Religion: Mash’al respects and worships all gods; making a habit of praying to each throughout the day. Though there are a select few gods who hold his favor:
Nerad: King of Gods and god of judgment; Mash’al takes particular favor in this god praying to him for mental clarity and strength to lead his family.
On'os: God of time and fortune; Mash’al prays to On’os for great success with his family business. He prays for quick clear decision making when dealing with business affairs.
Jonal: God of men and war; Mash’al prays to Jonal for power and strength; for the physical prowess to overcome his foes and the ambition to take advantage as opportunities arise.
Political Affiliation: He backs the old king and his views. The lands of Tendaji is rightfully the Obans, and that the gods have given them the right to take it as they see fit. He believed in this whole heartedly and even offered up a substantial portion (30% or so) of his families fortune to help fund the war; with the promise of double his funds and his choice of lands in the new world.
*Update* With the king overthrown and the war lost it would bankrupt the kingdom to return the profits to the -families who funded the war; let alone doubling it. It is likely that the Tahan family will not get their funds returned to them. In fact they would be lucky to even get a fraction returned.
3 Base Traits: – Narcissistic –Vindictive – Possessive
Personality:
Narcissistic
Mash’al views himself very highly; it shows in his appearance. His hair is always just so, he is physically fit and trains daily to keep himself that way. He spares no expense when it comes to tailoring his clothing and always carries himself tall and proud; almost intimidatingly so. He holds others of his house and his name to the same unrealistically high standards. Because of this he believe they have achieved the admiration and attention of the lesser nobles, making themselves special or superior as compared to the rest of the Fire Earthlings in his societal class. He views his current standing as a mere steppingstone to what he will achieve in his lifetime, and thinks it is only a matter of time before he breaks through into the high noble ranks. Due to his feeling of superiority he has a hard time empathizing with people he views as beneath him. To gain his empathy one has to change his perspective of them, or offer him something of value in return… That or catch him at a time when he feels as though people of importance may view him as lesser for not assisting.
Possessive
Mash’al is a possessive, significantly rigid and stubborn. He is often preoccupied with details, rules, order, and organization to such an extent it is almost impossible to be met and keep a positive way of life. He is excessively devoted to work and productivity to the exclusion of friendship outside of business, cultural, or religious identification. Mash’al delegates over the family business, but only people who submit to him and follow his instruction to the finest degree advance up the company line; he needs “people he can trust out on his ships, not just good workers.” With the exception of his brother who shares a significant portion of the company, and who is able to sway Mash’al’s opinion on certain matters.
Vindictive
Mash’al’s strange behavior patterns cause him to have abusive tendencies. His abuse ranges from verbal to emotional and even reaching as far as physical with some instances. His usual mannerisms generally hold a great deal of verbal abuse, but any who would call him on it would be considered sensitive or weak. He is able to easily pass it off as a joke; whether it is or not. If the situation arises where he finds himself embarrassed the verbal abuse quickly escalates. The object of his embarrassment becomes the target of his abuse and until he feels his masculinity has been restored… the bombardment will continue; escalating until either Mash’al is overpowered or he is viewed as superior to the one who embarrassed him. Even after his masculinity is restored Mash’al has a very difficult time with forgiveness. Mash’al could hold a grudge against that person for weeks, even with an apology.
Serious Problems/Flaws/Addictions/Disorders/Disabilities: A lot of Mash’al’s Serious problems or flaws are a result of being the first son to a family of nobles… From a young age (1-5) he was coddled and pampered by his mother; his father would praise him after every little good thing he did, then turn around and tear him apart for every little mistake. Though through and through his parents valued him above all else; he was the one to carry the family name, the family business, and the family estate. Mash’al began to value himself as others saw him; he idolized his father and followed as closely in his shadow as possible. Shortly after his Seventh birthday, Mash’al’s father passed unexpectedly, and for reasons unknown to anyone he blamed himself. Devastated by the loss his mother became rather unreliable after that, leaving him to care for himself and his younger brother, Tyjah.
All this pressure put atop the shoulders of a boy over 6 years results in him cracking… Causing him to become a bit of a narcissistic douchebag…
Likes: Being recognized, being looked up to, being relied on, being in control
Dislikes: Being emasculated, being looked down on, the feeling of being useless or a burden, being talked down to, being taken advantage of
Hobbies: Mash’al was meant to be a noble, therefore he was to be versed in the use of many weapons. Though as he arrived to his first lesson he happened to witness a man training with a beast, a great mountainous beast and Mash’al became mesmerized by the experience… one man able to make a mountain bend a knee to his whim. He had to learn, had to work with these creatures. The deal was he could become a beast tamer if he learned a secondary weapon to assist him in battle. To please his father he took it upon himself to train in the use of a sword,
Special Abilities/Skills: One of the few luxuries Mash’al has participated in outside of working for his family company is beast taming. It is his passion and he takes it in very seriously; which could be why he attracted the attention of some of the finest beast tamers in all of Oba and had the pleasure of working with the team training the Arwa.
