curries: // http://brilliant-cataclysm.com/toggroovychat.html (Ta hah!)
Asbel Lhant ([personal profile] curries) wrote2013-08-16 04:40 pm
Entry tags:

This is how an app writes.


[Name]: Asbel Lhant
[Canon]: Tales of Graces f
[Age]: 11
[Gender]: Male
[Canon Point]: Childhood Arc; en route to Barona.

[History]:

Asbel Lhant is the elder of two sons (the other being Hubert) to Aston and Kerri Lhant. Spirited and determined, the story begins with him dragging Hubert to see the flowers on Lhant Hill (where they've been forbidden to go). There, the two discover a girl with no recollection of who she is or where she came from. Deciding to take her back to Lhant with them to look for clues about her past, they meet up in town with Cheria Barnes, a friend of theirs who's been ill since birth. She gets angry at Asbel for leaving her behind again, but when Hubert suggests he offer her the sopheria he picked, she seems to forgive him, and is even given an additional flower by Tiger Festival Sophie (as their new companion comes to be called thanks to Hubert and Cheria's help). From there, the team asks around and eventually head down to the coast to watch an out-of-town beast master's performance. After seeing Sophie twirling around (her Peepit wouldn't cooperate and when Asbel tries to get it to move, Sophie slides in to take its place) the girl suggests that maybe Sophie was a circus performer or an assassin. Even Sophie admits that the moves she performed were familiar, but the theores are ultimately abandoned.

Being no closer to cracking the mystery of Sophie's past, they return to Lhant and the boys are summoned inside by their father who informs them that an important visitor will be staying in the manor. However, because Asbel's known for his reckless disobedience, Aston tells him in no uncertain terms that he isn't to bother their guest. He also wants to hand Sophie over to the authorities so they can find her family. But what does Asbel do? He puts his foot down and says that he'll find her family himself, and that he'll take care of her for as long as he has to. Before the matter can be properly resolved, however, Aston is called away and Asbel's left to tantrum on his own.

As a result, Asbel also completely ignores the part about staying away from their visitor. The kids set off to investigate the sudden commotion on the highroad, only to find that the Turtlez Transport carrying their visitor, Master Richard, is being attacked by monsters. Asbel quickly orchestrates a plan, and the kids are able to play a role in fending them off. Aston scolds Asbel for his carelessness, but one of the guards actually comment on his "bravery" and forgive the ordeal. Returning home, Asbel realizes there's no way his father will allow him to meet Richard now, and so he leads the group around to the side of the manor where they enter through the guest room window. However, it's not the joyful greeting they might have expected. The boy is immediately distrustful of them, and when his sword instructor insists it's time for lessons, claims he isn't feeling well. Asbel, quick to jump in, exclaims that Richard shouldn't be forced into lessons, and declares that he'll take Richard's place. Amused, Bryce agrees to these terms, meeting with Asbel in the front garden and egging him on. Asbel proves to be a natural with the sword, and manages to hold his own until one of the royal guard hurries forward to interrupt the fight.

Afterwards, Asbel decides to take Richard to see the flowers on the hill, and at Cheria's request, Sophie accompanies them. Once there, they are confronted by Bryce who reveals his plans to assassinate the prince. That is - Richard. Asbel won't have any of this, and along with Sophie, they take Bryce on and manage to defeat him. Meanwhile, a terrified Richard has backed away dangerously close to the edge of the cliff and falls over the side. Sophie and Asbel manage to grab his arm and leg, but the combined weight of the children sends them plummeting over the edge.

After being surrounded by a warm light, Asbel awakens to find Sophie and Richard both alive and unharmed. Richard admits that he now owes Asbel a huge debt and attempts to give him his royal ring as a form of payment. Asbel immediately tosses the ring down and says he didn't save him for wealth or because he's "some dumb prince", although he ultimately fails to articulate the exact reason why. After Richard apologizes and kneels down to retrieve his possession, Asbel proposes that they work together to find a way back up the cliff and that they fight as a team. With the others' agreement, they begin the trek, working together to make it past monsters and maneuver around narrow ledges. Finally they climb the roots of a large tree and return to the top of the cliff. There, Asbel comments at how amazing it is what friends can do together. When his companions both seem perplexed, Asbel gets an idea and suggests they carve their names into the base of the tree and make a friendship pact. The tradition goes that friendship pacts mean a friendship can't be broken. And so, carving their names (Asbel helps Sophie since she can't spell hers), they all put their hands in and make a vow to remain friends forever. Just then, the sun rises on the water and a search party appears over the horizon. The kids hurry over to them.

