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Forgotten

Forgotten's Name: Drayem
Forgotten's Gender: Male

Forgotten's Appearance (Physical): Above all else, the word for Drayem is mundane. That's not to say he isn't attractive, he could be called good looking in a simple sort of way. There just doesn't seem to be anything special about him. He's got brown hair, dark enough to make him recognizable as a brunette while still light enough to be close to blond. It's cut short, messy and unkempt through his childhood, and not getting much better as he ages. His eyes are gray, and there's something to them, a faded sort of sadness, that makes them almost hard to meet. His skin is lightly tanned, not quite dark enough to identify him as a sun worshiper, but dark enough to make it clear that he likes to spend time outside. A lanky, awkward child, he won't grow fully into his limbs until he's well into his teenage years, until that point, he's constantly tripping over his own feet.

Drayem dresses fairly simply, and anything fancy or complex inevitably makes him look silly. Blue jeans, usually torn and stained, sit on his hips, and he's almost always wearing a worn tank top in some dark colour. On cold days, the outfit might be completed with a beaten up denim jacket, but he has a bad habit of forgetting to wear it.

Forgotten's Appearance (Traits): It doesn't take more than a glance to peg Drayem as very grounded. He's obviously no day dreamer, and is rooted firmly in the here and now. A follower by nature, he always seems to be looking around for someone to take the lead.

Forgotten's Personality: Drayem is incredibly passive by nature. Sure of his own powerlessness, he tends to stand by and watch the world happen to him, instead of trying to make his mark on the world. A follower, he gravitates to strong personalities, people who will give him direction. Drayem loves people, though he doesn't express it very loudly. He hates to be alone, to the extent of having panic attacks if left for too long, and can be a bit overly clingy.

Because Drayem is constantly patterning himself after others, it's hard to pin down what he's actually like on his own. Around the depressed, he's depressed, around the hyper, he's hyper, and so forth. The only 'mood' he can't pull off very well is that of a dreamer. Drayem has an incredibly hard time picturing any sort of future for himself, and is so firmly grounded in reality that talking about things that haven't or can't happen seems silly to him. He's hopeless at games like 'lets pretend' and would always rather be doing something with set rules or guidelines.

Drayem has two great loves, music and his Daemon. Music he pursues with a passion that he shows no where else in his life. Though apparently incapable of writing his own music (at least until he finds his story) he is excellent at playing the music of others, with technical perfection, if no strong emotion. His Daemon is a steading force in his life. She has the strong personality that he lacks, and when there's no one else around to lead him, he follows her. Indeed, she protects him somewhat from blindly following those who would lead him into trouble, because she's a better judge of character than he is.

Powers, talents, special traits?: Drayem's powers are rather subtle, but they can be sensed by those around him. He projects a sub-conscious field of... we'll call it reality... that makes it difficult to do magic around him. Mind, it's not impossible, he's not that strong, it's just harder when he's nearby. Similarly, getting powers like telepathy and empathy to work on him is incredibly difficult, more so than just using magic around him. This power will only work until he finds his path. Once he starts accepting himself and 'writing his own story' it will quickly fade.

Summoning- Drayem's second ability will be fairly weak to start. As nearly as it can be understood, Drayem can use his music to summon animals (though the ability will extend to beings of the other realm with practice). As nearly as it can be understood, he can open 'doors' to other locations, and lure beings through the door using music. It should be noted that he can't use his music to compel, only invite. He also can't go through the doors himself, or take others through them.

To start, his ability will be limited to calling crows to him when he plays. It doesn't matter if there are crows in the area, they just come. This will be the full extent of his ability until he finds his path. After that, he'll start creating his own music. He will be able to craft his songs to appeal to specific animals, or even to call into the realm of faerie. The summons only last for the amount of time he's playing, after which, the beings called inevitably depart through the same 'door' they came.

Other important qualities: Drayem's musical. He'll have his fiddle from his earliest years, and as he grows his interest in music will lead him to learn other instruments. While technically perfect, his music will contain no spark, no emotion, until he finds his story.

Other important concept details: Drayem concept is an exploration of the necessity of purpose. In his early stages, and well into his teens, Drayem will be a drifter, denying that there is any real reason, any higher purpose for him. He doesn't deny it to other people, but he firmly believes that he doesn't have a real story. In the end, Drayem will be forced to realize that a person's story is what it is made to be. The realization that he's writing his story already, a story in which he's only a supporting character, and never the protagonist, will effect his viewpoint greatly. He'll become more active in his own life, to the excess at first, before settling into a level of normalcy.

Echoes

Excerpt: ...a slow reel. He leans back, puts his hands behind his head, looks up into the bare branches of the trees. Just before he closes his eyes, he sees those birds return, one after the other, leafing the branches with their black wings. He doesn't hear a door open, all he hears is her fiddle. He finishes closing his eyes and lets the music take him to a place where he doesn't have to think about the story of his life.

