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Name: Leukos

Stage: Prentice

Race: Pure Matori

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Undecided

Base Traits:

Possitive: Charismatic, Fearless, Reliable
Negative: Materialistic, Vain, Attachment Issues

Personality:

Having survived slavery in his younger years, and given the chance to flourish during his adolescence in freedom, Leukos’ true personality was able to grow and develop. Being trained to perform at a young age, and living in a circus now, has left him with a dramatic disposition. He has always loved stories of adventure and daring escapes, never realizing his life might give him that very same role. He has been blessed with a phenomenal sense of balance and flexibility, able to stand on running beasts and perform tricks at the same time. After being suppressed for so long, and being told what to wear and what to do, there is nothing Leukos values more than his freedom to do whatever he wants. When he decides he wants to do something, he goes for it! Whether it be talking to a pretty girl, jumping on the backs of wild animals, or confronting a bully, he doesn’t let fear hold him back. Working with animals for much of his life has left him bold and assertive; if you show weakness to a beast, they will never listen to you.With his natural magnetism and charisma, he has a way of drawing others to him, whether they be people or animals. His years under the control of his slaver master taught him how to speak in just the right way and say just the right things in order to please people. With a naturally sweet smile and blessed with charming looks, people find it hard to not warm up to him. Years working with animals has taught him how to read subtle emotions and body language, making him a formidable public speaker who doesn’t fear being the center of attention.

However, he does have issues forming lasting bonds with others. This may come off as shallow or detached to people who see him as noncommittal. But in truth, this stems from his fear of abandonment. His parents gave him away (in his eyes), his mistress turned on him, slaves were sold off, animals he cared for shipped away, friends died in war, and members of the caravans he has grown up in leave to make lives of their own. This has all compounded to him having issues connecting on a deep level with people. He also finds it hard to open up and lay his heart bare, afraid someone will see something they don’t like and leave him. That isn’t to say he doesn’t know how to make friends, or enter trysts with young earthlings: he just keeps it superficial and tries to restrain himself from getting too attached. He does however, see the importance of being reliable; living in a large group of some kind for most of his life has taught him that teamwork is important. If he makes a promise, he will try his best to keep it. He never goes back on his word, and refuses to snitch or reveal another’s secret given to him in confidence. He is a good listener, ready to let you lean on him if you need a break from your troubles.

Truth be told, being praised for his natural beauty since the day he was born has taken its toll on his humility. He spent most of his years as a slave as a “pet” for a spoiled Oban noble, so finery and beautiful things are important to him. He takes great pride in how he looks and presents himself, devoting precious time and energy into his appearance. He knows he is handsome, athletic, and talented, using these strengths to get what he wants. While this is great for his confidence, it has made him a bit of a flirt, leading to words like “shallow” and “vain” being used to describe him on more than one occasion by jilted romantic interests. And after living a life of relative luxury as a child, then having that all ripped away by circumstances, he has grown overly attached to possessions. In fact, he is rather materialistic. He uses his money to buy nice things, even if they are beyond his means or seem frivolous. Traveling across the country has kept him up to date on the latest luxury styles, and unfortunately, this has only fueled his addiction to fashion. He sees it as a way of proving his own freedom: if he can afford the same things as the rich that once treated him like their pampered little plaything, it means he doesn’t need them anymore. He is his own man.

Description: Leukos is lean and muscled, years of labor and performing making him lithe and strong. He stands at a respectable 5’0”, with golden eyes topped by long curled lashes. With a cupid-bow mouth, delicate straight nose, angular jaw, and high cheekbones, Leukos can’t help but be described as beautiful. His hair is a shade of blue so dark it appears black, which shimmers a lovely periwinkle luster when the light hits it. He has been growing it out since it was all shaved off 10 years ago, lovingly caring for it, so that now it reaches the tops of his thighs when let loose. The thick hair is mostly straight, with gentle curls at the tips. Usually likes to integrate elaborate braids and accessories into it, resulting in some truly marvelous hairstyles.

Clothing: Having been surrounded by the styles of Oba his whole life, Leukos has found it difficult to adopt the garments of his native people. He prefers to follow the trends of the Oban elite. He loves silks, embellishments, and jeweled golden accessories. Limitations in life have forced him to imitate more often than emulate: substituting silks for lightweight cotton, and jewel studded gold for polished brass and glass. But he still uses whatever chance he gets to splurge on the real-deal.

