User Profile

[[IC journal for theskytides]]
CHARACTER INFORMATION-
Canon Character and Series: Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle’s short-stories and novels
In-Game Name: Sherlock Holmes, although he’s been known to take aliases if it suits his purposes
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Position & Ship: Silvana, consulting detecti - I mean, passenger
Appearance: Holmes is over six feet tall, but seems taller because he is so very thin. His eyes are sharp and piercing (except when he’s just shot up painkillers or is bored out of his mind, in which case they are dull and glassy). His hair is black, and his eyes are a piercing blue, above a thin and hawk-like nose. This, along with his prominent and square chin, give him an air of alertness, decision, and determination. He is always clean-shaven, and his clothes are meticulously clean as well. He is fond of sitting around his own rooms in a dressing-gown and slippers, but his style of dress is sharp and practical when he goes outside. He carries a notebook, a magnifying glass, and a pocket-watch with him, and you will very often see him with a pipe and tobacco. When Sherlock Holmes is excited about an interesting problem, his eyes will glitter, his skin will flush a bit, and he looks….well, more alive. It’s very different from the look on his face when he’s unoccupied. He does wear a deerstalker cap, but less often than you’d think - only when he's traveling to the country.
Personality: He has a very dual nature. When not on a case, Sherlock Holmes is lazy. He’ll sleep in until late morning, and laze around his rooms smoking. He has no energy, and is very moody. However, if he’s been presented with an interesting problem, he seems like a completely different person. He’ll spring into action, and will focus all his energy on the case. Most times he will go without sleep or food during investigations, unwilling to waste time sleeping or waste brainpower digesting food. Needless to say, many of his methods are considered eccentric. They are undoubtedly effective, though.
If you come to him as a client, he will likely surprise you by telling you some detail about yourself that he shouldn’t know. Much as this may seem like mind-reading, Holmes is merely giving the client an idea of what he can do. He will explain how he came to the conclusion, and often regrets doing this, because people will respond, “That’s nothing special! I could have done that!” He’s a little vain of his skills, and does enjoy admiration from close friends. He also very much enjoys baffling official police detectives, and setting up elaborate traps. Holmes likes to have his case perfect, nets perfectly drawn around his target, before he closes in. He’s fearless in the face of criminals, superstitions, and danger of any kind. Despite his tendency to show off, though, he refuses to take the credit for the cases he has solved, instead allowing the praise to go to the official detectives. It’s amusing to him, and helps keep his name quiet. Working outside of the official police force has other advantages. Holmes is not above bending the law (or even outright breaking it!), withholding information from the police, and bending the truth. He considers these actions justified if they are for a good purpose - the ends justify the means, but only to a certain extent. He will trick the law for the greater good, and on the whole, Sherlock Holmes is a good man. He refuses to turn his abilities to help the guilty, and will listen to anyone in need (although he will not become personally involved if the case is boring, he is very free with advice). The work itself is its own reward for him, and if someone cannot pay for his services, he doesn’t mind at all.

Sherlock Holmes is not inclined to friendship. He has had only one friend, back in his college years, but they are rather out-of-touch, and Holmes has restricted himself to work-acquaintances. (If he could bring himself to care about someone, that person would have to be very special indeed. However, if that person were to be injured or in trouble, Holmes would display the very irrationality he so despises out of concern for said friend.) Although he has no lack of social skills when the situation calls for it, he prefers having his own space to stretch out in, and keeps it a bit untidy. He tends to tolerate people more than like or dislike them, and can come off as rude. However, his rudeness is simply a reluctance to say more words than necessary when he’s busy.

