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savetheearth: Application
Apr. 9th, 2013 12:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfstonedOOC Information:
Name: Krystal
Are you over 15? Yes.
Contact: PM this journal or shoot me a private plurk.
IC Information:
Name: Preincarnation - Aragorn II Elessar Telcontar / Reincarnation - Aaron Strider
Canon: The Lord of the Rings -- book
Age: Preincarnation - 87 / Reincarnation - 37 as of January 2015
Preincarnation Species: Human.
Preincarnation Appearance: Before and after a bath.
Any differences: Reincarnated!Aragorn is a couple of inches shorter. Which means he's 6'2" instead of 6'6". His hair is also lighter, for now.
Starting Location: Locke City, NJ
Preincarnated History: Aragorn was raised in Rivendell by Elrond. One day, Elrond told him that he was the heir of Isildur and the throne of Gondor was his by right. Aragorn met Arwen, fell in love at first sight, and went off on all kinds of adventures alone. He befriended Gandalf, became chief of the Dúnedain (the last remnants of the old kingdom of Men in the North -- the super special Men who came over from Númenor) fought in a bunch of wars, and eventually became cool enough that when he cleaned up, Arwen fell in love with him.
When Frodo went on his Quest to destroy the Ring, Aragorn met up with him, guided him, and protected him. After Gandalf died, Aragorn led the Company until they split up at the Falls of Rauros. He let Frodo and Sam go to Mordor without his guidance, and chose to rescue Merry and Pippin from Orcs instead. He allied himself with Theoden, fought at Helm's Deep, and then took off on his own (plus Legolas and Gimli) to gather an army of ghosts that only he, as the heir of Isildur, could summon. They saved Gondor from the initial assault, and Aragorn proved he was King by healing many of Gondor's citizens. Then, as a distraction from Frodo's trip into Mordor, Aragorn led Gondor's armies to the front gates of Mordor. Frodo destroyed the Ring, Aragorn returned to Minas Tirith, and was crowned King. Arwen arrived the midsummer after, and they were married. They had several children and lived happily for over a hundred years, before Aragorn decided that now was his time to die and leave the throne to his son Eldarion. He died leaving Gondor in a beautiful and prosperous second Golden Age.
In-depth history.
Reincarnated History Aaron's father died when he was very young. His mother tried to raise him alone, but it was too hard for her to manage. She sought out help from Aaron's godfather, a close friend of Strider Sr., who all but raised young Aaron. His godfather was a doctor, and Aaron wanted to follow in his footsteps, but medical school was expensive, even with scholarships. His mother couldn't help, and Aaron didn't want to put the burden on his godfather, so he opted to take a HPSP scholarship. He agreed to spend one year in the military for every year of medical school they paid for.
The military did not suit Aaron. Though he grew into a skilled surgeon, his heart grew unquiet. He saw how the enemy was dehumanized, and witnessed his allies performing atrocities. When Aaron's allotted time with the military was up, he couldn't have left aster. He decided to travel Europe and the Middle East, to come to understand people from other places from the bottom up, as a nobody. The Army had made him grim, but his wandering gave him perspective. He picked up an eclectic collection of skills, not to mention the ability to survive in difficult conditions.
When he returned to America, Aaron was a changed man. He could have started up a legitimate medical practice, but he chose instead to provide inexpensive medical care to the poor and unfortunate. His clinic is sketchy, in a bad part of town and ill-supplied, but for all that, Strider's work is reliable. He charges what his patients can afford, but that's not enough to keep the clinic running. He supplements his income with odd jobs and dealing weed on the side. All of that money goes right to supplies for the clinic, though in-game he's begun to do it less stopped.
