Ladon Ceto (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
justamobster) wrote2025-11-19 02:44 pm
justamobster) wrote2025-11-19 02:44 pm
Entry tags:
Theorem Application
OOC
Name: Belvedia/Bel
Age: 40s
Contact: Plurk (belvedia), DM, Discord (Belvedia). Seriously reach out however you need to.
Invite Link: boop
IC
Character Name: Ladon Ceto
Canon: Original Character (Stories from Nieve)
Canon Point: Currently at around chapter 7? I’m still writing the manuscript tbh.
Character Age: 35
History:
Ladon’s known life begins at about age twenty-five. He had a life before that, one filled with a sprawling family, a cavernous home, and a few sharp, violent fragments of memory that refuse to stay buried. But then, abruptly, he and his youngest brother, Conrit—only a hatchling—found themselves in a foreign world. The how and why are missing by design. Honestly, he isn’t sure he wants to remember at this point. What matters is that he found himself in an impossible situation, and he did what he needed to do.
Thrown into an unfamiliar world with a baby sibling in his arms, Ladon did what his kind have always done: he adapted. Survival came first, and that meant falling in with the kind of people who didn’t ask many questions. In the rough port city of Garevia, he worked as a collector, enforcing debts for local muscle. Eventually, he was pulled into a string of bank robberies, high-risk, high-stakes work that spiraled out of control. When it all collapsed, Ladon was arrested.
He didn’t stay behind bars for long. He and his gang leader—the first human Ladon ever trusted with his true nature—escaped together and fled across the sea to the city of Nieve.
Nieve was both salvation and downfall.
In Nieve, Ladon found others of his kind. They were scattered, hidden, surviving in their own ways. He carved out a niche inside the city’s shadier networks and, for the first time, felt a sense of belonging. But the weight of too many losses and too much responsibility pushed him past his breaking point. A series of traumatic events sent him spiraling, and Ladon lost control of himself in ways he still tries not to think about.
That was when he chose to have his memories altered.
He did it to keep functioning, to remain capable of caring for Conrit. But Ladon knows the cost: he lost a friend who became a monster on his behalf, reshaped to use the very magic meant to save him. The guilt of that choice lingers like a phantom limb.
Since then, Ladon has tried—awkwardly, stubbornly—to rebuild. To be better. To be someone his brother can rely on.
Ladon is, beneath his human guise, very much a dragon, though he hasn’t “gone scales-out,” as his friend Draig teases, in years. His instincts still guide him: the hoard he gathers now isn’t treasure, but people. Outcasts. Strays. Anyone who needs a place to land. He runs The Golden Apple, a sanctuary for magical beings adrift in the human world, disguised as a legitimate establishment and quietly doubling as a hub for his less legal operations. His connections run deep across Nieve, human and otherwise, few of them respectable.
He does all this not just to survive, but to provide stability for Conrit—now old enough to cause his own trouble. Ladon keeps him at a boarding school for safety’s sake, but the infamous Ceto temper runs strong in the bloodline, and peace never lasts long.
Ladon’s importance to Nieve’s magical underworld is twofold. He’s reliable muscle and a shrewd businessman—but also a tool coveted by those higher on the supernatural ladder. Ever since he and Conrit were ejected from their world, both brothers can see ley lines: the threads of fate and magic that bind the city. Most see Nieve’s layout as a stylized snowflake—hence its name. Ladon knows better. It’s a spider’s web, and its strands lead upward.
Human beings with magic are said to possess Talent, and Ladon has learned that he can remove it. Strip it away. Unmake it. Sometimes he’s ordered to do this by the vampires who consider him their asset. Sometimes he does it because a Talent is too dangerous to leave unchecked.
Most recently, he neutralized a gambler who woke with the ability to change luck itself—twisting probability so violently it threatened to warp reality.
It’s not a role Ladon enjoys, but it’s one he accepts. Because he remembers—if not the details, then the feeling—that he once failed the people who relied on him.
He refuses to do so again.
Currently, Ladon’s dealing with the mysterious death of a religious radio starlet, which occurred right outside his jazz club.
Division: Support - While the access to a gun is tempting, Ladon would rather go out the airlock than be a cop. He’s not literate, so archives is right out. And he’s more likely to be shot or leave his doctor friend with a dead body to explain to the cops than do any healing himself. Basically Ladon wants and needs as much freedom as he can, so he’ll sign up for support, but his heart isn’t in it. He ain’t gonna be a part of your system, maaaaan! (You know, until he gets attached to multiple people and gets all protective and paternalistic and like. Metaphorically sits on them. Because dragon. Hoard. Yes.)
