Post by Matthew Sanctum on Sept 29, 2016 3:25:11 GMT
Matthew Aaron Sanctum
played by Liekos
Male
Twenty-Four
Pansexual
Free Rider
Wandering
Appearance
Having come from a family of privilege and experienced the hardships of poverty alike at differing points of his life, it’s safe to say that he’s worked hard through trial and error- and his direct appearance openly and clearly displays such a fact, as well. His skin is on the lighter side, though holds the ever so slightest tan. Standing strong at a height of six foot three, Matthew Sanctum weighs in at an average of one hundred and eighty-three pounds; all compacted within a thinner, yet toned figure, with a good majority of the weight being a result of activity-produced muscle. Often kindly and respective towards most individuals are a duo of piercing, emerald green eyes that he hosts; each of a somewhat narrowed shape as a result of inheriting his father’s genetics for the most part when it came to his eyes in general. Either eye of his would more or less be equally shrouded over his his hair, however; kept rather messily, and borderline medium-long as far as the hair length itself goes. Contrasting to the bright and vibrant coloring of his eyes, his hair is a simple, abyssal hue of black. Upon the lobe of either of his ears would be an onyx stud, with a few more of the same variety scaling up along the more cartilage-composed portions of his ears. The further up they go, the smaller they get, and end roughly halfway up either ear. On the top of the right ear would be a silver ring piercing. As far as scars go to show his developed character, the most prominent would likely be the scar striking across his lip, as well as the one striking across both his left eyebrow and eye, causing a small streak of hair within said brow to be unseen. The rest are smaller, minor scars that are scattered across his body; mainly the torso and hands.
Despite being the sort of mercenary, “go-with-the-flow” type of man, Matthew expresses his fashion sense within a mildly extravagant display. For starters, he wears a simple, vested, and collared shirt, composed of a durable fabric seemingly of a cross between wool and cotton, though is much more comfortable and soft to the touch. Over this, he sports another hooded layer, though this one would be much longer as far as the tail went, and was originally a longsleeved coat. Due to personal customization, however, he cut the majority of either sleeve off, leaving a small portion of fabric to cover the tops of his shoulders. Although normally opened, the front is often bound loosely by a series of tassels further up around his chest, allowing for there to be room for a breeze to blow the coat around to some degree within windier scenarios. The topmost portion of his coat is usually held together, anyways, by a slightly worn-out and hooded cloak that he’s never seen without when venturing through the realms.
As for the lower body, he wears a pair of breeches, styled so that the fabric around the thighs are a tad baggier, while the fabric around the knees and calves of his legs are a bit more tightly-knit, and are composed mostly of leather when glancing at the areas around his thighs. They’re held up by a customized hunter’s belt, of sorts, from which his two, go-to swords reside within their sheathes. Surrounding them are small pouches, each containing minor necessities like spare change, bandaging and anti-bacterials, and other things of that sort. Covering the lower portions of his legs - as well as the parts where leather eventually cuts off into a softer, woolen material - would be a pair of knee-high boots. While composed of leather first and foremost, he has taken care to fortify them with thinner, yet durable plates of metallic armoring.
Upon the right arm would be a small band, bound just beneath his shoulder as it hosts a spare dagger or two for emergency purposes. As for both of his arms respectively, he would almost always be caught wearing a duo of lightly armored gauntlets; each forged for him by a friend of his that he met during travels across the realms. When clenched within a specific way, a single blade atop either gauntlet will slide out and lock in its place until unclenched again, allowing for effective defensive and offensive gestures alike. When going into accessories that don’t pertain to combat or defenses, however, there are still a couple of things to take note of. One would be something that was stated earlier: his hooded cloak. Aside from that, however, he always has a duo of pendants that he keeps as mementos of his parents from years in his past: a rose pendant and a sword pendant, each given to him by his mother and father respectively.
Personality
In general, Matthew is a rather calm and level-headed individual who tends to have his moments of silence and deep thought. Even in the most pressure-inducing scenarios, he almost always handles things with a sort of flawless ease, and is able to both think of ideas and strategies on the fly, and to also quickly change his way of action to better fit a situation. A lot of the time, he may or may not seem detached or a bit aloof emotionally, and this will be due to the fact that, during his years in his old “gang,” he built a sort of quiet and regretful nature for himself as he moved through days of training and hunting down the targets that he himself related to and felt genuinely sorry for. This being said, he actually does sympathize with a lot of people, and tends to care for those in need- regardless if those that he encounters are complete strangers or long-time friends and companions- although, at the moment, he would likely have a little bit of trouble being able to perceive and recognize those friends and companions due to reasons that will be stated later on. Ever since he managed to separate himself from the underground system that he was abducted into, he’s been known to roam across the realms while maintaining a sort of getaway home or bunking lounge with a friend or two in Areis and Velderoth, helping citizens and other people like himself who have needed the extra hand. Because of this, it’s safe to say that he’s a sort of hero-type and justice-seeking individual in the eyes of those around him, as he often shows little to no hesitation when helping those with a pure heart and legitimate struggle. Even when in the face of other criminals or others with bad intentions, he’ll often attempt pacification by talking with them and trying to convince them to realize what exactly it is they’re actually doing, much like how he himself did after beginning to gradually recover his own, deeply buried morals and personality.
