Name: Sinter Heilig
Literally "Saint Holy." Dutch words parsed from names of the proto-Santa Claus figure, Sinterklaas and De Goedheiligman, which mean Saint Nicholas and The Good Holy Man respectively.
Blood colour: Redblood. Approximately #AD2B2B (unless he had a preselected hex code, that is).
Gender: Male
Symbol: It's a jingle bell with a cute bow. Festive!
Personality: Taken at face-value, Sinter is quite the snob. He has very little tolerance for noisiness, messiness and unfounded optimism. However, despite being quite the smart and calculating child, it's pretty obvious Sinter is too young to understand what it actually means to be a mature grown-up, and is only playing up his own perception of adulthood. As hard as he tries to put up a cold façade, it's all-too easy to play to his youth and get him worked up--either into an indignant tantrum, or nattering excitedly about Fiduspawn cards. ("It's a game of STRATEGY and WITS.") He wants attention, but he's not sure what to do with it once he gets it, so he'll usually get embarrassed and back off in social situations.
For the most part, though, Sinter is kind of a huge downer. He resents how harmless he looks, and how his (very obvious, given his perpetually flushed face,) blood color gives everyone license to push him around. He doesn't trust people not to make fun of him and just assumes that everyone thinks he's a stupid dweeb. He puts on a show of being too mature to deal with the unwashed masses, but is actually quite lonely. The idea of being a high class socialite appeals to Sinter greatly, if only on an imaginary level, so he keeps himself clean and well-dressed.
Despite his skepticism, Sinter's opinions can often be swayed by appealing to his sense of aestheticism. If Sinter doesn't know what's going on, he won't admit to it, but will instead default to the opinion of whoever seems to be the most "in-the-know."
If Sinter does know what's going on, though, he'll tell you. Thoroughly.
Strengths:
Compassionate
"If you leave that cut open like that it'll get infected. C'mon over to my hive. I've got bandages. I was just about to make some iced tea, too..."
Sinter hates the idea of coming off as "soft," but as a lowblood of no particular merit, he's inclined to empathize with people down on their luck. He won't make a big show of it, but Sinter will do what he can to help people out. Easily flustered as he is, he usually won't ask for compensation either--because it didn't occur to his charitable subconscious, or he was too shy to deal with being thanked and ran off. When prompted, Sinter will usually sneer and say he wanted to savor the other party being indebted to him, but he'll rarely cash in a favor, preferring not to trouble others with his problems.
He's also very fond of animals. He'll most certainly let his attitude drop in front of a fluffy hopbeast. They get along well with him in return, likely due to his visage of a gentle antlerbeast. Living his entire life in Chittentown, Sinter finds nature, specifically forests and their wildlife, to be profoundly interesting. He knows his lusus is carnivorous, but Sinter has never seen her eat. Seeing an animal being killed in front of him would be incredibly upsetting.
Conscientious
"Thank you so much for coming over! There's a set of fresh towels by the ablution trap and some cookies in the nutrition block. Dinner will be ready in forty-eight minutes. Would you like something to drink?"
At his best, Sinter is a very thoughtful young man. He's very safety-conscious and likes to make sure all his quackbeasts are in a row before acting. He hates surprises, but that just means that Sinter takes steps to make sure he's prepared for any event. For any sort of conceivable weather phenomenon, his hive is probably one of the safest places in Chittentown. It certainly doesn't hurt that Sinter's a savant when it comes to domestic chores. His hive is basically a bed-and-breakfast. He makes his own doilies.
Simultaneously, Sinter is an incredibly polite hiveguest. If you invite him over, fully expect him to bring a platter of baked goods, wash all of your linens, and send you a hand-made thank-you note within 48 hours of his visit.
Creative
"Um… I drew a picture of my Fiduspawn OC if you wanna see it. I wrote a story too. Several. Actually. It's an ongoing series..."
Sinter is pretty shy about his interests, but if you can get him to open up, he's very excited about works of fiction and roleplaying games. He likes claiming to be a respectable aficionado of literature, but he really loves the escapism of hokey stock fantasy. There's a big trunk stuffed behind his recuperacoon full of weathered paperbacks. He's never FLARPed before out of intimidation, but if he were to be invited on a campaign, one could fully expect him to do an incredible amount of background research on the setting and gotten completely immersed in his character, despite not knowing anything about the actual mechanics of FLARP itself.
