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Description
Basic Information
Name: Isengrim (Pronunciation: EYE-zun-grim)
Nicknames: Isen, THAT IS NO DOE, Goatface, literally any lack-of-antlers insult you can think of. Note: Comparing him to a doe is not an insult in Blackwood. He'd be flattered.
Species: Fawnlings
Gender: Male
Age: 21
Year of Birth: 749 of the New Age, spring
Height: 13hh
Build: Medium Heavy
Phenotype: Black Smoky Fawn
Genotype: EE/aa/fwsfws
Eye Colour: Dark Brown
Design Sheet: November Pool #33

Sire: Miron (NPC Blackwood stag, deceased)
Dam: Zoya (NPC Blackwood doe, deceased)
Bloodline: 100% Blackwood
Magic Type: Black magic - Necromancy

Herd: Blackwood
Herd Position: Ghoulcaller, sawbones
Mate(s): N/A
Current Location: His den in the Blackwood, Blackwood

AppearanceIsengrim is a hummel, and never has and never will bear any antlers. This is due to ongoing malnutrition at a critical point in pedicle development when he was very young living on the eastern shore - suspicions that it is genetic and may be passed on to male fawns are entirely unfounded, but rife within the herd. Instead, he has grown elongated canines and fights with tooth and hoof. Isengrim himself isn't sure whether to count his appearance as a curse that takes away his mark of staghood, or a blessing that has made him in the image of the goddess Uir. Either way, the lack of metabolic strain from antlers has ensured that the weak fawn has grown...well. Huge. His mother wasn't the largest, so he'll never be the tallest fawnling, but all of his nutrition has always gone only into his body and it has used it well. He is bulky and muscular where many of his male herdmates are undernourished, and an impressive chest ruff only makes him more intimidating. He has several scars from ill-advised tussles with antlered fawnlings, but many of these are hidden in his thick coat.

PersonalityIsengrim isn't awfully pleasant to be around. He is frequently bitter about his lack of antlers compared to many of his male herdmates - though if asked, he maintains that he's much better off without them, that his fighting techniques are much more effective than those of antlered fawnlings, and that several antlered fawnlings of his acquaintance clearly use up brain matter growing theirs as it would explain a great deal. He's particularly angry during the rut, which he feels as keenly as anyone, and will fight his share - though out of hard-learned self-preservation he tends to be most active at the beginning and end, avoiding the high-blooded middle. Sometimes, like many Blackwood stags, he forgoes the rut if he thinks his chances are so low as to be embarrassing. In spring he is positively obnoxious, parading around and drawing attention to himself while he is at a distinct advantage compared to his temporarily antlerless brethren.

He can actually fight in the "traditional" way quite decently against smaller, younger stags - quite literally head to head and ignoring antlers if the fight isn't too frantic a la this - but in real fights and against large foes he must battle in his own way. Stamina and fast manoeuvres into position are his tools for physical fights - though his build lends itself to a certain brute force and limits his agility - but given time his preference is to use his magic. Distracting opponents with whispering spirits, calling up the ghost of their dead fawn, tripping them with putrefying rabbits or sending feather-shedding ravens at their faces - you name it, he does it, and in true Blackwood style has no compunctions about being seriously gross about it. Control over death is a gift given by Uir, and he's damn well going to exercise it.

Not only does he desire magical power but herd influence too, striving to work his way up the ranks and prove himself as good as antlered fawnlings - or better, by preference. Though he is generally accepted in the herd and holds a good place in the "army", he knows that some still view him as potentially weak and longs to mash their faces triumphantly in the pine needles. One day. One day.

