Christian
From Changeling Venue
| Seeming | Beast Runnerswift |
|---|---|
| Court | Winter Court • |
| Freehold | TBD |
| Player | Jeremy |
None of us get out alive. Now you can huddle in a group and face it one day at a time, or you could be grateful that when your body rubs against someone else's, it explodes with enough pleasure that you can forget, even for a minute, that you're only a walking pile of ashes. - Christian Troy, Nip/Tuck
- Cynic
-noun, a person who believes that only selfishness motivates human actions
-adjective, resembling the actions of a snarling dog
- Dissolute
-adjective, indifferent to moral restraints; given to immoral or improper conduct.
- Hound
–noun, a mean, despicable person
an addict or devotee
–verb, to pursue or harass without respite
- Licentious
-adjective, going beyond customary or proper bounds or limits; disregarding rules.
Overview - Love the sinner
Alias(es): Christian Reikall, Christian Thelema, The Duke of Hounds, The Queen's Bishop, The other man.
Real Name: Christian is the only name he remembers. His true last name has been lost to the thorns.
Age: Late 20's
Concept: Male pygmalion turned cynical libertine.
Entitlement: Duchy of the Icebound Heart
Seeming: Beast (greyhound)
Kith: Runnerswift
Virtue: Charity
Vice: Gluttony
Motley: Hellfire Club
Character Information - You ain't nothin' but a hound dog.
Mask: He is skinny and tall, seemingly stick thin but surprisingly wiry. Christian tends to wear black, because he likes the starkness of it and as a tribute to Uriel, though he would never admit the latter. He keeps his dirty blond hair long, falling just past his shoulders. Usually clean shaven except for a goatee, Christian sometimes affects a scruffy look that he thinks is charming. In fact much of his appearance is slightly scruffy. Socially acceptable surely.... but only by a hair.
Mein: His skinniness takes an extreme turn, all bones and stringy muscle. Knees bend backward and his legs are rail thin. A small extremely curved tail usually stays tucked between his legs. His canines are pronounced and hair is not quite blond, not quite brown. More of a brindle. Frozen tears hang on his face but do not travel in a line straight down. Instead they flow back across his cheeks.
Mantle: While enacting contracts his breath becomes visible with ice crystals forming at the edges of his mouth. The sound of a dog whining can be heard faintly in the wind.
Known History - I have not yet begun to defile myself.
Basic Timeline:
2003 - Marriage of his love to another.
Destructive binge attempting to escape reality.
Taken and twisted by a Fae attracted by the sorrow in that attempt.
Made to run races against others like himself.
2004 - Crashed headlong through the hedge during such a race.
Spent a several months running in the Northeast with Nujalik.
Spooked by something (only he knows what) and ran from Nukalik's pack.
Picked up by Catherine as a stray and brought back to Cincinnati.
Caught Catherine's attention with whipped puppy dog demeanor.
2006 - Handed off by Jack to Uriel in hopes of getting him out of Catherine's notice and making something socially acceptable.
Educated by Uriel. (Small words that don't do justice to the idea)
Early 2007 - Returned to the Cincinnati court briefly to show off his new found etiquette and charm.
Had a string of mortal and Lost flings while traveling across the states.
2007 - Met Faith during his travels and was introduced to the Duchy.
Settled into his current lifestyle and conned his way into work as a motivational speaker for women in the corporate world. He's not wildly successful at his job but enjoys the travels and the new people he.... meets.
Current Activities: Socializing, doing his best to escape every haunting memory of his past through excess and consumption, seeking a ward of his own to educate, not admitting to the latter.
Merit Details: Striking looks x2
Themes: Overcoming one's inner beast, Escaping one's past, Seeking enlightenment through experiencing, A paranoid's need for companionship, Flaunting a lack of respect for social norms while maintaining a decent status
Associations - Life is too short to dance with ugly women.
- Belladonna - The petals of the darkest rose feel the softest against your lips but it's thorns are by far the sharpest. This one can make you enjoy the taste of your own blood.
- Catherine Wheel - A delicate snowflake whom I'd love to melt. The two of us could have great fun if left to our own devices. She brought a stray in out of the cold and opened the door to this life.
- Cosmo - What can I say? I enjoy the roar of the crowd and the sight of blood on the ice almost as much as he does.
- Darling and her Lost Boys - Youth is a marvelous thing. Even I need to be reminded what innocence looks like... and how fragile it can be.
- Daysi - Even a frozen flower needs a good plucking every now and then. Our tears froze around the same time so there will always be a special bond between us.
