~Traian Ionescu~
Name: Traian Ionescu
Age: 19
Birthday: December 18th
Country of Origin: Romania
Floor in the building: 4th
How long they've lived in the building: Roughly eight months, now.
Job: He considers himself a "ghost hunter", but that doesn't exactly pay the bills, so he works odd jobs around town and at the creepy local bookshop in his spare time.
Powers: Extra-Sensory Perception (ESP), Invisibility.
Appearance:One of the many things Traian hears when he tells people he's from Romania is that he doesn't look like the stereotypical Romanian -- this is true; his sandy hair and red eyes aren't exactly common coloring in his country. His fairly average height, though short by some standards, and slender build guarantee that people have trouble placing him until he begins speaking. On the other end of the spectrum, of course, there are those like him who notice his eyes, teeth, and pale skin first and leap to the obvious conclusion. (The obvious conclusion is not the correct one, but they don't need to know that~)
His case is not helped by his dress code: fond of melodramatic coats, hats, and steampunk-esque designs reminiscent of the nineteen twenties, all in black and generally accented with red and silver, most are either intimidated or rolling on the floor laughing. His sense of fashion is rather... old, and eccentric, and he likes to emphasize this when stepping out of the house for even a little grocery shopping. Of course, at home it's a rather different story -- though still black, red, blue or purple, or whatever other dark color he has on hand, he'll simply don a t-shirt and jeans and be done with it. (His hat, though, is omnipresent. It's very precious, not to mention "epic".)
Personality: (At least 2 paragraphs)
Upon meeting, Traian will extend his hand, introduce himself, smile brightly and maybe laugh and invite you out for coffee, whether he has money to spare or not. He's very cheerful and forward, loves to learn about other people and keep in touch with them for as long as he can; social and outgoing, he should have no issues making friends. This is negated, however, by his tendency to be a little... morbid and creepy. He's of the mind that death comes to everyone at some point and shouldn't be worried about or feared, and will say as much. Naturally, after the first meeting, most people get out of the room as quickly as possible and he's left forever alone. This hurts him much more than anyone realizes.
Traian is also fond of history, particularly bloody battles (such as the French slaughter at Agincourt, which he'll ramble about for hours) and violent rulers (Vlad Tepes, one of his personal heroes, who he'll think about with a dreamy look in his eye). He knows all the different ways to skin a cat and isn't afraid to discuss them in detail, all with a smile upon his face. His favorite subject, however, is the supernatural: you won't find a more efficient vampire slayer anywhere in London, though he personally has trouble finding vampires to slay. He's skilled in voodoo and alchemy, practices simple ritual magic, and has recently taken up exorcising ghosts and spirits.
But despite his blood-and-death kink, Traian is a completely hopeless romantic: give him an innocent romance novel or movie and he'll be occupied for hours, tears in his eyes at the tragedies (he admits to fondness of
Romeo and Juliet) and a small smile on his face as he cheers for the comedic lovers. Classics such as
The Count of Monte Cristo and
Tess of the d'Urbervilles are among his favorites, and he's decided that when he meets the one of his dreams, the first thing he'll do is send them roses the color of blood.
He would have been content to stay in Romania for most of his life (except perhaps to go to France) but for one thing: he hears voices in his head (three, specifically) when stressed, worried, or angry -- and they've gotten a violent rise out of him more than once and are the main reason he's here in London now, though he won't tell you anything about that. He considers these voices normal occurrences, as he's lived with them his entire life, and will look at you oddly if you casually mention there might be something wrong with his head. He doesn't understand that they're inherently negative, as they've given him his best ideas on occasion. Whether ghosts, ancestors, fairies or figments of his imagination he doesn't know, but they are his violent, manic friends and he isn't afraid to converse with them in public.