tentative timeline:
Born 1978
Graduated HS in 1996
Finished undergrad 1998
Finished medschool 2002
Four years of active duty until 2006, stationed in Saudi Arabia and deployed into Iraq for six-month periods
Inactive duty/residency 2010
Began the clinic in Locke 2010
RE-APPLICATION SECTION:
Aaron was one of the first to receive Echoes in April 2013. He immediately opened the clinic to those with numbers and has always been a friend and ally to reincarnates as best he can. He's gotten more money and resources for the clinic from donations from wealthier people with numbers, and it's gotten more stable over the past two years. He was there for the Sage of Earth fiasco, and helped lead a number of reincarnates out safely, once he got over his claustrophobic panic attack. He also scouted out the Thunder Corp building site with Julien, who used to work at his clinic and who he had a solid friendship with. Finally, he discovered the existence of Wise Snake before any of the other reincarnates and it scared the crap out of him. He told a few but did not make it public knowledge, which resulted in Danny Fenton going down to check it out and accidentally causing an earthquake which killed about a hundred people and justifiably earned the ire of a number of reincarnates.
Shortly before the Wise Snake battle, Aaron lost his Echoes. He knew he had them before and disliked the gaps in his memory, but there was little he could do about it besides help the numbered as best he could. The clinic has remained in allied hands since then, although it's had some staff turnover. The trouble is, Aaron has always been on friendly terms with the gangs in Locke City. He calls it ensuring I can operate neutrally and not rely on one gang's protection. The police call it aiding criminal elements. When the mafia was running around Locke City and the FBI got called in, they...didn't see it Aaron's way. This isn't causing him trouble now, but it's promising to cause some in the future.
First Echo: It was a canon reoccurance -- Strider was performing emergency first aid on someone who had been poisoned. They worked in a factory, and a nasty combination of an open shoulder wound and toxic chemicals had left them in a bad state. As Aaron was cleaning the cut, he felt a strange sensation indeed: a moment of indescribable hollow-ness, then a pulse like a heartbeat, and a powerful sense of déjà vu. He didn't notice until after he had bandaged the patient and left them to rest that a potted plant he'd never seen before was sitting on his windowsill. It's an Item Echo, and the item is a small athelas plant.
PREVIOUS ECHOES HERE
Preincarnation Personality:
Aragorn is a grim sort. He is quiet but intense, strong and serious, not given to wasted words. He is noble to the core, unwilling to lie even to someone despicable. He is courageous in that he will face danger despite his own fears. He does feel fear, when fear is due, but he has a very strong will. Aragorn's priorities are immediate problems first, greater challenges second: for example, he will pursue Merry and Pippin across enormous distances and into a dangerous forest, knowing full well that he has no supplies to share with them and they cannot make a journey back to civilization together, rather than give them up for lost and turn to larger matters, such as claiming kingship and tactical control of the war. This brings up another point: Aragorn is dogged. He does not give up on a task because it is difficult or long. He can face plenty of hardship without complaint. The only reason he will give up on a course is if it's clearly the wrong thing to do, and he judges a better course.
This makes him seem like a terrifying hunting machine with no feelings besides duty. This is entirely untrue; Aragorn has a sense of humor lurking under his grim and lordly demeanor, not to mention a sense of wonder and appreciation for beauty, and when he feels joy, it's intense and infectious. He has no qualms about displaying other emotions, either; one aspect of Tolkien's heroes was that they incorporated both traditionally-masculine strength and comfort showing traditionally-feminine emotions, like crying in front of others, or expressing love for their companions. Aragorn feels things very deeply, and when he bonds with a companion, even if they are disagreeable or frustrating, he still cares about them.
But that doesn't mean Aragorn has no insecurities. For a very long time, he has patrolled the wilds of the North, fighting evil creatures and risking his life for the people who live there. Those people, however, judge him by his grim appearance and don't take kindly to ~mysterious~ figures. Until he encountered the Hobbits in Bree, Aragorn's friends were all elves left behind in Rivendell, Lorien or Mirkwood, family among the other Dunedain, or comrades-in-arms left to age and die half a century ago. All strangers treated him with suspicion, hostility and ridicule, and, well...it was a lonely life. He longed for trust and friendship, for someone to see past his grim and weathered face and not treat it with constant suspicion. Frodo and his companions were the first new friends Aragorn had made in a very, very long time. He also has twinges of insecurity about his lineage: though he is very, very proud to be the Heir of Isildur and Elenedil, the fact that he's in love with an Elf descended from even better people has kept him humble. He strives always to be worthy of Arwen, and this is part of what drives him to be his best. He is well aware of just how out of his league she is, and how Men aren't the awesome legendary heroes they used to be. He does not fear weakness in himself, but is acutely aware of the shortcomings of his race.
