Ashel Rizen

Ashel was originally created to be the companion character for a girl named Adalie in a story I was working on. I still may have her feature in the story, but I since came up with some other characters for a different story and Ashel ended up fitting into that story better. Strangely enough, in both stories the characters ended up meeting Ashel in the same way: they arrive in his hometown, which is a very religious place, and his older sister Claire has just been murdered on the eve of her wedding. Her fiance is the prime suspect, but Ashel is a close friend of his and doesn't believe he did it. Adalie (and Angelo, in Angelo's story), end up trying to help him prove his would-be brother-in-law's innocence, and afterwards Ashel decides to travel with them because he really wants to get out of town.

Ashel's family all have black hair, which among a select few religious fanatics in his town - his family is also religious, but in a very normal way - is synonymous with the demonic. His mother, Esther, has always been ostracized because his father left her before Ashel was born and although she is a very kind and pious person, there are rumors going around town of her being a whore. Ashel, in particular, has been a target of gossip among many of the over-zealous women in town because not only does he have dark hair but also red eyes. Of course, rumors that he is a demon are completely unfounded. Ashel's sister Claire was persecuted as well, despite being very kind to everyone and volunteering regularly at the church. When he was younger, Ashel was impressionable and became very depressed, wondering if he was a demon or not because it seemed like bad things always happened to those around him. His mother was always very encouraging, and most of the other kids in town - not that there were many - were nice to him, but the adults threw around accusations and suspicions that caused him a lot of pain. As Ashel grew older and realized the bigotry of the people around him, he decided that he had to leave both to get away and to prove to himself that there were still kind people in the world.

Ashel is normally quiet and shy, but will become very vocal when he sees others being bullied. He does not like to judge, and often stops other people from jumping to conclusions. He is in awe of the world around him, and despite a painful life is always trying to see the good in everything.

Age: 17
Birthday: April 11th
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 124 lbs
What his voice sounds like in my head: I don't have a specific character in mind that he sounds like, but I imagine he has a kinda high, raspy, teenage boy voice I guess?