[OOC] Character information & application
Canon: Van Helsing
Character: Gabriel Van Helsing
Timeline: The end of the movie
Personality: Because of the work he is required to do, Van Helsing is a cautious man. He likes to know what he’s dealing with, and how to best take care of it (read: kill). He has been fighting evil long enough to know that he can't take chances. He practices his own techniques, much to the annoyance of the Order, who would prefer that he extract the human form of the beast he's hunting. Of course, this is nearly impossible, even for Van Helsing. He's methodical and careful in his ways and he has yet to fail a mission, a fact he reminds the Cardinal of regularly. When he meets Anna, he disapproves of her plan to storm Dracula's castle alone and in the dead of night; she is the chaos to his order.
His methods have been called "questionable," and Van Helsing himself admits they are a bit unorthodox. Because of his conflict with his past and future, he isn't above using his own means to make sure harm doesn't to Anna: he knocks her out with a fume to prevent her confronting Dracula on her own. He apologises for it, but he isn't sorry. (He does this again later to Frankenstein's monster, intending to trade him for Anna, who has been kidnapped by Dracula.)
Van Helsing is a patient person. He is willing to wait, take his time and feel out the enemy before he attacks. Slow to anger, he gives himself almost no reason to be riled (except the threatening of Carl and Anna). He uses logic and will do whatever it takes to give him an advantage in a fight; this is the reason he drags Carl to Transylvania with him, aware the friar has extensive knowledge of weaponry, beasts and lore.
With no memory of his own, Van Helsing has taught himself to be distant and to focus on his work. He has a dry sense of humour which only he seems to appreciate and he has a tendency to crack jokes at inappropriate times. He is a bit rough around the edges, but he has a job to do and caring for people has cost him in the past. He knows that he can't afford to have close relationships. He regrets his decision to bring Carl along after seeing what they're up against with Dracula. However, it's not long before he starts developing feelings for Anna--and in the end, he was right. Getting involved with Van Helsing cost Anna her life.
Despite who he works for, Van Helsing is not a religious man. He lacks faith, and is reprimanded for it by Cardinal Jinette. Van Helsing often questions the presence of God and even blasphemes; he is a cynic when it comes to belief. He has seen too much and destroyed too much evil to really believe that God exists. By the end of the movie, he does have some faith. Still, he rejects the chance to discover his past when Dracula offers it to him, deciding that "some things are better left forgotten." He is shown to have a strong moral centre when it comes to innocent people; he strives to keep as many alive as he can.
Anna hits the nail on the head when it comes to Van Helsing’s inner conflict - she asks him whether he is a murderer or a holy man. He answers, “A bit of both, I think,” suggesting the line is blurred even for him.
Doing his job for so long has given Van Helsing a ‘sixth sense,’ or what he likes to call the ability to detect whether a creature is ruled by evil. He doesn’t like to kill if he can avoid it, wary of the consequences for unnecessary death. He is able to sense that while Frankenstein’s monster was created for Dracula’s sinister intention, it is not motivated to fulfill its purpose; it just wants to live.
Van Helsing is cunning and usually one step ahead of his enemy; he always has a move hidden up his sleeve at the last moment which has saved him more than once. Even though he likes to be prepared, he leaves room for error and never underestimates his opponents. That is probably what's kept him alive.
Background: While most men try to escape the past, Van Helsing seeks it.
In 1882, he was found, half-alive and bewildered, on the steps of the Vatican, with no recollection of his name or history. He was taken in by the Knights of the Holy Order, a secret organisation devoted to the eradication of monsters and the protection of human kind. His only clues to his past lie in his dreams - the most bizarre of which includes fighting the Romans at Masada in 73 A.D. He has triangular scars on his back.
The head of the Holy Order, Cardinal Jinette, is certain that the reason for Van Helsing’s lack of memory is a penalty for something he has done. Thus, he encourages him to work for them in the hopes of regaining his memory. Van Helsing receives specialist training from masters of martial arts, weaponry, and beast slaying. Combined with his natural fighting ability, he is the best defense the Order has.