- Dominic Jackson Hunter - I can play the part of the whipped and collared hound for a while. Especially if it lets me nuzzle his ward's... hand. Though I'd find a way to see him dealt with if I thought for a second that it wouldn't leave Catherine in Uriel's hands.
- Emma Hart - With a laugh sounding like a hundred diamonds dropping on a broken mirror this little gem is always well worth the dance.
- Faith Thomas - What life forged and Uriel sharpened to a razor edge, Faith showed me where to... stick. If she had not given me direction I may have ended up some hedonistic scamp with no redeeming features to speak of. She didn't cause these tears to fall. Just froze them in time for all to see.
- GB - A rapier sharp wit is but a tiny needle impacting on a stone to her. The fact that the sight of her presence at any function is enough to bring a frown to my face is only alleviated by the look on hers after pointing out what she's at the right height for.
- Gerri Williams - A thousand pounds of rigid metal, a few curve hugging yards of leather, a few six packs of beer and the nearest snooty debutante ball or corporate bbq keeps this little flame and I... steamy.
- Jack Sprat - Met him once and any rumors you've heard of any business dealings we've had is greatly exaggerated. He does always makes me think of the story with the garden and the tree and people wearing fig leaves. In a creepy kind of way.
- Lilium - A divine partner for dinner and dance.
- Nathaniel Fellows - Friendly enough chap that I've run into at nearly every social gathering this year. And they say I get around.
- Noman - His eyes and ears lead back to someone I'd rather not see angry. Just have to make sure he doesn't see where my hands are or hear my honeyed words.
- Nujalik - I ran the streets with her. She may remind me of a hungrier time but I would still drop very nearly anything when our paths cross.
- Paisley - Collars and I don't normally get along but seeing her tongue run across a boot and I can't help but think she belongs in one far more than I ever have.
- Rigger - I enjoy his work. And his discretion.
- Ronyo Cruxis - A flower most enjoyable to pluck but is always as fleeting as ice in the spring sun.
- Uriel de Lenormand - The majority of the responsibility for my pretty clothes and prettier words can be laid at the feet of this darkling, as can any jovial disdain I show for these finer things. Though I am a creation of my own mind he wielded the hammer that tempered me into the social creature I am today. I owe him infinite gratitude and more than a little pain. Ours is a complicated relationship.
- Vicky Sage - She's the reason you pick up hitch hikers. As long as you are not going much further.
- Virginia Wolfe - I really do enjoy watching her... hunt. I always savor it when our paths cross, it always leads to the most enjoyable competitions between us. And what prey can last when two hunters are on it's trail.
Character Inspirations - You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
- Pygmalion - George Bernard Shaw.
- Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday in Tombstone.
- Johnny Deep as John Wilmot in Libertine.
- Jim Morrison of the Doors.
- Julian McMahon as Christian Troy in Nip/Tuck.
- Anthony Bourdain as the cynical elitist we all know and love.
- The Tramp of Lady and the Tramp
- Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear and Rage - Walter Cannon's work first describing the fight or flight response.
Soundtrack - Variety is the spice of life. And the spice must flow.
- Hound Dog - Elvis Presley
- I Wanna Get In Your Pants - The Cramps
- Brickhouse 2003 - Rob Zombie
- The Hand That Feeds - Nine Inch Nails
- You Don't Own Me - Rasputina
- Hair of the Dog - Shooter Jennings
- Little White Lines - Shooter Jennings
- One Night Stand - Janis Joplin
- Ramblin Man - Hank Williams Sr.
- Life of Sin - Hank Williams III
- Tush - ZZ Top
Quotes by Christian - It appears my hypocrisy knows no bounds.
- "They say that if you can melt the heart of a Duke you'll release the perfect soul encased within. One so warm and caring that his love will keep even the fiercest cold at bay. Will you be the one to melt me?" - Whispered by Christian into the ears of many.
- "Duke, dog, libertine, lover, sensualist, and sinner. I am all these things and more. They've called me the Duke of Hounds and I've laughed in their face for it. I do what I do because someone must. Every heart I so delicately harden is that much more armored against the Others. Every eye I cause to weep so gently is one that is blinded for a time against the Gentry's lures. Such is my duty that I do happily for our kind. Now, good sir, stand aside and let me seduce your wife." - Said to a newly married Ogre before Christian had to leave town... quickly.
- "I keep having this dream. About the other side. A figure, naked and alone, running through shadowy woods, feet crunching on the snow. There is something snarling behind, snapping, chasing, bright teeth brushing soft cold skin. Those dreams taught me that 'to wake in a cold sweat' is more than just poetic words. And they are the thing that drives me from warm bed to warm bed. That and the terrifying realization that I don't know which figure is me. But I know that one day I'll find that perfect warmth that will chase away those cold dreams and cause these tears to finally fall. Unfortunately for us both, yours is not that warmth. Be a dear and turn off the fan on your way out. I feel a chill." - said by Christian as he unsuccessfully searches for one who can melt his heart.
