Korin Altair

“The ends to a means hold no value to me.”

Korin
Alternate Names	Fenrir
Pronouns	he/him
Species	Lesser Kindred
Subspecies	Steppe Wolf
Role	Mirage
Height	6’2” / 188cm
Age	33
Birth Date	Glissade 3, 1197
Zodiac	Ignorant Spectre
Aspect	Light (born) / Fire (learned)
Family	Odin Finch (adoptive sister) Micaiah Finch (adoptive aunt) Charlotte Altair (mother, deceased) Caden Altair (father, deceased)

Korin Altair, or Korin Finch to some, is a Lesser wolf Kindred native to Eversun City. He works for Mirage as an intelligence relay as a means to keep the Valhalla Project, an under-the-table orphanage in the slums of Eversun, afloat with his adoptive sister.

Appearance

A rather tall wolf Kindred with messy, chin-length purple hair he keeps hidden beneath a black beanie hat. The beanie has holes for his ears to pop out of. He has striking sunset-amber eyes that always look disinterested and tired, and has a scar starting from the bridge of his nose running down his left cheek. No one is sure how he got it.

Korin wears a black collared dress shirt beneath a purple-grey furred coat he wears over his shoulders. He's never seen actually wearing the coat by its sleeves. He also wears brown leather gloves, a brown leather belt with a silver buckle, and blue baggy pants with pockets on the side of his mid-thighs. A one-handed broadsword rests sheathed on his left side, embedded with a gem in the hilt for basic spellweaving enhancements to the blade.

A purple muffler never leaves his neck. There are maybe only two instances where he'd part ways with it, but for now, those instances remain unspoken of.

Personality

Growing up in poverty desensitized Korin to a lot of feelings. He is usually seen with a straight, serious, or tired expression and speaks with a low tone. Most people read his expression as disinterest or exhaustion with the conversation, but he does enjoy speaking to people—he has quite the amicable personality and charisma to squeeze his way into getting what he wants.

Korin is graced with quick wits and a fast tongue; if he needs to slip away from a situation, he can typically do so unnoticed, and when faced with a difficult conversation, his silver words can excuse him from speaking further. He is sly, agile, and a physical menace in addition to his wits. One of his favorite activities is exchanging rude and sarcastic quips with others who will fight back, or get flustered at his words (particularly Odin).

When it comes to protecting the people who matter most to him, Korin would sacrifice anything to see it through. He strictly believes ends justify the means, and often gets into trouble for these ideals. It has never stopped him.

In reality, Korin is heavily depressed and remains under his own self-imposed impression that once the Valhalla Project is completed and he loses his family, he will be no longer needed in his companions' lives and will escape far away from Eversun City to live in probable solitude. As of now, no one knows of this ideal, and plans to never reveal it.

Biography

Korin was born in the slums of the northwestern sector of Eversun City to Charlotte and Caden Altair, a pair of wolf Kindred from northern territories. Most of his young life was spent stealing from tourists and travelers when they least expected it, selling odd trinkets and valuables for money, and using the rotten income to survive. While some took pit on a young, dirty street wolf who was clearly starving, he’d avoid accepting charity and attempt to gain what he needs himself. When in an excess, he’d donate food to the other starving children growing up around him.

Eventually, Korin's parents contracted a mysterious fatal illness and passed away. Knowing that Micaiah Finch, a prolific leader and role model in the sector, had recently taken an extremely young Featherfolk girl recently, he forced his way into their "family" as his only option to keep a roof over his head. While Micaiah was not particularly happy about this new addition, she wouldn't turn away helping anyone, especially not a child who needed so much assistance. He lived with the two for the rest of his childhood, up until his adolescence. He'd still run around the other districts and steal from people who are well-off, bringing back trinkets to sell or offer to his family without a word, but would often get scolded for it. He may not have been able to show it properly, but he was grateful to his newfound family.

