Rocko

## Application Sheet

Rocko was a white-furred male wolf with yellow-green eyes. He was a loyal member of Heyl until the destruction of the pack as a result of the Royal Coup; after this, Rocko decided to travel south as a loner, before he joined Riverfell as a Young Feather (Gold Feather in training).

## Personality

* ***Serious, but Playful.*** While Rocko can come around as quite serious and intimidating, he is rather playful, friendly and eager to make friends and acquaintances. His problem is that he is unaware of how his rather serious expression and mostly straight kept tail intimidates others or can even come around as arrogant. When confronted with it though, his facial expression quickly changes to a friendlier one. Once he knows he won't be judged, he will also let lose and is quite open for games and thusly is quite popular around puppies or youngsters. Playfulness aside, he can be quite serious and stern when needed and then isn't open for any kind of shenanigans at all. This mix makes him a rather good teacher and brotherly figure for others, who he happily guides and lends a shoulder to lean onto.
* ***Creature and Nature Friendly.*** Rocko has a strong affinity for other creatures and nature itself, especially herbs and plants and respects them a great deal, usually avoiding to destroy any, if it can be avoided. He also knows a bit about replanting herbs and can relax while "gardening". Different cultures or opinions will definitely find an attentive listener in him and he is open to give advices, if wanted. While he is eager to listen and accept others, he has a strong moral code though, which - once hurt - will turn him into a brick wall when it comes to acceptence and understanding. While other wolves tend to ignore or not dignifying other creatures, Rocko loves to interact with them - learning about their culture and more - even so much to share meals with them or helping them and nuturing them back to health. This usually leads to all kinds of bonds he forms with the animals living in the territory, sharing informations with him.
* ***Loving and Protective, and Expressive.*** Once he forms a bond, he showers the other with affection sometimes, including hugs or loving licks, ignoring the gender and would risk his own life as long as theirs can be saved. Due to the fact that he noticed that some have trouble approaching him, although not noticed WHY, he tends to be rather expressive when it comes to body language. In his mind a clear, strong tail wag to show happiness is better than a smile or subtle wag. The clearer the better. Although, some may find such an expressive behaviour childish, it makes it easier for others to read him. This also means that you can quite clearly feel when he is truly angry about something, as he sends out clear vibes and some may find it quite shocking how dark he or rather the vibes he is giving off can become, when he is dead serious.
* ***Particular and Restless.*** One of his big problems is, that he wants certain things done in a specific way and if they aren't done so, he will try to correct them. Certain things have to be in certain places to be found easily and avoid long-time searching. He tries his best to not nudge others about it, as he doesn't want to come around as rude, but he might correct it when they're gone. This behaviour of his causes him to get quite restless and tires him out sometimes, which is why he tries to keep it under control or takes a day off to rest - if possible and nothing else is nudging on his mind.
* ***Creative and Intelligent.*** He is highly intelligent and cunning, which makes it easy for him to read hidden messages or detect lies, but also gives him the creativity to come up with plans or ideas that help others. If he notices someone has a difficulty, he tries to to find a way to help them or even eradicating the problem at its root, so it won't occur again. He uses this also to find methods and tools for the pack in a whole, to make their life and work easier. His intelligence might come from the fact that he comes somewhat close to having an eidetic memory, which is why he will need to meditate sometimes and take a break, because the information overloads his brain and he would suffer from breakdowns in form of headaches. Overtime he will manage to control it better, as he will only make mental notes when he needs it - though, which could make him forget other details.
