Lawrence Ashworth

**[Disclaimer: I would like to apologize in advance... I am not a professional by any means, don't hurt me please--- It is also a Work-in-progress so be mindful!]**

## Biographical Info

### Relatives

Theresa Ashworth (daughter)Zoe Ashworth (ex-wife)

## Misc Info

### Hates

The Keepers of Aideen (especially Avalon)

Lawrence Ashworth is a fanon character created by akiramona. He, even if not always, serves as an opposing figure to the Keepers of Aideen, but works separately from the Dark Core or any other faction.

## Appearance

Lawrence is a tall, frail-looking, yet fairly masculine adult man. His skin is swarthy on most places, even if a bit desaturated to an ill grey undertone. The colour of the skin on his limbs and his chest grows darker and also slightly transparent, for his magic-infused bones are showing underneath, His body is covered from head to toe by pink scars, that could be described as "crystalized flesh." He has long hair, slightly wavy and tied into a loose ponytail of a dark colour on the verge of greying that is sometimes overrun by strings of violet. His chin is covered in a slight stubble, looking as if he didn't shave for just a few weeks. The struggles of his travels left him only with one eye, that has a glowing pink iris and unnaturally dark sclera. On the back of his mouth, his molars appear to be sharper than usual. His nails are also sharper beyond what's standard for a human. Usually stands hunched over, but has no problem with standing up right. He walks with a slight limp and his left leg is generally weaker than the right. He's also right handed, but tries to learn how to use his left arm, because his right-one is damaged.

Lawrence makes sure most of his body is concealed with clothing. He usually wears a worn brown uniform of the Mistfall Rangers, with dark gloves and wellingtons. For covering his face, Lawrence also have a few options at hand, but is usually seen with a painted wooden mask, that was crafted by the druids for him.

## Biography

### Former life

#### Early years

Lawrence grew up just like any ordinary Jorveigan in the town of Dundull. Since he didn't have any siblings, nor many human friends, he spent most of his time in the forest or silently helping out around the town. For his old-goody-two-shoes nature, it was no surprise when he later decided to join the Mistfall Rangers. Instead of sitting around the campfire and telling stories however, Lawrence believed that staying still is just playing dead. The only time he could be seen at the station was when he came in to ask what to do next. He wasn't by any means trying to avoid people or conversation, it was just a bit irritating for him that nobody can keep up his pace. - except for his horse companion, Raven, of course. Lawrence was precise and worked hard on any given task and once there was nothing left to do, Lawrence and Raven would ride out and nobody would see them for days.

#### Meeting Zoe

On one of such rides, Lawrence encountered a women, who seemed stressed out. She asked if Lawrence could give her a lift to Hillcrest. Since the nearest bit of civilisation was quite far, the sun was already setting and Raven needed to rest his legs, Lawrence offered her, that he would set up a campsite for the three of them instead, and suggested she'd take off in the morning. The woman wasn't very happy with this conclusion, but since she didn't have any other choice, she agreed. She later introduced herself as Zoe and explained that she's a journalist from Jorvik City and was onto some huge discovery, but refused to elaborate further. The ever curious Lawrence was intrigued by her words, so he volunteered to take her wherever she needed to go. Zoe was delighted by the offer and began asking what was the earliest time they could depart. This was the moment when Lawrence realised he was sitting face to face with a person who, just like him, couldn't be held down by any means. The first person who truly stroke him with interest.

The following day, while Zoe has been readily scribbling down notes for her upcoming article, Lawrence was trying to show off to her the various aspects of the wilderness he deemed worth mentioning to a city person. Zoe wasn't too impressed for obvious reasons, but she understood the gesture and found it heart-warming in a way. At the end of their journey, Zoe has taken a bus to Jorvik City, but promised she'd come to visit Lawrence and Raven if she found the time.

#### Family life

As time went on, Zoe did indeed stop by in Dundull occasionally to visit her newly befriended acquaintances. She grew fond of Raven and, with time, even of Lawrence and all that he had going on. She eventually moved to Lawrence's house in Dundull too, but remained working for the news in Jorvik City, where she returned frequently. That fortunately didn't pose any problems in their relationship, since Lawrence was anything but a man who'd settle down.