As for women….well, where to begin? Holmes isn’t a misogynist, not quite, but he has a basic dislike of women. He mistrusts them on the whole, and finds their motivations difficult to understand. He has never had a romantic relationship in his life, and it’s unlikely at this point. Due to the mistrust and his ability to “read” people’s faces, it’s just about impossible for him to have a healthy relationship with a woman. Good luck, ladies. However, this does not mean he is bad at dealing with them. On the contrary, he can be very winning with them when he wants to be. He adopts an easy, open manner that wins the trust of most ordinary women very easily, and can have them spilling any gossip he’d like to hear within five minutes of conversation. All this is not to say that Holmes is cruel - on the contrary, he treats women very kindly and courteously, a gentleman in every respect. When he comes across a woman who is being ill-used, he will often take steps to stop it and ensure that it doesn’t happen again. Although he abhors emotions like love in himself, he will often help young lovers. His essential problem with love is that it clouds the mind and judgment, but why not allow others to enjoy it? His own passion is reserved for his cases.

When it comes to fun (besides cases and problems, that is), Holmes has a keen appreciation for good music. He plays the violin himself, and although he knows some songs, he prefers to play notes and chords. It’s a reflection of what he’s thinking, and helps him focus. He’s also composed one or two things, although they will likely never see the light of day. (He also greatly enjoys the horror genre, and has read almost every piece of sensationalist literature published.)

Finally, his political views are almost contradictory. He is proud to live in Ivona, despite being born in the Badlands, but harbors no animosity toward Vohemar. He would not like having to choose a side, but if push came to shove, he’d give his skills to the Ivonans. However, this would depend greatly on the situation, and who was asking. He would prefer to prevent bloodshed.

Abilities/Weapons: His eyes and brains are his greatest weapons, and he wields them to their full ability. However, these are by no means his only skills. Holmes is a very skilled boxer, wrestler, and swordfighter. He also keeps a pistol not too far from his person, and knows very well how to use it. Holmes is far stronger than he looks.

Intellectually, he has very good knowledge regarding chemistry, knows botany where it relates to poisons, a little bit about politics, and knows the laws of both Ivona and Vohemar very well. He speaks several languages. He’s a cryptanalyst, familiar with many codes and ciphers and able to crack just about any one that he doesn’t know.

In addition to quick and accurate analysis of physical evidence, such as footprints, scratches, and tobacco ashes (he can identify just about any kind of cigarette by the ashes it leaves), Holmes is a skilled interrogator, and will get his information through roundabout means if a direct approach will not work. He has also made a study of body language, and can tell ninety-nine times out of a hundred when someone is lying or holding something back.

Finally, Holmes is a master of disguise. Within a minute, with the right materials, he can take on the complete appearance, voice, and persona of anyone he wants. The stage lost a fine actor when Holmes turned his abilities toward criminal investigation.

Weaknesses: Prone to fits of moodiness and lethargy, Holmes hates having nothing to do. He craves intellectual stimulation. To this end, he has a supply of stimulants that he injects into his arm three times a day when not on a case. If this keeps up, he will damage his brain, but he finds the stimulation worth the risk.

He also is very reluctant to let others in on his plans, and has a habit of keeping any allies he works with in the dark until the last moment - even the closest to him. This can be very infuriating for said allies. He has a soft spot for the theatrical and for dramatic reveals, and will also hold back his movements until he's positive he has his man. This has caused unnecessary risk several times, but it almost always works out for the best.

When investigating or experimenting, Sherlock Holmes is not above testing something on himself. He's been known to burn a poison whose fumes he had reason to believe killed three people to test its effects for certain. He does not take reckless risks, but it's nearly cost him his life.

He also doesn’t care about any knowledge not relating to him. What should he care about astronomy? That has no effect on his day-to-day work. He will attempt to forget any trivial knowledge in order to keep his memory banks operating at maximum efficiency. He has no knowledge of philosophy or anything he deems un-useful.

How well can he hack?: Holmes is a very skilled hacker. If he has reason to believe that a post containing information he needs has been made, he will hack it. He likely won’t comment on it unless it’s necessary, and will keep the information to himself as he is a discreet individual, but the knowledge will be filed away for future reference.