...Even if he knows that trying this will almost always fail.
Despite his initial seriousness, however, Matt does have a sense of fun, adventure, and humor when putting his cautiousness and alertness to the side to some degree. Be it when he’s helping others out or is conversing casually with his friends, he’ll probably be caught wearing a subtle if not completely noticeable and genuine smile. This stems from his quietly calm nature towards many people, but this can be easily reversed if he finds that those he encounters are immoral in several ways. Should he come across criminals or even any of his old gang affiliates, he’ll, of course, try to talk them out of what they’re doing. If he fails, however, he’ll more than likely grow a bit deadpanned and emotionless, which may even turn into rage if he feels disgusted enough towards someone.
And when he gets enraged, it’s never fun or pretty.
History
Within the transition of late summer going on to the days of early autumn roughly twenty-four years into the past, Matthew was born in Areis to a duo of fellow Free Riders, each named Thane Sanctum and Adrianna Sanctum - formerly Adrianna Parker - respectively. Being the son of his father and his second wife, he was the second son under the Sanctum family name, becoming known as the younger step-brother to Scifo Jonathan Sanctum, Thane’s first son with his first wife, Edith Lim, the moment that he had been birthed to the realms. Despite the lack of a full, blood-bonded relation between the two brothers, however, they each held a rather tightened relation with one another. Throughout the years, it would become a trend to see both boys together, backing one another up whenever they needed it, and simply goofing around during calmer times and days.
Prior to Matthew’s and Scifo’s birth alike, Thane and his first wife, Edith, had both been Free Riders roaming the realms, living a sort of nomadic lifestyle throughout the realms as monster hunters, bounty hunters, and general mercenaries, as well. Having been in their career choice for quite a while, the two were more than well off when they first encountered one another in a mission briefing prior to a substantial hunting venture. Following that event, the two left with a good amount of wounds, but with more Kell than they had initially accounted for. Deciding that they produced a rather efficient and chemistry-driven team, they both continued working together. The constant contact eventually led to something more, and they got married and had Scifo within the bounds of Velderoth soon afterwards. A year or so after, however, an accident occurred, and Edith died in the process. Though devastated, Thane himself grasped the mentality of not weeping over the past, and thus continued his life with his son despite the tragedy. A year afterwards, he met Adrianna, and the two got married soon after, eventually having Matthew as their own child in Areis.
Much like what had happened when Thane and Edith had Scifo, he and Adrianna decided to settle down for a shorter period of time in order to maintain a sense of security and ease while taking care of their second newborn. The family of four stayed within the sanctity of a small, forest-bound hunter’s village in Areis as a result, and both Scifo and Matthew ended up spending a good majority of their childhoods within that particular realm because of this. To continue providing for them, both Thane and Adrianna often took shifts to venture back out within the wilderness of the realms, embarking upon hunts and bounties in order to make a living- and when a particular mission required both of them for sake of manpower, they left their children within the care of a trusted friend of theirs who still lives in Areis to this day. Due to their skill and the higher-tier requests that they took, their income was more or less on the fruitful side, and thus they were able to spoil Scifo and Matthew appropriately, making it able for them to have an enjoyable time during their adolescent years.
Several months after Matthew had turned ten or so, however, things began taking a turn for the worst. Within the span of a few weeks, Thane and Adrianna had heard word of a distant, dragon-oriented issue some ways away, holding a rather generous reward for anyone who at least showed up to help out. Having decided that he would go out to help, Thane gave what he thought would be his temporary goodbyes before departing upon his beloved dragon, Vitae, and heading off towards the location in which the trouble was brewing near. Adrianna stayed behind to watch over the boys, patiently waiting through the days with a subtle confidence that he would return with nothing more than a few good wounds for her to tend to when he came back.
That day never came, however.
Instead, she, Scifo, and Matthew were greeted by the very same clan of dragons that Thane had set off to attempt to fend against- although in smaller numbers, due to the fact that both human and draconian kind had supposedly suffered a good amount of casualties during their retaliations. They obtained a warning of the chaos to come as Vitae managed to fly back a week or so following Thane’s departure; wounded, weakened, and without her beloved rider accompanying her. A little while after she arrived and Adrianna took to her wounds, the rest of the clan had arrived, quickly getting to work on laying a fair amount of their village to ruins.