This circumstance changed however, with the birth of their daughter, Theresa. Theresa might've taken a lot from her mother in her appearance, but personality-wise, she was a copy of her father. She was aloof, all over the place and most importantly, deeply connected to the fauna and flora of Jorvik. Lawrence had to stay at home more often, to be there for his daughter. Juggling the work of a ranger along with family life, he took Theresa along on his ranger duties anytime he got the chance. It was about this time the cracks between Lawrence and Zoe really began to show. They both might've been full of energy once, but Zoe was a workaholic and Lawrence laboured, because he felt that once all the work is done, he earned his freedom. As of that time, there was always more work to do, it was far from the life Lawrence was used to. Still, he tried his best to be a good father.

#### A fight with destiny

The relationship between Lawrence and his daughter wasn't too far from ideal. Theresa knew she could tell her father anything, while Lawrence was certain he could rely on her. One day, Theresa came to her father with a strange confession, because she felt like he was the only one she could trust. Lawrence was amazed to learn that Theresa had magical powers. Knowing his way around Jorvik, he assured her that magic runs through the land like a river and that she has nothing to worry about. Although he wasn't a magic user himself, he knew that the Keepers of Aideen would help his daughter train with her newly gained abilities. He and Theresa travelled to Valedale, where the druids resided. There was no need to explain the situation, it was as though the keepers awaited their arrival. They demanded the two to preform a Rune Stone test, which Lawrence politely refused to do himself, insisting that he's here to support Theresa and claiming he surely has no magical powers. In the end Theresa managed to activate one of the Rune Stones, establishing herself to be a Soul Rider. From then on, Lawrence would see Theresa less and less often, even fewer times than Zoe. Sure he was happy that his daughter had found her place and he was proud of her too, but every now and then a question popped up in his mind - Was this the right choice?

After this, Lawrence was basically able to return to his previous lifestyle. Working all day long for the townsfolk, going on patrols and taking Raven for rides. Zoe still officially lived in the same house, but it felt like she left a long time ago. Even though she and Lawrence were on good terms, the marriage wasn't really working out and it was only a matter of time she'd come with divorce papers. Neither of them wanted to obstruct the freedom of one another and remained friends even after their marriage has officially ended. Occasionally, Theresa stopped by to tell her dad of her time with the Keepers of Aideen and show off the scars she earned as a triumphant reminder of the great threats they had faced, but were able to overcome with their powers combined. Even if a bit worried, Lawrence loved listening to his daughter's stories over a cup of tea, even though it included sitting for hours on the couch. At the time, he couldn't mind. He felt his bones aching and he couldn't shake off exhaustion. He wasn't that old, yet he felt like age is catching up to him. Raven often expressed his concerns about the state of his rider, Lawrence didn't think much of it however, or at least not until his nose started bleeding. It was kind of a wake up call that something was terribly wrong, but he didn't want to worry anyone, so he decided he's gonna tackle it himself for the time being.

So it went on like this for a while. Theresa would come to the house ever so often with a tale of her epic adventure, to which Lawrence would listen to. He desperately tried to keep his condition hidden from his daughter, but there's so much to paleness of the skin and weight loss one can hide. Theresa was, despite her father's efforts, concerned for his well being and even offered to ask the druids to help him, but he refused, insisting he'll be fine. He realised he was Theresa's childhood hero once and as equally as he wished his daughter wouldn't see him in his current state, he was ashamed to admit to her he couldn't mange it himself. After this, even though they were both caring deeply for one another, the bond between Lawrence and Theresa began grow weak... For this reason, it felt like no surprise when Theresa didn't arrive on time one day. In a few hours, Lawrence wondered whether she's upset with him. Within a day he asked himself, what could've he done differently. But the time dragged on by, he figured out that this wasn't right. There was a sickly tension in the air that one couldn't quite place. Despite his weakened state, he mounted Raven and went to Valedale, to check in with his daughter and perhaps apologize to her, but was greeted only by the druids. The Keepers had said many things about the last mission their Soul Riders embarked upon, how the forces of chaos surprised them, how bravely they fought, but weren't able to save everyone... Lawrence was able to understand only half of those words. What mattered was that his daughter was gone, but he refused believe it. The druids seemed indifferent with his daughter's fate, so he demanded to know where she went. To send off the distressed Lawrence, one of the druids stepped out and told him the place he seeks is Pandoria, believing the sickly man in front of him wouldn't make much of this information. Lawrence thanked him and left Valedale, knowing that's the most information he'll be able to get from the druids. There was no time to waste anyways.