Back in Lhant, Asbel gets some sense knocked into him by Aston and is soundly scolded both for endangering Richard and for getting Hubert and Cheria to lie for him, thus delaying the search party. Even despite Richard's protests, Asbel is grounded. Aston also reveals that with the king ill and Bryce untrustworthy, he will be accompanying Richard to the capital - and taking Hubert with him. After receiving the ring from Richard (so he can go see him if he's ever in the area) and giving his little brother a good luck charm, Asbel is banished to his room. But it doesn't last. Asbel decides he wants to go to the capital to look for Sophie's parents, and then he hears her voice outside the door. Effortlessly she busts the door down and they quickly head to the capital by boat.

They are soon joined once again by Cheria who is in Barona seeing a doctor about her illness, and the trio proceeds to go summon Richard. Flashing the ring and talking with one of the castle guards, Asbel and the others are sent to wait for Richard at the capital's famous tourist attraction and the source of their abundance of wind eleth, "Gloandi". Richard arrives soon enough and takes them on a tour of Barona, leading them up onto a hillside to his favorite place with a view to rival that of Lhant Hill. There, Richard expresses his desire to create a world without conflict and reveals that his father isn't just sick - but that he'd been poisoned. It seems that attempts on the lives of the royal family is nothing new. Asbel, shocked by the news, pretty much tells Richard to "lemme at 'em" and insists that Richard can always come to him if he ever needs anything.

Returning to the city, they stop by the Knight Training Academy for Asbel's sake where they meet one of the instructors, Malik. He discreetly warns Richard to be careful and plays along with the kids' story of how Richard (disguised only with a cap) is their shy big brother Tiger Festival. A short time later, they are discovered by Hubert (along with Aston and a mysterious stranger) in front of Barona's Inn, but that doesn't stop them from agreeing to meet with Richard again that night when he promises to sneak them all into the castle. In fact, Aston oddly doesn't even follow through with disciplining his boys. And Hubert, more quiet than usual, expresses concerns about whether or not he's still Asbel's little brother. The kids completely mistake the true meaning of all this, and instead decide Hubert must be worried about being left out.

Darkness falls and Richard doesn't show up at the appointed place. The group waits, and waits, and finally Asbel decides that they'll go to Richard. Journeying through the catacombs beneath the castle, the gang discovers an unconscious Richard and are soon attacked by monsters. They manage to take them out, but then a large, dark form appears behind Hubert and Cheria and slams them into the cavern walls. Scared and enraged, Asbel dashes in to attack despite Sophie's warnings and ends up battered, bruised, and run clear through by the creature's claws. Unable to move, it looks very much like "game over" for everyone involved, until Sophie goes into powered up "I will protect you!" mode and charges to their rescue. Slipping in and out of consciousness, through Asbel's eyes it's clear that Sophie's been seriously hurt by the creature because her body is literally beginning to dissipate into bright flecks of light. With one final battle cry, Sophie turns back upon the creature and the entire cavern is enveloped in an explosion of bright light. Asbel then passes out.

When he awakens, a great deal of news is dropped upon him at once. Hubert's been adopted by a Strahtan lord of the Oswell family and Asbel's unlikely to see him ever again. And Sophie...is dead. There's no word on Richard, and Aston seems genuinely surprised by his involvement. Thoughts jumble in Asbel's head: because he wasn't strong enough, he wasn't able to protect his friends, and because of that - Sophie died. Rather than taking up the reins as next Lord of Lhant, Asbel decides he's going to enlist in the Knight Training Academy in Barona and vows to become strong enough to protect everyone. Cheria begs Asbel to stay with her in Lhant, and says that she'll try her best to make up for everyone being gone. But Asbel, still struggling to come to terms with what's happened, won't have any of that and angrily explains that Cheria can never take their place. Though he finally tells her he'll stay and that he isn't angry at her, Asbel instead sneaks off to the port and heads for Barona to train at the academy for the next seven years, the pain of his loss driving him on.

[Personality]:

Asbel, at age eleven, has lived a pretty comfortable life up to this point, but he doesn't seem totally satisfied with it. The fact of the matter is, Asbel has little interest in becoming the next lord of Lhant, because what he really wants to do is become a knight.

He's very much that boy who goes outside to play in his new clothes and comes back with them all muddy. Asbel possesses little interest in academics or reading (hearing and telling stories is another matter), and good luck getting him to clean up after himself. He's made friends with most of the other kids in town, and about half of the grown-ups humor him (the other half scold him and try to warn him away from trouble). But Asbel is stubborn. If someone tells him NOT to do something or that he CAN'T do something, chances are he'll do it anyway - particularly if that someone is the Father who's always treating him like a child and giving him a hard time. And so it is that at the beginning of the game he and his little brother are found exploring Lhant Hill, something their father has expressly forbidden. Asbel, however, isn't at all bothered by this little detail (or the "no trespassing" sign for that matter).

