Keldor (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
behindblueskin) wrote2022-06-02 05:47 pm
behindblueskin) wrote2022-06-02 05:47 pm
For Ryslig, hopefully.
OOC INFORMATION
Name: Silbernefuchs [Silbe; Silberne]
Contact:silbernefuchs
Age: 47
Other Characters: N/A
CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character Name: Keldor
Age: Unknown, but possibly either late 20s to early-mid 30s
Canon: Masters of the Universe [Classics line minicomics primarily, but elements from other iterations plus personal headcanons will be added to round things out]
Canon Point: Secret Origins of Skeletor [sometime after getting the havoc staff, turning his back on Hordak and beginning to gather followers]
Character Information: Wiki link.
Expanded stuff: The Wiki doesn't go into too much detail about who Keldor is, since as far as the franchise is concerned, Keldor's role in the canon is mostly summed up by "the guy who eventually became Skeletor" and not too much else. Themes like poor parenting on the part of the father, who Keldor's birth mother is [canon can't seem to agree on this, though implications are made], or even how he as a Gar is treated by the humans of Eternia [and the Gar are not a people the humans have any love for]. We're not really given too much informantion regarding why the Gar are treated so, or rather, it's not delved into too much beyond "this thing that happened a long time ago".
So a fair bit of the personality and traits sections will be me trying to extract as much as I can from what is known about Keldor, and my personal takes on things [there will be personal takes in the character traits section, too], but I will try my best to find support for it in the minimal source material there is.
Personality: Son of the Eternian king Miro [a human] and a [possibly] unknown Gar woman, Keldor should have had the easy, privileged life that most princes enjoy. However, despite this fact, it's his Gar heritage that separates him from just about anything that could be considered "privileged" or "easy". Because of an ancient crime committed by one of the Gar [the betrayal and murder of King Grayskull], all Gar are viewed with hostility and suspicion by the human populace of Eternia. Added to that is the fact that Miro himself never showed any love or affection to his firstborn son; preferring to bestow these things upon his fully-human and Keldor's younger half-brother Randor—even going so far [in one iteration] to name the younger as his successor rather than Keldor, despite tradition [in this iteration, Keldor was demoted to a mere "advisor to the king"; a role he despised]. The only love and kindness Keldor ever received likely came from his stepmother, the Queen Amelia.
Unfortunately for Keldor, growing up didn't make life easier. He did whatever his father asked him to do, in the hopes that he might finally get some praise from a man who loved his son far less than the son loved his father—if Miro loved him at all. This included things like becoming a soldier [and possibly a sorcerer as well] and fighting in many battles, including the one with Count Marzo, a wizard who had troubled Eternia during a period that would later come to be known as the Great Unrest. During the battle with Marzo, the wizard cast a spell that sent Miro into the dimension known as Despondos [where Hordak resides], unable to be reached by anyone, for they didn't know where he ended up, and in Eternia, "ending up in" is something that can, on occasion, be done; be it another world, another dimension, or even through time. Keldor's terrified reaction shows that this act of Marzo's upset him deeply, despite the clear lack of love he got.
The loss of Miro was supposed to mark Keldor's ascension to the throne, but the populace would not have any of it, especially when a shadowy figure prodded them to go so far as to demand that Amelia be made an heir above even Keldor. Things only went from bad to worse, as Randor asked Amelia [his mother] to find and bring Keldor out for the people to see; to hopefully persuade them that Keldor was fit to rule.
Sadly, instead of Amelia bringing her stepson out to be presented, the Queen suddenly died within proximity of Keldor, prompting a servant to cry out that "Keldor has murdered the queen" [despite Keldor never showing any indication that he would ever have hurt her]. When Randor found Keldor next to Amelia's body, he asked what had happened. Yet, despite being told that it was probably an accident [if not a case of sudden death brought on by an undiagnosed ailment], Randor did not hesitate to punish his older brother, declaring him a murderer and thus was to be banished from the palace and Eternos without even giving Keldor an opportunity to defend himself against the charges.
Exiled and with nowhere to go; not even a title he could use to his benefit, Keldor wandered across the planet aimlessly, until Hordak began calling to him, bringing Keldor to an old, seemingly-abandoned shrine that no one appeared to know about. Within it, Keldor met the spirit of Hordak. Identifying himself as Kur, Hordak offered to mentor and teach Keldor magic, using his own exile and thus the possibility of being a kindred soul to lure Keldor in [he might very well have manipulated Keldor during this time, reinforcing whatever beliefs and narratives Keldor had formed during his life prior to coming across Hordak].
