Etheridge, Gavin

[Gavin Etheridge]

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CASE FILE: Creig Militant

"O, For a voice like thunder, and a tongue to drown the throat of war!"
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FULL NAME:
→ Gavin Seamus Etheridge

AGE:
→ 29

SEX:
→ Male

BIRTH PLACE:
→ Shannon, Carraig

RACE:
→ Creig

DEPARTMENT:
→ King of Carraig

DATE OF BIRTH:
→ October 30, 1981

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HEIGHT:
→ 188 cm

WEIGHT:
→ 75 kg

PICTURE:
→

Spoiler:

DESCRIPTION:
→ Though 'King' isn't everyone's first guess upon seeing Gavin, there is a certain regal air about him that demands respect. His dark hazel eyes tend to shift colours depending on mood and what he's wearing (often varying between shades of blue, greenish and amber with hints of brownish gold in all cases), and sit beneath somewhat thick brows in a piercing gaze. His dark brown hair is thick and very curly, hanging just to his shoulders and is often pulled back into a ponytail or down framing his face.

The young king's strength is hidden under his modest, almost gentle build, the majority of his muscle in his arms and chest from years of blacksmithing and swordplay. Though tall, Gavin is at least well-proportioned and doesn't seem intimidating. Despite his muscular attributes, certain national hereditary features will always show through on him, namely his somewhat flat rear end.

Generally at home Gav dresses very casually with comfortable jeans and button-up shirts, some of his older ones more worn and stained from metal working. His tastes are rather simple and plain, preferring not to be flashy in order to keep from unneeded spending, and even when out amidst his people he never dresses more formally than a modest suit unless the occasion really calls for it.

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PERSONALITY:
→ Generally speaking, all his life Gavin could easily be defined by those around him as "mature." From early childhood he knew that one day he would be in charge of his country and his people would look to him for answers and guidance. Knowing this was what was expected of him from such an early age turned the child into an adult, Gavin serious, focused on expanding his knowledge as much as possible, and spending long hours studying fencing, fighting, and military strategy to make sure that when he did become king he would be prepared to lead Carraig through anything life threw at them. Following his father's guidance, the world became something like a large game of chess that he knew he needed to win no matter what, even while upholding their country's neutrality.

The immense pressure from such an early age weighed heavily on the young prince, having few peers to turn to for company or a break from everything as most of the people he was surrounded by were other heads of state, dignitaries, and soldiers. It wouldn't be until the prince was introduced to forging and his young body guard Artemis that Gavin would learn to separate himself into two; the self that the public saw that would be the voice of Carraig, and the self that could breathe, lose himself in the molten steel and fire, and even learn to let himself have a little fun.

Starting as an exercise to bring himself closer to his people, Gavin would take day-long jaunts exploring the country and the different kinds of jobs and people it really took to make and run his country; not the politicians, but the real people who worked hard, slept little, and did it all again the next day. It was here that Gavin truly fell in love with his hard-working people and decided he would commit every decision and action to them and the outsiders could just suck it. Gavin is now extremely dedicated to his people and his family, devoting himself wholly to his ideals of peace for Carraig through keeping out of the affairs of the rest of the world, in hopes of giving them every opportunity possible.

Trying to see things from every perspective possible, Gavin tries to rule very justly and feels that spending so much time with the skilled workers and average people helps broaden that perspective and find the solutions that will benefit the whole instead of just the privileged. He understands that neutrality and peace come at a heavy price, and hoping to give his people the advantage Gavin actively seeks and recruits fighters and mercenaries for his military's elite forces, will take weapon designs and apply them to what can be sold but keeping the very best for his own, and justifies it as for the greater good. His people are strong, and Gavin will make himself as strong as he needs to in order to match the needs of the country.

Privately, Gavin seems a much different young man, typically smiling to himself and releasing his pent up stresses and frustrations through his music, at the forge, and through sword play. His family means more to him than his own life and will do anything for their sake and happiness. His people are the blood in his body, his mother and daughter are his beating heart. Despite his strength and seriousness, Gavin is warm and very affectionate, and is known to walk away from work in order to see Sorcha to bed and kiss her good night. His bodyguard, Artemis, is his best friend and confidant, and Gavin knows that if it were not for her he may not be able to be seen and respected as much as he is. He cares about Artemis immensely and though he knows she carries more than her fair share of burdens for his sake, he knows she does it for more reasons than just because those are her orders. He trusts her more than any of his other militants, looks to her for insight, and wishes he could express the many ways the guard has saved him over the years and thank her.

