Deerington app, II

IN CHARACTER

Character Name: Grey, Aarni Harmaja
Played-By/Art Claim: Jack Greystone

In-Game Tattoo Placement: At the back of his neck
Current Health/Status: Good to go, sir! Dreaming and alive.
Age: 36
Species: Human

Content Warnings: There are violent things mentioned somewhere in the app and most of the samples. There might be some nudity. The last sample is a long ass thread and from the top of my head, it might have some smut in something like hundred comments in. Approach at your own peril.

History:
In a few words Grey's world is much like our own, fast-forwarded a few decades, sprinkle in some demons and Shit That Has Gone Wrong. It's not quite apocalypse (yet) and people sure are living their lives as if everything is alright. They have to believe that in order to keep going. A brief introduction to the world.

Grey's real name is Aarni Harmaja. He was an only child and born to something of an unusual situation. He was brought up with ancient Finnish pagan beliefs and heavily influenced by the nature centric religion and practices of his family and close friends. He grew up by fishing his own dinner and sleeping outside at least once a week even during winter, but also just an hour drive away from Helsinki and the busy growing, very European metropolis that the capitol had been developing into for the past several decades. He wasn't completely immersed in the pagan ways of his family but he went to a local school and his best friend was none other than the local priest's oldest son, who ended up in the same class as Grey even if he was a few years younger. Small village schools tend to do that, group together kids a few years older and younger because classrooms would otherwise have only one or two students.

Kai, his friend, was the leading light of his childhood and young adulthood. The priest's son was sharp and clever, equipped with endless reserves of imagination and shamelessly thirsty attitude for life. Between the two of them a certain kind of equilibrium was achieved and Grey actually had a pretty normal and decent sort of childhood and youth. He wasn't brought up completely oblivious of the present dangers in the world. His mum trained him to deal with demons as she trained him to become a full fledged shaman. But he was somewhat sheltered from the developments that were much more pronounced outside his quaint home town.

Which was the reason why he wasn't prepared to deal with the demon infestation when it finally reached Finland. His family was one of the first ones to fall. Probably a strategic decision made by the invaders. Aarni still doesn't know what lead to the possession of his father and why his mum gave up the control. But he distinctly remembers burying both of them. He remembers his mum's last warnings and the promise he made to leave the country and never look back.

He should be very well acquainted with all the facts leading to the situation given that Finnish shamans do have a very real and very tangible connection to their ancestors. But he has never managed to establish contact with his mother after her death, mostly because he still believes her passing was his fault and that he's not exactly following her teachings and her will in his life.

While the rest of the town folk refused to acknowledge the desperation of the situation, Grey took Kai out of the town and out of the country just before the rest of the Europe erected borders around Finland. They travelled around Europe for almost a decade, trying to find Kai's brother and in Grey's case learning how to bring down any demon he could find. He's a little (a lot) bent up over revenge and finding out as much as he can about demons and their influence over humans, their goals and their strategy.

Demons can't be killed, they possess a human body and if you're lucky, you can send the bastards back to whatever hole they crawled out of, but you can't destroy them. You can destroy the host but not the creature possessing it. Grey has managed to gain some name for himself among the damned. This is why he uses Grey instead of Aarni, because a name holds power over you. (But also because he's constantly dealing with English speaking people and Aarni Harmaja is a mouthful.)

Kai settled eventually in London, went back to school, became a proper journalist. Grey rented a flat in London and tends to return to it whenever he feels like he needs some recuperating time, but he still is mostly on his feet, travelling from a place to place, from demon to demon. He has gained some name as an exorcist and desperate people tend to contact him through whatever grapevine they can. He is a solid part of the network containing various people who know the craft, disillusioned priests and other unusual combinations of various skill sets and different amounts of devotions to the pursuits of demon destruction. He was even invited to take part in the ambitious plans the Queen of England had about erecting protective barriers around London. He has contacts in high and low positions and tends to treat all of them with equal amount of disinterest.

The few people in his life that matter more to him are his best friend and Kai's 5-year-old daughter, who Grey has taken upon himself to train. He lives in a small flat in London, building his collection of trapped demons, protective wards and house spirits.
CRAU History & Impact:
Not really a CRAU history but Grey was at Deerington for a little bit before. He's already familiar with the concept and will be able to see the differences between then and now. He wasn't in Deerington for more than a couple of months, though, so there isn't exactly a huge impact on the character due to his stay in there, except for having some old contacts and a knowledge of how certain things work.

I'm also giving him a sort of canon update in between these visits. A half a year back in his own world, some progress on his story.

Personality:
SOCIAL DISASTER — At first glance Grey is an asshole. He prefers to keep his quiet but if questioned directly he tends to be sharp worded and doesn't have much patience for explaining himself. He's just as short worded with his rare friends as he is with strangers. His face could be in the dictionary under introvert with no explanation necessary. He doesn't like people. At all. It takes a special kind of a person that he actually enjoys.