How does the excerpt affect the pair?:
The excerpt is strong, yet invisible in it's forming of their path. It highlights themes, without being overwhelming in its control. Music, the question of a story, Drayem's power, and the denial of anything unreal, it's all in the passage (some points are only visible in the context of the tale). But a theme is not a story, and what direction the pair will choose to take their story is completely up to them, after all, that's what Drayem is trying to learn.

What does it reveal about..

.. their past?: It's unclear in what it reveals, the brief moment it illuminates is so seemingly small. But it shows, more than anything, is the beginning of the end for Drayem in his previous life. He lost himself, lost track of his story, and it all went down hill from there.
.. how they are now that they are "reborn" as a Forgotten? Drayem believes there are no paths, and thus, he doesn't let the passage effect him much. And yet he uses it in his thoughts and philosophies, his belief that he has no story, no purpose. Fiddle sees more clearly. She understands the passage as a sort of warning, a vision of what has happened and can happen. It's because of the passage that she's so determined to get Drayem to take action in his life.
.. their future?: This is unclear, unless Drayem learns to create his own future, he's bound to fade again. But it's no prophesy, there's hope for the boy, if he chooses to take control. He doesn't have to live in the stories of others, if he learns to write his own.

WTF is Tred?

Alright, I'll keep this brief because it really doesn't have anything to do with Drayem. But it does have to do with his father, and both his other 'relatives', who will have a huge part in his life.

Tred is a gang, of sorts. It's currently run by Michael, but its existence predates him. In short, they're vigilantes. Just about every member of Tred lost someone they loved to violence, and for whatever reason, the guilty party was either never caught, or was let free. As a result, the band formed to protect people, particularly in the slums, who weren't being protected otherwise. The name Tred comes from the fact that they feel they go 'Where Angels fear to Tread'. Members of Tred tend to have a very black and white mentality. They see the world in categories. Prey, or sheep, who need protecting. Predators, or wolves, who need to be killed. And Dogs, or Tred, who protect the sheep and chase off the wolves. Their methods aren't exactly nice, and it's dangerous work.

Kyle is no longer a member of Tred. He was shot in the leg, and as a result, he walks with a noticeable limp. In other words, he became a liability. Kyle is also one of the least extreme members of the gang, one of the few that focuses on the protection aspect and not the punishment aspect. He's more or less the exact opposite of Lithle, who's all about the punishment and really doesn't give a damn about the sheep.

Mr. Jones
Counting Crows

Sha la la la la la la la.
Oh.
Uh huh.
I was down at the New Amsterdam starin' at this yellow-haired girl,
Mr. Jones strikes up a conversation with a black-haired flamenco dancer.
You know, she dances while his father plays guitar.
She's suddenly beautiful.
And we all want something beautiful.
Man, I wish I was beautiful...
So come dance the silence down through the mornin'.

Sha la la la la la la la.
Yeah.
Uh huh.
Yeah.

Cut up, Maria! Show me some of that Spanish dancin'.
Pass me a bottle, Mr. Jones.
Believe in me,
help me believe in anything.
'Cause I wanna be someone who believes.
Yeah.

Mr. Jones and me tell each other fairy tales,
and we stare at the beautiful women:
"She's looking at you. Ah, no, no, she is looking at me."
Smilin' in the bright lights.
Comin' through in stereo.
When everybody loves you, you can never be lonely.

Well, I will paint my picture.
Paint myself in blue and red and black and gray.
All of the beautiful colors are very, very meaningful.
Yeah, well you know, gray is my favorite color.
I felt so symbolic yesterday.
If I knew Picasso,
I would buy myself a gray guitar and play.

Mr. Jones and me look into the future.
Yeah, we stare at the beautiful women:
"She's looking at you.
I don't think so. She's looking at me."
Standin' in the spotlight.
I bought myself a gray guitar.
When everybody loves me, I will never be lonely.
I will never be lonely.
Said I'm never gonna be lonely.

I wanna be a lion.
E-everybody wanna pass as cats.
We all wanna be big, big stars, yeah but, we got different reasons for that.
Believe in me 'cause I don't believe in anything,
and I wanna be someone to believe, to believe, to believe.
Yeah.

Mr. Jones and me stumbling through the barrio.
Yeah, we stare at the beautiful women:
"She's perfect for you. Man, there's got to be somebody for me!"
I wanna be Bob Dylan.
Mr. Jones wishes he was someone just a little more funky.
When everybody loves you, ah son, that's just about as funky as you can be.

Mr. Jones and me starin' at the video.
When I look at the television I wanna see me starin' right back at me.
We all wanna be big stars, but we don't know why and we don't know how.
But when everybody loves me, I wanna be just about as happy as I can be.
Mr. Jones and me, we're gonna be big stars...


Rather fitting, I find, and the tone of most Counting Crows songs fit his general mood. I may go through and type up the live version of this song, which a bit different, and even more appropriate.

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