Orberus

Orbe's blocky casual

Orberus "Patron of Hartpax", "Mistress Of Burial Mounds" and "Red Wraith"- Short for "She Who Shepherds Scarlett Dawn Across The Steppe" - is a *lot* of things. *Clearly*. But currently, mostly the royal advisor to King Lodestar, and the dandiest corpse you'll ever meet.

Losing his original body to a particular death and circumstance before the onset of Apocalypse, Orbe regained form and mind with the Wildland Update. Returning to his supposed ancestral land with a pack of wolves at his heels, he enstablished a territory south of Overgrowth, and has been causing telenovela-worthy scenarious and scandals ever seen.

## Appearance

Orberus is an unnecessarily tall and sharp-edged maned wolf. He is long-limbed and slender, and with a height of 6 '10", Orbe tends to catch attention wherever he goes. And you better believe this wolf seeks to make that attention *a good one*.  He puts an obvious -and dare I say, successful- effort into his appearance, making his own fitted clothes by paw and somehow being able to procure make-up in times of post-Apocalypse.

To the touch, his maroon fur is like soft, waxy grass blades, the black is coarse and stiff and the orange constantly runs feverishly warm. Often, there is an assortment of leaves and buttercup petals growing from his fur, with the petals having their own, faint glow- This is one of the only outwardly visible things hinting towards his undead nature, other than his eyes- a brilliant, shifting cyan with gold-ringed and slit, serpentine pupils.

Despite the obvious investment in his beauty, he makes no effort to disguise his vast scarring. Orberus has prominent trailing burns across his entire body, his right leg being being mangled entirely and his long tail being heavily damaged, the base partially bare of any fur at all, giving it a feather-like appearance.

The skin has healed over well enough, but the scar's shape remains strange- spindly and jagged, decribed in *"The Affairs Of Old Soldier Men"* RP like "*as if someone dragged a burning, thorny branch along his skin".* How one would go about earning them is... Unexplainable, with even the clawmarks underneath Orbes muzzle are in fact, revealed to be burns upon closer inspection.

Despite all that, his scars are easily overlooked for his wild and untamed beauty, and him being famously a pretty face. A image he only serves to feed with his outfit choices- less fabric around his chest and long legs, the better. His trademark is his prominent use of white fox pelts, and the chain he wears around his heavily maned neck, often acompanied with a golden bell.

In movements, Orberus tries to exude effortless grace and grand showy movements, but his animalistic jitters often betray that. Around people beloved to him, Orberus becomes a bit more manic, often unable to stay still, talking with his hands, and indulging in his frequent habit of pacing. Luckiky, his bell lacks a clapper, and thus it never rings despite Orbe's animated movements. (...*Unless Orbe wishes it to.)*

### "Unweaving", The State of Undead

> *Orbe's skin doesn't break, as much as it just gives. Like vines growing wild to escape it's trellis, the collective that once made the soft fur over his ribs gives away, a bouquet falling every which way once the string around it's stems was cut.* **- "The Shroom Who Cried Wolf RP**
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Orbe's body is not ´flesh´. Although disguised well as any other Lupine- although particularly lanky-, his body is made out of interwoven stems and plant life. This might be the most apparent in his red mane, which to touch is recognizable as soft wildgrass, with various leaves and golden petals rooted into it.

How exactly transformation came to be is a mystery, although undeniably, it was a grisly one. Orberus refers to it as his body being “stolen” away, and has previously implied that fire had something to do with it. Although, hinted by his sincere belief that therapists and other professions carry scalpels… there is some guessing work if it really was fire who got to him first.

He can shed his body at will, burning it away rapidly all at once to phase through objects, and later re-grow it again from the ground again to materialize- this power is strong enough to force plant growth in the Nether, although judging by Orberuses hatred for the dimension, it isn't easy *or* pleasant.