HistoryIsengrim was born in the spring of Y748NA to Miron, a Warrior stag, and Zoya, a Revoker doe, near the eastern shore. The birth had been planned to be in the depths of Blackwood, but they hadn't expected him to be slightly premature and so they were stuck there for some time with a fawn that could not easily travel. Still, his childhood was uneventful if underfed, and though Miron's duties often kept him away from the family he was proud to have made a match with one of the few pure Blackwood does and would visit as frequently as he was able. Isengrim grew up learning fighting skills from his father and playing with the spirits his mother conjured when she was too tired to keep up with his young energy - all until some time after Isengrim's third birthday, when Miron stopped visiting. It was a while before they learned that he had been killed in an attack on Glenmore, but that night Zoya lay down with Isengrim and conjured Miron's ghost so that they could both say goodbye properly. After that, Zoya had time to teach Isengrim some of her craft before she herself was killed a couple of years later, and so Isengrim himself was able to summon his mother's ghost - this time to say his goodbyes alone.

Isengrim has completed the coming of age ritual several times. As it wasn't clear for some time that he had reached adolescence - the evidence eventually being his increased body mass and growing teeth rather than the presence of antlers - it wasn't until age seven that he was sent out into the woods to fight for his life, the dubious mocking of the herd still ringing in his ears. In fact he failed this first test, and only just escaped a wolf's jaws intact. The second time he had learned his lesson, and brought back the paw of a young wolf that he had killed by tearing its throat out. This bought him a little time before he was tested again, and by training hard he finally brought down a grown wolf. Since then he has reundertaken the ritual a number of times, gradually increasing the size and impressiveness of his haul with his teeth and magic until - recently - he was sometimes taking on mid-size bears. Difficult to get back to the herd? Not with advanced necromancy! Just walk it back with you.

In a slightly unexpected turn of events, being occupationally surrounded by dead bodies, Isengrim has acquired a vaguely decent knowledge of comparative anatomy. Sometimes it's necessary to repair the bodies he's using due to injury or decomposition - after all, it's much easier to control a body with all four legs intact - and he has developed splinting and strapping methods that, though primitive due to his distinct lack of opposable thumbs, nonetheless do the job. And so for the, er, desperate, he performs the role of a decidedly dubious "sawbones/surgeon" of sorts: not more than a whiff of herbalism in him, so if you want decent analgesia you'd best see someone else as well, but fractures, gangrene or alarming foreign bodies? He's your fawnling.

The closest Isengrim comes to calling something "home" is a gargantuan briar tangle somewhere in the blackwood - externally no different to other similar formations except for the bear's skull tied to the tree next to it and a few...dead bodies in the branches around. Inside it is hollow, gouged out over years of work to accommodate his large body; he must still duck to enter through a flap of tangled brambles, but this provides a measure of some security, as it would impede antlers. Inside the wind still whistles through the gaps, but the vegetation provides a bit of shelter; mostly it exists to store good-quality dead bodies, body parts, bones, charms and materials for safekeeping and later use. Nearby, a pit filled with sand gradually imported from the eastern coast provides anti-putrefaction storage for particularly important specimens.

Relationships
Nazir (played by alexpeanut )
TBC

Plottings
General Plans:
-Piss people off
-Plot his magnificent rise through the ranks of Blackwood
-Be variously seen as weak, weird, irrelevant or terrifying
-"""Treat""" """patients"""
-Necromance
-Maybe do another coming of age expedition this year

Future Plans:
-Make a friend??????? Or ally, or something.
-Eventually convince himself that his appearance is on the blessing side of the coin. Eventually.
-Rise in ranks and stature. As high as he can possibly go, really, whether that's Ghoulcaller, General or King.
-Master necromancy and the ability to rain down hordes of dead things on people
-Maybe eventually understand some herbs if he thinks he has nothing better to do
-Delve grossly into putting spirits back into their bodies after death in a completely misguided attempt to see what he could have done for his parents. Results are appropriately gross.

