Tracker ([TRaK]+[eR])
Hound One-four-eighteen-seventy (a.k.a. Tracker, Track, Precious, One-four, Pretty-pretty)
Tracker is a King's Hounds and one of the main characters from the Spellster and the Hound book series. He travels alongside the human spellster Dylan, the dwarven hedgewitch Katarina, the elven mercenary Authril, and the human hunter Marin, having encountered them in Toptower whilst hunting the residual effects of Dylan's latent magic. With his creed not permitting an unleashed spellster to leave his presence, he declared Dylan as being under his command within moments of meeting as well as the intent to escort the man back to the spellster tower, permitting the others to join them for the journey.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
A lifetime of weapon training amongst the hounds and his years dancing (alongside other activities) at The Gilded Lily left Tracker with an agile and flexible physique. His elven psychology has given him a wiry look, making him stronger than he appears.
Whilst outward appearances paint him as a typical Demarn-born elf, he bears elongated canines that suggests an undiluted elven bloodline, rare for the kingdom, even rarer for the place of his birth.
Identifying Characteristics
Tattoos encompass a great deal of his body. Prominent ones include: a band on his right bicep with the names of his three former lovers; a snake on his left shoulder that winds up through a floral motif from his bicep and stops at his left pectoral; a firebird from Stamekian legend on his left hip; a sword that starts at the base of his hairline and runs to midway down his spine; a pawprint behind his left ear denoting his status as a King's Hound.
Special abilities
Ambidextrous.
Usual nulled one immunity to direct magic and the ability to sense magic being used or strong spellsters nearby, fine-tuned enough to detect magic in unborn spellsters.
Thanks to his hound training, he is adept in wielding a variety of weapons, although he favours his scimitar, daggers and throwing knives, the latter of which are typically coated in some manner of poison. His training has also left him with an immunity to a number of poisons as well as the ability to discern when a person has been poisoned and by what type.
Apparel & Accessories
His ears hold a multitude of piercings, unusual for an elf due to the organ's extremely sensitive nature. Many of the earrings are simple loops or studs, with fine silver chains connecting some. The most detailed of these earrings is a small dangling dagger that doubles as a lockpick. He also conceals a lockpick within the tie binding the end of his braid.
His attire is a black leather jerkin and trousers that is standard for the King's Hounds. The jerkin is further reinforced at the shoulders with chainmail and internally with a handful of plates. His bracers are studded with brass. His boots are slightly darker in colour, having been made elsewhere and are of a better quality than the rest of his armour. Beneath it all lies a padded shirt, undershirt and smallclothes, all made of linen.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
On the first day of the fourth month in the year eighteen-seventy, One-four's mother managed to escape Demarn's spellster tower. It was a brief victory as she died during childbirth, but not before being found by the King's Hounds. From there, her son was taken back to the tower and put through the usual spellster tests of having his heel pricked to elicit the instinctual magical reaction found in all spellster newborns. Failing them when having a clear spellster parentage only meant he was born with an immunity to magic and put One-four in line to join the hounds, so he was taken to Demarn's capital and placed with the other elven boys also destined to fill the hound ranks. Rather than be given a name at this time, he has only the designation One-four-eighteen-seventy, or One-four for short.
Those who look over the hound children ensure they are fed, taught the basics and are healthy. But due to disobedience amongst the hounds holding a penalty of death, the lesson that obeying is far better is encouraged among the children and the methods of discipline are often cruel. Even One-four was not spared this.
At the age of five, he began the usual tests of consuming small doses of poison under their minder's supervision. Most but the weakest would-be hounds make it through and those who do are sent to test for the optimal weapon to begin their training with the hounds. The children are then tattooed on their backs with whatever weapon is selected as being best for their natural talents. In the case of One-four, it was a sword.
Hound training involves a distancing of self from the body. Children are put through brutal regimes, including torture and, many times, the close-up witnessing of a comrade's death. During his training, near his eighth year, One-four was disciplined once for questioning their training methods. In this, he was made to cut his own switch and bring it before his trainer who then suspended him from the ceiling by one arm before the other hounds and children. This led to his shoulder being dislocated and his first injury.
Amongst their weapon training, prospective hounds learn that the only response to an order is obedience and close relationships are forbidden. This didn't stop One-four from experiencing his first kiss at the age of nine with a young elven boy known only as Nine-twelve-eighteen-sixty-seven (who was put down less than a year later after his skills failed to improve).
The hound quarters are located in the old dungeons beneath the castle at Wintervale, which has become a warren decaying in a great many places. The hounds don't regulate where their charges wander in times of rest. At eleven, One-four fell through a floor and, with one leg broken, was forced to crawl his way back through in the dark to the living quarters where he subsequently passed out and awoke in the infirmary. There he met Wynne, a human girl who had been discovered in a raid on an underground slave ring.
