News:
Knock back a few in style with
Quizzer's WildStar themed concoctions over on the NeXus. Their first
feature: The Scowling Cassian! Can't wait to try one of these out!
I have also been “kidnapped” as an
Ink-Slinger for the NeXus. You can check out my first roleplaying
piece “Skyfire” here. Links to this and further articles will be
put below my WSRP.
Gaffney has explained on Reddit that
WildStar beta invites will be going out in waves of every 5 weeks.
They may not be able to hold to that as solidly as they would like,
but will be doing their best. So you can give your f5 buttons a rest
for now.
In even better news, Carbine studios
has made another fantastic outreach to their community. With the news
of the beta leak out there, they decided to take the unfortunate
event and turn it into something positive. To begin with they have
officially released these patch notes to all of us and then took it a
step further by opening a Q & A on WSC. You can check that all
out here!
Great things come from
small beginnings.
One of the most fascinating aspects of
roleplaying is its ability to form into something unexpected. So
often I have seen a small character or idea suddenly develop a life
of its own. Sometimes it is the result of time, slowly building into
its own, and sometimes it is the efforts of others who take it into
new and exciting directions you couldn't possibly have imagined.
Agent John Hawkens is my pride and joy
of many years of accumulated writings, happenstance and the chaotic
additions of some amazing roleplayers out there. But he did not begin
as everyone's favorite Scowling Cassian. In fact the beginnings of
himself and his family were quite different.
Being as this is a roleplay blog, I
would like to link some more of my writings but without more lore to
support Hawken's current iteration, I am at a tad bit of a
standstill. I do have a few things I've been working on over with the
awesome community on WildStar-Roleplay that I will share sometime
soon. But before that I decided that I would like to share how my
ornery agent came to be. (If you would like a little intro before I begin, check out Hawkens profile on WSRP here)
You are seriously not talking about
me as though I am not here, right?
Oh were you still
there Hawkens? I thought I could feel that scowl boring a hole
through the back of my head. But I'm getting so used to it now...
Hmph
Well then, if you
don't want /me/ to talk about you, why don't you break a little
fourth wall with me and talk about yourself?
But I was always Cassian, I was
never anything /but/ perfection. How dare you insinuate otherwise!?
Oh give it a rest,
will you? Besides I bet our readers would love to hear your own
opinion. Honestly do you think they actually come here to read what I
have to say? Obviously they are here to hear your insightful input.
Flattery will get you nowhere...
Oh get on with it
already.
…..
…
fine
My original iteration began as a
pale comparison of the grandiosity I would later achieve. Though
there were certainly earlier influences, this was really the first
true beginning.
I began as John Drakonrue, a blade
smith set in the mountain village on my writer's planet of Rokhr
(pronounced Row-cur). Though he was not nearly as important as I, he
at least had my charm.
What he means to
say is that John Drakonrue was my first attempt at the lovable jerk.
(If you haven't read my article on that yet, check it out here)
Though ornery and often times short and abrasive, he really had a
soft interior if you got to know him.
Am I telling this or are you?
Right, uh, go right
ahead Hawkens.
John Hawkens was also one of the
first character's to ever be written with a collaboration piece with
another author, a close friend of my writer. Being that they were
still in rudimentary schooling, their work left something to be
desired...
Oh hey now! Yes
yes, I was young and foolish back then. This was some of my earliest,
really serious writing. So maybe John went through four versions of
himself and one of them he might have been a vampire -_- I blame it
on my friend playing too much Soul Reaver with me at the time.
Ugh...and now you
are laughing...
Although he went from human to
vampire to shape-changer, there was one thing that always remained
consistent with Ser Drakonrue: His wife Rose. Though she herself
always remained human, they were always found together in a strong
and loyal relationship. This would also be the last time one of my
iterations would come with their own relationship. After Drakonrue's
run, there would no longer be the potential for a peaceful marriage.
John's first
iteration came to a tragic end with the death of my friend who had
been writing with me. I actually quit writing for a year or so. There
was a chance John might have completely faded into obscurity if it
were not for the arrival of my best friend in college who came to
save the day. Bringing her creative talent to the table resulted in
the resurrection of John.
