25 Pre-mortem | Male
A man whose individuality and love of performance lifts him to his triumphs and drops him to his demise.
Appearance:
Standing triumphantly at six feet, he wears his hair in messy black-brown spikes that appear to stick up in all directions. Don't be fooled; it may look like bedhead but it is perfectly intentional. Everything Aster does is about presentation. His emerald eyes are vibrant and perceptive, the curious black marks from the corners of his eyes drawn on just to throw people off, the large golden rings looped through his ears, and he's always seen with a brilliant grin. His physique is that of the acrobat: it isn't bulky and demanding of strength, but rather smooth, planned out to the extreme, and more prepped for flexibility than anything else. Aster is the definition of a sunny complexion, and his tanned skin only adds to this interest.
His clothing style is always extravagant. He loves extra fabrics like capes and other things, and he'll always try to wear the most obstructive and blinding color schemes if he can. From pants with patches of all different colors covering their numerous holes to a two-sided jacket with one sleeve in red and the other in blue. His wardrobe comes across as though he decided to roll around in a tailor's shop for a few hours and left with whatever was sticking to him. The only consistency to his outfits are the black high-cut boots and the dove pendant around his neck.
Personality:
Optimistic | Dramatic | Rebellious | Obnoxious
Practically since the day he was born, Aster always had a flair for the dramatic. He would jump into random places and declare that his "one-man act" was beginning, or he'd round up some other poor schmucks in the area to perform with him. Sometimes the shows were brilliant and hilarious, and sometimes they were awful, but he would end it all in laughter or with a smile. He doesn't care about quality. He admires passion and adores people who follow their dreams, but he hates people who attempt to trap you into a regime, or people who choose to succumb to the status quo.
Ast's worst nightmare was waking up and thinking that he'd given up on acting at some point. That was why he was always performing, always spouting his opinions as loud as possible, and encouraging others to do the same. Aster was seen as a "bad influence" because of his out-of-the-box behaviour. People didn't want him giving others ideas about how things should be or about what freedom looks like.
In his own opinion, it was a matter of happiness. If you weren't free to do all the things you really wanted to do, then were you truly happy? He hates wars for this reason and also dislikes authoritative governments that try and micromanage all aspects of their people's lives. As such, Aster tended to ignore the laws established by kingdoms, at least if they didn't harm anyone else.
Aster lived every day in fear that he would fall into obscurity, or that people would forget about him. He really wants to be an icon for artists and people everywhere who were trying to follow their dreams.
Beyond this, he really is obnoxious. It's very difficult to get him to stop talking, he'll interrupt anyone at a moment's notice, he will never miss a moment for a joke, and often his plans are over-elaborate. He also isn't very smart about things beyond acting. Mechanicks are quite beyond him and don't even try to ask him a math question. He will just drown you out.
Biography:
Aster grew up with a father and mother who loved him dearly and encouraged him to be who he wanted to be. Being members of a small village along the sea's coast, his dad was a dedicated fisherman, though Aster had no interest in that. He saw a need in that place for some joy, so he thought his skills would be best put to the test there. So he grew up in this small town, always scribbling down jokes or trying to craft one-man performances so that he could cheer people up. For a while, that's exactly what happened. He'd have a performance ready for when all the fishermen came back from their days, and he would fill the town with laughter.
Then, for about a year, there wasn't anything. Around his 17th birthday, there was a disastrous storm that came out of nowhere. That day he was setting up his small space in town for "the greatest performance of all time" (he said this every week.) but when the time came around, no one came back. Days later they found the wreckage of one of the fishing boats on a nearby beach, and that was all the proof they needed. They were all dead, lost in the dredges of the sea.
Aster tried his hardest to console his mother, who cried for days after they discovered the truth, and was never really the same. Aster's jokes didn't raise her spirits like they used to, and in time he had to take over for his father, just to make sure his family could continue eating. But after that day, his mother started to get sick. And she never really got better. A doctor told Aster that it was an illness that most could power through, but his mother just didn't have the will to continue. Throughout this whole time, even when they had sent for aid from the kingdom to keep the fishing going after losing most of their best fishermen, the kingdom never did anything to help.
Aster held one final performance in that town in memory of his mother, and like always he finished with a smile on his face, trying to ignore the tears falling from his eyes, then he went towards the capital of the kingdom. It was time that he used his skills for something different.
From there, his writing of shows improved, and his acting, in general, became much stronger. He found a group of fellow thespians in the capital, all of whom knew that they could use their skills to speak to the people, so he formed the Crooked Crown Players, a group that advocated the use of theatre to make a difference. Many of their shows made fun of those in charge, of the monarch (president? elected official? whatever?) and his inability to lead their kingdom. This shocked many people, and was encouraging to some others, but these shows started to get attention from the higher powers, and it led to many a screaming match between the thespians and the guards. There were many attempted arrests, there were few actual arrests, but their troupe became very good at evading authority, holding guerilla shows, and infuriating the government.
His last show came about a few months after he'd turned 25. Aster wrote the most brilliant satire alive, and they'd discovered secrets in the kingdom that were more than enough to show that they were incompetent and holding the people back from freedom. Aster called it his magnum opus, and the show attracted thousands to a dark underside of the kingdom. It was labelled an "anarchist rally", but really it was all just a show. Named after themselves: "His Crooked Crown".
Someone had tipped off the authorities to where the show was happening. Just after it finished the barged in and tried to grab everyone, but Aster stepped forward and said that he deserved all the blame for everything that happened there. With some negotiating, he got his troupe out of it with some jail time, and the rest of the people took a slap on the risk. In exchange, the monarch would make an example of the lead player.
The gallows were attended by all that afternoon. A rather sunny day with a few clouds in the sky. The man announcing his name titled him "the Disgraceful Player" as the noose was fitted around his neck. A smile was plastered to Aster's face for the whole time, and when he was asked for last words, he had one thing to say:
"Always follow your dreams, no matter the obstacles that stand in your way."
The act ended with the floor falling out from beneath his feet, the few seconds of all oxygen being pressed out of his body, and then darkness.
But apparently, this is a play with two acts...