History: Holmes was born in Garrettstown. His family…let’s just say they were dysfunctional at best. Young Sherlock was curious about everything, and fascinated with the world. He thrived on praise, especially from his family. He had a talent for noticing things other people didn't, something only his brother Mycroft understood. His father was a moderately-successful trader, although he and his wife didn’t quite see eye-to-eye about everything. Holmes senior was a decent man, but had a very quick temper, along with a tendency to jump to conclusions. When Holmes was ten years old, times were tight. One night, his mother took everything of value she could carry and ran off with a lover, leaving Sherlock, his father, and his older brother Mycroft in bankruptcy.

All three dealt with it in different ways. Mycroft, aged seventeen, left home to earn money as an accountant. Sherlock clung to his only remaining relative, his father. Holmes senior was ruined, and turned to crime. He became part of a con-artist group, and young Sherlock became involved. This was where he learned his remarkable acting skills and gained knowledge of disguises; not to mention lock-picking, breaking and entering, and many other talents that made him, his smarts, and his nimble fingers invaluable to the crime ring.

This went on for well over two years. The group was prepared to pull their greatest heist yet - an inside job of theft and murder of a wealthy businessman on vacation in Licere - and Sherlock was to let them in from the inside. He performed his part admirably, but witnessed the death of the victim - the innocent victim, he realized. It was an eye-opening moment for the twelve-year-old boy. He realized he had been blindly harming those who didn’t deserve it for the sake of criminals. This was wrong. He - he couldn’t do this anymore. In the end, he orchestrated the arrest of his own father, along with the rest of the gang, and took off on his own. He fled Licere, and Vohemar entirely, looking for somewhere there was no possibility of him being connected to the criminal gang he had incarcerated.

Holmes wandered around Ivona, a nameless, homeless boy. He fell in with a group of boxers, who taught him to fight properly. He became quite good at it, even winning a few prizes from time to time. It was these boxers who introduced him to morphine, which dulled the pain of a beating in the ring. Sherlock also found that it dulled the memory, allowing him to forget about his parents and what had happened in Licere and the other cities he‘d committed crimes in.

Mycroft, however, had not been idle. He found Sherlock, aged fifteen. The re-union was…surprisingly emotional. Mycroft was the only family Sherlock had left, and with very little resistance, Mycroft brought his younger brother to Melior. Mycroft worked as an accountant for a large company, and Sherlock set about getting himself a proper education. He studied sword-fighting, even won a prize or two, which helped fund his college education. With hard work, day jobs, and careful impressing and/or flattery of the right people (I.e. rich ones who would give him money to learn), Sherlock Holmes studied chemistry at a science university. It was at this school that he met “Tadpole” Phelps, the first friend he ever made. It is a long story, but it was in a visit to Phelps’ father’s home that he first put his deductive skills to work. He was unable to save Phelps senior from the man blackmailing him, but it sparked his interest in solving problems like this. His first cases came from other students. (Mycroft had moved to Bellcius as soon as Holmes was able to stand on his own two feet.)

After graduating, he continued his chemistry experiments in the college. However, he began to take an interest in Melior’s goings-on - unofficially, of course. Although skeptical at first, the officials in Melior’s police force accepted his help on a few cases, which were solved with remarkable speed.

He knew that both he and his brother possessed great powers of the mind, but Mycroft was lazy, unwilling to put his abilities to work solving crimes. Sherlock considers it a considerable waste; Mycroft’s powers of deduction exceeded his own. However, Mycroft found his own niche as an advisor to the Ivonan government, and is an invaluable source of information. Sherlock is also not above consulting his brother if he is unable to solve a particularly puzzling problem.

Living in Melior, conducting his chemistry experiments in the university lab and taking cases as a part-time job, Holmes heard about the Reial-wide bombings of ships. He examined a local ship that went down, and drew a few conclusions. He decided that he could do very little in Melior, and so left to offer his services to the ship dedicated to tracking them down, the Silvana.

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