Quilliam

* Spring
* Autumn / winter
* Fancy outfit

### Aliases

Quill (Sharx, Lyllianna), (my) bird boy (Krane), bird brain (Cressa), Quilly (Cressa), the almighty Quilliam (Odessa, Adrieth)

### Affiliation

Arcadia, The Adventurer's Guild, the black market

## Appearance

Quilliam is an Avian, in colouration and facial shape similar to the secretary bird (*Sagittarius serpentarius*). Combined with his towering height of almost 2 meters, slim long legs, broad shoulders and quite the athletic body, he has a rather elegant look. As an Avian, he also has hollow bones, making him significantly light.

His face is of a triangular shape, covered in pristine white feathers that also extend to most of his body. Long black feathers protrude from the sides and back of his head. His eyes are black with long eyelashes, and the skin around them is orange. A group of scars is scattered across the right side of his face, one of them crossing his right eye.

His forearms and shins lack feathers, instead being covered in black scale-like hide. All his limbs end with long fingers and sharp talons. Two large wings grow from his back, white in colour with black primaries and secondaries. However, they do not allow flight anymore, only gliding, as his right wing is almost half burnt. The remains are mostly black, as if permanently covered in soot. Quilliam also has a featherly tail. It is coloured the same as the wings, although the tips of the feathers are white.

In the past, Quilliam's typical attire could be described as sailor's or pirate clothes - hard-wearing and practical. He wouldn't usually go for anything too fancy, instead preferring simple, comfortable and of course practical clothes. But as time passed, Quilliam seemingly abandoned his pirate past and started wearing fancier clothes, usually dark red in colour. That being said, however, he still doesn't seem to care about his appearance enough to keep the clothes clean. His apparel is almost always torn, bloody and stained with alcohol, and worn for way too long - he can stay in the same outfit for literal months. He doesn't change unless they're literally unusable.

## Personality

#### General

Upon arriving to the land of Oracle, Quilliam was initially dazed, as if being somewhere else mentally. Having not interacted with people for a long time, he presented himself awkwardly and in a quirky fashion. Once he got himself familiar with his surroundings and some of the residents however, he perked up and his confident and cocky self started to shine through.

Generally speaking, Quilliam is humorous and sarcastic, often replying in a snarky manner. He can be a bit of a drama queen, too, overreacting and amplifying things for his own amusement. Most of what he does revolves around having fun. He is quite ungovernable in nature, having no regards for laws and orders, playing by his own rules, doing simply what he wants at all times. Combined with his unfiltered honesty and tendency to say things as they are, he may seem rather insensitive and ignorant at times, seemingly not caring about other people's feelings and opinions, or anyone at all.

This is only strengthened by his tendency to distance himself from others, mockingly being friends with everyone but acting cold to those who may get too close to his liking. He tends to have problems with expressing his emotions and feelings, and often doesn't care about people unless they personally affect him. He is overly secretive, struggling with being vulnerable around others, especially those he'd consider close to him. Additionally, he often stays silent if he feels like he has nothing to add, or that others don't "deserve to hear his opinion".

However, under the surface of this uncaring attitude, he cares deeply about those he considers close. He is willing to go extremely far to protect them, and while he may act like he feels nothing, a careful eye may spot the tiny things he does to make sure they are happy.

#### Drunk

Considering how much Quilliam drinks ever since the death of his best friend, Sharx, this deserves to be a chapter of its own as he tend vastly different when under the effect of alcohol.

Generally speaking, drunk Quilliam turns moody and emotionally unstable, switching between states of self destructive despair and feelings of mania, depending on his mood. His personality gets amplified - he gets even more sarcastic, chaotic, impulsive and his uncaring attitude becomes even more jarringly apparent. He can be seen teasing others more than before, poking fun at everything around him and making unnecessary comments. As alcohol eradicates his critical thinking, he gets rather talkative too, especially about his private life. When in a good mood it's literally impossible to shut him up. He is prone to repeating and contradicting himself, literally saying anything and everything that comes across his mind. Where he would fall silent before, he now keeps talking, revealing many of his repressed and long hidden feelings and fears - such as how he secretly feels like a failure, not strong enough to protect others. At times it may almost seem he cannot control what comes out of his mouth. And it often visibly frustrates him, as he's very much aware of this.

