Leandro Santos

Subject: Leandro Santos Sun Feb 03, 2013 2:37 pm

The Basics

Name: Leandro [Unused: Santos]
Age: 36
Element: Water
Classification: Consular
Birth Kingdom:Sera
Home Kingdom:Sera

Appearance

Leandro Santos Fisherman_by_thewickedkid-d5tkkd2

Playby: N/A
Appearance:
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 190 lb

At any given time, Leandro is armed with a large fishing net. Its handle is roughly five feet in length, and the mouth has a diameter of two and a half feet.

Personality

Personality:
~~Theme Song - Hakuna Matata~~

Raised by a rather large family on a diet of fish, fruit, and bugs, Leandro is laid-back, patient, and almost constantly working on his next meal. He's not the most forward-thinking fellow, aside from how he'll keep his boat from floating away, or his bait from attracting large predators. He usually considers the consequences of day-to-day actions - "If I move the log to block the current, I could rig up my net and catch more fish." - but from year-to-year, he just can't be bothered. He lives in the moment, aware that he could meet his end to illness, to a small venomous spider, or to a number of other things.

He's very kind to people that he meets, willing to share food with them, or point out a safe route through the jungle. If he sees a person in need, he'll offer his help, but often times he's just too poorly socialized to understand when a person needs help, or wants help but can not or will not vocallize it. He means well, but he's fairly oblivious. He's very bad at reading people, not knowing when he's irritating people with fishing tales, or rambling, or by handling his dinner with muddy hands. People he's known for a long time, such as his brothers and sisters, he can understand fairly well (as they already know him well enough to throw in the towel and say, "Leandro, stop talking.").

Though Leandro is a good problem solver, he doesn't have a mind for scholarly pursuits. He's illiterate, can not write so much as his name, and thinks that pencils are really for picking teeth. He's not empty headed either: he can tell you what kinds of spiders are poisonous, where they dwell, and what to do if you see one on you, but he couldn't tell anyone where to find the capital of Ignis, or who the king of Terra is. He can navigate familiar jungle in the dark, but he can't read a map. He could give a ten-hour speech about the best way to catch a fish, and how to make a rod and lure best suited to a lake compared to a river, but if someone asked him to sit and listen to a twenty-minute lecture about history, he would take a nap.

Leandro, despite (or perhaps because of) his elemental control, prefers pacifism. He won't fight because he is provoked verbally, and will even try to avoid fighting in a physical confrontation. The only thing that can drive him to violence is fear of losing his own life, or fear of losing a loved one, a friend, or watching someone lose their own loved ones. He doesn't have as many inhibitions about washing large vicious predators away, however.
Likes:

Fishing - As his preferred method of getting food, Leandro certainly enjoys fishing. Though it would be fairly simple for him to locate schools of fish and separate them from the rest of the water, he enjoys any chance to rest in his boat, which he considers to be his home.
Children - Though he doesn't see children very often, he enjoys their company, and often times he enjoys their bluntness.
People with "spark" - Anyone who has the courage to tell a very large, simple man to stop talking, go back to the trees, or otherwise will issue a very hearty laugh from Leandro. He has thick enough skin that it won't bother him, and a good enough sense of humor to appreciate a good jab.
Most People in General - Leandro has a generally positive outlook on humanity. Whether people are from cities or the jungle, or from abandoned ships, he'll try to be pleasant, or lend them a hand with whatever they're doing.
The Jungle - Born and raised in the jungle, Leandro can't help but enjoy traversing it. When he isn't fishing, eating, or sleeping, he's usually traversing the jungle to get a feel for the land, or find fruit to eat.
Swimming - Water is Leandro's element, and he doesn't care if he's dry or wet so long as he's around it. He's very good at swimming, and considers it a form of meditation.
His Boat - Leandro's proudest possession is a small canoe, which he uses to travel along the rivers. It's where he keeps his food, his clothes, his net, and anything else he may need - including flint for starting fires, knives for skinning and gutting fish,

Dislikes:

Large crowds - While Leandro thinks that a crowded place would be hundreds of people, this prevents him from entering large cities comfortably. From time he makes a trip to Sera's capitol to sell excess fish and replace worn-out fishing gear.
Loud Noises - If Leandro hears any particularly loud noises, especailly coming from humans, he'll either remove himself from the noise or ask for whoever is making the noise to quiet down.
Cities - As cities are often filled with loud and boisterous crowds, Leandro prefers to avoid them.
Violence - Leandro prefers not to use force for most things. He specifically dislikes seeing people or animals in pain, and will do whatever he can to abstain from fighting. Should he see others fighting, he'll try to mediate.

