Dederick - Lantern of Justice

[Dederick 0]

Dederick
Real Name
James Cutler

Age
Twenty > Twenty-two

Gender
Male

Height
5'10"

Weight
170 lbs

Eye Color
Blue

Profession
Alchemist



Background
Isolation. Silence. The unyielding pressure of a higher power.

These were James' life. He never knew the unconditional love of a mother, nor the guiding hand of a father. Abandoned at the steps of a monastery only days after being brought into this world, he never had a chance to experience what every developing youth should. They were replaced by the rigid rules of the community and the firm hand of God. There was no room for flippancy or movement that was not deliberate. Sit up straight. Eyes forward. Elbows off the table. Do not speak unless spoken to. When you do, speak clearly and concisely. Jokes are not allowed. Do not eat unless told to. When you do, do not make a single sound. Do not challenge the authority of your elders. Do not challenge the authority of the Church. Do not challenge the authority of God. Do not commit a single sin.

To break any of these rules would earn you a beating.

And so he submitted to the lifestyle. It was all he knew. He was devout, organized, disciplined and moral. Nothing major occurred in his life, save for the occasional big test or an outing to spread the word of the Lord. During these outings, James could feel his skin crawling as the deplorables and vagrants of society ridiculed them and committed blasphemy right before their very eyes for the sake of instigation. The fire of rage burned deep inside of him, but he followed his conditioning. Stay calm. Be kind. Deliver the word of the Lord with a smile on your face.

That is, until the day he was forcefully cast from his society. He had come of age, and they no longer had room for him. He was on his own.

He struggled scraping by on whatever scraps he could find, ill-equipped to come to terms with the true nature of his new reality and adjust in a way that held meaning and allowed him to survive. He opted to travel from place to place with nothing but the clothes on his back and a copy of the Bible, spreading the word of the Lord and surviving on whatever morsels society deemed fit to hand off to a homeless, hopeless youth. It became painfully obvious to James that he had become one of the very vagrants he used to so despise - and despite still believing he was morally superior, he now understood just how easily one's life could plummet into abject destitution.

Then, one day, he found it. A large tech retailer. He had seen such places before, but had never ventured inside. Man made technological innovations such as televisions or computers or cell phones were objects of sin, and he had never learned to use them before. But curiosity had gotten the best of him, and his lugged his tired frame through the threshold of the automatic sliding glass doors and thrust himself into a world completely unfamiliar.

And boy, had he been missing out.

Gadgets and gizmos capable of feats he had never dreamed before. Technology that integrated your entire house to react to your voice and do your bidding. Various screened devices that all serves as windows into a mysterious realm known only as the "internet," in which all information known to man and a plethora of activities awaited. He stared on in bewilderment as the salesman there carried him from department to department, showing him everything the technology of today had to offer the common citizen, and it was like a brand new door had opened for him. He was in awe. How could tools so helpful for mankind be sinful? Surely there had been a mistake.

And then he heard it. "Here's the piece of resistance, the NerveGear. It's launching today, alongside the game that it was built for; Sword Art Online. Apparently this sucker'll put you to sleep and have you wake up inside the game. Luckily, this store got a couple of copies of the game for people to demo so they can see if they want one. I'm actually supposed to test it at some point today - would you like to try it as well?" And so he affixed the helmet to his head alongside the salesman, Jackson, uttered the two words that would seal his fate, and dove headfirst into the pits of hell.

So he has been, ever since, trapped in a world that he couldn't ever hope to understand. Surrounded by people who seemed to have it all figured out - technological pundits and video game enthusiasts who all left him in the dust the moment the announcement occurred. Jackson was left behind as well, it seemed, also unfamiliar with this world and its inner workings. The two were quickly estranged, however, as James would never come to forgive the crooked charlatan in his involvement in the destruction of the blonde-haired youth's life as he knew it.

But he didn't deserve all the blame, and James knew it. After all, it was he who had sinned. Now he must atone.

Personality
James is a man of few words, rigid and cold in his exterior demeanor. He views his strict upbringing as the hand of God preparing him for the challenges that awaited him. He believes that Sword Art Online is a form of punishment for the sin of dabbling in technology, for which he can only atone by acting with heroism and morality in a world that has all but forsaken it. Because of this, he follows the word of God and the Holy Scripture as though it were an unofficial rule book for Sword Art Online, hoping that they will lead him and the thousands of others trapped within this realm to salvation.

Though he is uncompromising in his ideals and virtues, he is still kind. He will gladly give up the armor off of his back or whatever col he has to the less fortunate player, as God would surely do the same. On the rare occasion that someone cracks his cold and hard exterior, they might be treated with a glimpse of the sweeter, happier, and almost goofy side that he has to offer. That being said, nobody has been able to do this yet. He resists opening himself up to anyone, even those he may trust with his life.

Despite this, he does yearn for affection. Having never truly experienced it himself, he feels that - to some extent - he has been robbed of something that most others get to have. He holds no ill will toward his mother for abandoning him, as that would be energy wasted. But he does feel as though there has been a hole in his life that was never filled.