He is sent to Paris after a certain Mr. Hyde, who has left a path of destruction in his wake - the death of multiple men, women and children. Van Helsing has pursued him for some time, because Hyde reveals a hole in his bicep where he “got him good.” Van Helsing attempts to take him alive, but is overcome by the sheer power of the creature, so he kills him (but not without shattering the Rose Window).
He returns to the Vatican, where he is berated for his actions by Jinette. He attempts to leave (not for the first time), but he is stopped and reminded of his quest to regain his memories. Then he is given his next mission: he is to go to Transylvania to vanquish Count Dracula, a vampire and the distant relative of the gypsy princess Anna; her family has spent hundreds of years trying to destroy him, and it is down to the Anna and her brother now. When viewing the slide of Dracula’s face, Van Helsing feels like he has seen him before, and notices that the signet on a piece of parchment he is given matches the one of his ring.
The mission to kill Dracula is especially desperate, as nine generations of the Valerious family is trapped in purgatory until this is achieved, as per the agreement Valerious the Elder made when he could not kill his own son - he left the task to future generations.
Shortly after arriving in Transylvania to a less than warm welcome, Van Helsing witnesses Dracula’s three brides in action as they attempt to attack Anna in broad daylight, something she later tells him is unusual and why she believes they are desperate to finish her family off. Anna knows who he is from the beginning and tries to reject his help, but she is overwhelmed by the strength of the brides so she relents. Together he and Anna manage to kill Marishka, though this is not appreciated by the villagers, who insist that the vampires will not only kill now for food, but for revenge. Though their initial meeting was prickly, Anna is impressed by Van Helsing’s skill.
Later, at the Valerious Manor, Anna starts preparing to go after Dracula, only to be knocked out by Van Helsing’s spray. When she wakes, she seeks him immediately, instead finding her brother in the library, who disappeared during a hunt a few days earlier and was believed to be dead. Trying to tell her Dracula’s secret, he fails to finish because he transforms into a werewolf. Van Helsing arrives on the scene, and after a scuffle, Velkan flees. They follow him to the village, where Van Helsing tries to shoot him, but Anna stops him. Infuriated, Van Helsing demands why, then admits he knew it was Velkan when he shot at him. They eventually decide to go after Velkan, and follow his trail to an allegedly abandoned castle that belonged to the mad scientist Frankenstein until his death a year prior. Anna tells him the castle was stormed by villagers, angry after learning Frankenstein had robbed graves, among other things.
While searching for Velkan, they discover Dracula’s plan: to raise his undead children using the human equivalent of a lightning rod. This time around Dracula is using Velkan, whose blood is more potent with werewolf venom, and manages to awaken his children briefly until Velkan’s power is not enough to keep them alive. While Anna goes to save her brother, Van Helsing searches for Dracula. After a confrontation in which a silver stake and holy water are proven useless against Dracula, it is revealed that Dracula knew Van Helsing personally in his former life. He does not say how, but he seems to know more about Van Helsing than he himself does, including his nightmares.
Resigning himself to the fact Dracula is not going to be defeated by traditional vampire-killing means, Van Helsing retrieves Anna and they escape to the abandoned windmill. After an accidental fall into a pit beneath the windmill, they find Frankenstein’s monster - the scientist’s creation and the key to giving Dracula’s children life. He says he has been hiding for the last year, trying to keep out of the way of the vampires. Anna, knowing this is the only way to guarantee Dracula fails, wants to kill the monster, but Van Helsing refuses; he says that “evil may have created it, evil may have left its mark on it, but evil does not rule it. So therefore I cannot kill it.” Before they can reach a verdict, they are spotted by Velkan and realise it is only a matter of time before Dracula knows the creature still exists. In desperation to prevent Dracula from completing his task, the decision is made to take Frankenstein (as he asks to be called in memory of his ‘father’, the scientist) to the Vatican, where the power of Rome will protect him.
