Adrian Tarrance is a character in Ex Libris Lucifer. Residing in the city of Waxtide on the island of Aeterna, he is part of an internship for architecture. Though only 20, he has grand plans to make a name for himself as an architect, though he has so far participated in just a few projects under the guidance of his mentor. Adrian has yet to develop a confident and unique style, and while he rarely agrees with the direction his mentor takes during projects, he will do the job just so he can remain in good graces. Adrian complains internally a lot about the rift between others' designs and his own, though outwardly he is decently sociable, polite where he thinks it counts, and always happy to sit down with others over a bowl of fruit. He enjoys making plans and sticking to them, and reacts poorly to surprises. As per his training, Adrian has a good grasp of the mathematics and engineering needed to envision but not quite raise a building to life. Depth perception and drafting paper will only take one so far, as he has come to realize at his internship at the Alderice Contractors, a prestigious company based on the island of Aeterna. He feels his mentor, Deviata Patra, has not given his plans and propositions the consideration they are due, though he knows that by working under her he can only improve his skills. While his association with Alderice brings him some notoriety and clout among the upper crust, Adrian feels uncomfortable at elaborate building showings, socializing with the crowds easily enough, but there's always that nagging feeling inside that he's just another face in the crowd.
Adrian's Scribe abilities are much better than his Reader abilities. A good architect knows what spells can support the foundation of a structure, and weaves the magic into the building itself. Adrian takes pride in this particular aspect of his work, and feels that if he is good at his job, he enables others to perform theirs well.
Attributes[]
| Age | 20 |
|---|---|
| Height | 5'11" |
| Weight | 159 lbs |
| Eyes | Gray |
| Hair | Navy |
| Endurance | Medium |
|---|---|
| Defense | High |
| Strength | Medium |
| Accuracy | Medium |
| Agility | Low |
| Speed | Medium |
Skills[]
Architecture[]
Adrian's training in the field of architecture encompasses visual and mathematical talents.
- Design - Not many would agree with Adrian's particular sense of style, which involves a borderline obsession with the structure of fruit. He favors round designs with intricate textures, and enjoys incorporating vibrant and complimentary colors in his designs. Despite his eccentricity, he appreciates the great works of famous architects, especially the Palmyra Promenade.
- Sketching - Adrian is decent at quick, rough drawings of objects, with attention to dimensions and shape.
- Calculation - From geometry to calculus, Adrian has been through the gambit of mathematical classes. He has a keen ability to closely estimate angles, and is precise when logging his work on blueprints and reports.
Daily Life[]
- Landmarks - Adrian is well versed in the important buildings of Granea, including libraries, observatories, temples, castles, and marketplaces.
- Fruitcraft - Though not much of a cook by any means, Adrian has a particular taste and talent for fruit, able to identify choice individuals at market. Fruit is his favorite type of food, and he enjoys being creative in recipies using the many species native to Granea. Such meals may not be a nutritionally balanced, but at least they look pretty cool.
- Masonry - Adrian trained in stonemasonry during the first few years as an intern, and is adept at identifying rocks and their properties. Given the right materials and equipment, he can produce decent brickwork, and is able to roughly mold stone into a desired shape using his hammer and smaller picks.
Physical Combat[]
- Hammers - Adrian carries a maul and rock pick in his drafting case, sometimes taking the former out of the case and strapping it to his back to balance weight. The maul is a larger tool with one blunt side and one wedged side which is covered with obsidian, and offers greater blunt force at the expense of precision. It can be used to chop wood, split stone, and deal respectable damage to a foe. The rock pick is a smaller, more intricate tool that also sports a blunt side and a chisel side. It is used for shaping stone and more mundane tasks like driving in stakes.
- Drafting Case - Adrian's drafting case (detailed below) is his primary method of fighting in the Hilfengard style, wielding the case as a makeshift shield. The case is heavy and durable enough that Adrian's drafting possessions are hardly rattled by blows the case absorbs, though they are secured by straps just in case.
Magecraft[]
- Scribe - Scribing is Adrian's greatest magecrafting ability. He is able to impart a variety of spells on paper with great potential, though he specializes in spells that enhance the resistances or alter the shape of tangible objects and organisms.
- Translator - Adrian's translating ability is nearly nonexistant, as he has trouble interpreting pages that he did not write on his own.
- Reader - Adrian is only a moderately better reader than scribe; he is able to evoke pages of his own creation, though usually not in the full grandeur that he originally envisioned while scribing. He has managed to learn how to read pages used in the creation and manipulation of stone and wood from his internship at Alderice.
Other[]
Equipment[]
Drafting Case[]
The outside of the drafting case belonging to Adrian Tarrance.
This architect's drafting case is carven from heavy, solid wood and coated in beaten steel sheets containing a percentage of red iron. Decorative white steel rims protect the corners and edges. The central design is made of solid black steel and held together with silver rims and a stylized clover pattern.. On the back, the pattern is broken by a deep depression large enough for a hand. Inside is a white steel handle. The case can be locked from the front and from the four corners. The clasps at the four corners usually only serve to hold the case together securely. A long black strap with leather-and-foam padding makes the case easy to carry for long distances.
