Eben Roux

"Originally, Eben truly had no humanity. But after coming to Arcadia.. that changed."
—Lain

Eben Roux
Eben.jpg
Fated Name the Gaia Mancer
A.K.A. Shaggy, "the Hippie"
Birthplace Roarke, OR
Date of Birth October 31
Age 17 (Beginning of SHR2)
Height 5'8 / 172 cm.
Weight 136 lbs.
Blood Type B-

Eben Roux is a character of School House Rumbles 2, the sequel of the original School House Rumbles. Though perhaps regarded as composed and humorous by his peers and in general by those around him, seemingly quite friendly and amiable, much like a river there are strong and deep currents just beneath the surface that, when disturbed, are likely as not to tear a diver asunder if they don't know how to navigate amongst the quickly flowing and changing waters.

Appearance


Eben's physical appearance has always taken largely after his mother's (an inheritance he has always been quite thankful for); he has the same full, copper hued hair and grey eyes pervaded by large flecks of molten gold as she did. Though it really lacks a style, as he's left it uncut for years, his almost waist-length hair has its last halve done into a complex and intrincate braid that's interwoven with wire that glints a luminous gold. Much like his mother, Eben has soft features that are prone to joyous smiles and merry laughter, along with her softly tanned, cream complexion. There is, however, another more.. interesting aspect of Eben's appearance: that of the looping, vermillion script and symbols that engulfs large portions of his body, though they begin with only his right arm and shoulder; the script and symbols often seem to shift and move at odd moments, spiraling around the arm as if it is alive, with a will all its own.

Before coming to Arcadia, Eben only owned a single pair of clothes: a faded grey and green flannel hooded jacket with a broken zipper and a pair of raggedy jeans he'd owned for years, the leg's lengths an inch or two too short for his legs after growth. Along with this one set of clothing, Eben was always seen wearing both a locket on a delicate silver chain and liberally applied bandages around his midsection, with a small cloth sack full to the bursting tied to the only unbroken loop of his jeans.

However, after living at the Arcadian Institute for a time, he had since gone through a change of attire, though he could still be seen in his old clothes as well on occasion. Oddly enough, however, after buying a multitude of jeans, Eben bought merely a single new top; this is perhaps owed to the fact that, after wearing the same pair of clothing for so long, he'd become rather unused to having multiple differing sets, so he simply forewent this and got the same exact type overall.

The new top took the form of a light brown hoody made of a special brand of hemp he'd garnered and bred previously from his own plants, and while it was not specially "fire retardent" or the like, it was fairly sturdy and soft to the touch, smelling of mint, herbs, and something very much like fresh dew or rain. The hoodie itself was unique in that, on its lower right shoulder, it had a large, stylized white eye, and upon its back an elegantly woven picture of Yggdrasil was done in multiple shades of evergreen and earthy browns. All of the amazingly vibrant colors meshed well together, with it as a whole becoming a beautiful painting born of thread in the image of the World Tree. Along with its other "features", the hoodie had two pockets on its left and right sides, with a much larger inner pocket that Eben sewed in himself on its inner left side for "special" storage purposes.

After his visit to the planet Kahlen Eben also added to his ensemble a brown leather fedora with a large, slightly curved brim, having found it sitting innocently atop one of the many crates of alien technology in a cache there.

Of course, Eben retained both his locket and bandages, both still easily seen as he forever wore the hoodie open, unused to it being closed after so many years of wearing a jacket with a broken zipper. The cloth sack of seeds, as well, still remained, located on a loop upon the right hip of his pants.