One of his beliefs in beast taming which his colleague’s find intriguing but most haven’t tried themselves is the separation of taming commands and family commands. When Mash’al has his beasts in the home settings they are spoken to in plain tongue as any household pet, but what sets his creatures aside from others is he uses a foreign language that he had discovered in an ancient decrepit text he found and had deciphered many years ago. The commands are sharp and easy to pick out from the common tongue spoken every day. His theory is that his beasts will not confuse when they are being played with as a pet and when they are being given a command by their master. He feels this will have a more appropriate setting when he develops a family, but it is never bad to practice things early on.
Command list:
- Come- Komne
- Down- Lyezhat
- Stay- Myesto
- Heel- Ryadom
- Good- Horosho
- Good boy- Molodets
- Go(Kennel/leave)- Gulyat
- Go home - Domoy
- Quiet- Tiho
- Fetch- Aport
- Forward- Vperyod
- Guard- Ohranyai
- Attack- Fas
Occupation(s):
Currently Mash’al has inherited the family business and done surprisingly well since his father passed. Of course at a young age he had the aid of his mother in dealing with business transactions, but the decisions made were primarily his own (he had the final say in all transactions that went down.) When his brother became of an appropriate age Mash’al offered him 30% of the company with the opportunity to advance his shares if he agreed to board the ships and keep a watchful eye on their operations. Tyjah of course agreed to what his brother was offering and has been boarding ships ever since he was 16 years old (prentice).
Past Occupation(s):
Loyalist Beast Tamer Mash’al had the privilege of working with the loyalist beast tamers on the Arwa project. The magnificent creatures became one of his favorites for their loyalty and seemingly human demeanor. These creatures are generally pretty docile and hardly ever move at fast speeds, but when wartime came around the King turned his attention to the creatures’ massive size and wanted to use that as an intimidation factor. Assembling the finest beast tamers in Oba he ordered them to train the creatures in the art of war, and to their dismay it worked, but what they learned is that the creatures did not turn to killing the enemy because the king demanded, but because they had developed such a loyalty to the tamers that they would harm anything threatening that came near the tamer crew.
Physical Description:
Face:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tSj-mtiV1n4/U1hfhcJ_0aI/AAAAAAAAAZw/Pm9FuY0iOgE/s1600/Marko+Geber.jpg
Hair Color: http://www.violetredhaircolor.com/wp-content/gallery/dark-red-hair-color/dark-red-brown-hair-color-long-hair-style.jpg
Skin Color: http://mrconservative.com/files/2014/07/2014.07.31-mrconservative-53dab51cc1298.jpg
Clothing:
Embroidered leather lamellar cuirass, dyed a crimson red and wine-purple: http://www.darkbladeuk.co.uk/uploads/images_categories/73.jpg
Tektek Inspiration:
http://tektek.org/av/1520868
[Character Collage]
Weapons (if any):
Whip the insturment in which Mash’al tames his beasts, but he has also become very proficient in its use. He can crack it in such a way that it makes a terrifyingly loud crack (the kind that makes your heart leap up into your throat whether it catches you off guard or not.), he can wrap it so many times that for a minor distance can swing himself assuming whatever it is the whip grapples hold of is stable enough to support his weight. But not only can he make the whip wrap tightly around things, he has also developed a holding on the whip which wraps around loosely. If done correctly it gives a firm hold which one would have to untangle before being freed, but wouldn’t hurt .
Ornate Ceremonial Sword Mash’al’s off hand weapon. It is a weapon forged for him to go into war… should he ever find himself the need he could potentially stab someone, but he would be much more likely to sick a creature on them instead, or give them a good lashing or two to deter them from attacking. If all that fails… yes he has a sword.
History: Mash’al is the eldest son of Ghaib and Liesheth Tahan, a well off family in the southern part of Jatine, Oba. Growing up he was the first born and was catered to through life, yet held to high expectations. When his father passed away he not only inherited the family’s company and estate, but his mother was so stricken with grief he inherited all the housework and the care of his younger brother… Under normal circumstances they would have probably all starved, but while his mother grieved Mash’al was able to delegated the housework out between himself and his brother, put issues with the business on hold, and gave his mother compose herself. Once Liesheth was better she worked with a leading member of the dock crew to keep the company going after Ghaib’s death; of course every decision had to be explained to Mash’al before it was put into effect… being the company owner even at a young age Mash’al felt as though he had to have the final word.