However, it would not be until Keldor was told about an ancient, powerful magical tool called the "havoc staff" and he was sent to retrieve it that he found out about Hordak's true identity and possible plans for the young man. When he returned to the shrine, Keldor proceeded to destroy it, declaring that he knew who Hordak was, that he didn't need the spirit any more, and that he was master of his own destiny. After that, he set about wandering Eternia again, this time gathering supporters and allies from all over; particularly those who, like him, were outcasts in some way [including a young woman named Evelyn, whom he came to care for and love]; hoping that, with their help, he could take on the Council of Elders in the Hall of Wisdom and possibly succeed in his task or restoring himself to the throne of Eternia.
But disaster struck, and a wounded-and-dying Keldor would be forced to seek out Hordak a second time in order to be healed.
Instead, Hordak bound Keldor to the demon Demo-man, turning the hapless prince into Skeletor, the "Overlord of Evil".
5-10 Key Character Traits:
Angry: This goes without saying. Keldor is a very angry person. However, it should be noted that Keldor's anger is not the kind of anger that sends people into fits of uncontrollable rage and indiscriminate violence. Keldor's anger is the anger that motivates a person to take an action; to do something about it rather than just wait for something to happen around him. He is also not revenge-minded. He's not plotting things like "how to repay Randor for his betrayal". He's interested in righting a wrong and fixing things rather than envision what he'd like to do to his enemies.
Hurting: I can't stress this enough. Keldor has suffered not just parental abuse from Miro, but the various racial abuses the humans have put him through. He's hurting. A lot. For all that he puts on a brave face [see: disciplined; not particularly emotional], Keldor is a wounded soul who wishes that his father would show him love and that someone other than his mother and [up until the betrayal] his brother would show him kindness and not treat him as if he was as guilty of his ancestors' crimes as the actual perpetrator was. It's this hurting that I feel is what made him extremely vulnerable to someone like Hordak, who used his own experiences to get Keldor to trust him as a mentor and substitute father figure, no doubt preying on Keldor's experiences and reenforcing whatever narratives Keldor formed from his experiences [Keldor eventually wises up, though, and cuts ties with Hordak midway through the minicomic].
Acceptance-seeking: Pretty self-explanetory, but as someone who's effectively been rejected by others [especially his father and the humans he was supposed to rule over], Keldor desperately wants someone to just accept him as he is. Not as a prince or a soldier or a magician or a Gar, but as himself. It's this trait that no doubt made him vulnerable to Hordak, just as much as the hurting trait did.
Justice-minded: Keldor has been put through a lot of abuse at the hands of humans, as well as the poor parenting of his father, Miro, and doubtless almost all of it can be attributed to the fact that Keldor is Gar. There is also the fact that he was unjustly accused of murder and exiled before he had an opportunity to defend himself properly, so he is going to be sensitive to injustices; both his own as well as others. The fact that he is half Gar, half human also gives him the potential to be someone who can see both sides of a situation, and judge accordingly [something I wish canon would allow him to do—take advantage of his dual nature]. However, it should be noted that Keldor has his own ideas of what justice looks like, and it might not line up with what others think it is, and there's no doubt that some of the actions he has taken/will take might be rather grey in morality.
Righteous: This follows Keldor being justice-minded. He cares about what is fair, as well as people receiving what is rightfully theirs. The Eternian crown is rightfully his. He's not going after it because he's jealous or whatever that someone else received it. Keldor is correcting a wrong; not seeking vengeance.
Action-oriented: Keldor is not a passive, reactive type. He's someone who sets out to do something whenever something arises, or even before it does. He was denied the crown, which was rightfully his, but rather than wallow in his misery, chose a plan of action and began to impliment it.
Goal-oriented: Keldor's ambition is nothing less than regaining what is rightfully his and uniting all of Eternia under him, and he will tirelessly keep working at it until he succeeds or someone/something else stops him.
Compassionate/empathetic: Being the victim of prejudice more times than he can count, as well as being seeing how it affects others makes Keldor a surprisingly compassionate person. The fact that the people he chose as followers are all outcasts in their own right shows a level of empathy for people living in similar situations. The fact that he desires to unite Eternia also demonstrates kindness, or at least the capacity for it. It should also be said that he took a dilynx [a species of purple-furred big cat] as a pet. He found it while it was still a cub caught in a hunter's trap and raised it into an 800lb, full-grown adult that is completely loyal to him. Panthor is big and dangerous and more than capable of killing his master, but the fact that the cat trusts Keldor enough to serve as his mount in battle shows that Keldor has a kind streak most might not know about or believe he has.