When he's in a good mood, he can seem almost manic at times. He greets everyone like an old friend, getting rather friendly and warm despite his usually cold endeavor. Should he be grumpy, even for a little bit, though, his apparent friendliness can poof out of existence. When in a bad mood, but still high on energy (such as when angry or frustrated), he turns very reactive and violent. Pretty much everything and everyone gets on his nerves, and he's very vocal about it. Anger fits and tantrums are common occurence.

Things get the worst when he's in a bad mood and low on energy. While he uses alcohol to cope with this exact state, it only makes it worse in the end. He turns quiet, reclusive and distant, avoiding everyone. Should someone try talking to him, he usually starts rambling about everything that bothers him and proceeds to have a breakdown over that later.

#### The descent

After Adrieth "killed his old self" in her basement, everything turned upside down very quickly. Free of fears and guild, and encouraged by Adrieth, Quilliam allowed himself to go places where he normally wouldn't, doing the very things he swore to destroy others for. Didn't take too long for him to irreversibly cross the line. And feeling this, knowing he's gone too far, he hasn't even tried to stop himself, not even once.

He discovered the deepest, darkest places inside of him and took them out for everyone to see. He became ruthless, deceiving and manipulative, crafting intricate lies to protect himself from punishment for his deeds. His uncaring attitude turned into a chilling lack of remorse. His fascination with blood and violence, once perhaps pretend, became a very real part of him. The stabbing urges that he mocked Adrieth for? He feels them too. And he acts on them, just like her, and quite freely and with glee. So much so it even scares him sometimes.

He can be seen hesitating sometimes, but it is more of a fear of getting hurt for this later than any actual guild. He only truly hesitates if asked to hurt someone he cares about, even if they no longer care about him after what he's become. While he does not see himself as redeemable, let alone able to be cared about by anyone at all, it doesn't mean he stopped caring about others. He knows that what he's doing his putting everything he cared about to ruin, but he doesn't stop. He can't stop. He's gone too far, and no one would take him back. It's the only life he has now.

### Moral Alignment

#### Pre descent

Chaotic neutral - Quilliam is what one could call a chaos bomb. He is impulsive, often doing things just for the thrills. He clashes with the laws, not respecting them at all, having a dislike for authority and the government.

#### Post descent

Chaotic evil - While he kept his chaotic mannerisms and mainly neutral look on the world around, his shift towards deceiving and manipulation, his misdeeds and his remorse-lacking attitude towards them clearly puts him in the evil category.

## Skills & Abilities

* Writing
* Poetry
* Drawing
* Sculpting
* Survival skills
* Basic beekeeping
* Archery
* Basic melee
* Swimming
* Brewery (alcohol)

## Backstory

### Early Life

Quilliam was born to a pirate Avian family of 4. His parents divorced soon after he hatched, each parent taking one child - his mother kept Tobias, his twin brother, and Quilliam stayed with his father. Since his father was a pirate captain, Quilliam spent most of his life at the sea.

#### The crash

On a fateful summer night, a great storm caused their ship to crash, with Quilliam being the only survivor. He was not left unharmed, however, sustaining a great deal of wounds, including the partial loss of his right wing and mild brain damage. And being all alone, stranded in unknown surroundings, he had to fight to stay alive.

Days passed by, summer turned to autumn, autumn turned to winter, and Quilliam grew thin, frail and weak, barely alive. But he kept going, powered by his sheer will, believing that he survived for a reason, believing that somewhere out there is a place that he is meant to reach, and people he is meant to meet. A new place to belong, if you will.

And soon enough, a group of shimmering lights appeared on the horizon. That was it, he felt it in his bones, and kept going until he reached the lands of Oracle.

### Recent life events

Arriving at the events of Winter Festival, Quilliam met with quite an amount of people right away, most notably Sharx who'd later let him stay at his place in Arcadia. After recovering from the harsh journey, Quilliam built a house of his own on a beach on the southern border of Arcadia, officially becoming a member upon finishing.

