Aled Moorland

[Aled Moorland]

Moorland, Aled
DEMIGOD

3rd Year at Camp
Age: 17
Son of Hephaestus
Alliance: Undecided

Appearance:

Eye(s): his eyes are a washed out blue, more akin to a 12 year old shirt than a pair of newly blossomed forget-me-nots. Their not his favourite feature, but he's not about to go out of his way to change something he normally doesn't notice.
Hair: Aled's hair is a flaming red, and that he does like. There's not too many natural gingers out there, and he enjoys feeling 'unique and exotic' even though there's really nothing exotic about him.
Height: 6'0
Build Type: Aled grew out of his 'long and lanky' stage about two years ago, and that's certainly credited to his time spent at the forges. Now, though it's not all that noticeable, he's broad shouldered and well built.

Brief Description: Aled isn't a towering giant, but he's all right with that. He's got the muscle tone to make up for it, first from years of rugby in the middle of freezing cold rain at home in Wales, and now from spending much of his spare time at the forges. His pale eyes are always laughing, and when he's too lazy to shave, you can see a shadow of a beard coming in, but considering in his experience girls tend not to like facial hair, he shaves it off as soon as he remembers.

He dresses rather conservatively, considering he's not the most confident boy at camp. His closet tends to consist of button-up collard shirts, a couple hoodies, three pairs of jeans and some random graphic shirts he's picked up cheaply from different places when he can't be bothered to do the laundry. He owns three pairs of shoes (one set of thongs, one set of trainers, and one set of black wellies he never wears) and several hats and caps which, in the earlier days, he used to hide his hair -- he loves the colour, but there are many people who don't, and he was teased mercilessly for it at school in the UK.


Background:

Mortal Parent(s): Janet Moorland-Watts
Other Family: Richard Watts (his step dad of four years) and Lizzie Watts (his seventeen year old step sister)
Pets: a well trained grey Ferret called Charlie, who he is rarely without (though Charlie has been known to hide in coats and bags, so check yours before you leave, just in case!)
Brief History: Aled was born in Barry Island, Wales to a then single Janet Moorland. Janet was twenty two at the time, and hadn't been planing on having children for at least another eight or nine years, so the pregnancy not only came as a huge shock, but as a massive disadvantage, especially when she found out that a baby cost a load of money. The cash she had saved and tucked away since she had graduated from college, all in hopes that she could one day send herself to university, would never meet it's initial purpose.

Nine months later, she had a beautiful baby boy at Barry hospital, with the lovely head of red hair she had been dreading -- she'd been a ginger for a good chunk of her life (she'd started dying her hair blond after secondary school), and had heard everything from 'gingers are stupid' to 'gingers smell like urine' (only harsher words were used for the last), and the last thing she wanted was for her child to have to go through the same. But, as her parents explained to her when she brought the baby home for the first time, there was nothing she could do about it.

For many years after the baby's birth, Janet and Aled lived together with Janet's parents in a small two-room house in Barry. It was cramped, especially as the baby grew into a toddler and scattered his things all over the place, but it was home, and they were very happy (if not a tad hard pressed for money). As soon as he was old enough, Aled was chucked into primary school, and as the years passed, the ginger-ism became more and more of a problem. He had always been very proud of his hair, but come year five, he was tucking it all away under a black cap to in an attempt to turn everyone off it. By year six, it had become so bad that Janet packed up their things and moved all the way across the country to Cardigan, where nobody knew them.

It was here that Aled unwittingly introduced his mother to his step father. Two weeks after he started school in Cardigan, he was sent to the headmaster's office along with a girl from his class, Lizzie Watts. From the first day Aled had started school, Lizzie'd had it out for him, and I'd be lying if I said that he liked her in return. That day, their contempt for each other had gotten a little out of hand, and they'd wound up disrupting the science class so severely with their fighting and jeering that the teacher called for their parents. Within three months of that meeting, his mother became Mrs. Moorland-Watts, and he and Lizzie, who still did nothing but fight, were living together under the same roof -- which was bound to be a disaster from the very start, considering she still thought he was an idiot (thanks to his severe dyslexia) and he still thought she was a pompous pig.

Aled refused to acknowledge Richard as a step father, or Lizzie as anything other than a horrid girl, and he began to spend most of his time locked up in the garage with nothing but his ferret, some scrap metal, Mr. Moorland's old 1955 Cadillac for company, the last of which hadn't run for years. His 'bedroom' was out of the question -- until they found a bigger place to live, he slept on the couch. Out of sheer boredom, he began tampering with the car, and soon you could hear power tools and clanking metal drowning out the sound of the television in the living room. This of course scared the hell out of Richard, who spent the entire weekend banging on the door, yelling at Aled to get his arse out of there and warning him that if anything happened to that car, he'd throw him out on the streets. But Aled wasn't convinced, and to drown out the sound of his voice and the unhappiness he'd been feeling for the past few months, he worked even harder, living off of nothing but the sodas and cans of baked beans that were kept in the garage fridge.

