Gora Application

[memoriavitae]

Player Information

Name: Mango
Personal Journal: meximango
AIM/Email: whuzzle@yahoo.com
Plurk: meximango
Age: 19
Current Characters: None.

Character Information

Name: Daniel of Mayfair
Canon: Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Canon Point: Shortly after meeting Agrippa, but before the realization of what he’s done.
Age: Not stated; appears to be in his early to mid-thirties.
Gender: Male
History: Here.
Personality:

Daniel is a man full of exceptions, always struggling between fear and loyalty.

Before taking the amnesia potion created by the Damascus roses, Daniel was a fairly decent man, always trying to be the best older brother he could be for his sick sister Hazel while also trying to discover the vast world around him. Despite his intense fear of the dark spurred on from an early age, he became an archeologist when he was older, meaning that he was willing to overcome his fear in the name of discovery, adventure, and curiosity, doing what he loved. His fateful last expedition to Algeria required the exploration of a tomb, which collapsed on him, trapping him in one of the darkest places imaginable. Somehow, Daniel he kept his wits about him the entire time, being drawn to the mysterious glowing orb that would cause all his problems later on.

From this experience, his inquisitiveness pops out again. Daniel is incredibly curious, which is often what gets him into trouble—whether it’s the orb cursing him or discovering Alexander’s lie, Daniel is an answer-seeker, often having to be told to be quiet when he started asking too many questions. The only thing that can tamper with his curiosity is the feeling of terror, causing panic to rule out over his investigative nature. The only reason the orb spared him while it killed others shortly after its discovery was that Daniel was too terrified and shaken from the experience to examine the orb or figure it out. The other men tried to crack its mysteries immediately and were repaid by the orb with gruesome murders. Had he not been frightened so, Daniel may have realized this instead of trying to get help from Alexander.

Daniel is an intelligent man, proven by his puzzle-solving and enemy-avoiding abilities, along with his career in the first place. This trait is brought out a bit further from the effect of the orb, but from that earlier example of the orb and his inability to string cause and effect together, it can be seen that his judgment and logical skills become weaker and blurry when he is ruled by fear and panic. There is a difference between simply being scared and being ruled, however.

While it may seem like Daniel is a gigantic coward, what with his debilitating case of nyctophobia that causes horrible side effects—a pounding head, blurry vision, ringing ears, and teeth-grinding aren’t the normal signs of a brave person, after all—and his constant fight on the line between fear and reasoning. Despite this, he has the capability of remarkable bravery in spurts, even if it does deplete his sanity over time. Overall, the man is extremely courageous for even attempting to move on through an entire castle to the end—while it’s falling apart erratically, at that!—with limited memories and no way of protecting himself against the monsters that lurk in the dark. Dampening of intelligence in this environment or not, Daniel still has survival instincts that help even the odds in a life or death situation. He is not the type to freeze in fear. Yes, he will hide quietly and be still if the strategy calls for it. Likewise, he will run away if that route has the most chance for coming out alive in the end. It is not simply cowardice or the adrenaline shouting “flight!” at him that fuels his legs when he runs away, but the recognition of his own shortcomings, physically and mentally. He’s a man that knows his own limitations and will not try to overshoot them, at least in terms of survival. Even when overcome with fear, his logical side retains that much.

Daniel is willing to face obstacles even when he knows said limits, however. All it takes are the correct circumstances. Once he is loyal to a person, creates a special bond with him or her, he picks up a severely protective nature, willing to travel great lengths and put himself in harm’s way to make sure no damage comes to this person. When he was young, he did everything to protect his sister Hazel, including taking beatings from an abusive father for her sake. When older, he continued to protect his sister, though protecting someone from an incurable disease is a hard task. When Daniel was at his wit’s end, there was Agrippa’s arrival, which was able to bring him a bit of safety and peace in an otherwise hopeless environment, jaw or no jaw. Daniel shortly after agrees to go out of his way to repay the guide by bringing the old tortured soul his own form of peace.

