Image Credits Arkane / Bethesda
doll from Doll Divine Poke Trainer

Name: Du Len Kuyate

Gender/Preference: Male, he/him, none yet he is still a child

Age/DOB: 6 when brought to Karnaca/non-plague AU, 12 at current time

Faction: Craftsmen, Also Marked eventually

Family: Mother Abda Kuyate died recently; father Ked Len still on Pandyssia; no siblings; is entrusted with Falk to teach him his mother's trade, since she died before he was old enough to start learning it properly and his father is not a craftsman himself

Height/Build: currently 'child sized'; will be around 5'8" / evenly built with good torso strength as an adult

Hair: black, a rough wooly curl texture, which Falk learned from his time with the family how to care for and style; tends to be pulled into a topknot or puff for ease of use, but also likes it to be firmly box braided too

Eyes: gold, straight up sparkling golden orange, an extremely unusual color for the Isles, but reasonably common among his native Pandyssian family; he too sometimes has hidden this fact behind his instructors' style obsidian lenses

Appearance: dark red-brown skin with a few moles apt to grow here and there; a round face that will remain boyish into his adulthood; broad flat nose, high cheeks, and full lips that he is often pressing together in concentration; he has a chipper voice, but only when in the presence of Falk or customers that he trusts; he carries himself with strength and ease, though when he's out in the town by himself this may change to a bit hesitant and cautious. He doesn't go out alone much until he's in his teens

"This child knows of much older gods than Leviathan, and even the Outsider would love to hear about those."

Skills and Occupation: As a child he was supposed to be in training with his mother, a very skilled glass crafter. But she died when he was 3, and he was never able to even start using any of the varied tools of the trade. But as an older child and later teenager, apprenticed to Falk, he has excelled at the creation of glass works, refining sands and minerals for that purpose, and making extremely fine tuning to the corrective lenses that he and his trademaster sell. Because he was still too small and easily injured he didn't start working with the glass blowing or forge equipment until he was around 10 years old, but he still takes to it eagerly. He more uses the grinding and polishing tools that Falk perfected a decade before, using the tools that his own mother developed and he carried with him on their journey from Pandyssia. He knows how to use vision charts for focal distance and works with the tiny tools needed to make adjustments to eye glasses, as well as fixing or adjusting the vision detection devices in use. Even though he seems quite stoic to anyone just seeing him in the background, he is also very personable to the patrons of the shop, and treats them with care and charm while they're getting their eyes examined. Some of those people can be quite antsy, and he keeps them calm in the exam chair with simple heart-felt words and a nice warm grip on their hand for support. Aside from the daily tasks at the shop and glass work in general, he is remarkably adept at listening to stories, gazing at the stars and learning about them in both physical and metaphysical, or even traditional ways. He loves hearing about different cultural takes on the same story - he is exceptionally intrigued by the northern constellations, which were either barely visible or completely impossible to see from his point on Pandyssia, and has been writing and drawing in his journal about these stories.

Residence: Born in a fairly advanced river-sided city in Pandyssia up river from the ocean by quite a bit. Currently lives in Karnaca with his trade master Falk, above the eyeglass shop in Northern Campo-Seta district

Notable Possessions: the tools of the glass crafting and lens making trade, his mother's tools. They came with him with her blessing, it was clear to his father that he was going to be trained in this profession, and Ked Len did not have any skill in it himself. As a teenager he is also named as a partner in the business of Exceptional Lenses, Falk's shop, and is considered a co-owner of it when he's of age. He also has several bone charms and items brought from Pandyssia, mostly having been gathered by his father and Falk before their departure to the Isles. Some quaint local items, sold off as exotic collectors items, netted the pair an unreasonable amount of money - some of these items are on display in the museum in Upper Cyria, but to this pair they are laughably common on the larger continent!

Personality: He is a little more serious than most children his age, mainly due to the death of his mother and his father's inability to continue his training himself. But he remembered and trusts Falk with his life, and truly wants to learn - knowing that his mother is 'watching from the Void', and taught Falk everything she knew, it's like having her own hand guide his. He is quite spiritual, but is also a touch confused and confounded by the Abbey in the Isles. Du Len also does know - from being carefully, sternly warned by Falk - not to anger or draw attention from the Abbey. He simply fades into the shadows and hides when they are around, unless he's summoned specifically and with an all-clear from Falk. As a teen and adult, Du Len will be quite charming with patrons and friends, and a little more stand-offish with strangers or people at parties.

Likes and Dislikes: Though he hardly knows much about the World at large, he has learned by the protective and fierce companionship that Falk offers, how much he will eventually dislike people who assume he is a slave and not an apprentice to his master-craftsman foster parent. He knows that Falk loved being with his family and is adept at learning Pandyssian culture, even singing traditional songs common to the city that he was born in. Clear nights are his favorite time of day - because these northern hemisphere constellations have never been seen where he's from!

Fears or Interruptions: Du Len does fear being arrested or stolen by the Abbey, but won't go as far as taunting them or growing angry about it, he simply chooses to avoid rather than confront. He is often 'head in the Void' and may be a bit distracted when he's not working on something, and it takes him a moment or two to realize that he's not in fact chatting with a whale in the 'real' World (even though he does see them, all of them, floating about...). The World and the Void are one and the same for him, and he has to be very careful when he's around anyone that might turn him in as a heretic for that reason.

History: Born on Pandyssia in a reasonably large city by a river, Du Len was born while Falk was an apprentice to his mother. When he was 3 years old, however, his mother Abda Kuyate died from an infected wound. Raised by his father Ked Len for several years, it was obviously overwhelming for the man, and when Falk came back to Pandyssia to gather more obsidian and research Void stone, Ked and he reached an arrangement. Du Len would return to the Isles with Falk, and learn what he could from Falk - the only surviving member of the glass working community that had trained under Abda. And though his memories of his father are clear and happy, Du Len is definitely his mother's son - and Falk treats him as such. With respect and care, as well as the love that his father would have given. While Ked would possibly have found work on the Isles, it's likely that it would have been both demeaning and insulting, as he would have had to learn entirely new skills beyond his local cultivation and crop management. Du remembered Falk from his earliest moments, how happy he made his mother, and cherishes the fact that Falk got to know her well enough to pass her wisdom on to him intact.

He clearly thrives in the technical and intellectual realm of glass and lens creation, and understands people well enough that he treats each of them as individuals rather than just yet another customer. A finer partner in business could not be found, Falk says, and he trusts his craft-master to handle the occasional extremely racist comments so that Du Len won't need to do it himself.

At times, Du Len is able to just be in the Void, as if he was Marked already. He stands in a bit of a trance while seeing things this way, so Falk tends to just pick him up bodily and move him into a quieter private room for it. Because obviously Falk will want to know what he was talking about! Du Len appreciates the level of respect and lengths that Falk goes through to keep him insulated from the Isles and their influence, asking him about the stories that any other child would hardly have recalled let alone in such detail as Du Len does. This young man however does remember all of the songs, stories, fables, and warnings given to him from his mother and father. Also from his earliest exploration looking into the Void at home - the large Pit of Reverence, a place where there is a weakness and portal directly to the Void, he knows that whales are his friends, and that the Outsider - known as Leviathan to some - is hardly the first human to have held that position.

When he is around 13, he is Marked by the Outsider of this era, something he knows was contested and discussed at length between Falk and the Outsider. As a young child he would have certainly lacked the self-control to manage his whim with such a power, but as a teenager he has been learning how to use it with subtle application and stealth. What he will eventually do with this ability, with the Runes and Bonecharms that he finds to accent his power, is unknown.

Lineage

Mates and Descendants