Forager Caelan Talmhach of Eleos

CAELAN TALMHACH

HEIGHT: 3.5 ft / 106 cm
WEIGHT: 1,600 lbs / 725.7 kg
VOICE OVER: Eric Nam (ex.)
ONE LINE DESCRIPTION: a slightly malnourished ginger and ruddy brown highland bull with long curved horns and brown eyes

Ever since leaving the small rag-tag herd he's lived in all his life, Caelan's average bulky stature has slimmed down quite a bit, although he still continues to have a good amount of his muscle mass lingering on his legs, chest and his face. He's never been known as the best scavenger, though he'd never let such a thing be known. Thankfully for Caelan, his excessive fur and still-existing round face allow anyone to believe he's generally as healthy as a highland bull could be.

Light and dark auburn fluffy fur cascade down his entire body in waves, bunches around the joints of his legs and on top of his head curled. The curly fur on his head tends to fall over his eyes in bang-fashion, although a shake of his head splays it elsewhere to allow him to see. Large ivory horns sprout from the sides of his head nestled his ears and curl towards the sky; he prides himself in their beauty and how his were the longest out of any cow and bull in his heard (a truth or a lie one will never know.) Caelan's eyes are the typical color most highland cows: brown, although Caelan's eyes are significantly lighter when sunlight hits them.



There was little order within Caelan's birth herd from when he was born to when he was nearly a year old, with no stable hierarchy, few unenforced rules and no requirement for all calfs to monitored. A majority of the two or three other calfs that were raised alongside him had good influences in their lives and were taught basic manners, how to scavenge and how to fend for themselves. Caelan, on the other hand, was a mess of a child. He was loud and rambuctious, gave little regards to the lessons taught and consequences given. He essentially gave his mother so many stress factors in just one small boy. Even when new heads of the herd came and established a more concrete "society" within their group, little changed within Caelan, even when he reached adulthood.

Caelan is a rowdy young bull who likes to bend the rules as much as possible and break the "norms" whenever he can. While Eleos strives to paint a picture of themselves as elegant, graceful, respectable, etc., Caelan does not care whatsoever and goes against them all, all while knowing he's doing it. He's juvenile for being three years into adulthood, having a habit of making jokes in the most serious and inappropriate scenarios and blowing things out of proportion in a near-tantrum due to his hot-headedness. Caelan also loves to push safety to its limit and essentially be a daredevil, even if endangering not only himself, or others. Anything for the thrill, he'll think. Coupled with his stubbornness to learn from any mistakes he's bound to make and change his clearly terrible ways, he's an entire mess wrapped inside one fluffy gift. Other notable traits of his include his love for challenging higher positions when he feels like something isn't right without thinking it through, being very sarcastic, having way too much moxie, being aloof, and at times, being selfish.

However, there are brighter sides to Caelan which would surely make him much more bearable, even likable to some. He's a guarded individual and tends to hide the more likable (real) Caelan away as one of his few self-destructive coping mechanisms. When the walls he sets up are taken down by any means and he's okay with it, he becomes much more vulnerable. He can be kind, especially to children and mothers, and can be somewhat amicable, though still overbearing. He could even get to the point of actually putting down loyalties to people, and if possible, to his dynasty. To those he can classify as actual friends or good role models, all of it is much more apparent, as well as his clear liking towards making people feel good and receiving praise for doing the right thing. He seeks validation, he wants to a good guy after a lifetime of not being one, but he simply doesn't know if can do it or if he's even meant to be one. He's a mystery underneath the facade (or is it?) he presents, and he isn't sure if he wants people to try to solve him.

LIKES:
✧ Sunsets
✧ Bird chirps
✧ Eating sweet flowers
✧ Joking around
✧ Bragging
✧ Being alone to reminisce
✧ Being the center of attention
✧ Getting on others' nerves
✧ Getting away with things
✧ Being told he's a good guy / being liked

DISLIKES:
✦ Large bodies of water
✦ Loud noises
✦ Bugs
✦ Being scolded
✦ Parental figures
✦ Being one-uped
✦ Violent predators

SKILLS: Running, creativity, troubleshooting, humor (debatable), adventurous
FLAWS: Fighting, foraging, rude, impulsive, extremely guarded/not vulnerable
DREAMS: To one day become someone people look up to and are proud of, settle down with someone that at least tolerates him and his issues
FEARS: Opening up to many, forever being a disappointment



Caelan's story isn't very fascinating in the beginning. He was the last of the 5 calfs to be born during his herd's, Mairsinn, mating season, only a few days younger than the last calf born. His mother was a well respected member of their group, one of the long-standing members when many of them would leave and never turn back. It was common and not frowned upon for cows to just up and leave one day considering that their group was just a simple rag-tag one, simply there for survival and to aid one another, and to stick around for new friends and family only if wanted. Such an allowed norm, however, didn't exactly sit right with Caelan at first when he was old enough to begin understanding their norms. A majority of the calfs in Mairsinn had their parents either together as mates or be friends in a co-parenting situation. They had their fathers with them... but where was Caelan's? When Caelan saw how happy they were with both parents and recognized his own missing piece, he didn't hesitate to ask his mother where he was at. And she didn't hesitate to answer back.