This week where he refused to come out of the garage was a trying time for the new family, and Janet was horrified at both the actions of her husband and her son. All through the Easter break, they did nothing but yell at each other and him, and occasionally at Lizzie until she picked up and moved into one of her friend's houses indefinitely. When Aled finally came out, feeling much better, it wouldn't be for long. Both Richard and his mother were waiting for him in the kitchen, and he got a proper earful from both of them, screaming and yelling and telling him how long he was grounded for. Richard, of course, went straight into the garage to check on the state of it. He was shocked at what he saw. The car, which had been a mess for quite a long time, was fixed. The hood was open, the engine tweaked, the body polished and waxed and the dents pounded out, to say the least of it all.

After that, Aled wasn't in anywhere near as much trouble as he had been when they thought he was tearing the metal off the car frame. In fact, not long after, with Richard's complete support, he opened up a miniature garage, charging half of what everyone else did and doing work that was double the quality of any one else -- he was 13; what did he know about 'repeat customers'? And unsurprisingly, after seeing the job Aled had done with Richard's car, he had more customers than he cared to have, considering he did have homework and class and only wanted one car at a time. But it made him some good money, which he enjoyed.

He kept the business going until he was fourteen, when the strangest things started happening: he'd see shadows out of the corner of his eye, and weird shapes in the night. That was about the time a new kid moved to Cardigan. He and Aled hit it off very well, which was good, considering a month and a half later something was trying to kill him, and Aled was brought to Camp Halfblood right then and there, leaving a note to his mum and Mr. Moorland (though none for Lizzie) telling them he'd be going to that prestigious boarding school in America that they'd been wanting to send him to -- the one that would help his dyslexia -- on full scholarship. His mum knows the truth, but Richard and Lizzie still think he's in New York.


Personality:
When you meet him , it’s likely you’ll have trouble believing that Aled is Hephaestus’ son. Along with his flaming red hair, he managed to inherit his mother’s sparkling personality. He’s outgoing, not necessarily shy, and loves to be noticed. He loves to know he’s unique, and can sometimes get a little bit wrapped up in making sure he isn’t exactly like every other boy out there, and even more so in making sure he doesn’t fall into ‘typically ginger’ stereotypes. Because of that, he forces himself to be patient and does everything as well as possible, always trying to outshine the other boys. He’s very personable and charismatic, though not always the most smooth talking of people and can tend to make a fool of himself when he’s too overenthusiastic. Which happens a lot. He gets excited about the smallest things, but at least you know he’s easy to entertain.

What he has inherited from his father is a big downfall for him – he’s extremely self conscious, and while he strives to be different, he also does his best to mould himself into someone other people expect him to be. This creates loads of conflict within the poor kid, considering half the time he’s got two voices with opposing views yelling at him at the back of his mind. The slightest incident turns into mountains for him, and he doesn’t deal at all well with teasing or embarrassment (proven by the fact that he wore a hat every day for about four years because he was scared people were going to rag on him for his red hair). However, he has inherited his father’s (figurative) steadfastness, and though he can be a bit of a klutz at times, he’s always been incredibly reliable and loyal to those he has befriended or that he looks up to. He’s also incredibly stubborn with those he doesn’t and once you’re on his bad side, good luck changing his mind. Good luck changing his mind about anything really.

Another trait he’s inherited from his father is his gentleness, which some would call unexpected in him, while others find that it defines him. He’s not easy to anger, and though he does tend to hold a grudge, it takes a lot to push that grudge into place. He’s not one to stereotype either, considering all his life he’s been stereotyped against and he knows how hurtful it can be.

Likes:

• Being special
  
• Making and fixing things
  
• Structure
  
• Video Games (strictly contraband of course)
  
• Adventure of any sort
  

Dislikes:

• His step sister
  
• People teasing him for his hair
  
• Waking up early (a necessary evil)
  
• Messiness
  
• Girls who know they're fit
  

Skills:

• Works well under pressure
  
• Persistent and determined
  
• Always completes tasks to the best of his ability, going above and beyond expectations
  
• Responds well to orders (most of the time)
  
• Has a round about but highly effective way of reasoning
  

Weaknesses:

• Incredibly stubborn
  
• Tends to have a one track mind
  
• Tends to be somewhat self concious
  
• Avoids his problems
  
• A little too overeager about some things, which can make him careless.
  

