Ivan Braginsky- Russia [DA-DONE]

Name:Ivan Braginsky
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Quarter: The Citadel
Job: Ivan's one of the Speaker of the Gods, and holds a low government position. Sometimes he goes around the Southwest Quarter to bring down the smuggler ring over there and help the peasants.
God(s): Although he tries to be equal with the treatment of the gods, he does pay some special attention to the Slavic gods and goddesses, especially Morana- the Slavic goddess of harvest, winter, witchcraft, and death.
Gift: Ivan can make other people hallucinate (make them see, hear, and sometimes feel things that aren't real.) The only problems are that he can't control exactly what the person is hallucinating (but he can decide whether it's gory, fun, sad, etc.) and that he sometimes gets confused about what's real or not. Also, if he hallucinates something himself, the people around him can see it too, whether he wants to or not.

Personality:
Ivan is really kind at heart and (most) of his intentions are good, really it is. He wants what's best for people and works hard to make it so. The only problem is that he thinks that everyone being with him is the only way that this can happen, and hasn't even considered the thought that people might prefer something else.

A lot of people find him a bit intimidating at first. His large figure with a childish face is an odd combination, along with his insistence of being "comrades." Ivan tries his best to be nice, but there's some dark aura that surrounds him which makes people feel uneasy besides him.

There are those who think that Ivan may be mentally unstable. At times, he seems very illogical, almost to a schizophrenic level. And then there's his episodes of sadism. Ivan has.. "episodes" of violence upon others where he tortures them physically and mentally for the sake of it(or calling them punishments for 'bad behavior,') and finds pleasure in doing so. He becomes immensely guilty right after the torture and often times cries since he feels so sorry.

He's not completely oblivious, but he never seems to notice other people's fear or anxiety towards him, although he is able to pick up on other stuff easily. It might be his blind ambitions, or he might simply deny their existence.

Despite, or because of his illusions, Ivan has a hard time figuring out what's real and what's not. There are rare occasions where his illusions seem to have a mind of its own and makes him unsure of what's real or not, along with the unfortunate people who happen to be around him at that time.

Ivan may seem like a teddy bear with a few screws loose, but he's more complex than that. He's actually pretty intelligent, especially in math and physics, although inept at technology. He also knows the ins and outs of the human mind, and is able to tell if someone wants to take advantage of him or his sisters and will make sure that anyone who tries to do so will be miserable. He can be very calculating when he wants to; a skill he learned from his experience with chess, but often isn't like that to people- Ivan knows how it can make a person too analytical and cold.

Appearance: Ivan is a very intimidating figure, he's taller than most people and has a large build which would make one assume that he's a guard or something of the sort. He often wears a beige coat which extend down to his dark brown boots and is almost never found without a scarf. If not wearing a scarf (which is a very rare occasion) he always has something covering his neck, whether it is a turtleneck or a high collar which covers most of this weak spot. Under his beige coat is layer after layer of clothing. Some people suspect that Ivan's fat because of this, although he's anything but that.

Strengths:
-Physical strength
-Power: Although he has little power in the government, his connections to the Gods make him a even more intimidating person than he already is.
-Deceiving: Ivan knows how to lie and make himself seem like an innocent child, and at times uses this to his advantage.
-Stamina: Trying to beat Ivan physically is like trying to knock down a brick wall without artillery, and it only gets worse if you try to beat him at drinking. He can go on for a couple days at a time without sleep if needed.
-Screwing with people's heads: Even without using his hallucination ability, he's pretty good at this. If he does use it, however, prepare to hear voices constantly and the occasional traumatizing sight.
Weaknesses:
-Insanity: His over-dedication to his good intentions combined with his schizophrenia and his past has made him... quite insane at times, though there are moments when his sanity comes through.
-His neck: His weak spot is his neck, so he always has a scarf for extra protection, no matter how hot the day is (most people feel cold around him anyway.)
-His sisters: If anyone wants to blackmail or force Ivan to do something, it would probably be best to do it by harming his sisters in some way.
-Overly Idealistic: Although this can be a good thing at times, since it keeps Ivan motivated, he does have a tendency to go a bit too far in his idealism to the point where it might be considered a delusion. It sometimes makes him divide the world into a black-and-white place (or just plain black.)
-Recurring Nightmares: Ivan often has repeating seires of nightmares. Most of them have to deal with the death of his parents, though there have been other bizarre nightmares which are almost just as bad.