As time went by, Quilliam started engaging in the kingdom's daily life, oftentimes hanging out with Sharx. Despite his attempts to stay distant, he grew close to him, and the two became good friends.

#### Sharx's death

After the death of his close friend due to the Corrupted, his whole life turned upside down. He spiraled into depression and gave in to substance abuse (see in Personality). For a long time, he would isolate himself in his house, only coming out to join the final battle on the Corrupted in an attempt to avenge Sharx. Feeling like he failed, since he hadn't dealt the final blow on neither of Sharx's torturer's, in fact he barely scratched them, Quilliam's state worsened as he failed to put his heart at peace.

Later, during one of Quilliam's mindless walks around Arcadia, Quilliam met with Krane. Krane would later express worries about Quilliam's state of being, deciding to "fix him". He made Quilliam leave his house, wash and also had sewn him a new outfit. As much as Quilliam complained the entire time, Krane's attempts were successful and Quilliam got out of the dumps, or at least the worst part.

From that point on, Quilliam tried to get back to his old life, attending many activities around the kingdoms, such as the Horse Race or the Summer Festival, and even joined the Adventurer's Guild and the black market to try and give himself a purpose. Regardless, he'd still often express unhappiness and hadn't managed to get rid of his alcohol addiction, often arriving to events just to get free drinks.

#### The Masquerade and Coma

After a series of unnecessary events at the Masquerade, involving a large amount of alcohol, drugs and also a slip up on the stairs, Quilliam fell into a coma. He stayed unconscious for almost 6 months, having to be housed at Dr. Frogwart's clinic for the time being. Towards the end of the coma he dreamt of Sharx talking to him, bidding him his final goodbye and telling Quilliam he should move. After that, Quilliam finally woke up, deciding he should indeed move on.

Since then, Quilliam turned rather energetic for a while, often referring to this as his "revival", believing he had in fact died and then was reborn like a Phoenix. Fueled by his newfound life force, and seeking to further move on, he left his old house and moved to the Tree to live with Krane. Despite the many injuries he sustaine at various battles, his life seemed to be going well for once, especially after he started spending time with Lyllianna.

However, after Cressa and Otto moved to Airus, Krane left Oracle and Quilliam's long lost twin brother Tobias arrived, reminding him of his unpleasant past, Quilliam fell back into the dumps. Despite his attempts to solve this and "revive" himself once more, his state was not getting better, much like the opposite. It wasn't until Malik's "pep talk" that he snapped out of it, realising how ridiculous it all is, deciding to give himself something to do. He started by building a tall blackstone tower eastern of Arcadia, and when he grew tired of walking there, he crafted himself a prosthetic wing, allowing him himself to take to the skies again.

#### Meeting Adrieth

Once he properly met with the person who's been possessing Odessa since who knows when, Adrieth Starnight, his life turned upside down. While everyone else was against her for her deeds, he couldn't get himself to hate her as she treated him rather nicely from the very start. Even when she stabbed him, he didn't feel rage nor fear, almost saying he deemed her unpredictable, murderous nature fun to observe. And perhaps it was that what made Adrieth try and get Quilliam on her side. Quilliam agreed to take part "for knowledge" (and, well, since Adrieth threatened to hurt Lylli otherwise), starting to meet with her and help her with her plans.

But being the way he is, not really keen about succumbing to the power of others, he tried to flip the dynamic to take control over her instead, kickstarting what would later turn into almost sibling-like rivalry (though a lot more violent). Then, as he tried to get the upper hand, Adrieth took him to her secret basement to show him that he's weak. There she showed him Sharx's wings and horns, calling them her trophies. Despite trying to control himself not to be just as weak as she told him he is, he succumbed to his rage and hatred, attempting to kill her right here and there. Failing to do so and sinking to his knees, something in him snapped. He decided not to kill her, he wanted to completely and utterly destroy her.

When she fell asleep, he used everything he learned from her against her - he used her own sedative on her, dragged her into her own maze and then chained her up. And then he tortured her to squeeze last bits of useful information out of her, even going so far as to using her truth potion on her to make her talk. But as his rage faded, he no longer felt like doing it. So he let her go, and even though he planned to go to Airus to tell everyone what he found out, he didn't.