Elemental Strengths

Currents - Leandro can manipulate the currents of the rivers he navigates, and uses this to take his boat upstream, or speed himself along ocean shores, lake shores, or downstream. His proudest feat is being able to turn a waterfall's direction, although this kind of display would take up a lot of energy.
High Stamina - When Leandro manipulates water, he can often do it for long periods of time. He can carry his boat upstream for an hour without tiring, and downstream for twice as long. However, when he has to deviate how he's controlling water, it tires him out in less time.

Elemental Weaknesses

Currents - Any manipulation Leandro makes is temporary, and will never exceed a radius of one mile. He cannot manipulate large bodies of water such as the ocean for very long, as the currents are often much stronger and based much further away.
Slow - It takes Leandro quite a bit of time to work up to manipulating water - even controlling small amounts of water take at least a few seconds for him to start controlling. This makes him a little too easy to catch off guard.
No sense in the water - He cannot use water to extend his senses. He can see where some of the rocks are by watching carefully, or tell where the fish are by the ripples, but he can't feel anything other than the water around him.

Background

Family:
Mother - Calista | Plant Consular | 60
Father - Susilo | Water Grand Master | 65
Siblings -
Brother - Surya | Plant Consular | 41
Sister - Tereza Santos | Earth Master | 38
Brother - Dian | Health Consular | 32
Brother - Inacio | Time Citizen | 29 | Deceased at 14
Sister - Ivone | Water Citizen | 27 | Deceased at 23
Sister - Cecile | Plant Citizen | 23

Other -

History: --This section must be at least 300 words--
Leandro was not his parents' first child. His older brother, Surya, and his sister Tereza, were his companions growing up. He had younger siblings as well, as well as a few false alarms. To avoid the rain, and sustain their steadily-growing family, Susilo and Castila constructed a platform in the trees with a cloth roof over their head. It protected them from the rain, and the tide, and still allowed them to bask in the humid jungle air. As they grew older, Calista adjusted the platform, securing it by manipulating the growth of trees, slowly working to turn them around the base of their home.

When he was very young, his parents encouraged him to swim, warned him away from spiders, and taught him how to climb. He was not nearly as good at climbing as his brother Surya, who climbed like a lemur, and flung himself between trees. Tereza, his sister, was not good at swiming or climbing, a fact that he and Surya teased her endlessly about. She sank like a rock, and smashed her fists into trees when she couldn't find a good foothold. When they were very young, their parents encouraged them to "absorb" the nature around them, each devout Elementalists. Tereza, ironically, was the first to uncover her element, Earth. It was not much use in the jungle, where the earth was heavy with water and plantlife, but it helped her unearth troves of insects, many of which they would eat. Tereza had the good sense to keep track of the insects she found, and where they were. Surya's element came later, although it didn't change much. Aside from making flowers bloom early, or strengthening a weak branch so he could use it as a foothold, he had little use for it.

Leandro himself uncovered his element unconsciously. He would stay underwater far longer than either of his parents was comfortable with, return home with a large, flopping fish, and go back for another swim. Calista tried to encourage him to spend more time on land, like his brother and sister, but Leandro never strayed very far from the river. It was not until his father tried to remove him that his element became obvious. At Calista's request, Susilo attempted to pull Leandro out of the water, but Leandro splashed him furiously, even once he was out of the water.

As his other brothers and sisters, Dian, Inacio, Ivone, and Cecile were born, Leandro found himself forced to grow up a little faster. Dian was especially high maintenance, never able to speak, or make more than strangled cries from birth. Most of the responsibility fell upon Surya, but he was not as able to catch fish. Fishing became less of a game to Leandro and more of a duty - although it was a duty he greatly enjoyed. He had to fish up enough fish for each person, every day, while Calista gathered fruit, Tereza gathered bugs, and his father scouted out the jungle, watching for predators.