Over time, he's learned to control the burn to some degree- shedding parts of his body to display the hollowness underneath, which he usually utilizes as a threat display. During moments of heightened emotions, he can also start to breathe out smoke, with his black paws trailing ash. He might also... Involuntary combust. A thing that hasn*'*t happened with an audience. *Yet.*

This process, he affectionately “unweaving”, which is a lot softer term than burning yourself alive into nothingness. Oh, the whims and wonder of body horror. Here are some futher terms and rules for his condition:

* He is difficult to harm and scar permanently, as the wounds will eventually stitch themselves closed together with plant growth (The leaves in his mane are indicative of closing wounds). Despite that, Orbe clearly has plenty of scarring already, implying that in order to harm him, the harm must be so memorable it will write itself into the memory of his own form.
* Lacking actual nervous system, his feelings of pain have lessened considerably, and he's able to tune the feeling out altogether, although that renders him unable of any physical feeling for a good while.

* He's unable to stay immobile for too long, as his body will attempt to root into the ground. It seems his presence alone encourages plant grown, with even the desolate Burial Mounds becoming lush and his home in the Valley having flowers and grasses breaking through the floorboards.
* He gets easily distressed and irritated when removed from nature for too long. While an avid enjoyer of shopping trips, he, to his core, is *not* a creature meant for the city, making his stay in the Valley sporadic and his feelings for Aurelia... variying.

## Personality

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> *“For someone who's very much dead and whose own body was quite past its expiration date even before that, Orberus is one of the most obnoxiously lively people out there. Flamboyant and chatty, Orberus is always strutting around doing something- whenever it is convincing the wolves to make paper lanterns with him, or tilling gardens early in the morning and still in his fancy night robes…”* - Excerpt from the original Personality Intro
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Orberus is, to put in simply, a piece of work. If anything, you have to admit that Orbe is very passionate. Fierly and ever-moving just like the fire that consumes his body, Orberus can shift through emotions on a dime. Often, those very emotions are so sweeping, Orbe can appear a wastly different person- A bite-happy and proud fool to onlookers, but tender and sweet to those who beheld his comfort, and promptly realized he has very little idea of what to do with himself.

He is *a lot*, a lot of sparkle, dazzle and love for the finer things in life, like a good book of poems or a well-woven wool. One could easily make the mistake of thinking of Orbe as a high-maintenance diva, but they would be only half-right.

Orberus is a hopeless romantic, never missing a chance for overdramatic. He's got that playful canine nature in him, and being friends with him includes being invited on many hiking trails under the full moon.
He often bemoans his lost youth, talking of the days when he was young, beautiful and adored, but it might be that he just finds fun in complaining- In the end, he always claps his paws, dusts himself off, and gets back to work. If anything, Orberus cannot stand not being useful and left unpraised.

Due to the regrets of his past, more demature self and the dangers his loved ones face today, he has recently decided to take up the mantle of a protector, and it has… Oh, it well depends on whom, but it has been *going*. Orberus is a wolf through and through, overbearing and eager to protect his chosen few despite their actual need for it. He is after all a man of heart, not exactly one of intellect. In this life, he accepted that there are things he *wants*, and any endangerment to them feels like he is breaking all over again.

The crux of Orbe is that he is paranoid, his thinking easily clouded over by anger and fear in equal measures. He is eager to lash out when a threat presents itself- Orbe might grand and showy, powerful in his claws and handsome in the face, but is at the end, posturing and overcompensating for how mangled and fragile his existence is to him.

Despite his assumed swagger and confidence, the intensity of his feelings bordering on overwhelming.
As unaffected by his past and present situation he seems to be to most, something in Orberus is broken. He's an incredibly lonely individual, who clings to people with all might and always seems surprised when his goodwill is returned. His love for people turns him into a bit of a social chameleon, with him swearing off morals if he can help those he chooses to love.

## Backstory

### The Paradisian Era

Orberus has been part of the Overworld for a long, *long* time. In his youth and under a different name, shortly before the Apocalypse, Orberus lived a simpler life upon a long strip of a rocky steppe- A biome now lost to time.