Skill Points
Speed: 1 [Basic Level] (Build Cap: 15 points max)
Stamina: 19 [Medium Level]
Strength: 21 [Advanced Level]

Magic:
-Necromancy: 28 [Advanced Level]
-Possession: 21 [Advanced Level]
Herbs: 4 [Basic Level]
Crafting: 10 [Medium Level]

Experience: 0

Breakdown
+1 speed - base bonus
+4 stamina - base bonus
+5 strength - base bonus

+1 stamina - starter bonus
+10 magic - starter bonus

+10 strength - festive bacon boost 2015
+10 crafting - skill bonus #61
+10 stamina - Token #0658 (5th Birthday Tombola)
+20 magic (pos) - Tokens #1344 and #1345 (Xmas 2017)

Y752NA, Spring: Goodbye, Papa *Runner up RP OTM April 2015!
+1 magic (nec) - art - The Gift of Memory
+2 magic (nec) - lit - 1000-1999 words - A Memory in the Air
+2 magic (nec) - training/sparring with a Fawnling of higher level

Y753NA, Autumn: Practise, Practise, Practise
+1 magic - art - Practise, Practise, Practise
+2 magic (nec) - training/sparring with a Fawnling of higher level

Y755NA, Spring: To Invoke and Revoke
+3 magic (2 nec, 1 pos) - lit - 2000+ words - To Invoke and Revoke

Y760NA, Autumn: Bindings and Bodies
+4 magic (nec) - collab lit - 2000+ words - Bindings and Bodies

Y761NA, Summer: Grumpiness Is Next To Godliness
+2 magic (nec), +2 strength - collab lit - 2000+ words - Grumpiness Is Next To Godliness

Y761NA, Summer: The Beau and the Beast
+4 stamina - collab lit - 2000+ words - The Beau and the Beast

Y762NA, Spring: Magic is for Cowards
+2 strength - collab art - Shoving Match
+2 strength - training/sparring with a Fawnling of higher level

Y762NA, Spring: Of Life and Death
+4 herbs - collab lit - 2000+ words - Healer, Healer, Death Dealer

Y762NA, Summer: The Squeaky Noodle Gets the Bush
+2 magic (nec) - collab lit - 400-999 words - The Squeaky Noodle Gets the Bush

Image © me (KatsBrain )
Fawnlings © Ehetere

Description
Basic Information
Name: Isengrim (Pronunciation: EYE-zun-grim)
Nicknames: Isen, THAT IS NO DOE, Goatface, literally any lack-of-antlers insult you can think of. Note: Comparing him to a doe is not an insult in Blackwood. He'd be flattered.
Species: Fawnlings
Gender: Male
Age: 21
Year of Birth: 749 of the New Age, spring
Height: 13hh
Build: Medium Heavy
Phenotype: Black Smoky Fawn
Genotype: EE/aa/fwsfws
Eye Colour: Dark Brown
Design Sheet: November Pool #33

Sire: Miron (NPC Blackwood stag, deceased)
Dam: Zoya (NPC Blackwood doe, deceased)
Bloodline: 100% Blackwood
Magic Type: Black magic - Necromancy

Herd: Blackwood
Herd Position: Ghoulcaller, sawbones
Mate(s): N/A
Current Location: His den in the Blackwood, Blackwood

AppearanceIsengrim is a hummel, and never has and never will bear any antlers. This is due to ongoing malnutrition at a critical point in pedicle development when he was very young living on the eastern shore - suspicions that it is genetic and may be passed on to male fawns are entirely unfounded, but rife within the herd. Instead, he has grown elongated canines and fights with tooth and hoof. Isengrim himself isn't sure whether to count his appearance as a curse that takes away his mark of staghood, or a blessing that has made him in the image of the goddess Uir. Either way, the lack of metabolic strain from antlers has ensured that the weak fawn has grown...well. Huge. His mother wasn't the largest, so he'll never be the tallest fawnling, but all of his nutrition has always gone only into his body and it has used it well. He is bulky and muscular where many of his male herdmates are undernourished, and an impressive chest ruff only makes him more intimidating. He has several scars from ill-advised tussles with antlered fawnlings, but many of these are hidden in his thick coat.

