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[pessiceratops]

⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Character: Chaz
Age: young adult
Canon: Dinotopia
Canon Point: end of The Hand of Dinotopia

Background: A Protoceratops, like many of his kind Chaz has spent much of his young life applying his natural linguistic talents to learning as many dinosaur and human languages as possible, so as to serve as a translator. The sheer uneventfulness of his life was shattered when called upon to translate for a young, lost, and exhausted Struthiomimus, which quickly led into said struthie and a young human named Will Denison decided to set out for the dangerous Rainy Basin to rescue the rest of the struthie's family. Despite his better judgment, Chaz insisted on tagging along so that the pair could actually understand each other, leading to an adventure that had everything from being carried by a Tyrannosaurus rex and sneaking up to an encampment of armed pirates, to flying in a highly experimental airship and riding out a tidal wave of epic proportions on the back of a sauropod. Needless to say, Chaz was extremely grateful to return to civilization for good by the end of it.

Unfortunately for him, that didn't last long.

Hardly a year had passed, just enough time for him to complete his studies, when he found himself assigned to assist who other than the (in)famous Will Denison in a small expedition. Once again, Chaz reluctantly set out for adventure, this time nearly drowning in a desert, protecting a hapless Will from enormous arthropods, making a vitriolic best bud in an antisocial Prenocephale, and helping teach a tribe of uncivilized Deinonychus how to fish and sail. Oh, and discovering a very significant relic that he was quite convinced could not possibly exist.

He'd really prefer it if life stopped being so full of surprises.

Personality: A cynical pessimist (or pessimistic cynic?) Chaz is never too shy to point out the problems in any plan. At length. Nor does he hesitate to voice a litany of complaints when concerned, at a loss, fearful for his life, or otherwise uncomfortable. For all his small stature, he can still talk and whine a sauropod's figurative ear off, with a robust and eloquent vocabulary in some dozen or more human and dinosaurian languages, and preferably as scathing and acerbically as possible.

Then again, Chaz is also simply the type of person who loves to bicker. Upon meeting Khorip, a Prenocephale who similarly relishes a good dispute, the pair promptly began arguing incessantly, switching from one topic to the next until both were exhausted. They continued, of course, the following day, and Chaz never missed an opportunity to make a vitriolic remark whenever one happened to present itself. Naturally, this also meant that when Khorip decided to give up being a hermit and rejoin the rest of Dinotopian society, Chaz promptly volunteered to assist him. Because he undoubtedly would need every last bit of help he could get, and certainly not at all because it would give the both of them the chance to continue their endless bickering.

Chaz can also, perhaps unsurprisingly, be rather judgmental, his attitude leading him to see the worst traits in people first. He even bears a sort of grudge against Will Denison when they first meet, for example, over something Will's father did on his first encounter with another, considerably more famous Protoceratops. Still, for all he's quick to point out the various flaws and deficiencies in those around him, Chaz is far from heartless, even promptly apologizing when he realizes he's crossed a line. With a dash of his usual irritability to it, of course.

For all his pessimistic and cynical outlook and attitude, however, Chaz has quite bold, steadfast, perhaps even heroic streak in him. When Will and a young Struthiomimus decide to head into the carnosaur-dominated Rainy Basin by themselves to rescue the latter's family, Chaz promptly decides, even insists, on accompanying them to act as translator. Later, in another adventure, he not once but twice rescues Will by boldly charging and trampling an oversized arthropod that was attacking the hapless human. Even with the natural protection a Protoceratops' frill offers, these were still actions that weren't without significant risk. A carefully calculated risk, Chaz would insist, lest anyone get the wrong idea, but the fact remains that he acted without hesitation anyway. He even once, against his better judgment and despite his immense fear of heights, climbed aboard an experimental flying craft heading into an approaching storm, and took a flying (for a ceratopsian) leap off a pier onto a moving boat so as to not be left behind on the last leg of an expedition he'd insisted he was done with.

And, like virtually all Dinotopians, Chaz abhors violence of any kind, and truly wishes for peace and comfort for all. He may complain and bicker, to be sure, but he'd never deny help to someone truly in need.

Still, he'd really much rather prefer to spend his time in a well-populated city full of interesting diversions and people, with a soft bed of clean straw to go back to each night. Not any of this traversing carnosaur-infested jungle or crossing a desert or such other adventurous nonsense.

Abilities: Like all of his species, Chaz is capable of mimicking an extremely wide variety of sounds, which naturally lends itself to speaking various languages whose speakers normally cannot pronounce that of the others. Presumably this means he can also duplicate other sounds, such as animal calls, if he were to so choose. So basically imagine a parrot the size of a hog. His actual language skills are due primarily to extensive study.

Alignment: Thras. Throughout the novels, Chaz repeatedly both voices concerns or hesitates out of worry or fear, yet chooses bold, courageous actions without a second thought when in the heat of the moment.

Other: N/A


⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉

General Sample: "Do you need to take the money for yourself?" Chaz threw the merchant's question right back at him, the Protoceratops' tone more than a little exasperated. "Perhaps we should examine the matter logically, one small step at a time, as clearly you are unable to draw conclusions otherwise."

Already prone to complaining and a sort of constant state of pessimistic irritability, the last several days in this world hadn't helped Chaz's disposition any. Aside from being suddenly flung into a strange and apparently quite dangerous world, there was also a rather notable lack of accommodations for persons of other than bipedal disposition. Stressed, inconvenienced by even the smallest tasks, and generally feeling both completely lost and at an utter loss, Chaz's temper had reached a breaking point as he stood, forefeet braced against the stall's counter so that he could almost come somewhat to looking the merchant in the eye, and found he had to explain yet again a fact that he considered entirely obvious.

"I, if you have not noticed, as indeed would appear to be the case, am a quadruped. Which means I have no forelimbs conveniently designed to grasp things, let alone anything remotely resembling your simian hands. Which in turn means yes, you must retrieve your payment from my satchel yourself, and yes, you will similarly have to place my purchase in there for me as well, for as anyone with as much as a single functioning eye can observe, I'm quite incapable of doing so myself!"

As he spoke, Chaz punctuated his words with a stamp of his hind feet against the ground, unknowingly stirring up small, quite literally angry dust devils each time he did so. Hopefully they wouldn't cause anyone any trouble; despite his irascible temperament, he certainly had no desire to wish harm upon anyone.

"Oh," he added, before the poor merchant even had time to react to the fact that he was being chewed out by a hog-sized creature with a parrot's beak, "and do not even think of using the opportunity to cheat me. I assure you that I can count quite well, and will do so upon my return to my current dwelling. If I should find myself shortchanged, I most assuredly will know whom to blame."

Emotion Sample: Excerpt from above sample:

As he spoke, Chaz punctuated his words with a stamp of his hind feet against the ground, unknowingly stirring up small, quite literally angry dust devils each time he did so.


Questions: ... okay, but in all seriousness, what if any accommodations would exist for a person who doesn't have any sort of hands whatsoever? Or is Chaz just SoL? :)