Next up on the list of aro OCs, one of my current DnD characters, Benjamin!
Benjamin Larkwright (he/him)
Identity: aromantic asexual
Born as the eldest son of parents who were minor nobility, in a country that had been fighting a border war on and off for generations, it was expected of Benjamin that he'd join the military for a few years, do his duty and prove himself a capable leader, and then return home to take up his duties to his family. But Benjamin had no interest in marriage and children, and instead threw himself into the expected military career in the hope that at least in that regard he could satisfy his parents' expectations.
In the military, he discovered an aptitude for magic and was quickly tapped for a new, experimental unit of war wizards who would act as human artillery on the battlefield. Rising to captain of his unit, he served through two resurgences of the border war, until tragedy struck him repeatedly in quick succession. First, his beloved younger brother was killed when the fighting rolled over the town he was working in as a doctor, then the same fate befell his parents and the Larkwright family estate. And finally, in the last months after a successful siege that was supposed to bring the war to an end, nearly his whole unit was wiped out in an ambush.
Suspecting a betrayal but never able to prove it, Benjamin quit the military, burned his spellbook and put all of his inheritance and pension into supporting the families of his dead and injured comrades. He took a job as a lowly watchman in the capital city, somewhere he could still be of at least some use, and spent the next decade miserable and refusing to get close to anyone in case he lost them too.
Until, one day, he instinctively used magic to save the life of a nobleman he was guarding, and realised that what he really wanted to be doing was using those skills to genuinely help people rather than for destruction. And so he retrieved the wizard staff he'd never been able to bring himself to destroy from under his bed, and set about relearning how to do proper magic. Then, naturally, he quit his job, and took up as an adventurer.
Class-wise, Benjamin is a War Wizard, with a single Fighter level because I rolled dreadfully on hit points and he was terrifyingly squishy. Personality-wise, he's a serious, sharp-witted man with a subtle sarcastic streak, a take-charge sort of attitude, and an awkward but well-meaning way of caring about people, although he's never entirely been able to shake the irrational fear that he's going to get everyone around him killed. Being aro (and ace) had a huge impact on the shape of his life, and he's always had a stubborn pride in it despite the rift it created with his parents and the other problems that it's caused. But he'd be lying if he said it wasn't deeply important to him when he eventually finds aro friends and others with shared experiences.
Mini playlist, for extra vibes:
Third Eye - Florence + the Machine - You don't have to be a ghost / Here amongst the living / You are flesh and blood / And you deserve to be loved / And you deserve what you are given
Mars - Sleeping At Last - Though time is ruthless / It showed us kindness in the end / By slowing down enough / A second chance to make amends
Never Quite Free - The Mountain Goats - It's okay to find the faith to saunter forward / With no fear of shadows spreading where you stand
