SOLLUX CAPTOR.

Age range: Eighteen years/8.2 sweeps by Troll calendar.

Demeanor & Appearance:

Though Sollux has a pointed and haughty personality, the burden of having to deal with his special ability also adds to his irritability from time to time. Sollux follows in the same thread as his father with his finely timed and quick side comments. He always has something to say and is quick to say what is on his mind. If he ever refrains, he’s more expressive in his motions or facial reactions. During times of duress or displeasure, his face is usually the most expressive, especially around his eyes. He has a different, passive side that shows when he’s either around Aradia or when he’s under sedation. As he grows older, the hostility will ease down and help balance his temperament.

INESCAPABLE FATE.

Sollux comes from a lineage of psionic users in the Kingdom of Alternia; these users are regarded as magicians. This ability is mostly exclusive to yellow bloods only. Mages are born with these powers and therefore have to learn how to control them from a very young age. Unlike shamans, a mage’s power doesn’t come from the spirit but rather the mind. Though they are cosmically linked, there are still distinct differences between the two.

Shamans are very balanced internally, and their powers lean towards a more curative nature whereas mages are very unstable, and their powers are deeply rooted in more volatile tendencies. This is why young mages are appointed a shaman at an early age. The young shamans will develop their powers by helping the mages control their own. In turn, the yellow-bloods learn how to stabilize their spirit in order to control their minds, and ultimately their powers, better.

A mage’s journey to achieving inner balance in order to fully control his or her powers is long and laborious. Only at the age of nine sweeps is a mage considered to be completely stable. Until the young mages reach this age, however, they have to constantly seek guidance from their appointed shaman. While the help of their spiritual guide does, for the most part, do the trick of helping the mages channel their energy and power, there are instances where alternative measures have to be taken so as to keep the users of psionics from hurting themselves and others through random bursts of energy.

In the case, that mages start showing signs of severe instability, they are given tea made from the troll plant Kimame, which has very strong sedative properties. When Sollux is under the effect of the sedative, he becomes completely passive. While the plant itself doesn’t contain any addictive properties, he sometimes likes to drink its tea to be at ease around Karkat and Eridan.

THE PRINCE HEARD ‘ROUND THE WORLD.

Sollux is one human year older than Karkat. He uses this age difference to his advantage in order to set the prince in his place and to reiterate his position as adviser. Being a year older than the prince, Sollux keeps the mentality that this extra year gives him more wisdom ahead of the younger troll. Through endless bickering and arguments over the years of their childhood and adolescence, Sollux has learned that Karkat will make a fine King one day, and he is devoted to guiding the prince as best as he can until that time comes. Though not Karkat’s official bodyguard, Sollux will defend the prince with his life. On the rare occurrence that the mage isn’t able to accompany the hotheaded royal troll somewhere, he always makes sure to tell the royal bodyguards to keep an extra eye on the prince should Karkat try to do anything stupid. By this, he of course means “don’t let anything happen to him”.

A DYNAMIC DUO.

Sollux and Aradia’s pale feelings for each other were mutual and evident since they were both quite young. In fact, most of the mages and shamans paired up to train since they are children, end up becoming moirails because of the balance that the two are able to acquire from being around each other. Even so, they both waited until their 6th sweep coming of age ceremony to make their moirallegiance official. Their pale relationship is one of the sturdiest among all the young trolls, never presenting much conflict or signs of quadrant flipping.

SOMETHING FISHY’S GOING ON HERE.

Sollux’s relationship with Eridan is short of being a complete clusterfuck of emotions. His desire to indulge the pitiable highblood, and his wish to rip out his throat with his bare hands, are often jumbling around in his mind. On certain occasions he’ll also find himself feeling completely numb around the merchant. Too worn out from having to deal with spontaneous outbursts of power, a particularly loud prince, and an obnoxious matesprit to top it all off, Sollux takes this time to distance himself from Eridan so as not to worry the purple blood any more than he needs to. Usually, after these phases of numbness pass, the both of them go on a week or two feeling red before going back to their usual quadrant flipping.