Nobody knows what of Pandoria has Lawrence learned or if he had gotten there at all. Nobody has seen him nor heard of him in Jorvik since he left Valedale. The last hint at his very existence was a black horse running loose in the Forgotten fields.

### Prior to the game events

**[The following text contains heavy spoilers to the events of Star Stable online, yet it alters the cannon events to the authors advantage.]**

It was a lazy Friday afternoon in late summer. Maya and Alex set up a picnic for the two of them near the Dews' Old Farm. Alex was just showing off some Lighting tricks to her girlfriend when a Pandoric crack opened up not so far away from the couple. Alex urged Maya to stay away from the rift, but Maya noticed, that there were two humanoid looking hands trying pull themselves out of the unstable portal. The two then proceeded to help the stranger out of the rift. The man that emerged from the portal with their help was wounded beyond recognition. Maya wasn't feeling too well after sighting such horror of human form, but helped Alex with getting his half-unconscious body on Tin-Can's back, so Alex could take him to the Keepers of Aideen. Alex tried to cheer Maya up, joking about the never-ending Soul Rider business and promised she'd be back once she got help for the poor man.

Once in Valedale, Alex brought the man to Elizabeth's house, since it felt like it was the only right decision to do. Elizabeth, nor Avalon or anyone present however had an idea how to better the stranger's condition. The only thing they were able to figure out about his origin was due to a nametag on his uniform, from which they were able to decipher *'Lawrence Something-worth'*. It was also clear that the man's condition is linked to Pandoria, which is why Elizabeth suggested getting help from Evergray, which Avalon profoundly refused for Avalon reasons. Since Lisa and Anne are still stuck in Pandoria at this point, Alex calls Linda to fill her in on the situation, hoping that she could use her Moon Circle magic to see if he has any information about them.

After some time, Linda arrives in Valedale and attempts to preform a Soul Read on the stranger. She manages to witness a few bits of his past, but is overwhelmed by some mysterious power that interrupts her vision. By coincidence, this event causes Lawrence to wake up. Witnessing the happening, Elizabeth thanks Linda for her effort and tries to communicate with the man, who seems to be confused, distressed and unwell. She and Linda try lightly interrogate him, but he's unable to say a word without breaking into coughing uncontrollably. Alex jokes that they should make him some tea, Linda however follows up on the idea and thinks that tea with some honey from Mrs. Holdsworth could help the stranger out.

The two girls ride to Moorland, where they split up, because Alex claims to have somewhere to attend. Linda comes to the house of Mrs. Holdsworth, who greets her and tells her the kettle is already put on for tea. She asks Linda to sit down for a bit and recommends her to be weary of the stranger. As cryptic as she usually sounds, Mrs. Holdsworth implies the man has no ill will, but that his good intents aren't fully in alignment with those of the Keepers.

Linda returns to Valedale, with a thermos flask full of freshly prepared tea, which she offers to Lawrence. As he takes a sip of the warm tea, energy surges through him, causing some sort of reaction in his body that knocks him out. Avalon is quick to assume that the witch has poisoned the tea which everybody present quickly dismisses. Elizabeth turns to Linda and asks her if she hasn't learned anything about Lawrence during their short Soul Reading session by any chance. Linda explains that she's been only able to piece together a bit of a memory from Valedale, near the Rune Stones, but that the vision is a blur in her mind. Lawrence comes to his senses in the meantime, seemingly bewildered by his surrounding once more. Elizabeth, following the only lead they have gotten so far, asks Lawrence to come outside with her, which he doesn't refuse. He needs some help standing up and moving around however, so Elizabeth has to help him get around. At the Rune Stones, Elizabeth explains the basics of the test and helps Lawrence to move to each of the stones to try and activate them. To everyone's surprise, the Sun Stone lights up faintly at Lawrence's touch. Avalon asks Elizabeth if it couldn't be her power activating the stone, but Elizabeth assures him that this energy came form Lawrence alone. Linda begins to theorize that Lawrence might be of a Soul Rider group from a different time, based on the little knowledge she has of Pandoria. For most of this, Lawrence doesn't even know what is going on. He has no recollection of these people nor the place and is only trying to grasp anything, that might help his memory out. Following up on Linda's idea, Elizabeth and Avalon try to recall if they ever heard his name before today. Elizabeth confronts Lawrence about it, hoping he would reply this time. With difficulty, he manages to tell her he doesn't recall. By this time, Alex and Tin-Can come back, surprised to see the rest gathered at this spot. Linda explains to her, that she thinks Lawrence might be a Soul Rider, since he activated the Rune Stone. Alex suggests that if he doesn't remember, they could use their powers on their respective Rune Stones to "*show him how the Soul Riders really do it."* Once Alex activates the Lightning Stone, Lawrence begins to freak out,. Elizabeth asks him what is wrong, but he says he doesn't know. Linda proposes a hypothesis that he is indeed a former Soul Rider and that he and his group of Soul Riders might've gotten split up during a mission. Alex supports this theory by saying, that getting lost in Pandoria is after all the "running theme" of the Soul Riders. Lawrence, against his better judgement, assumes that they're correct, because whatever they have been saying made perfect sense to him so far - especially because he has no recollection of it being otherwise.

