Welcome to Gaia! ::

Username: Carice Lauer
Who recruited you?: Dragostae, I suppose, though it was probably more everyone, since I didn't decide to join until I'd read everyone's character profiles. sweatdrop

Name: Lucian Osler Rix
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Height: Five feet, five and one-half inches
Weight: 124 pounds

Race: English
Social Class: Upper Working Class

Appearance: Lucian is a boy of no remarkable height, exceptionally lanky, and pale skinned. He has slightly effeminate facial features, held in check by a pair of tarnished brass-rimmed spectacles that seem just a few shades lighter than his eyes. His eyes seem to be the only really colorful thing about him; his hair is a short, black-hued concoction of follicles, topped off by a simple black hat (that is, where rules don't prohibit such). Lucian's clothing is plain, consisting of black shoes, gray trousers, a long-sleeved white shirt, and an old, worn-looking gray vest. This unremarkable quality of appearance is matched by equally dull posture and stride, hinting at his lack of self-confidence. His nervousness around other people has made him fidgety; his hands are rarely still when at rest, except when he intentionally wills them so (which he often forgets to do).

Personality: Soft spoken and self-disciplined, Lucian tries his best to simply blend in --to be a single cog in the machine of the crowd. He doesn't like to be noticed, and rarely draws attention to himself. His responses are stoic, "yes ma'am, no ma'am, yes sir, no sir," and his demeanor is quiet, and his posture is good. The easily ignored type, Lucian is, in short, a perfect student. Like all perfect students, however, Lucian changes when apart from the aegis of authority that rules a classroom.
When there are no teachers around, Lucian feels vulnerable, and goes from docile to skittish quickly. Lucian has never grown comfortable with strangers with any haste, and has a subconscious phobia that everyone knows he's nothing. Lucian finds speaking with others very difficult, as most people find speaking with him. His mental timidity has worked its way into his physical self, manifesting as a soft, shaky voice, and fidgeting hands. Easily frightened by other people, Lucian can be likened to a rabbit: even the slightest wrong move could send him diving for cover.
In truth, Lucian only really displays confidence when he talks about other people's machines; machines are all he understands, and he thinks his own machines to be inadequate and shoddy, even though they rarely are. Regardless, when he begins talking about the machines other people have designed, it is difficult to stop him. He describes what he sees as genius in every innovation, and loses himself in the clockwork of a device.

Character flaws: Aside from his obvious challenge interacting with other people, Rix is fidgety and unsure of himself. Because his first success was not wholly his (see character secrets), Lucian finds being truly confident in the abilities he has very difficult, thinking that they are all, somehow, just extensions of his childhood theft. He collapses quickly under pressure about his work, and prefers more to flee than to fight. Lucian's whole world is machines, and when one breaks those for him, he has nothing --literally no other redeeming skills. His father raised him to be an engineer, and should he fail to do that, Lucian would find out quickly just how difficult life really is.

Background: Lucian was the only child of his parents. His mother survived only long enough to name him, and Mr. Rix dared not defy his wife's dying wish. So, with no siblings and only a father, Lucian's early life was difficult. He was left with a neighbor woman for a weekly stipend so Mr. Rix could continue to work. Mr. Rix never remarried.
When he was six, it was discovered that Lucian was brilliant with machines. He designed a little gadget that he named a Babbitt Widget --for no apparent reason, as it contained to Babbitt metal --that worked flawlessly. From then on, Lucian's father did everything for Lucian --to help his "genius son make something of himself" --foregoing, often, his own needs to better Lucian's state. Lucian kept to himself, rarely ventured outside the safety of his own home, and continued to tinker throughout his youth.
Mr. Rix kept the house accounts out of Lucian's hands, but the tinkering genius had his doubts about how his father was getting on while Lucian held moderate comfort. As his worries grew, Mr. Rix announced to Lucian that he should attend school shortly after his sixteenth birthday. This astounded Lucian --even the least notable machine schools were extravagant in their cost, and he could not fathom how his father had managed to procure his tuition. Mr. Rix would hear none of Lucian's arguments, and had him on the train to [[wherever it is the University lies]] before he knew it, with only a few belongings, and a crash course in society and manners.