As well as my first steps into the
role of an agent.
In the time away
from my writing I had, had the opportunity to build my inspirations
from many excellent sources. The Deus Ex series most likely had the
heaviest influence, bringing me into my love of cyberpunk and
agent/operative stories while finally reading Neuromancer solidified
that interest. Strangely enough, inspiration from James Bond would
not come for a couple of years.
This time, John had lost his name,
as the character had originally meant to be a fresh start. Befitting
of an agent, he took on the alias Agent Wolf and once again returned
to the world of Rokhr. He accompanied two unlikely allies, a spunky
woman with demonic powers and a small kender-inspired traveler
written by my writer's college friends, as his job was to keep an eye
on the woman until she arrived as some mystical place in the future
as foreseen by the mysterious people he worked for. Though the plot
itself ended up meandering all over the place as the writers came
more into their styles, the character development truly began to hit
home. Now the lovable jerk came with a sense of duty and obligation
to a higher cause, his company becoming the first “empire” like
force that would drive him onwards.
 |
| Agent Wolf and the other characters in the story, as drawn by my best friend! |
Although this
series of writings did not go as far as I would have liked, it set
the grounds for the first true formation of John under the name that
would become his legacy (that will be more amusing in a moment)
My next iteration came with the
arrival of Star Wars: The Old Republic. It was easy. Imperial Agent
storyline was a given. With everything I had been through up to this
point and all the inspiration in between, it was the most logical
conclusion. Though the epic story of Cipher Nine was certainly an
excellent sort of inspiration, much like Deus Ex, it was not just
that, that created the glorious being that I have become.
No, not just that.
It came in the between. In all the tiny masterful dialogues that
Bioware put in. Not so much /what/ he did, but /why/. It was the same
reason I loved watching my non-RP friends go through this game. You
simply could not help but build a deep personality.
Amusingly enough,
John did not begin here at first. In fact, his elder brother Brenner
was my first agent here. I had so much fun playing Empire and going
through the excellent storyline. Then all of the sudden I had to
choose a legacy name. You have /no/ idea how hard that was to choose.
I mean, I am the type to spend hours in character creator just to
pick a name. Drakonrue was my first idea, having been the last name
used long ago. But it just didn't feel right anymore. I turned to my
experiences in WoW. Most of my characters were all named after a bird
of sort: Goldhawk, Steelhawk, Crowstorm, Gavynn (Based on Gavin:Welsh
for white hawk of battle) and Gryffin. So it just felt sort of right
to perpetuate my style. However these names seemed a bit too tribal
for the sort of English style the Empire supported. And then it hit
me. The perfect name.
Hawkens
 |
| Meet Brenner, the eldest of the Hawkens brothers |
With the name, came
a bit more fleshing out. There was a family, of course. A Master
Hawkens and Lady Hawkens. I decided they were a prominent noble
family, dealing in innovative wartime engineering. I decided their
son was still rather attached to them, even if he was forced to
remain distant on the job.
I had no plans at
the time for John to resurrect. Then one day, one of my friends
really wanted me to play Republic side with them and join their RP
guild...
And Agent John Hawkens was born that
day. Younger brother of the family, he suffered a terrible tragedy
with a cruel Sith Lord, resulting in his defection. The only defector
he knew that still ached to return home, that still carried the
abrasive attitude and classy accent. This is where my scowl became
famous. They learned to fear my--
They found it
endearing, Hawkens, no lying.
Hmph.
 |
| The Quintessential Scowl |
There was no
question when WildStar came to be. The moment I saw the “Meet the
Dominion” video, I knew who I would play.
Agent John Hawkens. Cassian. Loyal
servant of the ICI and of his Empire.
The Scowling
Cassian
The Scowling Cassian
-----------------------------------------------
Thank you once
again for joining us, dear readers. Your support and encouragement
have been overwhelming. I invite you to leave a comment here or on
WildStar-roleplay. Have any ideas for topics you'd like to see
discussed or questions for Hawkens? Feel free to drop us a line and
we will do our best to accommodate!
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