From time to time, Susilo would leave for town, offering to bring at least one of his eldest children along. Tereza was always happy to come, enjoying the city and the chance to walk on ground that wasn't soaked enough to swallow her whole. The first time Leandro ever visited a city, he was sixteen, and his father intended to teach him how to haggle. Seran was a nightmare for Leandro. Loud, filled with far too many people, and expensive. He didn't understand why a piece of fruit cost anything at all when he and his siblings could just find it out in the jungle. But his father was adamant that if he ever needed to leave Sera, he had to understand the value of money. So they moved throughout the market, first selling fish to a merchant. "It's very fresh," Susilo had argued. "You could charge much more for dis." Leandro was in awe. Once they had made their money on the fish, Susilo led him through the market, telling him to pick something he wanted and buy it. There was very little that Leandro wanted. Perhaps he could have used better boots, or gloves to keep the spiders off his hands, but he had never needed them before. But somewhere, deep in the market, he saw a craftsman selling fishing gear. Nets, rods, lures, and especially boats. "Offer half," Susilo advised him when he came for help. "Den work your way up until dey agree."

Leandro was not good at haggling. He found that in order to pay for the boat, he would need to sell twice as much fish as they had already sold. So he and his father returned home empty-handed. The next time they went on a trip, Leandro brought as many fish as he could carry and sold them back to the market. He mimicked Susilo. Rather than pleading that he needed the money, he assured them that the fish would be easy to sell, and could be sold at a high price. This time, he was far more successful, but it wasn't quite enough. The third time, just a few weeks later, he repeated the process. It cost every bronze he had earned, but in the end they were able to return home on the river, singing fishing tunes all the way.

When he was in his twenties, Leandro's parents allowed him to come and go as he wished, without making a fuss each time. They no longer policed his habits, insisting that he should stay close by and with his family where it was safe. He enjoyed the freedom, but he always returned home at the end of a long fishing trip to share his catch with his family. His small boat was all he had in the world, and for the most part, all he really needed. He would float down to the lake and pull his canoe back upstream, sometimes taking weeks at a time. His family rarely strayed far from their treehouse, seeing as their two young daughters needed taking care of, and so it was very easy for Leandro to track them down and drop by for a feast of a meal.

On one such trip, he dragged his canoe rather far upriver, planning to set up a rig at the base of a waterfall and catch as many fish as he could. He set up a mesh of nets along the river, and plucked his catches out in the evening, when the fish were most plentiful. He would remove them once he was finished, bundle them up, put them in his canoe, and go to sleep. It was not long before he awoke to a rustling nearby, and he awoke, assuming there was a predator. He began to roll the water from the river closer to his canoe, forming a small, unimposing moat. He stopped when a little boy named Yandi came stumbling through the trees, his arm swollen and purple, infected by a spider's venom. He dropped everything that he was doing to help the boy into his canoe, and he took him back home.

His parents were quick to welcome the young boy, in a fashion typical of Leandro's family (with food, of course). Leandro attempted to apply first aid when Dian could not help. His parents expected it would be Leandro's first experience with death. As the days went on, and Dian and Leandro applied salve after salve, and the boy's arm scarcely got any better. On the fifth night, the swelling went down. This steadily continued, and at first Leandro mistook it for him getting better. But Dian explained that he was dying, and despite their efforts, the boy died.

Leandro felt horrible about the boy's death, as though he could have done more. He refused to leave the house for the first few days, until Dian came to their home carrying several glass jars, each housing a spider they had been shooed away from when they were young. Their parents were furious, and demanded that he release them far away, but Dian refused to until Leandro could identify the spiders, and which were the deadliest. Susilo was especially angry, insisting that if Dian didn't get rid of the spiders, he would "wash dose two downriver an' hope dey don't tink playin' with da spiders is fun no more."

For a while, Leandro stayed near to the house, hoping to help care for his youngest siblings for a time. But even though he was home, he realized, there was very little he could do. Inacio, his youngest brother, tried to follow Surya through the trees one day. He mistook his footing and fell in what Leandro believed to be manipulated time, slowed, because he remembered every heartbeat between his brother's mistake and his death. If nothing else, Leandro decided that the world wouldn't change because he changed. Though he would occasionally visit his old home, he made his home in the river, and in his boat. Usually he allowed the current to take him where it would, sleeping, fishing or foraging when he was hungry, and swimming when he was finished.

His life was simple, but filled with a sort of meditation. Years passed and he had an epiphany: the less he fought "the currents of life" the less pain he felt. He imagined that he was rolling on a river, waiting to reach a waterfall that would take him to his death, yet enjoying the ride.

Once he was in his thirties, he returned home to find that Tereza had left home, wanting to make it in the city rather than the jungle. And he did not know why until he saw Ivone, older but small, as though she had starved. He demanded to know why no one had helped her, why Dian couldn't heal her, but his mother explained that she was sick. This much was obvious - she shook like a leaf, she claimed to be freezing even once they had placed her so close to the fire that mild burns formed on her skin. She remained bedridden for days, and despite their best efforts she died. Dian could do nothing.

Unlike with the loss of Inacio, Leandro did not fall into despair. He mourned his sister, and journied to Seran to deliver the message to Tereza. He did not enjoy the journey, he did not enjoy asking people where to find the insufferable woman, but once he met her he told her what had happened. She did not understand how Leandro could be so serene, and he couldn't explain the turmoil on the inside, how his heart felt drowned like a stormy sea. He had always known Tereza as the sturdy one, the one who could withstand anything. It was strange to see her crumple against him. Though he hated the city, he stayed with her for a month, trying to console her.

He never worked up the gall to ask her why she left home if she was so afraid of losing their family, but she never asked him why he left in the first place. Once she had regained herself, she offered to help him find a place in the city. Leandro hastily declined. Still, she insisted she offer him something. She bought him a fishing net, boots to keep him dry, gloves to protect his hands from their gills and scales. Leandro didn't want her to get him anything at all, but accepted. He left, content to return to the rivers of Sera.

Currently, he travels, fishing partially for food and partially for leisure. From time to time, he still visits his family with copious amounts of fish.

OOC

RP Sample: -- This may be recycled or fresh for this character, but it must reach the Carista minimum word count of 250--

Miran Floin wrote:: The wind was harsh, Miran noted. But of course, the day when the wind was quiet in Ventus would be the day Miran sprouted wings and flew away. She walked, her worn, dusty leather boots crackling with every step. Despite her father's efforts to save their money, which Miran was certain was spirited away by very cheap spirits, they were running low, and their next harvest would not be for at least a few weeks. They would be busy then, since they would have to haul the water.

"Should find a boat off this rock," she muttered bitterly to herself. She fantasized being so light that the wind would simply carry her away, across the world. Anywhere, she imagined, was better than home. Realistically, it would be quite some time before she had the means to pack her things and leave, unless she fancied a trip around the country with no food, no money, and no means to get either one. But damn if she wouldn't dream.

She adjusted the hood of her shawl, pushing the hem away from her eyes but not off of her head. It was far too warm, but she didn't trust her father not to trade it for their next meal. Left alone, he'd already sold her books, most of their clothes, and most of the furniture. They'd get it back, he said, but Miran didn't believe a word of it.

So when she set off towards a forest littered with fallen trees, she hoped to discover a bird's nest, filled with eggs or hatchlings.

"Ha!"

She would be lucky even to see a deserted husk, where birds may have lived at some point, but had long since abandoned. A small rodent could suffice as bait, if she could find so much as a rat. She remembered there used to be mice hiding near her home when she was younger, but they had long since left. Likely, they found a nicer barn, with nicer people, to live in.

She watched the tops of the trees as she weaved between and around fallen trees, under some and over others, careful and sure-footed enough not to fall or send trees tumbling on top of her. She only stopped when she came across a thin, meandering creak. She sat down beside it, pulled a small pouch from her side, and tried to coax some water in. The weave was tight enough to hold most of the water, though not for the entirety of her trip.

She kept her ears opened, hoping to hear a bird's whistle, or a crow's fabled squawk.

Alias: Wicked