It takes a gruelling carriage ride (and the subsequent deaths of Velkan and Verona, one of the brides) and the capture of Anna by the remaining bride, Aleera, to lead Carl, Van Helsing and Frankenstein to Budapest. Van Helsing hides the fact that he has been bitten by Velkan. They are informed by Aleera that there will be a masquerade ball, and Anna is to be traded for the monster. By now the monster and Carl notice the bite marks on Van Helsing, and they know it is only a matter of time until the curse of the werewolf consumes him. Van Helsing appears reluctant, but he darts Frankenstein and they hide him in a mausoleum. With no intention of handing him over, Van Helsing decides to do it his way, although Dracula already knows his plan.
At the ball, Anna is under the spell of Dracula, and he expresses desire for a new bride, obviously meaning her. He fully expects Van Helsing to attempt a daring rescue, which he does, but right as Anna is back with he and Carl, Dracula’s servants show up with Frankenstein in tow. Van Helsing is devastated, but they are forced to run when everyone attending the ball is revealed to be a vampire. Knowing he has limited time to defeat Dracula now, Van Helsing lets his frustration get the better of him when Carl says that they are ordered to kill Frankenstein by the Vatican even if they somehow manage to retrieve him.
They return to the the castle in Transylvania, finding it empty and all of the equipment gone. Anna realises Dracula has moved everything to his secret lair, which her father had spent years trying to find. They return to the Valerious Manor, and Carl recalls something he found the night Van Helsing and Anna tracked Velkan: that Dracula can be killed by a werewolf. Seeing their opportunity, they search for the ‘door’ to Dracula’s hiding place. Van Helsing scrambles to find the piece of parchment given to him by the Holy Order when they find part of a large wall-based map missing; lo and behold, the piece fits, and Carl is able to read the Latin inscription and transform the map into a mirror. They soon discover it is not a mirror but a door; Van Helsing is the first to go through, declaring it cold on the other side. The others soon follow and they approach the formidable fortress that is Castle Dracula.
The plan is for Van Helsing to attack Dracula when the full moon brings the werewolf venom to him to full power, giving him a clear mind until the twelfth stroke of midnight, at which point he will not be able to transform back. After they find Igor, Dracula’s lackey, and discover the antidote to werewolf venom in the tower, Van Helsing instructs them to kill him if they find him past the allocated time. With that, he goes to find Dracula (but not before kissing Anna).
Anna and Carl have their hands full dealing with Igor and Aleera while Van Helsing tries to free Frankenstein from his confines at the top of the tower. Before he can finish, Dracula knocks him down. The clock strikes midnight and Van Helsing turns into a werewolf, then grapples with Dracula in his bat form. He manages to wound Dracula but when the moon goes behind some cloud, he transforms back into a human; laughing at him, Dracula offers to restore Van Helsing’s memory if only he would join him. He reveals that Van Helsing was indeed the one who murdered him, the ring Van Helsing possesses was originally his, and that he was referred to as the Left Hand of God. Van Helsing refuses and turns back into a werewolf, managing to kill Dracula at last. Anna appears with the antivenom, and right as she is about to inject it, he tackles her. Carl arrives and is about to stab him when he turns around; Carl sees that Anna is dead, though whether from shock or the impact isn’t certain. Van Helsing pulls the syringe, successfully planted, out of his stomach and sheds the werewolf skin, weeping over Anna’s body.
Van Helsing recalls Anna’s simple wish of seeing the ocean, and they cremate her body on a cliff overlooking it. He thinks he sees her and her family in the wisps of smoke, which comforts him a bit. Then he and Carl start making their way back to Rome on horseback for whatever their next assignment may be.
Abilities/Additional Notes: There are some vague references to Van Helsing having been an angel in his past life ('Gabriel'), and the Left Hand of God. He doesn't believe this, though some of his memories (i.e. fighting the Romans at Masada in 73 A.D.) don't make sense. He has scars on his back that Dracula somehow knew he had.
