Wanderers in search of bones...

1. Player Information
Name: Caru
Username: icarus_suraki, cateyed.crow@gmail.com, icarus_suraki (Plurk)
Current characters in ToS: Randall Flagg | The Dark Tower et al. | unflagging

→ N.B.: I've spoken with one of the mods about the, um, inherent complexity of playing...basically two halves of a pair of mortal enemies. I do admit and acknowledge this playercesting. Yup. I'll even put it in writing. The moderator I spoke with said that it would be acceptable for me to put in this application as things stand presently.

But--and I'll get into this a little more below--as they function with and against each other, it's not really guaranteed that they'd ever cross paths in-game. Furthermore, given the canon point from which I'm pulling Roland, he has other things on his mind and isn't yet hell-bent on finding Walter/Marten/Flagg (not yet, anyway). And for his part, Flagg hasn't entirely given up on bothering Roland, but he is more inclined to strike around him than at him directly (as more or less demonstrated in-game already). And, likewise, being aware of the when from whence Roland was taken will make him change his tactics (to say nothing of the fact that, well, it's not wise to poke at vipers) and probably even frustrate him since Roland won't yet be after him at this canon point (that comes, literally, a few pages later). So while the two will almost certainly know or come to know of the other's presence in-game, an outright conflict, confrontation, or even conversation seems unlikely in the extreme (and I aim to keep it that way).

If it becomes awkward, difficult, or annoying for me or for any other players to keep this up, I'll reconsider this arrangement toute de suite!

Reserve: Reserve is here

2. Canon Character Information

Name: Roland Deschain
(Sometimes "Roland of Gilead." He is only "Ro" to his family, his ka-mates, and his closest of close friends, so don't even try it.)

PB: I'll be using a combination of comic art and this handsome chap, Rhuan Favoretto (who isn't quite a perfect match, but he's got the eyes~)

Journal: begin_at_the_end

Age: Why you gotta ask this? Okay, so...time is basically broken where he comes from, and it has been since he was, like, in his late teens or early 20s. That, together with, y'know, ongoing civil war and stuff makes it difficult for one to get a really clear fix on his age. At best guess, he's somewhere in his middle 20s, maybe a bit later. (He's gonna live a helluvalot longer, though.) And he looks it, too. (That'll change later, but not by much.)

Appearance: "Old long, tall, and ugly" (Eddie's description, let it be known) is certainly, by this point, long and tall. He's not quite old. He might be getting onto ugly, but there are a few people who would disagree. But, okay: he's tall. He's noted as being taller than his father, taller than average, and tall even for Gilead where they apparently breed 'em tall (probably because they children there have enough to eat, but I'm digressing). Okay, so, he's tall, probably topping out at 6'4". A flashback in book 1 describes him as "lean and lank and quick on his feet."

He's been raised with a direct eye towards physicality and physical activity--he's basically a soldier, technically more like a knight. As such, one would expect him to be agile and fit. And he is. He's not wiry and thin by any means, but he isn't exactly...musclebound either (think of, like, a swimmer, if you want a likening and the way they tend to have, you know, shapes). Although, at the moment, he (and everyone who was with him--though most of them are dead now) has been roaming around fighting a counter-revolution for the preservation of justice, goodness, order, peace, and all that good stuff. It hasn't been going well. And nobody's really...in good shape. So he is, at the moment, thinner than he would otherwise be and has almost certainly also lost some muscle-mass because of it. Not scrawny, by any means, but not as strong and filled out as he would "really" be.

Also, ergo, as a twenty-something guy in the middle of a counter-revolutionary war, he's kinda scruffy. Scabs and scars and callouses and bruises and messy hair. He wears old jeans and boots and seems (for whatever reason) to wear leather gloves a lot at this point in time (hawt, I know). But, seriously, fuck hygiene beyond the basic necessities required to keep one up and going. Don't you know there's a war on?

Still, he does have a certain bearing. It's his upbringing. He's the last remnant of the ruling class of the greatest city in his world, the son of a king (to simplify the terminology a little), in some ways a king(-in-exile) unto himself (self-imposed exile, perhaps). But he's also a Gunslinger--a soldier, a warrior, a knight. Startle him in the right way, and he'll dip for his guns, even if he's not wearing them. Go too far and you'll see how fast he is with those guns (and I'm not joking when I say he's the fastest and best ever). He can be still and calm and move slowly, but he's fast when he needs to be, and never twitchy. Things that must be done slowly and with care are done slowly and with care. Just because one can be fast does not mean one must always do everything fast.

It's worth noting...he's got his fair share (hell, more than his fair share) of scars--both from childhood and from more recent years. None in particular is...standout or specifically important. But he has a lot, from one scrape or punishment or problem or escape or adventure or another. He's been hit, stabbed, cut, shot, bludgeoned, you name it. But it hasn't killed him yet. Hell no. Remember, he was raised to fight, he was raised to be a Gunslinger. One gets the distinct impression that his was a rough and difficult childhood complete with physical punishments (it's a hypermasculine world here), though with a dose of tough love. But it mostly means that he has scars.

