Application for ad_libitum_rpg
Character's Name: Luke fon Fabre
Character's Age: 17 (He was close to 18 at the end of the game; epilogue aside)
Character's Class: Swordsman
Biography: I am going to attempt the most compact application I've ever written. And it's not going to happen.
Following the kidnapping of the tertiary heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear, Luke (a replica and a perfect isofon of the missing youth) was brought into the Fabre manor. Dorian General Van Grants, the Commandant of the God-Generals, and one of the higher-ups within the Order of Lorelei ("religion" within/without the neutral state of Daath), had created the replica along with the help of a team of scientists to act as a substitute for the missing boy and to overthrow a prophecy called the Score which he and many like-minded people believed the world was shackled to.
Luke was none the wiser. His family came to believe that he had lost all memories due to the trauma of being kidnapped (when in fact he didn't have any memories to lose), and so he was pampered and babied for the most part, growing into an arrogant and sheltered teenager who was watched over by maids and his best friend/servant Guy Cecil, and prodded into studying by the princess, Natalia L.K. Lanvaldear, his betrothed.
It was no secret that Luke resented this setup. He wasn't allowed to leave the confines of the manor until he came of age (20), and besides this, the only things he looked forward to were visits from Van, his sword instructor, whom he basically hero-worshipped.
One day it all changed when Tear Grants, Van's own sister, broke into the manor with the intent of striking the Commandant down. Luke moves to stop her and the two are blasted off to Tataroo Valley in enemy Malkuth territory thanks to the power of hyperresonance - the vibrations/interference which can occur between seventh fonons (sound particles).
Tear makes it her duty to see that Luke is returned home, and so the two embark on a long, much side-tracked journey back to Baticul. Along the way they meet lots of important diplomats(!) and some not so important people, pick up a mascot character named Mieu, and have a jolly good time (not!). They are taken prisoner aboard the landship Tartarus (the mode or transportantion used by those important diplomats(!): Colonel Jade Curtiss of Malkuth; Fon Master Ion, the highest ranking member of the Order of Lorelei; and Fon Master Guardian Anise Tatlin) where Luke is coaxed into aiding their cause and helping to negotiate peace between the warring countries (they just need his name, really), then the Tartarus is hijacked by the God-Generals, then the amazing servant Guy comes to their rescue, yadayadayada... the important thing is Luke gets kidnapped during all of this and taken to Choral Castle where his fon slots are opened and synchronized by a party of God-Generals. Now, Luke, besides losing all his memories, had started hearing voices in his head and having chronic migraines ever since the accident. This would soon escalate and start to make sense.
Luke learns a lot of things, and we learn a lot of things about Luke. For starters, Luke learns what it means to pay for the food you want, he also learns that people do not tolerate jerkwads and that other people in turn will start behaving like jerkwads. We also learn that Luke fails at being discreet and is terrified at the prospect of killing people or seeing people killed.
They eventually make it back to Baticul. ;)
Luke is given a mission to serve as goodwill ambassador to a small mining town called Akzeriuth. They've been suffering from a poisonous miasma and immediately Luke lets the whole ambassador thing go to his head. He's finally out of the manor and wants to prove himself. So Van and Luke start planning to make him a hero. He'll use his hyperresonance to clear away the miasma, but it's a hush-hush secret. Natalia overhears some of their plotting (not the important parts unfortunately) and uses this as leverage to join the ambassadorial group which includes... the entire main PC party now. (Who'd have thought?) Since the God-Generals are watching the city and have kidnapped Ion, Van opts to go by sea as a decoy and everyone else sneaks through an abandoned factory under the city. When they emerge into daylight rain, they find a landship parked up ahead, and the God-Generals with Ion in tow. Luke gets this REALLY BAD FEELING and starts running at them with demands that they release the Fon Master, and he clashes blades... with a guy who looks just like him. Asch the Bloody. The God-Generals manage to get away and Luke... is sick. :/ He can't shake it at all.
So then Asch starts contacting him (via those synchronized fon slots, through a mind channel, if you will) and tells him where Ion is. Luke orders everyone across the desert to fight that jerk save him. The group's respect for Luke, meanwhile, continues to wane. In the Zao Ruins they procure the shota, and finally head to Akzeriuth where conditions have worsened considerably.
