( Long app is long )( Long app is long and cut text better work, dammit )character name: Agni
Fandom: Kuroshitsuji (manga)
Timeline: Post Chapter 66
character's age: Unknown, appearance of being in his thirties
powers, skills, pets and equipment: Excellent fighter, specializing Indian style martial arts. Is quite knowledgeable in pressure points and using those to disable the body without causing permanent damage.
Through using his faith he can achieve great strength, dexterity, speed, and power when needed. He's good enough to rival Sebastian in these areas.
He is a quick study in areas of fighting, learning the rules of fencing and dueling within watching one bout between Ciel and Soma. The one bout he had with Sebastian, it ended as a tie due to both of them breaking their foils.
"Right arm of Kali": He makes fantastic curry, just using his right arm. It's as if his right arm knows just the right amount of spice to put in the curry - a blessing, thus called the "right arm of Kali". This arm remains bandaged until he uses it.
Mist given powers: Pyrokinesis - Similar to his Vedic namesake, Agni will gain the ability to control fire. Initially it will react with his emotions - great anger will create great flame, depression may douse it. He at the start will not be able to create flames unless under extreme duress but rather pre-existing flames will react to him. Eventually, through channeling his faith and emotions, he'll be able to create fire and ultimately a cleansing "holy fire" that may be used to ward off or as an offense against some of the more spiritually sensitive creatures of the mist. (Such as a vampire, certain ghosts, etc.)
canon history: Agni was originally named Arshad. He was the son of a rich and powerful Brahma, a man who is supposed to be devoted to god. However, Arshad's father didn't care for any of his actual duties. He sinned as much as he could get away with, which was quite a lot, considering his elevated social status. Arshad too fell into these patterns, doing whatever he wanted to the point of total ennui.
Eventually the crimes and sins caught up with him and he was brought to the hangman's noose. Just before he was to be hanged, a willful prince stepped up onto the pillory without heed to the jailor's warning that Arshad was an animal not to be trusted. The prince cut the noose and Arshad's long hair, freeing him from both his sentence and his original identity. The prince - revealing himself to be Prince Soma - names him Agni and insists that he serve him instead, originally as a sparring partner. In that moment that Soma freed Him, Agni saw the face of god in the prince and found someone to devote himself and serve for the rest of his life.
Agni did just that, living and serving his prince in Soma's palace. They continued on quite happily this way. Through his devotion to Soma and his god, Agni obtains a superhuman state with his marital arts and curry cooking. (But more on that later!) Happily ever after, that is, until Mina, a beloved maid to Soma, was "taken" by an Englishman to - where else? - England.
Agni, forever the consummate servant, goes with his prince across the continent in search of the "kidnapped" Mina. They make it to England and begin the search. At some point, Agni makes contact with Mina and her new Englishman, Lord West. He creates a deal with Lord West that Soma will never find out that Mina willingly left him, as it would hurt Soma too much. For his end of the bargain, Agni performs tasks at the whim of Lord West, who covets the Royal Warrant. Many of these tasks involve attacking and ruining West's competitor's businesses. Though he did so anonymously, he left a strange signature on every note that he was forced to leave, a mark of the goddess Kali's tongue sticking out. A sign of apology for the atrocities he has to perform to keep his prince happy and in the dark.
Soma and Agni, start their search through the lower class districts of London where the Indian population has grown due to the English bringing Indians over but not supporting them. As they search the district, eventually they come upon Ciel and Sebastian, accosted by a mob of angry Indians. Initially, Agni is ordered to fight against Sebastian, as Soma naturally sides with his people. He fights well, very well, particularly up against someone like Sebastian. The tide turns when Soma decides that it is the Indians in the wrong - they did start the fight after all - and Agni makes short work of the mob cheerfully.
Eventually, they make their way to the Phantomhive manor, to live with Ciel (cause general havoc) and continue the search for Mina. Agni fits himself into the Phantomhive household quite well, learning to prepare English dishes and even finding the normally useless staff jobs that they are good at. In the evenings, he and Soma search for Mina. At night, however, Agni slips out to continue West's dirty work.
Agni continues in this way until, after being followed by Ciel, Sebastian, Soma, and Lau, a confrontation between West and Soma happens. Agni is forced to keep his promise to West, to keep Soma in the dark about Mina's true nature. West, being particularly cruel, orders Agni to strike Soma. Thankfully Sebastian interferes, in the guise of a deerheaded servant, to keep Agni from internally combusting. Agni and Soma become estranged, Agni staying to serve West for the last piece of his plot, a curry contest.(Hey, it's a royal curry contest, so that's ...something special.)