Probably the thing most remember about him, though, is that he is a pathological liar, and is so good at weaving tales so that he a) creates a completely different backstory or b) comes to believe it himself. It isn't that he wants to lie, per se -- it's just that his real self seems to scare people off, and what they don't know won't hurt them. So he lies to them in hopes that they'll stay friends.
It has never worked.
Likes:- Churches, particularly Orthodox cathedrals. Not even because they tend to be creepy, he loves them for the holy, respectful aura that always seems to hang about them.
- Hats. He has a different kind of hat for every situation and mood, and has been collecting them since he was six years old. The amount of hats in his apartment almost outnumbers the books on fey.
- People. He's fond of his solitude, but he enjoys going to public places and just meeting and talking, especially to new people.
- The arts. Books, movies, theater, paintings, whatever it is, he'll try it.
- Singing and humming to himself, whether he's alone or in a room full of people. He can't really sit still unless he's listening for something or deep in thought.
- Tuica, an (extremely strong) alcoholic drink made from apricots, plums, etc. It's difficult to find, though, so he keeps a stock whenever he locates a good place.
- Vlad Tepes, his hero. He considers Tepes a man who was fighting against something much, much bigger than himself and won, much like David and Goliath, and he forever respects that.
- His younger brother, Nicolae, who likes to pretend Traian doesn't exist.
Dislikes: (At least 5)
- Being touched. Traian has an exclusive list of those allowed to touch him, and none of them live around here. He's fine with it if he initiates the movement, but if it's on someone else's agenda -- whether a simple tap or an outright hug, or something completely different -- that person will get one warning before he does something about it.
- Loneliness, and very much so. He knows people avoid him, but he can't for the life of him figure out
why. It hurts him more than he lets on.
- Being confused for a vampire more than once by the same person, or on the same day. Just because he's anemic, has red eyes, long teeth, and never seems to eat anything doesn't make him a vampire!
- When people imply that he can't take care of himself -- which, admittedly, is a justifiable conclusion. He often forgets to eat or clean in light of a new book or "investigation".
- Not being able to gauge emotions. He's already slightly... well, tactless; it doesn't help when he can't tell what someone's feeling at all.
- Frying pans. Don't ask.
- The sort of stereotypical "magic" that only involves thinking or saying words. It doesn't work that way! The best way to get results is voodoo, and alchemy if you're lucky.
- Romantic comedies. Romance = good, comedy = good if done well, but romantic comedies are not things he enjoys.
Any other information:He has iron-deficiency anemia and takes supplemental pills for it. This reduces his physical capabilities by quite a bit. He functions normally, but if he forgets to pick up his prescription (which has happened before), he can become a shrivelling mess.
He's also extremely forgetful -- if someone doesn't remind him to take care of himself, or he doesn't remember, he could very well not realize he needs to eat until he's literally starving. Cleanliness? What is this cleanliness of which you speak?
History:Traian was born in Timisoara, Romania, on December 18th, to a low-class family with an upper-class history. Familial legends stated that his branch of the family was descended from boyars all the way back in the sixteenth century -- perhaps even to Erzsebet Bathory, though he didn't like to think of that as she was technically Hungarian.
Growing up was easy and casual for him -- his parents were light and easy-going, and he got along fairly well with his brother (although there was always some tension between the two). He did well in school and was never arrested -- though to be arrested implies getting caught at doing something against the law, which he never did either.
From an early age Traian decided that he wanted to grow old as an eccentric magician with a strange inheritance to leave to his descendants, and set about putting that plan into action. Everything related to the occult he could get his hands on he did, and soon he was ignoring friends, family, anyone who got in the way of his studies. He spent all of his time in his room, the forest, or the graveyard, perfecting minor spells and voudoun and learning everything there was to know. He memorized charts and maps and ancient diagrams, rituals and spells, how to tell a piskie from a sprite and what made them both different from phookas. By the time he was eighteen, he didn't know anyone anymore. His parents and brother, sore from lack of real communication from him, gave him an ultimatum: give up the obsession, or leave.