Don't ask to see Sinter's Fiduspawn card collection. He'll deny it exists at first (quite lamely at that; it's obvious how proud of it he is) and then you'll be there all evening. He fanatical about the show, but hasn't really played the game all that much. He knows that if he hatches any oogiebombs, he won't be able to keep the resulting monster in his small hive, but will get too attached to release it into the wild. He plays exclusively with desert-themed creatures, so there's no problem with releasing them, he just doesn't want to because they're so cute.
Flaws:
Self-Conscious
"Tch! What are you looking at?!"
It's not always apparent, but Sinter has very low self-esteem. He wants desperately to be respected, but he doesn't have the natural confidence to function "stably" in social environments. He's shy, but he over-compensates. Sinter is quick to make judgments about strangers and then rank their various attributes. If he feels that he outranks someone in any particular area, for example, knowledge of desert flora, he will cling to the topic obnoxiously. ("Oh? You mean to tell me you didn't know the Dolorosa's Succulent only flowers in the heat of the second summer? WELL then…") If he feels he can't outshine someone in a group, he'll get nervous and try to duck out as soon as possible. It's all or nothing with Sinter. He's easy to manipulate if you suck up to him, but he needs constant reassurance that you think well of him, or he'll get super neurotic.
Hot-Tempered
" UGH! You CHILD! Would you just SHUT UP!?"
Sinter is easily frustrated by imperfections--namely his own. Not that he'll show it. His ego is fragile, but he also hates appearing weak in front of other people, so rather than cry and run off when made a fool of, Sinter will throw a fit, verbally tear into the perceived transgressor (and their lusus, and their moirail, and their ancestor), and then run off. He won't realize if he was out of line until much later, but even if he does, he won't admit it unless he absolutely has to. For all his self-esteem issues, Sinter has a very hard time taking responsibility for his emotions, and attempting to come to terms with them only makes him more frustrated.
Evasive
"What!? I don't have a problem! You know who has a problem!? Uh--! NOT ME."
Sinter's hatred of admitting guilt isn't just a point of pride with him. It's gotten to the point where Sinter himself will subconsciously ignore problems he doesn't want to deal with without even realizing he's doing so. He'll get annoyed and throw a fit, sure, but he rarely does anything productive when he's upset. His tendency to over-think makes even acknowledging his problems more trouble than they're worth. He's cowardly.
Sinter simply doesn't trust other people at all, and his adamant suspicion can be really off-putting, especially to people who genuinely want to befriend him. He's lonely and wants to be liked, but is afraid of being out of his comfort zone. aka, with people.
Weapon: Bladekind, woo! Sinter specifically wields a saber. It's hella classy. Also Sinter may or may not be enthralled by winter guard routines. He's a lot better at twirling his sword than actually using it to cut things. He keeps it in very good condition, regardless! It's very simple in design, but Sinter is saving up to get a more ornate one to hang over his mantle.
Appearance: Sinter takes very good care of his mien. He's always clean, shined and pressed. Never a hair out of place, and yet as soft as a baby quackbeast. His horns are also a point of pride for Sinter, as they'll no doubt grow into a massive, elegant rack and not, like, curve into his face or something stupid. Hroduf the Red-Snouted Snorty Antlerbeast imagery be damned! Antlerbeasts are proud, magnificent creatures of the forest and they will stab you with their pointy hooves until you can no longer cry. Sinter is proud of the association, cartoonish song characters notwithstanding.
That said, there are some aspects of his appearance that Sinter doesn't particularly care for.
Sinter has what can be described as troll rosacea. He blushes easily to begin with, but the unkind weather of the desert does nothing to help the condition of the skin across face. It's pretty sensitive and itches, so Sinter has the tendency to rub his face without realizing, making the condition that much worse. On one hand, trolls unfamiliar with Sinter will believe he is very bashful because his face is always red. On the other, people who know Sinter will assume he's completely stone-faced, since it's virtually impossible to tell when he's actually blushing.
Sinter does his best to ignore it, but will act put out if it's brought up. He'll tell people it's a sunburn in order to sound hardcore, but that just makes him sound like an idiot who goes out before sundown in the desert.
Home: Sinter lives in Chittentown. He appreciates the number of lowbloods in the area, as well as the complete lack of Twelfth Perigee affiliation. That's about all he likes about the desert, though. It's either too hot or too cold and it's always too dry. He might have even had a normal-looking nose if he lived anywhere else. Unfortunately Sinter's lusus is a desert creature, so it'd be cruel to move her. It's not like a redblood would have a chance at moving anywhere nicer than his custom-built hive anyway.
And his hive is quite nice. It's almost silly looking in its normalcy. It's just a small brown cabin on the edge of town. If he grew up somewhere with trees, it would have likely been made with logs. It's very quaint and two stories tall--its upper story being but an attic used for storage. The windows are paned with shutters and have flower boxes positioned beneath them where Sinter grows cacti.
The inside is similarly cute. The front door opens into a small foyer with a staircase leading up to the attic straight ahead, the sittingblock on the left and the nutritionblock on the right. The respite and ablutionblocks are towards the back. The floors are synthetic hardwood and covered in thick rugs that Sinter has to vacuum frequently. The hive is furnished uniformly in wood furniture, stiff armchairs with spindly legs, and grandfather clocks. There's a fireplace too, but it doesn't get much use.
Like his personal appearance, Sinter takes great care of the appearance of his hive as well, so it's always well-polished and sand-free. Getting wooden fixtures out in the desert is hard work!
Being in such a neat and orderly hive with a clean-freak can be a bit unnerving for guests, but Sinter is actually quite the excellent host. He'd readily give up his recuperacoon and sleep in the ablution trap in the name of hospitality. His nutritionblock always smells like cookies.
Sinter's lusus, however, doesn't fit inside his hive (or appreciate the smell of gingerbread), so she lives in a barn set behind the hive when she's not out hunting or doing whatever else it is she does in the desert. The barn itself is more of a big shed, since Sinter's lusus is for the most part subterranean, so she hardly needs it to begin with. It's a nice thought though.
Lusus: Sinter's caretaker is a sand-dwelling anglerfish… Well, she's a fish in name only--hardly even that as Sinter has given her the formal name of Lophie. Her body is more like that of a hairless mole, but she's such a good digger in the sand, she may as well be swimming. It's not like she's ever far enough above ground to show her stubby little flipper legs anyway. Her face is anatomically similar to that of a frog, as she has a very big mouth and wide-set, round eyes. She's quite large and squat--approximately twelve feet long and nine across. Above ground she sits at about six feet tall. Her back is covered in long antlers that look like branches and small trees from a distance. They grow back pretty quickly when they're snapped off, though she usually digs with them above ground; the sight of "plant life" from a distance in the desert is used to easily draw in unwitting prey during the day. From the thicket of antlers extends a lure with a red, glowing node at the end that hangs down in front of Lophie's face, which is better suited to night hunting.
When a creature's predation method is "sit and wait for possibly days" it's good to have one's bases covered temporally.
In Sinter's eyes, Lophie can do no wrong. She is the perfect lusus. She is strong, and gentle, and understanding, and--Sinter could go on for days. Objectively, Lophie is a pretty chill lusus. She hunts, she comes home, she looks out for Sinter and doesn't give him any grief, but it's a lot more than Sinter has ever asked of another troll. He doesn't like being anywhere he can't reach her, so he rarely ever ventures beyond the desert where it's difficult for Lophie to travel.
Sinter's deepest shame, however, is that Lophie isn't his lusus. Well, she is… In a way.
Attached to Lophie's belly near her back fin is a male angler-lusus. Stubby, barely as long as Sinter is tall, and firmly fused to his mate, Anglerfrogfishdad is Sinter's "true" lusus received at Sinter's completion of his wiggler trials. It wasn't until later, albeit when Sinter was still quite young, that his lusus found a mate and latched onto her. Thankfully the act apparently instilled some sense of custodial duties into the alpha female. Otherwise she may have eaten Sinter.
This thought has occurred briefly at the back of Sinter's mind, but he chooses to ignore it in favor of how much bigger and better and more responsible Lophie is over his "other" lusus. Other lusus? What other lusus? Two lusii--ha! What a stupid, wimpy thought.
Power: He wishes.
