Marlowe
20 ♦ Marlowe Bladeson ♦ The Man Fate Denied
“The heroes are all dead or gone. We’re the ones left to carry on their work.” [ ߜ ] V I T A L S
Marlowe Anders Bladeson (Vallis), Son of Fergus and Ayna.
[ ߜ ] B I R T H
July 7 Unknown Year (Plox, Fishing Village)
[ ߜ ] G E N D E R
Male
[ ߜ ] E T H N I C B A C K G R O U N D
Appears Landeian
[ ߜ ] A P P E A R A N C E
Marlowe has shaggy dark brown hair, and it is obviously unkempt and not well maintained; in fact, Marlowe's hair is so dark, most believe it to be black. A good description of the color would be a "chocolate brown". Marlowe's eyes are slightly sunken in and for the most part, he keeps deep, purplish rings under his eyes, a mark of a complete lack of sleep. His nose is small, tipped slightly downward, and his nostrils do not flare much. His lips are thin, and a thin mustache and goatee surround his lip and cover his chin. Instead of being a proper goatee, it create more of a van dyke look; since his mustache and goatee do not connect. His physical shape is slim; his arms are not extremely muscular. His chest and gut are relatively flat, though they lack tone. The main distinguishing feature of his torso are his bevy of scars covering his chest and back; signs of what seems to be a very radical surgery.
For this reason, Marlowe keeps bare torso hidden from anyone he meets, for this is a sense of shame and disgust at his own person. His legs are average length, and like his arms, slightly hairy. The hair on his chest grows in slight patches, since the surgery has caused scar tissue where hair still has not grown. As far as clothing choices, Marlowe tends to trend away from armor, staying with a simple tunic shirt, slacks, jacket and cloak covering his torso. His usual colors are either a soft burgundy jacket and white tunic, or a simple white shirt. His slacks trend from a dark brown to a light khaki. For footwear, he keeps a pair of dark brown leather boots. He also wears a leather belt, and usually keeps a leather bandolier where he keeps his greatsword scabbard.
[ ߜ ] P E R S O N A L I T Y
Marlowe comes across as friendly, open, honest, kind, overly idealistic, foolish and brash. The perfect storm to cause problems with a group that has no qualms with murdering innocent people. In fact, it's Marlowe's personality that gets him in the most trouble. His "charge and save everyone" approach, which never works, is how 90% of his fights begin, and they tend to end with him missing teeth, pints of blood and sometimes a few parts of his body. Marlowe’s brash behavior has led him into several extremely emotionally damaging situations, forcing him to re-examine how he battles. Recently, Marlowe has been training to be a more tactical fighter than before. Due to the extreme situations he has been faced with in the previous few months, Marlowe’s personality has taken a darker turn. When faced with the violence and cruelty of The Order, especially the treatment of innocents, Marlowe’s gentle nature changes into a berserker fury.
Marlowe’s own violence and cruelty has come to a shock of his companions, who find the bloodlust in Marlowe’s heart too close to The Order’s own violence. Marlowe also eats roughly 200% more than an average person, due to his body’s “intricacies”. Marlowe’s average caloric consumption ranges from 5000-10000 calories per day. On the road, it is nearly impossible for Marlowe to achieve this, and he tends to appear more exhausted the longer he remains on a journey.
[ ߜ ] A T T R I B U T E S
Healing Factor: Marlowe’s body has undergone inhuman modifications, causing him to rapidly heal from wounds and be incapable of dying. This does not affect Marlowe’s defense from attacks, as he is still worn down and has to take time to heal from serious wounds. The weaker he is, the slower his body regenerates. Burning his flesh also kills the skin, forcing it to regenerate slower. Marlowe’s apparent immortality has made him a brash and foolish fighter in the past, leading him into deeper trouble. Recently, Marlowe has aimed to be more careful in combat to avoid putting others in danger.
Blade Skills : Marlowe has moderate skill with one handed swords, as evident by the saber he keeps at his side. While battling against a singular foe, Marlowe can usually hold his own, it is against large groups that he suffers. Marlowe’s new weapon, a legendary great sword dubbed Hard Edge is his attempt at evening the odds when fighting large groups of enemies. Still the sheer size of the weapon renders it useless in close quarters areas, forcing Marlowe to rely on his older weapons.
Boxing : Marlowe is not well versed in Martial Arts, and instead is focused more as a boxer in hand to hand fighting. Marlowe is capable of slugging enemies with severe force, but his speed and his control of the fight suffer. Still, Marlowe’s sheer endurance and willpower allow him to outlast many enemies.
Gunner : Marlowe is not well versed in firearms like several of his companions. Still, Marlowe does carry a small blunderbuss, referred to as a “scrap gun”. A survival weapon, the scrap gun can be loaded with nearly any projectile in the front, and carries a black powder charge to fire. It’s a slow reload, but at close range, the weapon is incredibly devastating.
[ ߜ ] B A C K S T O R Y
Two years ago, Marlowe washed ashore in Dun. His memories have been disjointed and confusing, and while he does remember aspects of his old life, many events remain blocked from his mind. Marlowe is sure of one thing: Dun and Sengia at large have nothing in common with his home. Marlowe and his companions have many theories about how he came to Dun, ranging from him coming from a mirrored world to Marlowe simply having false memories. What he does remember is relatively simplistic: he was born in a fishing village named Plox, and he lost both his parents at a young age. He went to live with his grandfather, a gambler and a con artist.
Some time during his youth, Marlowe became the subject of a dire experiment, which transformed his body into what he feels is an abomination. Marlowe battled against his fate alongside a group of friends, but ultimately memories of those days become hazy as he attempts to remember the specifics. Since arriving in Dun in 4425, Marlowe has wandered the countryside (or swampside if you take Dun’s geography into consideration) looking for meaning in a world that he feels he has no place in. Marlowe found a purpose in fighting The Order; and his ability to withstand the kirhas has made him an intriguing and dangerous thorn in The Order’s side. Marlowe fought alongside the Vann members Deya and Kath, as well as Kath’s mentor Otis and a wanderer named Rin against the Order in 4425. Marlowe was able to convince Orderling Mathis Rauzil to leave the cult, convincing him that genocide was no way to uncover lost secrets of the world. Marlowe and company also met with Lexi Uael, another defector against The Order’s cruelty. Together the group launched an attack on The Order’s base in a swamp ruin, led by Lexi’s own father. During the battle, Otis was slain, and Marlowe and Kath landed the killing blow on the powerful orderling.
Marlowe, feeling that he lacked the strength to protect others, left his companions for a year and traveled to the ancient country of Derim, where he joined forces with Viera Versul, a member of the country’s ruling clan. She helped Marlowe uncover an ancient weapon that Marlowe dubbed Hard Edge, and bonded Marlowe’s soul with the sword, intertwining Marlowe’s fate with the ancient weapon. Wishing to see the world and to find a way to free the country from the tyrannical fist of her older brother, Viera set off with Marlowe back to the mainland. All was not well, as Marlowe discovered his companion and dear friend Rin had been indoctrinated to The Order in the time he was gone. Marlowe set off to save his friend, but his crusade to save Rin nearly led to Marlowe losing himself in his rage. Marlowe was able to save his friend, but the recent battles have forced him to rethink his outlook on the world. Marlowe fears what could happen if he fell into the same traps his companion Rin did, and now seeks to find new ways to fight, instead of relying on sheer strength and bloodlust to win him his battles.