ToC Staff Post xxxxCert, Link to Official Uncert & Inventory Table of Contents & Rules Callum xxxxBasic physical info, personality, etc. History Req Log Art Log
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Nicknames: Cal Race: Wind - Shifter Gender: Male Physical Description: Callum is on the tall side and rather thin, despite being mostly muscle. His skin has the same pale hue as his mother, while his eyes and hair color come entirely from his father. His pointed ears hold back his wavy curls; and on a good day they actually stay contained! Scar count -neck scars caused by an accident in his youth (he was setting a trap, got caught up in the rope and would have hung himself if he hadn't been saved) - As of the battle with the Alks in Sauti Callum now sports a nasty scar just above his right hip, as if someone were trying to cut him through but was stopped. -deep claw marks on his lower abdomen and a menagerie of scars on his left shoulder from a sermal -sword hole in his stomach
Personality: Engaging; Dependent; Expressive
Engaging Callum is extroverted by nature, and doesn't seem to have any concept on personal space. He's charming, kind hearted and flirty when he wants to be. It gives him an easy going air that lends itself to a distance he can easily keep from others. By constantly placing himself in the spotlight and involving himself in their lives he can keep the attention diverted away from himself.
Of course, by default, he's usually very chipper and comforting. It's crazy sometimes how he can always know the right thing to say or do to win favor with another, but that's just because Callum puts so much time into watching others.
Dependent While he's highly motivated to be around others, it also comes at a price. Callum cannot stand to be alone. The fact that his father abandoned him weighs heavy on his mind, as does the indifference from the mother that doesn't even know who he is. Callum will suffer abuse if it means not having to be alone, and in his naive desperation will rationalize it as being his fault.
For years his true personality was tucked away in favor of molding himself to curry favors in others. He's begun to stand up for his wants more, though he still views himself as dispensable. Callum no longer turns a blind eye to terrible acts just to save himself from being involved in conflict, often making him a bigger target than his hybrid blood ever could.
No matter his internal growth, Callum's past still weighs him down. He fills the void with social interactions, and lately not all have been positive... Expressive Callum loves expressions of self; whether that be art, song, dance, or even stories. It's the only sure fire way to calm him down when he's particularly anxious or upset (not that he'll show it; those only able to see it are those closest to him). He particularly loves dancing to the beat of a doeskin drum by the light of the moon. When he moves it's as if all his cares fade into the wind, and the only person he needs to focus on is himself.
He'll spend hours every night practicing his craft. Only when his limbs refuse to cooperate will he retire. Callum fears that his performances are never good enough, so even when a dance is perfected he'll push it further in the hopes of receiving more praise than last time.
Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2020 6:01 pm
History
While Nyah's history spins the story of his father's upbringing, this only paints the beginning for Callum.
Callum is the son of Tariel and Laiyera, born under the protection of a full winter's moon. His is not the story of a child conceived from love, however, but that of convenience. From her youth, the young Wind woman developed a notorious reputation as a coquette who preferred the chase over it's end results. The winds of luck favored her for many years, but upon meeting Tariel, that enchanting Shifter, it all seemed to fade away.
Although Tariel's ambiguous romantic feelings for his lover were never truly discerned by those of the tribe, Laiyera was said to openly dismiss him when it pleased her. For years she toyed with her chosen pet, leading him on without ever truly committing to the one so openly pursued her. Her jealousy was strong enough to end the game when others showed interest in the man; one particular being her own sister, who had had enough of Laiyera's teasing. Laini had been attracted by his exotic features, so different from her own 'bland' form, and found Laiyera to be selfish. Who was she, to claim such a man, just because she was prettier? The only thing that separated the two was Laiyera's larger chest, after all! In the end, before Laini could make her intentions known, Laiyera stole Tariel's affections for good and sealed the deal by allowing herself to become pregnant with his child.
Neither female bothered with asking the Shifter as to his origins. Both sisters were too enamored by his changing features to truly focus on what he may have felt by the entire ordeal. Laini was the only one who so much as thought of him as something other than a convenient lay, and that sympathy was born out of a selfish desire to trump her sister at least once in her life.
When the child, Callum, was born Laiyera did not fall swiftly into motherhood. Travelling the near inhospitable landscape of Sauti came easy to the female, but raising a child while doing so did not. She would often ignore him for hours, curled into a ball of hatred for her own child while cursing her inability to keep him quiet. As if sensing her sister's growing mental distress, Laini went to her in the night, hoping to relieve some tension and found Laiyera attempting to smother the child with his own blanket. Why Tariel was not there, Laini would never know, but after wrestling Laiyera to the ground with a firm punch to her face Laini stole the child away.
Laini had expected Tariel to come to retrieve the boy, and had full intention of taking him away from her sister as well as her son. Laiyera wasn't able to be a true partner to him, not in the state she was in. The b***h was too selfish for that! Still, after waiting night and day for a full three weeks Laini finally had to admit that Tariel was gone. To where, she would never know, but during his absence she raised Callum. He was a happy lad; full of smiles and wonder. Laini began to accept her love for him when he started calling her mother, but even then peace was not to be found.
