Damon Warhound - Otter Slave

[Warhound]

Name: Damon Warhound
Slave Name: Rag, Ragnor
Gender: Male
Age: 25 Years Old
Species: Sea Otter
Occupation: Ex-Slave, Warrior, Avenger

Physical Appearance:

A lack of food would've already left him gaunt and with ribs showing – but punishment, however, in the form of starvation has turned him into an emaciated, skeletal creature held together as though by sheer force of will (and a hatred unmatched). Unable to be described as anything but the living dead from his gnarled, scarred paws to his sunken eyes, hollow cheeks and bones so visible it makes a beast wonder whether he's been fed at all. A lack of water have left his lips so chapped, they bleed – lending him a savage appearance when he needs it most, his own blood staining his teeth with each malevolent grin or infuriated snarl. Damon is a creature brought up in some of the most deplorable conditions imaginable, and his matted, raggedly thin fur and heavily scarred body are obvious evidence of this. Itt's questionable whether his throat has been damaged, or if his voice has developed that way, Damon is known (more to his enemies than his friends) to speak in a low, gravelly rasp, extremely expressive in both tone and language when it comes to conveying his emotions (his specialty is death threats).

Thin but sturdy muscle cling to his bones like wet clothing, riddled with scars and cuts obtained throughout his 19-or-so odd years of life as a slave. The whips and other weapons used by his captors have left so many scars on his back, arms, shoulders and chest, it's a wonder the fur even still grows there. His rudder has been broken severely at the tip, and he is unable to feel anything there at all. One of his ears has a deep slice in it, and a wicked looking scar cuts straight down his left eye, but fortunately the eye itself is undamaged. Despite not getting proper nutrition growing up, Damon had grown like a weed in his youth, the result being what was once an attractive otter, his tall, broad shoulders looking even more so thanks to his horrific thinness. Usually a full head and shoulders over the rat guards, Damon cuts an imposing figure to anybeast unlucky enough to be his enemy (he'd arguably be more imposing if he were of proper weight and muscle mass). Damon's fur is so dark brown, it appears black in low lighting, his nose, however, is black, and the fur between each toe/finger is a contrasting shade of gray.

Damon's eyes are reddish-orange, more red now that bloodlust and an unfathomable hatred have pushed aside the innocence and inquisitiveness of his once-happy childhood. This otter's face is very expressive, and he has difficulty hiding his emotions – that being said, he almost always has a look of defiance or anger written all over it. Those immensely powerful feelings often lend strength to his weak, starved, beaten body, and were it not for the sake of vengeance and a thirst for freedom, the young, haggard, hateful otter would never have made it this far.

Possessions:

The only thing to Damon's name is a beautiful broadsword called Ragnarok; once belonging to his father, being the last of his family Damon automatically inherits it. (The sword is currently in the paws of Obisidius Bane)

Personality:

A life filled with death, misery and pain have left more scars emotionally than they have physically. Because of the cruelty shown to himself, his family and anyone close to him, Damon has developed a deep-seated, all-consuming hatred for vermin kind, and any beast that dares raise a whip to him. Mistrustful of anybeast he's never met, Damon's entire life has been spent expecting pain and more hurt to come, his fight and defense-drives sky high because of this. With the blood of a warrior and a heart full of vengeful agony, Damon is relentless in his desire to crush those who've wronged him. It's to the point where it's an obsession, an obvious fault to his character to allow himself to be so fixated with the desire to kill one beast in particular. Hailing from a Clan of myths and legends, Damon Warhound holds pride in his name, and will harm anybeast who threatens his honor or insults his family. Used to fighting to get what he wants (or sometimes needs), Damon is always prepared to take a violent route to solving his problems rather than talk things over.