Virtues
Loyal
Despite his history outside the game and within, Dederick is an intimately loyal individual. If he has pledged his word to someone, even a stranger, he will hold true to it. For those he deeply cares for, he will gladly put his life on the line to ensure their safety. Once you betray this loyalty, however, you'll find it insanely difficult to earn it back. Honor his loyalty, and he will follow you to the ends of the Earth.

Integrity
Dederick has a strong moral code, and a violation of this code constitutes a violation of himself. These principles, after all, are what make him who he is. Even accidentally crossing one of his own personal boundaries makes him feel unbelievably disgusted with himself. He will never knowingly compromise his integrity, and those who would expect him to will be sorely disappointed. Because of this, people will often interpret him as cold and uncompromising, when really he is just sticking to his guns and remaining true to himself.

Does the Right Thing
There are times in every man's life where he will be faced with a choice - often between the wrong but easy way, or the right but hard way. Many people will walk down the wrong path, either out of convenience or fear. While Dederick is no stranger to fear, he will never knowingly take the wrong path when there is a better path available. His strong moral code serves as a compulsion to always take the high road, even if it is more difficult or to his own detriment. 

Flaws
Rigid
Due to his religious upbringing, Dederick is extremely set in what he considers to be "right" or "wrong," "good" or "evil," and rarely does he see a gray area in between. He is not the sort of person to believe that the ends justify the means. As en extension of this, he believes that the people who will make excuses such as this are merely justifying poor actions that make the path traveled easier. With a pure "right vs wrong" mentality like this, he lacks the ability to find creative solutions to impossible quandaries, and will often become frustrated with what he considers to be "unwinnable" situations.

Judgmental
Dederick follows a strict moral code, and considers anyone who strays from this code to be straying from what is good and virtuous. As such, he judges them as being too weak to do the right thing, or corrupted by their sins and the sinful world that surrounds them. This inflated sense of moral superiority often makes him look down on others, though not always vocally. This has alienated him from most of the people he has encountered in his life, including Jackpot, who he sees as a morally inept lunatic who pressured him into a sin that trapped him in a game, and continues to sin flippantly even after suffering the consequences.

Callous
He might be the moral and virtuous sort, but you might not be able to tell it by his attitude. He is uncaring about the usual social customs that most others hold themselves to, and will eagerly make his opinion known even if he knows his words stand to hurt those around him. He has too much respect for God to waste his time on Earth beating around the bush or not encouraging people to take the right path. He's not afraid to call someone out for doing what he perceives to be "wrong." This, combined with his judgmental attitude, makes him seem cold and heartless to some.

Edited September 30, 2019 by Dederick

[Dederick 0]

Stats
Level: 6
HP: 120
EN: 12
DMG: 4
MIT: 32
THORNS: 18
Paralyze 1
Regen 1

Skills
- One-Handed Straight Sword (Rank 1)
>>> +1 DMG

- Block (Rank 1)
>>> +5 MIT when Shield is equipped

Equipment
- Stormcaller (T1 Perfect Straight Sword)
>>> +2 DMG
>>> Paralyze 1

- Tarn Mirror (T1 Perfect Shield)
>>> +18 THORNS
>>> +9 MIT

- Battle Plate of Deaf Honor (T1 Perfect Heavy Armor)
>>> +18 MIT
>>> Regen 1

- - - - - - - - - -

- Gloves of Caerus (T1 Perfect Clothing)
>>> +3 LD

Spoiler

Total SP: 14
Total Used: 10
Total Unused: 4
Skill Slots: 1/2

SP Log:
+5 SP for character creation
-5 SP for One-Handed Straight Sword Skill Rank 1
+2 SP for thread and quest completion (http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/18204-f01-sp/?do=findComment&comment=582714)
+1 SP for thread completion (http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/18261-event-f01-pestilence-begone/?do=findComment&comment=583681)
+2 SP for thread completion (http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/18266-f01-pp-a-chance-encounter/?do=findComment&comment=585170)
-5 SP for Block Skill Rank 1
+4 SP for thread and quest completion (http://www.sao-rpg.com/topic/18362-f01-pp-trying-this-again/?do=findComment&comment=588848)

[Dederick 0]

Inventory
Consumables
- (3) Starter Healing Potions
>>> Heals 50 HP
- (1) T1 Rare HP Recovery Salve - "Healing Rub"
>>> Heals 40 HP

Unidentified
- (2) T1 Uncommon Consumables [ID: 124742, ID: 124752A]
- (3) T1 Rare Trinkets [ID: 124761, ID: 124765, ID: 124771]
- (1) T1 Rare Weapon [ID: 124752B]
- (1) T1 Perfect Consumable [ID: 124750]
- (2) T1 Perfect Armors/Shields [ID: 124749A, ID: 124766A]
- (2) T1 Perfect Weapons [ID: 124749B, ID: 124766B]
 

Edited September 30, 2019 by Dederick

[Neopolitan 0]

Approved, welcome to SAO-RPG.