Lution

Water "Lution" Evolution Pictus, whose full name will not be acknowledged again, ever, is a young adventurer who lives on Mystery Island in a setting-inappropriate home. Officially, he's unemployed, but he works closely with the locals and is something of a temp for the Driftwood Adventuring Company, a small group of self-described adventurers whose primary function is protecting the island from unscrupulous thrill-seekers (and the occasional imperialist land-grab).

Personality
Lution is an optimist at heart, always choosing to believe the best in people until they prove him wrong. He can be a little incredibly oblivious, and while his physical senses are keen, his common sense has been somewhat smothered by 5 years in jorts. He has a tendency to look before he leaps (both literally and metaphorically) and has summarily jumped off an inordinate number of cliffs, buildings, and social situations.

He cares deeply for the people around him, particularly those he feels an affinity for, and his primary motivation is to protect them and the things he holds dear. Lution has something of a martyr complex, rooted not just in his empathy but in his own bitter self-image; since he was turned at age 13, Lution has been struggling to overcome the part of him that insists he's a monster. His experience was deeply traumatic, and its most visible effects have actually been to his psyche.

Since the event, Lution has been struggling with anxiety, and has largely retreated into himself despite his apparent gregariousness. He's hesitant to allow people to get too close to him, lest he hurt them or--though he wouldn't admit it--hurt him. He has an ongoing paranoia and can often be jumpy or excitable, drawing erroneous conclusions on too little evidence.

Under stress, particularly physical confrontations, Lution can be prone to flashbacks and somewhat severe dissociative episodes. While he is never aggressive in this state, he becomes hyper-reactive and will perceive most interactions as a direct threat, which he reacts to with instinctive violence. It is important to never corner him in these instances.

Childhood
Lution was born the younger of two sons on a farm in Meridell, named after his father and maternal grandfather respectively. He adored his older brother, Krush, and spent the first few years of his life trailing after him constantly. When Lution was five, his father disappeared under mysterious circumstances in the midst of a famine; it is unclear if he was taken, killed, or left of his own volition. Krush, always more reserved than his brother, drew further away as he shouldered more responsibility around the farm. Their mother withdrew even further, throwing herself into providing for her children until, when Lution was seven, she took ill. Her condition worsened until Krush ventured into town and stole some medicine, only to return and discover he was too late. Krush attempted to sell the farm, but since they were both minors and their mother had died of the plague, they were instead carted off to quarantine and the state took ownership of their land. They made it about two months before Krush broke them out, tired of being separated from Lution and putting up with the less-than-stellar treatment of their alleged caretakers. For the next year, they lived on the streets. It was actually easier than living on the farm; while Lution used his adorable, guileless nature to panhandle with some success in the recovering market, Krush was recruited by a local group of thieves unauthorized by the Guild.

Their time on the streets ended when this group was busted up by a group of knights headed by Captain Gregory Pike. Lution tried to prevent Krush's apparent arrest and as a result both were taken into custody. Pike arranged for them to become official wards of the state rather than returning to the orphanage, meaning they were entitled to a monthly stipend under the condition that they swear an oath of fealty, and were expected to become either knights or servants upon reaching adulthood. Pike volunteered to take on both brothers as squires, and their training began immediately. Lution was better suited to running errands than combat, but he took it very seriously and threw himself into squirehood with everything he had. Over the years, he grew close to (most of) his fellow squires, their knights, and especially to Pike, whom he came to view as a father figure. He became a talented swordsman, though his long-range weapons training always proved disastrous, and learned to hunt and fish. Pike emphasized survival skills with his squires, and they often camped in the forests of Meridell, essentially ranging across the countryside. Though Pike had been born and raised a noble, he always stressed the importance of every single citizen, often with long-winded metaphors Lution didn't really understand but internalized anyway. As far as he was concerned, Pike's word was gospel.

A Shitty Week
One day while scouting in western Meridell they were part of a patrol sent to investigate claims of marauding bandits. Unfortunately, the bandits turned out to not be bandits at all, but werelupes intent on destroying a village, allegedly over territory. Lution was ordered to remain behind, as he was susceptible to their bite, and stayed with the townspeople as the knights and other squires rode out to face the threat. During the course of the ensuing battle, Pike learned that the werelupes were attacking because the mayor had murdered several of their pups, and realized the clash was a diversion. He rushed back to Lution and the villagers, relieved to find them safe, and began escorting them away from the area until reparations could be arranged. He stayed behind to confront the mayor, while Lution waited outside the house they'd been sheltering in; the mayor reacted poorly, shoving Pike before storming away after his people. Pike didn't follow, taking a moment to calm down before emerging to speak with Lution, where he discovered his charge being menaced by one of the werelupes who had attempted an ambush.

Lution was holding his own, being armed, but the werelupe had him backed into a corner, so Pike rushed to intervene.

A second werelupe caught him in the back with a spear, enhanced strength driving it directly through his armor. The first werelupe left off Lution at the commotion, while the second discovered the house was empty. They took off immediately to regroup, realizing their plan had been discovered, leaving Lution with the grievously injured Pike.

