Scribblings | Narashi

Eustace "Narashi" Baskerville is heir-apparent to the frontier barony of Mossbeacon, and sole remnant of the Evening Star people. Caught in the aftermath of a decades-long feud between Mossbeacon and her former allies, the  indigenous woodwoses of the sprawling and uncharted Whisperwood, Narashi was "rescued" from his foster community after a decisive raid on the Evening Star village, and sent away to preparatory school to be cured of his wild ways. Broken down and rebuilt over a period of years, Narashi learned too late his warrior instincts would be needed again for the management of his deceased father's estate...

Another Adventure Quest Worlds piece, this time featuring a reimagining of my player character's usual appearance. My signature look evolved over a period of months into a combination of bestial ferocity and saccharine cuteness which made me wonder how such a warrior might come to be.

The inspiration behind Narashi's character largely has roots in San, the titular character of the animated film Princess Mononoke. I wondered how her story may have gone differently if she had ever been forcefully taken from the spirits of the forest and "rehabilitated" to fight for the environmentally unconscious human settlers plaguing their land.

Narashi's name was adulterated from Narasimha, a Hindu demigod depicted as a man with the features of a lion, and who is concerned with the destruction of physical and spiritual evils. Shortened and re-lettered to resemble an East Asian etymology consistent with his kemonomimi roots, I had the perfect moniker for my polite young berserker. Known for his bouts of primal fury in battle, Narashi's given name Eustace ironically means "stable" or "steady." His ancestral surname, Baskerville, was derived from a Sherlock Holmes story in which an old and wealthy family is haunted by a vengeful supernatural creature.

Mossbeacon's name is a prideful one, characterized by imperialist movements from some darker corners of history. It is a self-styled light of civilization standing tall in a backward wasteland of savagery.

Born of mixed blood and caught between two conflicting worlds, only Narashi can reconcile the remaining woodwoses with the people of Mossbeacon, bringing peace and cooperation back to the Whisperwood.