Luke runs off to go meet with Van, Ion in tow, while the others tend to the sick and Tear almost gets herself kidnapped. Asch steps in, alerting the others of Van's goal and trying unsuccessfully to stop Luke before it's too late. But it is. Too late. Van tricks Luke into destroying the Passage Ring that supported the town, the ground caves, and the surrounding area is destroyed utterly, thousands of lives lost in an instant. The party manages to survive thanks to Tear, but they aren't precisely "in one piece". Luke's stuck in a state of denial, and his relations with everyone else have crumbled to the point of what would seem nonrepair. Mieu is the only one to stick with him, and Luke tells the cheagle off. They sail through the sludge to Yulia City, Tear's home, and the only city present below the rest of the "world" (The Outer Lands) in the Qliphoth. There, Asch reappears and tells Luke he's a replica, they fight, and Luke gets his butt kicked. In what may be one of the most beneficial things to ever happen to him, Asch ganks Luke's consciousness from his body and allows him to hitch a ride in his mind while the rest of the group (save Mieu and Tear) return to the Outer Lands to find out more about Van's plots. Through Asch, Luke watches as Guy returns for him (Luke) and the others explore the replica facility in Ortion Cavern. After informing everyone that St. Binah will be next to fall, Asch kicks Luke out and back into his own body which is still back in Yulia City.
Luke walks out into the selenia garden to find Tear and explains to her what he's learned and how much of an idiot he's been, that he needs to change. Though she's initially skeptical, she stands by as Luke cuts his hair and vows to change, and seems to give his sentiments support - reminding him that she can leave at any time. They go and talk with Tear's grandfather, Mayor Teodoro, and discover that Akzeriuth's destruction was foretold in the Closed Score and had been allowed to happen. Teodoro assures them that St. Binah will not fall, but suggests they take Yulia Road up to the surface if they don't believe him. They do. Take Yulia Road.
Yulia Road ends in Aramis Spring where Guy is waiting for them. After exiting the accompanying cave, Jade shows up and tells them Ion and Natalia have been kidnapped and are being held as prisoners in Daath Cathedral. So they bump into Anise along the way and proceed to rescue the remaining party members.
Super short version is Grand Maestro Mohs is trying to start a war so the world will default back to following the Score and receive its promised prosperity. After getting sidetracked learning about Jade and fomicry up in snowy Keterburg, the party sneaks into Grand Chokmah, the capital of Malkuth, and get the go-ahead to save St. Binah. They eventually do this with a super-cool airship piloted by Noelle.
Unfortunately more land is sinking, so the party starts playing with the Sephiroth in order to prevent this, only a ton of other things are happening, too, and Van's already sort of booby-trapped them, so it's not easy.
That war's finally happened, also. Luke personally helps evacuate civilians across the battlefield. And the other half of the party goes to request a cease-fire, only Mohs is one step ahead of them and reveals that Luke and Natalia are both fakes, so Asch has to save their butts and the party has to run off again.
Also Luke finds out that Guy wanted to kill him, which does absolutely nothing for his morale. And dear Master Van called him an inferior product. Uh huh.
Eventually they convince Kimlasca and Malkuth to sign a peace treaty so Plan B can actually happen. (This was Luke's idea, btw. He does think occasionally.) So, with that greenlit, they start using the Sephiroth to lower the Outer Lands, only Tear's actually absorbing contaminated seventh fonons during the process. This all comes to a head when they journey into the core to try to stop the core's vibrations (so the miama will solidify and the lowered land won't sink into mud), she gets up-close-and-personal with Lorelei, and just collapses on the spot. After taking her to a doctor, they find out she might die if things continue as they are. Luke's messed up about this, too, but he respects her wishes, and they keep on with the hero thing.
The hero thing eventually leads them to fighting the remaining God-Generals and Master Van, who basically tells Luke, when he asks what his purpose is, that he was created to overthrow the Score - as a throwaway replica. But they defeat him anyway and Luke and Asch use hyperresonance to finish up the land-lowering job. Afterwards Lorelei comes to them and gives them each half of a super shiny weapon, only Luke absorbs his half by accident. This pisses off Asch because he spends the second half of the game looking for it, only to find out that it was inside Luke all along.
But anyway, a month passes. Luke goes home and mopes around and sleeps and cuddles with Mieu and has letters hidden from him.
Thanks to Suzanne, Luke goes with Noelle to visit his friends (namely Tear, because he heard Asch was in Yulia City), only to find out that hey, the game's only half over.