There, he once caught the eye of a wandering alchemist, who Orbe coincidentally saved from having to face concuquences of breaching the territory of a starving lupine pack.

Orbe healed the young man's wounds, but met his eyes only once- and that, that was enough to have Emmanuel captivated by Orbe's beauty.

Emmanuel began courting Orbe, relentless in his pursuit. What got Orberus to finally agree is unknown, but eventually, Emmanuel was able to lead Orberus out of the Steppe, and into a new life- The lupine pack now following loyal behind.

The two would travel the high society, moving from court to court as Orbe's newly wedded husband offered his skills. Unfortunately, the allure must have passed, as Orbe was often left standing at the sidelines- Unskilled, untrained in this way off life, and left to be picked by vultures that gravitated towards power and control.

Orbe would find gentler company among the doting court ladies, and the wives of men that Emmanuel made dealings with. This is where Orbe laid the foundation for the many skills and traits he kept to his day- primarily his sewing, playing the piano and handling entertaintment.

Orberus would also find another new kind of release entirely, as Emmanuel's experiments grew more grander, *needier*. Requiring material that was plenty more sparse and… livelier. Back outside the walls of civilizations and under Emmanuels tentative permission, Orberus was allowed respite in routine of a hunting dog, leading the pack of lupines in gathering material for Emmanuel, while his husband worked out the alchemical and business side of things.

But this respite came with a heavy grief. Again and again, Orbe came back from bloodying his mouth and herding unwilling beasts into a certain doom, only to be stuffed into a bustle and expected to behave... Torn between the many leashes and shackles placed apon him, dragged each and every way, Orbe eventually became an amalgamation unfit for the tightly-lipped scene.

Emmanuel became the only one who didn't thought him hysterical. Strangely enough, Emmanuel grew more protective and caring of Orberus, as the consequence of his treatment shown.

But Emmanuel's work was unwavering. Whatever love he felt, however twisted, wasn't enough.

Whatever happened that day, whatever caused Orberus to act out is a mystery... But during the hunt for one of the last unicorn remaining in the Overworld, It was Emmanuel's throat who Orbe sank his teeth into. Witnessing this, the Lupine hunting party flew into mad confusion, eventually resorting to shooting both the Unicorn and Orberus down.

This is where Orberus found his first death. Fighting against the retrieval of the unicorns body, he held out just long enough for the wildfire to become a furnace, forcing the other Lupines to flee before their fire resistence ran out.

But there was no hope for Orberus, too pinned down by his wounds and shame. And collapsing against the crystalline hide of that which remained pure, Madame Scarlett was finally put to rest…

### Age Of Monsters

… Until the earth cracked, and the slow healing of the Overworld was finally enough to awake something that rested, but hasn't died. Not fully.
Budding growths of crystals, half-melted into roots like a grotesque mosaic, tore itself out of the earth, springing forward with no shape, but all purpose: To live, whatever it means.

As it went, it gathered plants and grasses that twined around its bones like trellis, giving it more of its shape. It changed as it ran, fluctuating, as it tried to remember who it was- and who it desperately wanted to be.

After needing to live, what came next to the creature was needing to have a duty. To protect something. To guard.
Orberus hasn't fully awoken into himself. Living off of baser instincts, Orberus stumbled upon a village, where he immediately appointed himself as the cattle guardian dog to their sheep. There, he spent years, threading the line between man and beast as he slowly figured out where the line lies for him.

Until the sky turned gore red, and the Overdragons echoing scream awoke Orberus into his memories.

Remembering who he was in full and the sudden weight of it, he took flight once again, gathering the distant offspring of his original pack with his call as he ran. Homesick and yearning for the home torn from him, Orbe ushered them back onto the steppe...

Only to find it gone, replaced by dry earth and cracking hills... If it even *was* the right spot, for Orberus never again would be good with directions, his homing instinct knocked-off balance, trying to find a place thousands years in the past.

