Sholder marking
Name: Astaroth
Name origin: Astaroth is one of the princes of hell in christian demonology.
He is a demon of the First ring, who manipulates people using laziness and
vanity. He is also known commonly as 'the demon of rot.'
Gender: Male
Profession: Aviculturalist (bird keeper)
Astaroth is an aviculturalist, meaning he tends to any and all avians that are in his care. He feeds them, grooms them, clips their wings, and when he has to he gives them medicine and takes care of any of their medical needs. Like his father before him he has learned everything he needs to know about birds in order to care for them properly, and has turned this knowledge of his into a career.
About him:
Astaroth spends most of his time on the roof of the building in which he lives. Here has has his own greenhouse where he grows different fruits, seeds and nuts for his birds as well as himself. He never trusted store bought goods and he's very antisocial, and so prefers not to go to public markets to buy things. Growing his own vegetation simply seems easier to him and he often argues that there's little time to go out and spend time travelling to different places to get all the different sort of foods he'll need for his birds. Astaroth also breeds mice and small rodents for his carnivorous birds, not wanting to get his feeding rats from a mill as that won't guarantee that the animal are healthy or well treated during their development.
Out of all the birds he has it's his magpie that he has the closest connection with. During his free time he'll spend hours alone with his magpie on the roof, speaking to it and telling it stories. Some find him crazy, as he believes that not only does the magpie understands what he's saying, but that he understands the magpie when it replies. He doesn't mind others disbelief though, as he much prefers his birds company to other kia's.
Personality:
Astaroth had often been teased as a child due to the fact he's blind. No one knows for sure why he's blind. Maybe he'd been born that way, maybe it was an accident, no one really knows. He grew up feeling ashamed of his visual deficiency due to the fact others seemed to mind it, and he felt like a burden for not being like the others who contributed to society. He felt like he was taking away, and so he removed himself from everything.
He became shy and soft-spoken, not confident enough to stand up for himself and especially not confident enough to continue being around others. This led to him becoming more and more removed from society and the people within it. The people who he remembered as being the ones who accused him of being nothing but a burden on others.
And so, since he couldn't help people, he decided he'd help the birds.
Nature had never put any limitations on him or made him feel like a waste of space. The birds have nothing more to say to him than chirps and clicks. With the exception of his pet magpie of course.
He listens to them and loves them the way humans care for their own family. Each individual is important to his aviary, and he cares for them deeply to the point that if one dies he'll be depressed for long periods of time.
They are therapeutic to him. They love him and make him feel useful, everything that others of his own species didn't do for him, they do. And so they fill the void others left behind.
Sometimes Astaroth will spend time alone outside. No one there, not even the birds. He likes being alone and doing things on his own, as it makes him feel independent. And when he's alone, he doesn't feel like theres anybody he has to impress.
Likes:
- Birds (all species)
- Feeding birds, grooming them, taking care of them
- Gardening
- Collecting fruit: this can be fruit that he has grown himself or fruit that he's found while out in the wilderness
- Nursing baby birds who have been born into his hatchery
- Making furniture and objects out of natural materials
- Wood carving
- Listening to the sounds of the forest
- Talking to himself out loud when he feels alone
- His magpie
- Walking in the forest, especially when its raining outside and the rain is cold
- Nature in general
Dislikes:
- Kiamara's: due to his history with them he feels uncomfortable when in the presence of his own species.
- Reptiles and cats
(Astaroth is in fact blind and can not see)