Story


Before Arcadia: A Boy and his Dog

Eben Roux didn't have a home, nor a family; he lived his life riding the railroad lines, his time spent train-hopping and traveling the country (and even beyond), a moment never spent too long in any one place. How did he come into the life of a vagabond? Well, that's a bit of a tale, one beginning in a sleepy lumber town in the upper reaches Oregon…

You see, little Eben Roux had a family once, just like everyone; it wasn't quite the fairy tale life, though, not when a small child of nine years is forced to watch his father come home from a dead-end factory job, pop open a bottle of single malt liquor, and proceed to beat his dear wife with the furor only too much alcohol can induce in a man. There were good days, of course, if only good in comparison to the others; days when his father didn't come home at all, when his mother would sit him down, and tell him how someday things would get better, that the Almighty would balance the scales and give them a good life soon. Soon.

Soon wasn't soon enough, though, and one crisp February morn his mother collapsed in the midst of making a full, healthy breakfast for her growing boy. The doctors said that it was because of a weak immune system, that the dizziness and fatigue would pass. It didn't. And they found the foul tumor within her heart; they said it was Myxoma, that it was too late, that she only had months to live with the machines, and less without. That was the day that little Eben quit going to school, and never left his mother's side.

Amoria Roux died at the too-young age of twenty-nine, looking as if she had aged another twenty years as she laid upon her deathbed. Died a life that was dominated by a marriage with a man who loved her too little, and by a son that loved her far, far too much. A child who sat as his mother's side as she breathed her last breath assisted by machinery, the feel of her hand gripping his slowly fading, slowly slackening until her limb, knobby digits lay limp within his small grasp. Her death was a quiet one, that would go unnoted and unnoticed but by a few; her son could not help thinking she deserved so much more.

Eben stayed a brief few months with his aunt, months full of quiet mourning and too strained smiles and too little laughter. His mother's sister was worried, and hoped that his father would get his act together after losing one of the very few worthwhile things in his life. The church that they frequented slowly pulled together funds for a proper burial of pheraps their most frequent member, funds enough for a beautiful headstone and casket, a stone upon which would be scrawled beautiful letters to form the words "A loving mother and wife who shall live on in our hearts always". They dressed up in smart black funeral garb to see their beloved family member under a marvelously blue sky, unmarred by even a wisp of cloud cover.

It was an unforgiving sun that shone its pale light down that summer day as friends and family watched with eyes that could not be turned from a mockery. There was no stone to be read, no beautiful casket. Only a large rock would be used to mark Amoria's grave, and only a plywood barrier would house her body from the surrounding dirt, and a husband who remained seated when asked if he would perhaps like to say a few words. It was with him that Eben went home with, and it was there it was made apparent what had happened to the charity of his mother's fellow church goers. Squandered upon drink and cheap whores, the remains of both easily noticeable; it was with a pained heart that Eben manuevered through the living room to the stairs that lead to the second floor, where his room resided, careful to not step upon one of the many bottles that littered the floor, the stink of sex clinging to him as he climbed his way up and out of the stench that haunted the ground floor of what was once a home, and now what just a roof and four walls.

That night, his sleep was interrupted by a father who continued to drink, and the obnoxiously loud moaning of the next in line of a train of whores his father had had going in and out of the house the past months. The blood that ran through his veins was set alight that night, his mother's blood, the only blood he cared to acknowledge; it was a fire that spurned him to confront his father and would remain unquenched until he had done so. And it was that night that a boy recently aged ten years, disgusted by the man who might as well have killed his mother, screamed out all the things he had held inside himself his whole life with a fury that had slowly built since he had first walked out of that hospital motherless. And it was that same father who stepped forward to raise his hand for the first time against his son, to continue a tradition that he had begun with his wife, the whore he had laid with slipping out the door with a wallet full of money that was stained with blood of the wife.

If she had stayed a little longer, she might have seen him stumble upon one of the bottles that carpetted the floor, or might have heard him curse explosively as he fell flat on his back, stunned from the violent contact his head had made with the hard panels of wood he walked upon daily. She would have been there to see the death of the father at the hands of the son, hands that wielded the very bottle he had shattered when he had not watched his step that humid July night.

