<div class="floatleft">(https://66.media.tumblr.com/28be3ad51f68d51ff3b87370a67e9e86/tumblr_nm0c0q7uGj1uoktc3o1_500.jpg)</div><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;">Carter Augustus Byrd </span><br/><br/><br/><strong>AGE:</strong>21<br/><strong>GENDER:</strong>Male<br/><strong>SEXUALITY:</strong>Pansexual<br/><strong>BLESSED BY:</strong>Athena<br/><strong>NICKNAMES:</strong>Doesn't really have one.<br/><br/><br/><strong>LIKES:</strong>Enjoys loud music of most any genre, painting, drawing, playing piano, guitar, ukulele, singing. Loves Nature. Can sometimes prefer to be in control of certain non-sexual situations. Likes eating, primarily pasta, and enjoys cooking.<br/><strong>DISLIKES:</strong>Rudeness, those who disrespect nature, mushrooms (likes to look at but not for eating, yuck.), poorly made food.<br/><br/><br/><strong>SKILLS &amp; POWERS:</strong><br/><em>Music</em>-- Carter is very skilled in several instruments, including the piano, guitar, and ukulele, however he has a natural knack for being able to play most anything on any instrument.  (Skill 1/4)<br/><br/><em>Art/crafting</em>-- In addition to being skilled in instruments, he is well skilled in crafting art pieces. Preferably, he does sketches with nature, and his art pieces tend to look life-like. Athena is not only Goddess of War, but also represents creativity. His skills in both music and art were present before he was blessed by the Goddess, but have continued to only rapidly improve since then. (Skill 2/4)<br/><br/><em>Skilled Swordsman</em>-- Considering Athena is the God of war, it would suit Carter to also be well in battle. He has practiced somewhat with a sword, and after being blessed, he skills continue to only improve, much like his artistic abilities. Unlike his artistic abilities, he cares less about fighting than he does drawing or painting. (Skill 3/4)<br/><br/><em>Trashy Friends</em>-- Ever since he was a child, Carter had been friends with a young raccoon named Ross. Ross enjoys painting with his human companion, and the two seem to be able to understand and talk to each other, even when Ross is silent. Athena had an owl familiar, and Carter has a raccoon. He is capable of conversing and getting along with other raccoons, but they are not companions like Ross is. Ross doesn't follow life spans of raccoons either, as he is almost as old as Carter is. (Based on artist Bob Ross<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button"> Bob Ross</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/simpleview/image/fetch/c_fill,h_574,q_75,w_400/https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/simpleview/image/upload/v1/clients/loudoun/BR00097_002__238bbeb7-27bd-4229-b435-02191594fd22.jpg)</div></div>) (<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">This is Ross</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/66/fc/48/66fc48f7aa82389945f150bb0e0b656f.jpg)</div></div>) (Blessed Power 1/3)<br/><br/><em>Athena's War</em>-- While not actually Athena's true shield, Carter is capable of summoning a shield and a sword at will. The shield has a Gorgon's head displayed on the front, much like Zues' Aegis, which Athena often wielded. It is merely a replica, and has yet to ever break while he uses it. The sword is an ordinary sword, but has also not seemed to break. He has not tested it against many things, though. (Blessed Power 2/3)<br/><br/><em>Resist</em>-- Being Blessed up by the Goddess of Wisdom, Carter has developed the ability to resist falling into trances, being manipulated, etc. Athena has granted him the wisdom to understand when someone is attempting to trance him. The ability isn't necessarily something he controls, but if his willingness to comply with the person outweighs his resistance ability, then it fails. While great against strangers, if the person he trusts and is close to tries to use something on him, his ability is most likely going to fail or kick in too late. (Blessed Power 3/3)<br/><br/><br/><strong>APPEARANCE:</strong>Carter is about average in height (according to American standards) at 5'9. He's a little lanky, but there is some muscle to him, just not an overabundance. His ears are pierced and he often will wear simple black, small gauges in them. Sometimes, he can be seen wearing glasses, but usually only during the night before bed or in the morning after. Preferably, he'd wear his contacts because he thinks that his glasses make him look silly. Carter's hair is bright red and can be described as fluffy and curly at the ends. Mostly, he is clean shaven or with little stubble every now and then.<br/><br/><strong>PERSONALITY:</strong>Generally, Carter is a happy, Go-Lucky guy. He always tried to make the best of things and see things from an optimist's point of view. With this light mindset, he can easily overcome most challenges that are thrown his way and work himself out of tricky situations. He's friendly and mostly outgoing but knows when to back off or leave someone alone. Despite his affinity for loud music and his outgoing personality, Carter also enjoys the quiet, peacefulness of life. He loves nature and sitting within forests, off the path, where he can be alone with no one but nature around him. This is also where he finds he does his best sketch work, out in the trees. This adventurous trait of his can sometimes leave him in trouble, as he isn't always the best with directions. A kind man, he'd do most anything to help those in need around him but can also tend to be protective to those he is close with.<br/><br/><strong>CHARACTER BACKGROUND:</strong>Carter's life started with him living with his parents, who owned a small restaurant in a not-so great part of town. His mother taught him how to cook and he helped his parents run the family business. One day, a man in a suit came in and demanded money from his father, who had been taking loans from another man in order to keep their restaurant afloat.  Instead of money, to the horror of the then 10 year old Carter, his father offered him instead to the man. Since then, Carter had worked for the Loan Shark.<br/><br/>Working there wasn't as awful as it seemed. Yes, he would get beaten up if he wasn't able to clean or cook or file those papers fast enough, but it also had its benefits. From the hours of nine pm to nine am, Carter was free from work and allowed to do whatever he wanted. It was during those times at night when he would wander the streets of the beaten down, southern town. Nightlife was amazing. There were people everywhere, if you knew how to find them. There was a group of misfit kids around his age that lived and worked on the streets who taught him how to pickpocket, how to be sneaky, how to rule the streets. There was a man who owned an underground bar who taught and later hired Carter to play instruments for his customers. The loan shark who took him didn't pay, and this is how he would earn almost every cent, through the tips and small weekly paychecks he would receive. Eventually, he would adopt this over running with the misfits.<br/><br/>One night, he had stumbled upon a baby raccoon trapped in a trash can, and he would come to find that he was able to understand the needs and wants of the raccoon. Over the next many years, this ability would be refined through their friendships, and now they are inseparable and flawlessly understand one another.<br/><br/>When he was finally eighteen, the loan shark wasn't legally able to contain Carter anymore, and kicked him out instead. With no where else to go, he turned to the man that had hired and taught him, and was taken in there. That night, he had received his blessing from Athena, and though he didn't tell the old man, knew that he wasn't going to be able to stay there forever. Behind the man's back, Carter learned of his abilities and how to use them, mastering them, but all the while knowing that the more he mastered these skills, the sooner he was to having to leave. There wasn't any particular reason why he knew this, but there was a feeling he just had in the pit of his stomach that he wasn't meant to be there.<br/><br/>Once he received a letter in the mail telling him that he was invited to Blessed Falls Village, Carter knew that place is where he was thinking of all along. He would soon bid the man farewell and make his journey to his next home and next adventure.<br/><br/><br/><strong>FACE CLAIM:</strong>Gabriel Lefelman<br/><strong>WRITER:</strong>Rainbrows