He has a sound knowledge of monsters and speaks four languages.
For a human, he is very quick and silent, though he has no particular strength. He is extremely efficient with any weapon, but prefers crossbows and knives. He is good at hand-to-hand combat, although you’re not likely to see him fighting without a knife.
Sample Journal Post:
[The feed has been turned on accidentally; Van Helsing is wary of the PCD, having seen too many objects suck the soul out of a person to feel comfortable near it. His hand doesn’t leave his hip, where he keeps his knives hidden, as he gazes around at the Wastelands. It could almost pass for the Transylvanian forest, though the beasts here seem considerably less foul than the ones he’d encountered there.]
Where…
Not that now is the time to be asking, but is this another test of faith? [He sounds wry, almost bitter.] You Knights don’t seem to have any shortage of tricks, do you.
[He’s certain that’s what this is now; he doesn’t know how else to explain being on horseback in Romania one moment, and then flat on his back in unfamiliar territory the next.]
Sample RP:
Van Helsing knelt beside the fire pit, snapping twits thoughtlessly and tossing them into the flames. He felt warm, almost too warm, but he didn’t pull away. He prodded some of the stones aside with his boot, wincing as the heat rose into his face.
“She wouldn’t have wanted you to blame yourself,” Carl said quietly from where he was tending to their horses.
Van Helsing caught the apple thrown to him. “I don’t know what you mean, Carl.”
“Is that how you’re going to do this?” Carl questioned. He set one of their saddlecloths on the ground and sat. “You haven’t said a word since we left, you know. Anna wouldn’t like to see you like this.”
Van Helsing looked at him sharply, and Carl cringed; it was too soon to say her name.
“Leave it, Carl.”
But he couldn’t, not really. “I’m only saying…you can talk about it, if you want.”
“Nothing to talk about.”
Carl sighed. “When you’re done punishing yourself, let me know.” A pause. “If you stop.”
Van Helsing hid a small smile with the fruit, knowing that without Carl’s company for the journey home, he might not have returned at all.
Character: Gabriel Van Helsing
Timeline: The end of the movie
Personality: Because of the work he is required to do, Van Helsing is a cautious man. He likes to know what he’s dealing with, and how to best take care of it (read: kill). He has been fighting evil long enough to know that he can't take chances. He practices his own techniques, much to the annoyance of the Order, who would prefer that he extract the human form of the beast he's hunting. Of course, this is nearly impossible, even for Van Helsing. He's methodical and careful in his ways and he has yet to fail a mission, a fact he reminds the Cardinal of regularly. When he meets Anna, he disapproves of her plan to storm Dracula's castle alone and in the dead of night; she is the chaos to his order.
His methods have been called "questionable," and Van Helsing himself admits they are a bit unorthodox. Because of his conflict with his past and future, he isn't above using his own means to make sure harm doesn't to Anna: he knocks her out with a fume to prevent her confronting Dracula on her own. He apologises for it, but he isn't sorry. (He does this again later to Frankenstein's monster, intending to trade him for Anna, who has been kidnapped by Dracula.)
Van Helsing is a patient person. He is willing to wait, take his time and feel out the enemy before he attacks. Slow to anger, he gives himself almost no reason to be riled (except the threatening of Carl and Anna). He uses logic and will do whatever it takes to give him an advantage in a fight; this is the reason he drags Carl to Transylvania with him, aware the friar has extensive knowledge of weaponry, beasts and lore.
With no memory of his own, Van Helsing has taught himself to be distant and to focus on his work. He has a dry sense of humour which only he seems to appreciate and he has a tendency to crack jokes at inappropriate times. He is a bit rough around the edges, but he has a job to do and caring for people has cost him in the past. He knows that he can't afford to have close relationships. He regrets his decision to bring Carl along after seeing what they're up against with Dracula. However, it's not long before he starts developing feelings for Anna--and in the end, he was right. Getting involved with Van Helsing cost Anna her life.