He wasn't anyone too important nor much of a good bull. Caelan wouldn't have liked him. But why would he want one when he had his mother's undivided love and attention? A strong devotion to give him the best life he could have? Caelan wholeheartedly agreed and went along with his day sticking to his mother as much as he could; however, the seed of curiosity was planted within him already, and even if he wouldn't admit it to his mother, he still wanted to know where his missing father was.

Much of his life after that moment aren't of anything important to note or remember in Caelan's mind. Growing up from childhood to adolescence was filled with rough yet fun days of disobeying the adults and rare few elders in his head, running around the large mountainous terrain Mairsinn had claimed as their own with the other calfs, causing more trouble, being his mother's good little son (even if she was ready to sleep for days from all the stress her little not-angel caused him in a single day,) and much more. As the Mairsinn herd evolved and became a much more concrete group with a leader system and slowly forming traditions, Caelan and his mother decided to call it their permanent home, unlike the surprising amount of cows that had left right when the first leader was put in place in the herd, not all too keen on the idea.

Few years passed and the herd had become much more bigger in numbers. New cows had come to join and many more would follow along, and new little families would pop up during the mating season and off-season as well. His mother, ever fretting over her rebellious son now well into adulthood, had encouraged him to try to find a mate for himself to settle down with. She herself had never found herself a mate, stating that she didn't need one to be happy and was well content being on her own, helping him out as well as other mothers in the herd watch their little ones. Caelan had a small number of "relationships," both with females and males (sure, he had to sneak around with the bulls, but that was okay, right?) most of them never lasting long. He tended to just be too much but also too little, flaky with commitment, and just in general: not having a single clue how a relationship should work. Even if his mom was urging him to have a family soon with a loving mate, Caelan didn't mind being single for as long as he could. The herd had enough mates shagging each other to populate the herd. If his mother could be happy on her own, couldn't Caelan as well?

---

Right before Caelan would turn three years old is when things spiraled downward quickly. A new herd had claimed a portion of unmarked territory as their own very close to the Mairsinn herd's territory. It was easy to become wary of the newcomers, not having seen another herd in such a long time, and especially not one filled with so many bulls either. Most of the Mairsinn cows didn't see them as a threat at the end, finding it unfair that they'd judge so quickly. They could be good friends and allies if times ever became rough. The others, mostly the older cows, still felt dread and a feeling that things wouldn't turn out well for either of them. They were right.

It was at night when they struck, the other herd. Caelan was sleeping peacefully next to his mother, the then-colder seasons not much harm for their bulky fur but extra heat not unwanted. He was healing up from a few mishaps with a prank he had planned to pull on the right-hand of their leader, legs still extremely sore from it. Caelan to this day can't remember the night well, only being able to recall the sounds of pain and fear launching through the once-calm air and bleary visions of the strangers coming in and attacking his herd. His mother had awoken nearly right away and urged her son to wake up completely as well and run away. She knew he wouldn't be of much help in the fight- in fact, none of them were. Nobody was equipped to fight and defend one another. Cows Caelan could consider the closest to his friends had already awoken and were aiding their family in being able to run away from the rampaging strangers. Caelan was soon awake and already running away with his mother and a majority of the herd not being attacked directly, though they had to run faster as other strangers picked up on their plan. It was then when his mother disappeared from his side. He could do little, however, as he was practically swept away by the rest of his surviving herd. All he could do was cry out for her and hope that she was with the herd on another side just not near him.

That was the last time he had ever seen her.

Mairsinn had already lived quite near the Eleos Dynasty, some members knowing of their existence even if through little information. Caelan had no clue of them and, in all honesty, had little drive to actually go and seek shelter in their ranks. He just wanted to find his mother, know she was safe, know if she was alive. Yet their numbers were down to single digits, most of the herd that had followed them breaking off when he didn't notice. Now it was just him, some "friends," and others he could care less about. They spent much time arguing among once another whether or not they should try to enter the dynasty until they all could go looking for their herd's remaining members, but at the end, Caelan had decided against it and left on his own. It was the most serious anyone had ever seen the troublemaker before, though they could do little to persuade him in the end. They ended up joining Eleos while Caelan left to find his mother.

Two months passed and Caelan had found nothing about the whereabouts of his mother. He had grown smaller in size due to not having the adequate nutrition and a few cuts and whatnot from himself and others (predators.) At the end, he knew he needed help in getting better before he could even begin to look for her again. So, with little fanfare on his side and the other, Caelan had gone to Eleos again, and joined them, beginning a new chapter in his life whether he liked it or not. It didn't take long for the old Caelan to start to appear again, though little hints of apprehension to any old herd member of his.

MOTHER: Siùbhan Marsaili (unknown status)
FATHER: Unknown (unknown status)
SIBLINGS: None
OTHER FAMILY: Oisean Eumann (aunt, temp. role model he doesn't like to talk about, unknown status)



OTHER CHARACTERS: None
PURCHASED ITEMS: None
ANYTHING ELSE: None
HOW DID YOU FIND US?: Found through affiliate