In a few years Mash’al had been strapped into a relationship with a “Paragon” of the very goddess his mother adored, Hatald. The relationship was strange at first, Mash’al had no idea how to approach something that he had worshipped all his life… but when it was discovered that she was not a paragon and merely a girl trying to marry up in society things changed; she became the target of his controlling obsession. Mash’al had her doing housework, cooking, tending to him; as women should do for their betrothed. Liesheth didn’t seem to bat an eyelash at the way her son was treating his new wife to be, and Tyjah was the younger brother, the spare… so to say. He didn’t have the voice to challenge what his brother was doing; whether he agreed or not.
Not long before the Annexation was to begin Mash’al was made aware that it would be an appropriate time to marry his wife, and though preparations for the impending war must be made, his mother insisted they wed before he departs. Leaving his brother to deliver his measurements to the armor smith he prepared to wed Shalvesta. It was a small ceremony, not like he would have liked to have, but with the time constraints Mash’al took Shalvesta as his wife; and not like she had much of a choice, for better or for worse, she had Mash’al as her husband. Once the ceremony was over the Tahan family plus one, went back to battle preparations, and after all the ceremonies, all the rites, the prayers, Mash’al marched with the kings army in the first wave to hit the savage lands…
How he attained his wife
A few years after Ghaib’s death, Liesheth took her boys to visit some family in Orrod. While they were bonding with their Grandparents, Liesheth slipped off to a local temple to pray after all that has happened. Upon arriving she was taken in by the announcement of a Paragon of Hatald ; a goddess she favored among the gods… it was a young and homely looking girl, but if the priest believes she is a paragon, then she must have her for her son. Working with the Priest Liesheth worked out an offer with the family to arrange a marriage agreement; between their paragon daughter, Shalvesta, and her first born son, Mash’al.
After offered a substantial dowry for the girl, Liesheth made their visit to Orrod short and got the new couple home to Jatine. She introduced the girl to her new home, got her better acquainted with Mash’al and Tyjah, then left them to do what it is kids do. Something in Mash’al instantly shifted from ‘Bossing little brother around, but still helping’ to ‘Bossing future wife around and scoffing under his breath when she takes too long.’ Mash’al always had a bit of a control problem, but it got much much worse when he acquired his wife and because she alleviated some pressure from the rest of the family… they let her be the scape goat; even occasionally joining in the mocking.
Family:
Liesheth - Mother – Liesheth came from a merchant family in the more cluttered part of Orrod. Her family definitely didn’t come from much and what they had they busted their butts for. Her father was rarely home, and her mother was strict and constantly tidying and cleaning. Her father worked with the people and did most of the labor out of the house; her mother did the books from home and even taught a bit of her craft. She took that knowledge with her when she sought out her husband; Ghaib who was a “struggling” businessman in Jatine. With their combined efforts, though he would never admit it, they rebuilt his company and made it stronger than ever; a worthy token to pass down the family line.
Ghaib - Father A third generation deep sea fisherman; the original company that developed the technology to harvest the fruits of the ocean floor. Ghaib’s grandfather developed a trap to capture the illusive crustaceans that live deep in the ocean. He is very proud of his family’s accomplishments and through that pride has developed an heir of arrogance and stubbornness. That stubbornness and arrogance almost drove his precious company in the ground; Luckily, Liesheth saw an opportunity to get in better than she had and took on the hard work and delicate manipulation of Ghaib needed to turn things around. It is possible that the Tahan fishing company may not be functioning today if the two of them wouldn’t have met.
Tyjah - Brother The socially friendly brother in the Tahan family. Tyjah is quiet and mellow; he gives off almost a calming sense and is pretty good at thinking on his feet. After inheriting part of the family company and starting his travels on the open sea, Tyjah was forced out of his quiet shell and can now walk between “worlds”; taking on a quiet mellow persona when among nobles, but can cuss it up and swashbuckle with the rest of the sailors on the crew. Tyjah is somewhat still intimidated by his brother due to past “emotional” trauma, but part of him realizes Mash’al was a young kid in a bad situation… he took it out in a bad way and never had anyone to tell him to handle his stress another way. Tyjah’s biggest regret is never telling off his brother whenever he would harass Shalvesta. Tyjah always knew that they could be good for each other… she was sort of the Yin to his Yang… She was peaceful and kind and Mash’al was a hardass who told it to you straight.
Shalvesta - Wife [Scarlett Arbuckle’s Character Profile] This section is how Mash’al feels about his wife.