PersonalityIsengrim isn't awfully pleasant to be around. He is frequently bitter about his lack of antlers compared to many of his male herdmates - though if asked, he maintains that he's much better off without them, that his fighting techniques are much more effective than those of antlered fawnlings, and that several antlered fawnlings of his acquaintance clearly use up brain matter growing theirs as it would explain a great deal. He's particularly angry during the rut, which he feels as keenly as anyone, and will fight his share - though out of hard-learned self-preservation he tends to be most active at the beginning and end, avoiding the high-blooded middle. Sometimes, like many Blackwood stags, he forgoes the rut if he thinks his chances are so low as to be embarrassing. In spring he is positively obnoxious, parading around and drawing attention to himself while he is at a distinct advantage compared to his temporarily antlerless brethren.

He can actually fight in the "traditional" way quite decently against smaller, younger stags - quite literally head to head and ignoring antlers if the fight isn't too frantic a la this - but in real fights and against large foes he must battle in his own way. Stamina and fast manoeuvres into position are his tools for physical fights - though his build lends itself to a certain brute force and limits his agility - but given time his preference is to use his magic. Distracting opponents with whispering spirits, calling up the ghost of their dead fawn, tripping them with putrefying rabbits or sending feather-shedding ravens at their faces - you name it, he does it, and in true Blackwood style has no compunctions about being seriously gross about it. Control over death is a gift given by Uir, and he's damn well going to exercise it.

Not only does he desire magical power but herd influence too, striving to work his way up the ranks and prove himself as good as antlered fawnlings - or better, by preference. Though he is generally accepted in the herd and holds a good place in the "army", he knows that some still view him as potentially weak and longs to mash their faces triumphantly in the pine needles. One day. One day.

HistoryIsengrim was born in the spring of Y748NA to Miron, a Warrior stag, and Zoya, a Revoker doe, near the eastern shore. The birth had been planned to be in the depths of Blackwood, but they hadn't expected him to be slightly premature and so they were stuck there for some time with a fawn that could not easily travel. Still, his childhood was uneventful if underfed, and though Miron's duties often kept him away from the family he was proud to have made a match with one of the few pure Blackwood does and would visit as frequently as he was able. Isengrim grew up learning fighting skills from his father and playing with the spirits his mother conjured when she was too tired to keep up with his young energy - all until some time after Isengrim's third birthday, when Miron stopped visiting. It was a while before they learned that he had been killed in an attack on Glenmore, but that night Zoya lay down with Isengrim and conjured Miron's ghost so that they could both say goodbye properly. After that, Zoya had time to teach Isengrim some of her craft before she herself was killed a couple of years later, and so Isengrim himself was able to summon his mother's ghost - this time to say his goodbyes alone.

Isengrim has completed the coming of age ritual several times. As it wasn't clear for some time that he had reached adolescence - the evidence eventually being his increased body mass and growing teeth rather than the presence of antlers - it wasn't until age seven that he was sent out into the woods to fight for his life, the dubious mocking of the herd still ringing in his ears. In fact he failed this first test, and only just escaped a wolf's jaws intact. The second time he had learned his lesson, and brought back the paw of a young wolf that he had killed by tearing its throat out. This bought him a little time before he was tested again, and by training hard he finally brought down a grown wolf. Since then he has reundertaken the ritual a number of times, gradually increasing the size and impressiveness of his haul with his teeth and magic until - recently - he was sometimes taking on mid-size bears. Difficult to get back to the herd? Not with advanced necromancy! Just walk it back with you.

In a slightly unexpected turn of events, being occupationally surrounded by dead bodies, Isengrim has acquired a vaguely decent knowledge of comparative anatomy. Sometimes it's necessary to repair the bodies he's using due to injury or decomposition - after all, it's much easier to control a body with all four legs intact - and he has developed splinting and strapping methods that, though primitive due to his distinct lack of opposable thumbs, nonetheless do the job. And so for the, er, desperate, he performs the role of a decidedly dubious "sawbones/surgeon" of sorts: not more than a whiff of herbalism in him, so if you want decent analgesia you'd best see someone else as well, but fractures, gangrene or alarming foreign bodies? He's your fawnling.

