Application to asgardeventide

[sebasher]

OOC Information;
Name; Hannah
Personal Journal; entwistling
Contact; tinurix@gmail.com; tinurix [AIM]; Plurk
Other Characters; Rory Williams (timesnewroman)


IC Information;
Character Name; Sebastian Moran
Canon; The Hound of the D'Urbervilles
Canon Point; Post-chapter four, "The Hound of the D'Urbervilles". It isn't stated specifically how long Sebastian has been working with Moriarty at this point, but many statements indicate that it has been quite awhile. I'm going with two years for the sake of a number.
+ Canon updated to post-chapter five, "The Adventure of the Six Maledictions". Five years in Moriarty's service.
Age; 42

House; Thor. Hel.
Power; Strength. Body Control.

Personality;
Colonel Sebastian Moran is an interesting fellow, to say the least. Who he is and what he actually shows can almost be split into two separate people. In the company of the general public, he's a relatively charming, retired army colonel: perhaps not polite due to his shrewd sense of humor, but certainly respectable, friendly and personable...but not exceptionally bright.

Moran has an Eton education and he rarely shows it, but you'd be surprised. He has read Nietzsche and Maciavelli and has even taken enough away from their writings to agree or disagree with certain aspects. He's an intelligent, thoughtful, well-learned man, but the place this shines through the most is in his writing. He isn't lacking in confidence at all, but it seems like he's far more comfortable with his words and intelligence in writing than he is in speaking.

That's just the tip of the iceberg with Sebastian, and it isn't who he really is. Among fellow criminals and those who know Moran best, you'll find a man who absolutely adores bloodshed and admits that it makes his heart soar. Despite being put in charge of what's basically the department of murder, Moran never admits to being a murderer. He's a sportsman, plain and simple. He's a big game hunter and he hunted tigers and lions in the East. It isn't his fault that the only game worth hunting in London is people. "Game is game", as he puts it.

He isn't necessarily bloodthirsty, but he does have a case of bloodlust. He gets bored and restless without the constant thrill that he had in Afghanistan and India and sometimes he just has to take something down without Moriarty's orders. He usually goes for something small that wouldn't call much attention to himself, however. An example is when he tried to take down a child's puppy just because he could. There's a reason he's often compared to the tigers he used to hunt for sport, and a reason why Sherlock Holmes labels him "the second most dangerous man in London" later on.

Although Sebastian is daring enough to risk his entire reputation for a little fun, one thing he continues to hold in very high regard is his military title and experience. He was a member of the British Indian Army, 1st Bangalore Pioneers, and remains very proud of the work he did and the blood he shed while enlisted. Although his service went beyond simply fighting for his country, he never wanted to be discharged. He wanted to retain his honor, so he willingly retired. Not that any of this makes him an honest man, of course.

Aside from the obvious countless degrees of manslaughter, Sebastian has been known to pickpocket on a whim, cheat and lie just because he can. He needs excitement in his life. Sebastian has no religious beliefs and no political beliefs. He simply "believes in Sensation". He lives for feeling and adrenaline. He's addicted, as Professor Moriarty puts it, "most of all to gambling, but also to sexual encounters, spirits, the murder of animals and the fawning of a duped public". All that is true, but his real addiction is danger. He's an adrenaline junkie, and almost goes serene when confronted with it. He's a brave man and only really feels alive when his life is on the line and there's the chance that he could lose. He's blundered though his life, seeking new thrills at every turn--everything from going to war to getting into a fight with a vicious tiger. When he finds that new thrill, something that puts his life in danger and makes him question his survival, he finds serenity. It's something that is deeply ingrained in him, he can no longer ignore it when it strikes. On the subject, Sebastian mentions: "I've lived long enough with my impulse to hare off into dicey situations where death and danger lurk to know I could no more moderate this tendency than a tiger could decide to be polka-dotted for a change."