UTILITARIAN PURIST — He likes his everything simple and clean. Furniture, or the lack thereof, food, simple and pure. Worldview - demons bad, people ridiculous, animals, mostly good - despite his name, he doesn't see much of those shades of grey, definitely not when it comes to demons. Relationships - an unfortunate necessity that he would like to keep as simple as possible - mostly acquaintances. He needs very little to be content, he demands very little of life in general and of people around him.

HAUNTED — It's not so much that he's stuck in past tragedy but rather that he really doesn't like talking about it or sharing, which doesn't lead to a lot of healthy relationships. He lives and breathes his revenge and self-proclaimed mission against demons. It doesn't mean he can't enjoy the little pleasures of life but they tend to be few and far between.

UNINTENTIONAL LONER — He was brought up to communal life, thinking that family was just at the core of his "tribe". He was also brought up to be the spiritual leader and teacher of that tribe. But where life has pushed him and what path he has chosen, it hasn't given him any room to explore that side of his upbringing and personality. At his core he's still a healer and a teacher but tends to reject any and all opportunities to look deeper into that side of himself.

TAINTED IDEALIST — A contraction perhaps, but he believes in a lot of good values, he just doesn't believe that people can uphold those values, not truly. At least demons do not give him any confusion about that particular issue and he tends to think that end justifies the means in getting rid of the damned. This means he's done quite a bit of unspeakable things in his life and will continue to do so in the future as well.

UNEXPECTED HEART — At the core of him still lives a beating heart that is soft towards those who are the weakest. He might be a fever-eyed hunter of demons and burn everything on his way to get to his goals when it comes to banishing the evil but he isn't going to deny help from those who truly need it. He might provide his aid with a lot a tight jaw and accompanied insults but he will go out of his way to make sure that at least the weakest, children and animals, do not suffer needlessly.

TRAVELLER — He hasn't had a home for the past two decades. He isn't good at settling down, eventually the ground will start to burn around his feet, getting smaller and smaller until he needs to move. This also means he doesn't feel safe anywhere, the closest he comes to being content and settled is sailing on open water and shifting seas.

KNOWER — Wizards, warlocks, sorcerers - the Finnish word for them means a person who knows, a knower. He's lived all his life surrounded by mythology and old world wisdom. It practically oozes out of him. He doesn't eat without sacrificing a little bit of his meal to the fire, he doesn't sleep without hailing his spirit guide, he doesn't cut down anything living without making sure to pay back what he takes.

Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses & Warping: Link to powers
Power warping: I figured that most of his powers don't really need touching. However, I'd love to give an additional Deerington stamp to a few of them.

Dreaming;
Dreams are a form of divination for him. I'd love to incorporate this somehow into Deerington. Maybe with uncontrollable ability to witness omens that might never make much sense to him at all, or maybe they will. Some of those omens or marks that symbolise deeper understanding might manifest on himself, being unable to control the show and tell of whatever the dream wishes to broadcast about himself, or perhaps people around him. Like for example, he might randomly sprout a head of antlers or see tar on hands of people who have done something awful. (Also, naturally requires a permission from the player of any other character affected by this power.)

Healing;
He's not exactly big on healing magic. But I'd love for him to do some actual spirit healing, which is part of his shamanistic power scheme. His job is to help people piece themselves together through symbolism and spiritual travel. And I'd like for this to take a shape of healing in the dream setting. Since the physical ailments aren't exactly physical in a dream, perhaps healing those would be be possible for him but through means that aren't exactly in line with physical healing. Like say for example healing a wound might require for him to bleed as well to symbolically to understand the nature of the wound and heal it through conversation instead. (This isn't going to be easy for him, btw.)

Inventory: 1. A set of worn travel clothes.
2. A knapsack full of travelling equipment, some food packed in waterproof containers, herbs in similar containers, water bottle, a worn out wool blanket, a cooking pot, a spork, a packet of chalks in a waterproof container, a random book in a similar container. A wood carving knife. Listen, he travels a lot, this is all just random knick knacks that a person who goes out might need. Salt, pepper, a little flask of oil, extra pair of socks...
3. A protective amulet around his neck, wooden with a Hannunvaakuna depicted on it.
4. A clay bird hanging around his neck, this is his dream bird, a little bit magical. It should protect him against exactly the kind of invasion that is now happening in his dreams. tsk tsk.
5. A pickle jar that contains a demon he captured in Deerington during his first stay.
6. A drum.
Writing Samples:
TDM
Old TDM
Random old thread

OUT OF CHARACTER

Player Name: Piipa
Player Age: Fossil class (over 18)
Player Contact: piipa

Other Characters In Game: Eames
In-Game Tag If Accepted: Grey: Piipa
Permissions for Character: Here
Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?: Yes.

What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?: Suspension, mysteries, madness, basically the Lovecraftian cocktail.
Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?: Childporn and -torture.
Additional Information: Character info page