The closest Isengrim comes to calling something "home" is a gargantuan briar tangle somewhere in the blackwood - externally no different to other similar formations except for the bear's skull tied to the tree next to it and a few...dead bodies in the branches around. Inside it is hollow, gouged out over years of work to accommodate his large body; he must still duck to enter through a flap of tangled brambles, but this provides a measure of some security, as it would impede antlers. Inside the wind still whistles through the gaps, but the vegetation provides a bit of shelter; mostly it exists to store good-quality dead bodies, body parts, bones, charms and materials for safekeeping and later use. Nearby, a pit filled with sand gradually imported from the eastern coast provides anti-putrefaction storage for particularly important specimens.

Relationships
Nazir (played by alexpeanut )
TBC

Plottings
General Plans:
-Piss people off
-Plot his magnificent rise through the ranks of Blackwood
-Be variously seen as weak, weird, irrelevant or terrifying
-"""Treat""" """patients"""
-Necromance
-Maybe do another coming of age expedition this year

Future Plans:
-Make a friend??????? Or ally, or something.
-Eventually convince himself that his appearance is on the blessing side of the coin. Eventually.
-Rise in ranks and stature. As high as he can possibly go, really, whether that's Ghoulcaller, General or King.
-Master necromancy and the ability to rain down hordes of dead things on people
-Maybe eventually understand some herbs if he thinks he has nothing better to do
-Delve grossly into putting spirits back into their bodies after death in a completely misguided attempt to see what he could have done for his parents. Results are appropriately gross.

Skill Points
Speed: 1 [Basic Level] (Build Cap: 15 points max)
Stamina: 19 [Medium Level]
Strength: 21 [Advanced Level]

Magic:
-Necromancy: 28 [Advanced Level]
-Possession: 21 [Advanced Level]
Herbs: 4 [Basic Level]
Crafting: 10 [Medium Level]

Experience: 0

Breakdown
+1 speed - base bonus
+4 stamina - base bonus
+5 strength - base bonus

+1 stamina - starter bonus
+10 magic - starter bonus

+10 strength - festive bacon boost 2015
+10 crafting - skill bonus #61
+10 stamina - Token #0658 (5th Birthday Tombola)
+20 magic (pos) - Tokens #1344 and #1345 (Xmas 2017)

Y752NA, Spring: Goodbye, Papa *Runner up RP OTM April 2015!
+1 magic (nec) - art - The Gift of Memory
+2 magic (nec) - lit - 1000-1999 words - A Memory in the Air
+2 magic (nec) - training/sparring with a Fawnling of higher level

Y753NA, Autumn: Practise, Practise, Practise
+1 magic - art - Practise, Practise, Practise
+2 magic (nec) - training/sparring with a Fawnling of higher level

Y755NA, Spring: To Invoke and Revoke
+3 magic (2 nec, 1 pos) - lit - 2000+ words - To Invoke and Revoke

Y760NA, Autumn: Bindings and Bodies
+4 magic (nec) - collab lit - 2000+ words - Bindings and Bodies

Y761NA, Summer: Grumpiness Is Next To Godliness
+2 magic (nec), +2 strength - collab lit - 2000+ words - Grumpiness Is Next To Godliness

Y761NA, Summer: The Beau and the Beast
+4 stamina - collab lit - 2000+ words - The Beau and the Beast

Y762NA, Spring: Magic is for Cowards
+2 strength - collab art - Shoving Match
+2 strength - training/sparring with a Fawnling of higher level

Y762NA, Spring: Of Life and Death
+4 herbs - collab lit - 2000+ words - Healer, Healer, Death Dealer

Y762NA, Summer: The Squeaky Noodle Gets the Bush
+2 magic (nec) - collab lit - 400-999 words - The Squeaky Noodle Gets the Bush

Image © me (KatsBrain )
Fawnlings © Ehetere