E L S E W H E R E C H I L D
CHARACTER INFORMATIONCharacter Name: Arlo Vidal
Gender: Male
Age: 15
Bloodline:Halfblood
Parents/Guardians (Are they currently played characters?): Father: Theo Vidal (Deceased)
Mother: Diana Jones
Step-Father: Thomas Jones
All are NPCs.
Residence:London, England
Do you plan to have a connection to a particular existing place (for example: the daycare)?No
Do you wish to be approved as a group with any other characters? If so who and for what IC reason? No
Please list any other characters you already have at the site:None yet
Biography: (100 words minimum.)Arlo Vidal would never admit to his friends how much of a mummy's boy he is, because that simply would not be very impressive for a fifteen year old boy to proclaim, but he's been shaped by his relationship with his mother as surely as hands spin clay into pots.
One of his most prominent features is strength. His mother, Diana, didn't have many advantages in her early life, but a chance encounter with a doctor secured her an apprenticeship as a nurse when Arlo was eight years old. A year later, that doctor became Arlo's step-father, and while Arlo never formed enough of a bond with him to call him Dad, he likes Thomas well enough. He treats his wife well, and that's what matters to Arlo the most. Without Diana's bravery and hard work, however, the two of them would never have survived a hard life in the bustling city of London. She worked long hours as a seamstress prior to her second marriage, leaving Arlo on his own quite often, but he was always mature for his age and could fend for himself in regards to preparing meals and exploring the city. He took on odd jobs where needed with anyone who would take pity on a small boy, such as tending the mean chickens in a wealthy man's yard or cleaning the windows of all the pubs on London's busiest streets. As a result, he went home with gifts of eggs from the coop or surplus sausages from the pub.
All these impromptu, unofficial employers would describe Arlo as charming. If he didn't have such a goofy, carefree smile or disarmingly adult mannerisms, he might not have convinced them so easily that he could rise to the tasks they set him. His mother was charming, too. It was that quality which caught Dr. Tom in a surprised smile after a tough day and compelled him to offer Diana the job which made seamstressing a thing of the past.
Life changed the first time when Arlo was ten, when his mother took Thomas's last name and suddenly they no longer struggled for anything. But it transformed miraculously and irrevocably the following year, when Arlo got The Letter. Eleven years old, his little face drawn into an aghast expression, he clenched the parchment in his hands and called out to his mum. That's when she folded him in her arms and ushered him into the privacy of his bedroom and told him everything he needed to know.
"Come sit by me, Arlo, and listen. Your dad was a wizard, and so are you. I thought so but I couldn't be sure until that letter came. There was no point in telling you if you wasn't, but now that we know you are, that's why I'm only saying it now.
"I didn't know myself about your father until he was sick. He said he wasn't supposed to say, and that I wasn't supposed to tell anyone either, but if you got his blood in you, he wanted you to know three important things. The first is, 'course, that he loved you. The second and third go together, like two buttons on the same waistcoat. But I'll come back to that, Arlo, because first I got to tell you that you got wizard money waiting for you in the wizard bank. If it turned out you wasn't a wizard, I was supposed to go use it for us here, but getting supplies for your school is gonna need that money. 'Tisn't a lot, and eventually you'll have to work, but for now it's enough.
"That said, your father said to tell you, money's a thing a man has, not what a man is. D'you get me? Men forget that and then they go losing who they really are. That's the second thing, and the third thing is, it's the same about magic. I'm no wizard or witch or whatever it is, but even I can see the wisdom in that. You can have money, and you can have magic, but neither of those mean you're any better than those who don't. And good men help out when resources are in short supply. Everyone's got a right to live, Arlo, never forget that, and never forget where you came from."
Together they told Thomas that Arlo gained admission to a far away boarding school, as Diana adhered diligently to the secrecy with which she was charged.
From that point on, Arlo attacked his studies with vigor. He was, and remains, eager to earn the resources which will later ensure he thrives in the magical world -- and determined to share them with those in need.
Roleplay:Reply as your character to the following:Godric Park.
Overhead, the sky was a crisp blue, for once clear of the ever-pervasive spongy clouds and rain. The sun was a lemony-yellow presence, high in the Eastern sky, and in front of it zipped three broomsticks in a straight line, or something very like one. One... two..... three... the boys passed, their shouts of excitement echoing as they chased the snitch, a tiny shimmer reflecting the sunlight.
Far below was another, much smaller broomstick.
It trugged along the ground, hugging close to it like a sluggish choo choo train and occasionally shuttering in protest. This was because said stick was currently being occupied by a very small girl who was tugging upward on the front of it with all her might, trying to coax it into doing what it had been expressly designed NOT to do.
"John, I said
wait up!" The tiny girl squealed, giving the broomstick another tug.
Begrudgingly, it drifted upward a foot, and then sank, depositing the troublesome girl safely on the ground. Janey Hurst was not pleased. In a huff, she hopped off the toy safety broom, grabbing it firmly and thrusting it handle first into the turf.
Her brother was such a beast. He NEVER let her play! She folded her arms, seething blue eyes fixing on another figure nearby. "You!" She barked, much more sharply than she meant to.
"...Do you want to play?"
Roleplay Response:Arlo never tired of the way magic was open and welcome in places like this, even though some might argue that four years was plenty of time to grow numb to the novelty. Whether at Hogwarts or Diagon Alley or here at Godric Park, the kid just couldn't help but marvel. Other boys zipped around through the air on their brooms, and even though Arlo had brought his own along on the way to practice flying with his friend, he hadn't mounted it yet.
Part of it, he assumed, was the caution he maintained at home. It wasn't that Thomas was a bad guy, and he would probably understand if he learned his step-son was a wizard, but... well, it was better for Arlo to keep it all secret. He and Arlo's mum almost never argued, but surely if Arlo let on that his books were about Goblin rebellions and proper wand movements rather than British history and maths, discussions would probably happen. That would lead to Tom wondering if Diana knew, and that would snowball into wondering why she kept it from him, and from there the trust would be broken.
No, Arlo cared too much about his mum's happiness to tear a rift in it. She'd worked so hard for it, after all. Let her and Tom stay happy; this was one of the good secrets.
The girl's demand jolted his mind from his thoughts and his eyes from the lads.
"Huh?" he voiced, but his mind caught up a moment later as he took in the girl's tone of voice and the little training broom. "Yeah, sure." Did he particularly want to play around with a little girl? Not exactly. But his buddy wasn't here yet so he had some time to kill, and he didn't have the heart to tell her no. "You wanna fly my broom?"
Arlo offered his cherished broom in an extended hand.
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