The big mistake
At the age of thirteen, One-four was already sneaking out to brothels and charming those within to a predictable end. The minders and trainers allowed this as it largely helped keep the hounds from growing romantically attached to those around them. But most hounds still have friends and One-four was no exception, growing particularly fond of three others around the same age as himself: Wynne, Zinnala (an elven girl who'd been found in the same slave ring as Wynne) and a human boy designated Six-one-eighteen-seventy who had gained the nickname "Hunk" owing to his large physique. Their friendship started innocently, doing no more than joking amongst themselves with the odd slipping away from the temple sermons to cavort through the city. Somewhere around One-four's this time, the four became lovers. It was a short-lived affair. Wynne became pregnant and managed to hide it from everyone, letting the other three know a month before she was due only because One-four's ability to sense magic was refined enough to detect it in her unborn child. She gave birth to a half-elven girl. The four of them hid the baby deep within the old tunnels where the hounds wouldn't hear her cries, but they'd already come under suspicion thanks to the betrayal of a jealous Six-one-eighteen-seventy. All four were tossed into the Pit and forced to fight to the death with only their bare hands. The young women were slaughtered by Six-one-eighteen-seventy before the human turned on One-four, who used the broken bone of one dead lover to kill him. By this time, they ranged from fourteen to fifteen years of age with One-four having just entered his fourteenth year. Coming out of the Pit victorious and broken, One-four attempted to claim his newborn daughter only to discover she had died of exposure during the hours she'd been hidden in the dark. His grief caught the attention of the hounds, who found him wailing over the infant's body. It took several full-grown hounds to prise the body from his hands to be deposed of (in terms of the King's Hounds, this involves throwing them off the cliff and into the sea).The retraining years
The hound mistress shipped One-four off to serve in an elite brothel called The Gilded Lily for several years under the guise of training him, but in reality hoped to finish breaking him to properly fit the hound mould. Throughout his time there, he further honed his seduction skills, gained connections and friends among the prostitutes and even taught a handful the art of espionage. At the brothel, he was known as Precious, a moniker given to him by their mistress who was unaware of his young age, learning it several months into his stay after an unfortunate incident involving him receiving a double dosing of Elfenwurzel. Through the rest of his first year, he was relegated to serving and dancing in the common room as well as cleaning the working chambers. When his fifteenth year arrived, he was put to work alongside the other prostitutes, most notably the elven, Matz, and the human, Treasure, both of whom he had quite the rapport with. In his eighteenth year, he was returned to the pack and tested to become a fully-fledged member of the King's Hounds. He passed, receiving the designation "Tracker" in homage to his skill in finding even the most difficult of prey. As a Tracker, he became no less defiant in how he followed the hound creed, merely hiding his transgressions better. He allowed certain spellsters to go unleashed, escorted others to the border and turned a blind eye to a handful more, especially those with children. Due to his brothel training, he is no stranger to using his body however it is required, including sleeping with a handful of spellsters during his escorting duties.A second chance at love
In the year 1902 AES, whilst a jaded Tracker was investigating rumours in the border town of Toptower, he encountered and took command of escorting Dylan, who had escaped the slaughter at the Demarn Army Encampment and had, somehow, managed to unleash himself by breaking his infitialis collar without dying to the resulting blast. The pair travelled for many months alongside three others: Authril, who had joined the army along with the rest of her mercenary company and had designs on becoming Dylan's warden; Katarina, who had been caught in the crossfire between the two armies and had found Dylan's unconscious form; and Marin, who abandoned her forest hut upon word that the army was destroyed and had nowhere else to go. At first, Tracker appeared to be following his duty of escorting an unleashed spellster back to the tower to be leashed once again. When it was discovered that the tower had fallen, he advocated sparing Dylan the fate the hound creed dictated should be done if escorting or leashing isn't possible (killing) and instead set out for the Wintervale to see if the leashed spellster the hounds kept for training was capable of leashing (when in reality, he planned to smuggle Dylan across the border to Dvärghem). Even without knowing his true intentions, this decision resulted in him clashing with Authril numerous times, both verbally and physically. Throughout their travels, the spellster the and hound grew close, although Dylan's lack of consistency when it came to accepting romantic advances confused Tracker until he learnt what he'd seen as casual flirting had the other man heavily questioning his sexuality. Promising to leave the matter of sex at Dylan's discretion, they shared multiple nights in each other's arms, both sleeping and not, managing to keep it a secret from the rest of their travelling companions until they reached the city of Whitemeadow where Marin barged in on them. It wasn't until they reached Riverton that Tracker confessed his feelings as well as his intentions.Committing treason
