Lachlan Stromness -- Second Edition

[Shor]

Name: Lachlan Tidal Stromness
Age: 18 (as of three days from now)
Birthplace: Western Sea
Gender: Male
Species: Sea Otter
Job/Position: Seer
Physical Description:

Lachie is covered head-to-footpaw in a ruddy-brown hue of fur, which darkens to a dark-brown with just a hint of red. It can be assumed that he takes on more of his winter shade of fur when wet, ‘cause, y’know, water does that. May it also be noted that his coat (of fur) is actually rather soft – one of the many perks of being a richbeast.

Like his father, Lachie possesses two, deep blue eyes that, unlike his father's, probably do perceive everything about a beast. In addition to the dissimilar perception, Lachie maintains the use of both of his eyes, whereas his father is completely blind in one eye. The only downside that Lachie can find to this is that he doesn't get the privilege of wearing the eye patch, which, at least in his eyes, makes anybeast looker more intimidating.

Lachlan now stands six and one half feet tall (feet not meters; the metric system is for wimps), having grown quite a bit since his last character profile – now he’s only four inches shorter than his father. Until about a season ago, Lachie had grown very gradually, developing at a rather slow pace, but it was expected that, as his father before him, he would bloom late, likely reaching or surpassing his father’s height. As it happened, those expectations were fairly accurate. Lachlan has quite a strong build, just as his father (go figure), and is rather burly for a sea otter of his seasons. See, he was and is aware of his father’s size, and intends to surpass him upon reaching his full height. He still isn’t quite as intimidating as his father (to which he credits his father’s eye patch), but were he not so dependant on his cane, he would be a force to be reckoned with, yet even with his cane, he’d likely make an attacker think twice.

He has several scars from various incidents, but not nearly as many as his father, who doesn't really look any different from any other hard working otter of his seasons. Although Lachie is clean of all tattoos, he intends to change that in coming seasons.

Belongings:

Now, we hold this truth to be self evident, that nobeast wears the same clothing all the time. Lachie is no exception to this self-evident truth of truthfulness. Lachie’s usual attire consists of a short-sleeved light-blue or sea-green shirt, faded black trousers (though not faded enough to constitute calling them gray), and two black boots that likely haven’t been washed in seasons. On other occasions, he might be found wearing an identical shirt, excepting its coloring; white, gray, or navy-blue, but nothing more, ‘cause he’s not a female. During warmer seasons, or any day during which the temperature rises above one-thousand, he’ll wear a sleeveless shirt that is navy or light-blue. During colder seasons, like when the roof caves in due to lots of ice and snow piling atop the abbey, he’ll probably be found wearing one of the two aforementioned sleeveless shirts resting over a rather warm, long-sleeved shirt, of which he has exactly five copies, all white in color. It makes him feel invisible when it snows.

All together, he owns seventeen articles of clothing, unless one counts the boots as one, in which case, he owns only sixteen; or unless the pairs of pants are each counted as two, in which case, whoever’s counting is an idiot.

Lachie is unable to walk very well, still recovering from wound that would have, if any worse, confined him to a wheelchair. Instead, the young otter uses a cane to provide the necessary support. Until the muscles in his left leg are properly healed, he will be incapable of walking with much ease, let alone running. . . So, yeah, he’s got a cane.

Personality:

Generally, Lachie appears to be a carefree, optimistic, somewhat obnoxious otter. But on the inside, he is...well...pretty much exactly that. Although this, of course, is not always the case, as everybeast shows different sides, it does describe Lachie's general attitude. He prefers to keep something of an optimistic outlook and achieves this by attempting to take virtually nothing seriously. He has been known to attempt to ride wheelchairs down flights of stairs (which ended in a collision with one of Redwall's more elderly inhabitants), to lock beasts on the balcony of a particularly massive lighthouse, and most infamously, to upset certain assassins in the presence of certain healers who certainly did not wish to be in said situation. The reactions he receives from doing so are negative, as would be expected, but for some reason, probably one similar to that of a dibbun who enjoys splattering pudding on the wall or his oblivious friend, he quite finds these reactions amusing. Despite this blatant disregard for etiquette in speech, the general thoughts of the general public, and/or Tirael's safety, Lachie manages to maintain a certain level of respect, though whether through goodhearted intentions or sheer intellectual efficiency as a seer remains uncertain. That he lacks the solemn demeanor of his father, however, is an understatement.