The death of what was almost his entire family has left this scarred, scornful otter extremely overprotective of his one remaining kin, Tampa Tiderunner. Damon has declared to quite literally 'rip the throat out of anybeast who harms her'. Considering Tampa is a slave such as himself, Damon has gotten into multiple fights attempting to carry out this promise. Because of the lifestyle he's been forced to live, Damon is independent to a fault in that he has difficulty accepting help from others, and can't seem to lower his guard down around anyone. He's constantly expecting nastiness from normally kind creatures, and is always prepared to defend himself, even if all he has are his bare fists. There haven't been a lot of happy moments in this warrior otter's life, and because most of them occurred from the time he was six years old and younger, Damon tends to cling to the past. Holding the memories of his family close, even though it's been well over 15 years since their deaths, Damon still hasn't been able to get over it.
Restless, reckless, headstrong to the point of arrogance, Damon seems hell-bent on a path of (self) destruction, and has a longer list of enemies than he does friends. Arguably difficult to deal with on occasion (he's hot-headed and defensive), Damon does have his nicer qualities. As though to counterbalance all of that hatred, Damon, unable to bear the suffering of others, has more than once taken the beating meant for another creature. He covers for his friends, and both protects and defends those closest to him as well as complete strangers (so long as they aren't vermin). His kindness and extreme, outrageous sense of loyalty are perhaps all that remain of his life before Obsidius Bane.

(C)

[Warhound]

Strengths:

Defiant & Proud: The more they try to break him, the taller he seems to stand. Resistant to 19 years of abuse, cruelty and punishment, Damon Warhound stands tall and proud in spite of all this.

Natural Talent: Despite having never truly trained with a weapon, Damon's heritage lends him natural skill with both a sword and a war-axe, as was customary of his great and noble ancestor Tyr, son of the original Warhound.

Extremely Loyal: If you are one of the few beasts who he calls friend or family, he will die for you, hands down. There is nothing too extreme you can ask of him, he'd pretty much do anything for you. Your secrets are safe with him.

Kind: As long as you aren't vermin, Damon is remarkably kind to beasts he sees suffering or are unhappy about something – despite being so full of hatred, Damon's heart is much larger than he let's on. Even when he does find himself with a bowl of food, Damon will often times give it to the youngest of the slaves, whether they ask for it or not.

Ungodly Stamina: Perhaps the sole reason Damon has lasted this long is his seemingly unending stamina. He can go all day doing back-breaking work, and still have enough vim and vigor to punch in a few faces should the need (or want) arise, and be able to deal with the punishment that comes after it.


Weaknesses:

Bloodwrath: having inherited the terrible curse of his ancestors, Damon's bloodwrath is particularly severe. It is only his extremely weakened state as a slave that has saved him from slaughtering everybeast in his path when provoked.

Ignorant & Distrustful: Having grown up a slave almost his entire life, Damon's knowledge of anything beyond the North Coast is limited to what others tell him. His ability to trust in other creatures is also extremely low, and all vermin are not to be trusted, regardless of any acts of kindness.

Weak in Body, Not in Spirit: Because of his near-constant punishment, Damon is horribly emaciated, and hasn't had a decent mean in the gods' know when. However, despite his extremely weak state, Damon's defiance and anger continues to grow almost every day.

No Battle Experience: For all his death threats and even with the bloodwrath, Damon has actually never had formal training of any kind. That's not to say he can't figure it out on his own, his fighting techniques will be choppy and anger-fueled at best. He cares not for the formalities and the footwork – so long as the enemy dies in the end, he doesn't care how he has to fight.

Vengeful: He doesn't bear the title of 'warhound' for nothing. As though he were born to shed blood, Damon's wrathful tendencies for the one called Obsidius Bane are to the point of alarming. There isn't a day that goes by that he doesn't think of killing the black rat king; it's such a big part of him that many wonder just what Damon will be like when he finally succeeds.

Can't Back Down: With his reputation and pride on the line, Damon absolutely cannot back down from a fight. It's as if he doesn't know how to surrender properly, or no one ever taught him how to give up. This can often leave him making the last snide remark – or in some cases, the last punch. He just doesn't know when to quit.

