Post by summadolorosa on May 9, 2009 23:58:08 GMT -5
»Character Biography;;
Name: Israel ben Puriel
Nickname: Isa
Gender: Male.
Age: 32
Birthday: April 25
Species: Shifter.
Appearance
Hair: Brown, lax curls, bearded.
Eyes: Brown.
Complextion: Lightly tanned with the faintest tint of a muted maroon.
Build: Medium, if not lank.
Attire: A simple white shin length tunic tied at the waist by five feet of brown cloth and drawn over it all a hooded woolen brown robe; leather sandals.
Vocals: Strong and authoritative by nature, though as if filtered through iniquity, spoken through quivering lips and dripping with uncertainty and a lack of self-confidence, not knowing what to do with his voice.
[The Face of Israel]
Personality: Israel is a passionate man, religious in his devotions and hobbies he is not one to sit idly when the chance to proselytize and defend his faith. Though such a strong conviction for the service of God does not go without it's sacrifices, Israel is a virgin still at his age and rather self conscious about it as the world around would seek to condemn or mock him for it and due to mounting sexual frustration the priestly man harbors a deep rooted lust that constantly battles for dominance over his will and seeks to destroy his chastity, turning what would be a doubtlessly righteous man into a closet pervert.
This guilt has driven the Semite into a constant state of self debasement and has him abandoning any kind of pride in himself, not to be confused with his humility, this is more akin to a stance of hopelessness for himself.
Much to his credit though, Israel is quite capable of knowing when to seize upon his indignation and wield his righteous wrath against the vile blackness of corporeal corruption unlike any other, making him an effective tool for the furtherance of his god's will on earth.
Israel has a fondness for language, philosophy and history as well as his own faith making him out to be a vagabond scholar, adding more to the exalted air surrounding the alien priest.
Without going into much detail Israel can be said to be patient, strong in discernment and a diplomat of sorts, seeking the bring a peace about the world despite his ultimately chaotic lineage.
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Strengths: Israel's greatest strength can be said to be his mind, not because he is a liar or shrewd at things concerning matters of business but because he is a trained and hardened philosopher, he knows his theology well and is not afraid to exercise it when he feels called to do so though most likely with an underlying sense of in-articulation and vigor that could do much to build him up as the dominating figure he has never realized himself to be due to a strong timidness and humility that could be seen as either strength or fault.
Weaknesses: He has few weaknesses that wouldn't be found listed among those of any mortal man, he bleeds and bruises, cries and fears. He isn't in any way shape or form a fighter and so is subject to the mercy of others almost totally. He cannot run too quickly as he finds his gate at anything other than walking pace to be a little more than uncomfortably awkward and thus physically almost entirely useless, even upon shifting into his more animalistic state which is suited even less for fighting than whilst he is human. He is also in most instances socially awkward making him something less than desirable as a companion.
Abilities
Active: None
Passive: None
Weapons: A shepherds staff
Animal Form: Lamb
History: Israel is the second son of Puriel and Hadas, his youngest brother David was born to his Fathers second wife and is thus only a half brother. Israel and his family are apart of a nomadic people living in the desserts and plains of the world far east of the Alatus Nox setting. They had made their living mostly by the trading of livestock and the goods that are derived thereof.
As a child Israel had always loved being given the duty of shepherding the families flock of sheep, much to the amazement of his older brother Michael whom hated the job and was more than glad to pass the staff over to his brother when he was old enough to handle it. This zeal for shepherding would prove indicative of his later years.
Israel was thirteen when his mother had died of an unknown illness and was the least effected of the then three siblings as he had been much more affluent to clinging on to the presence of his father. He was saddened to be sure and did weep for her but his time of mourning had been significantly shorter than anyone else's, this unknowingly began the breaking of the seams of his connection to his family.
Upon his twentieth year while in the capital of one of the larger desert nations Israel abandoned the loose pantheon of his father and brothers and adopted the quickly growing monotheistic Cult of the Lamb, named so for the label by which they refereed to their god, due to the nature by which he had revealed himself to them. This at first did not bother Israel's family, being polytheistic the addition of a new God into the worship of their family was not an issue but conflict soon arose when Israel refused to bow before idols or offer sacrifices to other deities recognized by his loved ones. Ostracized by his brothers Israel had not become disowned until he had enraged his father when he refused to allow the finest sheep in his flock to be burned to the spirit of his mother. Israel's brother Jacob had at that time attacked and had broken the converts nose, when he stopped bleeding he was sent on his way
Israel traveled to many small villages helping to bridge the gap between the mostly polytheistic peoples that lived there and missionary groups from the fledgling Cult of the Lamb or Murdaphim as they would come to rename themselves, which means Persecuted Ones.