The contest takes place and Agni, using the true power of his "right arm of Kali", creates multiple different kinds of curry that all compliment the dish. Yet he somehow - of course - loses to Sebastian's resourceful and innovative curry bread. At about the same time, Mina shows and tells Soma what really happened: she never really cared for him and sought escape at the first moment available. With West defeated and the truth about Mina in the open, Agni is freed from his contract. Soma and he reconcile, both seeing where they went wrong.
From that moment on, Agni and Soma stay in England. Soma wishes to learn how to be a true English gentleman from Ciel and Agni strives to be a better butler with Sebastian as a model and mentor, going so far as to call him "friend". Agni attempts to turn himself in for his crimes against West's competitors when Scotland Yard visits the mansion but is forcibly kept from doing so and is eventually persuaded (and ordered by Soma) that his best place and redemption is with Soma, serving him. They are both relegated to the London Townhouse, to "keep" it for Ciel while he resides at the manor.
They are recently involved in the Easter celebration at the Phantomhive manor and are definitely aware of the events of the previous arc with the ship wreck. Agni will be taken from after the Easter chapter (chapter 66) so will have a little knowledge of the events that occurred on the ship.
personality: Due to all his sinning, Agni knows a lot about the world and how it works. He's certainly been around the block a few times and has seen the inner workings of human beings. Despite all of this, he remains cheerful and optimistic. He does his best to see the good in people, no matter what they've done. Indeed, his knowledge offers good insight on how to help people make the most of their situations. While this insight is also used on Soma, he's much less apt to actually apply it, particularly if it may hurt the prince's feelings. That is to say, Agni becomes a little short sighted where his prince is involved. Whether his devotion blinds him to the best solution or he just can't bear to hurt the prince is unknown to even Agni.
Obviously, one could not talk about Agni and not talk about devotion. Clearly, it's strong enough that he can obtain nearly superhuman abilities, in that state called "faith". It makes him do the near impossible, just to see his prince smile. He also worships to the goddess Kali daily and bears her "right arm". Religion - whether or not connected to his prince (though the two to him are inseparable) is very important to him as well. His devotion isn't limited just to his prince and goddess, it's seen to all those that can count Agni as a friend. Despite Ciel faking a coughing fit and technically cheating to disqualify Soma and Agni's team, he is still very concerned for his friend, master Ciel. He will not question or doubt an order given by his Prince. If he asks it, it must be done. That doesn't mean he just blindly follows orders like a zombie. He clearly has his own thoughts and acts of his own accord.
I'd like to touch upon that optimism again. This is a big change from how he was as Arshad - a sinner who was bored even of sinning and seeing only the worst sides of humanity. This is a man who sees the good in even Sebastian, despite the fact that he's clearly something not entirely human. So much good, that he is happy to call Sebastian his friend and want to model his butlering after Sebastian. This optimism is seen in most everything Agni does, particularly around the manor when he helps with chores. Each shortcoming of the Phantomhive staff is turned into a strength with Agni's gentle direction and teachings.
This whole new outlook on life has also given him quite the conscience. As Agni does his best to do as the gods would will him and make the world a better place, when he does something wrong, it pains hims. He wrote his own little apology on the notes West made him leave. Even when the whole incident was over and Ciel thought it best to just let West take the blame without Agni, Agni insisted on turning himself in. Persistently, he tried to confess when Inspector Abberline came visiting to the Phantomhive manor. Going to such extreme measures such as scaling the building and popping out of places one would not expect him to be. Even breaking out of ropes and belts tied around him. It isn't until he's told that it would possibly get Ciel in trouble and ordered by Soma himself that he agrees to not divulge his guilt.
Agni has no shortage of courage when it comes to serving his God-prince, Goddess, or friends. Whether it's taking down an entire mob or fencing to defend his god, Agni goes for it without a second thought. It's again part of that faith, if the gods want him to win, he'll win and he's doing this for the gods/Prince so it must be their will. He's also fiercely protective of his prince, willing to jump into the middle of a practice fencing match without a second thought, all because Ciel was going to score a hit on Soma. That's no to say that he would have stopped the match should the prince be losing, more of, he perceived a threat of possible bodily harm and reacted accordingly.
Due to his prior life, Agni is very knowledgeable in many areas including insight to the human condition. He uses this to the best he can and also does his best to shield Soma from the bits that would hurt him - such as the truth about Mina. While he can be perceived as almost naive in his demeanor and kindness, that's just who he is. He prefers to think the best of people when he can and to help them.
His faith and devotion also make him a very humble creature. His life is literally for the prince and the best thing he can do with it is serve him. Any compliment of Agni's abilities is met with a gracious thanks and an answer to the tune of "it is all for my prince and gods." or "it is simply what the gods wish". He's an excellent fighter but makes no boasts as to his abilities. They are to be used for his friend's sake and at his prince's direction, that is all. Any of his butlering that is complimented is also simply "the will of the gods". He truly believes that everyone has a path set for them by the gods and will do his best to hlep guide them on that path.