Despite who he works for, Van Helsing is not a religious man. He lacks faith, and is reprimanded for it by Cardinal Jinette. Van Helsing often questions the presence of God and even blasphemes; he is a cynic when it comes to belief. He has seen too much and destroyed too much evil to really believe that God exists. By the end of the movie, he does have some faith. Still, he rejects the chance to discover his past when Dracula offers it to him, deciding that "some things are better left forgotten." He is shown to have a strong moral centre when it comes to innocent people; he strives to keep as many alive as he can.
Anna hits the nail on the head when it comes to Van Helsing’s inner conflict - she asks him whether he is a murderer or a holy man. He answers, “A bit of both, I think,” suggesting the line is blurred even for him.
Doing his job for so long has given Van Helsing a ‘sixth sense,’ or what he likes to call the ability to detect whether a creature is ruled by evil. He doesn’t like to kill if he can avoid it, wary of the consequences for unnecessary death. He is able to sense that while Frankenstein’s monster was created for Dracula’s sinister intention, it is not motivated to fulfill its purpose; it just wants to live.
Van Helsing is cunning and usually one step ahead of his enemy; he always has a move hidden up his sleeve at the last moment which has saved him more than once. Even though he likes to be prepared, he leaves room for error and never underestimates his opponents. That is probably what's kept him alive.
Background: While most men try to escape the past, Van Helsing seeks it.
In 1882, he was found, half-alive and bewildered, on the steps of the Vatican, with no recollection of his name or history. He was taken in by the Knights of the Holy Order, a secret organisation devoted to the eradication of monsters and the protection of human kind. His only clues to his past lie in his dreams - the most bizarre of which includes fighting the Romans at Masada in 73 A.D. He has triangular scars on his back.
The head of the Holy Order, Cardinal Jinette, is certain that the reason for Van Helsing’s lack of memory is a penalty for something he has done. Thus, he encourages him to work for them in the hopes of regaining his memory. Van Helsing receives specialist training from masters of martial arts, weaponry, and beast slaying. Combined with his natural fighting ability, he is the best defense the Order has.
He is sent to Paris after a certain Mr. Hyde, who has left a path of destruction in his wake - the death of multiple men, women and children. Van Helsing has pursued him for some time, because Hyde reveals a hole in his bicep where he “got him good.” Van Helsing attempts to take him alive, but is overcome by the sheer power of the creature, so he kills him (but not without shattering the Rose Window).
He returns to the Vatican, where he is berated for his actions by Jinette. He attempts to leave (not for the first time), but he is stopped and reminded of his quest to regain his memories. Then he is given his next mission: he is to go to Transylvania to vanquish Count Dracula, a vampire and the distant relative of the gypsy princess Anna; her family has spent hundreds of years trying to destroy him, and it is down to the Anna and her brother now. When viewing the slide of Dracula’s face, Van Helsing feels like he has seen him before, and notices that the signet on a piece of parchment he is given matches the one of his ring.
The mission to kill Dracula is especially desperate, as nine generations of the Valerious family is trapped in purgatory until this is achieved, as per the agreement Valerious the Elder made when he could not kill his own son - he left the task to future generations.
Shortly after arriving in Transylvania to a less than warm welcome, Van Helsing witnesses Dracula’s three brides in action as they attempt to attack Anna in broad daylight, something she later tells him is unusual and why she believes they are desperate to finish her family off. Anna knows who he is from the beginning and tries to reject his help, but she is overwhelmed by the strength of the brides so she relents. Together he and Anna manage to kill Marishka, though this is not appreciated by the villagers, who insist that the vampires will not only kill now for food, but for revenge. Though their initial meeting was prickly, Anna is impressed by Van Helsing’s skill.