When he was twenty two he began to live permanently in the capitol city of the nation he had known as his own and entered into the grand university of math, science and philosophy that had been constructed their as the epitome of his people's cultural transcendence above the barbarians of northern and even yet still more eastern regions.
At this time and still to this day the growing church was attacked and persecuted by the theocracy of "The Old Church" as it can be called and rather than pursue his goals as a presbyter it became imperative that Israel begin to study alongside the philosophers and theologians in this corner of the world that he may prove the validity and rationale of the Murdaphim in their faith on a much higher level than was previously being done. So for six years he studied and fought and grew in his faith and understanding ultimately to become a missionary.
This is not the whole of the story though for while all that is written above is true it ultimately betrays the truth of Israel's mental state making him out as a strong intellectual fortress.
His fathers disowning of him had utterly destroyed Israel, he had become an emotional wreck For the first three years of his studies he had struggled fiercely with an inner conflict between accepting his new life and clinging on to the memory of those that had thrown him out of their lives, and whose only reply his his messages to them (delivered by family acquaintances) was for him to cease any and all hopes he had to bridge their differences. This so utterly pulled him down from his work that it was rumored that he would be expelled from the institute on the grounds of mental instability.
During his third to fourth years he had met the woman he was sure he would be wed to one day and this revived him so much so that it was said that he would soon overtake all of his peers as the leading intellectual, and all was good for a while. He dominated debates and made the wise look foolish by the implementation of the simplest of arguments.
However the relationship became abusive quickly, it was clear that she was not of the flock of the Lamb despite her claims and anyone aside from Israel could see it.. She was a serpentine goat, controlling and deceptive, she kept Israel her total mercy and often forced him to degrade and humiliate himself, and that joy and happiness that he had obtained that had allowed him to come out of nowhere as a metaphysical power-house quickly turned on him and broke him down into a weak disheveled excuse of a man.
After two years of draining the spirit from Israel the woman took all of his money from him and left to go wherever her whim fancied. Israel finished his sixth year at the school before dropping out and becoming a recluse and limiting himself to private worship and later to complete and total seclusion from the outside.
It was during the following year that Israel met his half brother David whom had come in search of him to meet the man his family had so hated and reviled. He found Israel alone in a cave, haggard and in possession of many, many scrolls and records. Israel told David of his life of his belief's and of why he had come to this cave to do what it was he was doing. Israel had barely begun recomposed himself in that time and while he still retained his inner familial conflicts as well as the confusion of his less than successful love-life David has been convinced and converted from the polytheism of his people and this is what set Israel on the road to recovery.
David, for a lack of better words, forced Israel to return to the society he had left behind to help aid in the still widely persecuted church and this is when he became an enemy of the Theocracy. Where before he was humored if not cautiously respected by the establishment Israel became a great force for the struggling faith, not in the words he had been trained to use, for he was as timid as ever in his oration, but by his actions. He mingled with the outcasts, and the condemned, he helped to influence widespread conversion which stole from the corrupted Theocracy's tithes and taxes, none of which in breaking any law, but his presence was enough to plant the seeds of dissonance from the establishment and the powers that be did not welcome this change and unexpectedly his efforts helped push for a government approved genocide of the Murdaphim and he became an outlaw. He has since then been jailed four times and whipped twice, twenty lashes on the first occasion and thirty the second along with other forms of torture and physical assault.
Israel left David in the city to help support the church in his stead while he traveled across the great expanse of desert between the eastern and western worlds to bring the revelations of The Lamb to the remaining corners of the earth and has decided to place the base of his operations in Alatus Nox, the home of peoples he has determined are in great need of a spiritual revival.
Israel as a shifter developed first out of his love for shepherding the flocks of sheep his family owned and grew as he began to become further and more devoutly entrenched in his new found faith as he spent more time observing not only the concept of the lamb but drawing his inspiration for his god from the example of the creatures whose name he glorified, finding more solace in the pure and peaceful nature of the lamb than it's counterpart and equal representation, the lion. It would come over time that the influence of this purity would grow and corrupt the humanity of Israel away from the pollute of his own dark nature but develop and transpose the image of the lamb itself unto the scholar's own physiognomy his metamorphose manifesting itself during times of great tranquility joy or when imbued with a sense of overwhelming piety.
Family:
Other; Israel's name had originally been spelled Ysra'el to more closely match the Hebrew spelling of the name but I have opted for the more conventional rendering of the name for the sake of convenience.
Israel's History and appearance have also been altered from their originals in mostly inconsequential ways, a comparison can be given if desired.
Israel's mother's name has been changed from Mariel to Hadas.