Edict: Tarnished Az-Mehet. Getting back to serious character stuff: What Ladon basically does is hide. He hides what he is. He hides what he feels. He hides behind hats and suits and cigarette smoke and tough words and posturing. He hides his real nature, he hides his softer side until he can’t any longer. And while he tends more towards fight than flight, that’s usually because when backed into a corner, he gets angry, and he knows that anger is dangerous, both to himself and others. So if he can smother the truth and avoid that from happening? He’ll do it. Even at the cost of his own happiness.
Powers: Ladon has a few magical abilities.
Leyline manipulation: I wouldn’t let him do any ley line yanking/Talent neutralizing because that’s a uniquely Nieve (and the world Nieve exists in) thing. He might at some point see about getting his spare little thread that he found sticking out of a mirror, but about all he knows to do with it is make it glow.
Fulgurmancy: Lightning magic. Think taser amounts of electricity. He largely uses this as defensive (or to show off by lighting a cigarette with a little zap), because he can also damage himself with it, especially if he doesn’t have a good conductor or is touching water or metal when he does so. He can also breathe it but, well. Ever zap the crap out of your mouth? It’s not pleasant.
Human disguise: This is basically transformation magic. While I’d really appreciate him not being “humanized” entirely (part of the fun of playing him is all the stupid little problems his dragon physiology causes), I can definitely get on board with him not having access to his dragon form again for some time. He’s kind of gotten used to it, living amongst humans and being about the size of an automobile when he goes dragon-y.
Physiology wise, he has a couple unique traits outside of a few physical tells (his weird eyes and the little horns he hides with his hat– I know the nail file in the multitool description sounds facetious but he will actually need it to file those damn things down every so often) that I’d ideally like to keep from the start– his blood is laced with a butane-like substance, and he has an internal furnace. The furnace is part of his digestive system, thus why he eats charcoal/burnt things, and is miserable if he has to survive on unburnt foods. He has a nervous furnace, too, so he’ll randomly start to breathe smoke when he gets flustered or angry. The blood likely won’t come up unless he’s severely injured or does something stupid like gets in a fight and then tries to smoke with a bloody nose. (Has he lit his own face on fire in the past? He’ll never tell.)
And yeah, the furnace means he can breathe fire, but see the part above about zapping his own mouth and multiply it. Human throats/mouths/noses are not meant to have fire come up out of them. He’d only do this in circumstances that warrant it– basically if he has no other choice. And then he’d have to probably be in the medical bay for a while. And not have a voice. So.
Basically the dude smells like a campfire made out with an ash tray and a gasoline pump. Thus why I call him stinky. It’s not repulsive or anything, but probably a little on the weird side.
As the Ascendants deemed your character worthy of being on this exploration voyage, what qualities did they observe in your character that they found appropriate for the mission?
Ladon is a fugitive from a destroyed world. He’s literally a storm dragon and his world was obliterated by a storm. Yeah. His feelings about this are incredibly complex and traumatic, and thus why he allowed a former friend to edit that out of his brain so he could function. He has very mercenary thinking, especially when it comes to his own wants and needs, and is quick to throw himself under a bus if it means his loved ones are better off. And yet, he’s a total asshole. He’s very capable of molding himself and his morality to fit what needs doing, and thus his time in Garevia and (more importantly) in Nieve have made him into a sharp and angry little instrument. There are more elegant ways to get things done, of course, but Ladon is the sharp knife in an alleyway. He’s effective, even if he makes a mess. And he’s a dragon. Of course he wants to collect things. It’s in his nature.
What is your character's best quality, what is their worst, and how do these two qualities affect each other?
This depends entirely on who you ask.
His best friend, Draig, would say he’s loyal to a fault and will absolutely do anything for you when you need him, but he has no idea how to actually relax and have fun. He can pretend, and he’s really good at pretending, but he can see through it after all these years. Ladon never fully lets his guard down.
Aza, his “cousin” and crew doctor, says he can be impetuous, impulsive, hot-headed, and has an awful temper, but does sincerely care about anyone he hurts and always tries to make up for it. He’d be a bit better off if he would just listen once in a while.
Conrit would say his older brother loves him unconditionally, would never harm him or let harm come to him, but is overbearing, controlling, and puts way too much pressure on him to be a normal kid, when he’s anything but normal.
Guivres would say he’s a fucking idiot, sometimes the stupidest person alive, stick in the mud, old geezer, but he can be kind of an all right fella when he wants to be and would likely disappear anyone who hurt his people, so that’s tolerable, he guesses. Ladon’s not nice, but he’s safe, and safety is more important than niceness sometimes.
And Hardy Limael would say he’s the only person he’s ever really considered a genuine friend, but is also so self-centered he thinks all decisions others make for themselves are his fault. He seems to think that because he can pull at ley lines, he’s responsible for everything that happens around him.
Ladon would say he’s a stubborn asshole, but it’s gotten him this far. And can you really argue with what keeps you alive and kicking when the world is largely uncaring as to whether you live or die?
Your character's Edict appears in front of them, and agrees to grant them one wish: what does your character wish for?
Ladon’s wish would be to know his people are safe. Particularly his little brother, but the Golden Apple crew are the most important part of his life and he just wants them to not go through what he did. He wouldn’t ask for things like “don’t let anything bad happen to them” because well, bad things are a part of life and he’s already seen the mess magic can make with too much reality bending. But he would want to just… see if they’re okay without him. And maybe get a message back so they aren’t worried and know he didn’t abandon them/is doing his best to return.
And if none of that is impossible GIVE HIM HIS GODDAMN SMOKES BACK HE NEEDS HIS NICOTINE CRANKY DRAGON IS CRANKY WITHOUT HIS CIGARETTES
The Theorem has broken down, and is drifting toward a black hole. There is very little hope of outside rescue. What does your character do?
Oh boy.
So Ladon can do two things really well. And it would depend on which things were more necessary. Both, maybe? Maybe both.
Writing Samples: Still working on getting a long enough thread to satisfy this at the TDM, but in case you need YET MORE WORDS FROM ME (I am so full of words about this stupid dragon) here is an exchange from the manuscript I’m working on for him– specifically with Hardy Limael, his vampire handler and formerly good friend.
Name: Belvedia/Bel
Age: 40s
Contact: Plurk (belvedia), DM, Discord (Belvedia). Seriously reach out however you need to.
Invite Link: boop
IC
Character Name: Ladon Ceto
Canon: Original Character (Stories from Nieve)
Canon Point: Currently at around chapter 7? I’m still writing the manuscript tbh.
Character Age: 35
History:
Ladon’s known life begins at about age twenty-five. He had a life before that, one filled with a sprawling family, a cavernous home, and a few sharp, violent fragments of memory that refuse to stay buried. But then, abruptly, he and his youngest brother, Conrit—only a hatchling—found themselves in a foreign world. The how and why are missing by design. Honestly, he isn’t sure he wants to remember at this point. What matters is that he found himself in an impossible situation, and he did what he needed to do.
Thrown into an unfamiliar world with a baby sibling in his arms, Ladon did what his kind have always done: he adapted. Survival came first, and that meant falling in with the kind of people who didn’t ask many questions. In the rough port city of Garevia, he worked as a collector, enforcing debts for local muscle. Eventually, he was pulled into a string of bank robberies, high-risk, high-stakes work that spiraled out of control. When it all collapsed, Ladon was arrested.
He didn’t stay behind bars for long. He and his gang leader—the first human Ladon ever trusted with his true nature—escaped together and fled across the sea to the city of Nieve.
Nieve was both salvation and downfall.
In Nieve, Ladon found others of his kind. They were scattered, hidden, surviving in their own ways. He carved out a niche inside the city’s shadier networks and, for the first time, felt a sense of belonging. But the weight of too many losses and too much responsibility pushed him past his breaking point. A series of traumatic events sent him spiraling, and Ladon lost control of himself in ways he still tries not to think about.
That was when he chose to have his memories altered.
He did it to keep functioning, to remain capable of caring for Conrit. But Ladon knows the cost: he lost a friend who became a monster on his behalf, reshaped to use the very magic meant to save him. The guilt of that choice lingers like a phantom limb.
Since then, Ladon has tried—awkwardly, stubbornly—to rebuild. To be better. To be someone his brother can rely on.
Ladon is, beneath his human guise, very much a dragon, though he hasn’t “gone scales-out,” as his friend Draig teases, in years. His instincts still guide him: the hoard he gathers now isn’t treasure, but people. Outcasts. Strays. Anyone who needs a place to land. He runs The Golden Apple, a sanctuary for magical beings adrift in the human world, disguised as a legitimate establishment and quietly doubling as a hub for his less legal operations. His connections run deep across Nieve, human and otherwise, few of them respectable.
He does all this not just to survive, but to provide stability for Conrit—now old enough to cause his own trouble. Ladon keeps him at a boarding school for safety’s sake, but the infamous Ceto temper runs strong in the bloodline, and peace never lasts long.
Ladon’s importance to Nieve’s magical underworld is twofold. He’s reliable muscle and a shrewd businessman—but also a tool coveted by those higher on the supernatural ladder. Ever since he and Conrit were ejected from their world, both brothers can see ley lines: the threads of fate and magic that bind the city. Most see Nieve’s layout as a stylized snowflake—hence its name. Ladon knows better. It’s a spider’s web, and its strands lead upward.
Human beings with magic are said to possess Talent, and Ladon has learned that he can remove it. Strip it away. Unmake it. Sometimes he’s ordered to do this by the vampires who consider him their asset. Sometimes he does it because a Talent is too dangerous to leave unchecked.
Most recently, he neutralized a gambler who woke with the ability to change luck itself—twisting probability so violently it threatened to warp reality.
It’s not a role Ladon enjoys, but it’s one he accepts. Because he remembers—if not the details, then the feeling—that he once failed the people who relied on him.
He refuses to do so again.
Currently, Ladon’s dealing with the mysterious death of a religious radio starlet, which occurred right outside his jazz club.
Division: Support - While the access to a gun is tempting, Ladon would rather go out the airlock than be a cop. He’s not literate, so archives is right out. And he’s more likely to be shot or leave his doctor friend with a dead body to explain to the cops than do any healing himself. Basically Ladon wants and needs as much freedom as he can, so he’ll sign up for support, but his heart isn’t in it. He ain’t gonna be a part of your system, maaaaan! (You know, until he gets attached to multiple people and gets all protective and paternalistic and like. Metaphorically sits on them. Because dragon. Hoard. Yes.)
Edict: Tarnished Az-Mehet. Getting back to serious character stuff: What Ladon basically does is hide. He hides what he is. He hides what he feels. He hides behind hats and suits and cigarette smoke and tough words and posturing. He hides his real nature, he hides his softer side until he can’t any longer. And while he tends more towards fight than flight, that’s usually because when backed into a corner, he gets angry, and he knows that anger is dangerous, both to himself and others. So if he can smother the truth and avoid that from happening? He’ll do it. Even at the cost of his own happiness.
Powers: Ladon has a few magical abilities.
Leyline manipulation: I wouldn’t let him do any ley line yanking/Talent neutralizing because that’s a uniquely Nieve (and the world Nieve exists in) thing. He might at some point see about getting his spare little thread that he found sticking out of a mirror, but about all he knows to do with it is make it glow.
Fulgurmancy: Lightning magic. Think taser amounts of electricity. He largely uses this as defensive (or to show off by lighting a cigarette with a little zap), because he can also damage himself with it, especially if he doesn’t have a good conductor or is touching water or metal when he does so. He can also breathe it but, well. Ever zap the crap out of your mouth? It’s not pleasant.
Human disguise: This is basically transformation magic. While I’d really appreciate him not being “humanized” entirely (part of the fun of playing him is all the stupid little problems his dragon physiology causes), I can definitely get on board with him not having access to his dragon form again for some time. He’s kind of gotten used to it, living amongst humans and being about the size of an automobile when he goes dragon-y.
Physiology wise, he has a couple unique traits outside of a few physical tells (his weird eyes and the little horns he hides with his hat– I know the nail file in the multitool description sounds facetious but he will actually need it to file those damn things down every so often) that I’d ideally like to keep from the start– his blood is laced with a butane-like substance, and he has an internal furnace. The furnace is part of his digestive system, thus why he eats charcoal/burnt things, and is miserable if he has to survive on unburnt foods. He has a nervous furnace, too, so he’ll randomly start to breathe smoke when he gets flustered or angry. The blood likely won’t come up unless he’s severely injured or does something stupid like gets in a fight and then tries to smoke with a bloody nose. (Has he lit his own face on fire in the past? He’ll never tell.)
And yeah, the furnace means he can breathe fire, but see the part above about zapping his own mouth and multiply it. Human throats/mouths/noses are not meant to have fire come up out of them. He’d only do this in circumstances that warrant it– basically if he has no other choice. And then he’d have to probably be in the medical bay for a while. And not have a voice. So.
Basically the dude smells like a campfire made out with an ash tray and a gasoline pump. Thus why I call him stinky. It’s not repulsive or anything, but probably a little on the weird side.
As the Ascendants deemed your character worthy of being on this exploration voyage, what qualities did they observe in your character that they found appropriate for the mission?
Ladon is a fugitive from a destroyed world. He’s literally a storm dragon and his world was obliterated by a storm. Yeah. His feelings about this are incredibly complex and traumatic, and thus why he allowed a former friend to edit that out of his brain so he could function. He has very mercenary thinking, especially when it comes to his own wants and needs, and is quick to throw himself under a bus if it means his loved ones are better off. And yet, he’s a total asshole. He’s very capable of molding himself and his morality to fit what needs doing, and thus his time in Garevia and (more importantly) in Nieve have made him into a sharp and angry little instrument. There are more elegant ways to get things done, of course, but Ladon is the sharp knife in an alleyway. He’s effective, even if he makes a mess. And he’s a dragon. Of course he wants to collect things. It’s in his nature.
What is your character's best quality, what is their worst, and how do these two qualities affect each other?
This depends entirely on who you ask.
His best friend, Draig, would say he’s loyal to a fault and will absolutely do anything for you when you need him, but he has no idea how to actually relax and have fun. He can pretend, and he’s really good at pretending, but he can see through it after all these years. Ladon never fully lets his guard down.
Aza, his “cousin” and crew doctor, says he can be impetuous, impulsive, hot-headed, and has an awful temper, but does sincerely care about anyone he hurts and always tries to make up for it. He’d be a bit better off if he would just listen once in a while.
Conrit would say his older brother loves him unconditionally, would never harm him or let harm come to him, but is overbearing, controlling, and puts way too much pressure on him to be a normal kid, when he’s anything but normal.
Guivres would say he’s a fucking idiot, sometimes the stupidest person alive, stick in the mud, old geezer, but he can be kind of an all right fella when he wants to be and would likely disappear anyone who hurt his people, so that’s tolerable, he guesses. Ladon’s not nice, but he’s safe, and safety is more important than niceness sometimes.
And Hardy Limael would say he’s the only person he’s ever really considered a genuine friend, but is also so self-centered he thinks all decisions others make for themselves are his fault. He seems to think that because he can pull at ley lines, he’s responsible for everything that happens around him.
Ladon would say he’s a stubborn asshole, but it’s gotten him this far. And can you really argue with what keeps you alive and kicking when the world is largely uncaring as to whether you live or die?
Your character's Edict appears in front of them, and agrees to grant them one wish: what does your character wish for?
Ladon’s wish would be to know his people are safe. Particularly his little brother, but the Golden Apple crew are the most important part of his life and he just wants them to not go through what he did. He wouldn’t ask for things like “don’t let anything bad happen to them” because well, bad things are a part of life and he’s already seen the mess magic can make with too much reality bending. But he would want to just… see if they’re okay without him. And maybe get a message back so they aren’t worried and know he didn’t abandon them/is doing his best to return.
And if none of that is impossible GIVE HIM HIS GODDAMN SMOKES BACK HE NEEDS HIS NICOTINE CRANKY DRAGON IS CRANKY WITHOUT HIS CIGARETTES
The Theorem has broken down, and is drifting toward a black hole. There is very little hope of outside rescue. What does your character do?
Oh boy.
So Ladon can do two things really well. And it would depend on which things were more necessary. Both, maybe? Maybe both.
- He can be a comforting presence, he can tell it like it is, and he can be there for anyone scared of what’s beyond the veil. He’s stared death in the eye many times and he’s not afraid of it anymore. He can be the rock people need to lean on. He can commiserate and be the steady hand needed. He’s skinny, but he gives good, warm hugs.
- He can be the bad guy. Don’t want to live out your last moments being slowly devoured by a black hole, or starving to death in space? Need to be put out of your misery? Hand over the gun. He’ll make it quick. Need someone to hate and fight with up until the last minute? Put ‘em up, pal. Is there some theoretical gear that needs jamming to save everyone and prevent a tragedy from happening? Oh look, he just took on the role of a wrench. He does what he has to.
Writing Samples: Still working on getting a long enough thread to satisfy this at the TDM, but in case you need YET MORE WORDS FROM ME (I am so full of words about this stupid dragon) here is an exchange from the manuscript I’m working on for him– specifically with Hardy Limael, his vampire handler and formerly good friend.