And the next day he was back even though he had no real reason. Or perhaps the reason was that he felt like he has nowhere else to go after what he's done, after he saw what he's become. And so he went back, and kept visiting her ever since. And it was then that their attempts to hurt each other turned into teasing with no real intention of harm. It was then that he slowly started to feel comfortable by her side, allowing himself to be, well, himself, a thing he hasn't done since Sharx's death.

To keep his new life safe, he'd feed information to the others, but his goal to destroy Adrieth was pretend now. In fact, he started to grow scared he might lose her. So much so he agreed to torture Odessa to break her as a way to free Adrieth from her. In a way, he became exactly like her.

As they became closer and closer, it was getting harder and harder to pretend he's just doing it because he's been forced. It became apparent that he enjoys his part, and that turned everyone against him. Didn't take too long and Mikail confronted him in the Manor, later knocking him out to put him in prison.

## Notable relationships

#### Sharx

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Despite Quilliam's tendency to try and distance himself from others, he grew close to Sharx, and the two oftentimes hung out together, becoming good friends as time went on. They'd always do things together, and often caused mischief around the kingdoms.

After Sharx's death, Quilliam was left desolated and broken, and swore to avenge his death. It took Quilliam 3 long years to finally move on, and for a long time he could still sometimes be seen wistfully staring at the horizon, as if waiting for his friend to fly back. Truthfully, he hasn't fully moved on until recently when Adrieth "killed the old Quilliam" with the sight of Sharx's wings and horns, which were in her possession.

#### Krane

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When the two first met, Quilliam was heavily intoxicated and just gong through the worst, which lead Krane to feel worried about him. Later, after the storm on Pandemonia, Krane would often follow Quilliam, constantly trying to talk to him and cheer him up, almost forcing himself into Quilliam's life this way. Thus, despite Quilliam trying his best to cut Krane off and stay distant, Krane's attempts at getting him out of the dumps worked and for such Quilliam would grow rather protective of him. For a long while he'd still act cold and grumpy around him, but it was becoming more of a facade with time.

So when Krane grew troubled and reclusive, Quilliam took notice and decided to drop the facade for good, repaying Krane his kindness. He visited him, talked to him, tried to cheer him up... And he even moved in to keep Krane company, though he did insist it was just because "there wasn't anything better anyways". In a way, they healed each other.

When Krane left Oracle to explore, Quilliam was at ease, many times saying he doesn't miss him. However, Krane's absence caused him to slowly fall into the dumps again, especially when paired with Cressa and Otto leaving Arcadia and moving to Airus.

#### Victor

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What initially appeared to be a one time interaction with the sole purpose of calling Victor a "catboy", turned into quite the unusual bond later on. Having not interacted with Victor prior to his "descent", he's only ever talked to him while drunk, and for such had had spilled many of his fears and woes to him.

Having heard about Victor's past in return, he saw a reflection of himself in Victor, and thus he would sometimes act wary or even scared around him, trying to hide it with constant teasing. Funnily enough, this would sort of form into a hobby of his. When hanging out with Victor later on, he'd do nothing but tease him as if his sole goal was to make fun of the man. Funnily enough, this allowed him to think of something else for a while, thus helping him get back on his feet at many occasions.

Because of that, despite pretending not to, Quilliam cared about Victor. When there were people wanting to kill Victor, Quilliam went and personally warned him about them. When Victor left Oracle, Quilliam acted as if he didn't feel anything at all, but later he did admit that he misses the man and their hangouts. He can't help but find Victor fun to be around with, amusing almost, and with him leaving his life became significantly more boring and dull.

#### Cressa

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Another bond created as a result of Quilliam constantly being drunk. After the many times of Quilliam passing out around Arcadia or being brought to the Vine to "sober up", Cressa took notice of his state and tried to help him many times. She'd also tend for his injuries after every battle he so recklessly got hurt in. For such, Quilliam would consider Cressa close and would do anything to help her in return, even though it was not always obvious. But it became clearly apparent when Cressa went missing and Eris was trying to find her with the intent of murder - to try and prevent this, Quilliam went as far as to disobey his own boss and stage a rescue mission.