LOVE:
→ Playing his violin and cello, music, lipsyncing, the satisfaction in having created something, his country and his people, his adopted daughter Sorcha, his bodyguard Artemis, his wolfhound Cinder, strategy and tactics, the smell of hot metal, the sky and stars, the desire to keep his people safe by being proactive about things

HATE:
→ Dishonesty (especially in himself), seeing his people suffer in any way, squash, knowing that some of the things he does are wrong even when he justifies them as for "the greater good", when plans go astray beyond predicted worst-case scenario, disloyalty to him or his country (especially after he's invested time, training or money into you), having his leadership capabilities questioned by those who have no authority, the current state of the world

DEEPEST SECRET:
→ Gavin loves to lip sync to music and always has, often joking with those he feels closest to that he's the greatest singer in the world since he can "sing" any song with any voice. Shortly after he became king there was a minor incident where he was lone and blasting the radio, lipsyncing and dancing around in his boxers as he got ready for bed and completely forgot that his bodyguard was still nearby until he heard her giggling at him.

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HISTORY:
→ Some things are passed on and known since birth. Many of them are instinctive, like the need and bond to your family and those who imprint on you early on. Others are things that you learn so early on that it may as well have been programmed into your mind before the world welcomed you. Being told he would someday be responsible for all of Carraig, her people, and their futures are the first real memories Gavin can recall from early childhood in the cool stone walls of his family's ancestral home. As soon as Gavin was old enough to stand, the child accompanied his father, Eoin, sitting in with him during political meetings, discussions with foreign emissaries and their own militants, quickly finding himself more at home discussing strategy than things most children his age would have even understood. Everyone knew what the child's role would be, so none questioned when he asked to participate in the meetings and attend everything possible, waiting until after lessons to ask about any roles or things that he needed clarification on. Even though he had cousins nearer to him in age, he had little interest in spending time with them, seeing their games as too childish (even when he was the youngest), and would often walk off to go study.

For many years it was much the same as Gavin would spend his days studying academics as well as anything that would be thought to better prepare him for the life that awaited him. When he wasn't studying or observing, Gavin was often alone. Because so few asked his thoughts on things, nobody really knew the little boy at all or how he applied the things he learned. In a notebook locked away from the eyes of everyone, Gavin would write his hopes and ideals for the future. Even though more insightful than most children, some were still a bit naïve as his only experiences were with the political aspects of how the country worked. He knew nothing of the working people that were the country's backbone and blood until one day asked his guard, an older man who spend nearly every moment at the prince's side, where certain goods in the castle came from. Gavin knew enough that Carraig was known for its exports and bought very little foreign wares, but after paying attention a few days to how much was readily available and all of it from their own country, the young prince grew curious.

Axel, his guard, began to really listen to the prince's questions and took it upon himself to teach him what tutors weren't. He started by taking the simplest of things, the food in the kitchen, and then proceeded to take Gavin on a field trip out of their well-guarded home to the countryside to a large farm. Showing the child something so simple as a farm that produced meat, milk and vegetables opened Gavin up to a vast new world of possibilities and questions. Seeing Gavin's fascination and how the child began to open up a bit, Axel began to take him out regularly to tour the country not as a prince, but as a child needing to learn who the people he would be defending and caring for really were. As every week Gavin learned and experienced a little more, he began to honestly fall in love with it all; everything from the simple process of boiling milk to make cottage cheese or needling wool at the millenry, to the factories that made the machines and weapons their country was famous for exporting. The processes amazed him, and the tireless people who made it all possible. Taking great interest in the craftsmanship he saw, Gavin began to apprentice under his guard's brother to learn his way around the forge, finding a creative outlet that wasn't as delicate or refined as the music he played that would really let him get his hands dirty and work some.

One night, after weeks of these little visits, Axel woke up to go check on his prince to find the child crying in his bed. The ten-year-old had had an epiphany and realized that for all the studying he was doing, he knew very little of the real world and what it took to keep everything going. As he clung to his guard, Gavin signed that life was so different and unfair for the working classes below them, and that without them all working so hard, they wouldn't have a Carraig to run. It was that night that Gavin stopped simply being mature for his age and became an adult, knowing better now that he wasn't becoming a king simply to handle political delegations and sign papers, but that he needed to honestly make choices that would benefit those people that he'd been meeting who worked so hard for him, even without ever knowing him. He needed to return the effort.