Laiyera had never left, and though it took her a while to recover from her loses, by the time Callum was three years of age she returned to claim him as her own. The boy wanted nothing to do with her; the gruff way that she greeted him, the all too sweet smiles of apology...it all was all too scary. He hid behind Laini's skirts, looking up to his mother with wide, grey eyes as soft as the moon itself. The very look brought out enough memories to choke Laiyera. She left, but not before pledging to Laini that she would repay her sister for all she had done and wished to play a larger role in her sons life.
Not even a full week after these words were spoken did Laiyera summon her sister to aid in the collection of water. Callum was left to play with the other younglings, and when the two left he waved to both, wishing them a speedy return.
Laiyera led her sister to a pool of water barely deep enough to cover the top of her foot, hidden far from the tribe in a rocky craig. Laini had reason to be suspicious, but she was determined to trust her sister, as she seemed to be making such progress. Why not? She spent every waking hour helping with the raising of Callum. When one was not out during their duty, the other was and the co-parenting really helped. As Laini bent down with her vase to collect the water Laiyera wasted no time in shoving her face first into the water. Laiyera's hatred gave her strength enough to hold her struggling sister until her limbs stilled beneath her. By the time sun set from behind the mists, Laini's body was buried and Laiyera returned alone.
She was surrounded almost immediately and sobbed a horrible tale of the tragedy. Her sister, her loving sister, killed in a hunting accident! Of course Laiyera knew not where the body was; the foul creatures had dragged her off! Callum was devastated by the news, and in his grief he found solace in his mother for the first time in his young life. No one questioned the attack aloud for fear of disturbing the pair, though searches were conducted. Only a leg as found, marked as Laini's was, with tears similar to claw marks around the ankle.
Laiyera left their little tribe in favor of settling down in the settlement of Dernd to the Northwest. She hoped the distance from her traveling group would be enough to throw suspicion of Laini's death off her trail. It turned out to be a good move for the time; Callum adjusted well to life with the Sail Scale traders. He even had hopes of joining their ranks one day, much to the surprise of his mother. Laiyera hopes for glory rested in her son now, and when she came across Tariel again those hopes only grew. A son should have a father, shouldn't he? And surely this was fate! Now she wouldn't have to raise the brat alone, especially since Tariel's step-mother was with him.
Laiyera's madness did not end, however. She became possessive of Tariel to the point of forsaking Callum should he get too close to the man. There was no asking if Tariel even wished to be with her after so long; she knew he must have wanted. Why else bring her all the way out here? A nagging thought reminded her it could have been for the welfare of their son, but she dismissed it as easily as she could the boy.
A hunting accident near his tenth year ended Laiyera's reign. The head wounds she received were enough to convince Callum she was meant for death, but she pulled through. It took months of nursing just to get her to speak, and the first thing she did was scream. She wasn't a mother! She didn't know Tariel at all, so why was she in a room with him and this boy?! Laiyera was inconsolable for a full two days before she calmed enough to beg to go home. Convinced she had been captured, the woman cried out for her sister to be contacted, surely she could help her, and travel was arranged to take the woman back to her wandering tribe.
Callum was isolated from her after that first scream, and never knew when his mother was taken away. What limited contact he'd had with Tariel up to that point consisted of awkward small talk. It came with no small relief that not too long after his mothers "passing", Ming'we and Minga came into his life. The inseparable halfling siblings were something of a mystery to him at first, since they seemed to actually like causing trouble. Wouldn't that just get them punished?! All the easy smiles and carefree laughter brought him into the gang, though, and soon he found friends closer than any siblings he may have had.
In Sauti they grew up together, spending each day as if attached to the hip. Slowly Callum's self-confidence began to grow. They wanted him, not because of anything he could do or because they were stuck with him, which was something of a marvel for Callum. He had Ming'we to fend off anyone who got too close (or what she deemed to be too close, with was alright with Callum) and in return he would show assist in the Jauhar born families adjustment; sharing his knowledge about local plants, watering holes, particular settlements he'd been too, etc.
It was all too good to last. Minga and Ming'we's Wind mother lost her battle with disease; a cough that had settled in her chest, he was told. He and his step-grandmother prepared food for the family for as long as they remained in Sauti, hoping to ease their burden during the grieving process. When he discovered they were returning to Jauhar, Callum understood true loss. Surely this was the end! He would never be able to see them again. Despite all assurances that yes, he most certainly would, the weeks after their departure he felt himself becoming withdrawn.
The departure of his father only aided in his feeling of abandonment. Corine, his step-grandmother, assured him that she would never leave him, and he would be surrounded by love. It was because of her that he traveled to Sol at all. Corine was sure that once they were a part of Jauhar themselves that he would see not all was lost. Sauti was nothing but painful memories for the boy, something to which the elderly woman wished to keep far, far from him.
With a new location came new beginnings. Upon arrival in Sol, Callum's jaw dragged the ground after the sighting of trees as far as his eyes could see. Even with the forest being thinner here, it was still a grand spectacle to the Sauti born youth. It was in this land that he found his friends once more, even making a new one in Nyah, and where he also discovered that his eyes were not as uncommon as he had previously thought.
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