Set on staying behind to aid her fellow Free Riders as best as she could, she gathered her own dragon, Mortum, and sent him off with Scifo, Matthew, and Vitae, as well as a good friend of hers who served as a guide and protection for her family as they made their way further into Areis and away from the forests. After arriving closer to the mainlands of the Areis isles and seeking a seeming temporary refuge with another friend that their parents knew, the person that had served as their guide told them to stay in the area before leaving for the forests yet again in order to help the other Free Riders in fending the other drakes off.
Neither Scifo nor Matthew saw him again, and the same applied to their mother.
Lacking the evidence proving her life, as well as their father’s, both Thane and Adrianna have been dead as far as they have known to this day.
The brothers stayed with their parents’ friend for a good year or so before leaving without a trace rather suddenly in the night. Having memorized flight paths across the skies when their parents were still alive, Scifo guided Matthew across the skies to his home realm of Velderoth; Scifo atop the back of Vitae, and Matthew atop the back of Mortum, respectively. They both settled their dragons on the outskirts of where the cities began for sake of avoiding suspicion, making it a habit to visit both of them during ventures away from the city for when they needed a grace period away from the population of poverty that they joined, due to the fact that their old home in Areis was likely no more by then. Like always, they held out for one another, defending each other when they encountered trouble within the darker streets.
Eventually, however, the two would grow a bit more distant. Both of them ended up utilizing the hunting and general skills that their parents had taught them, going on to embark upon smaller, lesser-known missions among themselves in order to make a living. In the process, though, they each began tangling themselves within different crowds against their will. After some time, they were captured and sent to an orphanage, where they were officially separated. Scifo was adopted by a kinder and caring family, while Matthew himself was adopted by a rather harsh, strict man, who - much like his blood father - was a Free Rider. Unlike Thane, however, his new, adoptive father - whom he knew as a man by the name of Lee Jacobis - treated him with constant disregard, often using him as a beating alternative for stress relief, as well as a working mule. Although resistant against this treatment at first, he was eventually degraded emotionally as time went on, and become more and more influenced by Lee’s abusive and rash nature. Because of this he drifted away from his initial, shy, and kind nature, going on to become an equally dominating and sketchy type of character. Between following Lee on the occasional hunt and enduring the beatings that he had to offer, Matthew also got involved within a group of other, younger criminals around his age when he turned fourteen or so, often engaging within minor illegal activities behind his “father’s” back.
There came a time when he returned to the roosting place of both Vitae and Mortum alike in order to get away from everything and to calm himself down, but that long-awaited trip was met by an unexpected encounter. Upon arriving, he did find both Vitae and Mortum there within the nesting roost that they had forged during their riders’ absences, but there was one other individual that he saw there, too.
Scifo.
Of course, he missed his brother ever since their separation- but, at the same time, he held intense feelings of disgust and distrust towards him, since, in his eyes, Scifo had abandoned him for a harsher life after their parents had died. Before Scifo had the chance to say anything, Matthew had quickly run over to where he was, tackling him over and going on to express his emotions through a painfully physical means of communication. To that, they both fought for a small amount of time while both Vitae and Mortum alike watched from the sidelines, despite being clearly concerned for the brothers that they looked over.
The fight eventually ended in a second separation in which Scifo left for Velderoth once more. Matthew stayed at the cave in which their dragons had been seeking refuge all those years before he himself returned, as well. Three more years passed afterwards, leaving Matthew to his thoughts within the span of time that he lacked an encounter with his brother again. It eventually concluded with his decision to depart once more- although on his own this time. Yet again, he snuck out of Lee’s home with a clear and refreshed mind - something he hadn’t been able to have since he was taken under Lee’s custody - and quickly ventured out to the caves in which Vitae and Mortum stayed in. After a brief awakening and a subtle goodbye to Vitae, Matthew took Mortum and rode into the night, beginning his venture across the realm with a newfound mind, intent on returning to make amends with his brother after he himself had redeemed himself of all the unjustified actions that he had done and taken part in within his past by following in his parents’ footsteps, taking up the life of a Free Rider and helping those who needed it in between the occasional hunt in order to support himself.
To this day, he roams freely around the realms with these lingering intentions of his alongside Mortum. Much like his parents, he has gathered quite a few contacts and friends through the realms and his ventures, and, thus, has a good friend or two that he often stays with whenever he visits Velderoth or Areis.
Haru Yoshida from Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun
coded by ulla