Never the less. The pack had suffered losses, wandering directly into the Overgrowths infestation of Rot. Angerered by the wolves ripped away from him, and at the state of the world that allowed for it to happened, Orberus called for them to settle under the peak of the shattered savanna plateau- far from the infection, but with enough rise to oversee it when their strenght returned.

The land earned the name "Burial Mounds", in grief of a land lost, and in not getting to even bury their own dead. Orberus and his pack have been living there ever since. Slowly but surely, the grounds now cracks with golden grasses underneath their feet, and the Overgrowth is fed by the flames they start, the Patron and his pack loyaly warding off the Rot and any dangers that would destroy even the last, ghost-like traces of their homeland.

## Plotlines / Events

### Mosswood Debut

Orberus had his social debutante during Wild Walk and Mosswood. Despite his silence during the Wild Walk itself (Canonically, he was stitching his costume last-minute on horseback. In reality, my voice mod decided to break itself), he was in his element in Mosswood, eager to help the Overworld recover in the few ways he could, and even more eager to finally get a little bit of a break from his pack.

As for restorations, his contribution was prettying up the area with flowers, setting up a very cute picnic place and impressing many with his trash talk during the wrestling competition- and only that, as he managed to accidentaly phase himself out of the arena ring in under 10 seconds.

There, he has also met Ebon and Revrie- the letter, who would become a defining character in his new life. Orberus stumbled upon Revrie in the middle of disconnecting, and brought him back (with ample difficulty) into his duck-filled home to rest. Upon waking, rather than having a conversation about what happened to him, Revrie made Orberus soup- an act of kindness that Orbe was fast to return, crafting Revrie a shoddy umbrella from his own.

One accidental marriage proposal later- Revrie lending Orberus a shrinking ring, and Orbe mistaking the gesture royally but being more surprised than in any offended, or even,, unreceptive, really- Orberus woved to help Revrie figure their condition out, promising to track Revrie down by their scent after the two part from Mosswood. *(A threat that Revrie... probably shouldn't have been touched by as much as he was.)*

The two did not meet again for a long while after that, as Orberus ventured out to kill pillagers that slain Leif's son Fenix, and more. On that journey, Orbe realized that in this life, he longs for more than hunting and duty- but for connection. The moment he came back, he sought Revrie out, regretful of not staying by them as he promised, and woving to do better.

He stuck true to his word, and is nowdays fully devoted to Revrie. The two spent the following Winter Festival together, and Orbe helped Revrie set up a garden in the Nether despite Orbe's hatred of the dimension. Orberus wants to ease Revrie's condition, but not being any sort of scholar himself, he doesn't know where to even get started. Revrie keeps telling him that its not his responsibility, but Orbe likes Revrie so much, he *wants* it to be.

While he figures that one out, Orbe seeks to provide Revrie with the same warmth he's given him, one soup at the time.

## Relationships

### Revrie Solace

> "No greater self-fulfilling prophecy than syncing your lungs to someone else's heart beat"
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Orbe's first and dearest friend in this new world, and now, someone Orberus considers his Heart- and a rescue at that! But really, you could say they rescued each other.

While Orberus prides himself on his wilder traits, Revrie reminds Orbe of just how much he's a person too. The only researcher Orberus is able to abide, he's down for sickly scholar \*bad\*. On page (and taking into account Orbe's habit of seducing only dignitaries), it sounds like they'd just not work well together, but they find comfort and safety in the other, and the two are on the way to figuring their feelings out.

### Jeremiah Jones

Orbe's opinion on Jeremiah have started out as sour- not through any of Jeremiah's own actions, but due to Orbe's own jealousy, and his protectiveness of Leif in the face of Jeremiah's attraction and Leif's complete obliviousness. To Orbe, Jeremiah seemed like any other King- ruling with nothing but impressive stature, eager to take advantage of those who fall under his put-on charm, and inherently, a snake.

