-Shaw backstory and basic info-
I have been wondering for a while that I should write my Shaw’s backstory and other things down, so here is a ramble if someone is interested about him. Most of these come from ideas I’ve had while playing The Pale Beyond three years ago and my interpretation might change about his character when The Heart and Harbour is released in the future. Some ideas on the other hand come from history as well from polar exploring. Enjoy my small ramble :)
First of all the guy's whole name is Robin Sulo Shaw. I mostly wanted to stay in the base name of the main character of the game, but I added the second name Sulo to make him stand out and as well refer to his heritage. Sulo is an old Finnish male name that refers to beauty/sweetness (suloinen) and I thought it would fit his occasional habits and somewhat feminine face shape (well at least when he doesn’t let his beard grow too much lol).
On the note of his Finnish heritage, there isn’t currently much info if there's a country like Finland in the world of Pale Beyond so this part is high probability to change in the future. Sulo’s parents were immigrants and left their home country when Sulo was just a wee baby. At that point he was given a more suitable name for the new country so he could integrate more easily. Sulo grew up helping his father around ship yards and so his future as a saltborn came to be. He also has a habit of speaking in Finnish when stressed or including sayings from his homeland. Sulo has Finnish national clothing inspired look as his formal attire. I’m probably going to change a few things in it but the base currently is from Rovaniemi’s clothes. I chose these referring to his yearning to the north and to more colder places in general.
Note the drawing on the other one is a commission made by jessanight, which I edited to look like an in-game dialogue scene. The Finnish saying in it when translated means cold coffee makes you more beautiful :D
During one of his employments on a rather shady vessel he was introduced to smuggling and deemed to be handy in it. He always had sticky fingers as a youngster because of his more poor family background, so smuggling became a rather handy way of getting a few more coins out of jobs he did. Sadly Sulo got caught around his late 20s and got jailed for a few years, thankfully there wasn’t much proof of all of his deeds including shooting a man to death (in self-defence) so he got off easy.
Sulo didn’t grow up in Lewthport, but he moved there after getting out of jail. There he mostly did a few odd jobs until he saw the crew wanted poster. This sparked Sulo's interest as that could be the way to turn over a new leaf and take the chance to get to the harsh coldness he has yearned for his whole life. During game events Sulo is around 30 years old. His personality is mostly laid back and he tries to stay positive. Some might even say he is stubborn and that is the case most of the time, but on some rare occasions he can become quite cold hearted and even aggressive if annoyed enough. This can be seen when he gets his ear shot off by Cordell at the end when his mental state has been broken bit by bit. Sulo’s looks come hand in hand with his personality, Sulo looks unkept even in his formal clothes and his hair can be described wild at times. His eyebags that are visible all the time are from him being paranoid of his past catching up to him, this means he is a very light sleeper by being over alert constantly.
I’m not sure what happens to Sulo after the game events, but here are some ideas. He simps Templeton, which doesn’t end well and probably gets in a fight with him. After that, he disappears from the public eye which gets Kasha to worry and a mystery plot ensues (Templeton I’m looking at you and your suspicious activity). Currently I think he disappears on his own terms trying to dig up info on Apperton. Also the war hinted at in The Heart and Harbour will probably affect this too, but that's future me’s problem lol.
Random fun facts at the end: Sulo is bisexual. He is also a pretty good shot and likes games that require aiming skill. He likes to wear natural and gray clothing, but he really loves blue. He also is left-handed.
Oh, here's a link to his ref sheet that I’m going to revamp at some point!
This is mostly me talking to the void, but if someone's interested to learn more about my Shaw, asks are always open and appreciated!!
snowghoul
yousharknotpass
germansingergirl
dededos
janainaart
titsay
vaporwave
jacobvanloon
theartofmadeline
