CHOPIN, Devereux Aluart [WIP]

[Devereux Aluart Chopin]

Devereux Aluart Chopin
Gender: Male
Age/DOB: January, c. 1400
Occupation: Officially: Adjunct professor at St. Calais University. Unofficially: Chevalerie’s resident doctor (amongst other science-y related things …)
Race: Vampire

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Appearance;
Devereux is strikingly tall, standing at a few inches over six feet. That’s about where his ‘good’ physical traits end, though. His features are extremely gaunt, with a prominent forehead, nose, and chin that give him a sharp profile. Perhaps he was handsome once, but that’s long since gone. His thin lips usually default to a pensive frown, and his long ebony locks are typically worn brushed back from his face, sometimes tied back in an attempt to tame the untidy mess. It is rare – almost unheard of – to see Devereux smile; those that have seen it liken it to that of a shark.

As to be expected (much like the rest of the older generation of the family), Devereux’s manner of dress is rather old-fashioned. In the house, he conforms to the standard code of robes and frocks, though he seems to prefer the former, more. And while out and about, he dresses in boring, colorless suits, minding the coordinates only as much as necessary to fit in; nothing more.

Part of the reason for this is that he finds it necessary to cover up. As a result of bearing that curse he willfully accepted those centuries ago, a large part of the left side of his body appears afflicted with some strange, otherworldly disease. The skin is sickly, mangled, and scarred, peppered with discolorations not unlike bruising. His left hand sports unsightly claws; this requires constant maintenance to hide. The physical affliction has spread over his left leg, up to his left arm, and stopping just short of his neck. Perhaps related to this, he walks with a slight limp on that side, sometimes using a cane for support.

If one looks closely, his left eye appears faded, almost as if it were blind.

It should be noted that Devereux’s name speaks of his origins; its Norman incarnate is ‘d’Évreux, but the modern French spelling is Devereux, pronounced ‘deh-v’roo’; this is the pronunciation used in the home. However, English-speakers usually pronounce it as its English alteration, Devereaux (‘deh-verre-owe’). Devereux doesn’t mind either appellation.

Personality;
Devereux is a difficult one to crack, but the sad truth may be that there’s just not much to find. On first impression – and many more impressions – Devereux is quiet, observant, and seemingly stoic. He doesn’t seem to like to talk a lot; he doesn’t favor the concept of ‘small talk’ and, aside from his lectures, one is fortunate to hear him string more than three or four words together. This isn’t on account of being frightened of people, though; he just seems disinterested most of the time and keeps unnecessary interaction to a minimum.

One shouldn’t be foolishly optimistic in thinking that this standoffish exterior is all to conceal some hidden ‘compassionate’ interior; one would be disappointed to find that he’s just as jaded on the inside. At the risk of sounding cliché, Devereux did, at one time, enjoy (or suffer from) the gamut of emotions that anyone else does, but a combination of circumstances – the most notable being the sheer amount of time that has passed – have led his emotional capacity to gradually deteriorate.

Even in life he was already mildly sociopathic, but now few things are able to provoke ‘feelings’ on his part, lending to his lack of social niceties. His few interests that remain are his desire to feed his inquisitive mindset – mostly in the realm of biological sciences, and more specifically, anatomy and physiology. His deadened moral compass eliminates the inhibition that would prevent him from, say, cutting up a cadaver without question, in order to understand what is inside. He is neither squeamish about it, nor does he draw some sort of ‘sickened’ satisfaction from it that some twisted mind would; it is simply a means to an end, that end being his need to understand. Of course, this is something that is simply not acceptable by social standards, and most find him disturbing or at the very least, unsettling. He is somewhat ignorant of this and were someone to bring it to his attention, he probably wouldn’t understand or care.

Digging even deeper, Devereux does have certain moral obligations, as buried as they are. On account of his attempts to repent for what ghastly sins he did commit long ago (he differentiates his bad deeds from his current ‘studies’ in that the former was fueled by malevolence, and the latter not), he strives to impart his accumulated knowledge on the younger generations – through teaching. He also occasionally ‘freelances’ his medical expertise to those who cannot afford it normally, usually requesting other types of payment in exchange (read: blood). And of course, repentance is his personal reason for combating the Cult, on top of the priorities of the Chevalerie as a whole.

History;
Devereux doesn’t remember the year of his birth (nor many of the details surrounding his pre-hibernation life), though through evidence he has gathered, he has narrowed it to somewhere in the early 1400s. He doesn’t remember the month, either, so he chose to name his birthday after the date of his reawakening. But that will come later. (WIP)

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OOC;
Name: Kai
Other Characters: Lots
Preferred method of contact: Cbox
How did you find us?: :B
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