monolike | APPLICATION (SONG)

Player: Egg
Age: 30s
Contact:

gonewithouta
Current Characters: n/a

Character: Sorey
Canon: Tales of Zestiria | Endgame (prior to epilogue)
Age: 17

Background Information: This is a pretty dang good summary over here, but I am glad to go into more detail.

Personality:

Sorey’s often described as very pure-hearted and devoid of malevolence. While in the general sense that would mean he’s innocent and free of any negativity, what this means in terms of Zestiria is that he understands himself fully and won’t allow himself to be swayed one way or the other away from his convictions. Using ‘purity’ in this case is more or less saying that he’s true to his own heart. He listens to himself, to his desires and he allows himself to follow his heart freely.

It’s pretty fortunate that he’s a remarkably good kid, then. Sorey was raised in a very caring village and was never lied to about his origin or how he was different from his family, so he’s very accustomed to honesty and sincerity to the point where when Alisha tried to explain to him the troubles of the world, he couldn’t quite understand. War? Famine?? Police brutality, what, abuse of power what? Since I'm taking Sorey from the end of the game he's become much more familiar with the more negative aspects of human society, but that doesn't mean he understands the motivations of truly corrupt people.

Sorey has come a very long way from that innocence, but the roots of it are still deeply entrenched in his personality. He’s caring to a fault, preferring to listen to people’s troubles to the inconvenience of himself rather than to pretend like he doesn’t care. He cares way, way too much, saying that if he sees someone in trouble he can’t just not help them. It ends up getting him into heaps of his own trouble since he also has a hard time telling people in need ‘no.’ It’s not out of any desire to be liked or out of a fear for confrontation so much as it is just his nature.

This nature of his conflicts sharply with his duties as a Shepherd, a title he takes very, very seriously; even moreso now that he's got to think about being the vessel of Maotelus, too. The Shepherd’s purpose is to purify hellions and quell malevolence to return the world to its most peaceful state, but the Shepherd absolutely is not to involve himself in the affairs of human society. It’s not that he can’t interact with people, but more that he’s not allowed to take a side, even passively. If there’s a political conflict, even if it will end in bloodshed, he has to bow out of it. The idea is that the Shepherd can only help people help themselves; create an environment in which humans can thrive on their own. In this way, the Shepherd is socially set very far apart from people, taking an outsider’s role instead of one active in society and the community. The role is very much big picture, especially where he's at now.

Sorey has trouble with that. While he’s good at looking forward to the future, he’s also a human and as such is very rooted in the present. He had to work on denying himself the ability to solve the immediate problems and instead focus on the root of the matter. He still has a lot of trouble with it, even with how far he's come, though he's gotten better at stopping to think first. Following one’s heart is all well and good provided one’s heart doesn’t have philanthropic ADHD.

Actually, the kid tends to get overeager about a lot of different things. He’ll wear himself out quickly because he doesn’t know how to limit himself (or really even take care of himself, at times). There are multiple occasions where he’s just plain forgotten to eat because he’s been so engrossed in whatever he’s doing. This focus and enthusiasm carries over to his passion for anthropology, legends, folklore and basically anything having to do with history. While Sorey does care very much about humans and seraphim and takes his responsibilities extremely seriously, he really only ever lights up when the topic of discussion is about archeology. Thankfully, his job as the Shepherd takes him all over the world so he gets a lot of opportunities to explore.

There are downsides to the whole "strength in one's own convictions, too perfect too pure" schtick though. The most obvious is that Sorey tends to shoulder a lot of burdens on his own, because he thinks it's duty or because he doesn't want to trouble other people. He's fine being hurt or tired or for his vision to slowly deteriorate if it means his friends are happy and achieving their dreams!!!! Also, nobody told him this (factcheck: many people have told him this) but having unwavering belief in one's own convictions is very, very similar to being bullheaded. Almost indistinguishable. Sorey gets an idea in his head and it doesn't matter how many times people run up against it with opposing arguments; if he doesn't want to change his mind, he damn well won't. This can make him seem somewhat spoiled and stubborn when his viewpoints are conflicting with someone else's.

Being kind and sympathetic are great traits but when they swing too far in that direction they can quickly become 'gullible' and 'a doormat.' Sorey's a sharp tack so he doesn't usually get bought in by obvious con men, but someone he likes or trusts telling him a lie? If it holds even a bit of water, he'll buy it. He'll fuckin' preorder that shit. Sorey doesn't know how to withhold trust from people, instead deciding to throw in whole hog if he's decided they seem like a good person. His lack of caution is a source of exasperation to everyone who travels with him, so his companions can sometimes end up more like his handlers.

Abilities & Inventory: Most of Sorey's abilities are due to his Shepherd pact; some of them will be cut off with the absence of the seraphim he has a pact with, which I would like him to gain/lose if those characters are apped or dropped. Please see below:

Always Present

Resonance - Sorey has exceptionally high resonance naturally, which is kind of like a sixth sense. He can see spirits and can tell when someone is using a glamour, unless they're exceptionally powerful.
Enhanced Strength & Durability - Thanks to the pact, Sorey has strength and durability above that of an average human. He's still just a susceptible to wounds, illness, and death, but he won't break his back being dropped off a ten story building; probably just be bruised. His strength is maybe only just about double an average human's, he's nowhere near a Superman level.
Flames of Purification - Sorey can use a silver flame that burns away 'malevolence,' or a kind of spiritual darkness that causes people to become twisted into monsters. This will not be commonly relevant and he can't like, cure demons or something like that.

Contingent Upon Castmates

Elemental Manipulation - Sorey's manipulation over the four elements (earth, wind, water, and fire) will depend entirely on whether or not the corresponding seraph castmate is in the game. His manipulation over the elements will be likewise fueled by dreamotion energy, but he won't be able to do it at all without the castmate in the game.
Armatization is a merging of seraph and Shepherd into the same body which will only need the castmate, but the use of any higher attacks/artes/elemental manipulation will require dreamotion energy.

Inventory: Sorey will arrive with his clothes, a few medicinal gels (can treat lacerations, burns, and small bone breaks), his favorite book the Celestial Record, and his ceremonial sword (which is dull-bladed).

Suitability & Plans: I have a couple friends here I've been wanting to play with, but Sorey is a very easy character to play without much outside prompting. He's friendly and curious, and very much enjoys exploring and getting into other people's business. He really only needs an interesting setting to get involved.

Reading the premise, I also thought it was very fitting. Sorey's story (mostly) ends with him falling into a deep sleep for hundreds of years in order to purify the spirit inhabiting his world. Having him in a game that continues along the vein of everything being a dream and it being a world of those asleep was interesting.

Test Drive Sample: TDM Sample

Questions: None so far!