After that, Gavin put more of his efforts not into just the political aspects of what awaited him, but looking at everything as how it would affect and best benefit the people. Though he still had no real say in such things, Gavin would often discuss the issues with his father at great length if something didn't sit well with him, impressing the king with the young man's insight and genuine concern. Before long it was more Gavin's decisions being voiced through his father. Things began to steadily improve in Carraig, the country bringing in more money as their weapons designs and machinery improved and more foreign investors took stock from the small, neutral island. Soon after Gavin turned 15, his father took him aside to show him plans for a new division of their military. Something secret and wonderful, like their precious elite forces. Lon Dubh was the future, he told his son. The world was a chaotic place and the people on the mainland would only ruin them all, but the skies held infinite possibilities. Encouraging Gavin to take interest to the project, he met with the scientists backing it. Brilliant minds of physicists and alchemists, astronomers and engineers. The finest their country (and a few others) had to offer. Gavin was thrilled at the idea, loving it for the possibility of a more peaceful life for his people and how many jobs such an effort would create, and the military advantage it would give them as no other country had thought to move upward in such a literal sense yet.

Neutrality, sadly, comes at a very heavy price, as does taking in political refugees. Manufacturing weapons to sell to any country willing to pay while taking no side in their confrontations makes for some bitter grievances. It was only supposed to be a week-long trip to Xing. King Eoin had gone to help establish the relationship for working with them, a company in Xing making a good offer as a business partner and investor in the project. It had gone very well, everything set up to start as soon as Carraig was ready. Before leaving Xing, Eoin had been told of a brilliant Aerugese strategist who had expressed interest in helping with the Lon Dubh division, but due to his radical theories was under political scrutiny. Eoin stopped in Aerugo trying to be quick about things, to meet with the militant. He'd agreed to work for Carraig if they could guarantee his safety and resources. Unaware that they were being watched, their airplane was tampered with while it was parked. Taking the fleeing militant with them, they took off to continue home to Carraig. The whole of the island nation shook and demanded justice as the plane carrying their king was recovered from the coast of Creta. As far as could be told, jet failed in the thunderstorm and crashed and was written as a tragic accident, Creig, Cretarian and Xingese governments unable to prove foul play.

Carraig as a whole was devastated; the sixteen-year-old prince was shattered. While her put on a stony face through the turbulant times, his mother taking charge to rule until he was old enough, inwardly he began to withdraw and spend more time at the forge and his books than anywhere else. Project Lon Dubh was pushed back and the country as a whole withdrew, defenses rising and opinions of "outsiders" lowering as they began to close off their refugee policies. Gavin had always known the generalities of his future, but he'd never expected them so soon. It wasn't until the next year that anyone would start to see him smile again. After serving him faithfully all his young life, Axel retired, leaving his post to younger eyes and strength. The prince was introduced to his new guard, Artemis. She was tall, gorgeous, and for the life of her couldn't remember his name, no matter how many times his speech aide repeated it for her. Gavin couldn't stand the young guard, finding her a ditz and wondering how it was that she was the top of her class through training.

Gavin accepted that she was his guard but thought little of it until two events changed his perceptions. The first was his first solo diplomatic meeting with the heads of Creta, going over their weapons supply agreements. Though nothing really went wrong and she didn't say anything the whole time, it was that she didn't leave his side and that he could tell nobody was going to test the heavily-armed woman's prowess. When it came to her job, there was no questioning where her loyalties were or that she woudn't hesitate to kill you if you came too near in a threatening manner to her prince. Upon returning home, Gavin began to watch his guard more closely when she trained, seeing the accuracy of her shots and the smoothness of her attacks. She really was a class A soldier, and demonstrated her true skills as such going over strategy and plans, the prince eventually excusing that she couldn't remember names because her head was too full of tactics and weapons. The second event brought Gavin back to being himself, opening up more and allowing himself to begin to flourish when a year later after 'speaking' at his father's anniversary memorial service, she'd found her prince upset and called him by his name without hesitation or addressing him by his title. She'd only called his name and squeezed his shoulder, but the small gesture, away from public eyes and not for anyone's recognition or praise, was enough to get Gavin to turn around and hug his guard tightly. Even though nothing further was said, a connection was made, and slowly Gavin was able to let it go and center himself more as his eighteenth birthday approached. Artemis became as close to him as Axel was and closer as he began to open up to her and show her the person nobody really ever saw more than glimpses of.