There came a day where a fire broke out in Korin's home sector, when he was fifteen years old. Due to the laziness of the Civil Affairs guards stationed to keep an eye on this sector, the fire quickly grew out of hand. There were no spellweavers versed in water aether close by to assist with the fire, and eventually, over 80% of the already-deteriorating houses in the sector burned to the ground. Many more children were left without parents, and worse for Korin and Odin, they had lost Micaiah in the blaze. He remembers her final request being to bring Odin away from the destruction and make sure the two stick together, as he’d be the only one responsible to keep her safe from then on. After the destruction, the Guild insisted there was an investigation conducted, but there turned up no results of it being purposeful.

From then on, Korin and Odin spent their teen years wandering Eversun, stealing food and money from passersby with little trouble. This was until the two met Lady Radialy on a chance meeting; sensing a curse forming within the abandoned rubble of the old district, she came to investigate and found the two teens highly defensive of her visit. Instead of ignoring their plight, she offered to take them in and mentor them until they were ready to go off on their own, as their mutual distaste for the Guild became apparent in their small encounter. Without much room to turn, they accepted her salvation.

Much later, Korin watched Odin apply to the Guild to infiltrate its ranks and bring justice from the inside, but the thought of employing his own efforts to the body that failed him sickened him. Instead, once Odin was registered under the Guild and was certain she’d be safe, he began wandering on his own to find the cause of the fire. His investigations turned up nothing, and he quickly grew demotivated and tired of chasing a false trail.

At age 24, Korin was approached by a 20-year-old Odin with the determined offer of rebuilding their home sector and using her high salary to kickstart the project. He did not hesitate to accept and begin the blueprints to the plan, and the project has been underway ever since. This began the foundation of the Valhalla Project as an idea to provide solace and sanctuary to the victims of the fire from years ago that are still suffering.

The start of the Valhalla Project spurred Korin in the direction of joining the ranks of Mirage. In a twist of events, he was offered an interview and position within the group as a Scout, and after much deliberation, he had reached an agreement with their leader that he’d offer his services in exchange for absolute protection for the Valhalla Project. He now currently roams Castrella for information, jobs, and any resources he can get his hands on in order to contribute to the project. While Korin’s time is mostly spent away from Eversun, he ensures visits every week to assist and give the orphaned children an opportunity for education and literacy, teaching them to read and write.

Relationships

Odin Finch

"An annoying birdbrain that makes life a little more difficult, but I have a promise to keep."

Korin's younger sister figure in his life. He pinky-promised their adoptive aunt when he was twelve years old to protect Odin and take care of her no matter the means, and lives by that promise even after 21 years and counting. They bicker and fight constantly, but in reality, their devotion to each other and their sibling relationship is like none other. He sees her as a nuisance more than half the time, but knows she means well and will defend her name behind her back. Otherwise, he doesn't skip out on an opportunity to insult her or kick her down for a joke. They mostly only encounter each other when meeting up in their home sector and partaking in rebuilding during the Valhalla Project.

Raelynn Aquamor

"The kids like her, so that's good enough for me."

Quite distrusting of the professor at first, he doesn't particularly sway towards like or dislike now that they have gotten to know each other. They partake in strategy board games such as checkers and chess when the opportunity arises, and so far, Rae has not won a single match. She is quite enthusiastic towards him, and likely doesn't notice he tries to ignore her most of the time.

Haladen Kloe

"A man with a silver tongue. It's, unfortunately, really good we have him on our side."

Haladen is one of the few people that can get a satisfied smirk out of Korin. The rate his quips run from his mouth can rival Korin's own speed, and often times, they will engage in a battle of quick-wits and snide comments until someone comes in and breaks up their conversation. It's all in good fun.

Lady Radialy

"I'm grateful and indebted to her. I hope someday she'll see the fruits of our labor."

A mysterious woman with less mysterious goals—to Korin, at least. She was one of the first to offer respite to an abandoned Korin and Odin after the blaze destroyed their home sector in Eversun City. Korin sees Lady Radialy as a highly trusted contact and mentor, and will still wander around her territory as a secondary sanctuary of respite when he needs a rest without wandering back to Eversun. They've learned a lot about the world outside of the Guild's influence from her, even going so far as to inform them on how curses work and how to avoid areas where they are prevalent.