Overall, the materials used to create this case makes it extremely sturdy but terribly heavy. It also does not resemble anything of a drafting case. The patterns and materials suggest that it was not made originally for drafting but rather for a box to store valuables in, or maybe a coffin for a child or a pet that somehow went wrong and was modified by the wood-crafter. Completely empty, this case weighs roughly 20lbs. Inside are compartments for drafting paper, ink, pens, charcoal, rulers, protractors, spell books, and all else that an architect might need in the field, even lunch. All compartments come with straps and covers to hold everything securely in place so that nothing can break, crumple, or spill.
This case is 4 feet in height, 2-feet-2-inches in width, and 11-inches deep.
History[]
"The story of the Pale Lady isn't just about her! It's about her dedication to the city, a community she both empowered and towered above! The facade should do the same – empower her while retaining a majesty of its own!”
Adrian Tarrance held up a roll of blueprints triumphantly, looking around at the rest of the thirty or so students assembled in the lecture hall of the Alrich Instructional Institution. He grinned in a brittle sort of way, expecting something more than murmurs from his fellow architecture interns, craning their necks around towards his seat at the back of the class.
The woman at the front of the room wore a somber gray suit and an equally somber expression. "Fascinating, but I do believe we’ve settled on Vylia’s proposal. The scaffolding on the rotunda does not need to be quite so high, and uniform silver solder is both aesthetically pleasing and financially viable." She leaned forward onto the podium at the head of the oval-shaped room, tapping a ruler a few meters taller than her on the floor, resounding in time with the glacial pace of her voice.
Adrian decided to push his luck a little further, although the fire had gone out of his speech. “I understand the financial concerns, Professor Patra, but a monochrome background doesn’t do the Pale Lady justice. There should at least be a dichotomy...”
“A dichotomy…?” Patra rested her chin on her free hand, twirling the ruler lazily in the other. “It is true that the Pale Lady was but a regular citizen by day, legendary by night. Based on the sculptor’s preliminary sketches, however, the statue itself shall suffice. Part of an architect’s talent lies in knowing when to cede creativity.”
“I… I understand. I will keep these around if you wanted to see them after class, maybe…?”
Deviata Patra granted the saving of face. "Very well, Adrian, I suppose we'll review your proposals concurrently with those of Vylia. Now, unless anyone else wishes to interrupt, I..."
A dozen additional students had raised their hands, and one was so bold as to launch into a full scale synopsis of the Pale Lady's heroic endeavors as a precursor to his own ideas on the monument's structure. Patra, having given Adrian the pulpit for a few seconds, was now forced to watch the rest of her students squabble and fall over it. Exasperated, she sat back and listened to the latest pitch, her expression now matched only by Adrian's.
"Stealing my thunder," he sighed, rolling up his papers and slouching forward slightly before straightening his back again. Posture. Posture gets you noticed, he told himself, looking around the room and trying his best to feign interest in the words of the next student to catch Patra's attention. It was a bespectacled, black-haired kid, still in his teens, speaking in a calm and measured voice that matched his thin and lanky stature.
Adrian grinned to his rolled-up plans. If Blair's talking, Patra has her chance... And sure enough, as the student paused for emphasis, Patra took the opportunity to rap her ruler on the table, dismiss class curtly, and point out the existence of office hours before breezing out the door, five minutes before the scheduled end of class.
The bright afternoon sun had seen Deviatra Patra dash down the marble steps leading out of the Alderice Instructional Institute, but it had a chance to shine more lazily on Adrian, who had given up trying to catch up with her and was gloomily stuffing his blueprints into his drafting case with one hand as it teetered precariously on the other.
"Hey Adrian, you okay?" Blair called after the departing, blue-haired man that stood nearly a foot higher than him.
"Oh....me? Yeah, I'm fine!"
"Are you sure? Because you seem kind of... not okay." Blair folded his arms and shot Adrian a quizzical frown.
Adrian scoffed and waved his hand. "Don't worry about me, Blair. Patra said she'd review my proposal, so I've got a chance, right?"
"You put a lot of faith in that woman." Blair's eyebrows creased to match the pointedness of his frown.
"Yeah, well, I keep doing that and maybe she'll put some faith in me." Adrian crossed his arms as well in mockery of his friend, who sighed and let his own drop to his side. A small shadow passed over the two as a swallow descended from the cloudless sky, coming in too quickly and tearing a strip of green fabric off of Adrian's jacket as it clawed for a perch on his shoulder. He sighed and took its scroll, shooing it away when it pecked at the hole in his jacket, expecting some sort of starchy reward.
"You wanna read it to me?" Adrian tossed the message to Blair, who untied the cordon carefully in the time it took Adrian to set his case down, properly secure the blueprints, close it, and hoist it over his back.
“You… You may want to be the one to read this, Adrian. I’ll see you later.” He handed the scroll over like a hot potato and darted off, leaving a perplexed Adrian to unroll it. His eyes widened upon seeing the seal of the Provinchial Prison, then darted down to a sentence prefaced by two words that always gave him the same sense of foreboding:
Nikolas Tarrance has formally requested a visitation...
The rest was just a blur of black ink to him. Adrian set off towards the Prison, not even bothering to stuff the letter into his case.