The only thing they ever found of Gerald Roux was a bloody smear and shattered glass, though they might have found more if they had looked in a the morgue three months later when a John Doe was found floating in the bay not two miles from his home. Fortunately, Gerald never had any truly distinguishing features, and even had he had them, the merciless sea had ripped large swaths of the decayed flesh from his body from his four month stay amongst the fishes that he would have been unrecognizeable even to his family. That same cold, November day that Gerald's body floated to the surface was the day that a now orphaned boy met a wolf, who he later found could speak. That day, while the screeching of the train's many wheels drowned out the past lives of those residing in that last empty car, a boy and a wolf became the only friends each other really had. A friendship that would last a lifetime. — excerpt from the first chapter of Vagabond, an Eben Roux Biography

From Trains to Savage Planes: Wolf on a Plane!

Though it had been a bit of a chore and took much convincing on Eben's part, both young man and old dog boarded the transport that would take them to the Arcadian Institute. It was an invigorating experience for a young Eben, whom had never set foot off of the ground except to ride a train or ship, to see the people and places below become mere pinpricks to his sight as they flew at astonishing speeds over them. Though he had not truly thought about it at the time, and certainly could not have known the eventual humanizing effect they would have on him, these young men and women around him would eventually become the closest things to he had to friends outside of quasi-mentor, Lain. The very first person he spoke to on that ride to Arcadia was Shamus Finnegan, a peer of his who also was familiar with the Earth and her ways, though he was certainly of a lighter sort and was more experienced with the animals who walked upon Her. It was shortly after meeting him, however, that the aircraft began to descend back to the Earth and they arrived at their destination. — excerpt from the chapter "Traveling to Arcadia" of Vagabond

A Bright New World: the First Days

It was almost immediately after they had set down that Eben met another of his peers, a young lady who went by the name Ruby Auditore, who's by-way of introductory had been to trip over Lain. However, neither the wolf nor Eben were all that bothered by it, and she was helped up from up off of her furry landing mat with a hand from Eben. It was not long afterwards that Eben briefly met Sindri Þ. Skarsar and Juni Ivis, though their initial conversation was limited to bare introductions and perhaps a bit of small talk. After this, though, both Eben and Lain decided to lay down for a bit of a nap to wait for the person who was supposed to meet them and show them around the campus; it was during this time of leisure that both he and Lain noticed Gilander Gatlain, someone the latter easily noted was of Nevadian ancestry.

It was not before long, though, that the new students of Arcadia were engaded by what would turn out to be a robotic copy of their new instructor and headmaster, Edan, and it was during this fight that Eben created the first incarnation of the plant construct Optimus Pinetree (though he had no idea that it would be dubbed as such by his classmates, who played a part in finally taking down the mechnical doppeganger. Following this fight and their rather un-satisfactory "grading" by their new teacher, the newly dubbed Arcadians began their lessons in life, learning and, most importantly, fighting. These lessons would touch upon a variety of subjects and goals, from learning of teamwork, to the fighting of robots and dodging and attempted-capturing of a metal sphere; they also had their very first out-of-Arcadia mission, one at the behest of one of Edan's old friends. Its goal was to destroy a tribe of Ice Giants, a goal that they, with Edan's and his friend's help, successfully completed.

It was also during these first days that Eben became acquainted with Drake Vargas, who he would eventually become one of his first friends amongst his classmates.

It was not before long, though, the young Arcadians came upon their first mission in which the students encountered a foe that they could not possibly defeat… — excerpt from the chapter "Those First Days" of Vagabond

Equipment and Stats


Current Point Allocation
Strength 03
Speed 05
Intelligence 08
Agility 07
Durability 02
Stamina 05
Weapons Mastery/Fighting Skill 02
Magic 35

Eben does not generally wield any particular weapon; his greatest tool are the seeds he carries with him at all times and his earth-born surroundings. Despite this, Eben is versed in the use of hand to hand combat and the basic use of simple weapons through the teachings of Lain. However, he rarely chooses to close the distance between him and an opponent, prefering the "long range" approach.

