DARP OC Week: Day 2 - Mental
What’s your character’s IQ (guess)? Are they smart? In what way? Do they value intelligence in themselves and others?: I am not good at guessing someone’s IQ, I don’t even know what the average is, but I would say that she’s below average. Kayin’s main trait isn’t her intelligence. She doesn’t carry knowledge, she doesn’t even have street-smarts. She knows a few things only and she does them. And that’s it. Never hesitates. That’s all that matters to her. When it comes to other people too. She doesn’t care if someone is smart, only that they’re brave. One doesn’t need to have advanced technical knowledge to be able to pick up a sword and fight for what they believe in.
What languages can they speak/read/write?: She can speak, read and write in Rivaini, as well as speak the Common tongue, which she learned once she trained in the ways of the Spirit Warrior for travel reasons, but doesn’t speak it very well. Her sister was the one that taught her how to read and write, but Kayin never showed any interest in it. She also knows a bit of Antivan from when she crossed to the mainland, but it’s not exactly enough for her to speak it.
Are they more left-brained or right-brained? Are they creative? Artistic? Musically inclined?: I’d say that she’s more right-brained, but only by a little. She’s not the smartest, like I said, and she doesn’t delve in numbers and language. She lacks reason more often that she does not. She mostly goes with her gut and her moral code, even when logic opposes it directly, but she can come to a logical conclusion in a conversation. She is not the most creative, she knows like five approaches to something and she uses them indefinitely. And she’s not exactly the person for art and music. Nuh-uh.
What’s their education level? Where were they educated (if anywhere)? Do they pursue intellectual interests on their own? How do they learn (visually, kinesthetically, auditorially)?: Her education is inexistent. Kayin never went to any school and she was never tutored at home, aside from the few things she learned from her sister. And that was all she learned, because she never had any interest in intellectual pursuits. What she picked up through the years was practical skills, which she learned through trial and error, repeated them till she got them right. Fishing, fighting, hunting, cooking, foraging, etc.
Mental advantages and weaknesses?: I wouldn’t say that she has many advantages. Like I said, she’s not the smartest, she doesn’t know the world like others do and she lacks literary and historical knowledge, other than what she’s heard in her travels. She’s merely simple. She can be very easily coerced into making a bad decision, especially if the question of bravery is brought in the foreground. She doesn’t rely on her smarts, but on instinct, which is only amplified by her connection to the Fade. She can be really stubborn though. If she suspects that something is wrong, or it goes against her morals, she will oppose it with every fiber of her being. If it gets to that, there’s no moving her. She’s unyielding.
What do they think about, most often? What sorts of thoughts trouble them? What do they avoid thinking about?: Not much. Everyday stuff mostly. She thinks a lot about how much further her destination is, if there will be a creek nearby for her to catch fish for dinner, if the weather will be good enough or if she will have need for shelter. And her worries are limited to that too. What she avoids thinking about is the past. She doesn’t want to think about the family she left behind, or the loss she had to suffer. She trained for years to suppress those memories. She’s not just avoiding those things, she went to great lengths to forget them.
What’s one subject they know a lot about?: She knows a lot about the Spirit Warrior training and how one person can reach inner tranquility. She knows how to focus and hone her fighting skills, how to keep a perfectly calm mind in battle. She doesn’t know much about spirits, other than what she needed to know. They’re of a singular way of being. Just like her.
How good is their memory?: Really, really dodgy. She remembers random things from her childhood, things that elicited an emotional reaction from her, but she’s not exactly the best at remembering details about things. In order to remember something, she needs to feel it.
What sorts of things do they dream about at night? Do they have nightmares?: Her dreams are strange, in lack of a better word. They are mostly unreal, erratic, but in the midst of them she sees something that seems remotely normal, feels familiar, yet isn’t. It may be a city, it may be a person, or some sort of location that actually exists, yet she has never seen before in her life. She is not even sure the dreams are hers or Valour’s, or if she’s just traversing in the Fade in her sleep. She can never explain them. Sometimes, these dreams are nightmares, fights happening, swords clashing, people dying before her eyes. And the weirdest thing is that if she goes to whatever place she recognises, she ends up in situations that closely resemble those in her dreams. So, she’s unsure about whether these dreams are just dreams or callings.
Are they guided more by their head or their heart? How does that work for them? Are they a quick-thinker?: Well, from what was said above, it’s clear that her heart is what drives her in the end, and that ends either in glory or in trouble. Instinct, pure instinct. But it is quick, oh it is quick. In battle, she thinks fast, moves faster. Outside battle, it slows down a little, but if she notices that she’s being played, she notices it immediately. It’s a yes/no situation. She either thinks fast or not at all. And it’s not quality thinking either.
