character profile | tutorverse

[peacefullywreathed]

SOLOMON BIRTHDATE 27th March 1591 HOMETOWN Yellow Furze, Ireland SPECIES Human | Sorcerer FAMILY Parents: deceased LANGUAGE Irish, English, Norse, many ancient languages OCCUPATION Environmentalist OTHERS Pronounced Irish accent, severe horizontal scarring on his inner forearms. RELATIONSHIPS AILBE Ó MAOLOMHNAIGH Solomon's father. While a man of Catholic faith, Ailbe is also a man of philosophy and science, and uses logic to prove his belief. He's also a patriot, and defied the English in as many ways as he could without risking his son's future. SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT Solomon's tutor/brother. When they met Skulduggery was seventeen, nobleborn and disinherited, and in need of work. Skulduggery's youth and intelligence got through the shell Solomon had started to construct around himself. Once it became clear to whose family Skulduggery belonged, Solomon's father offered him a permanent place in their household. Skulduggery refused the name--but he stayed with the family, and in later years he and Solomon went so far as to call each other 'brother. AENEAS Ó FEARGHAIL Skulduggery's blood-father. A strict man with a narrow view of the world as defined by his faith, he's also one of Ailbe's peers and an Irish patriot. They came to know each other better when Aeneas, invited to discuss the issues facing the Irish aristocracy, happened across Skulduggery while in Ailbe's house. His treatment of Skulduggery became an ongoing point of contention between the two men, but it's thanks to this meeting that Skulduggery was able to reconnect with some of his siblings. When child!Solomon set out to prank someone, it was usually Aeneas, and it was usually Skulduggery who took the blame. CAINNEACH Ó FEARGHAIL Otherwise known as Kenny. Kenny is Skulduggery's older blood-brother, a mortal, and the only one of his siblings whom Solomon knew well. They met when Kenny came to Ailbe's house with his father, and though child!Solomon was frequently jealous of the man due to his bond with Skulduggery, the feeling was reciprocated. In spite of that they got on well, and it was due to Kenny's openness about offering his estate as a refuge that Solomon eventually chose his discipline of magic; Kenny's estate bounded one of the oldest forests in Ireland at the time, one which had a very old name. ERSKINE RAVEL One of Solomon's closer friends. Though they only met after Skulduggery's reanimation, Erskine and Solomon sort-of met in the middle in terms of philosophies. Erskine had a latent sort of ambition which Solomon's drive brought out, and they were both generally concerned with the same issues from opposite sides. Erskine is the man Solomon uses to put a pretty face on his requests--as well as drag into cleaning up environmental issues few others want to touch. ANTON SHUDDER Though Solomon and Anton didn't meet until well into war-time, they nevertheless recognised one another as users of primal magic--among the few who weren't completely embittered by civilisation. Though not best friends, they're close in a way. They understand one another and engage in an easy tit-for-tat trade of services; in the modern age, the Midnight Hotel is the nearest place Solomon has to a settled living-area. MADAME MIST Solomon's contact with the Children of the Spider. The Children aren't the only primal users of magic around, but most of the rest, like the warlocks and the witches, aren't interested in engaging with sorcerers; meanwhile the Children resent being pushed aside. For that reason Solomon used his reputation and his connections to get the Children leniency during the war and after, to a relatively successful degree. Madame Mist is among those few accepted into the Sanctuary. INVENTORY SIGNET RING Family ring. This was given to him by his father after his Surge, and contains his clan crest: a Celtic-woven tree. [ ✖ ] DAGGER This dagger was given to Solomon by Skulduggery during one of his early birthdays. He now uses it as his blood-dagger; the blade he uses to cast blood-magic. It never leaves his sight, and after centuries of use is a semi-magical item on its own. [ ✖ ] DIRK Blade Solomon uses for fighting. These got replaced on a frequent basis, especially during the war, though there Solomon doesn't have nearly as much use for them now he still carries one. [ ✖ ] MOBILE PHONE Dinky old thing which only works because it's magically enhanced for reception in the wild. Erskine once tried to get him a smartphone with a good camera ... it didn't last very long. [ ✖ ]

This version of Solomon Wreath hails from an alternate version of the Skulduggery Pleasant universe, in which Solomon's father Ailbe hired Skulduggery as Solomon's childhood tutor. As Skulduggery had already run away and been disinherited, his renewed presence in his father's old social circle didn't go unnoticed. It wasn't long before Skulduggery's father discovered where he was, but thanks to Ailbe's intervention Skulduggery was saved from active punishment. It did however bring Skulduggery back into close-contact with his older brother Cainneach, whose estate provided an excellent place to practice magic without the risk of the King's Guard noticing. For Solomon this was particularly relevant; since in this universe they were self-taught, Solomon experimented with his magic more than in others. As a result he attempted to use the name of Cainneach's estate and its surrounding forest, and to his surprise found he could use it to summon the dormant but local nature-spirits. While Solomon's father raised him to approach even spiritual matters with a degree of logic, the result was that Solomon found the concept of the very earth having consciousness fascinating. Much to his father's chagrin he pursued 'old magics' with a vengeance, as much to prove