app for ataraxion;

[dispossessed]

P L A Y E R   I N F O R M A T I O N
Your Name: kat kat kat
OOC Journal: chasmas
Under 18? If yes, what is your age?: nope
Email + IM: celtically@gmail, auctumnae@aim
Characters Played at Ataraxion: jimmy kirk

C H A R A C T E R   I N F O R M A T I O N
Name: Maedhros
Canon: The Silmarillion
Original or Alternate Universe: Original
Canon Point: Post-death
Number: RNG me!

Setting: Have a wiki link
History:

Maedhros' history is kind of long and complicated. To say the least. But I will try to make this as short and clear as possible because you probably don't want to be reading a novella for a history section.

He was born at a young age, no wait. That's not right. Well, it is, but--whatever.

He was born in the Undying Lands, back before there was a sun. Instead, there were two Trees, one gold, one silver, and they lit the whole island. They were also the most beautiful thing ever. Maedhros' father Fëanor was a master craftsman and decided, hey. I'm going to make three jewels to house the light of the Trees!! Because there's no way that could end horribly. Spoilers: it ended really horribly. Mostly because the Bad Deity, Morgoth, decided to break his parole, eventually kill Maedhros' grandfather while the rest of the family was off watching the Jerry Springer episode that was Fëanor and his mommy issues battling with his half-brother, and steal the family jewels. Oh, yeah, he also let a giant spider kill the Trees on their way out.

Spider and Bad Deity escaped to the rest of the world, Middle-earth, where Morgoth had a great stronghold and a bunch of evil minions from Ye Olde Days. Meanwhile, the Good Deities also known as the Valar were crying over the Trees and decided to tell Fëanor that, hey, those jewels you made could bring them back to life! Fëanor, however, was having none of it. Enraged by his father's death, the horror Morgoth had wrought and the way the Valar wanted to take his greatest creation from him to wreck it, he decided to fuck off to Middle-earth. After swearing a terrible Oath to get back his family jewels no matter what the cost, and may he be damned to the Void if he doesn't get it back, yadda yadda. Him and his seven sons swore this Oath in front of gods and men and it was a huge mistake.

Despite that huge mistake, a bunch of his people, his half-brother and his people, and his other half-brother all decided to travel to Middle-earth. Except to get there they needed to talk to these other Elves and get boats from them. When the other Elves wouldn't give them the boats, the first Kinslaying happened and then they just stole the boats and sailed off to where Middle-earth began. But then there was a big rift in the group and Fëanor, being the jackass he is, burned a bunch of boats even though Maedhros didn't want him to!! Which basically left the rest of their extended family to walk across the Middle-earth version of an iced over Bering Strait. Fëanor may or may not have also burned one of his sons to death while doing this. Depends on what version you're reading.

And because nothing can go right for Maedhros and his family, there was a huge battle shortly after this! Where Fëanor dies. And shortly after that, Maedhros got captured, tortured, and then hung from a cliff by his wrist for years and years.

Yeah.

Eventually, one of his cousins he was BFF with back in the Undying Lands comes to rescue him on a giant eagle. But the only way to get him off of the cliff is to cut his hand off, so he loses his right hand. In thanks for saving him, and to make amends for his father being a total dick, Maedhros gives up the crown that is his as grandson of the king of the Noldor to his half-uncle. And then he and his brothers fuck off and get land for themselves to build fortresses and shit on.

Anyways, the Elves started waging this really long, kind of on-and-off war against Morgoth. Hundreds of years after getting to Middle-earth, some Elf chick named Lúthien and her human lover Beren managed to get into Morgoth's stronghold and steal a jewel. Maedhros, deciding that meant Morgoth was weak, conspired with his cousin to form the Union of Maedhros. It was kind of like the Joint Forces of Middle-earth. Everyone and their mother launched an assault on Morgoth. Buuut Maedhros was a bit hasty in his decision to attack and they were betrayed so the assault was a giant failure. Lots of people died, including Maedhros' BFF.

So they all retreated to lick their wounds. But soon enough he discovered that, gasp, one of the family jewels was in a kingdom called Doriath. The combination of his Oath and his hotheaded little brothers convinced him that attacking them after they refused to give up the jewel was a good idea. (It wasn't.) And so we have the Second Kinslaying. Three of Maedhros' brothers died in the attack. And they didn't even get the Jewel. A few years after that they do it again in a different location, despite the fact that Maedhros really, really didn't want to. And they still don't get the jewel because some Elf chick turns into a swan and flies off with it.

