{NAME}
Howling “Hills”, “Hilshire” and a few other last names he’s used over the years when someone asks
{ALIASES}
“Howl”, “Puppy”, by small children when they see him in his other form, “Dog,” by strangers who see him in his other form, “Asterion” for online
{AGE}
Unknown
{GENDER, SEXUALITY}
Male
Unknown
{SPECIES/ETHNICITY}
Probably was human at one point, probably has Adelan blood in his veins
{HEIGHT/BUILD}
6’1’’, lean and muscular, built for endurance
In his dog form, he’s about the size of a malamute, muscular and covered in all black fur
{OCCUPATION}
Whatever will let him eat
{RESIDENCE}
Somewhere in Aedolis, probably wandering through the different domes, seen and unseen at the same time
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IN DEPTH STUFF
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{PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION}
Howling is tall and proportionately lean with defined musculature. He’s built for endurance. He has jet-black hair cut in a style to give it a fly-away look, almost as if his hair is designed purposefully to look like shaggy fur. His eyes are a mix of blood red and wolf gold, such that they are almost a sunset color, but they’re always hidden behind one of three things, depending on the situation: darkly tinted sunglasses, black gauzy cloth, and/or specially designed contact lenses that change his eye color to black. Sometimes it’s a combination of the sunglasses and contact lenses. The lenses only go in if he’s going to be around other people, but when he’s alone, he either wears the cloth or the sunglasses. His skin is a sharp contrast to his hair and color scheme, pale as if he hadn’t gotten enough sun.
When he’s in his alternate form, he is a big black dog with similar eyes to his human form. About the size of a malamute, Howling is pitch black with thick, shaggy fur. When in this form, obviously he won’t be wearing his eyewear, and so the Rule of Three will take place if he meets the gaze of a human while in dog form. Typically, Howl will only assume this form when he’s playing the role of harbinger, but he also uses it to travel as freely as an animal can travel.
When not in dog form, Howling wears black. Black boots, black jeans, black shirts, black coats, black everything. Every once in a while, he might wear a dark version of a color, such as deep blues, but black is his comfort zone. Black also appears to keep his special and unique ability from kicking in, which his why he covers his eyes with something in that color. Very rarely will he be caught without his eyewear when human.
{PERSONALITY}
Howling is a quiet and unassuming type of person. He generally keeps to himself if he can do so, more out of habit and the desire not to kill innocent people than because he really wants to be alone. He would love nothing more than to have a friend, but that desire is tempered by the fact that if, by complete accident, their eyes should meet thrice if his eyes are uncovered, that friend will die. If he is without his eyewear for some reason or another, he will do his best not to meet the gaze of anyone until he can get them covered up. He’s the silent type, rarely speaking unless he has to. He is vastly knowledgeable, though, and often is a font of random facts and obscure references. But for all his cuddly puppy-ness, Howling isn’t someone to be trifled with. His innate role is to deal death, and that is what he’ll deliver. He seems to know when he’s to act as a harbinger of death and when he’s supposed to be just a normal person. His bark is definitely not worse than his bite, and if he’s tapped to be the harbinger he is, his personality will change from the calm and friendly puppy to the hungry, ravenous cur with no remorse.
WANDERING BLACK DOG
Howling is loyal to a fault and he enjoys quiet companionship with other people, despite having the knowledge that, if he’s not careful, he could kill them. His gaze is merely the mark-maker, not the cause of death itself. It’s always a tragic accident that befalls the person, and he’s always around when the accident happens. For years, he followed around different people, helping them do different things, until they ultimately met some demise, natural or unnatural. Only then would he wander off, only for the cycle to begin again. He’ll stay in one place for years if he finds something to hold him there, otherwise he has no rhyme or reason to his movements. Again, the deaths he causes tend to make him restless, whether he intentionally causes them or not. It’s the unintentional killing that causes him the most pain.
WORKING DOG
Killing people, intentionally or not, isn’t the only think Howling does. He finds work where he can, doing whatever he can. Looking for people, looking for lost objects, playing bodyguard - if it exists, he probably did it at some point in his life. If someone’s willing to feed him and/or give him a paycheck so he can feed himself, he’ll work for them. He isn’t picky about what he does, because it’s only a fleeting moment in his life, and he sometimes even enjoys the job. But working for a paycheck or for food isn’t all he does; sometimes Howl will simply be a companion, a dog on an invisible leash. However, when he’s tapped to be the harbinger of death, his demeanor completely changes. He becomes a little more fierce, and he sets up the events of the “accident” that causes the person’s death but has no direct hand in it himself. However, he is the last thing the person sees before they die.
Fun Facts:
- He loves belly rubs and scratches behind his ears
- When in his canine form, his favorite treat is, of course, a bone he can chew to get to the marrow. When in human form, he enjoys bone broth soup
- He carries a backpack with him that contains all manner of nick-knacks he’s found interesting; sometimes he’ll trade one of his things for something else that catches his eye
- So long as he has a scent, he can find anyone and anything
{SPECIAL ABILITIES}
Eyes of Death (Rule of Three) - If his eyes are uncovered by his sunglasses, cloth, or the lenses, Howling’s eyes will kill a person if he meets their gaze three times. It doesn’t have to be in succession, and it could be over a period of time, but it’s always three. As such, he has a habit of never meeting anyone’s gaze.
Shapeshifting - Howling’s alternate form is a large black dog, though he doesn’t stay in that form longer than he needs to. When he shifts, it’s either to hunt something or someone down, or it’s to travel, both seen and unseen. This form also adheres to the Rule of Three, though when the dog’s eyes meet a human’s, it’s as if Howl can see into the soul, and it’s as if he knows the dark secrets being kept. Whether this has any bearing upon the person’s demise or not is unknown.
{RELATIONSHIPS}
Parents - He has them. He thinks he has them? He’s not sure if he has them. He probably did, but he has no memory of them.
{BACKGROUND NOTES}
Howling is the living embodiment of the Black Dog, not that he actually realizes it. He is immortal, always wandering, always traveling, able to slip and out of places that would normally be impossible for someone to slip in and out of. However, he doesn’t know that he is the Black Dog. His memory of the event that turned him into this harbinger of death is completely gone, either through the process or because of self-repression. All he knows is that he has the ability to kill people if he gazes into their eyes three times, and so he’s taken steps to limit that. Despite that, no matter how careful Howl is, no matter how many precautions he takes, there’s always something that happens that causes him to inadvertently cause someone’s demise. It also isn’t Howling that causes their death; he’s simply the harbinger. His gaze marks the person, and then an accident occurs that causes the person’s death. But Howling doesn’t know this, and believes it’s his gaze that causes the death knell. So he wanders, never staying in one place for too long.
