Application - Smash Academy
In-Character Information
Name: Caim
Game/Series: Drakengard
Teacher/Student/Other: Other - Goose’s TA (I’ve talked this over with Essay and she has given me permission!.); I would think when he’s not helping Goose, he will be stalking around and providing whatever he defines as ‘security’.
Canon Point: Mid-Ending 3 (I will explain this in the backstory section.)
Age: 25
Grade Level/Class Taught/Job: TA for the piloting class taught by Goose
Dorm or Living Arrangement: No preferences here.
Personality:
One could say that Caim is a labyrinth of complicated sentiments and concepts. He wears an exterior shield of rage, hate, anger, bloodlust, and a variety of other not-so-righteous feelings. His feelings, however, are a result of the massively unfortunate hand that Fate dealt him. Consequently, Caim can naturally be considered well-mannered, fragile (given the canonical point I’ve chosen to draw him from, and the general nature of his storyline), and exceedingly understanding-within moderation.
Caim is a man of extremes. There is no in-between with him. When he’s angry, he’s livid. There’s no gradual process, no point where he grows to the point of being agitated. Given his state of mentality, it’d be all too easy by even saying the wrong thing to set Caim off on a murderous rampage. Viewing him from this perspective, it wouldn’t be out of line to say that he’s not… playing with a full deck, has a few screws loose, is missing a few marbles, et cetera. To put it plainly, if he’s not already clinically insane, he’s well on the road to being there.
His anger is only one part of him, however, and like anyone, it doesn’t wholly encompass the person that he truly is. With the right person (which is not an easy thing to define, but probably someone he could liken to a sibling), he’s compassionate, caring, and protective (likely to become overprotective or unnecessarily paranoid). Caim is not incapable of love by any means, whether it’s platonic, familial, or romantic inclination. It’s simply that his history and what he’s had to endure makes him sceptical, jaded, and sometimes a bit of a pessimist.
Although he is the prince of his rather small kingdom, he is by no means a stereotypical prince. He’s not the sort to come riding in on a white horse and rescue all of the damsels. He can be considered somewhat of a one-track mind. His overwhelming love for his younger sister (considered ‘late’ younger sister given storyline) tends to propel all of his actions, exact revenge, and can sometimes lead him to perform questionable acts that might imply he’s more interested in making everyone else suffer with him.
His state of being mute and not having someone translate for him (as throughout the story, his pact partner does all of the interpretation and speaking for both of them) is likely to make him a little less tolerant as he learns to express himself without speech or the ability to simply rely on his facial expressions. Like his personalities, Caim’s expressions tend to also be a bit extreme. This is probably due to the idea that without speech, he feels he needs to overextend and amplify his responses, so others understand what he’s trying to convey. Unfortunately, not everything can be properly portrayed by a mere glare or an excessive amount of scowling.
Sometimes a ‘cruel’ man, Caim is neither a hero nor a villain. He is neither the protagonist, nor the antagonist. He’s more like an anti-hero, doing the best he can with what he’s been given, but when the world takes advantage of him and his position, he’s determined to get what’s rightfully owed to him.
Backstory:
The world Caim came from was filled with war before even his time. Two outstanding affiliations waged a constant, never-ending battle with one another. One was referred to as the Union, which was led by Caim’s family and the other neighbouring allies. The other was called the Empire, a militia of men, monsters, demons, and other undead entities that were led by a group known as the Cult of the Watchers. The Empire and the Union were locked in frequent skirmishes over who could gain possession of the Goddess, the ‘celestial’ being that looked after mankind’s safety.
Legends of the world said that if the seals were broken on the Goddess, the gods would come down from the heavens, provide the mythical Seeds of Resurrection, and bring about mankind’s salvation. The Empire wanted the Seeds, which would ultimately cost the Goddess’s death, and the Union wanted to keep the Goddess safe and out of harm’s way. Consequently, the two affiliations were unable to see eye-to-eye and set the very stage for Drakengard’s full storyline.
A wiki link to save on the inevitable length this would have become if I’d written it out in my own words.
(Regarding the canonical ending I’ve chosen to take him from…)
In the third ending, Caim had already fought Inuart, who had taken Furiae now that he suddenly had strength that rivalled her brother’s. He takes special time in the storyline to find Inuart in hopes of bringing Furiae back with him. Unfortunately the way the game was set up, it can be very confusing to determine when everything happened.