Hanzekihel Oulieus

"..."

Thanks to Korin's preference to avoid the public eye, there are only two people who know what they truly are...

Nine

"Having someone who understands us has helped a lot. I know how people like him are—quiet, but secretly caring. Hits home, I guess."

Introduced through Odin, Korin was incredibly distrusting of Nine at first until told that the older man was a victim of the fire in their shared home sector. He dropped his guard immediately, and now attempts to visit him every so often as an obligation to protect and care for any and all survivors of the incident no matter how old or young they may be. They share a similar presentation of their personalities: both are quite broody and quiet on the outside, but will happily reach out to others who have gone through tragedy and need a helping hand without any questions asked. Korin will also occasionally go out of his way to delivery fresh produce to Nine in exchange for delivering hearty meals to the residents of the Valhalla Project.

Monica Holst

"... What about her?"

Met through Odin, Korin doesn't particularly think one way or another towards Monica, which is the most common feeling he typically has towards others. She takes his place when he is out traveling to read to the kids of the Valhalla Project, but he is secretly attached to the storybook reader position. He knows the kids would never choose her over him... but he can't help but get a weird feeling that it could happen. There's also some talk about some mutual headpat exchanges, but when confronted, he'd ignore you.

Ari Lancaster

“If I see this fucker try to make a move on either of them, I’m gonna—“

An unfortunate surprise encounter introduced the two to each other, and now Korin is locked into an, unfortunately, quite helpful deal with the Elvaari man. Thanks to his position in the Trade Division, Ari is able to forge just enough documentation to keep the Valhalla Project under wraps. By technicalities and personal values, Korin is indebted to Ari, doubly so if he’s to take Odin’s debt upon his shoulders as well. He’ll figure it out eventually, as the only payment Ari wants is something Korin would never willingly give him.

Eleanor Valentine

"...A persistent little bug, she is. Kind of reminds me of some of the orphans hanging around home. She's alright."

Encountered by repeat meetings while Korin infiltrated the Grand Archivist Library for both information about magic and children's books (quite a stark contrast, as she's noticed), Ella has wriggled her way into Korin's soft spot. Seeing a curiosity in her eyes similar to the orphans he's taking care of in the Valhalla Project, he allows her to accompany him where he needs to go in the Guild. It helps to have someone trust him especially, since he's just parading around as a fake Adventurer. Ella is also the only person he'd ever accept a hug from without prior permission.

Trivia

• Voice Claim: Shinjiro Aragaki, Persona 3 Reload (Justice Slocum) [Listen here!]
• Korin typically does not introduce himself with a surname, but when legal documents call for it, he uses his parents’ name of Altair. When asked, if he has to pick which name he prefers, he uses Finch, Micaiah’s last name.
• Has a bottomless stomach for meat and alcohol, and gets a little rowdy when drinking.
• Secretly enjoys his tail and ears being fluffed and scratched. He will not admit it.
• No one except Odin and his teammates know that he is a part of Mirage.
• He does not like sweets, and quite enjoys bitter food.
• His mentality is permanently caught up in the past, mostly attached to the promise he made to Micaiah before her death. Because of this, he holds no regards to the future, and is probably clinically depressed.
• The purple muffler he is never seen without is Micaiah's muffler. Seriously--do not separate them!
• Korin has a forged Adventurers' Guild ID card with his photo on it. Odin gave him her old Wayfarer's Division armband as well, so he has full access to the basic levels of the Hearth.
• Ironically, his favorite color is not purple, it's just his hair color and Micaiah's muffler. If asked, he doesn't have a favorite color. Maybe a deep blue? It reminds him of family.
• Thanks to his upbringing, he's not that educated; he can read at a basic fundamental level, and can speak really well, but cannot decipher complicated passages without prior context.