they weren't inherently evil as to see what he could do. Solomon wound up focussing on blood-magic and names in relation to living but apparently non-sentient beings, which resulted in a form of druidism. Though he inherited money and an estate, Solomon passed up material possessions for 'paganism' in an attempt to revitalise an understanding of the land and natural magics. During the war Solomon was always among the Dead Men, though he was in many ways most useful alone. While Skulduggery was dead Solomon went into essential self-exile--which turned out to be a boon to the rebellion, since doing so essentially put him through a rigorous training regime regarding his own magic. Solomon's ability to turn whole swathes of the landscape against their enemies, and leave natural guardians to guard their strongholds, ensured that Mevolent's forces very rarely got the upper hand. Unfortunately that only encouraged Mevolent to use guerrilla-type tactics--even the Dead Men suffered casualties, in the form of Hopeless, before the war was over. Unfortunately Solomon's push for mainstream magical society to accept outliers like the Children of the Spider only helped certain of Mevolent's forces to gain amnesty. Serpine, as in canon, became a prominent member of society. On the other hand, that push encouraged other traditional thinkers, such as Corrival Deuce, to consider the magical/mortal problem in terms other than keeping secrecy at all costs; particularly since Solomon's magic introduced a boatload of other sentient beings into the mix, ones canon hadn't seen in centuries if at all. By the time of canon Solomon is for the most part regarded indulgently. Even most sorcerers have forgotten--or didn't know--that his magic is responsible for Ireland's woods and waters being alive, and while his name is attached to the Dead Men most people think of him as 'that crazy woodsman'. To the mortals, he's alternately an environmental evangelist (and may have landed on one or two blacklists) and local wilderness ranger. On the other hand, his work has left a kind of undercurrent wonder in the social consciousness. In comparison to reality Ireland and many parts of the Continent are far more environmentally-conscious--it's hard not to be when apparent phantoms keep ruining lake-draining, construction, and other forms of urbanisation. While Solomon has been blamed for many of these sabotages (some rightly) there's a major movement in Irish government with a 'don't talk about it' policy regarding the nature-spirits they pretend don't exist. Read more about how the world of Skulduggery Pleasant has changed in this alternate universe. PERSONALITY The traits Solomon shares with canon are his need for faith, intelligence, self-assurance, wittiness, protectiveness, pragmatism and sacrificial nature. There's an added element of driven intensity. In tutorverse Solomon's faith is based around his security in his actions and the assurance that there are truths he cannot see. While he doesn't disbelieve in God, he's not an active practitioner; but neither does he worship the spirits he raises, as he views idolisation as a deterrent to understanding and therefore effectively acting as their ambassador. Mostly what he wants to have faith in is people, and that they can be taught to care for the land they work even in the modern age. Unlike canon, Solomon doesn't feel the need to display his intelligence. He considers it a tool, and uses it, but generally thinks it's more useful when it can't be seen. Nature-spirits don't have one single language, for instance, though the language of sigils is generally a good default for written spells; otherwise he needs to know the languages of the surrounding area to properly communicate with them. He uses it for himself, but he doesn't care to make sure others know how intelligent he actually use. Solomon's self-assurance is at once limited and more flexible in this universe. Solomon's assurance isn't really directed at himself; if anything it's rooted in his faith. That being said, he knows himself much better in this universe, due to his need to be rooted in his own identity when he's communicating with dormant nature-spirits. In this sense Solomon's assurance isn't so much confidence in himself as a knowledge of himself; like his intelligence it's something that he doesn't explicitly work for, so it's something that appears intrinsic and natural, and contributes to his intensity of focus. Being raised with Skulduggery as a mentor has pretty much ensured Solomon can still be witty and sassy when he wants to be, but he leans toward a more deadpan sense of humour and takes things literally more often than not. This is mostly as a result of working with nature-spirits, where words are important and binding, and therefore need to be exact--which doesn't leave much room for humour. In this universe Solomon's sacrificial nature combines with his pragmatism. The simple fact he's had people to care about over the course of his life means that Solomon is more prone to overt sacrificial actions and avoids things that aren't. However, this in combination with his pragmatism means he tends not to properly think about physical self-harm--he's a regular user of blood-magic and he's the nearest source. While in modernity he does sometimes use syringes and keeps vials, it's the act of shedding his own blood which holds the most magic, and having done this for centuries on end has trained him not to think anything of giving physically of himself, regardless of the harm it causes. It's also where he got the scars on his forearms, which he hides only because they draw attention rather than because of shame. Solomon's magic is very much the loner kind. He's had to be independent, and very much is, but because primal magic is an all-or-nothing, blood-for-blood sort of power Solomon