Dark brown hair with some early threads and streaks of gray (they've been there since he was in his teens). Blue eyes--actually let's go back to the eyes for a while, though, because they're important. Lots of characters comment on his eyes. Lots and lots. This comes up several times. It becomes a "thing." He has pale blue eyes--they're likened at times to faded denim or a desert sky, though they're darker blue when he's younger and take to fading after a few hundred years of running around. It's quite a striking, pretty color. Which is nice. They're pretty eyes. Aww (boys always get the pretty eyes--what gives?). What's important is the look those eyes give: they get called "bombardier's eyes" later in the story. The point is what it means. They're sharp and hard and focused. You will not pass twice before those eyes if he chooses not to let you pass. (Jake, bless his little heart, likens them to Clint Eastwood's eyes in a poster for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Which seems a fair likening--especially since, you know, by book seven, the illustrator clearly went "fuck it" and just drew Clint Eastwood. So, yeah.)

Funfact: when he's listening to a story or someone's relating something to him and they're just taking too damn long (he's a little short on patience sometimes), he has a particular twirly finger-gesture that he makes. It's the "hurry up please" sign. Not a big gesture, not a formal one, but it happens. It's kind of his "thing."

Also, he is not (at this point, anyway) missing any digits--yay, fingers and toes. Awesome.

History: Okay, so. This guy appears in eight novels, some short stories, and a series of comics. The comics are considered official canon (generally--there's some weird slushy room in there sometimes, but whatever: time is broken and there are different worlds and stuff), and document more of his early life.

He'll be coming into the game from kind of like chapter 2 of "The Journey Begins"--he has survived the Battle of Jericho Hill (as he does), has returned to the ruins of Gilead, has buried Aileen, and is about to walk down into the old kitchens in search of...anything when, pow! The Grasp happens. Whoops.

The Wikipedia entry on Roland in general
Comic background specifically (alas, not all linked as one might wish)
The Dark Tower fandom wiki entry (please note: the DT fandom wiki sometimes has gaps, holes, weaknesses and errors--as seen here, this one is missing notes on the last few books, but it goes into greater detail with regard to earlier events)
Dark Tower fandom wiki entries on the comics generally (again, not perfect, but I think it'll basically suffice here)
The Journey Begins really outlines the point in canon from which he's coming (so I'll link specifically to that too).

Whew. I hope that does it.

Powers/Talents: Well, he's human. So he's got that going against him. (Ha ha.)

His real talents, though, lie in his skill with a gun. This is what he was born to, this is what he was raised to. In his own world, he carries "a pair of revolvers (sometimes referred to as 'the big guns' by other characters) that are described as long and heavy, with blued steel (originally from his world's Excalibur) and sandalwood grips"(although it's also noted that there are extra plates that have been added onto them for better balance, as he's taller than his father). They're close enough to IRL Colt .45s that ammunition from "this" world works in them. Roll with that. Obviously, he won't have these in-game :c This will not make him happy, but, hey, who wants him happy?

But it's fair to say that he knows more weaponry than that. It's clear that he's been taught how to use any number of other types and kinds of weapons--the usual litany is "sling[shot], spear, bah (essentially a crossbow), and bow [and arrow]". And he probably knows others. It's a safe bet. Hell, he uses a motherfucking falconry hawk as a weapon in his "test of manhood," okay? He can make anything a weapon. He could probably kill someone with a spoon if he wanted. Shit, be probably has. Much later in canon, he's not at all surprised that Susannah can master the sharp-edged killer Frisbees Oriza plates because, well, she's a Gunslinger and they just pick up on how to use weaponry really fast. See also: Alain's immediate infatuation and expertise with an abandoned machine gun (maybe you don't want to see). Instincts!

His aim is superb, almost superhuman. His speed is unparalleled and likewise almost superhuman. He is the fastest even among the fast. Even his reloading is fast. (Reportedly, the "finger trick" he uses to reload is not actually a sight that one wants to see--whether because it's terrifying or disgusting, one is not certain.) Also, ps: DUAL-WIELDING. Yeah, that's right: he can shoot right-handed, left-handed, or both (and he does). That's why he has two guns.

He can also do a nifty little thing referred to as a "howken" (as in "how can you do that?" I guess) where he rolls a bullet or a shell over his knuckles in such a way and in such a pattern and with the right kind of patience and suggestion that he can hypnotize someone. Usually it's to get them to remember something that they can't or won't recall. It's a useful trick. It can get around magic mental walls, but it can dredge up forgotten things.

He also knows things--I'll get a bit more into this later, but he's been taught quite a bit. It's fair to call him well educated, but it was hard-fought and hard-won (his mental aspect is certainly slower than his physical aspect). If he's got a weakness, it's kind of all things brainy, okay? But, as a note: he does know at least two languages (High Speech and Low Speech) and by the end of book canon, it's clear that he knows a few more (doubtful that they'll turn up in-game, but I'll mention this factoid all the same). Remember that he's been trained as a knight, essentially, which means that he needs to know the ins and outs of society, protocol, and culture. Like...he knows how to dance, okay? I'm gonna level with you: he knows dance steps--for his own culture and level of society, yes, but he knows them. Likewise, one can figure that he knows things about How Governments Work and How People Work and What To Do When There's A Revolution and How To Negotiate and Battle Plans 101 (although he's more inclined to play things by ear, let's not fuck around here--more later). All these things were supposed to be useful when he was sent out not as a fighter but as a representative--wearing his guns but carrying the olive branch.