No final words were exchanged, though there was an abortive attempt on Pike's part which just made more of a mess. The knights returned to the village after the werelupes they'd been fighting were abruptly called away and were horrified to discover their captain, dead, and Lution, weeping. Krush went to them immediately, demanding to know what had happened, but Lution was incoherent. The knights assessed the situation more or less correctly, though they hadn't worked out how Pike had known about the ambush, and decided to return to the castle, considering the werelupes defeated. Lution was placed in the infirmary, where he finally managed to communicate the circumstances of Pike's death. The knights decided not to return to the village, more or less because they'd brought it on themselves in provoking the werelupes. Pike's death was considered to be on their hands, so the knights were unwilling to offer any more assistance.

Krush disagreed with this decision. He thought that not only had the village been in the right for acting preemptively, but that it was the knights' responsibility to avenge their fallen companion. When he was declared to be insensible in his grief and ignored, he struck out on his own, determined to exact justice.

It wasn't until he returned to the village that he realized he'd been followed by Lution. He demanded Lution return to the castle, but Lution was adamant he help. He didn't want revenge on the werelupes so much as the mayor, whom he held responsible, but he was unwilling to leave the entire village to shoulder the blame. He insisted they protect the people. Krush agreed, in an effort to convince him to stay in town rather than join his assault on the werelupe camp.

Krush set off alone into the forest, using his training to track down the pack. Before he got close to their camp, he was discovered by a pair of scouts who recognized him from the previous week's fray, one of whom made short work of disarming him (though not without injury). As Krush resigned himself to face the consequences, the injured werelupe bade the other to catch 'the other one'. The second werelupe disappeared into the forest, returning almost immediately with a very frightened Lution.

Krush broke loose of the injured one's hold while they were debating over their course of action, punched his stab wound, and went to help Lution. The injured werelupe, now incensed, grabbed Krush by the scruff and told his companion to bite Lution, determined to make Krush understand the consequences of his actions. Krush pleaded for mercy to no avail, his captor expounding on the lack of mercy shown to the innocent pups, and the violence Krush himself had been determined to commit in the name of vengeance. Lution tried to get to Krush, Krush tried to get to Lution, and neither of them succeeded. Once he had been bitten, the uninjured werelupe released Lution, who was having an adverse reaction (as most do). Krush was screaming some not-very-polite things while the werelupes debated over what to do with him. The uninjured werelupe said he'd had enough, knowing his brother was going to be a monster because of him, but the injured werelupe disagreed. He was still bleeding and very pissed off, and said they should just kill Krush and get back to camp. He said they could take Lution if it would make the uninjured werelupe feel better, but that was decided to be a bad idea. They agreed to kill Krush, but then began quibbling over the method.

While they were debating, Lution managed to get to his feet and draw his sword, since they hadn't seen fit to disarm him. He rushed the uninjured werelupe, stabbing him very literally in the back. The injured werelupe reacted immediately, slamming Krush's head into a tree and tossing him aside to deal with Lution. The formerly-uninjured werelupe went down with Lution's sword still in him, leaving Lution with only a short knife and occasional blinding pain. The remaining werelupe advanced with claws and teeth, slashing Lution across the face and chest with wounds deep enough to show bone. When Lution collapsed to his knees, the werelupe pulled the sword from the back of his fallen companion and turned to Krush, who was stunned from the blow and struggling to get up. The werelupe snatched him and, without hesitating, drove the sword through his head, pinning him to the tree.

Lution threw up.

The werelupe took a few minutes to collect himself and take stock of his injuries, then moved to finish Lution off. And he would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for Krush’s meddling ghost. Krush managed to materialize enough to reclaim his own sword from the dead werelupe, and promptly slashed the survivor’s throat.

It was a very messy afternoon.

Aftermath
Krush and Lution retreated further into the woods. Mostly Krush, because Lution was undergoing a hideous transformation and also his insides were trying to become his outsides. They made camp in the Haunted Woods, where Krush was able to ensure Lution stayed fed, watered, and relatively free of infection. For several months they were in a holding pattern, learning about their new powers and limitations. Krush couldn't venture too far from his body, so they made a necklace of his longbones and a tooth. The rest they buried beside an old oak with no marker. Bodies always stay buried in the Haunted Woods, right? While staying in the woods, they were approached by a knight and witch from the east who had their own problems with Meridell. The commiserated for a time, and the witch helped them learn a handful of medicines and a few basic spells. Her father, the knight, granted them his sword; both he and the blade were under a curse, but it seemed to react positively to the boys' less-than-normal auras.

When Lution felt well enough to travel, they headed south through the Lost Desert. They both hated it enormously, and moved east as soon as they could get a ship willing to take them on. Unfortunately, it turns out Lution gets extremely seasick extremely easily, and they ended the trip to Altador about halfway through, landing on Mystery Island, where they've lived ever since.

Artwork