Later, at the Valerious Manor, Anna starts preparing to go after Dracula, only to be knocked out by Van Helsing’s spray. When she wakes, she seeks him immediately, instead finding her brother in the library, who disappeared during a hunt a few days earlier and was believed to be dead. Trying to tell her Dracula’s secret, he fails to finish because he transforms into a werewolf. Van Helsing arrives on the scene, and after a scuffle, Velkan flees. They follow him to the village, where Van Helsing tries to shoot him, but Anna stops him. Infuriated, Van Helsing demands why, then admits he knew it was Velkan when he shot at him. They eventually decide to go after Velkan, and follow his trail to an allegedly abandoned castle that belonged to the mad scientist Frankenstein until his death a year prior. Anna tells him the castle was stormed by villagers, angry after learning Frankenstein had robbed graves, among other things.
While searching for Velkan, they discover Dracula’s plan: to raise his undead children using the human equivalent of a lightning rod. This time around Dracula is using Velkan, whose blood is more potent with werewolf venom, and manages to awaken his children briefly until Velkan’s power is not enough to keep them alive. While Anna goes to save her brother, Van Helsing searches for Dracula. After a confrontation in which a silver stake and holy water are proven useless against Dracula, it is revealed that Dracula knew Van Helsing personally in his former life. He does not say how, but he seems to know more about Van Helsing than he himself does, including his nightmares.
Resigning himself to the fact Dracula is not going to be defeated by traditional vampire-killing means, Van Helsing retrieves Anna and they escape to the abandoned windmill. After an accidental fall into a pit beneath the windmill, they find Frankenstein’s monster - the scientist’s creation and the key to giving Dracula’s children life. He says he has been hiding for the last year, trying to keep out of the way of the vampires. Anna, knowing this is the only way to guarantee Dracula fails, wants to kill the monster, but Van Helsing refuses; he says that “evil may have created it, evil may have left its mark on it, but evil does not rule it. So therefore I cannot kill it.” Before they can reach a verdict, they are spotted by Velkan and realise it is only a matter of time before Dracula knows the creature still exists. In desperation to prevent Dracula from completing his task, the decision is made to take Frankenstein (as he asks to be called in memory of his ‘father’, the scientist) to the Vatican, where the power of Rome will protect him.
It takes a gruelling carriage ride (and the subsequent deaths of Velkan and Verona, one of the brides) and the capture of Anna by the remaining bride, Aleera, to lead Carl, Van Helsing and Frankenstein to Budapest. Van Helsing hides the fact that he has been bitten by Velkan. They are informed by Aleera that there will be a masquerade ball, and Anna is to be traded for the monster. By now the monster and Carl notice the bite marks on Van Helsing, and they know it is only a matter of time until the curse of the werewolf consumes him. Van Helsing appears reluctant, but he darts Frankenstein and they hide him in a mausoleum. With no intention of handing him over, Van Helsing decides to do it his way, although Dracula already knows his plan.
At the ball, Anna is under the spell of Dracula, and he expresses desire for a new bride, obviously meaning her. He fully expects Van Helsing to attempt a daring rescue, which he does, but right as Anna is back with he and Carl, Dracula’s servants show up with Frankenstein in tow. Van Helsing is devastated, but they are forced to run when everyone attending the ball is revealed to be a vampire. Knowing he has limited time to defeat Dracula now, Van Helsing lets his frustration get the better of him when Carl says that they are ordered to kill Frankenstein by the Vatican even if they somehow manage to retrieve him.
They return to the the castle in Transylvania, finding it empty and all of the equipment gone. Anna realises Dracula has moved everything to his secret lair, which her father had spent years trying to find. They return to the Valerious Manor, and Carl recalls something he found the night Van Helsing and Anna tracked Velkan: that Dracula can be killed by a werewolf. Seeing their opportunity, they search for the ‘door’ to Dracula’s hiding place. Van Helsing scrambles to find the piece of parchment given to him by the Holy Order when they find part of a large wall-based map missing; lo and behold, the piece fits, and Carl is able to read the Latin inscription and transform the map into a mirror. They soon discover it is not a mirror but a door; Van Helsing is the first to go through, declaring it cold on the other side. The others soon follow and they approach the formidable fortress that is Castle Dracula.