Though not much of a physical fighter when compared to some, Eben's stats are spread in a way that he's above normal human standards in all bodily strengths; but, his real focus is upon his intelligence, stamina, and especially his magic. Intelligence so that he might split his focus and still be aware of important things, stamina so that he does not drop unconscious after strenous use of his abilities, and his magic to increase its mystical might and uses.

Though not much of a piece of "equipment", Eben found a brown, leathery materialed fedora in Kahlen during their stay there, a hat of qualities rather unknown to him. The hat, strangely enough, has properties only made for general convenience and luzury, embellished with air nanites that suck cold air in and force the hot out, keeping the head at a permanently cool tempature. Likewise, another useful function of these air-based nanomachines is that they force a strong (but unnoticeable to its wearer) suction that will keep it attached to the head it sits upon even when a powerful gust of wind attempts to sweep it away. These, however, are the hat's only tricks.

The Gifts of the Earth Mother


These are the abilities that Eben has been Gifted with from the Earth Mother. They all, in some way, stem from Her and the favor she has for him, and the rituals that he conducts in which he offers himself to her on the Soltices and Equinoxes.

Vestigium ex orbis Terrarum Matris

Though it is generally hidden by his jacket, and was initially was "the Arm from the Earth Mother", the scrolling length of swirling Earth myth-script and symbols cover the length of both his right arm, shoulder, and hand, and has, since coming to Arcadia, grown to cover further reachest of Eben's body (hence its name change to simply "the Mark"). The metallic, vermillion "tattoo" is not, in fact, a tattoo at all; it is bonded to his very cells. If the skin is ripped, torn, or cut, when the skin grows back, so will the Gift, as it is far more than simply skin deep.

The Mark gives Eben the ability to manipulate all plant matter that it touches that is of the Earth. He has the ability to grow a tree from a sapling or even a tiny seed, or reverse a tree's growth until it has reached its earlies existence in mere moments. Along with this, any plant touched by his arm and shaped to his will is imbued by his Magic, and its durability is equal to how strong it is.

Because of its strains and many uses since Eben's coming to the Arcadian Institute, the Mark has gone through a genesis of sorts. The breadth of the markings along his shoulder had lengthened, encomposing his upper right chest and back, along with the neck and his lower scalp, though it can't be seen due to the hair growing there.

This evolution has caused his abilities manipulating plant matter to increase overall, to the point where he does not need to use nearly as much of plant matter to grow and do things such as creating large constructs from a single seed, rather then needing multiple simply to create one. He needs much less to do the same amount of work as before, causing much less strain upon his magic than before he came to Arcadia.

A time after the first growing of the Mark, the hair under which it had covered began to grow seeds amongst the strands, the touch of the magic from the Earth Mother seeping into his hair from the Mark the hair was now a part of. The seeds quickly spread among the strands of hair, simply growing off the strands, sticking there until plucked. Due to the nature of the production of these seeds and the magic involved, there are a multitude of seed types within his hair, be they tree or bush or vine.

During his time on the planet Kahlen Eben's Mark grew further; whether this was due to the small piece of the Mother that he carries with him always wanting to assert more of its dominance over his body because he was so very far away from her, or if this it was simply due to normal growth, no one could really know. However, the fact remains that it did grow further, the Marks flowing up his scalp from where it had already taken root below and framing the corners of his face around his ears. And it was due to this that Eben's constructs now had a sort of embedded intelligence within them—when created, he no longer needed to control their actions absolutely, now able to simply give them instructions and they could follow them, fighting and defending themselves at will, taking a large load off his mind.