Likes:
-Sunflowers: It makes him feel warm
-Vodka
-Water pipes
-Warm weather
-Chess
-Being with others
-Psychology
-Reading
Dislikes:
-Cold weather, despite his high tolerance for it
-Being called fat: Good luck surviving the next day with your sanity intact if you dare call him that.
-Any type of alcohol besides vodka
-Being fooled/pranked on
-People who judge others quickly
-Arrogant people
Quirks:
-Always keeps a couple water pipes hidden in his coat
-Tends to end his sentences with "da."
-Has slight schizophrenia: Sometimes he has odd hallucinations but most of his symptoms are moments when he makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
-There are times when his heart falls out of his coat. People wonder if this is just another of Ivan's hallucinations or if it's real (since it would explain a lot to them if it was.)
Phobias:
-Being seen as a bad person
-Becoming stuck in his hallucinations forever: What's worse is that he's never truly sure what's real or not.
-Becoming a corrupt official: These are the people who have ruined his family and so many other peasants out of greed. Becoming just like them would be the greates hypocrisy.
-Natalia

History:
Ivan Braginsky was born the middle child and the only son of a peasant family in the Southwest Quarter. His early life consisted of barely getting enough food to survive and his family constantly being haggled by a group of smugglers from one of the wealthier quarters. His mother and father died when he was only 12, and he saw the group of drunk smugglers beat them with a club. That day he ran away from his family, promising to himself that he'll come back to get them out of the Southwest Quarter and help the other peasants from corrupt smugglers and tax collectors.

People are not sure of how Ivan had gotten himself into the Citadel, or even get out of the Southwest Quarter and into the social sphere. Some have said that he "lumbered his way up the ladder, leaving bloodied footprints where his worn out boots have stepped." This isn't true at all, however, since Ivan's way to becoming a Speaker of the Gods was more peaceful and sudden.

Ivan had run away from his village and went as far as the border between the Southwest and Southeast, thinking that he could try to gain money from there. The next morning, apparantly one of the government officials (a dream-seer) had had a search party look for Ivan, since he was the supposed boy in the guy's dream who would become one of the Speakers of the Gods. Seeing this as an opportunity to get his sisters out of the Southwest Quarter, he moved to the Citadel to start his training.

Life in the Citadel was a drastic change for Ivan, who rarely had enough food for his stomach. He had been raised by the priests in there, and they taught him well, especially about the Gods for the role he had to fill. Unfortunately, there were people in the government who did not like Ivan because he seemed to rise up so suddenly and mysteirously, and had been summoned to the Citadel only because of one official. This kept him from getting much power in the government and even stunted his education a bit. Despite efforts to get rid of him, Ivan still managed to get by and had gotten rid of some of his political enemies.

During his training to becom a Speaker of the Gods, the priests had tried to make Ivan forget about his past in the Southwest Quarter. All attempts at this failed; the nightmares about his parents were as vivid as ever, and he still remembered much about his sisters. This might be because he had started his training much later than most, but for the most part, this remains a mystery.

Only a couple of years ago, when Ivan went to the Southwest Quarter to assist his fellow peasants, he had been able to find his sisters. Unfortunately, he had to act as if he didn't know them, and had "anonymously" given them a house in the Northwest Quarter and helped them find a job. He tries to visit them without others noticing and continues to help peasants in the Southwest Quarter, since they are his fellow comrades.

RP Sample: Ivan stared at the ground. It was white, with little drops of red sprinkled around, adding color to the otherwise bleak area. Winter had come again and he hates it, hates it with a passion that makes him more violent and reckless.

"Gilbert, do you... hate me?" Ivan hesitates when the words form from his mouth, but his hands don't and he swings the pipe. Once, twice, thrice. He should stop, he really should. But Gilbert has been disobedient and needs to be punished, and Ivan forgot long ago when to show compassion and when not to.

This couldn't possibly be bad for the Prussian, could it? If one forgives a dog too easily for wetting the floor, then it'll break the rules repeatedly and it'll become a habit, and people shouldn't have bad habits like trying to escape. Ivan could try to be nicer, but that would be biased, and all things are equal in essence, da?

Another swing of the pipe. There's dried blood formed into a crust on the steel, and it's becoming a bit rusted. A shame, this pipe was Ivan's favorite thus far. It has helped him so much with helping people see the right way, to fix them and join him since he'll make sure to treat them well.

He... He is treating them well, right?

Out Of Character
Name: Aria
Age: 14
Contact: pockymoon@gmail.com... but PM would probably be better.
Anything else?: I guess I like Hermes the best, because of the trick he played on Apollo when he was only a baby xD

Agh! How could I forget to write that in? >.<

Sorry, I knew I forgot something. I also changed that little thing about the amount of time he had run away.