has a definite intensity about him. Mistakes carry a hefty price, and committing to that sort of raw power means Solomon needs to have unparalleled focus. Matching up against spirits far older than he is means he needs to have an intensity of character so as not to fold, and he needs to be willing to perform necessary actions regardless of how brutal they seem to modern psychology. Because of this he regularly comes across as overbearing and invasive. POWERS Solomon's magic is difficult to separate into categories because he uses them as facets of each other, and by doing so creates a more powerful whole. It's for that reason he doesn't correct people who call it druidism, because it really is a sum of intertwined parts. NAME-MAGIC While Solomon can still use names on people to greatly effective degrees, he chooses not to except to help his scrying. For the most part he uses the names of locations, of individual flora and fauna, and other living beings to forge a connection between them and himself. When it comes to locations, woods or rivers or deserts, it lets him touch the inherent magic in the place. BLOOD-MAGIC Solomon uses blood in relation to people primarily by using body-parts, like hair, to scry for them. Doing so means he has a more direct link which can get through some types of wards Sensitivity can't; he can even scry for Skulduggery, even though Skulduggery has no physical brain for a Sensitive to find. However, blood-magic is mostly important because it forges a link between him and a location or an animal, one which enables him to awaken nature-spirits. BEASTSPEAKING Communicating with animals is less 'communication' and more 'passive emotional exchange'. Solomon uses their name to touch their life and then an exchange of blood to create a link which lets him view their memories and emotions. If they're receptive he can nudge them into obeying his commands--some animals have stayed with him for years this way. NATURESPEAKING Like with beastspeaking, naturespeaking relies on using both names and blood-sacrifice, and it's far more dangerous. Animals are already alive and aware; nature-spirits are dormant, and so to speak with them Solomon must first wake them up. Sometimes they don't like that, which means he needs to have a secure sense of self in order to avoid being swept away--or a big enough sacrifice to trade for the nature-spirit's help. This is particularly true of tainted or polluted locations, where the nature-spirits are enraged and in pain--while Solomon can help, he must first convince them that he will. Often this requires a greater blood-sacrifice than he has to give; during the war this meant he could trade them the lives of Mevolent's forces in return for aid. In modernity, it frequently means he has to fight them to exhaustion before they'll accept his presence. NATURE-MANIPULATION Once Solomon has forged a great enough blood-link beween himself and certain parts of the natural world, they'll allow him to use them as if he was a nature-spirit himself--to a certain degree. His favoured form is manipulation vines and branches, and foliage, just because it's the most useful. SHAPESHIFTING This skill was entirely an accident, and was a side-effect of naturespeaking. Having spent so much time communicating with nature on a degree that goes past physical form and delves into magic and the soul, Solomon's understanding of himself is such that he learned how to shed his physical form and take on another. It's dangerous primarily because of that risk of losing his self--if Solomon spends too long in any specific form, it will settle and he'll find it progressively more difficult to change back. WEAKNESSES SOCIETY Solomon finds a lot of cities to be stifling, but he still lurks around them if only to help out the nature-spirits who live there. This has actually had an effect over the years--many cities are starting to cotton on, though their residents try not to think about the fact that their natural features seem to be alive. Solomon finds this sort of willing blindness endlessly infuriating, and so has a tendency to wander around coercing people into helping him pick up after themselves. SOCIAL INTERACTIONS It's not that Solomon can't be charming if he doesn't want to be, because he can. It's just that most of the time he finds people too annoying to put in the effort, and without being extra-charming to make up for it, like in canon, that means he tends to drive people off unless he's actively avoiding that result. Usually he's perfectly okay with that. ABILITIES DIPLOMACY In spite of Solomon's constant frustration with humanity, he's actually really good at being an ambassador, and his number is on several emergency lists within the Irish government. When he's mediating a proper interaction between nature and society, he get results--even if it occasionally means slapping people upside the head or enforcing his own power on nature-spirits to get them to listen. It's a brute-force sort of diplomacy, but given the beings he deals with, it's effective. TRADES KNOWLEDGE Although Solomon doesn't seem like the academic type, he's got an extensive knowledge of various processes that affect nature in some fashion. A lot of the time this involves business practices or mining policies and the like, but it also includes a good knowledge of engineering and architecture so he can offer environmental alternatives to otherwise damaging practices. Also, languages. He knows a lot of languages, many of them old forms of modern ones because the nature-spirits are most likely to know them. NATURAL MEDICINE Having being alone and in the wild for stupidly long periods of time, Solomon is actually a very competent field-medic. He uses magical plants and medicines when he can get them in the wild, but also uses perfectly mundane ones too.

( codes by whambam )