Suus Tardus Munia

These are the latent Gifts that were gained for becoming a Favored Son of the Earth, of becoming close to Her. He can smell life and magic and distinguish their scents from others, and as his magic becomes stronger, this sense may become more acute. As well as this, Eben also gains a slight prescience where the Earth is concerned, such as predicting the weather and able to feel when and where an event that the Mother is preparing to make something.. big.. happen (such as an earthquake, volcano eruption, hurricanes, and the like). Her latent Gifts to him may increase over time, though how remains to be seen.

Due to the use and subsequent strengthening of his abilities in his time at the Arcadian Institute, the Suus Tardus Munia have undergone an evolution. Now, the use of the Vestigium ex orbis Terrarum Matris takes less conscious effort on Eben's part as he has become even more used to using it and flowing his magic through it. Due to this, it requires much less concentration and thus causes less strain upon his mind, though the strain upon his magic itself is still the same.

This is due to the fact that Eben has become even closer to the Earth Mother and she takes some of the weight off of him now subconsciously. Due to this communion with her, now, when he uses his Mark, his eyes are suffused with a liquid, green light that leaks from the corners of his eyes like hazy smoke, and from within his mouth a subtle but not un-obvious light glows from within his throat.

Phasmatis Donum

When in need, Eben can call for the aid of spirits of the Earth, some benign.. and some not so much. First he must provide a medium for them to inhabit, and they will take it from there, molding it to their liking. As gods of a kind, they can not stay in one place too long, or else they may risk angering the gods that inhabit that place, and thus the Earth Mother, as it is Her who maintains the Peace of the Earth.

Fenrisúlfr, the Devourer
The first Spirit that Eben can communed with and called to his aid; when called, Fenrisúlfr used Lain as the medium. When possessing him, Lain's body grows from its already large stature to the size of a small elephant, with large ghostly chains handing from ankle. His fur, previously multicolored, becomes eldritch black and his eyes the same.

Fenrisúlfr is a purely physical Spirit, with all of his physical stats (Strength, Speed, Agility, Durability, and Stamina) being half of Eben's Magic stat. The time that Fenrisúlfr will remain there is equal to Eben's current Magic stat; if damaged enough, he will in all likelihood receed before his time limit is up.

Fenrisúlfr speaks in a dual voice: the lower tone is that of Lain's, and above that is a much more fierce, savage voice, with growling overtones and Earth rattling strength.

Aker, the Rose Lion
Aker was the second Spirit Eben acquired a communion with, and it called using a medium of rosevines and leaves and goldenwood. Aker's body is made up of, largely, a brown-gold wood that looks very much like the actual metal, with rosevines and leaves making up his mane and amber for teeth and eyes. From the eyes shine a bright, intelligent golden light, daunting and imperious. Initially, Aker's body is the size of a normal, if large, lion's.

Aker is a physical and magical spirit; his physical stats are equal to Eben's but for his durability, which is equal to Eben's Magic stat. Aker's Magic is also as strong as Eben's, and his abilities are very much similar to Eben's in that his Magic is the manipulation of Earthly things, though in this case it is more leant towards stone, rock, and other earth matter.

In addition, because Aker's form is made of plant-type matter, he can be meshed well with Eben's normal type of magic, with his form enlarged and manipulated at Eben's will if needed.

Aker's voice is reminiscent of rockslides, of earthquakes and shattering, groaning stone. His a voice that could move mountains.

Suus Animus est Ipsa

When the Mark grew to cover his scalp, Eben did not truly think anything of it. When his mind began to itch mildy on and off again (if a mind could, in fact, itch), he paid it no heed, though he was a bit curious as to the cause of it. When the Earth Mother's presence in his mind grew, her whispers ever louder in his ears unless he shut her into a corner in his mind, Eben finally sat up and, metaphorically speaking, listened.

Eben eventually came to the conclusion that, due to the Vestigium ex orbis Terrarum Matris growing ever further and covering a large portion of his head, the Mother had actually sunken roots into his mind, reaching into his head and cupping his mind in her hands. At first, it was a bit uncomfortable, but over time, the soft, omnipresent whispering in his mind came to be a calming influence, whilst at the same time granting him Her protection from instrusions within his mind.

