tongueamok | NOI┴∀WɹOℲNI

Setting:

The principality of Dargaran is a small one, and the villages within it even smaller. Ruling that principality in place of the ailing Prince Decan is his father, King Nedrus. Naturally, as he is supposed to be keeping watch on the rest of his kingdom, the king doesn't particularly have time to keep a close eye on Dargaran, and so its economy has been in the dumps as of late. Though the principality sees plenty of travelers from other lands, ranging from standard fantasy fare of Elves and Dwarves to half-beaverkin and the occasional wizard who turned his entire arm into wood through a magical mishap, it unfortunately doesn't see much in the way of money.

And that is the case with the town of Bear Den... or perhaps Beared In, as there is some debate among the population which it actually is. All anyone knows for certain is that there are bear dens in the area, the founder of the town was once trapped inside one of said dens by a bunch of bears, and everyone agreed that the name Bearricade was just asinine.

Though located on the Cottonmouth River, the town lacks much in the way of industry, and has fallen on harder times than most. This is primarily due to two things: first, the principality has recently come under the attack of the undead, as a necromancer has set his sights on the area for building his own domain (and one might think the king would care that land was being invaded under his nose, but... well, Decan isn't exactly his favorite son). The second problem is that the Bear Den's main source of income, renowned monster hunters and trappers known as the Longinmouth Brothers, the perfect people for dealing with hordes of undead abominations, vanished without a trace years ago.

And as for the heir to their estate, he has problems of his own.

The main religion in the kingdom is the following of the Camisou (the Clarity) and the Domu (the Shroud). Those who have come so close to death that they have seen the Shroud of the Land Beyond Living are said to be cursed twice: once for having nearly died in the first place, and a second time for having wasted the Shroud's time -- while he is not an evil god, the Shroud is a very busy god, and he does not like to have his time wasted.

Though they sometimes return to the world of the living with gifts -- typically magical in nature, as their souls are said to enter another realm and absorb some of the properties from it -- the twice-cursed are often changed for worse. Some return to life with immense, unyielding strength, but also with a limb deadened beyond repair; others gain the ability to glimpse into the future, yet lose their sight, their eyes having been seared for gazing even once at a plane beyond their comprehension. Some even lose their minds, as nothing can compare to the horrors they saw in the Land Beyond Living... even if they can't fully remember said horrors upon waking in their living bodies.

One aspect all twice-cursed have in common is that they expel a black bile from the site of their affliction whenever using their new gifts. Most consider it a sign of the Shroud using the twice-cursed to get a foothold in the land of the living, but others collect it and sell it as a miracle drug, touting that taking the essence of death itself into one's body will surely stave it off somehow. Many twice-cursed adapt to their new lives, using their unique gifts for their professions, becoming seers and fortune tellers; some become witches and warlocks, turning to a darker calling, hoping to gain favor with the lord of the Land Beyond Living so that he might forgive them upon their return. Whatever the reason for surviving their encounter, they straddle the line between life and death with their very existence.

And that's where the aforementioned heir to the Longinmouth legacy comes in.

Warning: never ask him about his deity.
History:

Carlisle Longinmouth was born in the rocky hills surrounding Bear Den, and it was clear from an early age that he was unlikely to live up to the standards of his father. It wasn't that his father was hard on him, but rather that they were just very different people. Kevin Longinmouth was an adventurer, a man of action who wasn't satisfied unless the day ended with a dangerous beast slaughtered and a round of drinks to celebrate its demise; Carlisle, on the other hand, was a superstitious lad who was terrified of death and all things that might bring it, including (but not limited to) beasts, haunts, abominations, aberrations, spooky shadows, and small birds that may or may not have been riddled with diseases. Thus, he was perfectly happy to study such creatures in a purely academic way rather than slay them for recognition.

And as it turned out, his fears weren't entirely unfounded. A regular ritual for those coming of age in Bear Den was the Hunt, which involved surviving an encounter with one of the infamous dens after which the town might (or might not) have been named. With his father supervising, Carlisle undertook the Hunt at age fourteen. All he had to do was sneak inside the cave, make it to the back, and fetch a bear tooth from the basket placed there by the town's elders each spring. Easy peasy.

Unfortunately, the bears were home and had never liked having their dens invaded, and young Carlisle found himself on the wrong end of a bear's claws. Most of the youth who had failed the test over the years simply died, and were deemed too weak to survive in the harsh wilderness surrounding the town. That was just the way of things in Bear Den.

However, Carlisle's family had a few things they didn't, such as a name nearly everyone in the kingdom knew. Even those in the far wastes leagues away from Bear Den had heard of the Longinmouths; many a peasant and noble alike were indebted to the brothers for one reason or another, and among those happy to offer their services to their heroes were some truly gifted healers.