If you are able to gain the trust and loyalty from Daniel to create such a bond, it is something to be cherished, for the man is not so willing to protect or help others if a path different from yours benefits him more. This is mostly in terms of safety, but it’s a human condition as well. Daniel, like many people, is a selfish being at his core. He was willing to do anything in order to get rid of the curse upon himself, even going so far as to brutally torture and murder nearly countless victims, starting with criminals. When that hadn’t been enough for Alexander, Daniel kidnapped innocent villagers and children, who he also later tortured and killed, although through persuasion and his own delirium, he was convinced that they were all villainous and deserved their punishments at the time. Daniel whisked aside his morals and even began to find some sort of sick enjoyment in his deeds, knowing that it would all lead up to helping Alexander get rid of his curse. His swiftly-growing desperation and his corrupted mind are what helped cloud his mind so much while doing these unspeakable deeds. He had wholly convinced himself that he was like some kind of ubermensch, helping to clean the world of the vile creatures by dishing out justice. He had desensitized himself to the pain around him. It was these defense mechanisms that probably gave him a small peace of mind that he didn’t know he needed. Had he been in his right mind, had he not been so thoroughly convinced, Daniel might not have resorted to such violence. He was selfish, though. He wanted to live, even if it meant denying others that same right and want. It is only human to crave life, to seek salvation in any form it chooses to appear in, even if it goes against all beliefs. During those dark times of a stripped conscience, Daniel only thought of himself. Other people no longer mattered, bringing out his purest form of selfishness.
While much of it may have been Alexander’s convincing and Daniel’s worry that drove him to murder, a small part of it may have been innate. Even at a young age, he had some violent tendencies, despite his inability to stand up for himself far more often than not. It’s unknown whether his violent streak is due to childhood events or if he was simply born with it, but there is some evidence that it existed. Daniel had been bullied as a child, and he got into trouble with his father one day for striking said bully down with a rock. This suggests that Daniel is a pacifist until a breaking point which, when overreached, will result in him snapping and lashing out with a force equal to his emotions and abilities at the time.

So, Daniel is selfish because he wants to live, and he’s willing to commit murder to reach this goal. While many people may give up when the going gets rough, Daniel never did. Yes, he resorted to violence, but it was for the sake of saving his own life. Yes, he took an amnesia potion, but it was only so he could start over and try to kill Alexander with a guilt-free conscience. He has a huge will to survive, and has a powerful will power in general when pertaining to certain goals. Other times, not so much. Daniel is extremely gullible, perhaps naïve to start out. With a few well-placed words, the man is willing to believe anything told to him, which is why Alexander was so successful with corrupting the man in the first place. Nearly anyone can manipulate him if they’re convincing enough. His will to stay pure, to not commit acts of violence was easily washed away when Alexander convinced him that it was alright. Yet even when he’s surrounded by darkness and monsters and dead ends and lack of memories and hopelessness (it’s a long list), the man will not give up. When he has an ultimate goal—whether it’s surviving or killing Alexander or both—there is almost nothing that can stop him.

Daniel may seem to be a horrible person at this point, but he is not a brainless killing machine with no feelings! No, he definitely felt regret for his deeds. So much so, in fact, that he made himself forget them. Yes, that is a horrible way of escaping your problems, but he redeems himself later. All it took to break his mindless torture mode and bring him back to reality, the one in which he knew that what he was doing was horrible, was a little girl. When he tracked down a small girl that had escaped, he acted on impulse, killing her without mercy or hesitation because he was fearful that their deeds would become known. This proves that some part had realized torture and murder was bad even before this. The girl probably reminded him of his sister, snapping him back to his previous state, the innocent Daniel. Except this Daniel was no longer innocent. At this point, terrible remorse mixed with rage at Alexander’s deceit engulfs him, controlling all actions he has until he wakes up as an amnesiac. Daniel allows his emotions to guide him nearly completely when they are powerful enough, which is why fear is such a guiding factor for some of his actions.

A feeling of guilt shrouds him shortly after he wakes up, though the intensity spikes later on in the game, a nagging feeling (thought he may mistake it for paranoia) for Daniel at his point in canon, though he is not yet completely sure why he feels this way. Any and all traits are somewhat fluid, changing slightly due to the amnesia and then the regaining of memories again.