Skills: Although his early success was mostly deception, Lucian has become adept at dealing with the workings of machines of all types, and has reached an understanding that all mechanics share the same fundamentals. Many of his designs come together out of instinct, and despite his lack of self-confidence, he has the mental capacity to work out all the details after he has completed a machine. Beyond that, his only notable skill is his handwriting, which seems almost an art in itself.

Belongings: Caring little for trinkets, Lucian's belongings are few and simple. He has a number of coins that add up to a half-crown, and a few mechanical bits stowed in a little box. He has a small trunk with several changes of similar clothes, though he has only one hat, and only two vests. Lucian's only notable possession is a leather hardbound book that he uses as a store for design notes and personal thoughts. He considers this book so important, in fact, that he designed and installed a lock on it, for which the key is on his spectacles.

Character secrets: Rix lied about designing the Babbitt Widget; he constructed it from a design in his grandfather's notebook, and never let on that it was a stolen design when his father took it to be genius (granted, building something that works every time when one is six is no small feat).

Anything else? ((probably, but I'll think about that later))

As if London itself wasn't confusing enough, the University was in a castle at least twice as large as Lucian's old neighborhood in ---burgh. It was, however, rather more manageable than the teeming streets of the city.

'To think there would be so many people in just one place, it's simply staggering!' Lucian was finally free of the throng of students and University staff in his dormitory --rather a difficult thing for him to find. He had stopped into no fewer than six incorrect rooms that were --thankfully --occupied. When he, at last, came to the end of the hall, the room was vacant, and bore the same number as the packet he had been given at the door. That in itself was a rather singular thing, as well.

The packet was all bound up with string, and contained a number of documents that were hardly of any help at all. The only thing that had proven useful thus far was the map of the premises, which had notes on every place that was likely to be important. The whole place had a random sort of hap hazardousness to it with a strange business of imposed order --for example, one area was labeled a "wing" and contained nothing of greater mark than a supply closet; another such "wing" was full of things like "girl's lavatory, first hall;" and yet another was dedicated wholly to rooms of such inane nomenclature that Lucian was forced to conclude he should never venture there. Each of the "wings" seemed to vary in size and layout, and the whole mess looked like someone had merely put lines and curves and points on paper and told someone else to build it, wherein the entire point was simply to confound those who would deign it necessary to be within such a place.

His frustration aside, however, Lucian resolved to place his things about the room in such a manner as would befit him. After a moment's thought, Lucian decided he should lay claim to the left side of the room, which was the most removed from the entryway. Placing his things about his newly claimed space was a rather quick and lazy affair; having only a few bits of clothing tuck away and no other remarkable possessions, Lucian found himself with his task completed in a matter of relatively little time.

Confounded as to what else to do, Lucian took a moment to consider his space. The bed was tucked up into the corner, and the wardrobe was perpendicularly arranged at its base along with the desk. The bookshelf was off to the side of the head of the bed and empty. The same configuration of furniture and emptiness was mirrored on the opposite side of the room. Lucian decided that he did not like his desk where it was and, as it was movable with relatively little effort, set about moving it to line with his bookshelf --as it was his; the other was for his roommate, presumably. Accomplishing that, Lucian tucked his trunk beneath it (closed, the luggage seemed the proper height for a chair), and placed his prized book as the only occupant of the lowest shelf above the desktop.

Lucian had run out of things to rearrange and put in order, read the student packet, and failed to come up with any new ideas. He sat some time in silent contemplation of his situation before he remembered something his father had said would be most important upon his arrival at the University. Lucian's only parent lived some eighty miles off in ---burgh, and British law demanded that nonadults be under the care of a responsible adult at all times. His father had said that ensuring this was taken care of immediately would be of chief concern, and that Lucian should not delay in procuring this assurance, as doing so beforehand had been impossible. With no other recourse, Lucian once more devoured his student packet, but could find no mention of a "responsible adult." He came to the conclusion, therefore...

"I suppose I shall have to see the headmistress about it..."

Without much more delay, Lucian vacated his lodging and made way to the Headmistress' office.