Passions:

• Making people laugh
  
• His ferret Charlie
  
• Making something from nothing
  

Fears:

• Letting people down
  
• His mum floating over to Lizzie's side
  
• His family getting hurt on his behalf
  

Hobbies:

• Attempting to teach Charlie adorable yet mostly useless tricks
  
• Trying to come up with something that's never been done before
  

Fighting Specialty: Hand to hand combat is definitely Aled's speciality. He's a forge junky, which means he knows every weapon on earth like the back of his hand, but also means that he spends more time making them than he does playing with them. So, due to years of sweating and toiling and lifting and creating, he's incredibly strong (looks are deceiving in his case, considering most of the time he tends to look like a pansy) and light on his feet -- he's got to work quick if he doesn't want his steel to cool off. One of the major constants in his life has always been rugby, so he's been hurt and has hurt others. He knows well how to throw his weight around, and has picked up far more than the basics since coming here.

Describe the extent of your powers/abilities: Like all his half brothers and sisters, Aled's a genius with his hands. He can take something completely destroyed and turn it into something beautiful and functional. He's spent a lot of time amongst the forges and so is for the most part able to stand fire, but unlike some of his brothers, he (as of yet) can't control or manipulate it, which makes him feel a little cheated.

Fatal Flaw: Aled's biggest flaw is definitely his over eagerness. He gets excited about things,and when he does, he's blinded to anything that remotely resembles a consequence to his actions. He's fallen into a bad light with several friends because of this, and hopes that's the only bad thing that will ever come of it.

Theme Song:
Lyrics

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The Puppeteer:
Name/ Alias: Moody
Age: 20
How long have you been role playing?: 2 years
Rate Your RPing 1-5 Stars according to our Star Rule (1 = beginner. 5= most advanced): I like to think I'm a four, but doesn't everyone? lol
How did you find us?: affiliate on another site

Role Playing Sample:

Antoine had never been one to willingly stay in one place for too long, unmoving and unentertained. He got bored quickly and easily, and so was always on the look out for new forms of entertainment or goals to set for himself. So, when the prospect of taking a trip (albeit a rather short one) to England arose to ‘discuss their political standing,’ he jumped at the chance to get away. He wasn’t a dull boy, and though he had been neglected to be informed, he knew the real reason he was being sent to the English castle today – to meet the Princess Mirabelle. He would woo her, and speak to her as though she were the only girl in his world, and make her feel special. Hopefully, that would lead to marriage, and a strong alliance between their two countries. Not to mention throwing the Princess Edana off his back, which would be a most welcome bonus.

The streets of London looked quite similar to the ones back home in Paris – the lower classes all shuffled about too and fro over a dirt covered road as they tried their best to finish everything they had to do before the sun left, taking the safety of the city with it. But his eyes were not trained on the peasants; they hardly mattered at this point. Instead, he fixed his eyes on the towering walls of Westminster, looming up in the distance.

He looked back over his shoulder at his entourage (which consisted of two men he didn’t know at all) and spurred his dappled charger into a quick trot, waiting impatiently as his longer strides ate up the distance between him and the palace.

It took all together too long to reach the palace gates, and far longer for them to pull the wretched things open than he thought was necessary. But nonetheless, he waited impatiently until the heavy gates gave way and he and his two companions were able to trot their tired horses inside.

Antoine had been to the palace before, and generally knew his way around; and to make sure he did, in an effort to impress the princess, his tutors had practically tied him to a chair in the library and forced him to memorize and recite a map they’d drawn up from several conflicting accounts. Goodness knew how accurate it was; he’d probably wind up making a fool of himself as he headed for the sitting room and wound up in the kitchen. He’d been far better off before, but he supposed there was no way to change that now.

He led his horse to the middle of the courtyard and dismounted rather gracefully as a handful of stable boys came prancing their way like eager colts to take care of their superior’s mounts, and hopefully get a decent tip besides. One, a dark haired youth, took the reigns from Antoine and walked the dappled grey towards the stable.

Antoine pulled off his riding gloves as the elder man who had accompanied him made a couple of ‘suggestions’ to the servants about how the prince was to be treated and housed now that he was here. Antoine wasn’t paying much attention though; his eyes were on one of the upper windows, where he could see shadows flitting too and fro. He tucked his gloves away and wondered if that could be her, and if it was, how hard he’d have to work to woo her. Until now, he’d never really seen her as anything other than an English princess.

He reached his arm out and stopped one of the higher-ranking servants as he passed. “Where is the princess?” he asked, his eyes not leaving the window in hopes that she would emerge and save him a load of trouble trying to hunter her down. “I’d like to send her my best wishes.”

[Levi Faollan]

looks good to me. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood!