's laughter. Slowly, almost reverently, he reached out and placed his palm against it. A small fragment fell off into his hand.
...He'd broken it. Oh gods, he'd broken it.
He stood frozen for a moment as that thought registered, staring wide-eyed and dismayed at the unassuming little piece of yellow stone he held. Then he took a breath. "Okay, okay Owain, stay calm," he muttered to himself. "You can fix this." But try as frantically as he might, he could not fit the fragment back into its place in the larger gemstone and get it to remain there. It kept falling out. Maybe if he had something sticky... there was a spiderweb across the doorway, maybe he could use a bit of that...
He turned... and yelped, almost dropping the gem. There was something on his back--!
...Wings. There were wings on his back. Attached to his back, and rapidly turning around several more times wasn't shaking them off. Owain finally reached around and touched one, a hesitant brush of the tips of his fingers at first, before he poked at it. Insect wings, delicate-looking but surprisingly strong. Tentatively, he tried moving them. They responded--haltingly and awkwardly at first, but soon more smoothly. What forgotten magic was at work to make it possible, he couldn't fathom... this gem was no Dragonstone, and he was no Manakete... but he had wings.
"By Hector's blue beard..." he breathed. "...This is so AWESOME!"