The plan is for Van Helsing to attack Dracula when the full moon brings the werewolf venom to him to full power, giving him a clear mind until the twelfth stroke of midnight, at which point he will not be able to transform back. After they find Igor, Dracula’s lackey, and discover the antidote to werewolf venom in the tower, Van Helsing instructs them to kill him if they find him past the allocated time. With that, he goes to find Dracula (but not before kissing Anna).
Anna and Carl have their hands full dealing with Igor and Aleera while Van Helsing tries to free Frankenstein from his confines at the top of the tower. Before he can finish, Dracula knocks him down. The clock strikes midnight and Van Helsing turns into a werewolf, then grapples with Dracula in his bat form. He manages to wound Dracula but when the moon goes behind some cloud, he transforms back into a human; laughing at him, Dracula offers to restore Van Helsing’s memory if only he would join him. He reveals that Van Helsing was indeed the one who murdered him, the ring Van Helsing possesses was originally his, and that he was referred to as the Left Hand of God. Van Helsing refuses and turns back into a werewolf, managing to kill Dracula at last. Anna appears with the antivenom, and right as she is about to inject it, he tackles her. Carl arrives and is about to stab him when he turns around; Carl sees that Anna is dead, though whether from shock or the impact isn’t certain. Van Helsing pulls the syringe, successfully planted, out of his stomach and sheds the werewolf skin, weeping over Anna’s body.
Van Helsing recalls Anna’s simple wish of seeing the ocean, and they cremate her body on a cliff overlooking it. He thinks he sees her and her family in the wisps of smoke, which comforts him a bit. Then he and Carl start making their way back to Rome on horseback for whatever their next assignment may be.
Abilities/Additional Notes: There are some vague references to Van Helsing having been an angel in his past life ('Gabriel'), and the Left Hand of God. He doesn't believe this, though some of his memories (i.e. fighting the Romans at Masada in 73 A.D.) don't make sense. He has scars on his back that Dracula somehow knew he had.
He has a sound knowledge of monsters and speaks four languages.
For a human, he is very quick and silent, though he has no particular strength. He is extremely efficient with any weapon, but prefers crossbows and knives. He is good at hand-to-hand combat, although you’re not likely to see him fighting without a knife.
Sample Journal Post:
[The feed has been turned on accidentally; Van Helsing is wary of the PCD, having seen too many objects suck the soul out of a person to feel comfortable near it. His hand doesn’t leave his hip, where he keeps his knives hidden, as he gazes around at the Wastelands. It could almost pass for the Transylvanian forest, though the beasts here seem considerably less foul than the ones he’d encountered there.]
Where…
Not that now is the time to be asking, but is this another test of faith? [He sounds wry, almost bitter.] You Knights don’t seem to have any shortage of tricks, do you.
[He’s certain that’s what this is now; he doesn’t know how else to explain being on horseback in Romania one moment, and then flat on his back in unfamiliar territory the next.]
Sample RP:
Van Helsing knelt beside the fire pit, snapping twits thoughtlessly and tossing them into the flames. He felt warm, almost too warm, but he didn’t pull away. He prodded some of the stones aside with his boot, wincing as the heat rose into his face.
“She wouldn’t have wanted you to blame yourself,” Carl said quietly from where he was tending to their horses.
Van Helsing caught the apple thrown to him. “I don’t know what you mean, Carl.”
“Is that how you’re going to do this?” Carl questioned. He set one of their saddlecloths on the ground and sat. “You haven’t said a word since we left, you know. Anna wouldn’t like to see you like this.”
Van Helsing looked at him sharply, and Carl cringed; it was too soon to say her name.
“Leave it, Carl.”
But he couldn’t, not really. “I’m only saying…you can talk about it, if you want.”
“Nothing to talk about.”
Carl sighed. “When you’re done punishing yourself, let me know.” A pause. “If you stop.”
Van Helsing hid a small smile with the fruit, knowing that without Carl’s company for the journey home, he might not have returned at all.