His very first title in the game is "little rascal" and it couldn't be more true. Asbel teases people and pinches their cheeks, blames his brother for stealing his stuff when he's actually the one who misplaced it, sasses his parents, scares his companions with ghost stories...he also does some pretty off-the-wall things like vowing revenge on a door and picking a fight with a cow. His little brother and his other friends try to keep him in check, but when this kid's mind is made up - it's made up. As a result, Asbel is frequently scolded, disciplined, and even grounded early in the game (of course, he also has Sophie to break down the door when his lockpick utterly fails).

All of this isn't to say he's totally out of line, though. It cannot be denied that Asbel is a good friend and a kind person when it comes right down to it. He realizes (or at least comes to learn) that there are people who need taking care of. For example, he doesn't drag Cheria along with them partially because he knows how sick she is. He is also quick to assure the adults that she isn't troubling them at all by being around. After meeting Sophie, he seems genuinely concerned about her (and somewhat embarrassed by this) and vows to help find her family, even going so far as promising to spend the rest of his life with her should he fail. He accepts a lesson from Bryce in Richard's place because the prince isn't feeling well, and later fights Bryce for real because of how miserable and terrified Richard looked when he reveals his intent to end the prince's life. And also, despite all his picking at Hubert, we learn that Asbel worries about his brother and is secretly really proud of how smart he is. Much later in the game, Malik even comments about how in his early days at the knight academy Asbel was concerned for his brother and wondered if he was doing all right. For all that he can be mean, he does care deeply about them and cherishes their company. In Richard's and Sophie's cases, he even vows to protect them, and it isn't hard to assume the same sentiment would be extended to his brother and his childhood friend.

Asbel also proves that he can behave surprisingly well when he puts his mind to it. Dreaming of becoming a knight, Asbel seems to have at least paid enough attention to his lessons to know quite a bit about how the idealistic knight behaves - polite and honorable, and respecting of anyone willing to train them. And frankly, when he treats Bryce as a fellow knight, his friends remark Asbel is like a DIFFERENT PERSON. (His brains must be scrambled!) Throughout the game, it is also remarked upon that Asbel has a lot of "pride". A good example of this is how he refused to go to his parents for financial help after joining the knights and insisted on paying the tuition himself. When he makes a mistake, he tends to acknowledge it, and then do his best to take responsibility for his actions.

In a pinch, Asbel is also shown to be capable of rising to action, particularly when handing out roles to his comrades when they go to rescue the Turtlez Transport from monsters. Amazingly, his improvisation works! And he's even complimented by one of the guards for his bravery. However, Asbel's not always the best thinker. Little verbal hints and clues tend to fly right over his head and he even requires Hubert's coaching in order to effectively quell Cheria's anger. His naming skills are also terrible without assistance. Who ever heard of a name like Tiger Festival anyway?

[Abilities / Strengths & Weaknesses]:

Asbel carries his father's sword around with him. It's not explicitly stated where his artes came from, but chances are most of his swings and slashes are moves Asbel has come up with himself. His method is not polished by any means, but he apparently possesses enough potential to hold off a studied knight, take on low level monsters, and garner mild praise from the royal guard.

Asbel doesn't have many other physical strengths to speak of. He can't use "magic", and he doesn't know any healing abilities, so against a skilled opponent taking him seriously, the kid's a sitting duck. However, what he lacks for in experience he makes up for in youthly spirit. This kid's willing to make friends with just about anyone if they give him the chance, and an adventurous streak is bound to come in handy, right?

Where Asbel fails is in the intellectual department. He has no patience for his studies and though he might come up with a strategy on the fly, rarely takes the time to actually analyze a given situation. Being the son of a lord, he also lacks experience in some basic-but-important skills such as cooking, cleaning (he just doesn't take the time), organization/management and so forth. Asbel's greatest weakness, however, is probably his impulsiveness. He tends to go with what feels right and doesn't think about the repercussions until after the fact. This behavior has put both himself and his friends in serious danger on numerous occasions.

[Limited Powers]: Eh...he's kind of just a squishy kid with no formal training to speak of, so there isn't anything I can think of that needs to be limited.

[Other Important Facts]: He goes where he wants!

[Samples]:
♦ Thread: Some Non-Castmates
♦ Post:

[Voice]

Ha! There we go. Well, what do you think, Hubert? Looks like I won't need to write in this thing after all!

[The boyish voice is confident, cheerful, and unmistakably pleased with itself. After a quick exchange of muffled protests, the speaker's words become clear again.]

Hey, how's everyone doing? I'm Asbel Lhant, professional adventurer and captain of the Divine Conqueror. My little brother's here with me, too. He's our navigator and second-in-command. Anyway, I was wondering if any of you guys knows of a cure for amnesia? See, I promised a friend back home I'd help find her family, but it wouldn't be much of a reunion if she can't even remember them.

So does anyone know about a medicine to treat it or maybe some brain exercises or, I dunno, some other method that'll make it all better? Anything you've got! And don't worry, because I'm totally willing to repay you for whatever you can offer us. You have my word!

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