**[I am not still fully decided whether I wanna play him out as the MC or something else... so this is where we're gonna leave off for now, see ya! ^^]**

## Personality and Traits

Lawrence is cheery and free spirited, but believes that the freedom he savours has to be earned. He doesn't agree with rules and places his own judgement before morality. Acting serious, or pretending to do so usually renders him dull or flat out aloof. He'd describe himself as a patient person, but the truth is that he's patient only in certain situations. On the note of his quote-on-quote patience, once he's willing to wait for something, he usually doesn't contribute effort to things coming his way at all, instead of taking things once step at a time. As noted before, Lawrence isn't actively trying to avoid people, but appears to be doing exactly that most of the time. He is the kind of person who is really fun at parties, but actually never goes to any. He's talkative and all that, still, you never see him start a conversation my himself, because he actually feels no need for social interaction. He just finds it *"Fun to do at times."* Another one of his fatal flaws is the belief he has to manage things himself, preferably with no help. This only contributes to the outside picture of him to be cold and uncaring, which he most definitely is not - but look, how do you know? You just don't.

After his quality time in Pandoria, Lawrence's personality changed, or rather exaggerated his previous traits. On one hand, he became way more sheltered and soft-spoken. He doesn't mind company, but his condition makes it hard for him to speak, so he prefers not to. Despite what I just said, he can be seen talking to himself, usually even with more drive than when talking to others people. His mental health took a hard hit, so he has a difficult time managing his emotions. Lawrence also sometimes spirals into a sort of hysterical madness, that might seem as a separate state of mind from his usual get up, but is just a way for him to handle certain emotions. This usually happens when his perception of reality shifts, because of his memory loss and disassociation. In this maddened state, Lawrence acts way more impulsively and expresses delight in wreaking havoc. For him it's just a normal swing of mood. He is also ashamed of his humanity slipping away from him, which makes him anxious about the way he looks. That is why he tries to conceal most of his distorted body.

## Abilities and shortcomings

Lawrence's time as a ranger taught him many survival skills that he uses in daily life from muscle memory, his disassociation however makes it hard for him to make good use of them. He's also quite strong despite his fragile-looking frame. The Pandoric energy flowing causes his whole body to ache greatly most of the time, because he was no longer used to the dimensions of Earth. On the other hand, it numbs the pain from outside sources, whether it might be heat, cold or brute force. This doesn't by any means make him immune to harm, but makes him less affected by it.

He still carries is the disease he developed before entering Pandoria and he also became prone a similar Pandoric sickness to the one that Evergray suffers from. These two conditions clash a bit together. Lawrence's undisclosed disease keeps the Pandoric disease at bay, creating defected cells and making his immunity system overly aggressive, which is able to slow down the Pandoric corruption. At the same time, the sickness he got from Pandoria eases the symptoms of the other disease and also prevents other bacteria and viruses from entering Lawrence's body, which is beneficial for his endangered immunity.

