Regardless of label, a dead man is a dead man.
☠Character Name: Kalyd Journeyman
☠Gender: Male
☠Age: Sixteen
☠District: Four
☠Physical Appearance: When Kalyd died, his body was fairly strong, though this was not unusual for a fisherman and a tribute. Some strength still remains, as does muscle memory for actions and tasks from another time and place. His skin is still a golden-brown, marked by a few freckles in odd places, and the palms of his hands are still too large for his body. Other fixed attributes are also the same—his shock of golden-blond hair, his electric-blue eyes—but any attributes that could have changed have changed. His smile and laugh might seem decently typical, but a hollowness has entered what should be jovial mannerisms. A close observer will find that Kalyd is running through the motions. His grin is no longer as deep; his eyes are no longer as wide and earnest. If Gamemakers were to construct a robotic copy of Kalyd Journeyman based on prior Games footage, the result might resemble the current Kalyd—somewhat accurate at surface level but unmistakably a fake.
☠Personality: Kalyd once approached life with humor and optimism. Though he understood he would never become anything remarkable, he was content to enjoy the present with the people he cared about. His friends valued his seemingly effortless ability to make menial work memorable, despite his parents' warnings to give paying jobs the respect they deserved. He rarely planned ahead; he focused on the now rather than the future, and he was happier for it. Today Kalyd focuses on neither, as he is so absorbed in the past that thought for anything else is impossible. Before the Games, Kalyd had never experienced loss. The fact that his first loss came on such a large scale, and that he lost everything for it, has changed him. Now his memories are all the more painful because they were once lovely. The present will never again compare to the past, and Kalyd will never forgive himself for the mistakes that cost him his life. Any fragment of his former life might drive him forward—recovering objects that belonged to his family, watching early footage of him and Cammen in the Games—but the dullness of everything else will hold him back.
☠Past: Kalyd grew up in a middle-class family of five, the son of a fisher and a fishmonger. Academic pursuits were never his strength, but after proving his worth as a dock boy at seven years old, he and his close friend Cammen Allele began working on a local fisher's crew together. Hardworking despite their casual irreverence, they took on increasingly tougher jobs as they grew. By the time they were fifteen, their work paid well enough to ease their families' financial burdens.
Before the Games, Kalyd's days were filled with socializing and local adventure. Antics with Cammen and two other boys, Jonny and Split, kept him busy, and teenaged drama kept things interesting. In the evenings, if Kalyd wasn't swimming or exploring the district with friends, he and his family would eat dinner together. The Journeymans kept few secrets from one another, which brought Kalyd closer to his twin sister Tiela and nine-year-old sister Evell. Overall, Kalyd's connections gave his life meaning, as did his close affinity with nature. If he could have spent the remainder of his life working alongside his friends and staring out at the sea, he would have been content.
Contentment cannot last, and Kalyd was Reaped when he was sixteen years old. Alongside a host of other tributes, he was sent into an Arena that demanded tough decisions, many of which Kalyd was not prepared to face. The first decision was between a valuable supply and the life of a loved one. During the bloodbath, Kalyd found his best friend Cammen tied to a burning stake, holding a box that would open upon Cammen's death. When Kalyd chose to cut Cammen free, thereby turning the box to ash, he believed that the only cost would be the supply inside the box. This was not the case. Gamemakers had engineered the imported loved ones to turn bloodthirsty, and Kalyd found himself with another decision that night: kill a mutated, murderous Cammen or die. Inability to kill anyone would always have been Kalyd's weak point in the Games, and killing Cammen was out of the question. Kalyd was inevitably strangled at the hands of his best friend. He will be forced to re-experience this memory every night as long as he lives.
☠Strengths: Kalyd once had a knack for winning people over, though this ability might be less effective now that he can't fully commit to it. His upper body is strong, and he will be handiest with either blunt-force weapons (clubs or maces) or weapons he's used before (carving knives). He is also a skillful swimmer and a good knot-tier.
☠Weaknesses: Kalyd is listless and lethargic by default. He will not plan ahead. Without motivation, he won't care whether he lives or dies, though some prospect of regaining his former life might rejuvenate him. That being said, nothing will improve Kalyd's skill with ranged weapons—his aim is abominable.
