Othniel Abascal

Othniel is an initiate in the cult of The Divine Eye, born and raised somewhere within Jongmal. Notoriously quiet, stoic, and kind of abrasive at first glance, and strangely sedated. Disgustingly well-built and unafraid of physical conflict, he seems to care little about many things. He values physical strength and linguistic capability, and strives for absolute perfection. He's known to be a little more talkative with those he has spent a lot of time with, such as Sun Yuting. Othniel responds most to distant names, such as 'you', 'boy', etc, and still has some trouble with the Zhǎngwén language.

## **Appearance**

Othniel is tall, standing at 6'5", and has a powerful, muscular physique, owing to hours of rigorous exercise on a near-daily basis (despite knowing the negatives of doing so). He has a darker skin tone and a single hooded black eye. His black hair is unkempt and messy, partially curtain-fringed. He is covered in assorted old scars, most notably, the old and ugly burn scar at the right side of his neck, which is also the only one he makes effort to cover up. Among others, he also has a straight scar at his left jaw/cheek; calloused palms; his hands and forearms have the highest density of scars, presumably from knifewounds; and along his torso, similar injuries, as well as small circular burns, presumably from cigarettes and pipes; his scalp is immensely scarred over, under all his hair. His face is near constantly void of emotion, as is his sometimes stutter-y voice (owing only to his unfamiliarity with Zhǎngwén and his belief that some things simply cannot be translated), making him immensely hard to interpret.

Until the dormitory's expedition to Xijiang-Guiyu, he had only his two changes of uniform as apparel, and even now, makes little attempt to make himself otherwise visually distinct when it comes to clothing.

## **Background**

His history is nearly entirely unknown to everybody in the cast, only alluding several times to different events. He has made it clear to some individuals, such as Sun Yuting and possibly even Ji Ivanov, that he has never had money of his own before, and in narrative, there have been references to boxes, and a Hong Se companion who taught him some of the complexities of Zhǎngwén. Weird!

It is starkly clear that prior to joining The Divine Eye, he was very poorly socialised, initially only talking when encouraged or told to speak, and even then, keeping it minimal. His scars speak thousands of words about his prior life, especially his scarred scalp, burnt neck, and work-hardened hands.

His heavy Jong-eo accent shows well enough his being raised in the country, with it also being his first language, but he has also admitted to Sun Yuting that his name is presumably Palecan.

## **Personality**

Othniel feels intense emotions. To counteract this, he routinely sedates himself with the drug Songbird, keeping himself placid and calm. When sedated (which is almost all the time), he is quiet, calm, and relaxed, though often cowers when fearing he has spoken out of place, especially towards strangers and authorities. He will not hesitate, however, to resort to violence if he deems it necessary, but has argued with other members about how violence should best be done - Othniel is adamantly of the belief that one should rely only on their own hands to hurt and to kill, which has resulted in arguments with Feng Lao.

He has many strict and even hypocritical beliefs, though as of yet, most of them have remained unspoken - save for his interactions with Tsugaru Yone, where he revealed his desires to become a Hand, despite fearing he will be made a Bone or an Ear.