For his time spent in Pandoria, Lawrence has also earned the ability to leech on magical energy, that is probably derived from his link to the Sun Circle. It helps him survive to a certain extent. In short, Lawrence needs to "charge" with magical energy for his body to work properly. It's like having an extra status bar that you need to look out for, next to hunger, health and sanity. This magical charge has three main levels - flat, normal and full - that work differently depending on the magical capacity of the dimension. The normal level is the state in which the level of magical energy in Lawrence's body is in sync with the magic of the realm he's in. In Jorvik, this is the time when he can operate normally, while in Pandoria it is already very taxing for the human physique. It is about this time when he becomes extremely weary in Pandoric environment. The flat level of magic in Jorvik comes with fatigue, the feeling of weakness and general vulnerability to human fragility, while in Pandoria, this is the best level for existence in that realm, since it slows down the symptoms of Pandoric corruption and most pain related to it. And lastly, being fully-charged. In Jorvik, Lawrence experiences a surge of energy, but getting overloaded causes him to get knocked out, thanks to the dimensions of Earth and his own body. In Pandoria on the other hand, this is a new level of painful, since his human body is in no way suited for this amount of energy. In both realms, Lawrence's energy levels increase passively up to the normal level due to the worlds' magical properties. It is possible for him to gain more energy though. Passively, by staying near a a magical source that comes off as more powerful than the realms' normal magic level (like a Pandoric Rift or a Soul Rider using their powers) or actively, either by draining if from somewhere/someone (which is a power Lawrence isn't fully capable of using, since he has no idea how to do it) or by simply consuming a substance that is magical to some extent (like a plant growing near a Pandoric Rift or honey from Mrs. Holdsworth). Being charged beyond the standard level of the realm decreases passively over time, as Lawrence's body is sustained by this energy, therefore uses it up to function. He can also discharge magic by simply using it up. He is not completely in control of the effects the magic, since it purely depends on the typing of the magic already present in his body. For instance, if he's been standing close to a rift in Jorvik, he is able to wield bit of both Pandoric and Jorveigan magic, but without any hold over which one it's gonna be. If he want's to preform a simple Soul Strike with a bit of left-over Lighting circle magic, he might do a little zappy-zap or do some reality bending shenanigans instead, the choice isn't really his. This of course also means that absorbing greater amounts of a certain magic type, it increases a chances of that type's effects the next time he does magic. Example - he's at the normal level of magic, but burrows just the required amount of energy from Alex for him to get fully charged. He can then preform a Soul Strike with ease, because the rest of the magic in his body is trivial at this point. If the magical levels in his body fluctuate too rapidly by the way, it usually causes discomfort and nausea and the same goes for switching realms, since they have different magical properties.

As noted before, Lawrence has some connection to the Sun Circle. This connection is not too strong, but he should still be able to create portals purely with his own power. The Sun circle is one of the key factors why he was able to survive in Pandoric environment for so long, along with the disease he developed to the end of his former life.

## Quotes

"If you want tea - here's tea. If you want conversation... here's tea"

## Trivia

* The story is a derivation from the author's self-reflection:
	+ Theresa was the player name of the person who introduced the author SSO
		- They don't play anymore
		- They and the author haven't seen each other in years
	+ Zoe the author's actual player name
		- It was no use when creating a guy though, for obvious reasons
		- The author sees his status with the game as bitterly divorced
			* He never had a strong bond with horses ever
			* Will never admit I still play the game to his friends
	+ The time Lawrence spent lost in Pandoria could be referring to the years long break the author took from the game

* A bit of etymology:
	+ The meaning of the name Lawrence seems to be "the bright one"
		- He was initially supposed to be named Raymond, which the author associated with the chaotic nature of the character
			* This idea was later scrapped because the author took a different turn in character creation
	+ On the other hand, the name Ashworth was chosen because it can be transcribed as "worth of ash"
		- It's not the author's player surname
* He was created before the names of the previous generation of Soul Riders was revealed and Theresa was meant to be the previous Lightning Champion
	+ Since it remains unknown for how long was Lawrence trapped in Pandoria, it is still possible Theresa was a member of one of the previous Sisterhood
* The author notes that the unnamed disease Lawrence is based on chronic leukaemia and autoimmunity in general
	+ The author would also like to say that he's not trying to glorify autoimmune diseases, they suck
* His alignment in D&D would probably be Chaotic Good
* According to the initial concept art, Lawrence is a biromantic demisexual
	+ He was also first intended to be transgender, but that idea was later scrapped, because due to the author's expertise, his dysphoric experience took some nasty turns
* The concept also states his age is something between 45-112
	+ Assuming Theresa was 17 when she disappeared, Lawrence became a father when he was 28
	+ The number 112 could be the number indicating his chronological age in Earth years, meaning he spent 67 years in Pandoria
		- This doesn't have to be too far from the truth, since the last sisterhood was formed only 30 years prior to the game events
		- The number 112 is however a joke the author uses when referring to the ages of his OCs