Those healers were Carlisle's saving grace in more ways than one: after he was patched up and restored as well as their magic would restore a teenager bleeding from a gaping wound in his abdomen, he found his calling with them. He hadn't the skills or the nerve for hunting bears, nor for facing the dangerous wilds. He did, however, awaken from his near-death experience with several new scars, an aptitude for magic, and a desire to help people, one which might possibly keep him as far from life-threatening experiences as possible. He also ended up with fear of bears, but that wasn't completely unexpected.

It took him another few months and the death of his father before he realized he'd gained something else in that incident: a condition colloquially known as "twice-cursed." It was at the funeral that he first lost his tongue.

Though the people of Bear Den knew him to be trustworthy, those outside the village were often distrusting of the twice-cursed. As for Carlisle, the Domu must have seen it fitting that a man who wanted to work within the realms of healers and the church -- professions that required a lot of compassion, confessing, and conversing in general -- be struck with a condition that would leave him painfully tongue-tied. And so, in times of immense stress or frustration, the poor lad found himself unable to speak or understand anything but Des, the language of the Below and all who dwelt there. Given the nature of his curse, Carlisle became withdrawn, keeping mostly to the town's church and the home he shared with his uncles.

Carlisle was just seventeen when his uncles Boris and Benistad went missing. Because the Longinmouth brothers had been Bear Den's primary source of income, and Carlisle was already the town's religious leader, that left him with sole responsibility for both the family estate and the economic and spiritual welfare of the townspeople. While he was no monster hunter, he was adept at dealing with some demons -- aside from his own -- and started using his gifts in healing, exorcism, and spiritual awareness to help bring extra income into the village. It wasn't much, but he had to atone for guilt and sins some way. After all, he'd seen the Land Beyond Living, and did not want to starve and end up back there anytime soon.

Unfortunately, his efforts to help the town and serve at its benefactor often went ignored by those not living in Bear Den. Some of the nearby villages believed his curse had brought misfortune upon his family, and that it would soon spread if left unchecked; others suspected Carlisle of having had a direct hand in his uncles' disappearances. The growing paranoia among the populace over the fates of such legends as the Longinmouth Brothers was enough to draw the attention of inquisitors working under the king. Though they detained and questioned Carlisle regarding the vanishing of his uncles, they eventually released him back to Bear Den -- they could have executed him and saved the world from dealing with another twice-cursed, but he was a young man, religious, and they had no proof of his guilt. Perhaps he could be redeemed.

There might have been no actual fault on Carlisle regarding the loss of his remaining family, but he felt guilt for it all the same. That, and bitter resentment over being suspected of such a vile act as betraying his own blood.

Five years passed, and by twenty-two, Carlisle was a downright recluse, preferring the quiet life of the church to that of adventuring, perfectly happy to live vicariously through the tales told by those who came to him for guidance and healing. Staying in and around Bear Den meant he didn't have to deal with those who didn't understand his condition, after all. He'd have to get out sometime, though: the small fortune left to him by his uncles was dwindling, and with clergy work not bringing in enough bacon, he had to find something else.

And as luck would have it, something else did come along: a decree from King Nedrus, calling all healers in the land to his castle at the capital. His favorite daughter had fallen ill to the curse of a necromancer, and the one who could restore her would have riches beyond their wildest dreams.

No, he wasn't a monster hunter, but Carlisle was a Longinmouth, and a man with responsibility for the people of Bear Den. Healing the princess ought to be the easy part. The challenge would be convincing himself to take the journey in the first place.

Personality:

It's unfortunate that Carlisle isn't much like his uncles: an ungainly and lanky individual, he lacks the immense strength of his warrior uncle, Boris; while bookish and not a complete failure with the art of conversation, he's on the gaunt side and doesn't have nearly the physical wiles of his other uncle, Benistad. Adventuring really isn't his forte, as he starts getting rattled at the mere thought of leaving the family home for more than a minute, even to go somewhere familiar like the temple. What's more is that he's not terribly invested in keeping dangers like the undead away, deciding instead to devote his life to trying to keep people alive so that they can't become undead in the first place.

However, though he's not interested in the family business in the way his uncles and his father ran it, he desperately wants to uphold their legacy. The Longinmouths brought prosperity to the region, using their skills as monster hunters to keep the town safe, and their wealth to keep the town afloat economically. Following their deaths, it fell to Carlisle to do that, and as he doesn't bring in nearly the same amount of fame or fortune, he feels he's letting down his entire lineage in some regard. Combine that guilt with the anxiety that rises in his gut when he even thinks about leaving Bear Den and everything he knows for too long, then add a dash of complications that arise from his condition whenever he's stressed, and that makes for one hell of a nervous man who spends far too much time concerned with how he presents himself to others to realize he's making things worse.