Intelligent: This part's a fair bit of speculation, but it's not a stretch to say that as a young prince Keldor was given a very thorough education in just about everything a future king should be educated in, and was tested many times on an intellectual level [there may be a possibility that doing a good job with his education was something he did to try and gain approval from Miro]. Also, as someone who was supposed to be king, intelligence is something that the job requires a lot of.
Disciplined: Keldor was once a soldier; an occupation that requires no small amount of discipline in oneself. Being a soldier is also why Keldor is the "take an action" type. Soldiers do things. They don't wait and see, especially on the battlefield. The only time they don't do things is when they're waiting for orders or being trained, which is where discipline is most needed. Also, in addition to being a soldier, Keldor is also a sorcerer. To wield magic properly requires no small amount of discipline to keep things from blowing up in your face or other catastrophes.
Not particularly emotional: This one's almost pure speculation on my part, but suffice to say that as a soldier and a prince things like emotional control is something that are most likely to have been expected, and with a father like Miro, sometimes necessary. Outbursts of emotion probably would have just made things worse.
Potentially cruel: I say "potential", not "actual", as generally Keldor has shown that he does have a lot of kindness in him [Panthor could easily kill him, but doesn't, which demonstrates that Keldor can be kind to others]. However, it should be noted that his kindness has limits, and he's not above using some extremely dubious methods to win [keep in mind that, like justice-minded, Keldor's definition of what constitutes "cruel" may not be what others think it is], such as his use of acid as a weapon when it looked like he was losing the fight with Randor at the beginning of the 2002 reboot series [note: the acid weapon was a "last resort" weapon. Before that he was engaging Randor in a more honourable sword fight]. Judging by what it did to Keldor's face, one can only assume what Keldor meant it to do to Randor, whom he threw it at.
Would you prefer a monster that FITS your character’s personality, CONFLICTS with it, EITHER, or opt for 100% RANDOMIZATION? I prefer "fits", but some small "conflicts" might be OK. [feeding on humans will probably be conflict by itself, though—Keldor won't enjoy that]
Opt-Outs: ARACHNE [no spiders please!], SHADE, DEMON, LICH, VAMPIRE, SLIME
Roleplay Sample: From Victory Road I hope that's acceptable.
Ryslig-based sample:
Really, it might've been better if he'd just drowned...
It had only been a few hours since Keldor had been told where he was before his discharge from the hospital and already he's hating it here. Getting about the city was a bigger challenge than he'd expected it to be. For one, Keldor just wasn't used to people using vehicular modes of transport like cars and trucks to this extent, and more than once he'd nearly stepped out into oncoming traffic; only just narrowly escaping more physical harm before he was crushed under several tons of metal.
"Hey! Watch where yer goin'!" a driver yelled at him as the car whizzed past.
The city he was in—Vandare—was nothing like Eternos; the city Keldor had grown up in. For starters, the technology was rather primitive. But despite this, there was an awful lot of it. Eternia had technology. Advanced technology, in fact. But most of that world's inhabitants were content to use archaic methods of getting about, such as walking, riding or using pulled vehicles. And those were easy to dodge. Even ground vehicles could be avoided simply because there weren't that many of them.
Here, though, Keldor's lack of traffic sense was enough to endanger him to becoming a victim of an unintentional hit-and-run.
"These people are barbarians," he muttered under his breath after narrowly escaping yet another collision.
Dodging this latest, though, put him in close proximity to one of the citizenry, and one look at him was enough to cue the stranger that Keldor wasn't a local.
"I said 'get away, monster'!" he heard before he felt a rock hit him in the shoulder.
He turned around. A scared old man had another in his hand, and was ready to throw it.
"I am not a monster. I am a man. I am Gar."
"You look like a monster! See? You're already changing!"
The old man punctuated that last sentence by throwing the other rock, which Keldor neatly dodged. At least his soldier's training made it possible to avoid some things, like projectiles, if not cars.
"I am Gar! I have always looked like this! We all of us look like this!"
The stranger's face turned white with fear. As if he might know of the Gar, but had formed a different opinion of them; one not informed by historic crimes but by something else instead.
"Get away from me, monster! Get away..!"
Not wanting to be pelted with something worse than rocks, Keldor backed away. Slowly. Glaring the whole time. Until it was safe to turn his back.
Him? A monster? Really? These people were mad. Mad and barbarians. All of them.