Super short version is there are some replica factories which have been cranking out replicas. Mohs is using these to (yet again) try to start a war. He also kidnaps Ion and has him read the Planet Score which ends his life and reveals Anise as a spy. But he absorbs the contaminated fonons from Tear before he fades away and saves her.
Also the other God-Generals and Van are in fact NOT DEAD.
But first things first! Increased vibrations in the core means the miasma is back with a vengeance. Countries get together to try to figure out how to stop it. Finally it's accidentally suggested that either Asch or Luke could use a hyperresonance magnified by thousands of seventh fonists to blow it away - if they're willing to murder that many people and die themselves. Asch and Luke fight over who's expendable, and when it comes right down to it, Luke snipes the Sword of Lorelei from Asch and plans to sacrifice himself and the replicas Mohs abandoned. Only this is when they figure where his half of the weapon (the Jewel of Lorelei) is and Asch has to help him. It clears away the miasma. Neither of them die, but Luke discovers his fonons are separating as a result of his crazy self-sacrificing stunt at the Tower of Rem. Jade figures it out. Mieu eavesdrops. Mieu tells Tear... you see where this is going.
So where's Master Van? On Eldrant, a floating replica of Hod. With Lorelei inside him. Van still wants to destroy the world and replace it with a replica world and overturn the Score, and the remaining God-Generals are supporting him. So with some more playing around in the Sephiroth, and some help from the military, they bust in. Luke and Asch fight to determine the meaning of birth. Luke wins, takes the Key of Lorelei, and Asch stays behind to fight off Oracle soldiers. Only he dies. And Natalia and Luke flip out. But Asch gives Luke the power of second-order hyperresonance so now he can do cool tricks.
FINALLY. They face off against Van, who acknowledges Luke as a human being. Only Luke's finally wizened up and decided that as long as he has a desire to live, that's all he needs. They defeat Van using the Key and the Grand Fonic Hymn (Tear). Luke says goodbye to everyone, fails to hear Tear's ultimate confession, and stays behind to free Lorelei and catch Asch's lifeless body in an ending that has been compared to Evangelion. Lorelei tells Luke he did a good job, there are sparkles and hand twitches, and Luke fades into oblivion.
ROLL CREDITS.
And one of them comes back.
CUE FANDOM WARS.
Pulled From: Fading into oblivion after freeing Lorelei
Personality: Growing up within the confines of the manor left Luke spoiled, bratty, arrogant, and extremely naive. It takes him the first third of the game to start deviating from these traits and begin thinking on his own. However, he can't escape them completely. There are lots of things that Luke doesn't know a great deal about - ancient Ispanian, proper table manners... he didn't even know how eminent war looked between Kimlasca and Malkuth. Luke is impulsive, quick to become jealous, and doesn't take well to teasing. He's a picky eater and dislikes getting dirty.
Luke possesses a lot of negative traits, and yet he also possesses kindness. Unfortunately, it's this kindness which is often misdirected. In the beginning it's drowned out by Luke's selfishness and inexperience; he's been spoiled, bored out of his mind, and doesn't know how to get along with other people. Later on, it's this kindness which leads Luke to become, quite frankly, a bucket of emo and, as Jade puts it best: "suicidal". He feels guilty about stealing Asch's "place", and developments with Guy and Van do nothing to help how he feels about himself. He even misinterprets what Tear says about Luke not being bound by the Score as meaning his existence set the world off-track. However, kindness for kindness' sake. Luke worries about his friends and he will apologize if he realizes he screwed up.
He is very against killing. This outlook initially caused him to be a burden on everyone and almost landed him in a world of trouble. Luke finally accepts the "kill or be killed" philosophy, but it doesn't change his dislike of it. During training sessions with Tear, Luke even requests that she heal a wounded wolf. For a long time Luke felt that in order to live he needed acknowledgment and acceptance from everyone else - he wanted Van's approval, he wanted to make things right with Asch, he needed a purpose, and so forth. Luke finally manages to stand on his own, to view himself as his own person rather than just a replacement.
Aside from that, Luke does have a sense of humor - it kind of seems to have developed from his earlier habit of insulting people.
Future Plans: I definitely plan to have Luke join Ad Libitum. I haven't decided on a specific chapter. I think it'd be fun to play off canonmates since it's guaranteed to break a few brains, as well as the other Ad Libbers that he hasn't met yet. Luke can be a fairly strong character, and is capable of taking a leadership position, but I can't really see him taking over a guild or staying in just one place. Certainly, I think, he'd try to help Atlas as well as keep his promise and find a way to return to Auldrant. And try to repair/forge relationships because Luke, even if he's living for himself now, still needs the support of friends.