- "You always meet such interesting people when you take a ride on a greyhound." - One of Christian's favorite pick up lines.
- "Ever notice how monogamy sounds like monotony? Seems ever so dull to me." - Christian, during his vows at a never completed wedding to a lovely mortal woman.
Quotes about Christian - Tell me what you don't like about yourself.
((By all means add something.))
- All that keeps that dog alive is Jack's word and Uriel's presence. - Noman
- "Oh, Cen…If only I could give you my ears in exchange for that tongue of yours. And perhaps your hands as well. And your…lust for life." - Uriel de Lenormand
- "An energetic and a sincere like fellow. He appears, like all of us, to wish to forget the past we all share. Yet seeks to move forward because of it." - Nathaniel Fellows
- "If you feed most animals, they are yours forever. Feeding Christian's hunger ensures you'll never see him again" - Catherine Wheel
- "He's a heartless rake, and consciousless libterine to be sure...I just happen to admire that in a person." - Virginia Wolfe
- "He is not what he was. I do not know if it is better this way." - Nujalik
- "He is a nice boy, in the open market I would say he is worth one hundred miles, and a veggie burger from jack in the box, in entertainment..." Vicky Sage
- "Maybe it's his smile, or the way he would rebel from all the right things. I could just never stay mad at him." - Gerri Williams
- "Don't let those puppy-dog eyes win you over." - Gaea
- "Speaking as a woman, I could care less if he was the last man on the planet, I doubt I would run out of batterys...if i did there is always solar power. NOW, as an entertainer, and a comic...damn, I get excited when he walks into a room, cause it makes the jokes, that much easier." -Harlequin
Rumors - All men would be cowards if they only had the courage.
- Christian spends several weeks every year running with Nujalik, throwing off all attempts to be civilized.
- Christian broke Catherine's heart but it was before he was a member of the Duchy.
- Catherine broke Christian's heart and that was what sent him into the arms of the Duchy.
- Christian's heart isn't frozen. It's missing, removed in some strange ritual by Uriel de Lenormand and stashed away for some unknown purpose.
- The real reason Jack pawned Christian off on Uriel de Lenormand was because Christian was invading Catherine Wheel's dreams to seduce her.
- Christian has been known to give new paramours an icy rose that blooms into a dusky red color on their first kiss. It's even said that the rose pulses as if it was a beating heart. Those that listen to the more malicious whispers have heard that each rose is in fact the heart of a past lover.
- Christian joined the Duchy at the request of a former lover. She seemed to think it only fair that he give those who can see it a warning sign of his intentions.
- Every jealous husband or overprotective guardian that ever laid hands on Christian has found themselves in the hands of the Gentry. It is unknown if he has anything to do with this directly.
- Christian is thankful for his time in Arcadia for one reason: its contraceptive power.
- Christian has a signature drink at The Crying Muse, the bar owned by Faith Thomas. It's called "Christian's last kiss," and is an extremely strong, rich chocolate mixed drink served in a tall shot glass with an alcohol soaked cherry at the bottom. It's rumored that with a signal he can have the cherry laced with something darker when ordering it for a potential new interest.
- Christian has made no attempt to locate or deal with his fetch. He just wrote that old life off and never looked back.
- Christian is desperately seeking someone to melt his heart so that he can follow in Valentine's footsteps and leave the Duchy, happy and in love.
- Christian and Virginia Wolfe are engaged in some sort of Cruel Intentions type game, each determined to win the others heart through increasingly cruel acts of depravity.
- Christian was once shot down by Morgana Damphair which caused him to loose a bet.
- Christian sometimes goes by the title, Red King.
- Christian has no hearthooks belonging to other lost, only mortals.
- Christian has vanished after the Fall Faire in Nashville. No one seems to know where he is.
- Christian is a member of a secret society where he takes part in strange rituals and ghoulish ceremonies. Rumors of everything from human sacrifice to the deflowering of nuns have been heard.
Connections sought - You must acquire the trick of ignoring those who do not like you.
- Society types
- Former lovers
- Former broken hearts
- Friends
- Associates
- Rivals
- Traveling partners
- Jealous husbands
- A ward to abuse... train.
- A bodyguard to watch his back at events (possibly the same person as...)
- A good enough friend to keep Christian from making too much of a fool of himself