Accessories: Various jewelry and ornate scarves he has been able to acquire over the years: all classy, rather than garish. One item he has been able to hold onto since his childhood is a spiral shaped shell pin, given to him by his only true friend during his years of slavery, Xewai. The night they were caught trying to get Leukos away from his captors, he was able to stash it away in his intricate hair. When he was relocated to his new “training” facilities, he was able to hide it under a loose flagstone, before his hair was all shaved off. He debated throwing it away many times out of anger at the boy who had ruined his comfortable way of life. But his head would always cool, and reminded himself that they were both just foolish children, they could not have known how hard the world could be. So he keeps it out of remembrance of simpler times, when two children would dream of their futures (plus it is rather pretty). He enjoys wearing the pin in different ways in his many outfits.

History:
The story of Leukos might have turned out far different if he had been born to different parents. His mother and father were slaves of a noble house, bred together to create a child attractive enough to serve guests at the noble’s home. The little boy they ended up having was a small, adorable little thing, with large inquisitive eyes. His mother cared lovingly for the baby, until the toddling child crossed paths with the Mistress of the house. She was enchanted by his charming demeanor, and took it upon herself to take him in as her little pet. Dressing him up and leading him around the house on a jeweled leash, he became a facet of her get-togethers with other noble ladies. One day, the mistress of the house was showing him off to her friends, when one of them was smitten by the boy. Being a noble woman of higher rank, the mistress of the house decided to make the Matori slave a gift to her, to curry her favor. So at the age of 3, Leukos was bundled up and taken away from his family, never to see them again.

The mansion he was to call home was one of the most opulent in the city, owned by a powerful noble man and his spoiled wife. The woman had many pets she tried to use to fill her need for a small-something to coo over, since her children were grown and had already left home by now. Leukos became that something. She ordered him to call her “My Lady”, and began training him to be the perfect pet. The Lord of the house let his wife throw herself into her newest obsession, keeping a wary eye to make sure the little boy never believed himself to be more than an animal. Even at such a young age, he was taught to sing, dance, and play instruments to entertain The Lady and her friends, discreetly punished when he stumbled or failed. The Lady loved to brush out his long hair, braiding it into intricate designs and weaving ribbons into it, just as she used to with her own daughter. He was made to sleep in the same room as the other pets on his own little pillow, and delighted in teaching tricks to the animals to surprise The Lady with. He learned to speak when spoken to, go where he was told to go, and dress how she wanted. It wasn’t all bad: being showered with treats, toys, and attention is something all children love. So he learned to please The Lady, and life was easy for him.

As Leukos grew older, his content life began to feel off. The other slaves in the household looked on him with disdain because of his comfy position as Favorite, and none of the Obans saw him as anything more than an amusement. He longed for someone to truly connect with, and to see the outside world contained in his songs. So one day he gathered the courage to sneak away when The Lady was busy, and head to a secluded area of the garden where an ornate fence allowed him to glimpse the going-ons outside the mansion. The harsh difference to the life he had been raised in shocked him, only cementing his resolve to come back whenever he could to learn more. Time passed, until he encountered a boy that would change his life forever.

One day as he was sitting by the fence eating fruit, one escaped from his grasp and rolled into the street beyond the fence. Leukos was petrified, thinking the fruit would surely be found as evidence of his treachery. To his surprise, it was picked up by a young Matori boy that had been walking by, who with an open smile, offered the fruit back to Leukos through the lattice of the fence. He was too stunned to speak, taking the orange with trembling hands. The other boy introduced himself as Xewai, and before he knew it, his bubbly personality had dragged Leukos out of his shell and into a torrent of conversation. They devised a system for Xewai to let him know when he would be in town at the fence, and departed ways. For years, their system worked, the boys growing closer as they shared snacks, stories, and dreams for the future. They eventually worked up the courage to plan his escape, and one dark night when he was 7 years old, Xewai chopped down the fence, held Leukos by the hand, and took off to freedom. Blunders along the way and youthful ignorance led to them being discovered. Bidding his friend farewell and stashing the spiral shaped shell pin Xewai had given him in his hair, he gave himself up to guarantee his friend’s freedom. He would never see the boy again.

He was dragged back to his master’s home, and everything changed. The Lady was heartbroken to learn her Favorite had run away and betrayed her trust. The Master was furious, embarrassed to have one of his property cause such a debacle. To discourage the other slaves and make an example of him, he was stripped of his prestige and taken away from The Lady. If he was going to behave like an animal, he was going to be treated like one.