But then, they were humans, and humans never treated his people well.
It was time to find a safer place to rest...
Name: Silbernefuchs [Silbe; Silberne]
Contact:
silbernefuchsAge: 47
Other Characters: N/A
CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character Name: Keldor
Age: Unknown, but possibly either late 20s to early-mid 30s
Canon: Masters of the Universe [Classics line minicomics primarily, but elements from other iterations plus personal headcanons will be added to round things out]
Canon Point: Secret Origins of Skeletor [sometime after getting the havoc staff, turning his back on Hordak and beginning to gather followers]
Character Information: Wiki link.
Expanded stuff: The Wiki doesn't go into too much detail about who Keldor is, since as far as the franchise is concerned, Keldor's role in the canon is mostly summed up by "the guy who eventually became Skeletor" and not too much else. Themes like poor parenting on the part of the father, who Keldor's birth mother is [canon can't seem to agree on this, though implications are made], or even how he as a Gar is treated by the humans of Eternia [and the Gar are not a people the humans have any love for]. We're not really given too much informantion regarding why the Gar are treated so, or rather, it's not delved into too much beyond "this thing that happened a long time ago".
So a fair bit of the personality and traits sections will be me trying to extract as much as I can from what is known about Keldor, and my personal takes on things [there will be personal takes in the character traits section, too], but I will try my best to find support for it in the minimal source material there is.
Personality: Son of the Eternian king Miro [a human] and a [possibly] unknown Gar woman, Keldor should have had the easy, privileged life that most princes enjoy. However, despite this fact, it's his Gar heritage that separates him from just about anything that could be considered "privileged" or "easy". Because of an ancient crime committed by one of the Gar [the betrayal and murder of King Grayskull], all Gar are viewed with hostility and suspicion by the human populace of Eternia. Added to that is the fact that Miro himself never showed any love or affection to his firstborn son; preferring to bestow these things upon his fully-human and Keldor's younger half-brother Randor—even going so far [in one iteration] to name the younger as his successor rather than Keldor, despite tradition [in this iteration, Keldor was demoted to a mere "advisor to the king"; a role he despised]. The only love and kindness Keldor ever received likely came from his stepmother, the Queen Amelia.
Unfortunately for Keldor, growing up didn't make life easier. He did whatever his father asked him to do, in the hopes that he might finally get some praise from a man who loved his son far less than the son loved his father—if Miro loved him at all. This included things like becoming a soldier [and possibly a sorcerer as well] and fighting in many battles, including the one with Count Marzo, a wizard who had troubled Eternia during a period that would later come to be known as the Great Unrest. During the battle with Marzo, the wizard cast a spell that sent Miro into the dimension known as Despondos [where Hordak resides], unable to be reached by anyone, for they didn't know where he ended up, and in Eternia, "ending up in" is something that can, on occasion, be done; be it another world, another dimension, or even through time. Keldor's terrified reaction shows that this act of Marzo's upset him deeply, despite the clear lack of love he got.
The loss of Miro was supposed to mark Keldor's ascension to the throne, but the populace would not have any of it, especially when a shadowy figure prodded them to go so far as to demand that Amelia be made an heir above even Keldor. Things only went from bad to worse, as Randor asked Amelia [his mother] to find and bring Keldor out for the people to see; to hopefully persuade them that Keldor was fit to rule.
Sadly, instead of Amelia bringing her stepson out to be presented, the Queen suddenly died within proximity of Keldor, prompting a servant to cry out that "Keldor has murdered the queen" [despite Keldor never showing any indication that he would ever have hurt her]. When Randor found Keldor next to Amelia's body, he asked what had happened. Yet, despite being told that it was probably an accident [if not a case of sudden death brought on by an undiagnosed ailment], Randor did not hesitate to punish his older brother, declaring him a murderer and thus was to be banished from the palace and Eternos without even giving Keldor an opportunity to defend himself against the charges.
Exiled and with nowhere to go; not even a title he could use to his benefit, Keldor wandered across the planet aimlessly, until Hordak began calling to him, bringing Keldor to an old, seemingly-abandoned shrine that no one appeared to know about. Within it, Keldor met the spirit of Hordak. Identifying himself as Kur, Hordak offered to mentor and teach Keldor magic, using his own exile and thus the possibility of being a kindred soul to lure Keldor in [he might very well have manipulated Keldor during this time, reinforcing whatever beliefs and narratives Keldor had formed during his life prior to coming across Hordak].
