Gwalchavad
From Changeling Venue
| Seeming | Ogre Stonebones/Earthbones |
|---|---|
| Court | Summer Court ••• |
| Freehold | Radiant Triad |
| Player | John White, jwsasquatch@gmail.com |
Contents |
Overview
Alias: Seth Johansen
Original Name: Seth Meisenholder
Location: Starkville, MS
Age/Apparent age: Apparent Age - 40's, Actual Age - 76
Seeming: Ogre
Kith: Stonebones
Court: Summer
Virtue: Fortitude
Vice: Envy
Concept: Roman Gladiator/Soldier, Reluctant Monster
Physical description:
Gwalchavad is huge, standing seven feet tall and four feet wide. His skin is gray, with a chiseled, stony look. Most of the time, he wears a simple grey leather vest with grey trousers, as if the one who made his clothing didn't have enough material for sleeves-- This, unfortunately, reveals terrible scars running down his forearms, apparently made by clawed hands. His maul is everpresent.
To mortal eyes, he is Seth Johansen, a carpenter's apprentice with a local construction crew. Seth is quiet, but seems to take great pride in his work, living by the adage "Measure twice, cut once." Off the job, Johansen has a sad but determined look in his eyes, partially shadowed by his heavy brow and facial features. He looks about forty years old, but it looks like his skin is too thick or firm, even stony, to ever develop wrinkles. He never curses, never drinks, and never talks to or about women, even when he's out with the men on his crew.
Relevant Mechanics: Giant, Striking Looks 2
History
I. Early life
- Born Seth Meisenholder
- June 18 1931
- Born Noxubee County, MS
- Mennonite family, small farm
- No siblings
II. Captured: 1946, age 15
- Seth was working in the field when he saw a divine vision: an angel of light, beautiful and pure. Offering her blessing to him with outstretched arms, he gaped in awe as she wrapped her wings around him and held him tight. When her wings opened again, he was not in the field, nor was he in Heaven; the bordello he stood in was full of beautiful and terrible women pawing over his farm-strengthened physique.
- Keeper bound his tongue that he could never speak to any female.
- Used and abused as a sexual toy by his Keeper, he tried to hold to his religious beliefs; the sadistic tortures he suffered have destroyed his ability to interact with women and given him a phobia of them.
- Tired of his inability to learn to please her, she sold him to the slave pits. His size and physique land him in the gladiatorial arena, and he is forced to learn how to fight.
- Geas on his voice lifted with sale; Seth wasn't informed, and never tried.
III. Arena life
- Trained by Saga (Nick Glencross)
- Emotionally numb in his first fight, he was surprised when he beat his opponent while only trying to defend himself--against his religious beliefs. He refused to kill his opponent, and was severely beaten after being forced to watch the guards slay the opponent.
- Stoned as punishment
- Never spoke
- Repeated refusal to kill
- Name forgotten
- Form changed
- Gaius Arctorus (Jake Tessler)
- Gaius thrown into the arena after Seth had been there for years.
- Defeated Gaius by stranglehold in first fight, by pummelling in second fight; Gaius started winning after that.
- Third fight, Gaius refused to kill "The Brute," as Seth had been named by his Keeper; he was severly punished, but Keeper found a new sport: betting on whether the two could defeat other opponents without killing--thus saving more warriors for future fights.
- Spoke for the first time in years to Gaius, out of concern after his beating and torture; learns that 'voiceless' geas broken.
- Brute made to fight under Gaius' command in Wargames against James Daniels (John Christianson).
- Swore an oath to Gaius after saved from an enemy soldier in the Wargames; details remain secret between me and Gaius.
IV. Escape
- After other failed attempts, Brute escapes arena and breaks through the Hedge with four other Changelings.
- Returned to mortal realm, 1995
V. Mortal Realm
- Learned how long he'd been gone, refused to try to go home until after Gaius and the others had discovered what happened to their old lives.
- Finally learned his fetch had died in a farm accident back in the 1960's, no way to return to his old life.
- Met Zephyr (Jillian Christensen)
- Initial reaction: terror
- Zephyr took many years to get him comfortable with her, but he's never touched her, and only spoken to her once.
- Zephyr gave him the name Gwalchavad, after the chaste Sir Galahad.
- Joined Summer Court with Gaius, 1996
- With Gaius and others, started the Praesidium.
- Fought against Orlando's Hedge Beast uprising, 2000
- Served in Som i'Seely campaign, 2001-2003.
- Serves as Optio under Kalen, Century I
Associations & Associates
Musings
Gwalchavad is quiet beyond belief. It's known that he CAN talk (during combat, his challenges to his opponents are stentorious), but he rarely does, and never to women. To Gaius and the rest of the Praesidium, he's the strong right hand, ready to shield his charges with his own body if needed, ready to tear down obstacles with his massive maul. Some people have noted that although Gwalchavad is truly a massive powerhouse, he has never actually started a fight; he has, seemingly, ended too many for his own peace of mind. He doesn't play politics, both because he knows he doesn't have the talent for it, and because he neither understands it nor cares to. He trusts Gaius to lead him, but he'll only follow others if they can prove that what they want doesn't conflict with his ideals.
Character Inspirations
- Witness
- DC Comics' Camelot 3000
- Gladiator
- Arthurian Myths
- Piotr Niklaevich "Colossus" Rasputin, X-Men comics
Soundtrack
- Pink Floyd, "The Wall"
Quotes
"Hmmph."
- "He is the rock on which I have built my trust in fighting men. A gentle, stalwart companion on whom I may ever rely." - Lady Zephyr
- "That which is silent is not always stupid, sometimes it is the slowest of thoughts that bear the greatest of depths. A lesson some could well learn from our Gwalchavad." - Gaius Arctorus
- "Do not speak to me of this soldier. I will uphold my honor and word and heal his wounds and guide his path, I do not however, expect the same measure of respect or honor." - Erised
- "I wish that he saw the similarities in our faiths and not the differences. I will be his whore of babylon if that is his wish because no amount of my words will ever change this man's mind. That strength is something I admire as much as it saddens me." - Edria Meredith
Rumors
- Recently, he gave up painful memories to use against the Gentry; what those memories were is unclear, but he's a little more vocal now to women...