Oh, speaking of ancestry, Aragorn was from a world where someone's ancestry plays a very very big role in determining their character, so he based a significant part of his judgments of people on their lineage. This technically makes him a racist, since in J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy world, Asians, black people, and Mongols do not have the same ~history~ and ~connection~ with Elves and the gods that White People do, and therefore are more easily (and historically have been) turned towards evil. Aragorn is fully aware that evil can wear a fair face, and will not automatically assume that anyone pretty is good, nor even that everyone with an ugly appearance is evil (he himself is proof of that) but the prejudice was there. And while we're on flaws, Aragorn suffers from Bad Decision Decay. If he makes a choice and it goes wrong, his ability to judge what is best kind of deteriorates, and he gets locked into bad call after bad call. Getting out of the rut isn't easy; he needs either time to unwind and get some distance or something big to shake him out of the funk, like (as a crazy random example) a friend coming back from the dead. Finally, he's terrible at taking orders if they A) don't come from someone he trusts and B) he does not agree with them. He's willing to go along with B if A, but reluctantly and with vocal disagreement. Aragorn's a headstrong sort, who trusts his own judgment.
Any differences:
-Aaron is far more willing to compromise than Aragorn is. He will lie, cheat, and break the law if he feels he needs to; the end justifies the means. Only to a certain extent, though, and Aaron doesn't like doing it. He never will.
-Though Aaron seeks the approval of his godfather, he has less failures-of-his-ancestors weighing him down. The chip on his shoulder is much smaller than Aragorn's.
-Aaron is not a leader. He has no experience leading groups of people. The most he did was head a small group of doctors and nurses, but leadership did not come naturally to him. He also has no direct military/combat experience, much less tactical expertise.
-Finally, he didn't grow up in Tolkien's world, so Aaron is both less racist and less emotionally demonstrative.
Abilities:
-Aragorn is skilled with a sword, knife and bow, but the sword is his preferred weapon. He's one of the best swordsmen of his time, and put these abilities to frequent use.
-Though it's not magic, Aragorn's skill at tracking, navigating and reading the earth comes close. If he listens to the ground, he can hear footsteps from far away. The more the footsteps and the heavier they are, the easier they are to hear. He can also hunt, cook, and survive in the wild with little to no supplies.
-His ridiculous healing skill also borders on magic. His herblore and field first-aid are completely mundane, but Aragorn is also able to bring people out of evil-induced comas throughsheer force of being the rightful King some kind of dream journey/psychic trip. He basically talks to them, calls to them, and they have trippy visions and wake up. Aragorn grew up in the house of Elrond, a man legendary for his healing skill, so he knows a lot about both injuries and sickness.
-Aragorn is very good at both tracking the movements of other creatures and hiding his own. He can move through a forest, a marsh, or a town (provided there are enough shadows) while making himself very hard to see in completely mundane ways. And as long as there's something, anything left behind for Aragorn to follow, as long as it's physically possible, Aragorn can track it. Neither of these are magical abilities, though they might seem so to someone who was not raised a Ranger.
-Aragorn is an excellent navigator, with a strong memory for the lay of the land.
-Thanks to his time leading regiments as Thorongil, Aragorn is a strong and capable leader, not to mention a skilled military tactician.
-He speaks both variants of Elvish, Sindarin and Quenya, as well as the language of the Rohirrim and other stranger tongues of the East and South.
