Mandatory:
Character Name: Ridian Orinna
Source: Homestuck; Paradoxstuck

Optional:

Age: 7 Sweeps (roughly 15 years)

Personality: Most Trolls attribute Ridian’s unusually calm demeanor for someone of his blood status to the fact that he’s got a (presumably) competent Moirail. He doesn’t appear to anger easily, is perpetually calm and collected, and generally behaves quite elegantly for someone who lives as far into the forest as he does. He speaks to low and high-blooded trolls alike in the same (mostly) respectful manner- though he does tend to come off a bit mocking or condescending in his playfulness sometimes. He enjoys toying with words and phrasing things in ways that are subtly off just to see the sort of things he can get away with saying without the other party realizing. He has something of a weakness for overanalyzing the words of others rather than their actions, and more often than not he can judge what sort of personality they have after a few conversations. He’s almost surprisingly sharp, actually, as most of the time he comes off as a little flighty and easily distracted- really he just likes taking in as much as he can as quickly as he can- be it information or the layout of his surroundings.

While you wouldn’t expect it, a lot of his affinity for words and playing with them comes from his love of older Alternian poetry and stories. Things that- while difficult to find, much less find intact- are considered a waste of time among most of the war-driven citizens of Alternia. Granted, some of the upper-class do claim to be capable of appreciating art and ‘slam poetry’, Ridian finds most of what other blue-bloods enjoy to be inferior, feeble attempts at making what were once true art forms fit the conventions of ‘modern’ troll society. Anyone who attempts to tell him otherwise is swiftly quoted an older verse or sonnet (he has most of his favorites memorized) while Ridian attempts to enlighten them on just what they’re missing out on. He doesn’t even do it- like most trolls would- to flaunt his knowledge or his ability, but simply out of an earnest desire to make others understand that carefully-applied words are much more potent than rushed insults disguised by rhyme and meter to try and pass for an art form.

He’s also a massive flirt- he’ll hit on anyone, regardless of whether they want him to or not, just for the sake of doing it, if he thinks they’re attractive enough- especially the quiet types, mostly because he likes seeing if he can get reactions out of them. It’s another reason why most trolls tend not to take him seriously- his nature, while not exactly saintlike, is usually pretty mild compared to even some lower-blooded trolls. See the thing is, while he doesn’t mind fighting to defend himself or his Lusus, Ridian is unwilling- for the most part- to fight for the sake of fighting. He’s a practicing semi-pacifist, and will not attack anyone or anything unless it attacks him first. Unfortunately because of the way Alternian culture is, he doesn’t have much of a chance to practice it as thoroughly as he’d like- but that’s probably for the best considering he lives in an area that’s densely-populated by dangerous Alternian fauna- his own enormous scorpion Lusus not included.

Despite his relaxed attitude, Ridian is still very much a blue-blood, and while he’s not as prone to being as violent as some of his brethren, he does get quite vicious when his patience is pushed to the limit. Or when his friends/quadrantmates are threatened- the latter is practically a guarantee that there will be a chakram at your throat in record time. Ridian’s more-or-less unusually pacifistic nature however actually prevents him from acting on his angry impulses and resorting to violence whenever he starts getting angry. However it also has the unfortunate side-effect of making his subconscious force him to act on his repressed impulses in the form of rage-induced blackouts. He doesn’t usually remember the details of what happens during these episodes, but needless to say- if his Moirail isn’t around to calm him down, he can be pretty dangerous to those around him, whether he wants to be or not.

However, both his Moirail and his Matesprit are experts at diffusing him- the former with violence in kind, the latter with application of his own carefully-chosen words- so if either one of them is around, there’s likely to be a lesser chance of bloodshed or violence. Most other trolls shouldn’ have a need to worry, however, for the most part, he’s not really likely to lose his shit unless someone goads him into doing so.
History: Growing up, Ridian had it relatively rough for a blue-blood. Instead of being picked by a Lusus that would allow him to begin building his hive close to other blue-bloods, his Lusus was one that preferred the mossy coverage of downed trees and foliage- so that was what Ridian built for them, a veritable maze partially suspended in the trees, partially on the ground, the higher chambers being his alone while the lower ones allowed him to interact with his Lusus properly. Unfortunately, the area they chose was far enough into the forest that there was a near-constant threat of attack from wild animals- so Ridian took to clearing the most aggressive ones section by section until most of what was left even a wriggler could likely take care of without too much trouble. It didn’t stay that way, of course, but after that, most of them had learned to stay far, far away from the area of his hive, and both Ridian and his Lusus were fine enough with that.

One evening, he noticed a little yellow-blooded girl who tended to cross the nearby river to hunt some of the larger rodents for her Lusus getting pushed around by three other trolls. While two of them eventually thought they had gone far enough in trying to scare her off and left, the highest-blooded (an indigoblood, actually) decided it would be funny to hold her head under the river at intervals until she begged for mercy. In the time it took Ridian to decide to intervene and make his way over there, she had already saved herself, the indigoblood not much more than a smear on the rocks. The other two returned then, to see what was taking him so long, presumably, and tried to attack the girl, who had gone into shock at the blood on her hands by then. Ridian’s temper snapped at the audacity, considering what they’d been doing to her, and was well on his way to doing worse to them than what she had done to their leader.

Funny how fast being punched out by a girl half your height will calm you right the fuck down- especially when she breaks your jaw in the process and promises to do worse- even though they had been trying to kill her for defending herself. He lay there while the other two ran and she sat beside him and hummed a song while he listened to her, and after a while of listening to her try to put absolutely abhorrent lyrics to a pretty good melody, he finally demanded she let him help. He did the same the next time he caught her pausing in her hunt to work on a song, and before long, they were partners- and not long after that, Moirails. However it was because of that incident and what he realized he could do without meaning to that Ridian tried to become a more peaceful sort of troll.

It was through her that he met the troll who would eventually become his Matesprit- a strange boy who took to stopping at the edge of the cliff she’d built her hive into in order to listen to her sing. From him, Ridian began to learn a little bit of the Sufferer’s teachings and while he didn’t exactly think it possible, he decided he should at least make the attempt to believe, if only for his sake. Eventually, however, he began to believe in them himself as he realized that maybe, just maybe, being rid of the caste system would finally be the way to stop things like what had happened to his Moirail from continuing to happen to other trolls. So he got a little more serious about it- but never enough to draw suspicion to either him or his Matesprit, and for a while everything was good.

Then his Moirail all but demanded they both play the game with her, and most of ‘good’ went out the proverbial window. Of course, with both his Matesprit and Moirail out of harm’s way, Ridian was easily able to overlook the rest of the effects of the game- he didn’t like it, but if playing meant they survived, then play he would. With his Moirail off with her own Matesprit, Ridian turned to helping his (who was incidentally their Space player) with lighting the Forge. They didn’t get much further than just beginning with breeding duties, however, before the glitch snatched him up and deposited him in a session that was decidedly not his own.

Abilities: Excellent grasp of combat strategy and knowledge of weaponry, thorough knowledge of Alternian Law, frighteningly extensive vocabulary.

Also can and will flirt with anything that moves.