Character Avatar: Ben Barnes
Player: Janet
Character Name: Abernathy Borde (Nicknames: Abe, Ben, Nat, Nate, Ty, and on a rare occasion: Bernie)
Age: 44
Birthday: 13th July (not entirely sure when his birthday is)
Height: 6'1
Rank/Title: Citizen
Race: D'Angeline
Country/Province: L'Agnace, Terre d'Ange
Townhome Request: South District > Southern Bay > Borde Cottage
Country Home Request: N/A
Appearance: Abernathy is a tall, reasonably fit man, standing at just over 6 feet and with a well-proportioned frame. His skin tans easily, and it is not unblemished. Several scars of various sizes, shapes and viciousness litter his torso, hands and arms. His features are quite large, yet again, well proportioned. Thick lips and a large nose do not really sound like they make a handsome man, yet Abernathy's d'Angeline blood shows through, despite his facial hair.
What really sets him apart, should you get close enough to look, is his eyes. So dark brown so as to be almost black, they rarely hold any emotion whatsoever. His smiles hardly ever reach their dark depths. He is good at hiding it though, acting the parts he thinks his companion wants to see.
Personality: Abernathy learned very early on that the universe isn't a friendly place and that has both hardened his heart and his view of the people and events around him, and made him increasingly anxious. Being around people, especially large groups, can be difficult for him and he can sometimes become overwhelmed, either suffering a panic-attack or disassociating entirely.
Aside from that, Abernathy can be bitter, especially where his mother is concerned. He can seem friendly, and jovial even, when he's with someone, but when he's alone, the facade falls. He spends much of his downtime either sewing - which is something that was born of a necessity and is now a hobby he finds relaxing - or 'maladaptive daydreaming'. Drifting off into a fantasy world for long periods of time, building on them, returning to them, placing himself into a world or situations beyond what was real for him.
Otherwise, all his personality is on the surface. He acts charming when he needs to, or when he wants something. Tries to be friendly and pleasant, though internally he feels... lost and alone.
Zero - Imagine Dragons
Additional Information
Marital Status: single
Known Languages: d'Angeline
Strengths and Weaknesses:
Strengths: Survivor. Good sense of direction.
Weaknesses: Highly cynical. Extremely wary of the world around him. Anxious.
Family Members/Important NPCs:
Mother, Lucille. Drug addict/Beggar
Father, absentee
Siblings - possible.
History: Born to a reasonably well to do woman and her partner, Abernathy actually had a decent start in life. At least for the first few years. He holds dim memories of snuggling to his mother in front of a roaring fire, on a comfy sofa. That idyllic life was short-lived. Whatever financial ruin happened is lost in the mists of time and fractured memories but it resulted in Abernathy's father and mother parting ways. For a time, Abernathy and Lucille stayed with relatives, or friends, but as time marched on, their help and patience ran short.
It wasn't too long before Lucille found herself and her young son on the streets, begging for a place to stay, for food to eat. They lived from hand to mouth for a long time, Lucille selling her body to help pay her way and feed her son. In time she took to drink and drugs to ease the burden of her life, which resulted in her young boy having to fend for himself.
Life didn't really get much better. When they weren't on the streets, they were staying in squalor. Abernathy had to learn how to beg and steal in order to be fed. After a time he became more of a parent to his mother than she had been to him. Cleaning up after her and trying to encourage her to eat and drink whatever scraps he could muster. He got into fights with other urchins, hurt by adults that didn't take kindly to his thieving. Even abused by his mother's clients a time or two. He became used to receiving the odd cuff or kick at best... a sound beating and... other things... at worst.
As Abernathy grew into his teens, he tried to get odd jobs and pay his own way, but he never left his mother. Though he spoke about her bitterly when asked, with seemingly no love in his voice, he always tried to make sure she had somewhere to stay, something to eat and something to wear. He refused to buy her drugs or alcohol, but she tended to find it anyway. For his own part, he refuses to touch a drop of either, no matter the temptation to do so.
Eventually, like his mother had before him, he began selling his body to make ends meet. Someone once asked him why he didn't dedicate himself to Naamah, but Abernathy deflected that, distracting his client with sweet nothings and sex. In truth, even as cynical and full of roiling bitterness as he was, he recognised the hypocrisy in such an act. Why dedicate himself to an Angel that saw sex as a sacred thing, when the only reason he was doing it was for his next meal and no more? Sex is a means to an end, there is nothing loving or sacred in the act so far as he sees it.
Adulthood sees Abernathy as a more wealthy version of his younger self, though he is by no means rich. He earns enough to keep a small roof over his head and attract a more decent sort of clientele, but that's about it. Because he is poorly educated he spends his time between sex sessions tending bar and serving tables at one of the inns in Night's Doorstep. He still looks after his mother, though she does not live with him. Instead she has a room in one of the slums and he visits her there. Often dreading what he might find, but compelled to go anyway.
Updates:
Thanks to the the assistance of a former acquaintance, Abe managed to procure a job as a carriage driver. It was hard work, with a steep learning curve, but he found he enjoyed it far better than working at the inn. He was outdoors, his interaction with people was reduced, and it paid far better than waiting tables, which in turn meant that he did not have to sell his body as much. Updated here: Change.