Roleplay Sample(s):
First Person: I can hardly believe it. The last thing I remember was being engulfed in this warm light. It felt like I was floating. Up, up, up. Lorelei was there, too. Or at least I think it was. Everything was peaceful. Yeah, okay, so I was disappearing, and I was holding Asch's body, but I didn't really mind.
And then I wound up here, under this big tree. I wonder if it's the same type of tree as the Soil Tree in St. Binah? They look the same. I guess it doesn't really matter, though. I never was an expert on plants. That's Pere.
Anyway, I decided to follow this path through the bushes, and at the end there was a town. I talked to a few people and they said it was called "Blessenwood". It's a lot like Engeve, only without all the fruits and vegetables. The thing that bugged me, though, is they kept calling the world "Atlas". When I asked about it, they told me there's an "offworlders' guild" and I should go talk to them.
I don't get it. Am I not on Auldrant anymore...?
Third Person: "Ugh..." Luke let out a groan as he finally managed to pry one eye open and then the other, the world slowly shuddering into focus. He hadn't though that having all of his fonons separate and scatter across the fonbelt would feel quite the same as falling out of the sky and landing in a heap between a tangle of tree roots. In fact, upon closer inspection, it was the latter that had happened.
Luke shook his head, stumbling to his feet (he had feet!) and trying to maintain his balance as a wave of dizziness swept over him and away. He was in a forest, standing beneath an immense tree. It was huge!
"What? What's going on?" Luke's thoughts began tumbling over one another in a mad rush. He was alive? How?! Where was he? Where was everyone? Could Asch be alive too?
At that last notion, Luke whipped around to study the woods around him. Really study it. Nope. No Asch. It figured. But there was a pathway through the undergrowth. Some kind of road?
Luke heaved a sigh, wondering just how far away he was from an actual town or city. He had no idea where he was, he wouldn't have minded snoozing for another hour or two, and the prospect of walking wasn't exactly thrilling.
"Well I can't just stay here," he reasoned. "Maybe someone can tell me where I am or how to get back to Baticul."
So he started walking.
Character's Age: 17 (He was close to 18 at the end of the game; epilogue aside)
Character's Class: Swordsman
Biography: I am going to attempt the most compact application I've ever written. And it's not going to happen.
Following the kidnapping of the tertiary heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear, Luke (a replica and a perfect isofon of the missing youth) was brought into the Fabre manor. Dorian General Van Grants, the Commandant of the God-Generals, and one of the higher-ups within the Order of Lorelei ("religion" within/without the neutral state of Daath), had created the replica along with the help of a team of scientists to act as a substitute for the missing boy and to overthrow a prophecy called the Score which he and many like-minded people believed the world was shackled to.
Luke was none the wiser. His family came to believe that he had lost all memories due to the trauma of being kidnapped (when in fact he didn't have any memories to lose), and so he was pampered and babied for the most part, growing into an arrogant and sheltered teenager who was watched over by maids and his best friend/servant Guy Cecil, and prodded into studying by the princess, Natalia L.K. Lanvaldear, his betrothed.
It was no secret that Luke resented this setup. He wasn't allowed to leave the confines of the manor until he came of age (20), and besides this, the only things he looked forward to were visits from Van, his sword instructor, whom he basically hero-worshipped.
One day it all changed when Tear Grants, Van's own sister, broke into the manor with the intent of striking the Commandant down. Luke moves to stop her and the two are blasted off to Tataroo Valley in enemy Malkuth territory thanks to the power of hyperresonance - the vibrations/interference which can occur between seventh fonons (sound particles).
Tear makes it her duty to see that Luke is returned home, and so the two embark on a long, much side-tracked journey back to Baticul. Along the way they meet lots of important diplomats(!) and some not so important people, pick up a mascot character named Mieu, and have a jolly good time (not!). They are taken prisoner aboard the landship Tartarus (the mode or transportantion used by those important diplomats(!): Colonel Jade Curtiss of Malkuth; Fon Master Ion, the highest ranking member of the Order of Lorelei; and Fon Master Guardian Anise Tatlin) where Luke is coaxed into aiding their cause and helping to negotiate peace between the warring countries (they just need his name, really), then the Tartarus is hijacked by the God-Generals, then the amazing servant Guy comes to their rescue, yadayadayada... the important thing is Luke gets kidnapped during all of this and taken to Choral Castle where his fon slots are opened and synchronized by a party of God-Generals. Now, Luke, besides losing all his memories, had started hearing voices in his head and having chronic migraines ever since the accident. This would soon escalate and start to make sense.