On top of that, once he gets started talking about his personal fears, he often can't quit for long enough to hear anything but his own voice, prattling to himself until someone stops him -- or he wears himself out, whichever comes first. The list of his woes is a long one: the fears of the dark, of death, of being in open spaces, of leaving no one to take care of those who need help, of dying miserably in a cave somewhere much like his father, covered in a swarm of eight-legged parasites born from the depths of the underworld, etc. While his position as a healer and man of the church pushes him to be concerned for the well-being of others, he often can't help but choose his own survival in a fight-or-flight scenario, much to his unending shame. When his life is on the line, his thoughts are consumed with the horror that he'll be on his way to the Land Beyond Living again... and that this time, his stay will be permanent.

Ultimately, apprehension has been one of the biggest influences in shaping Carlisle's anxious demeanor. It's hard to ignore the suspicion cast upon him regarding his condition; the thought of another interrogation terrifies him almost as much as that of his demise. Even the religious teachings he holds so dear say that the twice-cursed are irredeemable, their souls irreparably damaged to the point where they are more likely to cave to sin than to rise from it. That just makes him feel guilty every time does consider using his more unique abilities. Though it's essentially blasphemy to say otherwise, he desperately hopes to prove that doctrine wrong -- and in doing so, become more than the failure of the Longinmouth line that he's been thus far. The need to prove himself redeemable, and to avoid the fate that awaits him, is motivation enough to keep him going, despite his lonely circumstances.

However, he's not ignorant of his many shortcomings that stand in his way: he desperately wants to live up to his family name, but often finds himself completely incapable of doing so, whether it's because of his pacifism, his cowardice, or simply the fact that he knows he doesn't measure up to the example set by his father and uncles. He tends to be his own worst enemy, and is an expert at making a mountain out of a molehill when it comes to unsettling himself.

It's those nerves and the terrors of the unknown that have kept Carlisle from straying too far from his home town. Painfully aware of how unkind the world can be to the twice-cursed, he prefers solitude and tries to keep his condition under wraps so as not to taint the Longinmouth legacy with his mere existence. He can be a bitter thing regarding those who disrespect what they don't understand -- he gets that from living with his uncles as well, since they had an eager thirst for adventure and could never quite understand why their nephew had absolutely no taste for it. His twice-cursed condition has only exacerbated his aggravation in that regard, and while the people of Bear Den are well aware of who he is and what happened to him as a young lad, those outside the town are far quicker to judge him before they know anything other than the stock behind his name.

Despite his superstitious and high-strung nature, Carlisle can be a reasonably diplomatic and fair-minded individual, as well as a good improviser, which helps him serve as a trusted mediator for the local populace. Being a clergyman, he is considered a neutral party by most people of the region, and as such has been pulled in a number of times to settle disputes. Though usually willing to lend an ear to even the most unsavory of people, he tends to be callous and irritable when it comes to those who don't take him seriously, whether it's because of his devotion to the Camisou's ideals, his job as a healer rather than a fighter, or the fact that he doesn't look like he can lift anything heavier than a sack of potatoes and therefore doesn't belong in the Longinmouth family tree. Much like his fears, he tends to wear his aggravations on his sleeve, and doesn't particularly mask it when someone is an annoyance. The same goes for enthusiasm and excitement, both of which are rare treats he experiences sparingly; such moments are often followed by vigorous note-taking, a favorite pastime of his that he's found most people aren't particularly interested in hearing about.

Overall, he is used to just trying to stay out of trouble when it comes his way. Though not a trained fighter, he has had to handle his own in battle on at least a few occasions, which has led to him learning a lot about being resourceful with what he's carrying and if it can be used to help keep him alive. He managed to light a wooden golem on fire with a bottle of brandy and some minor magic once, and he'll do it again if he has to.

Of course, that's if he's not too busy panicking over the part where he might die.

Appearance:

Carlisle is considered a fairly tall individual in his world, standing right at 6'. His need for order in his life to balance out his frazzled nerves extends to his appearance: his light-brown hair is trimmed and tidy, the top of it brushed back while the sides of his head are shorn, as is custom for clergy serving the Camisou. His glasses are kept with care, devoid of scratches, and do little to hide his slate-colored eyes. He needs them, though -- he's near-sighted. Though the rest of him is kept as clean as possible, his nails sometimes have blackened residue beneath them from his spellcasting. He tends to show a lot of teeth when he talks. His features are soft, and his nose has a distinct upturn, which is about the only physical trait he inherited from his father. He's been told on more than one occasion he has the look of his mother.

Age 24 (upon arrival in

hadriel; currently 26), his build is slim and a bit on the bony side -- he's never been one for the rough-and-tumble adventuring lifestyle of his uncles, and it shows in his delicate hands (not a callus to be found on his palms) and in the pale tone of his skin (rumored to have never been kissed by the sun, as even the light shuns the twice-cursed). He carries bags under his eyes, as he sleeps poorly. The only notable scar he has on him is one from the bear attack that nearly took his life as a lad: four long scars trail from one side of his abdomen to the other, just beneath his ribcage. Despite receiving the best healing possible at the time, the scars remained. Over the years, as he's used his gifts as a twice-cursed, they have darkened to a deep purple shade.

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