------michiel huisman . cis male . he/his . wasn’t that eben anastase walking the palace grounds ? it’s nice to see the lord of danruba out and about on such a fine day as this. i’ve heard from the court spies that they are notoriously apathetic, whilst also managing to be quite charming. the thirty-seven year old is eager to find out who exactly is behind the killings from what’s being said at court. i heard that they themselves are vrajiit ( life-force absorption ). it’s funny, whenever i think of them, i think of well-fitted leather armor, the gleam of polished silver and emeralds, and the scent of petrichor on a thick-foggy morning. great to see the revenant around, isn’t it ?
small stats
name: eben visser anastase. age: 37. status: lord of danruba, soldier in the vrajiit army. sexuality: grey-heteromantic heterosexual. species: human - vrajiit. power: life-force absorption. hair color: dark brown. eye color: hazel, favoring greys and greens. height: 6′0″. build: athletic - lean muscle. character comparison: edward fairfax rochester (jane eyre), jaime lannister (game of thrones), doc holliday (wynonna earp), boromir (lord of the rings), rick blaine (casablanca), don draper (mad men), perry cox (scrubs), tony soprano (the sopranos), kirk lazarus (tropic thunder), man in black (westworld). && daario naharis (game of thrones), han solo (star wars), thancred waters (final fantasy xiv), dante sparda (devil may cry), rogue (x-men).
biography
war was always in his blood, and blessed was his birth. though not the only child in the anastase noble line born a vrajiit, eben was often reminded of his place in the world growing up. destined for great things. to him it simply meant that people would always want him for something - and a young child imagined that could be nothing but GOOD. a young child knows very little.
the winds in danruba are harsh and unforgiving, the clime caring little for life settling there, trying to flourish. eben learned how to survive in the tundra, though it was never imagined he would ACTUALLY require that knowledge ( better to know and never need it, than need it and never know ). hunting was for sport and survival, the feats of each kill brought back and served for meals, the hides tanned into leathers, furs made for blankets on well-stuffed mattresses. it was certainly a cushy life for a little lordling. he was spoiled in the sense that he was always watched ---his company was always desired, his attention always demanded here or there. he didn’t quite understand why. merely that something great would be expected of him.
shortly after his sixteenth birthday, and when his mind was still full of boyish hope and folly, eben was sent to the vrajiit academy. he excelled at combat, though toyful of his capabilities ( the power to take a life with just a touch seemed limitless ) and for five years he served his country faithfully in the military. he was certain he did his lord father and lady mother proud, and certainly his sharpened prowess was what leant him to being sent into battle rather than being posted in danruba - rather than being returned home under conscription. IN HIS MIND, THESE WERE THE BEST YEARS OF HIS LIFE.
at 21 he was released from his duties to the military. four years he lingered in danruba, living his life as a lord with a semblance of that boyish charm ever-present on his face. with the castle always open to the citizens of his home he saw many faces, learned many stories, met many men and women as they came and went. he fell in love. a glorious and terrifying emotion, one as tumultuous as the sea ‘neath stormy clouds ---he felt the same rush from spending time with the blacksmith’s daughter. she was kind to him, treated him not like he was a prize, a blessed child ---but like he was human.
those same emotions betrayed him, ultimately. she passed beneath him amidst their passionate tryst, his touch and kiss-starved lips passing a death knell over her, life draining from her in a quick instant. HE FELT BETRAYED BY HIS OWN HEART. surely an emotion such as love was meant to be gleeful, it had only brought him happiness before this moment ---surely it was love that killed her. ( introspection would have shared it was the surge of emotion itself, that for all of the battle-wise training eben had learned throughout his life he’d never quite honed how to cease the flow of his power when his feelings crested like a breaking wave ). but introspection was beyond him. grieving, eben withdrew into himself.
the shift from somewhat jovial young lord to apathetic and detached was like the phase of the moon changing. while he wasn’t asocial he seemed less engaged, some form of self-inflicted punishment for suffering to care for another person on such a level. at 25 he re-enlisted in the vrajiit military, the decision to do something more than suffer the company of others final. if his touch was meant to kill, he’d see it to purpose. and so it has served him for those past 12 years, a loyal warrior to the crown through choice, pleased to keep his solitude.
personality
where once eben could be described as talkative, energetic, and impish now only remains an echo of that former self. a man, as it were ---hardened both by battle and personal trauma and lead by self-inflicted punishment. he’s quiet and apathetic, more keen to sit back and observe a situation rather than be the first to participate in it - as if playing a long and drawn-out match of chess. though he is not asocial, and he doesn’t scorn the touch of a woman in the slightest ---he merely chooses not to find emotional attachment in any of his interpersonal relationships.
HOWEVER HE CAN BE QUITE CHARMING WHEN HE NEEDS TO BE, flashing a handsome smile or using silver-tongued wit ---the skills of nobility. eben is less likely to lean on his birth standing and more akin to see a problem to a quick end. he is the product of his own experiences. tactical in thought but ruthless in execution, eben isn’t one to dance around a topic or point - he will bluntly state it.
though it is incredibly obvious that the emotional scars of his experience still linger. perhaps it’s the circumstance of where he was raised ( the infinitely colder climate of danruba ), or his station as a military man that finds him always wearing leathers over his hands and never quite exposing the flesh where one might be drawn to touch. physical intimacy is met with only the desire to feel that particular pleasure and nothing else ---though it’s worth noting that to be safe HE NEVER TOUCHES HIS FAMILY WITH HIS BARE HANDS. lest something happen to them that similarly befell his once romance.