Luke learns a lot of things, and we learn a lot of things about Luke. For starters, Luke learns what it means to pay for the food you want, he also learns that people do not tolerate jerkwads and that other people in turn will start behaving like jerkwads. We also learn that Luke fails at being discreet and is terrified at the prospect of killing people or seeing people killed.
They eventually make it back to Baticul. ;)
Luke is given a mission to serve as goodwill ambassador to a small mining town called Akzeriuth. They've been suffering from a poisonous miasma and immediately Luke lets the whole ambassador thing go to his head. He's finally out of the manor and wants to prove himself. So Van and Luke start planning to make him a hero. He'll use his hyperresonance to clear away the miasma, but it's a hush-hush secret. Natalia overhears some of their plotting (not the important parts unfortunately) and uses this as leverage to join the ambassadorial group which includes... the entire main PC party now. (Who'd have thought?) Since the God-Generals are watching the city and have kidnapped Ion, Van opts to go by sea as a decoy and everyone else sneaks through an abandoned factory under the city. When they emerge into daylight rain, they find a landship parked up ahead, and the God-Generals with Ion in tow. Luke gets this REALLY BAD FEELING and starts running at them with demands that they release the Fon Master, and he clashes blades... with a guy who looks just like him. Asch the Bloody. The God-Generals manage to get away and Luke... is sick. :/ He can't shake it at all.
So then Asch starts contacting him (via those synchronized fon slots, through a mind channel, if you will) and tells him where Ion is. Luke orders everyone across the desert to fight that jerk save him. The group's respect for Luke, meanwhile, continues to wane. In the Zao Ruins they procure the shota, and finally head to Akzeriuth where conditions have worsened considerably.
Luke runs off to go meet with Van, Ion in tow, while the others tend to the sick and Tear almost gets herself kidnapped. Asch steps in, alerting the others of Van's goal and trying unsuccessfully to stop Luke before it's too late. But it is. Too late. Van tricks Luke into destroying the Passage Ring that supported the town, the ground caves, and the surrounding area is destroyed utterly, thousands of lives lost in an instant. The party manages to survive thanks to Tear, but they aren't precisely "in one piece". Luke's stuck in a state of denial, and his relations with everyone else have crumbled to the point of what would seem nonrepair. Mieu is the only one to stick with him, and Luke tells the cheagle off. They sail through the sludge to Yulia City, Tear's home, and the only city present below the rest of the "world" (The Outer Lands) in the Qliphoth. There, Asch reappears and tells Luke he's a replica, they fight, and Luke gets his butt kicked. In what may be one of the most beneficial things to ever happen to him, Asch ganks Luke's consciousness from his body and allows him to hitch a ride in his mind while the rest of the group (save Mieu and Tear) return to the Outer Lands to find out more about Van's plots. Through Asch, Luke watches as Guy returns for him (Luke) and the others explore the replica facility in Ortion Cavern. After informing everyone that St. Binah will be next to fall, Asch kicks Luke out and back into his own body which is still back in Yulia City.
Luke walks out into the selenia garden to find Tear and explains to her what he's learned and how much of an idiot he's been, that he needs to change. Though she's initially skeptical, she stands by as Luke cuts his hair and vows to change, and seems to give his sentiments support - reminding him that she can leave at any time. They go and talk with Tear's grandfather, Mayor Teodoro, and discover that Akzeriuth's destruction was foretold in the Closed Score and had been allowed to happen. Teodoro assures them that St. Binah will not fall, but suggests they take Yulia Road up to the surface if they don't believe him. They do. Take Yulia Road.
Yulia Road ends in Aramis Spring where Guy is waiting for them. After exiting the accompanying cave, Jade shows up and tells them Ion and Natalia have been kidnapped and are being held as prisoners in Daath Cathedral. So they bump into Anise along the way and proceed to rescue the remaining party members.
Super short version is Grand Maestro Mohs is trying to start a war so the world will default back to following the Score and receive its promised prosperity. After getting sidetracked learning about Jade and fomicry up in snowy Keterburg, the party sneaks into Grand Chokmah, the capital of Malkuth, and get the go-ahead to save St. Binah. They eventually do this with a super-cool airship piloted by Noelle.