However, it would not be until Keldor was told about an ancient, powerful magical tool called the "havoc staff" and he was sent to retrieve it that he found out about Hordak's true identity and possible plans for the young man. When he returned to the shrine, Keldor proceeded to destroy it, declaring that he knew who Hordak was, that he didn't need the spirit any more, and that he was master of his own destiny. After that, he set about wandering Eternia again, this time gathering supporters and allies from all over; particularly those who, like him, were outcasts in some way [including a young woman named Evelyn, whom he came to care for and love]; hoping that, with their help, he could take on the Council of Elders in the Hall of Wisdom and possibly succeed in his task or restoring himself to the throne of Eternia.
But disaster struck, and a wounded-and-dying Keldor would be forced to seek out Hordak a second time in order to be healed.
Instead, Hordak bound Keldor to the demon Demo-man, turning the hapless prince into Skeletor, the "Overlord of Evil".
5-10 Key Character Traits:
Angry: This goes without saying. Keldor is a very angry person. However, it should be noted that Keldor's anger is not the kind of anger that sends people into fits of uncontrollable rage and indiscriminate violence. Keldor's anger is the anger that motivates a person to take an action; to do something about it rather than just wait for something to happen around him. He is also not revenge-minded. He's not plotting things like "how to repay Randor for his betrayal". He's interested in righting a wrong and fixing things rather than envision what he'd like to do to his enemies.
Hurting: I can't stress this enough. Keldor has suffered not just parental abuse from Miro, but the various racial abuses the humans have put him through. He's hurting. A lot. For all that he puts on a brave face [see: disciplined; not particularly emotional], Keldor is a wounded soul who wishes that his father would show him love and that someone other than his mother and [up until the betrayal] his brother would show him kindness and not treat him as if he was as guilty of his ancestors' crimes as the actual perpetrator was. It's this hurting that I feel is what made him extremely vulnerable to someone like Hordak, who used his own experiences to get Keldor to trust him as a mentor and substitute father figure, no doubt preying on Keldor's experiences and reenforcing whatever narratives Keldor formed from his experiences [Keldor eventually wises up, though, and cuts ties with Hordak midway through the minicomic].
Acceptance-seeking: Pretty self-explanetory, but as someone who's effectively been rejected by others [especially his father and the humans he was supposed to rule over], Keldor desperately wants someone to just accept him as he is. Not as a prince or a soldier or a magician or a Gar, but as himself. It's this trait that no doubt made him vulnerable to Hordak, just as much as the hurting trait did.
Justice-minded: Keldor has been put through a lot of abuse at the hands of humans, as well as the poor parenting of his father, Miro, and doubtless almost all of it can be attributed to the fact that Keldor is Gar. There is also the fact that he was unjustly accused of murder and exiled before he had an opportunity to defend himself properly, so he is going to be sensitive to injustices; both his own as well as others. The fact that he is half Gar, half human also gives him the potential to be someone who can see both sides of a situation, and judge accordingly [something I wish canon would allow him to do—take advantage of his dual nature]. However, it should be noted that Keldor has his own ideas of what justice looks like, and it might not line up with what others think it is, and there's no doubt that some of the actions he has taken/will take might be rather grey in morality.
Righteous: This follows Keldor being justice-minded. He cares about what is fair, as well as people receiving what is rightfully theirs. The Eternian crown is rightfully his. He's not going after it because he's jealous or whatever that someone else received it. Keldor is correcting a wrong; not seeking vengeance.
Action-oriented: Keldor is not a passive, reactive type. He's someone who sets out to do something whenever something arises, or even before it does. He was denied the crown, which was rightfully his, but rather than wallow in his misery, chose a plan of action and began to impliment it.
Goal-oriented: Keldor's ambition is nothing less than regaining what is rightfully his and uniting all of Eternia under him, and he will tirelessly keep working at it until he succeeds or someone/something else stops him.
Compassionate/empathetic: Being the victim of prejudice more times than he can count, as well as being seeing how it affects others makes Keldor a surprisingly compassionate person. The fact that the people he chose as followers are all outcasts in their own right shows a level of empathy for people living in similar situations. The fact that he desires to unite Eternia also demonstrates kindness, or at least the capacity for it. It should also be said that he took a dilynx [a species of purple-furred big cat] as a pet. He found it while it was still a cub caught in a hunter's trap and raised it into an 800lb, full-grown adult that is completely loyal to him. Panthor is big and dangerous and more than capable of killing his master, but the fact that the cat trusts Keldor enough to serve as his mount in battle shows that Keldor has a kind streak most might not know about or believe he has.