-Aragorn has a lot of book learning, too: he knows much of the history of Middle-Earth, especially the lore of Númenor and the Dúnedain, and the descendants of Beren and Lúthien. He doesn't know everything, of course; he's only had so long to study it. But he grew up hearing tales of the First and Second Ages of Middle-Earth, sometimes even told by people who were there, and he knows a lot more than you'd think.
-He can compose poetry, make up songs on the spot, and sing passably well. (There's no way anyone could grow up in Rivendell without learning to sing.)
GEAR:
-Andúril: or, alternatively, the shards of broken Narsil. An old blade, an ancestral blade, the one that cut the Ring from the hand of Sauron, it is an heirloom treasured by the Dúnedain.
-Its Super Awesome Sheath
-The Crown of Gondor: The symbol of leadership of the kingdom of Gondor.
-The Sceptre of Annúminas: Held in Elrond's keeping, this is the sign that the bearer rules Arnor. Though Narsil and the ring of Barahir were given to Aragorn when he came of age, Elrond withheld the sceptre until Aragorn became King of Gondor. It is over 5,000 years old.
-Lórien-cloak and brooch: woven by Galadriel, it is light but warm, and takes on the hue of its surroundings (so long as those surroundings are some variant of brown, green, or gray). The brooch is green and gold, and looks like a leaf.
-The Dúnedain's brooch: A silver, six-pointed star, all Rangers use one to clasp their gray cloaks.
-The Ring of Barahir: I'm counting it here even though he gave it to Arwen, as it is another heirloom of the Dúnedain and symbolizes the friendship between Elves and Men.
What kind of involvement would you like your character to have in Save the Earth? I want him to keep doing what he's doing with the clinic, yes, but I'd also like to pull the rug out from under his feet and have him dodge trouble with the law with a well-timed appearance-change Echo. Aaron Strider will disappear, since Aragorn is physically a different person. I'd also like him involved in endgame -- having the clinic gone will leave him less tied to Locke City and let him move around more. I want him to develop leadership skills -- to put aside the pot doctor and become who he was born to be.
Roleplay Sample – Third Person:
Strider sits in the train station, and waits. He's good at that. No one gives his ragged coat and filthy boots a second glance, though if he drew himself up to his full height, he imagines he'd get a few stares. As it is, he is adept at making himself utterly unmemorable, and his slouch conceals his height as his hood conceals his face. Strider would like to stretch his legs out, but an apologetic slump suits his purposes better. He looks like he's sorry for taking up the space, and the eyes of the passersby slide right off him.
Strider's own eyes wander. He takes in the platform, the sparse crowd (that is even sparser around him, he's always given a wide berth) the way the industrial yellow light glints sharply off the third rail, and the time the next train is expected in. He sees a mother and her child, who she guides away from the platform's edge with one hand. He sees a businessman checking his watch, and can smell the leather of the briefcase. He sees a gaggle of tourists with plastic bags clutched in their hands and their sunglasses pushed up onto the tops of their heads.
Then, the train comes in. He boards it, moving like every bone in his body is weary. The other passengers give him a wide berth; no one ever wants to sit near the freak on the subway. This suits Strider fine. The ride is quiet, and he exits five stops later as slowly as he boarded. His goal isn't far. It's a run-down duplex, twenty minutes' walk from the station. Not the best part of town, but at least it's not the Dead District. It's not often Strider makes house calls, but he's been looking after this patient for nearly three years. It wasn't her fault that she couldn't make it to the LSR Clinic any longer. She'd grown too weak.
He knocks, and triple-checks the supplies in his backpack as he waits for the door to open. Stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, a three-ring binder with her records in it, her usual medications -- and a small plastic bag a quarter-full of dried green leaves. For the pain.
Roleplay Sample - Network:
My name is Strider. I run a small clinic just south of the Dead District, on Five Forks Road. If you ever need to get patched up for cheap, look me up.
It's the brick building with the broken sign that says LSR. You can't miss it.