It didn't take too long, and Quilliam's constant visits forged a genuine friendship between them. being both a bit chaotic and with a like for mischief, they'd tease other constantly, crafting many inside jokes along the way.

When it comes to Quilliam's recent siding with Adrieth and the things he's done as a result, Cressa is the one who's taken it the worst. And rightfully so - both Odessa and Myriani, whom he both tortured, are very close to her. She even considers them her daughters. With this, Quilliam killed whatever friendship they used to have back in the day.

#### Eldrin

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Not quite friends, not quite strangers, it's hard to say how these two are. The two sometimes hang out together, and Quilliam oftens teases Eldrin like he does with people close to him, but he seems to keep his distance from him tegardless.

#### Mikail

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Quilliam admires Mikail's bravery, kindness and skills in battle. He rather worries about his health problems, not wanting for him to get hurt, attempting to help him a few times, though it was all futile due to Mikail's stubborn nature in this sort of thing.

For a long time, they had quite a nice friendship. But after Quilliam joined Adrieth, he quickly put a hole right through it, turning Mikail against himself.

#### Lyllianna

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Starting on opposite ends of a conflict, a celebration of the death of their common enemy brought them together. With Lyllianna being just as chaotic as Quilliam, they have plenty of similarities and things to bond over - stealing, arson, causing mischief, getting drunk, you name it. When Quilliam is bored (which is often) Lyllianna is his number one person to go to as she always makes him laugh and they always come up with something fun to do.

But it's not just criminal activity that drives them together, despite how much they've become partners in crime. Since Lyllianna tended for his wounds, Quilliam feels safe with her, allowing himself to be softer and more vulnerable than with others.

#### Tony

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Being Quilliam's boss, Quilliam had a rather conflicting and antagonistic relationship with him due to his distaste for orders and authority. He'd often clash with him, almost always questioning his orders, thus pretty much always getting in trouble for it. But despite everything, Quilliam continued to do his biding, feeling like he was actually wanted for something, unironically seeing a purpose in the dirty jobs that Tony had him do.

#### Tobias

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For Quilliam's long lost twin brother, one would expect them to have a better reunion. Unbeknowst to Tobias, however, Tobias's arrival reminded Quilliam of the very painful past that he tried so hard to forget. And while Tobias might have not seen it that way, Quilliam, who was very drunk at the occasion and said some rather mean things, saw their reunion as an utter failure, wishing it'd never happen at all.

#### Dr. Frogwart

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After so many injuries, Quilliam can't help but feel thankful to her for taking care of him all the time. They also share their alcoholic deeds, making Quilliam feel understood. He'd often share some of his bottles when Frogwart was in need, as a bit of a thank you to her. Additionally, he admires her work, especially the way she specifically goes around it. Her fascination with blood and the like... He can't help but feel there's more to her. And recently she's one of the few who still treats him the same, even after all. Perhaps she doesn't know yet?

#### Grikko

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Quilliam saw a reflection of himself in the troubled goblin, deciding he doesn't want him to go through what he did. For such, Quilliam tried his best to help him get better, even though he himself was going through it still. Quilliam is often worried about Grikko, sometimes hanging around with him to make sure he is not hurt. However, Quilliam does not deem him weak, but quite the opposite. He also finds him rather fun to be around.

Due to Quilliam's "hiccup" regarding Karasha, Grikko got rather angry with Quilliam. Since then, a thorn has settled in their relationship, causing the two to grow distant.

#### Karasha

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Sharing their love for alcohol, they'd quickly become drinking partners. But lately, as Karasha rose to power and became Serenoa's leader, Quilliam's distaste for government had him become sort of grow distant and vary of the man, fearing he could become tyrannical with power. He keeps a close eye on him, just in case, especially now that Karasha adopted Grikko. Their former bond is slowly falling apart, replaced with a conflicting one as Quilliam greatly struggles with respecting Karasha's "power status", refusing to take orders from him. This inner struggle and distaste could be seen rising to surface when Quilliam found Karasha sleeping in his brewery (because it was "conveniently" placed inside the World Tree's heart) - he dragged Karasha out and dropped him at the sewers, laughing the whole time.