Intelligent: This part's a fair bit of speculation, but it's not a stretch to say that as a young prince Keldor was given a very thorough education in just about everything a future king should be educated in, and was tested many times on an intellectual level [there may be a possibility that doing a good job with his education was something he did to try and gain approval from Miro]. Also, as someone who was supposed to be king, intelligence is something that the job requires a lot of.
Disciplined: Keldor was once a soldier; an occupation that requires no small amount of discipline in oneself. Being a soldier is also why Keldor is the "take an action" type. Soldiers do things. They don't wait and see, especially on the battlefield. The only time they don't do things is when they're waiting for orders or being trained, which is where discipline is most needed. Also, in addition to being a soldier, Keldor is also a sorcerer. To wield magic properly requires no small amount of discipline to keep things from blowing up in your face or other catastrophes.
Not particularly emotional: This one's almost pure speculation on my part, but suffice to say that as a soldier and a prince things like emotional control is something that are most likely to have been expected, and with a father like Miro, sometimes necessary. Outbursts of emotion probably would have just made things worse.
Potentially cruel: I say "potential", not "actual", as generally Keldor has shown that he does have a lot of kindness in him [Panthor could easily kill him, but doesn't, which demonstrates that Keldor can be kind to others]. However, it should be noted that his kindness has limits, and he's not above using some extremely dubious methods to win [keep in mind that, like justice-minded, Keldor's definition of what constitutes "cruel" may not be what others think it is], such as his use of acid as a weapon when it looked like he was losing the fight with Randor at the beginning of the 2002 reboot series [note: the acid weapon was a "last resort" weapon. Before that he was engaging Randor in a more honourable sword fight]. Judging by what it did to Keldor's face, one can only assume what Keldor meant it to do to Randor, whom he threw it at.
Would you prefer a monster that FITS your character’s personality, CONFLICTS with it, EITHER, or opt for 100% RANDOMIZATION? I prefer "fits", but some small "conflicts" might be OK. [feeding on humans will probably be conflict by itself, though—Keldor won't enjoy that]
Opt-Outs: ARACHNE [no spiders please!], SHADE, DEMON, LICH, VAMPIRE, SLIME
Roleplay Sample: From Victory Road I hope that's acceptable.
Ryslig-based sample:
Really, it might've been better if he'd just drowned...
It had only been a few hours since Keldor had been told where he was before his discharge from the hospital and already he's hating it here. Getting about the city was a bigger challenge than he'd expected it to be. For one, Keldor just wasn't used to people using vehicular modes of transport like cars and trucks to this extent, and more than once he'd nearly stepped out into oncoming traffic; only just narrowly escaping more physical harm before he was crushed under several tons of metal.
"Hey! Watch where yer goin'!" a driver yelled at him as the car whizzed past.
The city he was in—Vandare—was nothing like Eternos; the city Keldor had grown up in. For starters, the technology was rather primitive. But despite this, there was an awful lot of it. Eternia had technology. Advanced technology, in fact. But most of that world's inhabitants were content to use archaic methods of getting about, such as walking, riding or using pulled vehicles. And those were easy to dodge. Even ground vehicles could be avoided simply because there weren't that many of them.
Here, though, Keldor's lack of traffic sense was enough to endanger him to becoming a victim of an unintentional hit-and-run.
"These people are barbarians," he muttered under his breath after narrowly escaping yet another collision.
Dodging this latest, though, put him in close proximity to one of the citizenry, and one look at him was enough to cue the stranger that Keldor wasn't a local.
"I said 'get away, monster'!" he heard before he felt a rock hit him in the shoulder.
He turned around. A scared old man had another in his hand, and was ready to throw it.
"I am not a monster. I am a man. I am Gar."
"You look like a monster! See? You're already changing!"
The old man punctuated that last sentence by throwing the other rock, which Keldor neatly dodged. At least his soldier's training made it possible to avoid some things, like projectiles, if not cars.
"I am Gar! I have always looked like this! We all of us look like this!"
The stranger's face turned white with fear. As if he might know of the Gar, but had formed a different opinion of them; one not informed by historic crimes but by something else instead.
"Get away from me, monster! Get away..!"
Not wanting to be pelted with something worse than rocks, Keldor backed away. Slowly. Glaring the whole time. Until it was safe to turn his back.
Him? A monster? Really? These people were mad. Mad and barbarians. All of them.
But then, they were humans, and humans never treated his people well.
It was time to find a safer place to rest...