Not exactly inspiring, I know. But it's clean, and I'm licensed -- which is more than you can say for most doctors you can afford without insurance. Besides, if you're coming to me at all, you don't have a lot of choice, do you?
Anything else? Nope!
Name: Krystal
Are you over 15? Yes.
Contact: PM this journal or shoot me a private plurk.
IC Information:
Name: Preincarnation - Aragorn II Elessar Telcontar / Reincarnation - Aaron Strider
Canon: The Lord of the Rings -- book
Age: Preincarnation - 87 / Reincarnation - 37 as of January 2015
Preincarnation Species: Human.
Preincarnation Appearance: Before and after a bath.
Any differences: Reincarnated!Aragorn is a couple of inches shorter. Which means he's 6'2" instead of 6'6". His hair is also lighter, for now.
Starting Location: Locke City, NJ
Preincarnated History: Aragorn was raised in Rivendell by Elrond. One day, Elrond told him that he was the heir of Isildur and the throne of Gondor was his by right. Aragorn met Arwen, fell in love at first sight, and went off on all kinds of adventures alone. He befriended Gandalf, became chief of the Dúnedain (the last remnants of the old kingdom of Men in the North -- the super special Men who came over from Númenor) fought in a bunch of wars, and eventually became cool enough that when he cleaned up, Arwen fell in love with him.
When Frodo went on his Quest to destroy the Ring, Aragorn met up with him, guided him, and protected him. After Gandalf died, Aragorn led the Company until they split up at the Falls of Rauros. He let Frodo and Sam go to Mordor without his guidance, and chose to rescue Merry and Pippin from Orcs instead. He allied himself with Theoden, fought at Helm's Deep, and then took off on his own (plus Legolas and Gimli) to gather an army of ghosts that only he, as the heir of Isildur, could summon. They saved Gondor from the initial assault, and Aragorn proved he was King by healing many of Gondor's citizens. Then, as a distraction from Frodo's trip into Mordor, Aragorn led Gondor's armies to the front gates of Mordor. Frodo destroyed the Ring, Aragorn returned to Minas Tirith, and was crowned King. Arwen arrived the midsummer after, and they were married. They had several children and lived happily for over a hundred years, before Aragorn decided that now was his time to die and leave the throne to his son Eldarion. He died leaving Gondor in a beautiful and prosperous second Golden Age.
In-depth history.
Reincarnated History Aaron's father died when he was very young. His mother tried to raise him alone, but it was too hard for her to manage. She sought out help from Aaron's godfather, a close friend of Strider Sr., who all but raised young Aaron. His godfather was a doctor, and Aaron wanted to follow in his footsteps, but medical school was expensive, even with scholarships. His mother couldn't help, and Aaron didn't want to put the burden on his godfather, so he opted to take a HPSP scholarship. He agreed to spend one year in the military for every year of medical school they paid for.
The military did not suit Aaron. Though he grew into a skilled surgeon, his heart grew unquiet. He saw how the enemy was dehumanized, and witnessed his allies performing atrocities. When Aaron's allotted time with the military was up, he couldn't have left aster. He decided to travel Europe and the Middle East, to come to understand people from other places from the bottom up, as a nobody. The Army had made him grim, but his wandering gave him perspective. He picked up an eclectic collection of skills, not to mention the ability to survive in difficult conditions.