It was a Hobson's choice, but he chose to leave.
Now he is at Gracefield House, working odd jobs around town (he has done nearly everything available) and advertises wherever he can, always trying to find a way to do what he loves. So far he has exorcised three ghosts (out of five), rescued two potential changelings (out of six) and cursed ten people (out of nine). He thinks he's doing pretty well for himself. The only thing he is afraid of is a potential visit from his family, something that may happen in the near future...
Details of their powers: Extra-Sensory Perception -- an enhanced psychic ability with many branches; this particular branch allows "clairvoyancy", or the ability to intuitively understand intentions, moods, general friendliness level, etc -- however, perfection of these abilities requires constant practice. It also allows the clairvoyant to simply be in a location where something significant happened and know, without having the memories, what happened, why, how, when and what people were involved. If the clairvoyant is familiar with the location, they may even be able to give you a detailed history of the place. Generally diagnosed by holding up a card and asking what card it is (and shocking the person with electricity when they get it wrong).
Invisibility -- exactly what it says on the tin. However, it only works on the body: clothing will require a little extra preparatory work.
RP Sample:Never mind that he had to wake up at six a.m. tomorrow morning -- Traian was going to get this finished, and he was going to get this finished now.
Blinking away the sleep that threatened to glue his eyes shut, he carefully, slowly wove the last of the beaded thread around the hoop and tied it into a tiny knot, trimming the excess with a pair of scissors. Finally finished, he let the scissors fall to the floor with a clatter and held his handiwork further away in order to get a better look. In his hands rested a dreamcatcher -- a wooden ring covered with thread resembling a spiderweb, with tiny red beads scattered throughout. It was a quick one, and probably wouldn't outlast the week, but he needed it desperately.
He groggily stood and hung it on the nail above his bed, then flicked the lamp off and climbed in. Suddenly, despite his fatigue he found himself unwilling to close his eyes -- it was the fifth nightmare this week, and was he really sure that he wasn't going to have another? How did he know he'd constructed it correctly? What if, what if, what if he...
Traian forced his eyes closed as thunder boomed and lightning crashed just outside the window, rain pelting against the glass like hail on a sheet of metal. It wasn't that he didn't like thunderstorms -- on the contrary, he found them fascinating -- but anybody would be afraid to fall asleep if they'd dreamed of being roasted alive as electricity coursed through one's body, lighting up the skeleton beneath the skin and setting the ends of their hair ablaze. The room afterward would smell of burnt flesh, and your dead body would be left to decompose in its bed. And the worst part: no one would notice until they started to complain about the smell of bacterial rot...
He kneaded the blankets between his fingers. No. Stop thinking, bad Traian! You will never get to sleep like this!
Yes I will, I will, I've taken precautions --
Precautions, hah! Do you know who else took precautions? Every monarch ever, that's who, and they all ended up dead anyway.Traian pointedly ignored the tiny extra voice in his head, flipping over onto his side and burying his head in the pillow. He hadn't been homesick up until this point, but...
But in light of all that had happened recently, he found himself desperately wishing for his protected closet back home. At least there he knew what to do in this situation. Here? Here he was lucky if he remembered where to find the supermarket!
He sighed and bit his lip. It'll all be better in the morning, that's what the experts say. He certainly hoped the experts were right.
~OOC~
Name: Sorry, but I'm not comfortable revealing that online~ You can call me Kahlan or Kahl, most do.
Timezone/Country: EST
Age: 15
A little about yourself: I have never RPed in a forum before; I've only ever done stuff on Chatzy and Tohla. ^^ I am, however, very familiar with RPing Romania, and I'm not new to the concept of RPing at all. I write a lot of fanfiction, though, so I think I can pull this off. Maybe. Hopefully.
And OMG do you know how hard it is to find a good picture of Romania that's not on ZerochanAnything Else?: My favorite color is that purple color they insist on calling violet. Specifically, the reddish one.