The master had made his fortune in the entertainment industry, and so sent off Leukos to the training facilities where beasts used in races and ring fights were bought, bred, and broken. He was taken blindfolded to the building they housed the new Janarim in, and thrown into an empty cage. All around him beasts paced in their cramped cages. Nothing but darkness, filth, hunger, and the constant noise of enraged monsters surrounding him became his new way of life. He tried to keep up hopes that Xewai, or The Lady, would come to save him from this hell he had been thrown into. But as hours turned to days, and days turned to weeks, he lost hope of ever escaping his new prison.

Leukos surely would have lost his mind out of fear and despair, were it not for his years of training as a performer. He would sing to himself of bright days and brave men to lift his spirits and remind himself he was still alive. He began to notice that when he sang, the moaning of the monsters would slowly come to a halt, and the atmosphere of the dark seemed not as stifling. So he learned to comfort the beasts when they were in distress, sharing what meager scraps he could with them, growing to see them as kindred spirits rather than lurking monsters. Whenever one was taken away, it felt like losing a friend. He tried to steel himself against the hurt and the pain, enduring his torment with the determination to not let it break him.

A month that felt like forever passed in the dark, until the managers at the compound came to retrieve the boy. They had hoped to find a broken mess they could flaunt before the other slaves; what they got instead was a small boy unafraid of the monsters caged with him, sound in mind and frail body. Rather than kill the impudent boy outright and make a martyr out of him, they deemed it better to make him the underling of the animal trainers at the facility. They shaved his filthy hair off, cleaned him up a bit, and put him to work. So he was made to groom, feed, and clean the pens of all the beats held on the grounds. It was hard work for a small boy unused to manual labor, given many beatings for the many mistakes he made. But thanks to the newfound comradery from the fellow slaves at the facility who saw him as one of their own, and his own determination, he was able to adjust to his new life.

A year later, war was declared with the alien races of Tendaji, and all the energy at the compound went into training war beasts and mounts. Time wore on, and news began to trickle in that Oba had lost the war. With the freedom of the slaves rumored to be at hand, the large population of slaves at the facility rallied together to execute a daring escape, not waiting to learn whether their freedom was guaranteed. Animals were released from their pens, slavers slaughtered, and in the chaos, the workers scattered to the wind. Leukos grabbed what little possessions he had, recovered his hidden childhood memento hidden beneath a loose flagstone of the Janarim building, hopped on the back of a Xaraan, and fled into the desert with his comrades. He thought adventure awaited, but what he found was further hardship. The merciless desert stripped them of their energy and supplies. They all would have surly perished were it not for their fortuitous luck in stumbling upon an impromptu encampment constructed by former slaves near an oasis. Many of his comrades left for their homes once they had restocked, but slaves like Leukos, with nowhere else to go, chose to stay with the camp. Eventually the encampment moved on, and as years passed, they became a nomadic group that would travel across Oba, offering their services and trade to whoever would pay. Being young and restless, Leukos was looking for something more in his life. So when a group of the encampment decided to break away to become traveling performers, he gladly packed his things and joined them.

Years passed. He was no longer the adorable young boy, now a beautiful young man with a strong mind and stronger body. Their circus troupe has gained renown across Oba, and even into other parts of Tendaji, allowing them access to countless towns and cities to entertain the many paying inhabitants. He has gained a position of respect in the troupe as an animal handler, contributing to the show with amazing feats of acrobatics atop a mount, and helping to train beasts to perform alongside the other circus members. He loves that he is now able to receive genuine praise and stipends for the talent he had to forcefully give away before. But as he grows older, he can feel an itch for something more, to find something new over the horizon…

First of all welcome to Tendaji <3

He looks really good so far and very solid in his history, just one question to start with.

Once slavery was abolished, did he think to go look for his parents or anything like that?

And we'll also need approval from Kapoodles as well since he's connected to Xewai ^.^

My thought is that every once and a while, their troup goes to the city where he came from. At first he was tempted to seek out the mansion where he was a slave, just for closure, and to find his parents. The problem is, he was so young when he was taken away, he doesn't even remember who they really were. He doesn't even know what manor he was born in. And he still holds animosity towards his parents, believing they had simply given him away. Maybe when he is older he'll get over his teenage angst and seek the truth, but for now, he doesn't have any desire to rekindle his old life.