Rowan Childe {29M}
Spiritual ⚝ Vegan ⚝ Perfectionist
Bicurious ⚝ Junior Communication Major ⚝ Veteran
Song: Blackbird - Fat Freddy's DropRowan is an older student and a veteran. He spent 8 years in the Marines before going back to school on his GI bill - unfortunately, average grades in high school meant he was only accepted into BCC. Though he was one of the "lucky ones" who never saw actual combat, his time overseas changed him. After experimenting with psychedelics during his first year at BCC, he had a spiritual awakening and has cut most ties with his old life.
Now a nonviolent vegan, he is still struggling to find his place in the world and figure out what direction to take his life in. He doesn't feel like he's almost thirty, and rarely divulges his age, preferring to blend in among the younger students such as his flatmates. With his trademark dreadlocks and bright blue bicycle, he's a memorable figure around campus even though he rarely attends parties and has few close friends.
Relationships:
- Kalama Guynn: Roommate. Having only lived with Kalama for a few weeks, Rowan isn't quite sure what to make of her. He appreciates her passion for social justice and willingness to try his Vegan cooking, but found her messy breakup very disruptive to the peaceful energy he tries to cultivate around the apartment.
- {Unfilled/NPC} Roommate Beta:
- {Unfilled/NPC} Roommate Alpha:
History:
Rowan is originally from Georgia and still has a hint of the accent, although he tries to hide it. He doesn't talk much about his childhood, but it wasn't the happiest. Although his parents both loved them in their own ways, they were strict and devout people with little tolerance for perceived weakness or failure. He was a sensitive child and his father took it upon himself to make Rowan "man up" with frequent hunting trips, animal butchering, and manly activities like football and JROTC.
Joining the Marines was as much to make his dad proud as to get him out of the house as soon as high school finished. Though he initially excelled and became close friends with the Chaplain, Rowan found it difficult to take leadership roles as he has little stomach for yelling at other people. During his second tour, his Chaplain was assaulted by her commander officer, resulting in her discharge and him being found not guilty at the court martial. This event rocked Rowan to his core and changed his opinion of the military for the worse. By the end of his eight years, he was thoroughly disillusioned with the military life and sought greater meaning.
He initially hoped to find it in education, but ultimately found it in frequent LSD, psilocybin, and peyote trips instead. It was in his first year at BCC that he cut ties with the military, his family, and his religion. Though he has felt more at peace since that decision, he has also been profoundly lonely - a largely self-imposed isolation, as he has very high standards for himself and other people, making him difficult to get along with at times.
Magic:
Knack: Rowan has the ability to sense immediate danger to himself. As a kid, he called it his "Spidey sense". Though this ability won't tell him the source of the danger, any threat capable of killing or seriously injuring him within the next couple minutes will trigger a burst of adrenaline and let him know that something is wrong. This ability has prevented him from getting kicked by riled-up farm animals, stepping out in front of unseen traffic, and swimming in the ocean with a rip tide.
Gift: Rowan has the ability to telepathically communicate in a limited capacity with animals. He can passively sense the intent of any animal within eyesight, and broadcast his intent to any or all animals within approximately one mile. While he cannot read their minds or control their actions, he can communicate basic concepts such as "I won't hurt you" or "this person is a bad person". After testing this on the campus squirrels, he used this ability to call a deer from the nearby woods into the student food court by broadcasting the intentions "I want to give you an apple" and "none of us will hurt you". The price of his Gift isn't too severe, but he is completely unaware of his surroundings while communicating with animals - he could be stabbed while communicating and not be aware of it until he returns to reality. Even once he does return, he is very disoriented once he comes back to reality and it puts a fog over his whole day similar to being hungover.
Blazion