When Gavin came of age, his mother stepped aside and crowned her son as king. As nervous as he had been for all the years leading up to it, as the moment came, he was strangely calm, as though finally coming into himself, understanding and accepting that this was what he was meant to do. There was a renewed interest in him, and Gavin resumed his ideals and promises that all he did would be for his people. Though his faith in outsiders was tarnished, he put a new energy into seeking out the best mercenaries, fighters and soldiers from any country and of any age and brought them to Carraig to train them up as part of his own elite force. There was always going to be someone out there who had a stronger man than you, unless you took him from them for your own. His first efforts were to his military and making them stronger, moving then into advancing their technologies. From weapons to computer sciences, delicate parts for new cars and machinery that nobody else had designed or manufactured. Gavin was expressly clear with what he wanted and why, making it a point to hide nothing from his people if they asked about his reasons for things. He kept his eyes upward, watching as his country did surprisingly well and covered up just how much money they were making as he dusted off project Lon Dubh and began quietly resuming talks with officials in Xing about it. He wouldn't hide things from his people, but the rest of the world didn't need to know.

Things were quiet in Carraig, the rest of the world generally ignoring the island that was once home to the greatest warriors and mercenaries, only really bothering them when things needed to be designed and made for relative little. The country was doing well, and Gavin never lost his taste for forging metal to relieve stress or spending time visiting each of the cities, towns and villages and getting to know the people there on a more personal level, hoping to be seen as king and as one of the people. During a visit to Killkenny, Gavin stopped at a large church to speak to the people there. Afterward, Gavin was speaking to one of the sisters at that church, when she asked if he'd come by to speak to some of the children they cared for. At the time he thought little of it as he'd done similar things many times. But fate has a funny way of leading you to the people you need most in your life. He rather enjoyed talking to them all and playing a few games, but one of the children in particular had caught his eye. There were several small mechanical toys and robots all over to play with, and on the walls where artwork was hung were several pages of nothing but schematics and plans. Gavin was shocked to find out they'd all come from a little girl off in the corner.

The girl was barely six, but was a genius beyond anything he'd ever seen. He sat and 'talked' with the girl all afternoon about the marvelous toys she made, mystified by her brilliant mind and vivacious personality. Like the other children here, she had no family, but she also had no given name as one wasn't left with her and nobody even could tell what her ethnicity was between her natural red hair and dark, nut-coloured skin. Gavin had every intention to making a sizable donation to the church and the cause of caring for those children, but the young king was determined that he wouldn't see a mind like hers wasted due to a lack of resources. Despite the mild protests and discomfort of his advisers, Gavin adopted the child when he was 22, offering her a life where she'd have everything she needed to grow, explore the world, and really see what she could do, along with a proper name. Sorcha, meaning brightness, was the name he gave to the girl, in reference to her brilliant mind and her bright future.

At first he'd worried he really had bitten off more than he could chew, taking on a small child without being married or even having been king for five years yet, and the child was playful and seemed to love to prank and tease. But Gavin soon honestly cared for Sorcha and showed the same dedication to her well-being that he did the country. He settled in with Sorcha being his family wholly, loving to listen to her ideas for hours and see the wondrous new things she would design and make, often implementing them as part of his country's defenses and to Lon Dubh.

Currently tensions in the world are heating up, and Gavin is doing all he can to make sure Carraig isn't dragged into their problems. Creig weapons are now seen as the best in the world and will supply to any army, but at the agreement that they're not to be used against Carraig. Any weapon designed and sold has a better version saved for his own countrymen and forces, and right now much of Gavin's efforts are going into Xing. Over the years Xing has agreed to let the Creig program build its base there, testing and launching in places where the rest of the world won't care to look or notice. With Artemis at his side and Sorcha's brilliant mind inspiring him, Gavin keeps his focus on his people and raising them upward to be the first to colonize space.

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TRIVIA:
→ Gavin is mute, the nerves that command his vocal chords never developing properly. He carries his speech aide with him at all times, though, and is constantly studying languages to have them programmed into it. .
→ Gaelic, Cretarian, Sign Language, Drachman, and learning Amestrian
→ Lon Dubh is the name of Gavin's elite air and space force, and the reason he pushes so hard for their country to be the most advanced technologically. It is his goal to have an operational station built and begin to colonize space, thereby removing Carraig from the problems of the world.

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ALIAS:
→ Still just Shula :p

OTHER CHARACTERS:
→ Shula Brighton

CREATOR'S COMMENTS:
→ Sorry this took forever to get done. Between my hours, guests, computer issues and other things... yeah. //_- He is DONE though <3

FACE CLAIM:

Code:

[b]Gavin Rossdale[/b]

CUSTOM RANK:
→ The Silent King

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[Iris]

Approved