When he returned to America, Aaron was a changed man. He could have started up a legitimate medical practice, but he chose instead to provide inexpensive medical care to the poor and unfortunate. His clinic is sketchy, in a bad part of town and ill-supplied, but for all that, Strider's work is reliable. He charges what his patients can afford, but that's not enough to keep the clinic running. He supplements his income with odd jobs and dealing weed on the side. All of that money goes right to supplies for the clinic, though in-game he's
tentative timeline:
Born 1978
Graduated HS in 1996
Finished undergrad 1998
Finished medschool 2002
Four years of active duty until 2006, stationed in Saudi Arabia and deployed into Iraq for six-month periods
Inactive duty/residency 2010
Began the clinic in Locke 2010
RE-APPLICATION SECTION:
Aaron was one of the first to receive Echoes in April 2013. He immediately opened the clinic to those with numbers and has always been a friend and ally to reincarnates as best he can. He's gotten more money and resources for the clinic from donations from wealthier people with numbers, and it's gotten more stable over the past two years. He was there for the Sage of Earth fiasco, and helped lead a number of reincarnates out safely, once he got over his claustrophobic panic attack. He also scouted out the Thunder Corp building site with Julien, who used to work at his clinic and who he had a solid friendship with. Finally, he discovered the existence of Wise Snake before any of the other reincarnates and it scared the crap out of him. He told a few but did not make it public knowledge, which resulted in Danny Fenton going down to check it out and accidentally causing an earthquake which killed about a hundred people and justifiably earned the ire of a number of reincarnates.
Shortly before the Wise Snake battle, Aaron lost his Echoes. He knew he had them before and disliked the gaps in his memory, but there was little he could do about it besides help the numbered as best he could. The clinic has remained in allied hands since then, although it's had some staff turnover. The trouble is, Aaron has always been on friendly terms with the gangs in Locke City. He calls it ensuring I can operate neutrally and not rely on one gang's protection. The police call it aiding criminal elements. When the mafia was running around Locke City and the FBI got called in, they...didn't see it Aaron's way. This isn't causing him trouble now, but it's promising to cause some in the future.
First Echo: It was a canon reoccurance -- Strider was performing emergency first aid on someone who had been poisoned. They worked in a factory, and a nasty combination of an open shoulder wound and toxic chemicals had left them in a bad state. As Aaron was cleaning the cut, he felt a strange sensation indeed: a moment of indescribable hollow-ness, then a pulse like a heartbeat, and a powerful sense of déjà vu. He didn't notice until after he had bandaged the patient and left them to rest that a potted plant he'd never seen before was sitting on his windowsill. It's an Item Echo, and the item is a small athelas plant.
PREVIOUS ECHOES HERE
Preincarnation Personality:
Aragorn is a grim sort. He is quiet but intense, strong and serious, not given to wasted words. He is noble to the core, unwilling to lie even to someone despicable. He is courageous in that he will face danger despite his own fears. He does feel fear, when fear is due, but he has a very strong will. Aragorn's priorities are immediate problems first, greater challenges second: for example, he will pursue Merry and Pippin across enormous distances and into a dangerous forest, knowing full well that he has no supplies to share with them and they cannot make a journey back to civilization together, rather than give them up for lost and turn to larger matters, such as claiming kingship and tactical control of the war. This brings up another point: Aragorn is dogged. He does not give up on a task because it is difficult or long. He can face plenty of hardship without complaint. The only reason he will give up on a course is if it's clearly the wrong thing to do, and he judges a better course.
This makes him seem like a terrifying hunting machine with no feelings besides duty. This is entirely untrue; Aragorn has a sense of humor lurking under his grim and lordly demeanor, not to mention a sense of wonder and appreciation for beauty, and when he feels joy, it's intense and infectious. He has no qualms about displaying other emotions, either; one aspect of Tolkien's heroes was that they incorporated both traditionally-masculine strength and comfort showing traditionally-feminine emotions, like crying in front of others, or expressing love for their companions. Aragorn feels things very deeply, and when he bonds with a companion, even if they are disagreeable or frustrating, he still cares about them.