Unbeknown to anyone within their group, their presence had been noted by a group of hounds hunting down any spellster who had managed to evade the tower culling. They caught up to Tracker and the others, leading to him attacking his fellow hounds. He managed only to take down a couple before being overcome and left for dead. Upon waking and finding himself back in Riverton (thanks to the benevolence of a travelling merchant), he set out for revenge under the assumption that Dylan was dead. Stealing a horse, he made his way to Whitemeadow to kill the current hound master. In the process, he discovered Dylan still lived. Freeing the spellster had Authril, as Dylan's new warden, directly opposing him. The two lovers reunited, but their union would be one of only brief elation as the other hounds were alerted to Tracker's presence. They were both thrown into the Pit where Tracker was given a chance to redeem himself by killing the now-leashed Dylan. Tracker refused, leading to him fighting their way through the old dungeons until he was able to unleash Dylan. The pair slaughtered a dozen hounds before caving in the entrance and fleeing to a dwarven ship that waited at the behest of Katarina. The pair fled to Tovehalvön and remained there under the service and protection of the Coven of Hedgewitches until 1910 AES, when the Age of Steam arrived.Sexuality
Tracker holds a very broad mind on sex. A person's character is far more likely to sway whether he finds them attractive rather than age, gender or species. That being said, he has a preference towards phallic genitalia (in part because he's unlikely to accidentally impregnate them) and a weakness for people taller than himself.
When it comes to sexual acts, he has a vast array of talents, many of them gained or honed by his time in The Gilded Lily. He is willing to take on the dominant or submissive role, albeit, prefers the former as he finds that grants him an easier chance to please his bed partner. Like most elves, he's very flexible and able to put himself into varying positions to suit his partner. In his case, he can bend enough to engage in autofellatio with ease.
Mental Trauma
It's no surprise that Tracker suffers from PTSD.
Due to the trauma and near-death experience after breaking his leg, he has a fear of tunnels. This fear was compounded after being led into the Pit.
He is unable to say the word 'love' in context to his own emotions. Even thinking it can induce panic attacks. This is entirely due to the first, and only, utterance culminating in losing everything after being thrown into the Pit to fight for his life.
Personality Characteristics
Likes & Dislikes
FAVOURITE FOOD: Candied dates.
FAVOURITE COLOUR: Silver.
Virtues & Personality perks
Charismatic. Loyal.
Vices & Personality flaws
Cocky. Manipulative. Questionable morals.
Hygiene
Tracker is fastidious in keeping himself clean and well-presented. This is likely a holdover from his time in The Gilded Lily where they demanded their workers maintain a certain degree of cleanliness. He often smells of citrus and cinnamon due to favouring the aroma of his soap.
When it comes to his hair, he is very particular about it. Few are allowed to touch it. Even fewer are permitted to see it unbound.
Social
Family Ties
Due to his birth being the death of his mother, and that he would've been taken from her afterwards had she lived, he is unaware of having any other family beyond the King's Hound. He believes his mother to have been just another elven spellster and has absolutely no knowledge of his father, including whether or not he's elven.
Hobbies & Pets
Like all hounds not assigned a specific city to monitor, Tracker was allowed a horse. For the first few years, he rode a placid gelding that was satisfactory for travel and not much else. A few months after his twentieth birthday, he requested a change of mount. His choice was a scruffy young stallion whom he dubbed Lullaby after their swaying gait. Under his schooling, the animal became a highly effective warhorse, trained to respond to a number of whistled commands disguised as children's songs.
Whilst the pair have been inseparable since their first meeting, Lullaby sustained a huge injury in pursuit of an unleashed spellster, rendering him unable to bear saddle or rider. Tracker was forced to leave him in the care of others.
Speech
Having spent much of his childhood in the coastal region of Demarn, Tracker has the typical smooth and rolling accent found there. It can be described as words tumbling off the tongue like rocks down a hill, occasionally catching on a soft trill or hiss.
Relationships
Current Location
Species
Ethnicity
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Spellster Tracker
Date of Birth
1/4/1870
Year of Birth
1870 AES
32 Years old
Circumstances of Birth
Born outside during a period of rain, resulting in the death of his mother.
Birthplace
The forests outside the Spellster Tower, Demarn
Family
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Sex
Male
Gender
Man
Presentation
Masculine
Eyes
Honey-coloured
Hair
Russet, waist-length and curly. Often tied in single braid.
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Bronze. Covered in multiple tattoos.
Height
5'4
Aligned Organization
Related Plots
Talfantanese (fluent)
Tirglasian (semi-fluent)
Dvarg (semi-fluent)
Elven (smattering, largely sexual in nature).
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