Abilities Information

Fighter or Sacrifice?: Fighter. Since Daniel is quick to frighten, he is also quick to react when a threat presents itself. While used to choosing flight over fight in an aggressive situation because of necessity, he is by no means incapable of lashing back. However, despite being able to react quickly, Daniel tends to be hesitant in the execution of an act if left to his own devices, which rules out the role of a sacrifice. His fast reaction time coupled with his willingness—naivety or gullibility might almost be synonymous terms in this case—to follow orders without much explanation or even the verification of an honest source slot him into the fighter role.

Canon abilities: He is pretty much just a normal human in an unfortunate predicament. It may be noted that Daniel is quite strong, has a high stamina, can move quickly, and is good at solving puzzles, even under stress. He would be physically healthy, but mental strain and lack of sleep, food, and water might have taken its toll on his body.

Ever since finding the orb, he has had slight “psychic” abilities, mainly in that he can sense danger a bit before he can see/hear it, he’s able to pick out important (necessary) items in a room as they “pop out” to him, and he sometimes has flashbacks to memories that aren’t his, though not often.
**Side Note- While not an actual ability, more of a curse that would not follow him into Gora, he does have a “shadow”: a sort of gel-like meat substance that follows him and slaughters anyone in its path, including Daniel himself one day, which was to be his original fate.

Name: N/A
Zero Candidate?: No.

Samples

First Person:


H-hello? Is there someone out there?

[Quiet, shaky, uncertain, a voice full of fear. The man continues on, but it seems he’s talking to himself, mumbling, trying to calm his nerves.]

No, no, not possible. These are not the same trees I saw outside the windows earlier. What phenomena could have transported me here? Surely no—
[A loud gasp, ragged breathing as the man scrambles to his feet quickly, skittish movement of hands as he feels up his body to discover the new feline additions.]
What on… What is happening to me? Am I imagining this?

[A few more shaky breaths before he gathers himself and starts cautiously exploring the terrain. He makes an effort to stay quiet now, most likely out of paranoia. Noticeable twitches in his shoulders every time he steps on a stray branch.]

Third Person:

Daniel was beginning to wonder if this was all some elaborate dream or if perhaps his realities had been switched all along, Brennenburg and the horror that accompanied that castle just a vivid nightmare caused by some strange chemical reaction in his brain. But no, it couldn’t be. No nightmare of this realm or any other could cause so much physical and mental trauma.

Not to mention the nightmares he had in this new place. Nightmares of monsters, of sick sisters, of abusive fathers, all pervaded by a red fog, a sickly glistening further in, alerting him that he was never free from the shadow, not even in a different dimension. No, those terrors of the sleep were free of actual pain, didn’t leave him bleeding and panting in some filthy corner while he waited for his head to stop pounding, grit his teeth when it all became too much until he thought they would burst through his gums.

Gora was much better, if not also much more confusing. Coming from a time period that the residents here mostly referred to as “ancient”—though he could never quite tell if they were serious, sarcasm was something he had not had much experience with—which meant that everything he had remembered from Mayfair was deemed moot now.

Relearning how to live in this world was worse than being a small child again, he decided. Quite embarrassing and happening far too often, his lack of familiarity with the devices made him feel incompetent and foolish. It was not his fault that he was slow to understand these beeping communicating machines and the clanking keys of a computer—he didn’t even have the courtesy of knowing how to operate a “typewriter”, which people kept assuming he knew about and had used—even if they were quite convenient once they were learned properly. If he would ever learn them properly, that is. It was a slow-going and tedious process, though basics were not so difficult.

The “cellular phone” was the worst, though. It was the first object he was expected to use, but it made little sense. Numbers corresponding to specific people, but how were you supposed to use them, know them? He didn’t know any people here, so what purpose did it serve at this point? There was a strange flat shiny surface that displayed colored text and pictures that made no sense to him. By playing about, Daniel realized that he could make the phone project different sound. Entertaining, but still useless. Perhaps one day he would find more use for the device, if anyone were willing to be patient with him.