.... Well, safe to say, Orbe was proven wrong, that situation has become even more layered with Whalesong, and Orbe discovered he actually quite likes Jeremiah's forked tongue. Huh. Orberus sees Jeremiah as a man more capable than many, and certainly a lot more impressive. Drawn to his unwavering emotions, both blunt honesty and disarming casual kindness, Orbe finds Jeremiah easy to talk to, and has begun to casually seek out his company and counsel after their encounter.

To Orbe, Jeremiah is plenty more wolf than human, pertaining his disposition to tightly-coiled, efficient brutality, and being the one who finally understood what Orbe needs. Unfortunately for Jeremiah, Orbe has begun to feel kinship to the man, and when a dog bites into a bone, then well... There certainly is something strange between them. Despite Orbe's natural unease in Aurelia, he has been making an effort to appreciate it, and under the guise of “improving faction relations”, helping where allowed to ease Jeremiah's workload- With, of course, always informing Jeremiah of doing so, expectant tail wagging and all.

Jeremiah points or vaguely blinks in a direction, and Orbe fetches- and until Orbe oversteps, both seem somewhat satisfied with the arrangement. *Until*.

### Rufus

The unofficially adopted son of Orberus and Leif. Orberus seeks to protect Rufus from those who would judge him for his unusual appearance, feeling a deep sympathy with the kindly Naga for his animalistic traits and uncontrollable hunger- Projecting much?

Instead of repressing them and pushing Rufus into being more human, Orberus wants to teach him how to harness his natural abilities to protect both those beloved to him, and himself- And if that makes him an enabler to future destruction, when Rufuses control might slip… So be it.

### Emmanuel of Hartpax (Lore Character)

Not much is currently known about Orberuses past lover, except for the fact that he was the original leader of Hartpax pack and is now very much dead.
Looking back on him is… rather painful, especially with Orbe's own opinions on him being rather complicated. To Ebon, he admitted that he might have not been the kindest person, but that Orbe still owes him the life he has now.
He doesn't like thinking back on him nowadays. He wants to keep him as what Orbe remembers he was, not what Orbe is slowly realizing he has been.

## Trivia

* Orberuses' name was supposed to be a play on Orthrus, a two-headed dog in Greek Mythohogy + brother to Cerberus, and “Orba”, the czech word for tilling fields. Looking back, Morek now realizes they were spelling Orthrus wrong their entire life, and the original intend of the play is Not Working, being actually lot more fitting play on Cerberus...But we stay silly, and make it work.
* This beast has both a Toyhouse and an overly long, quite messy Spotify Playlist!
* Next to being able to communicate with canines, he has the ability to communicate with most domesticated animals- specifically, the farm ones. The known exceptions to this are rabbits and cats, with pigs being way too pigheaded to listen to him. Orberus has an excellent repoir with herd animals especially, and despite his wolfish apperance, animals like sheep and cows often look at him with nothing but trust.
* Orberus is capable of dropping down all fours, and often does so for improved movement and speed. He can switch seamlessly between the two gaits, but the movement on all his fours seems to come more naturally to him, and is actually how he spends most of his time in private.
* Orberus keeps many animals on his territory- His pack of wolves being an obvious one. Burial Mounds is also home to many songbirds, roaming herds of sheep, and a single hippo- a beloved member of the family called Jonathan who is, by their laws, a Lupine himself.
* Orbes favorite animals are frogs. He raises tadpods in little pools around Burial Mounds, and has a cave enclosure dedicated to housing the grown ones.
* On the other hand, Orberus absolutely ***loathes*** foxes. He might just be the reason there are no foxes to be found in the Overgrowth's forests, as he would not hesitate to drive them all out. You almost can't blame him, as the rage and persuit he flies into upon seeing them looks almost instictual... But no one is that appreciative of seeing a kit be bitten into two halfs, so that *Almost* is doing some heavy lifting.