He and his father are also generally not like-minded -- literally. Barr is simply a sensible, relatively normal individual in reference to the mind, but Lachie is slightly different. He acts only according to what might create interest for him, rather than what would actually benefit himself. That is to say, rather than trying to do what is smart, he tries to do what is fun -- if you call flirting with Tampa Tiderunner in order to make another ottermaid jealous "fun," because it certainly isn't "smart."

When he takes things seriously (I know! He can actually do that!), Lachie is a bit less fun to be around. Of course, he is rarely serious in everyday situations, like when one of his friends finds a dead body washed up on the shore of the Eastern Sea, when he witnesses an attempted murder in the middle of a feast, or during any homicide investigation, for that matter. It often takes something far more. . . personal to upset Lachlan, like when he awakened to the aftermath of a shipwreck that killed his family, or when he ran home, only to find that his father had gone missing. During such times, Lachlan's mind becomes resolute, and rather cold. He can be a very stubborn, determined otter, just like his father; when he sets his mind on something, it cannot be unset. Paw in paw with this stubbornness is his presumably inherited overprotective side that, also like his father's, can take the form of an overly-controlling one. He also has a tendency to fall into his "seer-mode" more often during such moods, which can lead to some very interesting outcomes.

Mentally, Lachie is a fascinating creature. Barr raised his son to be extremely observant, but also to never forget what he observed. After all, what good would it be to notice something about somebeast if one never could remember it? But what is so interesting about Lachie's mind is that he has the ability to relive any experience, and pick out details that he had not noticed hitherto. That is, if he had a conversation with a mole who happened to have a single bread crumb on his left shoulder, and Lachlan finished conversing with said mole without taking notice of said bread crumb, he could later review his own memory of the conversation, and notice the bread crumb which he had missed the first time. Of course, Lachlan Stromness would never be caught dead letting a bread crumb go unnoticed, but that's beside the point. A particularly eccentric mouse by the name of Shordann Crestpaw did quite an extensive study on the otterlad, and concluded that the sea otter, though now in possession of a full eighteen seasons, has the mind of a dibbun. Now, that is not at all what it sounds like. You see, in a beast's early years, a majority of his brain is at work, soaking in information like a desert would rain, but as a beast approaches his adult seasons, brain activity declines steadily, and by the time he is full grown, very little of his brain is actually being used. But it seems that Lachlan's brain never stopped working, and it remains in that hyper-active state that usually passes by the age of four or five. This explains Lachie's ridiculous memory and ability to notice even the smallest details, but it could also explain why/that he is a seer, because while a ridiculously active brain could account for his being so observant, it is difficult to account for the times when he knew things that simply could not have been known were he not an honest seer. But for the love of all that is not irritating, don't tell him all this, lest he get a head the size of Salamandastron!

Lachie's most significant mental attribute is, of course, that of being a seer. Lachie is the first goodbeast-seer in many seasons, as most seers of the past and present have been and still are vermin. This makes Lachie's claim a rather far fetched one, but he compensates for this almost ridiculous claim through pure talent. Although he can easily discern much about anybeast he meets during only the first few conversations, he also learns things that he couldn't possibly know were he not a seer -- or could he? Nobeast is completely certain if he is a seer or not, not even his father. His sister, Lachina was the only one to ever know the answer, and she never told anybeast, deciding that it would be more fun that way.

He seems to have taken on his more serious attitude as of late, a result of his ongoing search for his father, as well as his newfound reason to have concern for his sister's safety. But he hasn't completely taken on his solemn mood, still veering toward his usual, carefree attitude. He still maintains his appearance of a sixteen-year-old sea otter who thinks himself invincible, but now is more easily irritated and prone to excessive concern. He is highly suspicious of vermin, and even some goodbeasts; he will not hesitate to confront anybeast who so much looks at his sister the wrong way. . . *cough* Alec. . .