Unfortunately more land is sinking, so the party starts playing with the Sephiroth in order to prevent this, only a ton of other things are happening, too, and Van's already sort of booby-trapped them, so it's not easy.
That war's finally happened, also. Luke personally helps evacuate civilians across the battlefield. And the other half of the party goes to request a cease-fire, only Mohs is one step ahead of them and reveals that Luke and Natalia are both fakes, so Asch has to save their butts and the party has to run off again.
Also Luke finds out that Guy wanted to kill him, which does absolutely nothing for his morale. And dear Master Van called him an inferior product. Uh huh.
Eventually they convince Kimlasca and Malkuth to sign a peace treaty so Plan B can actually happen. (This was Luke's idea, btw. He does think occasionally.) So, with that greenlit, they start using the Sephiroth to lower the Outer Lands, only Tear's actually absorbing contaminated seventh fonons during the process. This all comes to a head when they journey into the core to try to stop the core's vibrations (so the miama will solidify and the lowered land won't sink into mud), she gets up-close-and-personal with Lorelei, and just collapses on the spot. After taking her to a doctor, they find out she might die if things continue as they are. Luke's messed up about this, too, but he respects her wishes, and they keep on with the hero thing.
The hero thing eventually leads them to fighting the remaining God-Generals and Master Van, who basically tells Luke, when he asks what his purpose is, that he was created to overthrow the Score - as a throwaway replica. But they defeat him anyway and Luke and Asch use hyperresonance to finish up the land-lowering job. Afterwards Lorelei comes to them and gives them each half of a super shiny weapon, only Luke absorbs his half by accident. This pisses off Asch because he spends the second half of the game looking for it, only to find out that it was inside Luke all along.
But anyway, a month passes. Luke goes home and mopes around and sleeps and cuddles with Mieu and has letters hidden from him.
Thanks to Suzanne, Luke goes with Noelle to visit his friends (namely Tear, because he heard Asch was in Yulia City), only to find out that hey, the game's only half over.
Super short version is there are some replica factories which have been cranking out replicas. Mohs is using these to (yet again) try to start a war. He also kidnaps Ion and has him read the Planet Score which ends his life and reveals Anise as a spy. But he absorbs the contaminated fonons from Tear before he fades away and saves her.
Also the other God-Generals and Van are in fact NOT DEAD.
But first things first! Increased vibrations in the core means the miasma is back with a vengeance. Countries get together to try to figure out how to stop it. Finally it's accidentally suggested that either Asch or Luke could use a hyperresonance magnified by thousands of seventh fonists to blow it away - if they're willing to murder that many people and die themselves. Asch and Luke fight over who's expendable, and when it comes right down to it, Luke snipes the Sword of Lorelei from Asch and plans to sacrifice himself and the replicas Mohs abandoned. Only this is when they figure where his half of the weapon (the Jewel of Lorelei) is and Asch has to help him. It clears away the miasma. Neither of them die, but Luke discovers his fonons are separating as a result of his crazy self-sacrificing stunt at the Tower of Rem. Jade figures it out. Mieu eavesdrops. Mieu tells Tear... you see where this is going.
So where's Master Van? On Eldrant, a floating replica of Hod. With Lorelei inside him. Van still wants to destroy the world and replace it with a replica world and overturn the Score, and the remaining God-Generals are supporting him. So with some more playing around in the Sephiroth, and some help from the military, they bust in. Luke and Asch fight to determine the meaning of birth. Luke wins, takes the Key of Lorelei, and Asch stays behind to fight off Oracle soldiers. Only he dies. And Natalia and Luke flip out. But Asch gives Luke the power of second-order hyperresonance so now he can do cool tricks.
FINALLY. They face off against Van, who acknowledges Luke as a human being. Only Luke's finally wizened up and decided that as long as he has a desire to live, that's all he needs. They defeat Van using the Key and the Grand Fonic Hymn (Tear). Luke says goodbye to everyone, fails to hear Tear's ultimate confession, and stays behind to free Lorelei and catch Asch's lifeless body in an ending that has been compared to Evangelion. Lorelei tells Luke he did a good job, there are sparkles and hand twitches, and Luke fades into oblivion.
ROLL CREDITS.
And one of them comes back.
CUE FANDOM WARS.