To a mental adept trying to touch Eben's mind, or anyone attempting to, for that matter, it feels as if they are sticking their hand into a web of wicked barbs and searing thorns, refusing access to all but for one exception. Ramza Schneider briefly tested his mental abilities upon Eben before the mental protections were grown there during their journey on the world of Khalen, and due to this, he is the only one who knows the appropriate path to walk to reach the depths of Eben's mind without harm. However, even he will make a "noise" when entering, rustling the bushes while treading the path, and because of this, Eben can repulse his attempts to enter if he feels the need.

This has the affect of combining a fourth of Eben's magic stat with his intelligence stat to combat mental attacks, and also serves as an aggressive defense that cuts and tears at the enemy's mind as he attempts to manipulate Eben's mind.

Memoria ex Mater Matris, Memory out of Mother Earth

Over time Eben's mastery of manipulating the Mother and her energies has grown. Now if there's even the slightest hint of the memory of plant life once having grown in a place he touches, even a single molecule or ghost of an atom, he can make it grow into enormous, sky scraping tree.

Relationships


Lain

Lain is many things to Eben. Friend, brother, mentor, father, uncle, hero. All of these things could explain a small part of the bond between them, but when it comes down to it, they're just that—small. It was Lain who found Eben and taught him, raised him, and made him into someone who could survive. Not only that, but it was because of Lain that Eben came into contact with the Earth Mother, and for that he is eternally grateful.

Eben feels that he owes his life and everything in it to Lain, and would quite literally go to the ends of the earth for him with very little hesitation to rip apart that got in his way. It is for this very reason that Eben went to the Arcadian Institute in the first place: when he received his invitation, he would have as likely had thrown it away as not, but Lain had a feeling that there was a reason Eben had received it, a destiny of sorts that involved them both. And so, rather than rip the letter to shreds and scatter its many pieces to the wind, he gave up his life of freedom to go to Arcadia with Lain; after all, he'd have done the same for him, neh?

Ramza K. Schneider

Eben and Ramza share a certain light and humorous outlook on the world, even though they both also know fairly well what the world's like and its less amusing aspects. After sharing some food and smoke and having a conversation revealing some parts of both their pasts and their similarities, Ramza is likely the closest thing to a "friend" has amongst his peers, though he still has many reservations under the surface.

Drake Vargas

Drake was the first person Eben really interacted with once he'd came to the Arcadian Institute, and they worked together on various occasions during battle and even shared food once on an occasion just before one of their very first lessons. Eben recognized a certain goodness of soul in Drake, and because of this feels slightly drawn towards him while also recognizing a kindred soul in that, much like Ramza, they both took life and the world around them less than seriously. Drake comes in at a close second to Ramza in the friendship category.

Other Peers

As far as things go, Eben's relations with his class as a whole are friendly and in good order, though the difference between those he knows and knows of are obvious in the different ways he interacts with them. Largely he holds them all at arms length, though he generally won't hesitate to joke around with them in most cases; this might change, though, if he becomes interested in them. He's more likely to begin to become less distant towards them in that case.

I'll be working more on this section in the future once I compile my thoughts more - Inverse Genesis

Trivia

  • Eben often smokes both tobacco and cannabis, some strands of which are of his very own creation
  • Enjoys untainted, pure spring water and herbal tea's, but generally dislikes most sodas and sugary drinks
  • Loves the outdoors and living there, but very much likes to have a soft bed once in awhile
  • His favorite type of music is of the "Eternal Classics" Rock genre, which dates back to the years 1930-1980.
  • Likes to eat fresh fruits, especially kiwi, and also has an acquired taste of Mexican and Italian dishes
  • A song Eben identifies with on many levels is Wherever I May Roam, by Metallica, with it perhaps also holding the title of his "favorite song of all time" as well.

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