All this civilization has fallen by the wayside or been destroyed. But it's down in there. Somewhere. He still knows it. It's just that fighting and shooting are the important parts right now. Good thing he's the best there's ever been.

( Personality )

Why would your character be chosen? The kingdom has fallen, but Roland is still the son of a king (for lack of a better shorthand for it all). His father was dinh (which usually gets likened to "king" but it has a mental/emotional connection almost akin to "father" in the sense of "father of a country" than just "leader" in a political sense) of Gilead. Roland was dinh for his ka-tet--he's a leader of his closest circle, he's the leader of the band of escapees from Gilead. He's not a typical leader, but he is still a leader. He's a knight, remember. He knows both politics and battle. And he has incredible skills--don't ever forget how unbelievably fast he is.

How much does your character know about nonhumans? It's safe to figure he knows some measure of things: he knows legends and stories, first, which are often a lot less legendary than one might think. There are vampires (he met some of those), there are shapeshifting Skin-Men (whom he has dealt with himself), there are monsters kicking around, there are Not-Men (who are really just men wearing cloaking devices to make them invisible), there are spirits and demons, there are incubi and succubi who inhabit circles of stones. So, yeah, he knows at least a measure of things about nonhumans, based both on stories (which are rarely wholly fictional) and on experiences with nonhumans and monsters.

Why this character: Why did you decide to play this character? What about them holds your attention? Do you think that you'll be able to keep this character voice and still find them interesting after playing them for awhile?

A year and a half ago, on a whim, after having only just gotten into the fandom, I made an account for this character and tossed him around on a few memes and in a 4th Wall event at a game. And I played him very badly. Like...you have no idea how badly, but it was bad. No, I am not going to send you links. This application isn't penance for that. My point is that, in the time since those memes and events, I've thought back on how I played him and realized that I missed a lot of opportunities for this reference or that happening, to say nothing of doing very badly with his character in general. And it's bothered me as to why I did so badly, why I wasn't thinking, but why I still created that account. Still not penance, though. I mean, what was I thinking?

The point is that I've had a peculiarly long-standing fascination for this character. Which is funny because I started reading the novels and didn't expect to even really like them. I was (and still am, for the record) happily RPing the classic Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Western character "The Man With No Name" and, upon my initial encounter with the Dark Tower novels decided, right off, that Roland was pretty much an expy of The Man With No Name and shame on you Mr. King for writing a rip-off.

And yet, I kept reading. So, that happened (and so did a lot of feelings...like, whoa). And I found myself kind of fascinated by this main character who, really, doesn't behave or act or even seem to think very much like a really typical main character. It's like he was involved in the story and had main character status thrust upon him. He's reminiscent of other characters in other media (Spaghetti Westerns most obviously, since any number of characters in these films are perceptive, driven, serious, pragmatic, incredibly skilled, basically amoral, and intelligent in atypical ways), but not a perfect analogue to any of them. Call that authorial creativity, whatever. It made him interesting.

But I think RPing him will be a challenge for me--a good challenge, though. I generally gravitate towards more typically, obviously, overtly intelligent characters (Cain Hargreaves and Sherlock Holmes in another game, even The Man With No Name in that same game, Flagg here in Throne of Shadows). And that's...not how he operates. He has an entirely different frame of reference, an entirely different kind of worldview. And I'm interested in seeing how that works, how I can write it, what happens with it--especially with the latest metaplot developments in-game. He'll be useful for that. And I want to see what'll happen with him around.

Additionally, I'm taking him from early in his life (relatively speaking). This means that he hasn't progressed very far at all in his quest (like, he's only getting started). This kind of canon point allows for a lot of different changes, a lot of different growth. His obsession about the Tower is not yet wholly and fully formed. It's there, "looming like a thunderhead," and he is set on finding it, but his foot is not yet on the road. He's buried the last of his companions and is, briefly, at a loss for which direction to take (but only for a few pages). He's getting going, though. He knows what he wants, he is set on revenge, but he doesn't know where to go yet. It's a set-up for interesting interactions with a little more flexibility while still maintaining the character as he is, should be, and will be (it's a very big case of "the child is the father of man" here, or, "as the boy, so the man"). I think, since he's a little bit in between times, he'll provide a lot of opportunity for interaction while still having sufficient amounts of internal conflict (his Tower addiction is starting to grow, okay?).

Also, somewhat selfishly, I think it would be fun for the crew as a whole to have their fearless leader in the game. I'll admit to the playercesting. I absolutely will. But please know that it's done with a very clear intention in mind. Associated characters and side and kickside sidekick characters are fun and awesome. But sometimes it really does require having the main character knocking around in order for those associated and side characters to really display their full range of knowledge, emotion, background, and connections. It helps to have more pieces of a puzzle together.

( Samples )