History:

Lachlan was born to Barr and Aileen Stromness at sea, just off the Western Coast. He was one of two ottertwins, who would both grow to more than anybeast could have rightfully expected. It is unknown to this day which was born first -- neither Barr nor Aileen thought it relevant. This proved to be a prudent decision, as throughout their lives, neither Lachlan nor Lachina tried to hold their age over the other's head.

Barr wanted to raise his offspring based on his view of their future, and at the time, he favored the idea of raising otters who made few mistakes. And so, he decided that he would teach the two to notice everything necessary -- if one notices everything, then one will not miss anything, and if one does not miss anything, then little room is left for error. Well, nobeast could notice everything -- it took several beasts to do that, so instead of trying to teach both otters to notice everything, he thought that he would teach each of them to notice half. This way, the two of them together would notice everything with only half the effort. Makes perfect sense.

As well as training mentally throughout his life (so far, at least), Lachie was raised working almost as hard as his father. Barr didn't want to make his son work as hard as his own father had done, but as hard as Barr had worked, his idea of light work wasn't exactly...well...light. But then, it didn't seem to affect Lachie at all. If anything, the physical activity kept his mind active, and sped his ability to process thoughts.

On top of all the physical work, Lachlan was also expected to behave properly around others, particularly very important others. Barr would have his son talk with influencial beasts, and, as the sea otter grew up, even sometimes had him discuss important matters with them. All the while, he was to act like a serious businessbeast. Of course, the gifted little otter he was, Lachie. . . didn't. Rather than behave with the grating formality of the common diplomat, he found it much easier to try to make friends with whomever his father happened to be working with. Naturally, this entailed using his deductive and observational skills to learn as much as he could about said influencial beasts, and implementing the knowledge gained from his observations to appeal to them. Of course, there were always a few whom Lachie just disliked -- to those he was less friendly. Over the course of fifteen years, Lachlan had met, befriended, and made enemies of hundreds of beasts.

Lachie and Lachina had many little adventures as they grew older. The most memorable was one they had around the age of five -- the pastry incident. Neither ever spoke of the incident except to each other, because every time they tried to tell another beast, neither could get a single word across that wasn't broken up by laughter. Nobeast knew what had happened, but everybeast knew how funny it was. There were also times when the ottertwins would combine their skills, and work together to mess with people.

Lachlan and Lachina's most favorite form of mischief was when Lachie would be a seer. Nobeast believed him at first, of course, so he would point out a few things about them that he noticed on first glance. Naturally, he'd be told that anybeast could notice such things, at which point, he would place a paw to the side of his head, close his eyes, and tell him/her something that (at least seemingly) could not possibly be known unless he were a seer. Sometimes, he would be asked for help with some usually petty matter that the "client," per se, believed only a seer could resolve. Lachie brought Lachina along every time, not only because she was his twin, nor that the whole scheme was her idea, but because she was the best lier he had ever known, and knew how to keep a story believable. Despite resolving every problem they were initially hired for, the two would over-dramatize everything (including the paw-to-the-head-closing-eyes thing), making it so painfully obvious that they didn't know what they were doing, that their "clients" would wonder if Lachie really was a seer. If so, he was the least serious one ever. (Some of this brand of humour rubbed off on six-seasons-old Alison, to the disapproval of Barr and Aileen.)

What was most impressive about this seer-game was that it allowed the sea otter to get along swimmingly with vermin camps. He has a reputation among vermin as the "good seer," and is now actually friends with two vermin warlords from the north. Of course, among vermin seers, he isn't very well liked, especially due to his unorthodox methods -- many have made him out to be an enemy.

When the ottertwins were fifteen seasons of age, Barr announced that the family would finally be sailing away to live on Green Isle. Apparently, Barr had some urgent business that had to be dealt with before he could leave, so Lachie, Lachina, Alison, Kirsty, and their mother were all sent ahead of him. Lachie looked forward to living on Green Isle -- he would finally be able to associate with otters such as himself aside from his sisters, as did Lachina.