History:

Damon was born the youngest of three sons, his brother Asvor the eldest, with Dayna in the middle. Though born last, the little warrior otter had no doubt inherited the interest in the willful, unruly nature of his father, a mighty chieftain of the High North Coast by the name of Brodin Warhound. His mother, the equally as courageous Dalla Warhound (originally of the Bloodpaw Clan), kept all three of her sons in check, even the rebellious little otterbabe Damon.
They were a happy little family, the Warhounds, no beast dared land upon the Northern Coast, not with the Warhound Chieftain and a dozen other otter clans willing to defend it with their very lives if necessary. His childhood was a wonderful one spent watching with envy as his elder brothers followed the path of warriors, from sword-fighting to brawling to even a bit of drinking, it always seemed like Asvor and Dayna had all the fun.

Still, when he wasn't following after his siblings, Damon was busy playing with his younger cousin Tampa, constantly trying to coax her to sneak onto the archery range for a bit of practice.

His happiness ended, however, with the coming of Obsidius Bane from the Northeast. Armed with scores of well-trained soldiers, the black rat king set his sights upon the High North Coast, and brought with him no only a horde known for it's fearlessness, but a true creature of terror to unleash upon his enemies – the mighty king cobra.
Naturally, the Warhound Clan and their allies rose up to try and crush this powerful foebeast and his armies – but then the impossible happened. Brodin Warhound was killed, his head mounted upon a spear, and his blade, the beautiful Ragnarok, claimed by Obsidius himself. Enraged, the otter tribes fought on with Asvor and Dayna at the helm – but they too fell before the mighty tyrant and his armies.
Both sides suffered heavy casualties, but with no beast able to get help in time, the High North Coast fell into the hands of the black rat king.
Damon was 6 years old at the time, and the last of his family members to fall to Obsidius Bane was his mother, Dalla. The rat king ordered her death simply for being the widow of the late Brodin Warhound, and she died fighting, but not after protecting the identity of her son, lest he suffer the same fate as she. Dalla told everyone she could that Damon had died shortly after Brodin did, and everybeast believed it – in all the panic and turmoil that ensued, Damon was forgotten. The last thing Dalla ever told him, however, was to stay strong and be proud of who he was, even if he had to discard his name and the name of his Clan in order to survive. Damon did just as he was told.

Grief-stricken and alone, Rag or Ragnor as he was now called, spent all of his teenage years and some of his young-adult life as a slave, but remained defiant, headstrong and most of all proud of who he was – even if nobeast (save for his cousin Tampa) knew his true identity.

Having recently escaped out from under the claws of Obsidius Bane, Damon has at last become a free beast, but he will not rest until the deaths of his kinbeasts are avenged, and any creature Obisidius has enslaved set free.

Relationships:
Brodin Warhound – Father, owner of the Ragnarok, Deceased

Dalla Warhound – Mother, deceased

Asvor Warhound – Eldest brother, deceased

Dayna Warhound – Older brother, deceased.

Tampa Tiderunner – Cousin (she's been more like a sister to him though), Escaped Slave

Rosewater Tiderunner – Aunt (on his mother's side), Deceased

Tagyr Tiderunner – Uncle, Deceased

Other:
If anyone's interested in a song,
here's one that reminds me of Damon.

Time of Dying by Three Days Grace.

Also, Damon's weapon of choice will be a war-axe, that he later obtains during his Salamandastron.

[Tracy]

I don't need too much detail, but can you just add a little blurb in the history about HOW he escapes? Having been one for so very long, it seems like it wouldn't have been an easy thing.

Also, you claim the sword as his possession. Does he actually have it? Does he somehow get it back in the escape?

[Lyrielle]

=) The reason I didn't include how he escaped in the profile was that I was going to write it out for his first RP post, when he washes up on Salamandastron's shores. If you would like me to explain how he escapes, then I definitely can go back and add that in. ^^ (I kinda want to talk with Grath about Tampa and Damon possibly escaping together before I add it in though)

The sword is actually still in the possession of Obsidius Bane. =) It's mentioned in the beginning of his history.

[Tracy]

Okay, that's fine with the escape thing. And I assumed he didn't have the sword, but was just clarifying because "possession" suggests something they're carrying. The little sidenote you added is fine, though.

Accepted.