There’s a point at which Furiae stabs herself because the leader of the Cult of the Watchers has told Caim that his sister holds an incestuous love for him. Not wanting to face the potential that Caim may scold her or think her an impure woman, Furiae takes her own life.
At some time before the Gods themselves come down (or perhaps while they’re in the process of doing so), Inuart has managed to find Furiae, dead, and he plans to put her in one of the Seeds of Resurrection to bring her back to life. Angelus explains that the Seeds are actually Seeds of Destruction and implies that the Gods’ salvation is really the overall wipe of mankind’s existence. In spite of her warnings, Inuart places Furiae into a seed.
Furiae is reborn as a harpy-like creature, with massive angelic wings and barbed tentacles. She kills Inuart and Caim and Angelus are forced to square off against her. After Caim kills the reborn Furiae, the other Seeds of Destruction hatch and give birth to a whole collective of other harpy creatures.
Because Drakengard tends to defy all kinds of logic and there are points where various portals are made and entities emerge from them, especially portals to (or from) other worlds, it would fit in best that a portal formed around the time the other harpies showed up. To escape what would have inevitably been his fate, Caim entered it, had it close behind him, and he would have entered the academy that way, leaving Angelus and the others in Drakengard behind him.
(Let me know if this doesn’t pan out or wouldn’t work. He wouldn’t have to drop in a classroom or anything, and if necessary, he could drop somewhere in the forest or the outskirts of the town.)
Anything Else?:
• Because of the events that occurred in Drakengard’s world, Caim is going to come to the academy with a very strong notion that Angelus, Leonard, Arioch, and the others have all died. In fact, he will very much believe that he has no world to return to. He will contradict this as he is still alive, and he can only die if Angelus dies as well.
• Caim is skilled in using a variety of weapons, as was required for him to lead the Union into battle. He can use a variety of one-handed swords, longswords, spears, maces, and staves. He will, however, only be coming with one sword, which is a broadsword and likely a family heirloom.
• Caim can cast magic as well, but it’s limited to weapon attributes. With the one sword he will have with him, he has access to fire elemental magic only. He is not, by any means, well-versed in magic, and in fact, is likely rather bad with it.
• Again, Caim is mute. He has the mark of his pact with Angelus on his tongue. All individuals involved in a pact have a marking in the location of the price they had to pay to create the pact.
• When Caim could speak (and if he should ever have a spell or something else interfere that should allow him to speak again), he had an old English accent. Not British, but just a rather old-style medieval sound to his tone.
• Drakengard’s written (and colloquial, most likely) language is not English, but for the sake of convenience, we can refer to it as Common, so there are no language barriers (like we would for residents of Hyrule, or other foreign world languages).
In-Character 1st person writing sample (journal):
She isn’t like the others.
The mind plays tricks and even someone who looks nothing like her suddenly reminds me. Everything reminds me. It is a nightmare that will never leave. The wise captain chooses to go down with his ship in the oncoming storm. This cowardice may result in an inevitable downfall.
A man who knows dedication and persistence knows not where the end of the path is. Someone here will lend their assistance. In one form or another. It is only a matter of time, and here, I have all of the time in the world.
But it would be easier if she were here.
In-Character 3rd person writing post:
"Chances are, however, that with her arrival, whether some form of my torment or sincere, I will be absent more often. It is imperative that she be protected at all costs."
They were exactly the words Caim had chosen to exchange with Inuart before leaving the courtyard. Even with the thought of her protection, however, he wondered how he would be able to live up to his former expectations. After all, he had failed his position once before. From his side she was plucked and into the arms of the Empire.
Death was not becoming for his younger sister.
What had, on the other hand, been possessed to bring her from the afterlife? Caim was horrified, if one could say that. Horrified. Shocked. Terrified. He hardly understood the reasoning as to why. Her presence was appreciated, but at what cost? And what would befall the inhabitants of the town if should harm come to her?
This is not my right. It was my failure.
Outside of the doors to the dining hall he waited, his arms folded across his chest. His sword, he'd left with Inuart, and in his haste, he had left behind his wise judgment as well. No matter. Furiae, unlike anyone else, would be able to read him. For her, he was nothing short of an open book.