But that doesn't mean Aragorn has no insecurities. For a very long time, he has patrolled the wilds of the North, fighting evil creatures and risking his life for the people who live there. Those people, however, judge him by his grim appearance and don't take kindly to ~mysterious~ figures. Until he encountered the Hobbits in Bree, Aragorn's friends were all elves left behind in Rivendell, Lorien or Mirkwood, family among the other Dunedain, or comrades-in-arms left to age and die half a century ago. All strangers treated him with suspicion, hostility and ridicule, and, well...it was a lonely life. He longed for trust and friendship, for someone to see past his grim and weathered face and not treat it with constant suspicion. Frodo and his companions were the first new friends Aragorn had made in a very, very long time. He also has twinges of insecurity about his lineage: though he is very, very proud to be the Heir of Isildur and Elenedil, the fact that he's in love with an Elf descended from even better people has kept him humble. He strives always to be worthy of Arwen, and this is part of what drives him to be his best. He is well aware of just how out of his league she is, and how Men aren't the awesome legendary heroes they used to be. He does not fear weakness in himself, but is acutely aware of the shortcomings of his race.
Oh, speaking of ancestry, Aragorn was from a world where someone's ancestry plays a very very big role in determining their character, so he based a significant part of his judgments of people on their lineage. This technically makes him a racist, since in J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy world, Asians, black people, and Mongols do not have the same ~history~ and ~connection~ with Elves and the gods that White People do, and therefore are more easily (and historically have been) turned towards evil. Aragorn is fully aware that evil can wear a fair face, and will not automatically assume that anyone pretty is good, nor even that everyone with an ugly appearance is evil (he himself is proof of that) but the prejudice was there. And while we're on flaws, Aragorn suffers from Bad Decision Decay. If he makes a choice and it goes wrong, his ability to judge what is best kind of deteriorates, and he gets locked into bad call after bad call. Getting out of the rut isn't easy; he needs either time to unwind and get some distance or something big to shake him out of the funk, like (as a crazy random example) a friend coming back from the dead. Finally, he's terrible at taking orders if they A) don't come from someone he trusts and B) he does not agree with them. He's willing to go along with B if A, but reluctantly and with vocal disagreement. Aragorn's a headstrong sort, who trusts his own judgment.
Any differences:
-Aaron is far more willing to compromise than Aragorn is. He will lie, cheat, and break the law if he feels he needs to; the end justifies the means. Only to a certain extent, though, and Aaron doesn't like doing it. He never will.
-Though Aaron seeks the approval of his godfather, he has less failures-of-his-ancestors weighing him down. The chip on his shoulder is much smaller than Aragorn's.
-Aaron is not a leader. He has no experience leading groups of people. The most he did was head a small group of doctors and nurses, but leadership did not come naturally to him. He also has no direct military/combat experience, much less tactical expertise.
-Finally, he didn't grow up in Tolkien's world, so Aaron is both less racist and less emotionally demonstrative.
Abilities:
-Aragorn is skilled with a sword, knife and bow, but the sword is his preferred weapon. He's one of the best swordsmen of his time, and put these abilities to frequent use.
-Though it's not magic, Aragorn's skill at tracking, navigating and reading the earth comes close. If he listens to the ground, he can hear footsteps from far away. The more the footsteps and the heavier they are, the easier they are to hear. He can also hunt, cook, and survive in the wild with little to no supplies.
-His ridiculous healing skill also borders on magic. His herblore and field first-aid are completely mundane, but Aragorn is also able to bring people out of evil-induced comas through
-Aragorn is very good at both tracking the movements of other creatures and hiding his own. He can move through a forest, a marsh, or a town (provided there are enough shadows) while making himself very hard to see in completely mundane ways. And as long as there's something, anything left behind for Aragorn to follow, as long as it's physically possible, Aragorn can track it. Neither of these are magical abilities, though they might seem so to someone who was not raised a Ranger.
-Aragorn is an excellent navigator, with a strong memory for the lay of the land.
-Thanks to his time leading regiments as Thorongil, Aragorn is a strong and capable leader, not to mention a skilled military tactician.
-He speaks both variants of Elvish, Sindarin and Quenya, as well as the language of the Rohirrim and other stranger tongues of the East and South.
-Aragorn has a lot of book learning, too: he knows much of the history of Middle-Earth, especially the lore of Númenor and the Dúnedain, and the descendants of Beren and Lúthien. He doesn't know everything, of course; he's only had so long to study it. But he grew up hearing tales of the First and Second Ages of Middle-Earth, sometimes even told by people who were there, and he knows a lot more than you'd think.