#### Malik

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Something about Malik deeply fascinated Quilliam. He'd often talk to him just for the sake of listening in an attempt to understand his way of thinking. Quilliam was unsure what exactly leaves him this eager to get to know Malik better. The way he seemed to be in control over his own life, unlike Quilliam ever way? The way he is so confident, charming and unbothered, just like Quilliam wishes he was?

Regardless, due to Quilliam's drunk commentary regarding his own uncaring attitude, his attempts to get to know Malik have been cut short, almost by Malik's blade in that matter. By trying to be just as confident as Malik, he may have became just as uncaring, if not worse, granting himself a new nickname bearing the very Malik's name.

When Quilliam found out that Malik is gone, he expressed his sorrows, as well as saying he wanted to thank him for his advice.

#### Adrieth

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Despite others being against her to due her possessing Odessa and murdering people, Quilliam never managed to hate her. Fake or not, she always treated him nicely and with with care. She may have stabbed and shot him a few times, but really, he deemed it pretty fun in the end, finding her unpredictable, violent nature fascinating. Thus, despite (mostly) playing he's only been doing so to save Lylli, Quilliam joined her and helped her with her plans.

However, their "companionship" was briefly threatened when Adrieth showed him Sharx's wings and horns and called them trophies. It blinded him with rage and hatred, he swore he will destroy her for this, going as far as to torture her himself. But as his rage fizzled out, he realised that while Adrieth may have hurt him, she also freed him in the end from the regrets and guild he held in himself until then, having him finally, truly move on.

And thus he kept visiting her, partially feeling like he can no longer be friends with others after what he's done, partially because she became the only one who truly knew him and accepted him for what he is. Their previous attempts to hurt each other transformed into almost sibling-like rivalry, much more violent, granted, but still simple teasing with no real intention of harm. Quilliam started to feel comfortable by her side, allowing himself to be, well, himself, a thing he hasn't done since Sharx died.

But as the others kept still trying to destroy her, he grew scared he might lose her. So much so he tortured Odessa to break her and thus free Adrieth from her. He succeeded, freeing her just like he freed him before, strengthening their bond even further. Soon after Adrieth expressed that she cares about Quilliam, shattering all remaining doubts he had. They became very close. As the whole world turned against him, she was the only one he had.

And he tried over and over to save her from her fate, but the more he tried, the more it became apparent he cannot do anything. That broke him, but he didn't isolate like he would in the past. Adrieth taught him that much. Instead, he decided to make their last moments together as beautiful as possible - he kept visiting the Manor, reassuring her and comforting her as Cressa broke one of the pins. He took Adrieth atop the giant tree in Silanus to show her the sunset from above. He played her favourite music and danced with her. He bid her goodnight every day, staying by her side as long as he could.

## Common sayings

"Yoooooo!!!" (Expression of excitement, usually when seeing something he likes. Stopped doing it after Sharx's death)

"Oh I'd never" (when accused of something he'd 100% do, or already did)

"Excuse you?!" (when someone does or says something that angers or offends him)

"That's swag / swagger" (when liking something)

"I don't die" (when his mortality is questioned, or when someone says / implies he will die)

"Have fun!!" (way of saying goodbye)

## Trivia

* In the drafts, one of Quilliam's possible names was "Quillbur", a reference to Wilbur Soot who inspired his initial creation. Similarly, there is an unused concept of Quilliam's last name being Soot.
* He has a soft spot for soft and fuzzy things, such as bees. Similarly, he loves colourful and bright things, surrounding himself with flowers and crystals.
* He never showers or bathes, only sometimes washing his face and hands.
* He also never changes his clothes, refusing to take even a part of his attire away. When swimming, or if forced to bathe, he doesn't undress.
* Originally right handed, he switched over to his left hand after the injury. As a result, he is adept with both hands, being sort of ambidextrous.
* He loves to sing, often passing time by humming tunes or singing songs. He often hums when thinking, too.
* He can't see glass, often crashing into windows.
* He has acquired taste for rotten flesh.