But Maedhros and his remaining brother do adopt her two little orphan boys, Elrond and Elros. Because technical kidnapping is totally the best way to form a family, am I right?

MORE YEARS PASS and eventually the Valar get off their asses and send help to Middle-earth and depose of Morgoth. After this happens, Maedhros and his last living brother, Maglor, have a long and angsty discussion about whether or not they're going to go and try to get the two remaining jewels. They do. And they kill people to do it. That, combined with all their past sins, means that the jewels, which are hallowed, burn them horribly when they touch them. Maedhros, in pain and no longer able to cope with the guilt of all he'd done, throws himself into a fiery chasm. And then he died. The end.

I am so sorry for this history section.

Personality:

Unlike the other works of Tolkien, the Silmarillion is pretty much written like a history book. It crams hundreds of years worth of history into less than three hundred pages (depending on which edition you have and the size of the pages) and thus is heavy on the action and light on the dialogue. Even so, the main players in the First Age of Middle-earth have surprisingly well-rounded personalities, for how little "screentime" there is. Maedhros gets more screentime than most which means there's even more personality to delve into.

One of the first things that one would notice about him is his pride. Like his family, and most of the Noldorin people, Maedhros is a fairly prideful being. Unlike his brothers, he's able to take some slights against his pride with grace, like when he laughs upon receiving a letter from Thingol that makes his little brother Caranthir incredibly pissed off. He's also able to put aside his pride when he needs to for what he deems the greater good. But he does take an immense amount of pride in his people and his family, though the latter is a bit of an ironic and jaded sort of pride.

Because of the Oath and how his family became truly dispossessed, Maedhros became more than a little bitter and regretful. He did terrible things for his father and his father's Silmarils. He knows the things he did are terrible and it's said he regrets them, and he views the Oath with woe and loathing at the end. All the same, he's honor-bound to fulfill it and, even when the idea of breaking the Oath is mentioned, he seems almost resigned to his fate. He knows he can't do anything but try and fulfill it even if breaking his Oath and calling the Everlasting Darkness upon him would be less evil than going through with his plans.

Even though he's done awful, terrible things, Maedhros is still a good person deep down. If he weren't, he wouldn't have been able to mend things with his uncles' peoples after the massive slights done to them. If he weren't, he probably wouldn't have taken in the essentially orphaned sons of Eärendil and Elwing and cared for them instead of using them as hostages. He certainly wouldn't have held the trust of the High King of the Noldor, his own following, a large number of Dwarves, and some Men if he wasn't.

Though some of that last bit may be attributed to his charisma. Despite his terrible reputation, he was able to put together the Union of Maedhros—a gathering of Elves, Men, and Dwarves that led a huge assault on Morgoth's stronghold. The plan failed, but the fact that he was able to get all those people to go along with it in the first place is astounding. But Maedhros is a pretty good leader and strategist. The only reason the Union of Maedhros failed was because of a group of traitors. He was the head of the House of Fëanor and was able to keep his unruly brothers in line. (Most of the time, anyways.) He had a number of followers who respected him and it's not until the Kinslaying at Sirion that we hear of them going against orders. So it's easy to see that he's got the ability to lead people and lead them well.

Just as long as he isn't doing anything rash, of course. Which he has done a few times. He did it with the Union of Maedhros, testing his strength against the Enemy too early. Taking the Oath in the first place was a hell of a rash decision, as was the Kinslaying at Sirion. Some of this may be attributed to his temper. He's definitely got one, though he's also got a longer fuse than some members of his family. There was a good amount of anger in him after his torment on Thangorodrim and it showed when he went to war.

And no personality section would be complete without mentioning the fact that "the fire of life was hot within him." Which, in context, basically means he's a stubborn ass who, when it became clear that death wasn't an option, survived years of torture and torment through strength of will alone. But out of context that is a hilarious line.

Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations:

Physically speaking, Maedhros is pretty awesome. He's a master combatant and learned how to wield a sword with his non-dominant hand even better than he ever wielded it with his dominant hand. He's the kind of guy that makes the forces of evil run just because he's on the battlefield. Fighting prowess aside, he's an elf and that means he's got lots of nifty elf-enhancements. He's got better sight and hearing than any human. He's extremely light footed. Elves can prance on top of the snow and laugh at all the humans struggling with it. They're really pretty durable beings, and Maedhros especially can take a lot of punishment without dying. There's also the nifty part about them not getting sick either. But Maedhros does only have one hand. So if something happens to his other arm, he's pretty much SOL. And everyone does have a breaking point physically, even if he can endure ridiculous amounts of pain. In addition to that, he can be poisoned and that would suck majorly.

Mentally and emotionally, he's also a pretty sturdy fellow. Elves have been known to fade and die in times of immense heartbreak or stress and Maedhros... well, he's been through a lot and he didn't fade. But he is a very broken person. His Oath and his family are his big two weak points and they're what had broken him down slowly over time to the point where he literally killed himself over them and over the guilt he carries because of them. It's kind of a problem.

Inventory:

→ One (1) sword, forged by his brother
→ One (1) copper circlet
→ One (1) Post-It Note reading "IOU 1 SILMARIL"

Appearance: Ridiculously tall, red-haired, and missing his right hand, Maedhros strikes an interesting figure. He, like pretty much every other Noldorin elf out there, has grey eyes and since he was around during the Time of the Trees, his eyes shine with their light. His PB is the lovely Simon Woods, aka He Whose Hair is Not Long Enough. Seen here:

Age: Older than the sun. Which actually makes it hard to tell for certain because the Years of the Trees are counted differently than the Years of the Sun. He's at least 3,500 years old, but good luck pinning down anything more specific than that.

AU Clarification: N/A

S A M P L E S
Log Sample:

It's easier than the thought it would be to slip back into the role of protector. It's been ages since he had a younger relation to look after, but since Elrond and Elros have joined the company, Maedhros has found himself falling back into old habits. He's not the only one, either. Old songs he thought he may never hear again have been surfacing around camp. Children's rhymes and clapping games are the newest thing for the warriors to trade around the fire. It's almost funny. How often have people (rightly) warned their children about the sons of Fëanor and their horrible deeds? And now the eldest looks out over the fires to see his brother and steward teaching two little ones a rhyme about the Trees.

He catches himself smiling, despite the ache in his chest. The boys' presence is one of the best things to happen to him in many long centuries. But he can't help but be reminded of his younger siblings, now dead and gone to Mandos' halls. He can't help but think of their uncles, Eluréd and Elurín, lost to the forests. Would things have gone differently, he wonders, had he actually found those two? He would've returned them to their sister, whether they were found alive or not. Would that have put him in Elwing's good graces? Would that have made her give up the Silmaril instead of taking it with her to the sea, leaving her sons to be fostered by men she hates? Could that have stopped more mindless slaughter?

Maedhros shakes his head slowly as he turns away from the happy scene. Guilt settles over him like an old, familiar cloak. The boys may bring joy to him and his, but raising them isn't enough to atone for all he's done. His hand curls into a fist at his side as he strides towards the edges of camp, away from the noise and people. Maybe it's a start. Maybe, with something to look after, to want to live a good life for, the Oath won't have such a hold on his heart. But even as he thinks that, Maedhros has to laugh quietly and bitterly. No, nothing will ever loosen the Oath's hold. His father made sure of that.

Childish laughter rings loud and clear in the dark. Elros, Maedhros' mind supplies. His laugh is usually higher and louder than Elrond's, so that must be him. A sigh escapes Maedhros as he leans back against a tree and looks up at the stars. Nothing will ever justify the choices he's made or wash the blood off his hands. But that doesn't mean he can't try to do better, to be better. For those boys, if for no other reason. They deserve much that, at least.

Comms Sample:

Is there no place on this ship to properly see the stars? [ three guesses as to who has been itching to see the sky but has actually taken the warning about staying in the known parts of the ship seriously? first two don't count.

but seriously, he is really upset about the lack of stars. ] I had begun to think that perhaps the Secondborn had perhaps become craftsmen on par with the Eldar. That cannot be the case if they have built a ship to see the stars while neglecting to build a place within the ship to see the stars.

[ the derision practically drips from his mouth, lip curled up in distaste. tranquility, he really hates being stuck here and not, you know. dead. ]

How is it such a design flaw was overlooked when they allowed to let this scrap make its maiden voyage?

[ CLEARLY THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE TQ'S MAIDEN VOYAGE, AMIRITE? ]