Role-Raider
Name-Ike Lowell
Age-32
Gender & Pronouns-Cisgender male, he/him
Orientation-Bisexual Aromantic
Description or Image
Ike is rather rugged-looking, and not in a good way. He obviously doesn't put much effort into himself, and rarely ever does. His small eyes are dark brown and sunken. Meanwhile, the lids droop over them. Dark circles that heavily contrast with his bronze complexion mark his face. His once thin, straight nose is now crooked from being broken, adding to his likeness to looking like a hobo. Ike's hair is black and almost reaches shoulder length when let loose, and his temples are tinged with a premature gray. Like the rest of his appearance, Ike's facial hair is very unkempt but usually somewhat trimmed. Sometimes it's a stubble, other times it's much thicker. Depends on how lazy he's been. Ike is tall, ungracefully tall- his limbs seem a smidge too long. He carries himself with awful posture, adding to his exhausted aura. Like himself, Ike's wardrobe has seen better days. He has a tendency to set fire to his belongings, so many of his clothes are second-hand and/or stolen. The only constant is his bomber jacket, which is looking a bit stained after all the years of use.
PersonalityIke is very dislikeable. He is unstable at the best of times and incoherent at the worst. Ike can and will take advantage of people, and is always on guard for others trying to do the same to him. He is filled with spite towards happy people. People who have settled and are content with their lives absolutely irk him. He absolutely loathes the thought of settling, for he feels like he's always got to be in motion. Ike doesn't even care where it is he is going in life, he just has to keep moving towards it. Quiet makes him anxious. If things are too quiet, Ike can and will do something about it. The whole "end of the world" tomfuckery actually kept him quite entertained. Wherever he goes, trouble tends to follow- probably due to his awful habits and knack for causing fires. Ike is a pyromaniac and will enthusiastically admit it. He likes pulling stunts and seeing them on the news the next day (at least when the news was still a thing).
BackstoryIke has always had an affinity for trouble, even as a child. He started out as a rebellious kid with a love for mischief, but as many things do, everything went wrong with him. Ike is the product of his surroundings and a few unfortunate predispositions to personality disorders. He was born into a neglectful home, where his mother didn’t care much and his father disappeared early on in his life. As he grew, he found the easiest way to survive was to be cruel.
Ike was a bully all throughout school. He stole, cheated, and generally harassed on a whim. In the beginning, it was about survival and a general lack of self-awareness, but he started to genuinely enjoy it. He was difficult to get along with but did manage to have some sort of friendship with a girl named Zelda. When she was around, she was Ike’s impulse control. Though, she couldn’t always put a stop to his antics. The two were arrested, and Ike became a convicted arsonist at the age of 15. He was held at a juvenile detention center for a while and was taken to a correctional school upon release. Ike hated his time there but complied in order to be let off the hook early.
Once out, and discovering that his friend had deserted him, Ike became furious. He had set many fires up to this point, but none would ever compare to the time he turned his mother’s trailer into an inferno. To escape, he stole a guitar and hitchhiked with a band of college dropouts to play music. This did not end well. Aside from enjoying the highs at after-parties, his time with the band was miserable. This was where he learned just how far people will go to take advantage of others. Enraged by the band's treatment of him, he took a tank of gas and doused the interior of the touring van before throwing in the flaming instrument. He hasn't touched music since and hitchhiked away to the city of New York.
There, Ike hopped between shelters and odd jobs. At age 19 he set his second fire when he was at a co-worker's apartment, presumably out of fear. After spending a very questionable night together, he turned the oven on and left it. He purposefully left flammable household materials nearby when they departed for work. This was the first time he saw his work make it onto the local news. Of course, he never made it to his job that day. He used all the cash he could to buy a few bus tickets across the country.
Ike had never lived on a farm, but he adjusted well to ranch life in the southwest. He was good at shutting up and getting work done- never complaining unless he didn't get his fix. He actually stayed for almost 4 years, not leaving until he was 23. It was also secluded, which he enjoyed after staying in a claustrophobic city for too long. He always liked the barn. It was a large, dusty building filled with hay. Ike dropped a few cigarette butts in the loft and watched the inferno for a while before stealing a horse to ride into town. He picked up freight hopping to escape
New England was very different- and much colder. Ike didn't enjoy his time there very much. Up north he hopped from forgettable coal town to forgettable coal town, occasionally getting into trouble. He mingled with his fellow fuck-ups and other hobos, sometimes helping the meaner ones steal. Ike started a fire on a freight train after his knife was stolen. He stole it back first, of course. At 26 he practiced his charlatan skills at a harbor town with a strong tourist season. He created a persona named Michael Whitz, who he would continue to play for years.
In an unlikely turn of events, Michael Whitz found "love" in that harbor town with a tourist. Impulsively, Ike accompanied her back to her home. Feeling restless and a little lonely, he decided to play the part for her. He pretended to settle in with her and get a semi-stable job through the forgery of several legal documents. He set the small house they rented together on fire in a grand display, inexplicably three years later. Michael Whitz faked his death and Ike was back to his regular bullshittery. He never looked back.
It was while back in his hometown of Tunholsa Valley did Ike experience the end times. He had just hitchhiked back and was staying with Zelda- who was not too elated to have him back. Zelda was soon killed by one of the strobe monsters. Ike still lives in her house and makes regular rounds to steal supplies from other survivors. Things are getting scarce, and his new target is Camp Akte.