Mash’al was initially intimidated by her presence, being the proposed paragon of the goddess Hatald, he didn’t know how to approach her… But once it was apparent she had really nothing to do with Hatald, Mash’al felt cheated, duped, and used. He became furious with her because of that… it almost humiliated him to be seen by her side or mentioned in a sentence with her name. After they discovered she was a fraud, in a sense, Mash’al abandoned the worship of Hatald. He would never admit this to anyone, but he hadn’t prayed to her since. Instead the goddess’s image just caused this wound in him to fester. He became bitter and angry… but would never discuss why.
Despite all this Mash’al wouldn’t break the contract they were in because it meant so much to his mother… Even after the fraud was revealed something about her reminded Liesheth of herself, and because of that she was determined to keep the pair together… At the cost of their Mental health.
Current Relationship Status: Married to Shalvesta
Relationship History:
Future:
The death of Mother
After the death of his mother he becomes a bit withdrawn. He falls into a depression, and while sifting through her things he finds a box of journals written by her. Through his pass time between working with the company, training with his familiars he will read her journals. Each one he reads helps him better understand what she went through being married to Ghaib, why Shalvesta was so important to her, and why she was adamant to keep the relationship between them. He also is able to draw similarities between what his mother is saying and how he treated Shalvesta… In the future it will help him recognize when he is being “too harsh” and begins his motivations to better himself.
His Children
His children will be his number one motivation to get Shalvesta back and keep her there. Mash’al believes that children growing up in a broken home aren’t given the proper nourishment on a social level and that they will have a better chance if he and Shalvesta act civil around one another, whether they like each other or not. At some time it will come to him that these children would have never existed if it weren’t for Shalvesta and as his love for his children continues to grow he will start to “develop” feelings for her as well… At some point I would like for this to trigger a solo of him talking to a statue of Hatald about his lack of devotion to her, his frustrations, and eventually him breaking down at her feet and praying that it is not too late to repair the relationship he has neglected for so long. ^_- Whether he is able to or not is up to Shalvesta(Scarlett).
Scar~
*We could also do this as an rp if you wanted to have shalvesta sneak in there and be like Omgwth?~ XDD*
Other:
Plots:
Til Death Do Us Part:
- Tyjah and Shalvesta return to Jatine to catch word that Mash’al lives.
- Tyjah gets shalvesta to the Tahan estate where she is faced with her husband
- Everyone leaves them to “catch up…”
- Conversations ensue, or not? Along with overdue sexin’?
- Mash’al brings up being dubbed a traitor and accuses her of slandering his name
- In the night Shalvesta sticks a shank in his back and leaves him to die, fleeing Jatine.
*Journal: Mash’al’s mother passes – he learns of his mother’s occupation and secret estate she had been hiding from his father; as well as the double life she lead.
*Journal* Mash’al has recovered from his near death experience and seemingly moved on with his life, but a late night visitor stops by the Tahan estate to report a sighting- they’ve found Shalvesta… Hellbent on revenge; Mash’al gathers a trustworthy group of workers and his brother to seek out the woman who tried to end his life.
Let the Great Axe Fall:
- Two at the front, his brother out back, they storm into her home and Mash’al seeks out his treacherous wife.
- They struggle, and Mash’al eventually gets her to her knees and intends on slitting her throat wide open, when his brother charges up the stairs and stops him –they have children…
- Mash’al removes the blade from Shalvesta’s throat and follows his brother to find their children which he immediately knows to be his own
- Mash’al takes the children and has the men gather his wife, and the group returns to his estate in Jatine to sort things out.
Even a Sheet of Paper Has Two Sides:
- Mash’al confronts Shalvesta about the night she tried to kill him – as far as he’s concerned he’s the victim
- Mash’al explains his side of “Shalvesta’s horrible life” and why she was looked down on and treated so poorly by his mother. As far as he’s concerned he hasn’t treated her bad at all. (His brother will confront him with that later)
- I’m thinking this might wrap up with shalvesta leaving to hide somewhere, but she would have to return to the house at some point because the kids are there.
A Grudge is a Heavy Thing to Carry:
- Mash’al appeals to Shalvesta to come up with terms when dealing with the children.
Things he will not budge on:
o She has to remain “his wife” to the children
o They have to share a bedroom –not necessarily a bed
o This has to remain in effect until they are “old enough” – debatable
*Journal* Assuming Shalvesta takes his agreement, his brother will come over for a visit… While they’re sparing he confronts Mash’al with the way he treats Shalvesta, and insisting that if he wants to keep her around then he needs to treat her better. Of course Mash’al thinks he’s been treating her fine, so Tyjah points out some examples of poor treatment and starts coaching his brother on the proper way to treat a woman XP
Quote:
Sorry, I just really had to get this out. Feel free to start reading and making comments. Its mostly done... I may or may not add more stuff in XD~
