TheTaleTellers
Kiwi
OllieOblivious Nourishment
"I wanna drive a plane... or a rocket."
Male, TBD
Traits:
Aspiring Casual Abrupt Contemplative Emotional Careless Curious Impressionable Confused Forgiving Noncommittal Disorderly Leisurely Outspoken Guillable Sensitive Questioning Naive Warm Soft Repressed
Hobbies:
Dressing Up
Running
Kicking Things
Puzzles
Talents:
Memory
Ollie possesses an incredible memory.
If only he wasn't so easily distracted...
Light-Footed
Surprisingly, Ollie is abnormally silent on his feet.
If only he wouldn't open his mouth...
Climbing
If it's not a completely smooth-vertical surface, Ollie can climb it.
Backstory:
One... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight...
That was strange. Were the books here always organized as such? No, in fact, the entire bookshelf was wrong. It may have been made of the same kind of wood, but the lines weren't the same. Here on the wall too. When was this repainted? The color matched, but the paint had yet to age consistently with the other walls. These inconsequential details were painstakingly apparent for Ollie's memory. They stuck out—these minor inconsistencies of no value.
"What are you going on about, Ollie?"
"Ollie's being weird again."
"It's always been like that."
"You're just confused, Ollie."
That's right. Confused. Ollie wasn't as smart as the other orphans. That's what everybody would say. Even the younger ones were sharper. That made a lot more sense, so it had to be true. He needed to stop thinking about these pointless things. It was strange. It made people uncomfortable. Nobody would want to be around someone like that. Instead, he'd just follow everyone else's lead. They knew better after all.
He didn't need to know how he lost two of his fingers.
—————
ArdenKeeper of Principles
"The job does not exist for me. I exist for the job. That's all there is to it."
Ungendered, ???
Traits:
Calm Absentminded Apathetic Dutiful Circumspect Cautious Intuitive Contradictory Complacent Logical Formal Dogmatic Meticulous Mellow Frivolous Organized Skeptical Insincere Systematic Unambitious Tactless
Hobbies:
Stargazing
Cleaning
Brewing Tea
Scented Candles
Abilities:
Immemorable
All memory of Arden is lost upon leaving their presence—these memories are not returned upon reentering their presence.
Honesty
Speaking a lie while in Arden's presence causes damage to the individual equal to the weight of the lie spoken—most typically manifested via bleeding through the mouth, eyes, ears, and/or nose.
Golden
While in Arden's presence, any harm inflicted towards another individual is likewise inflicted on the attacker themselves.
*[Presence] - Losing sight of, sound of (their voice), or physical contact with Arden.
In special cases, smell or taste as well.
Limits
Arden must abide by the rules of Honest & Golden themselves.
Honest does not apply to those who believe a lie they speak.
Honest is incapable of killing. The most it will do is incapacitate.
The effects of Immemorable do not apply to other House Keepers.
Information about Arden learned from House Keepers will retain, until entering & leaving Arden's presence.
House Keepers of higher rank are not affected by Honest or Golden.
Arden's abilities do not function while unconscious.
Immemorable will kick in once they awake, however.
Minions are subjected to the backlash of Golden, not their owner.
If Arden is killed in a single blow, Golden will not trigger retroactively.
Non-direct forms of harm will not trigger Golden.
Backstory:
Ambition? Was that something a Candy should have?
Countless Orphans died here, year after year. Whether they were kind, cruel, smart, dumb, weak, or strong. The ones who lived were not anything in particular. No, they were just lucky and Arden wasn't much different. You see, not even the House Keepers were exempt from death. It wasn't uncommon for Blushings to turn up dead every now and then. Sometimes it was the Orphans' fault, sometimes the Candies, sometimes the Scarlets. In the end, a death is a death. The very same principle applied to Candies. Whether it be the result of a unique orphan, a fellow overly competitive Candy, or even a Scarlet that feared being surpassed, in any case death meant death. There was no escaping that fact—nobody could live forever.
Or that was the thought at least, but there proved to be an opportunity. While other Candies perished, or stole the seats of the Scarlets that trained them—Arden remained, unmoving. Their abilities were ill-suited for competition. They simply did not function on Scarlets. Growth was impossible. They were at the peak of their potential were they not? Perhaps that's why they managed to live as long as they did. Their teachers need not worry about being surpassed, and their peers need not worry about competition. They could simply carry out their duties in peace.
Perhaps that's why they approved the youth ritual.
Such an opportunity, they said. Such an honor, they said. Such a privilege, they said.
Just how long has it been since then? Were there any recognizable faces anymore? The ranks of the House Keepers were constantly fluctuating. Blushings, Candies, Scarlets. Fresh blood become old blood, and old blood become spilt blood. Constantly, and endlessly. This was the natural flow of things. Death was inevitable. There was nobody who could not be simply replaced. Yet, there was single name stifling this routine. A Candy that persisted. Unmoving, unchanging. Waiting... waiting... waiting...
So what good is ambition for someone waiting to die?
—————