Name: Ren Hualinh
Age: Seventeen
Gender: Male
Faction/Allegiance: Da-Hyun and the Hualinh clan, but more so to The Liung Group, the troop he travels and performs with.
Relic Description: The Poor Dog's Collar
This relic comes in the form of a black dog collar with a green gem centered in the middle and is only able to be used when worn around the neck.
The collar gives the user power over animals in various ways. In each way that the collar is used, it tightens around the user's neck. The normal amount of animals to be influenced with the user still being able to breathe caps at around five, depending on the animals' size.
The main power of the Poor Dog's Collar is the ability to call upon and request the help of various animals. The user is able to influence animals to do their bidding. This aspect of the collar works in a very non-sinister way in that it doesn't force the animals to do anything. It just simply requests the help of animals to which they almost always oblige.
The second and more sinister aspect of this collar is the ability to completely dominate an animal and force it to do anything the user wishes. This aspect causes the collar to tighten immensely, usually only allowing the user to control two animals whilst keeping their ability to breathe.
Finally, the last power of the collar is to allow the user to inhabit an animal's body. It only works with one animal, but gives the user complete control and the ability to use the animal in ways that they could not normally, such as seeing through its eyes. There is of course, a time limit to how long this power can be used because whilst it is being used, the collar constricts the user's throat to the point where they can't breathe and their body is left defenceless until they return to their own body.
Appearance:
Just sort of ignore the dragon. Haha.Flaws:
Weak: Ren is decently weak in his physical aspects. Not only that, but he isn't the largest person either. Being very skinny, yet tall.
Combat Inept: Ren is also pretty bad at combat when it comes to using his own body to fight. Whenever he's been in dire need, instead of actually fighting, he calls upon an animal to help him instead.
Untrusting: Growing up, Ren was told to never trust anyone. People can steal anything from you if you give them the chance.
Skills:
Running: Even though Ren is fairly unfit, most of that is focused towards his upper body. Ren's legs on the other hand, are decently strong and his lungs are pretty powerful.
More breath: Due to the use of Ren's collar, he's able to last without breath a lot longer than most people.
Survival: Ren knows how to keep himself alive. Even if he has to rely on some animal companions to help him in the wilderness, he can survive pretty well when he's alone in a city.
Loyal: This might not be considered a skill to some, but to Ren, loyalty is everything. When Ren bonds with someone, that bond is strong and he would gladly do anything for that person.
Biography: Ren grew up in a pretty bad household. His mother died after childbirth and after that, his father, an ex-navy soldier, turned to alchohol. Whenever Ren's father was out drunk in a tavern, Ren was left to wander about in his hometown. His father didn't necessarily beat him, but still abused him all the same. Every word uttered to Ren was about how he was a failure of a son and how he was too weak to be able to even defend himself. That he was a disgrace of a man. Really though, Ren didn't want to support his father. He wanted to leave.
Ever since childhood, Ren wanted to become a performer. To dance, to sing, to entertain. Even though many performers were looked down upon in Da-Hyun, he still loved it. Ever since he saw the many performances being put on during the annual offering festival, that is what he aspired to be. A performer. Being on stage and feeling like the world's eyes were on him. That was his dream and he was determined to fulfill it.
One time, at age fourteen, Ren was playing with his dog in his backyard when it ran away like it always did before he could even throw the stick. Scared that he might lose his best friend and never see him again, Ren chased after his pet as it ran through the town market, weaving through or tackling anyone in its way. Ren lost it for a while, wandering around the market calling out his pet's name. He only found it when he heard a yelp from further into the market. Ren raced to where he heard the sound, only to see his dog lying dead on the ground. He ran faster to his pet and crouched down near it, crying.
"You shouldn't have let it run wild like that." Said a man from somewhere in the crowd.
Ren just continued crying as he mourned his dog. Not knowing what to do aside from try his best to stay strong, Ren took his dog's collar and went home, not knowing what was to become of the corpse of his dog. Because it was late, he simply placed his dog's collar on a nightstand next to his bed, and cried himself to sleep.
When he awoke in the morning, Ren just stared at his dog's collar. His dad still wasn't home, which was normal for him. But what wasn't normal, was that the collar looked like it had almost grown overnight. Ren continued staring at it for some time before he got the strangest feeling. Something odd came over him as he picked up the collar and fastened it around his own neck. The moment he fixed it onto his neck, the gem in the center glowed brightly having never bonded with Ren until it was fastened around his neck. Ren knew nothing of the collar and what it did for a long time until he encountered a vicious dog months later in which he was able to subdue it using his power but not before it killed his father.
For the next two years, Ren practiced with his new relic as much as possible. After a while, he became fairly adept at using his powers to tame animals. Even though the collar gave him much discomfort, he thought it was worth it for the power it gave him. The next year, he served on a ship as a deckhand for some time until he managed to join a travelling performers' group. He used his powers to become one of the acts as a beast tamer and now travels the mainland with his group, finally fulfilling his dream of performing.
Personality/motivation: Ren is kind and gentle on the inside. Very loyal and compassionate to those he befriends. The only issue with this is that he's very untrusting to most people in city-like areas. Always afraid someone was just trying to use him. Ren's mind is filled with dreams of fame and fortune. He lives to perform and makes that known. To him, life is a stage and he wants to make the best performance he can. Even with some of the greed that comes with his dreams, Ren sometimes can't resist helping those in need, even if it comes at his own expense. He has a strong moral compass that keeps him from getting too full of himself and makes sure he stays on the right path. Despite that, he can be a little oblivious to the inner workings of other people, only seeing what they display on the outside instead of what they're really feeling. Despite the fact that his relic is used to control animals, Ren cares deeply for most animals and tries his best not to hurt them, especially when he's using his collar.
Relations: Marcus and Ren's mothers are sisters.
Final Point - Secrets: Ren managed to gain control over the dog that killed his father. But even so, he purposefully let it kill him before he fully subdued it.
Theme Song:
Or this as well:
