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[protectandserve]

□ Name: Joscelin Verreuil
□ Series: Kushiel's Legacy
□ Canon point: Kushiel's Dart, after his drugging by Melisande Shahrizai and before he wakes up.
□ History: http://kushiel.wikia.com/wiki/Joscelin_Verreuil#Biography
□ Personality: Joscelin Verreuil's outward personality is the last word in formality. He is polite, and attempts to remain so even under the most trying of circumstances, but it is rare for him to actually be friendly, especially in public. He has been trained to behave this way, but it only hides his inner feelings, which appear in glimpses throughout Kushiel's Dart. He tends to use this facade as a refuge for when he feels uncertain, or when he feels that he's revealed too much of himself, seeming to snap back into his dutiful bodyguard mode with a bow.

Joscelin has a short temper, although he tries to suppress it. He has a great deal of pride, and if that pride is injured (as it is in a run-in with some tumblers and Servants of Naamah who mock him by kissing him and stealing his hair pins) he is quite capable of losing his temper. He is likely to show his displeasure by withdrawing and not speaking or being abrupt when he must speak, unless the thing that displeases him is a threat to Phèdre or, presumably, anyone else he had sworn to protect. In that case, he will defend them with whatever force he feels necessary--the Cassiline style of combat emphasizes defense without killing, but that doesn't mean he won't kill. He regrets killing in the line of duty, but he will do it. As a Cassiline he has sworn only to take life in the defense of another. He does break that oath, but only with great reluctance, and only once- it took him a night of sleepless vigil to allow him to make that decision. In spite of his short temper, he isn't the sort to go around hurting or killing those who displease him.

In spite of his apparent loathing for Phèdre early in the series, his duty to her is the most important thing in his life. Even during their first appointment together, she only has to say 'Cassiel' and he is there to rescue her from her angered patron, Childric d'Essoms. Later, when they are sold to the Skaldi, he refuses to leave Phèdre behind and bring word of treachery to the d'Angelines after he learns she isn't a traitor as he believed when they were first sold. Even though their relationship hasn't yet developed beyond 'barely liking each other', he can't abandon her to barbarians. It is likely that anyone he was sworn to protect would receive the same level of devotion, considering how seriously he takes his oaths.

The other oaths he swears as a Cassiline-- significantly, his oath of chastity and his oath to only draw his sword to kill-- are nearly as important to him, although they are eventually broken. Even after his expulsion from the Brotherhood, he does not consider himself freed from the oaths he took. They bind him beyond his allegiance to the Cassiline Order. Discarding them would be convenient and most would even understand it more than his choice to adhere to them in spite of everything, but Joscelin's nature will not allow him to do so. When he swears an oath or makes a promise, he truly means it--although circumstances may drive him to break his oaths, he feels the burden of all the ones he's broken and he carries a great deal of guilt over it.

Joscelin does have lighter sides, however. He befriends Alcuin, Phèdre's foster brother, and teaches him the rudiments of Cassiline bladework, and proves to be a good teacher. He is curious, as is common to the people of the Siovale province, from which he hails, shown when he attempts to decipher the mystery of Anafiel Delaunay, along with Phèdre and Alcuin. And even though he doesn't like Phèdre at first, he is concerned when she is hurt from an assignation--he has a compassionate side, even if he doesn't feel like people deserve it. Later in the series, he shows a strain of wry humour, making the occasional deadpan comment about their problems. On their mission to travel to Quintillius Rousse through Terre d'Ange, he takes the disguise of a mendacant, a travelling story-teller, and by all accounts does a good job of it. He also shows a facility for acting in Kushiel's Chosen, with Phèdre claiming that the stage missed a great player when he went to the Cassilines.

As can be expected by someone who's been sworn to chastity since they were ten, Joscelin is very shy when it comes to matters of sex. He sees Phèdre's calling as disturbing, and even blushes when he sees Alcuin naked as he gets his marque completed. When he eventually does have sex with Phèdre, though, he isn't clumsy or fumbling, just amazed at the experience. Phèdre is very complimentary of his skill in bed later in the series as well, saying that he's a fast learner and enjoys it thoroughly. His tastes, however, are conventional-- he has no taste for the pain that Phèdre craves.
□ Age: 21
□ Gender: Male
□ Appearance: Joscelin is very handsome. As a d'Angeline, he carries the blood of angels and is thus almost supernaturally attractive--his beauty is described as 'austere' and compared to a Greek statue, as well as to a member of the Night Court, the loveliest courtesans around (he doesn't find this flattering). He has wheat-gold hair and summer-blue eyes, with strong cheekbone. He's very athletically built but not disturbingly muscled- everything is balanced and proportionate. He's quite tall, slightly over six feet, and he tends to play his beauty down with severely plain clothing, preferably in grey.
□ Abilities/Powers: Joscelin has no supernatural powers, but he is exquisitely trained in both armed and unarmed combat and has nearly-perfect aim.
□ Personal Items: A cruciform longsword and its baldric and sheath,his Cassiline uniform (a grey mandilion coat, shirt, and breeches), and his dagger belt, without the daggers.

□ First Person Sample:
[video]
[Joscelin looks upset as he turns on the network... or as upset as he ever does. His Cassiline facade shows little irritation, but his irritation is evident in the clipped tone of his words.]

What sort of land is this, where we are barred from carrying weapons that we may protect ourselves and those around us? I have sworn an oath--I would do no harm without just cause to do it. The city guard has refused to take my word as an honourable man--moreso than most of those who claim they would protect us, I am certain. For all their claims of protection I see little to warrant it.

[He crosses his arms, his lips going tight.]

If I were the sort to use my weapon injudiciously, they would have known the taste of my blade. They took my daggers from me- they shall not take my sword as well.

□ Third Person Sample:

The weather outside the processing centre was fair, but Joscelin had no patience for it or anything else- the words of the man in the room where he had awoken were echoing in his head, raising a storm of consternation that overshadowed the bright sun and the warmth on his skin that was quite different from the weather he had left behind in Terre d'Ange. He still didn't truly understand how it had come to pass that he had been taken from the grip of Melisande Shahrizai and brought to this city. Indeed, it seemed quite possible to him that the Shahrizai woman had been the one to arrange it: what the man had said had sounded as though it would appeal to her. Certainly it was more to her tastes than it was to his own. Separating him from Phèdre this way would render Phèdre more vulnerable to her treachery, and this choice of prison... it was a humiliation for him to be expected to break his oaths for no reason other than pleasure. Melisande would like that.

Yes, this stank of Shahrizai scheming, no matter what the welcoming man had said.

He gripped the bag that held his belongings tightly. There was little in there, but then he'd had little to bring--there were clothes, his sword, and his dagger belt... but his daggers had been removed, sheathes and all. He had questioned the man on their absence, only to be told that one weapon had been permitted. It rankled inside him to lose those daggers, but at least he would not go unarmed into imprisonment. He would find a way out and back to Phedre. His duty lay with her, not with the people of this city, no matter what they said. He would not be here long enough to break his oaths.