Lachie remembers little of what happened on the voyage. Something caused a tremor in the ship, and it soon began to sink. The next thing he knew, he was swimming away from the sunken ship, desperately trying to hold onto Kirsty, who had injured her leg and couldn't swim. He doesn't remember what happened entirely, but somehow, Kirsty slipped away from him while Alison, Aileen, and everybeast visibly on board was pulled down with the ship. He can't bring to mind anything about Lachina during that time, but he was certain of one thing: he was the only survivor of the shipwreck.

Lachie found himself washed up on shore, crying until he no longer could. Disoriented, he began walking in what he thought to be the direction from which the ship had come. He didn't realize for a good measure of time that ships don't travel inland. Upon regaining his composure, he began walking back in what he knew was the direction from whence the ship had come. But he found nobeast. The place he had once known as home stood barren and empty. Not even the wind seemed to stir. Lachie feared the worst -- that his father was captured. He made his way resolutely through Mossflower, a somewhat ingenious plan in mind.

May it be noted that within the first week of his searching, he found that he could no longer rise to his footpaws; his left leg would not allow it. Somehow, he got by with a piece of flotsam from the shipwreckage, which he eventually whittled down into a nice cane.

Of course, when he reached Mossflower, it just so happened that a war was taking place. Lachie would have rather not walked through the middle of all that, but he did mean to find a particular weasel, and chances were, he'd find him at Fort N'Tashi. Serendipitously, he stumbled across Tampa Tiderunner -- literally. He would have liked to stay around the goodbeasts' camp, and flirt with Tampa for a while, but he did have his job to do -- plus, everybeast went off to this huge battle like, the next day, and he really couldn't do that wouldn't get him killed there. . . So, naturally, he found the safest place on the entire battle field from which he could survey the entire vermin side of the skirmish. But finding a single plain-looking weasel in an entire army that kept moving around was not an easy thing, plus, one of them would die every other half-second or so, which does not help when one is trying to count them all. After the battle, however, while all the goodbeasts were celebrating, he stayed to find his target. Unfortunately, he did find the weasel, but when looking for a live target, the aftermath of a battle is generally one of the worst places to find them.

Unable to glean any useful information from the weasel, Lachie left for home, the only place he knew he could rest and think. The journey there was uneventful and boring, but for once, Lachie was glad for it. After a long week of deep thought and eating nothing but clams and hotroot, his ever-working mind developed an idea or seven.

Because of his occupation and equally his father's love of travelling, Lachlan had been just about everywhere, and had met many beasts during his travels, most of whom he convinced to hire him as a seer. He'd even worked with vermin, and got along surprisingly well with entire vermin camps -- most were quite superstitious, and had never seen a goodbeast seer before. His mother used to joke that he knew everybeast, even if they didn't know him.

He used these resources (on top of his abilities and reputation as a seer) to search for his father, but it seemed that Barr was nowhere to be found. Lachlan did, however, find one equally important member of his family -- his twin. He doesn't understand how she managed to survive, nor how she ended up wandering the deserted Terramort. For reasons yet unknown, she doesn't seem to remember much of anything -- she'd even thought her own name was Kirsty when he found her. But Lachie figures this to be a sort of fugue such as the one he experienced directly after the shipwreck, though his had only lasted a week.

Word of the goodbeasts' victory at Fort N-- er, Redwall reached Lachie, and after a couple days of deep thought back at what he once considered home, he decided that the best course of action would be to visit Redwall. Perhaps there was some clue there which would lead him to his father, but based on his experiences at sea, it definitely seemed far safer at the Abbey than anywhere near the coast -- things were simply too chaotic at the moment (likely due to the overthrowing of the Fort). He also feared for his sister's health, and some rest at a safehaven like Redwall Abbey would probably speed her recovery that much more. Sure, there was always the East Lighthouse, which was literally the safest place on earth, but that was practically on the other side of the world, and he didn't want to take the risk of traveling that far, especially after. . . Well, he ran into some trouble during his search. . .

Lachlan Stromness now approaches Redwall, his sister in tow. It seems that he has matured significantly, but he's not sure as to whether or not that's a good thing.

[Treble Tiderunner]

Accepted