* ***Well-Mannered and Regal.*** Rocko is one to greet others, wolf or not, in a very serious yet polite way - bowing his head and if encountering a pack leader, bowing deeper while lifting a paw. He takes manners really seriously, especially when you are part of a pack, as you carry a part of its reputation on your own shoulders. This and his overal body tension make him come around as kind of regal.
* ***Guilt-ridden, but Understanding.*** Due to the fact that he left his family, he carries a lot of guilt with himself, especially because he promised his sister to stay close to her and be her guide, her protector and best friend. Though, the tensions between him and his father drove him out and he didn't even tell her nor others and just left. This slowly gnaws at his heart and mind as time goes by and saddens him deeply, which is why he can relate to others going through similar experiences and trying to soothe their pain at least. Keeping the secret of his true fighting nature or rather skills is another thing that is weighing down on his mind and getting these exposed is his worst fear, which leads him to get paranoid of those who might know about his past.
* **Unusual Fighting and Healing Knowledge.** His family wasn't really a pack-structure, more like an open, wide-spread colony and thusly they had frequent visitors. His father, as well as some of those who passed by, trained him in different fighting techniques. However, this wasn't what he enjoyed the most and he found himself drawn to the art of healing, with and without herbs and noticed that some fighting techniques can be used to heal as well (putting bones back into place,chiropractic, etc.). He tries to keep his fighting skills a big secret from everyone, though, as his greates fear is being used as a fighter again, rather than being able to follow his hobby of healing.
	+ To keep his body and mind fit, he still has a daily routine of basic and specific training, trying to keep that hidden from others he is using his strolls in search for herbs, as an excuse. His unusual training included special walking and running techniques as well as blending in with your sorroundings - especially with his bright fur. Thusly he walks with almost silent paws and movements, out of habit, and ends up accidentally scaring others by appearing "out of thin air" from time to time. Even if it is quite useful to track down prey or moving fast and soundless through the territory, it can be quite the problem to keep his skills a secret, plus he doesn't want to scare others at all and it often makes him feel akward and uneasy.
* ***Knowledge-Seeking, but Cautious.*** He has a great hunger for knowledge and is more than willing to learn about others, their culture, their (native) language and experiences. He makes no difference if the one he converses is a wolf of not - knowledge is knowledge and he is desperate to widen his own horizon with it. Though, he is one to be easy to engage in talking, he is very cautious about giving up information or being fed lies and his trust isn't earned too easy, if he becomes suspicious.
* ***Spiritual, with Sharp Senses.*** The family he comes from was always "gifted" with certain abilities, although the family rationalized it away and mostly blamed their sixth senses, visions or apparitions they saw on mere imagination, while silently questioning that excuse. Rocko is gifted as well and usually can feel others around him, before hearing or smelling them and can see glimpses of an aura-like shape around others - which the family often pushed away as him just having sharp senses. He also has seen some unexplained things at night, mostly  in the forests, which is why he prefers to not wander around alone at such a time. All of those facts made him believe that there must be a higher power, even if it would be just nature itself. Although he is not excluding the fact that there might be more than one and that each of those deities has their own role in this world.