Before I continue, it's probably a good idea to explain Sebastian's relationship with Professor Moriarty and why he works with him. Moran both admires, fears, and hates the Professor. He idolizes him for what he is: crime personified, a calculating mind capable of committing any crime with no repercusions. He hates him as person, cold and joyless. He fears him because he's completely lethal, and this is exactly why Moran sticks around. He claims it's the money, but working for Moriarty offers him constant danger and thus, constant excitement. He can't even walk through a door a Conduit Street without having to keep on his toes. He has to watch what he says and does, lest incur Moriarty's wrath. However, he does grow to like the Professor as a friend and enjoy his company in later years, even growing fearful when he believes he's going to be replaced. He likes working for the Firm and he likes being second in charge.

Sebastian has a very dry, dark sense of humor, and it's almost constantly present. Despite being a military man, he never seems to be able to completely shut off the sarcasm and snide remarks. He's also cynical about almost anything you can think of. He doesn't like the opera. Want to know why? Because it's Italian. He doesn't like Italians. He doesn't like Mormons, he doesn't like the French, the Irish, Germans or Americans--essentially any group of people you can think of that aren't the English, Sebastian can come up with a reason to hate them. He has many complaints and comments to make, and he will make them in the right company. Comments he keeps to himself, however, are those about Moriarty and the Firm. He's incredibly tight-lipped on these subjects unless someone else mentions it first. This is common behavior throughout the firm but it shows that Sebastian is, for the most part, a man who knows when to keep his mouth shut.

If there's one thing that Sebastian adores more than anything, it's guns. Sure, women are great, but guns? They're his precious babies. He's an expert on what firearm to use for what situation and has a brilliant, unmatched aim. He usually only needs one shot to take someone down. When he returned to London from the military and was short on funds, he sold his family's silver before he even considered pawning off his guns.

In addition, he loves everything about hunting, especially when it gets bloody and dangerous. He admits to not being even remotely squeamish about taking a human life, but he considered hunting tigers to be much better sport. That's what his kills are about: sport. He loves everything about it, right down to the sound of the shot being fired. Although he is being apped prior to this point, I feel it's important to mention that on Sebastian's fifty-first birthday, Moriarty gifts him with an air gun--essentially an early sniper rifle, but it requires about twenty minutes of pumping to fire one silent shot. Sebastian knows that with his aim, one shot is all he really needs, but writes about how much he disapproves and how little fun shooting is without the theatrics. Using this gun finally makes his job it a chore and not a sport.

Sebastian is one of those men who is not nearly as clever as he thinks he is, but he admits to this. He isn't by any means a stupid man. As I mentioned before, he keeps his learned side very well hidden, but much of his knowledge revolves around what he learned in the army or in the jungle. He knows animal tracks, he knows guns, he knows certain environments, but he has never been able to keep up with Professor Moriarty's schemes despite being involved in them. Although this often has something to do with how little Moriarty tells him in the first place. His mind isn't a match for Moriarty's in the slightest, just as Moriarty woudn't have Moran's aim with a gun.

To top this off, Sebastian actually isn't entirely cold-hearted or unaffected. Surprise, surprise. He loves bloodshed, of course, and any longings he has beyond killing are hidden well. He's never really softened on the job, but tiny sprinklings here and there in his later life point to some warmth in his heart.

Because Sebastian and Moriarty live above a brothel, Sebastian manages to get relatively close to some of the girls throughout his time with the firm. There are points when, while certain girls are doing their jobs with other men, Sebastian actually feels jealousy. Or just a need to show off. Or both. The point is that sometimes, he does feel beyond pure sensation. And despite finding him more fearful than any other creature to walk the earth, Sebastian considers himself and the Professor to be very close. Again, although taken prior to this point, Sebastian is in Moriarty's service for over ten years and would have likely stayed for many more had his boss not taken a tumble off a waterfall in Switzerland. He respects, idolizes, and fears the Professor, and realizes that if he's remembered, it will be because of him.