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APP: DUPLICITY
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Name: Chester Door: Door Pass Canon: ENIGMA: Canon Point: Envirio route, shortly after visiting the ruins with Greta and Ignis. Age: Not specified, estimated to be mid-20s. Appearance: 1 & 2 History: Prior to the events of ENIGMA:, Chester is living in an unnamed port city within his home country of Lysnia. The world to which Lysnia belongs is overrun with a disease called Enigma, an incurable, mysterious illness that targets bodily tissues indiscriminately. It is a disease poorly understood by humanity: some say it's the result of miasma, while others argue it's a punishment for mankind's sins. The only thing anyone truly knows is that its mortality rate is unlike anything seen before, and that it only seems to be getting worse. Before receiving his diagnosis, Chester was working as a soldier in Lysnia's expansive army. His mother had formerly been in the military, and so he followed in her footsteps. Some time after receiving his diagnosis, Chester decided to take his leave of Lysnia, citing the pain he was causing his friends by being a constant reminder of their own mortality. Having left a letter for his loved ones, he set out at sea on a boat made by his father, with no particular destination in mind. His foremost concern was simply leaving: he had no care for where he might end up. Where he ended up—thus setting ENIGMA:'s events in motion—was the sleepy island of Carlyle. Upon waking in the home of an islander named Colette, Chester is told of his circumstances: he'd washed ashore with his clothes in tatters, no ship in sight. Colette's younger brother, Lauro, was the one who hauled him to their home. Shortly afterward, Chester is greeted by the island's herbalist, Greta. Following a short examination, she privately informs him of what he already knows: he is terminally ill, with about one month left to live. Later that night—and following a number of small, suspicious incidents—Chester learns the first truth of Carlyle. Rather than simply being obscure to those living on the mainland, Carlyle is an island hidden within a barrier, long since forgotten by the rest of the world. An unstable rift in the barrier sometimes meets the sea, which is how Chester made it to a place otherwise untouched by the modern world. Stranger still is that the island is home to a forest—a forest they call Enigma. Chester's canonpoint follows the Envirio route, wherein he spends a few days simply exploring and getting to know the islanders. Following the decision to host a dinner party to thank his new friends for their hospitality, an unexpected event occurs: Colette is attacked by another islander, Tai, postponing the dinner party and leading to Chester having a talk with Envirio instead. Envirio, a doll created by the islander Ignis, informs Chester that it bears the seal of the Turikas. In a rare instance of wanting more information, Chester contacts Ignis, who in turn contacts Greta. The two took him to the ruins where the Turikas once resided, telling him of the history of the tree at the center of the forest. This tree—that which they also refer to as Enigma—was once revered as a god, and is revealed to be the cause of Chester's illness. It exudes a miasma the barrier was intended to contain, but the rift in the barrier has caused that miasma to reach the outside world. Overwhelmed, Chester asks to retire to his cabin for the moment. Greta and Ignis agree, and all three head back to the village. Chester's last memory of Carlyle will be falling asleep that night within his cabin. Personality: Above all, Chester is a man who's lost hope. This will not be immediately apparent to those who meet him. To others, he appears calm to a fault, seemingly unaffected by things that would upset, anger, or confuse any sensible person. Upon being told that Enigma—an incurable illness that attacks bodily tissues indiscriminately—has left him with only a month to live, he remarks in a way most exemplary of the image he projects: he smiles, asking, "But I look good, don't I?". For some, this is frustrating—even unsettling—but for Chester, a carefree disposition is the only one that makes sense. He says as much when questioned about whether or not he's angry to have his life stolen away early by Enigma, remarking that these things happen without rhyme or reason; that there's simply nothing he has to gain from answers. Those who can get past the bizarre degree of nonchalance will find that Chester has a tendency for warmth and kindness. He can see the good in virtually everyone, and doles out compliments without reservation or embarrassment. He makes friends easily, encouraging their dreams and doing what he can to ease their anxieties. This is best observed in his friendship with Lauro, a young resident of Carlyle who harbors interest in the outside world but has been treated badly for it. Where others have ridiculed Lauro's curiosities, Chester indulges them—he speaks of accompanying Lauro to the outside in his route, and on multiple occasions answers questions that Lauro has regarding life beyond Carlyle. In essence, he is gentle and nonjudgmental, his easygoing nature being every bit the supplement to his social fluency as it is a personal oddity. What is less apparent to others—but no less a part of his true nature—is that inwardly, Chester is terrified. From Enigma sprouts his fear, and from his fear sprouts a cyclical inner conflict: he is deeply afraid of death, but knows that his fate can't be averted. He wants desperately to live, but wishes still that everything would just be over. Claiming he has nothing to gain from answers is only a half-truth: he wants to make sense of what's happening to him, but he knows that it ultimately will not change anything. There is no avoiding what is to come: in a matter of a month, he will die, and this truth informs nearly every aspect of who he is. In many senses, Chester and death walk closely to one another. His mother passed when he was young, and his father, too, was lost to Enigma. The most important person in his life—his best friend, Eliot—succumbed very suddenly to Enigma shortly after Chester's own diagnosis, devastating him, leaving him with the thought that all he can do is wait for his own time to come. As a soldier, he was forced to confront death on a regular basis, never proud to kill in the name of Lysnia, but left without any choice. So deeply did his time on the battlefield affect him that he doesn't even like being reminded of his own birthday—why should he celebrate being alive when he's taken countless lives with his own hands? His inextricable connection to death has robbed him of the hope he once had. Gone is the young boy who once loved stories of heroes and saving the world—all that's left is a man who smiles to hide an all-consuming fear. Powers and Abilities: Chester has nothing in the way of supernatural powers—he's a perfectly ordinary human suffering from deteriorating hearing, low energy levels, and bloody coughing fits as a result of his illness. His only ability is in combat. While Lysnia's technology level is somewhat vague, he is able to assemble and use what looks like a semi-modern pistol, and at one point he's shown to subdue Tai in hand-to-hand combat. He generally will not resort to such lengths, though—he actually prefers to flee, and he's rather good at it, with several different characters remarking that he's quicker than he looks. Inventory: - Pistol - Locket Samples: 1, 2, 3, 4 |