Emotions are a very intense thing for Agni. He feels things through and through and isn't afraid to express them when appropriate. He's seen multiple times crying from relief over his friends being okay. When he has to go against prince some the tears become those of blood because he's so extremely upset. He will hide his feelings if he sees it fit - his deal with West kept secret from Soma - or is ordered to - keeping his guilt under wraps over his crimes towards West's competitors - but generally is an open book. As said before, he even apologized in the letters left at the seen of the crime. He's not one for keeping his emotions inside if he can help it.
Why do you feel this character would be appropriate to the setting?Agni, as mentioned before is a skilled fighter and would have little issue actually physically surviving. Agni has a rare touch of optimism that would bring possibly some happiness to a few people in Anatole. It would also be quite interesting to explore how he'd get long without his prince there.
Writing Samples
Network Post Sample:[The Forge clicks on and the sound of someone pushing buttoms can be heard. The screen is black but on; someone is covering it, apparently using it like a phone. A beat and the user sighs worriedly. He speaks in a deep voice colored with anxiety.] No answer? Or did I use it wrong?
[The device is finally pulled away from the user's ear and finally the face can be seen. An Indian man with white hair sticking out from under his turban can be seen. He's studying the Forge, trying to figure out how it works. He taps where the red light sits on every other Forge, confused. The Forge is briefly turned off and turned back on. It's still the Indian man, looking into the Forge. The amount of worry in his face increases with every passing second. A bite of his lip and he decides to take action.] Prince Soma? My prince, where are you?
[He really hopes this isn't another one of the princes games. He doubts it, as this place is completely unrecognizable. What are the Gods doing, sending him to this new place? True, not his place to question but this is truly strange.
The worry has now given way to full blown panic. He pretty much yells into the Forge.] My prince! Please answer me! Anyone, please tell me what is going on! Mr. Sebastian, Master Ciel? Is there anyone out there?!
[A breath. There are the hints of tears welling in his eyes. How could he have been taken to this place, away from his prince and friends? How did this happen? How could he allow this to happen?] Please, if anyone can hear me, or see me or anything, tell me what is going on. I'm looking for a prince, he's Indian, has purple hair and answers to the name of Prince Soma Asman Kadar. I need to find him!
[Another breath and he sits on the edge of the bed. He's slightly calmer but only due to him controlling himself.] I await your responses. Thank you.
[He bows his head and sits, waiting for the Forge to respond to him.] Third Person Sample: It's a terrible idea but it's the best he's got at the moment. Agni's going to wait for the strange device to speak back to him. Patience must be practiced, otherwise he'd never get the answers he received. He sincerely hoped that he used the device correctly as well. That's why he's giving it about half an hour then he'll strike out on his own, to start looking for Prince Soma or anyone else from his world. He cannot guarantee that he was able to use the strange device as it was meant to, he's not familiar with it. He'd only been recently introduced to telephones and the box with moving pictures called television. The best guess he had was that the device was one of those things. It had a screen like the television and had buttons to dial. It must be one of the two, maybe even both. Really, he could only hope that the gods saw fit to provide him with an answer.
A few minutes had gone by. Or was it seconds? It felt like an eternity either way. It was killing him, he couldn't just sit here and wait. He started to inspect the room, just to give himself something to do. He moved the device with him, in case someone contacted him. It was very dusty and small. Similar to the English style of room but certainly not as grand as anything in Master Ciel's manor. It was what looked to him to be an apartment, presumably for a lower class person. Agni paced around, looking in all the little closets and things, hoping against hope that something, some clue would lead him to his Prince.
Part of him wanted to start cleaning the room. If he was to find Soma, he couldn't bring him back here, not in the condition the place was in. That was assuming, of course, that Agni found him. The limited view the Window provided showed the city to look similar to London but this certainly wasn't near the neighborhood of Master Ciel's townhouse. It looked to be more like the neighborhoods in which they initially searched for Mina. The thought of her brought sadness to Agni, not her, but of how upset it had made Prince Soma. But on the other hand, if it had not happen, they would not have made friends with Master Ciel, Mister Sebastian and the rest of the Phantomhive household.
Something stopped him from just sweeping all the dust away. There was one last thing he had not tried. Leaving the device on the bed so he could hear it, he walked over to a little bureau and in the think coating of dust, began to draw. He drew the closest thing he could to the statue of Kali as he could. Once satisfied with it, Agni knelt down and began to pray.
Anything else? I really need to find something clever to put in this space. Anyway, thanks for reading!
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