Pulled From: Fading into oblivion after freeing Lorelei
Personality: Growing up within the confines of the manor left Luke spoiled, bratty, arrogant, and extremely naive. It takes him the first third of the game to start deviating from these traits and begin thinking on his own. However, he can't escape them completely. There are lots of things that Luke doesn't know a great deal about - ancient Ispanian, proper table manners... he didn't even know how eminent war looked between Kimlasca and Malkuth. Luke is impulsive, quick to become jealous, and doesn't take well to teasing. He's a picky eater and dislikes getting dirty.
Luke possesses a lot of negative traits, and yet he also possesses kindness. Unfortunately, it's this kindness which is often misdirected. In the beginning it's drowned out by Luke's selfishness and inexperience; he's been spoiled, bored out of his mind, and doesn't know how to get along with other people. Later on, it's this kindness which leads Luke to become, quite frankly, a bucket of emo and, as Jade puts it best: "suicidal". He feels guilty about stealing Asch's "place", and developments with Guy and Van do nothing to help how he feels about himself. He even misinterprets what Tear says about Luke not being bound by the Score as meaning his existence set the world off-track. However, kindness for kindness' sake. Luke worries about his friends and he will apologize if he realizes he screwed up.
He is very against killing. This outlook initially caused him to be a burden on everyone and almost landed him in a world of trouble. Luke finally accepts the "kill or be killed" philosophy, but it doesn't change his dislike of it. During training sessions with Tear, Luke even requests that she heal a wounded wolf. For a long time Luke felt that in order to live he needed acknowledgment and acceptance from everyone else - he wanted Van's approval, he wanted to make things right with Asch, he needed a purpose, and so forth. Luke finally manages to stand on his own, to view himself as his own person rather than just a replacement.
Aside from that, Luke does have a sense of humor - it kind of seems to have developed from his earlier habit of insulting people.
Future Plans: I definitely plan to have Luke join Ad Libitum. I haven't decided on a specific chapter. I think it'd be fun to play off canonmates since it's guaranteed to break a few brains, as well as the other Ad Libbers that he hasn't met yet. Luke can be a fairly strong character, and is capable of taking a leadership position, but I can't really see him taking over a guild or staying in just one place. Certainly, I think, he'd try to help Atlas as well as keep his promise and find a way to return to Auldrant. And try to repair/forge relationships because Luke, even if he's living for himself now, still needs the support of friends.
Roleplay Sample(s):
First Person: I can hardly believe it. The last thing I remember was being engulfed in this warm light. It felt like I was floating. Up, up, up. Lorelei was there, too. Or at least I think it was. Everything was peaceful. Yeah, okay, so I was disappearing, and I was holding Asch's body, but I didn't really mind.
And then I wound up here, under this big tree. I wonder if it's the same type of tree as the Soil Tree in St. Binah? They look the same. I guess it doesn't really matter, though. I never was an expert on plants. That's Pere.
Anyway, I decided to follow this path through the bushes, and at the end there was a town. I talked to a few people and they said it was called "Blessenwood". It's a lot like Engeve, only without all the fruits and vegetables. The thing that bugged me, though, is they kept calling the world "Atlas". When I asked about it, they told me there's an "offworlders' guild" and I should go talk to them.
I don't get it. Am I not on Auldrant anymore...?
Third Person: "Ugh..." Luke let out a groan as he finally managed to pry one eye open and then the other, the world slowly shuddering into focus. He hadn't though that having all of his fonons separate and scatter across the fonbelt would feel quite the same as falling out of the sky and landing in a heap between a tangle of tree roots. In fact, upon closer inspection, it was the latter that had happened.
Luke shook his head, stumbling to his feet (he had feet!) and trying to maintain his balance as a wave of dizziness swept over him and away. He was in a forest, standing beneath an immense tree. It was huge!
"What? What's going on?" Luke's thoughts began tumbling over one another in a mad rush. He was alive? How?! Where was he? Where was everyone? Could Asch be alive too?
At that last notion, Luke whipped around to study the woods around him. Really study it. Nope. No Asch. It figured. But there was a pathway through the undergrowth. Some kind of road?
Luke heaved a sigh, wondering just how far away he was from an actual town or city. He had no idea where he was, he wouldn't have minded snoozing for another hour or two, and the prospect of walking wasn't exactly thrilling.
"Well I can't just stay here," he reasoned. "Maybe someone can tell me where I am or how to get back to Baticul."
So he started walking.