-He can compose poetry, make up songs on the spot, and sing passably well. (There's no way anyone could grow up in Rivendell without learning to sing.)
GEAR:
-Andúril: or, alternatively, the shards of broken Narsil. An old blade, an ancestral blade, the one that cut the Ring from the hand of Sauron, it is an heirloom treasured by the Dúnedain.
-Its Super Awesome Sheath
-The Crown of Gondor: The symbol of leadership of the kingdom of Gondor.
-The Sceptre of Annúminas: Held in Elrond's keeping, this is the sign that the bearer rules Arnor. Though Narsil and the ring of Barahir were given to Aragorn when he came of age, Elrond withheld the sceptre until Aragorn became King of Gondor. It is over 5,000 years old.
-Lórien-cloak and brooch: woven by Galadriel, it is light but warm, and takes on the hue of its surroundings (so long as those surroundings are some variant of brown, green, or gray). The brooch is green and gold, and looks like a leaf.
-The Dúnedain's brooch: A silver, six-pointed star, all Rangers use one to clasp their gray cloaks.
-The Ring of Barahir: I'm counting it here even though he gave it to Arwen, as it is another heirloom of the Dúnedain and symbolizes the friendship between Elves and Men.
What kind of involvement would you like your character to have in Save the Earth? I want him to keep doing what he's doing with the clinic, yes, but I'd also like to pull the rug out from under his feet and have him dodge trouble with the law with a well-timed appearance-change Echo. Aaron Strider will disappear, since Aragorn is physically a different person. I'd also like him involved in endgame -- having the clinic gone will leave him less tied to Locke City and let him move around more. I want him to develop leadership skills -- to put aside the pot doctor and become who he was born to be.
Roleplay Sample – Third Person:
Strider sits in the train station, and waits. He's good at that. No one gives his ragged coat and filthy boots a second glance, though if he drew himself up to his full height, he imagines he'd get a few stares. As it is, he is adept at making himself utterly unmemorable, and his slouch conceals his height as his hood conceals his face. Strider would like to stretch his legs out, but an apologetic slump suits his purposes better. He looks like he's sorry for taking up the space, and the eyes of the passersby slide right off him.
Strider's own eyes wander. He takes in the platform, the sparse crowd (that is even sparser around him, he's always given a wide berth) the way the industrial yellow light glints sharply off the third rail, and the time the next train is expected in. He sees a mother and her child, who she guides away from the platform's edge with one hand. He sees a businessman checking his watch, and can smell the leather of the briefcase. He sees a gaggle of tourists with plastic bags clutched in their hands and their sunglasses pushed up onto the tops of their heads.
Then, the train comes in. He boards it, moving like every bone in his body is weary. The other passengers give him a wide berth; no one ever wants to sit near the freak on the subway. This suits Strider fine. The ride is quiet, and he exits five stops later as slowly as he boarded. His goal isn't far. It's a run-down duplex, twenty minutes' walk from the station. Not the best part of town, but at least it's not the Dead District. It's not often Strider makes house calls, but he's been looking after this patient for nearly three years. It wasn't her fault that she couldn't make it to the LSR Clinic any longer. She'd grown too weak.
He knocks, and triple-checks the supplies in his backpack as he waits for the door to open. Stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, a three-ring binder with her records in it, her usual medications -- and a small plastic bag a quarter-full of dried green leaves. For the pain.
Roleplay Sample - Network:
My name is Strider. I run a small clinic just south of the Dead District, on Five Forks Road. If you ever need to get patched up for cheap, look me up.
It's the brick building with the broken sign that says LSR. You can't miss it.
Not exactly inspiring, I know. But it's clean, and I'm licensed -- which is more than you can say for most doctors you can afford without insurance. Besides, if you're coming to me at all, you don't have a lot of choice, do you?
Anything else? Nope!
