Who is Braun?
-
Shadowsinger & Beast Master
+Full Name+
Darrian
+Alias(es)+
Braun
+Birthday+
A week before the Summer Solstice
+Court Affiliate+
The Summer Court
+Race+
High Fae
+Class+
Shadowsinger and Beastmaster
+Scar/Tattoos+
Traditional tattoos related to the summer court army - tide sigils - and silver veining from the Cauldron across his left ribs, chest, and back
+Relationship+
No mate, No lovers
+Occupation+
Previous Shadowsinger and Spymaster for the Summer Court - Currently finding himself after the war.
+Height+
6' 4"
+Weight+
240 pounds
+Hair Colour+
Dark Hair, nearly black, often unkept
+Eye Colour+
Aqua
+Addictions+
Killing - but he's trying to overcome it
+Other Enjoyments+
Spending time with his animals
+Voice+
-
+Scent+
-
+Theme Song+
In search of one
-
Look A Little Deeper
Appearance:
Braun stands at roughly 6’4”, built with the dense strength of a warrior who spent centuries fighting in armor rather than posing in it. His frame is broad through the shoulders and chest, heavily muscled without ever becoming monstrous, carrying the kind of physicality earned through endless training, sea campaigns, and survival. Black hair falls in waves around sharply pointed ears, often left untamed as though he no longer cares enough to fix it. His eyes remain an unnatural aqua, though after the Cauldron blast, there is something wrong behind them now. They no longer carry the warmth they once did, but instead the distant look of a man constantly listening for something that never answers back.
The blast itself altered him permanently. Pale silver veining spreads across portions of his ribs, back, and side like fractures beneath the skin, faintly visible depending on the light, as though foreign magic embedded itself into his body rather than healing cleanly. Tide-like tattoos in dark blue-black ink curl across his arms, shoulders, chest, and neck, inspired by ocean currents, waves, and the pull of deep water. Despite the damage left behind by war, Braun remains striking in the severe, dangerous way storms over open sea are, though there is a hollowness to him now that even the Summer Court sunlight cannot fully reach.
Personality:
Once, when he was known by another name, Braun had been known for his steadiness. Beneath the discipline of a soldier and the caution of a shadowsinger, there had been a quiet warmth to him that made both animals and people trust him easily. He was deeply loyal, observant, and patient, often preferring to listen rather than speak. Much of his life was spent protecting others, whether through gathering information, guarding his court, or simply ensuring the people he cared for were safe and provided for. Even in war, he carried a strong sense of duty, believing that if he worked hard enough, fought hard enough, or sacrificed enough of himself, he could prevent those around him from suffering. After the Cauldron blast, much of that man fractured. Braun became quieter in a different way. Not calm, but distant. Years of guilt, failure, grief, and survival hollowed him out until exhaustion settled into the foundation of who he was. He struggles heavily with trust, isolation, and the constant belief that he is ultimately a danger to the things he loves. Despite this, pieces of his former self still survive beneath the damage, particularly around animals, where his guard lowers more naturally than it ever does around people. While he can appear cold or detached, there remains a deep emotional intensity beneath the surface, one he keeps tightly restrained out of fear of what happens when it slips free.
Education:
Braun received a traditional Summer Court education in his youth, though much of his learning extended far beyond books or formal tutors. Raised between the beauty of Adriata and the untamed wilderness surrounding it, he was taught court etiquette, reading, writing, trade languages, military history, and diplomacy expected of a High Fae male within the Summer Court. Alongside this, his father privately educated him in survival, tracking, navigation, and the understanding of non-humanoid creatures, laying the foundation for the beastmaster abilities he would later develop. His connection to animals became less of a learned skill and more an instinctive language, one refined through years spent growing alongside them rather than controlling them. Following the discovery of his shadowsinger abilities, Braun underwent extensive military and specialized intelligence training under the Summer Court army. Over decades, he became highly skilled in reconnaissance, infiltration, information gathering, stealth warfare, combat strategy, and border operations. Much of his education thereafter was pragmatic, shaped by centuries of war, political unrest, espionage, and survival beneath Amarantha’s reign. While he is highly intelligent and observant, Braun tends to value practical knowledge over scholarly prestige, carrying the mentality of a soldier long after leaving the military behind.
Skills:
Braun is an exceptionally skilled shadowsinger, trained extensively in reconnaissance, stealth operations, infiltration, and intelligence gathering throughout his centuries serving within the Summer Court military. His abilities allow him to move quietly through both physical and political spaces, often gathering information long before others realize he was ever present. Unlike the colder reputation typically associated with shadowsingers, Braun's approach was once heavily rooted in observation and patience rather than intimidation, making him particularly effective at tracking movements, reading environments, and surviving prolonged operations behind enemy lines. He is also a highly trained soldier, experienced in both mainland and naval combat, border warfare, close-quarters fighting, and large-scale military campaigns spanning multiple wars. Beyond combat, Braun possesses a rare psychic connection to non-humanoid animals, particularly predators, birds, sea creatures, and wild territorial species. Through years of trust-building and familiarity, he developed the ability to communicate emotionally and instinctively with them, often using these bonds for scouting, warnings, tracking, and information gathering across vast distances. Hawks, wolves, panthers, dolphins, sea turtles, and countless other creatures once formed an enormous unseen network around him. However, following Under the Mountain and later the Cauldron blast, many of these connections were severed, forcing him to rebuild them slowly and painfully from the beginning. While fragments of the ability remain incredibly powerful, the loss of that natural connection continues to affect him deeply, both practically and emotionally.
Profession:
Formerly, Braun served as a high-ranking shadowsinger and intelligence operative within the Summer Court military, specializing in reconnaissance, espionage, border operations, and strategic information gathering during both the First and Second Hybern Wars. He worked closely alongside the Summer Court’s military leadership and was heavily relied upon for covert operations, battlefield intelligence, and communication between allied courts during times of conflict. In addition to his role as a shadowsinger, he was widely recognized for his rare beastmaster abilities and his unique psychic connection to non-humanoid animals, which greatly enhanced his effectiveness within intelligence work and territorial surveillance. Following the Cauldron blast and the events surrounding the Second Hybern War, Darrian abandoned both his military position and much of his former identity, eventually retreating into the Middle under the name Braun. Currently, he lives in isolation, surviving largely as a wanderer, tracker, hunter, and caretaker of the wild creatures inhabiting the untamed territories between courts. Though no longer formally tied to any court or military structure, the instincts and skills of a soldier and shadowsinger remain deeply ingrained within him.
Lover:
Braun has never been a male made for easy intimacy. Much of his life was spent in service to war, survival, and duty long before he ever had the chance to fully belong to another person. Relationships, when they existed, were often brief or strained beneath the weight of military life, secrecy, and the constant understanding that he could be sent elsewhere at any moment. Even before the Cauldron blast, there was a guardedness to him emotionally, a tendency to carry responsibility rather than vulnerability. After the wars, that distance only deepened. Trust became difficult, and the fear of becoming attached to someone only to fail them settled heavily into the way he approached connection. Despite this, Braun remains deeply loyal beneath all the damage, capable of loving with frightening permanence once someone truly reaches him. The problem has never been whether he can love, but whether he still believes there is enough of him left for someone to love in return.
-
-