## Pre-Group History

Rocko was raised in a family that didn't quite follow the typical pack-structure, but rather an open colony, splitted into tiny families (parents and their offspring), being rather widely spread around the territory. Such a structure was needed, as his family wasn't able to share an enclosed space for too long before arguments and fights broke lose.

They came from an old, rich and highly esteemed pack, which fell apart after a big argument between the alpha's children - one of them was his grandfather.

After that, his grandfather took his mate and his pups and left the pack's territory and settled further north, near the mountains.

Soon after, his grandmother had to chase away her mate and she, more or less, became the leader of her children and their offspring, though they too were unable to stay together as too many arguments ensued over time and so they spread, although not as far as the previous generation, around the territory.

She had to chase him away, because he was becoming more and more aggressive towards their offspring.

He suffered from the inherited choleric and rage problems, which helped in fights, but was hard to control, if at all.

While the pack was rather open to visitors and even had a lot of allies in the packs nearby, Rocko's father wasn't too keen about uninvited visitors.

When Rocko was born, he was trained from the moment he could walk - usually by his father, but sometimes by other family members or even trusted visitors or allies from the area.

While his father wanted him to become a great fighter, such as himself, he also shared with him the knowdledge of their ancestors with him.

Their culture, their beliefs, myths, supernatural stories and the old language.

This kind of knowledge tickled his interest more than the knowledge of fighting.

When Rocko grew, so did the anticipations of his father to become a skilled fighter, especially when he became a yearling and his mother bore a sister.

While his sister was trained as he was, he snuck away with her whenever possible, creating and sharing a bond that was deeper than any of their other ties to the family, at least in his eyes.

Unfortunately, she loved and adored their father, while Rocko grew tired of the pressure and often fled to his aunt and grandmother, who taught him the different ways of healing and the use of most plants and herbs.

His grandmother and her new mate especially encouraged him to follow his passion, rather than follow the path his father wanted him to take.

Doing so led him to encounter various wolves and other creatures, which helped him to gather all kinds of knowledge about the different ways of healing, which also included the healing of one's soul.

But they also shared their cultures with him and all kind of things, which made him always hungry for more - wanting to explore and see what might be out there.

When he reached the age of one and a half year, his mother died and the bond with his father became weaker by the day and their arguments grew as well.

By that time his sister went through the same training as he did, though she was eager to fulfill their father's hopes and they ended up spending less time together, Rocko distanced himself from his father.

Especially the ridicule Rocko received from him, because of his passion and hobby drove him away.

Though, he more often than not used his fighting skills to drive off aggressive strangers or protect others, wolf or not, from abuse, attacks and other things, which earned him the nick name "White Knight".

He disliked the nickname, not only because it was derived from his father's title "Black Knight", but also because he didn't think of his actions as something to be special.

He just protected those who could not protect themselves and/or lend them a helping paw.

To this day he fears that someone from his past may stumble upon him and reveal how skilled and deadly he can be, as we wants nothing to do with serious fighting anymore, unless it is needed.

He is the only one of his paternal bloodline who is capable of controlling his rage and choleric outbreak in combat, not falling into a blackout, though he hates that part of his bloodline the most and tries his best to keep it at the deepest depths of his mind and heart, as he always prefered to talk first an thoroughly if possible.

When he hit the age of two years, he couldn't tolerate his father anymore and made the decision to leave... unfortunately his sister was in a bad state and he was her only emotionally supportive rock, promising her to always be there.

But after another violent argument with his father, about their different point of views when it came to life and how you should treat others, he had to go.

His father caught him the night he was leaving, telling him that if he leaves he is banished and is to never come back and blaming him for leaving his sister alone, while he had promised otherwise.

He left to travel far and wide for a year, eventually arriving in the Domain, though he still carries a lot of regret and guilt for leaving his sister, even though he knew she wouldn't have left their father and their territory.

During his travelling he also had a mate, though they never mated with each other and Rocko realized that it wasn't true love, as they parted ways and he didn't miss her really.

Once in the Domain Rocko was woken up by a heavy earthquake and when he reached higher ground he could see fire and smoke coming from the east and then he heard scared howls straight ahead of him from the north, after being visited by a starlit figure in his dreams, asking him to help the wolves in the mountains.

Ready to help, he astarted his journey to Heyl. There he waited a few hours to see, if he was at the right area, when he was greeted by one of Heyl's sages and led into the territory.

Now he is there offer his knowledge in hopes he would be able to help the shaken up pack - and in turn hoping he finally found his true purpose in life.

## Trivia

* The scar next to his left eye was delivered by Misha of Fellfang, after trying to calmly talk to him - which backfired, because the young male felt pressured and threatened after the exile of Valda. After he fell from one of Aryn's mountain cliffs, it ripped open again. Healed now, may darken in the future; edges may or may not appear more ripped, depending on how his fur is positioned around it.
* For a time, completely unknown to him, Soulstorm was searching for him to make him a sacrifice to her gods, due to his pure white fur. However, she has forsaken her gods and Rocko is safe.

## External Links

* Official Application Sheet
* Shichibi's deviantART Gallery